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Published: June 10th 2017
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The day started early once again for me 5 am workout and a dip in the pool before we left for Colorado via Arizona. The kids were starting to get really sick of each other by this time and another squabble broke out. We stopped and got new Redbox movies to reduce the tension, maybe some cartoons would return them from vicious killers to children. As we left the city I saw some sky divers hover over a field. It looked like one of the parachutes got caught upside down and I prayed for the safety of the jumper.
As we approached the interstate to leave Vegas we saw signs for the Hoover Dam. Unknowingly we were headed to see another landmark that was not on our itinerary. Leaving the interstate we saw signs for the mythical mountain sheep, which I did not get to see once again. The Hoover Dam is one of the most impressive man made sites a person could see. The dam was enormous, and surrounded by symbols of patriotism. There were statues, flags, and an eagle painted into the floor of a memorial. The kids got to see both sides of the dam. I wondered
if the water level was lower than previously as the rocks on the side of canyon were different colors. This was a perfect area for a picture of a the family looking out.
After our short detour it was off to the Grand Canyon. Driving through Arizona was an amazing view of dry, red rock with very little signs of bushes, or tress just a few dry plants. I continued to look around for the mountain sheep and thought I saw one, but it was just a cow. The red rocks were not mountainous, but more giant rock piles. When I think of mountains I think of how they looked in Wyoming covered with green trees, and some snow. The Grand Canyon got closer and now we drove through a forest.
The forest in the Grand Canyon Park was under a prescribed burn and you could see smoke/flames as you entered in the park. We got out of the car at the visitor center to get a view of the north rim of the canyon. The visitor center was very crowded and it was difficult to get the edge to see. After pushing our way to the edge
it was a sight of awe and amazement. How did a giant canyon come out of a forest. The canyon was deep and dropped what seemed like miles to the river that carved it. The side of the canyon was red rocks and different shapes. Make this stop a must see on your bucket list.
The crowds were quite annoying, so we began to drive further down the road. Driving down the road a crowd had gathered to see something, as I looked out my window I could see it. It was a few Elk or Moose sitting right next the road. You could almost touch them from the car. Instead of touching I opted for a picture.
We drove further around the rim and got out to get pictures, eventually finding a place to eat lunch. As we ate lunch, with the view of the Canyon, Issac reported out of nowhere the death of humanity, " global warming, genocide, and reality TV, not necessarily in that order." Wonder sometimes where he gets this stuff. Approaching the edge of the park one last view before we headed to Colorado for the night.
The best view of the
whole trip was Lipan Point. It was not crowded and you could see the river at the bottom. The whole canyon seemed visible from this point. The final view and the Grand Canyon was in the back window driving down a mountain side to a valley.
It would be 6-7 more hours before we would reach our destination in Grand Junction, Colorado. Along the way we drove through and Indian reservation. This had to be the saddest part of the trip. This group of people lived in shacks and mobile homes. The area was very run down and there was not anything for miles. There would be pop up Indian jewelry shops, one even said nice Indians here. It was a wake up call to see how an entire culture was cast aside by a society and left in poverty.
The reservation housed red rocks and canyons. The canyons eventually shared the landscape with many ranches and signs reported to watch for stray cows on the highway. At one point a whole herd of cows crossed in front of my car. I was lucky Tim saw them as I was not paying attention to the road. Down the
highway new signs for horses crossing showed up and you could see what I believe was wild horses playing in the pasture. The road was rough and very few cars or people were seen for miles, upon miles at a time.
About 2 hours from the hotel the landscape changed again to different rock formations. The family had fun naming the formation. One was a sphinx with a dog head, and another was cue Bert from the video game. The kids were getting hungry and I was tired of driving, so we found food in a town called Moab 4 miles from Arches National Park in Utah. I had not thought about visiting this park on our trip and at this point it was too late in the day. It looked like a great place to stay and great tourist attraction. Although we did not see the park we saw one lone arch on the way north. I fell asleep right about the border of Colorado to awake at our hotel. This was by far the worst hotel and I worried a little about bed bugs, but that did not stop me from crashing hard.
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