Last few days of RV trip 7/11-7/12

Now for the finish of our trip. We spent our last day at Indiana Beach which is an old fashion amusement park right on Lake Shafer. There was a water park that was lots of fun and many round and round rides that David and Jason rode non stop.
The next day we dropped off Rachel at Momentum in Ceadarville OH and drove all the way to my brothers in Fayetteville NC. It was a total of 12 hours-a brutal last day.
The grand finally was at my brothers where David Jason and my niece Abby stayed up all night long!!!! They finally fell asleep at 6:30ish. My brother ate cookies with them at 3:30 while Tim and I slept in Steve's office outside and didn't hear a thing.
It was great fun for them!

I am sad to be home-it was a great time and more relaxing than I thought it would be!
Now we have a fun summer with our new dog.

Ella arrives

We made it back and have added a new addition to the family.

Meet Ella....our three month old Whippet.

Doorly Zoo

Yesterday July 9^th we went to Doorly Zoo in Omaha NE.

This is the coolest zoo we have been to. The first place we went was a discovery building which was pretty normal for a zoo but the next place called the Lied Jungle was really spectacular. As you entered you felt like you were really in a rainforest. The animals were all visible from many angles and it took at least an hour to see the whole thing. The kids loved it.

After that we went into one of the coolest aquariums I have ever seen.

Words cannot describe but there was a tube we walked through and all the fish, turles, sharks etc. were swimming over and around us.

The jellyfish tank was amazing too.

They had a butterfly experience that was great. The butterflies were everywhere and they were so pretty.

I would highly recommend this Zoo.

KOA

Great relaxing afternoon at the KOA outside of Omaha, NE.

Colorado Springs

We arrived in Colorado Springs on the Morning of July 6^th. We had to go over Monarch Pass at 11,321 ft. The sloth was hurting both up and down. We had to stop because the brakes were smoking and the whole RV smelled for the rest of the day. When we got there what do you think the kids wanted to do 1^st? Go see Pikes Peak? No they wanted to go to Sonic. They are addicted. So we went to Sonic Happy Hour, all got large drinks and headed up Pikes Peak. Let me say this is a scary drive. We climbed over a mile from the bottom with many steep drop offs right out my window. If you think the kids went up for the view you are mistaken. They went up for the donuts!

When we got to 14,110 ft. and got out of the car and we started running for the gift shop (3 of us finished our large Sonics and needed to run) our heads immediately started spinning from lack of oxygen. Then the worst possible thing happened. THEY WERE OUT OF DONUTS! All that way and no donuts :)

However, God was smiling on us probably because we were so much closer to Him.

The secret ingredient arrived just after that and-----

Alas the special high elevation donuts!

Nothing could top that excitement. We drove through Garden of the Gods the kids were unimpressed and then we ate dinner in Manitou Springs.

On the 7^th we traveled to Loveland CO and had a needed day of rest since it rained all day.

We are now on our long drive to Omaha NE. Eight days till we get home. The kids are ready to be home. I am not. I miss all my friends but not the work that will be waiting for me with unpacking etc and a new dog. Here’s the newest picture of Ella.

Mesa Verde and Ouray Colorado 7/3-7/5

On July 3^rd we arrived at Mesa Verde Co. On the way we stopped at 4 Corners which is the place where New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado all meet up together at one point. Unfortunately the monument where they all meet is under construction so all we could do was walk around the fence through the 4 states.

There were plenty of opportunities to buy souvenirs though.

After that we drove on to Mesa Verde.

There is a national park there that has preserved some old cliff dwellings. Mesa means table and Verde means green which translates to a very steep climb to the top of the Mesa on a very curvy road. It was a great 360 degree view of surrounding area. The RV park had a great pool for the kids to play in so they could exhaust themselves. That was thefirst place that we have experienced cold nights. We all woke up freezing.

We left Mesa Verde on the 4^th of July and had to go through 3 terrifying mountain passes to get to Ouray CO. The last one Red Mountain Pass (peaking at 11,000 ft) had some very steep drop offs right out my window. I gripped the seat and prayed hard. Tim even said it made him sick.

One of many treacherous curves on Red Mountain Pass

Once we came down we were in the town of Ouray just in time for the parade. It was similar to Middletown except they were advertising their own specialties like Jeep tours through the mountains.

So we were all enjoying the parade and all of a sudden we heard the sound of a head against the pavement. It was David. He blacked out and fell to the ground hitting his forehead on the pavement. Fortunately, there was a surgeon standing right next to us who came right over and she and Tim got David back on his feet. The surgeon, I think her name was Elizabeth, was from Washington DC. Small world.

We think he either locked his knees or was dehydrated and not adjusted to the elevation. He is now fully recovered.

The town has a traditional water fight each year on the 4^thso we went to see it. It is a water fight between teams of two that are battling each other with fire hoses until one team falls down. Of course the spectators get wet as we were all surrounding the fight. I thought it was neat but the kids really couldn’t see since we got there late. So we went shopping and got ice cream. Later we went to see the fireworks. Before they start there is a parade of Jeeps coming down from the mountain with flares on them (never would they allow this in MD). All you could see were the flares. The fireworks were typical except they were fired from the middle of a mountain.

Pretty scenery before the fireworks

Today we went to the hot springs pool. It is fed by spring that flow out of the San Juan Mountains at a temp. of 150 degrees. They cool it with the local water so the pool has different areas ranging from 80-101 degrees. You can guess where I spent most of my time. Actually the favorite was the 93 degree pool. Tim found out that you can get bad sunburn even if you are entirely submersed under water. The sun is strong. Tonight we plan to have our first campfire this whole trip. So far it has been too hot, we’re too tired or it’s too windy. Let’s hope for the best. We are all feeling refreshed and energized by the minerals in the hot springs.

Two Days at the Grand Canyon

Let me first say that it is so nice to not be driving for a few days. We spent July 1^st and 2^nd at the Circle Pines KOA one hour south of the Grand Canyon. It turned out to be very kid friendly. They had an indoor pool that the kids loved and banana bikes that we all rode for about an hour.

We went to the canyon on the first day. Photos do not do it justice. It is so huge. It was 5 miles across from where we were standing but it was hard to get perspective. It is a mile down and my kids said that the people hiking down looked like ants. There were numerous warnings and true stories of people who tried to hike down and back in one day. Many die and 250 people a year have to be rescued. Needless to say we did not try it. However, we did hike down into the canyon a bit. Down is easy, up is another story. No shade and very hot. I think we were on the same path as that Brady Bunch episode since there were a lot of “droppings” along the way. Last night we went later to see the sunset. It was beautiful. The wind was so strong up there and as soon as the sun set it got cold fast. The stars are so clear and plentiful here since as Zach put it “we are in the middle of nowhere”.

We are now on our way to Mesa Verde, CO to see the cliff dwellings and stay the night. Mountain driving is slower and more nerve wracking than highway driving. Tomorrow is the 4^th of July and we will be heading to Ouray, CO.

The kids have the life they are all still sleeping!

MasterCard

Souvenir Sling Shot: $9

Honda window replacement: $250

Having your son enter the RV and say, "Aaahh, I broke something.": Priceless

Slide Rock State Park

Today we went to this awesome park. It has natural water slides down some very slippery rocks. The kids had a great time playing in the water and going down the slides. I went down as soon as we got there. People said it was cold but I wasn’t expecting super cold. As soon as I got in it took my breath away and as I was sliding down all I could think of was how cold it was.

This is not a place to visit if you want to be graceful. The first time I tried to get out I fell straight down on my arm. The next time I crawled. Tim’s got some dignified pictures of me crawling through the water. Tim, Zach and David jumped off a cliff into that freezing water.

To end our wonderful day we arrived back at our RV only to find some nice Arizona resident parked about 2 feet from our front bumper. Ranger Ron said all you can do is wait it out, sorry”, knowing Tim though he was going to find a way out. So against all the warnings not to back up with the dolly on the back, he did and we got out. Tomorrow we are off to the Grand Canyon.

Useful trivia

Cup of Fruit containers explode spraying juice everywhere when taken from sea level to an elevation of 7000 feet and then opened.