Vamos Homestead Adventure!: National Parks and Navajo Parks

Having headed straight from Denver to Arches National Park in Utah, we gained an entire afternoon of touring, which was great! The day was warm, almost hot, and the skies were a lovely blue as we headed through the park gates and up the steep and winding road into the park. We have had wonderful weather whenever we've been outside touring, and this day was no exception. There are over 2000 Arches in the Park formed from huge sandstone hills. The land is arid and hot and everywhere you are reminded to drink more water. It is the middle of October and we found it to be hot, even if the temperature itself wasn't that high. We'd never come here in high summer! Besides the huge number of tourists then the heat would be terrible!

We drove through the park to the various points of interest, Dominik did a short hike with Jonathan and Rebecca and we marvelled at the wonder of creation. It was so beautiful! Especially in the late afternoon sunshine. How much people miss out in if they don't bring God into the equation. We've thought a lot about that as we have toured these National Parks. The land, the rocks, the wildlife...it all varies so much and sometimes quite a bit in a short distance. Well, we stayed in the park until sunset and then headed back from Utah to Colorado to the place where we had arranged to stay. It was somewhat off the beaten track, but we made a good night of it and then headed back to Arches in the morning. See what you think of the photos! :-)

We finished a bit earlier this time and, upon discovering that you can't drive through Canyonlands National Park, that we would have to back-track a couple of hours, we decided just to hear down to Cortez, CO. The kids were getting three of the late nights and we wanted to give them a break. We will have to see Canyonlands next time!
Now, you know that various Restaurants in the States have nights where kids eat free. Well, we thought that we would go to Pizza Hut because it was Tuesday and them eating free would save us a lot and be fun. We found a cheap motel and set off. It was closed! For kitchen renovation! Hmm, what to do. We thought that we might as well try Denny's. And, it was the night for kids to eat for free! It was great! They each had a meal and we splurged on a steak each (much cheaper there than in Canada!). It was still more than the dollar menu at McDonald's but OH so much nicer!
We started the next day with the free motel breakfast. Well, there isn't much to say about that. It was free but lacking in, hmmm, variety! No worries, we packed up and header out for Mesa Verde National Park it was a very short drive away, nice for a change. Mesa Verde is an ancient Native Indian settlement where the people built their homes into rock ledges in the Canyon walls. These settlements were then abandoned around 1200 a.d.. They were discovered in the 1880's by some prospectors searching for coal. You can view some of these homes from the opposite Canyon walls, or visit the one which was built quite low-down and can be walked to, or you can pay for a tour and do some climbing! We die all three. All of us. With Josiah on my back in the sling. That was good fun- up ladders and through a couple if passage ways. It was great until Josiah needed a nappy change and started to cry. Fortunately that was at the end so it wasn't too bad. The guide was interesting but had so much info for the adults that the younger kids were a bit restless. But we had fun!

As it wasn't too late in the afternoon we wanted to visit the Four Corners Region of the States. This is where Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah all come together. It wasn't a long drive but when we got there They wanted 5 dollars for every person over six years of age. To stand on the marker and be in all Four States at once. Well, we did it because we wanted to see it. And it was fun. But the bathrooms!!!!

We headed out from there in search of a motel and some dinner, looking at all the little places along the way. There was nothing! Really nothing! We finally arrived in Kayenta and ate at McDonald's. At least they have their Monopoly game going on now so we can collect the game pieces! Now, Kayenta is the 'Gateway to Monument Valley' and yet they only have three motels there!!! Some were full and the others expensive. We went down the road a little further to a Navajo motel (everything in this area is Navajo) where we found an over-priced but acceptable room. They were friendly. I got the woman's childbearing history as I checked in!
So finally the day had arrived to see Monument Valley. That famous landscape from countless old Western' and other movies. The Navajo have a park there too where you drive on the sand roads around looking at the stone formation. The start of the road was quite rough but then the roads smoothed out. We got some good shots and marvelled at the landscape. Then, as horseback riding has been a topix here with the girls, especially Rebecca, Dominik asked if we would like to do that there, in the valley. The price was good for an hours ride so we got ready and headed out with one other tourist and our local guides. It was an easy ride and the girls did great for their first time riding without being led. What has dimmed our pleasure is that they brought us back 20 minutes before our hour was up and then said that they had a sign proclaiming "No refunds" so why should we complain. Well, we did and got some money back. To so blatantly try to rip off the tourists, who mainly will back down and walk away, is horrible. So far that is the only bad or unfortunately experience of our journey this far.

So, on we went again, this time making sure that we could be in a motel earlier than usual to give the kids a break. That brought us to Page, Arizona and the splurge of a motel with a pool (freezing cold and the last day that it was open) and a hot buffet breakfast for everyone. It was lovely. The kids could make their own fresh waffles for breakfast! Josiah was teething and had a fever and the extra rest did him good as well.
Here's a quiz for you. Are Utah and Arizona in the same time zone? Utah is just north of Arizona, so one would think so. But no, Utah is an hour ahead. So when we left our cosy motel in AZ and drive to Zion National Park in UT we were an hour behind. The next thing that we didn't count in is that school in Utah have had the week off for 'The Hunt'. Deer hunting season. There were then all kinds of families in the park. There are a lot of retirees on holiday in all of the parks because most families don't take holidays at this time of year. We arrived in Zion just after lunch time and it was a zoo of people! You could hardly move on the roads. Because this park is made up of narrow valleys they do have a Shuttle system but even there the people were packed in like sardines. All the car parks were full. We decided to make our picnic lunch, eat and then look for a motel just out of the Park and come back the next day early. If there wasn't anything then we would try on the other side of the Park and maybe do Bryce Canyon NP instead. Springdale was also jam-packed full of cars. They were everywhere! The town is the overflow parking for the park. We found one motel with rooms. I asked how much and when the man said '199 plus tax' I just laughed and said good bye. Then he proceeded to try to barter with me, even offering me the two-bed room that I wanted and that he said was unavailable. No, we left and found a nice little cabin which was perfect.
Then we were at Bryce Canyon National Park and it was fab! It wasn't overly crowded as Zion was, and the rock formations were truly stunning! When the kids are older it would be the perfect place to come back to for hiking. So would Zion, when you can camp in the park. At Bryce Dominik and the kids did a little hike and we shot some more fun photos. All photos were safely made- Grandma & Oma.