Sunday, June 19, 2016

Day 9 - 4 Corners & Canyonlands National Park

[There was a controlled burn in the mountain in the background.]

Saturday, June 18, 2016
Posted from: Moab, UT
Miles driven: 299
Total trip miles: 1,775
Total national parks visited: 4

Today was a long day. Maybe a bit too long. We travelled most of the day from Mesa Verde, CO to Moab, UT. 

Our first stop was Four Corners where Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona come together. We were there pretty early so there wasn't much competition for pictures and they weren't enforcing the three picture limit. So after paying our $20 to get in, we took pictures of the kids laying in all four states. They thought it was really cool, so we were glad we did it.






Oh, and I forgot to add that as we were approaching the driveway to enter four corners, we drove right past it. The sign is actually after the entrance. So once again my poor navigation skills and Matt's epic driving skills come into play. He backed the camper up over one eighth of a mile to the entrance. (Remember that we were early and no one was really around.) 

Then when we went to leave a bunch of motorcycles had blocked us in. Matt says he figures they aren't too rough and tumble if they are at a tourist trap like this...so he sent me to talk to them. Hey, wait a minute... Anyway, they were really nice. They laughed and asked if my husband had sent me. Ha! They said they were about to go so all was well. 

We saw this odd little thing on our way to four corners. 



We stopped for fuel and a little road side stand was set up selling Navaho burgers. At home we would refer to the "bun" as a Clipper taco shell. Then it had two hamburger patties sitting next to each other with all of the usual cheeseburger toppings. We bought 3 and shared them. We all really liked them, but they were far from health food. We all joined hands and said a little prayer that we don't regret our lunch. 

Cameron thought this looked like BB-8 from Starwars. He thinks this rock inspired the character. 


We arrived at the campground a little past 1:00 pm, set up the camper, and headed out to Canyonlands NP. It was 102 degrees. We were well hydrated and didn't attempt any hikes, but nonetheless the kids ended up with upset tummies and general not feeling well. Thankfully, we were on our way out of Canyonlands when tummies started hurting, so we were able to see the park. 

The temp after parking the truck for 5 minutes. Much of that is engine heat, but still. Today really shocked us out of our 72 degree average temperature days. 

Proof that we were here...and it was hot. Grace even started to wear a bandana today (wet to cool her off...mine is to control my crazy hair).

This rock is called Whale Rock. The tree is kind of blocking it, but it really did look like a whale with an eye and everything. Caleb wanted to climb up and "ride" the whale, but it was a half mile straight up hike, so Mom said no. 

On our way out we pulled off to let the kids breathe a bit (sick was imminent). A nice ranger pulled up behind us to help and offered a couple plastic bags. Nice guy. 

We headed back to the campground, grilled some chicken, ate some veggies, and mostly just drowned ourselves in as much water as we could drink. 

And we just keep getting hotter...if we do say so ourselves. 

Since were already hot, we figured what would it hurt to stop and take one more picture. The background cannot be beat.






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