national parks

While my in-laws, Jenny and Neville were here, we took a nine day camping trip and saw some great national parks: Arches, Canyonlands, Monument Valley, Mesa Verde, and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. The last was my favorite, but that may be because it's the only one I hadn't seen before. We had almost perfect weather. It could have been a little cooler in the afternoons, but the nights were cool enough for sleeping comfortably in a tent, and the mornings and evenings were nice.

Our first day was the longest driving day of the trip. Tim and I got to avoid the seven hour drive to Moab, Utah because Dad agreed to fly us to Grand Junction where we met Paul, Jenny and Neville. We felt that seven hours was unfair to poor Tim, and I was the natural candidate for going with him, being the mother and all. Dad gets another award for great guy. A hose in the engine came off when he started it to return home and it took the weekend for them to find it and get it hooked up again. He spent two nights in Grand Junction, which we didn't learn until after the fact. Thanks Dad!

Paul chose Moab because it was close to both Arches and Canyonlands. We stayed at the very end of the town next to the Colorado river. The lush grass and tall trees helped us battle 90F plus afternoons.


our campsite in moab

We spent the mornings, driving through the parks. Neville and Paul returned for some sunset photos and one morning Jenny joined them for sunrise pictures. Tim and I slept in.

called park avenue, this is the first site on the road into arches national park

one of the many arches for which the park is named. jenny, neville, and i are the tiny people beneath the arch

another impressive formation in the park

Canyonlands is a testament to wide open spaces and the power of wind and water.

jenny and neville at canyonlands

Next to the park is Dead Horse State Park where the final scene of Thelma and Louise takes place.

dead horse state park

From Moab, we drove south into Arizona and onto the Navajo reservation; Monument Valley isn't actually a national park, but I've lumped it under that title for my own convenience.

iconic monument valley photo

Our campsite was primitive: no water, no store, no trees. There was only one other tent there when we arrived, so we commandeered one of the three picnic shelters and set up camp on red dirt. It was only one night and the views were fantastic. A half mile away was a new hotel with a gift shop and cafe. We made use of their facilities.


west mitten as seen from our campsite

merrick butte

tim only slept half the night in his own bed on the first few nights, so we gave up and put him with us for the whole night. we all slept better for it.

From Monument Valley, we drove across northern New Mexico to Four Corners and back into Colorado to our next stop at Mesa Verde.

jenny and neville standing on four states at once: arizona, new mexico, colorado and utah.


Paul's grandmother had some illustrated Time/Life books when he was child, and that's where he was first introduced to the cliff dwellers and their beautiful homes. Growing up in Colorado, I was taught about them in school and visited the site with my parents when I was about eight. We had not prepared Jenny and Neville for what they were going to see, and their amazement at the ruins made it seem like a first time experience for me. The cliff dwellings were discovered by cowboys in the early 20th century when they were out looking for stray cows.

cliff palace: the first tour of the day

cliff palace late in the afternoon. i've included this because the people give it some scale

visiting balcony house meant a steep climb up this ladder and a crawl through a tunnel. neither were baby-friendly, so tim and i played in the parking lot

jenny and neville at balcony house

From Mesa Verde, we drove north to our last camping destination: the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River. We stopped in Durango for brunch and took Colorado's most scenic road through the tiny mining town of Ouray.

durango's downtown

ouray

san juan mouuntains

The Black Canyon is small compared to the Grand Canyon, but for me it was more impresive, I think because it is more intimate. Whereas the Grand Canyon is immense, the north and south rims separated by vast distances, the walls of the Black Canyon are narrow, seeming to nearly touch in some places. The river can be seen and heard from above, and there aren't any crowds. I consider it a Colorado must-see.

the gunnison river

the river is on the left side of the picture

named because so much of it is in darkness due to how narrow the canyon is

We spent our last night in a motel on the main strip of Leadville, home of some of the richest silver mines in Colorado history. It's a quirky little town full of eccentric people and a great place to finish a fantastic camping trip. The motel was true Americana and the bed and shower perfect.

downtown

typical leadville housing

the matchless mine of baby doe fame

We thought that camping with Tim in Europe came at the perfect age for him, but this trip proved to be equally great. I think camping and traveling kids works at any age. It's just a matter of perspective.