With the COVID-19 pandemic still looming over the world, we didn’t want to risk a flight somewhere. What better way to still have an awesome vacation than an epic road trip. It was early August when we set out for an unforgettable two-week-long family journey.
“Garden of the Gods”
A beautiful way to begin our epic road trip tour of the Colorado Rockies was the Garden of the Gods. An easy altitude (although Silas did get a little sick the first day) and handicap accessible trails for us to start on.
It was breathtaking, or so we thought at the time. Our journey was just beginning.
We did some easy hiking on the first day, but the altitude was about 2000 ft higher than home where we were the day before. It was a little too much for Silas. We slowed down our hike and took a shuttle bus back to the parking lot. We came back out the next day and drove all over the park and did our sightseeing from the windows.
Royal Gorge
On day 3 we drove to the Royal Gorge. It is a really neat place. Built over 100 years ago, it was the highest suspension bridge in the country until 2001. A pretty good run. California wildfires made the view a little smokey, but the impressive view of the Arkansas river could still capture your attention. Over 900 feet above the river below you could ride a gondola across.
Phillip doesn’t like heights.
On the other side of the bridge is a small theme park with a carousel, playground, Dippin dots, and a sluice box where you can ‘pan’ for precious stones. The boys enjoyed riding all the rides, and playing on all the equipment in the playground and we had some hotdogs and water for lunch before heading back. Did we mention I don’t like heights?
We hit the road running so we could make it to the last stop on this leg of our journey. The mountains were still smokey, but still amazing to look at the ranges peeking through in layers. We found a couple of other sights along the way.
The Painted Wall
Along the way to the Painted Wall, we drove through Gunnison National Park alongside the Black Canyon. The canyon walls would appear through the scrub along the side of the road offering glimpses of the scale of the place we were headed.
When we made it to the parking spot the hike from the road was short, and there were plenty of rocks to climb on the way out, but when we arrived at the lookout point it felt perilous and we kept the kids close by.
The painted wall is the tallest vertical cliff in colorful Colorado. At 2,250 feet above the Gunnison River below, this formation in the Black Canyon is a sight to see. We arrived just as the sun was setting.
Words fail when trying to describe the immensity of the precipice you stand on to gaze across the canyon to see the huge veins of pegmatite and gneiss of the Painted Wall.
After the sun went down we all agreed this was going to be the highlight of the trip. We hit the road again and made the final drive for this leg of the trip.
Moab, Utah is a unique place to visit. The geography of the area is amazing. Everywhere we looked we were surrounded by towering buttes, spires, fins, and cliffs in a swath of earthy colored rock, even green!
We stayed at an adorable VRBO rental in Moab and used it as our home base for the next few days.
Moab Giants
Just outside of town is a really great place to go if you like dinosaurs, the Moab Giants. Boy oh boy do we like dinosaurs in this family. Right now dinosaurs are on the menu for everything from toys, to tv shows, to clothes, and even the shape of chicken nuggets. We are all about dinosaurs, so this place was perfect while the boys were still little.
We took so many pictures of the very realistic dinosaur sculptures that were all over the park. The trail was not long, but the sun was blazing. Thankfully we were prepared and brought our hydration packs. Here are some of the photos we took.
After heading back to our “house” we played outside, did some souvenir shopping, and called it a day.
Arches National Park
We went through Arches backward. Since it is a national park it is open all the time, so we drove up very early to catch the sunrise. We parked ourselves in view of ‘balanced rock’ and watched the sun come up. The boys played in the sand and gravel and Rachel and I sat in the quiet of the morning.
I managed to get a tire mark on my back taking this picture of Rachel, but it is one of my most cherished photos from the trip.
After that we went back up the trail to check out ‘delicate arch’, which is the most famous arch in the park. We didn’t make the 0.7 mile medium grade hike to the arch in person, we walked up the observation trail.
Along the trail up we saw interesting wind erosion patterns in the rock.
I didn’t think we needed packs since it was just the observation trail, but that turned out to be a big mistake. Oliver announced he needed to poop as soon as we all reached the summit. Rachel had to rush back down with him so we wouldn’t have an accident on our hands.
Now, if we had our packs, there would have been a portable toilet we could have set up right off the trail to use. We’ll know better next time to always have dad carry his backpack with the toilet.
Even though it was first light there were still dozens of people already crowded around the base of the arch that we could see from afar. From our perspective, it helped to grasp the size of the arch in a way that we might not have in person at the base.
We did eventually get a picture of the park sign though. Everyone was pretty spent by then. We picked up some gifts from the shop and headed back ‘home’.
Canyonlands National Park (day)
The next National Park was Canyonlands, and if there is one picture we all think represents the park it is this adorable little cactus. It may all look barren, but it is actually full of life. Just like this tiny prickly pear poking out from under some gnarled driftwood.
We went to Canyonlands twice, once during the day and another during the night.
During the day we hiked a short loop trail to Mesa Arch, which was terrifying and beautiful at the same time. With a captivating view of the valley 1,200 feet below.
This was about as close as we all felt comfortable being to the edge. We did get a picture of Canyonlands in the late hours of the day with the sign.
Canyonlands National Park (night)
After we finished with the park during the day we came back to see it at night. Canyonlands is an excellent place for stargazing because of the lack of light pollution and good air quality. The air quality suffered some for us because of the California wildfires but the view was spectacular. We saw several shooting stars and Rachel even snapped a picture of a one without knowing about it until later when we looked at the photos. (click on them)
Don’t mind that little sticker on Oliver’s head, it was to keep the mosquitos away.
All told it was a great time at Canyonlands, and everyone was tuckered out, but our trip wasn’t over yet.
Rifle Falls, Colorado State Park
The weather was as perfect as you could ask for on a summer day. Not too hot, not too humid, blue skies, and bright sunshine. It worked out wonderful.
The drive from Moab to our next destination was going to be quite long. So a short excursion was definitely in order. Along the way was Rifle, CO. Home to a pretty little waterfall with limestone solution caves to do some pretend spelunking.
There were a couple of short trails up. One leading to the top of the falls, and one leading to underneath the falls. We took the trail under the falls and the crisp spray cooled the air.
Some of the caves were very easy to get into. The ground had been flattened around the entrance like this one, where you could fairly easily just walk inside.
Others only the boys could fit into.
They all had fun for sure, getting to use their headlamps for the first time. Experiencing the temperature drop as soon as you pass through the mouth of a cave. Feeling the damp air inside and finding evidence of animal life. It was a little mini-adventure in itself.
We needed the break too. There were mudslides on I-70 after heavy downpours that closed the highway the week before we started our trip causing us to take a detour. A long detour. What should have been less than two hours, took nearly five! Late into the night we eventually made it to the hotel..
For every leg of the journey, the MVP of the road trip was a potty chair we kept in the back of the Expedition. It has liners that prevent things from getting messy and can easily be tied up and disposed of.
Invariably every couple of hours Oliver would announce his need to go potty. This would have been a serious problem for us without the chair, but we could just pull over and let him climb in the back to take care of business. Knowing what we know now, we will never take another road trip without a potty chair in the back of the car. We probably won’t even go back out in service without it in the car.
Here are a few of the sights along the way (click on them).
Rocky Mountain National Park
The final destination on our trip was Rocky Mountain National Park, although technically our hotel was in Longmont, CO nearby. This was finally the highlight of the trip. A camping excursion overnight in the park. Not just any camping trip though. A camping trip with a guide and llamas!
His name was John, and his llamas were Elvis, Pachuko, Copper, and Banjo.
We had great discussions with John about the Bible. He had many questions. The llamas didn’t do much talking, although they made some interesting noises.
It was a chance we might never have an opportunity to experience again. The weather was absolutely what we were hoping it would be, a great temperature for hiking, bright dappled sunshine, and even a tiny sprinkle just before lunch at the camp. We camped at the Aspen Knoll site. We had plenty of time at camp while John set us all up. He kept our water bags full from the river down below. Tomfoolery ensued by the boys, but it was all a welcome goofy time for them to just be kids in the forest.
They climbed over the boulders at camp, made silly faces, took pictures of flowers and rocks.
Picked wild blueberries with John. They were the most delicious wild blueberries we’d ever tasted. John put them into our pancakes the next morning.
We napped.
We learned to fly fish.
We fed llamas.
Some of us even rode llamas.
Truly unforgettable.
We watched the convention in our hotel after we got back from our camping trip, but we didn’t get a family picture 🙁
The Journey Home
The next stop was a Kansas State Park called Mushroom Rock. Dakota formations sit atop sandstone pillars making them look like mushrooms in the small 5-acre park.
We still had three stops along the way home to make. The first was in Goodland, KS for the world’s largest easel with Van Gogh’s Sunflower painting on it. Plus some needed leg-stretching.
The little off-beat attraction also gave us the chance to refill on some road food from the Dollar General across the parking lot.
We had the bright Kansas prairie for as far as the eye could see and the summer clouds lazily floating by always threatening rain.
There was no gift shop, no information center (other than that sign), but they had a toilet house, so that was something. Even without any kind of interpretive trail, or signage whatsoever the boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves climbing on all the rocks. That is what this park was all about.
When we first pulled up, I was very underwhelmed, but as we walked around and played I realized that it was indeed a special place.
The last stop of the day and final place on the whole trip was The Cozy Inn for a couple of sacks full of hamburger sliders.
They’ve been cooking burgers on the same grill for 99 years and counting.
