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Showing posts from July, 2016

GCRT Family Recap--Stay Tuned for the Kids' Pictures and Videos

1.  What was your favorite part of the trip? Logan:  Hummer tour because I got to take pretty cool pictures. Emma:  Slot Canyon.  It was pretty. Brad:  I liked the fact that when we went from place everything was differently pretty. Jami:  I liked watching the scenery as we drove.  I really like Sedona and would like to spend more time there. 2. What was your least favorite part of the trip? Logan: When we got to the food restaurants and we did not get to order any food (we did not get any Navajo bread). Emma:   Petrified Forest.  There wasn't anything there. Brad:  That's hard.  I liked just about everything about everything.  But see you can't say that.  I liked the way we did.  Theoretically, I'd like to spend more time at the places where we went, but we were just seeing the highlights. Jami:   It was all fun.  I enjoyed the drive, the scenery, spending lots of time with everyone.  The mel...

GCRT Day 13 and 14: Let's Get Home and Not Embarass Ourselves Too Badly

On day 12 we drove until 2 AM (don't tell my mother) and then crashed at a LaQuinta that allowed pets (did I mention Brad is horrifically allergic to dogs and cats--so much so that he has to carry an epi-pen).  I, of course, did not know they allowed pets until Brad woke up with the allergy puff, and we saw all the pets at breakfast.  He accused me of trying to kill him, but at 2 AM I wasn't really choosy about the hotel.  Sorry, honey.  You look almost normal now :-). On day 13 we had one objective:  make it to Nashville and people who love us and will hopefully be forgiving of our state. Unfiltered Filtered, so much better, right????? The highlight of the road trip was FINALLY being in Chick-fil-a country and FINALLY seeing some farmland. After we drove for what seemed like forever in the rain and in the traffic (more people live in the East, yo), we finally arrive in one of our favorite cities, Nashville.  We stopped at Centennial park ...

GCRT Day 11 and 12: Arches and Friends :-)

Day 11 and 12—Arches National Park and Colorado (and friends) The morning of day 11, we sleepily tried to get up early to hit Arches National Park before we journeyed to Colorado to try to make it to Dustin’s house in Denver by suppertime.   We were now firmly in the dog days of our journey, and Emma, who has been fantastic throughout the trip, was truly worn out.   She mustered up a little spirit, though, and agreed to get out of bed and see yet another national park.      They are so ready for another adventure, can't you tell? Luckily, you could observe most of Arches by the car because the Dentons were tired, yo.   I did convince everyone to go on a little trail walk to the Balanced Rock, and I think that they did have fun, but then the heat and exhaustion got to everyone, and we agreed that we would find some arches and leave.         After we drove through Arches, it was time to h...

GCRT Day 10: Monument Valley

Day 10 and 11—Monument Valley Day 10 was the day that Brad had been waiting for; the day we entered Monument Valley.    Since he is a HUGE Western fan (exhibit 1:   his choice of music for this trip), he was truly looking forward to seeing where John Ford had made his movies.   We learned that the land was originally Dine land, but in 1958, they gave the land to the Navajo to run so that a man named Goulding could not get the land.   Now it is considered Navajo land, and the Navajo tribe runs the national park and the gift shop.    Again the diversity of the land was breathtaking.   On this trip, we have seen forests, desserts, petrified forests, mesas, red rock mountains, petrified sand dunes, canyons, slot canyons, and in Monument Valley we saw enormous monuments of sandstone.   We drove the gravel road through the park and were amazed at the enormity of the monuments that were created by flash floods and win...

Day 9-- Emma's Favorite Day (Besides Visiting with Matt and Meredith)

Day 9—Page, AZ On our way out of Grand Canyon National Park, we stopped at Desert View, which espouses to be a place where you can see most of the canyon and the painted desert (not the one in Petrified Forest National Park—there is more than one painted desert, who knew?).   We took our children on a forced march up the Desert View Tower stairs, looked at the view for a few minutes, and then hit up the gift shop because.    .   . Logan.   After Desert View, we set out for Page, Arizona to catch a Hummer tour of the slot canyons.   The two-hour drive to Page was gorgeous.   We drove through Navajo land and a gorgeous painted desert.   We arrived at our destination, Slot Canyon Hummer Tours, right on time, which I thought was an hour late because apparently the Navajo are an hour ahead of Page, AZ, my iPhone changed time, and I panicked—and maybe cried a bit.   The Hummer tou...