Jammed Packed with Adventure

Day 1...we made good progress, took off at 6:30am and made it almost to Colorado when I (paula) foolishly used the passenger door panel to assist in getting in the back seat of the van so I could watch a movie with Jaydin...all of a sudden Jeremey (not knowing my hand was in the door) slammed the  front door  shut and I screamed. Rob and Jeremey couldn't figure out why I was freaking out until I got the phrase "hand, door, stuck, open door" out.  Sure enough my middle 3 fingers on my right hand were smashed, purple, and I couldn't move them.  The knuckles were swelling as well.  Jeremey rigged up a splint for me using a ruler, some sport wrap and tape.  We put ice on it hoping it would do the trick.  When we reached Denver (actually Idaho Springs) I couldn't take the pain anymore.  We tried to unwrap the splint and I couldn't move the fingers still and my whole hand was swollen and had a heartbeat of it's own.  We decided I better get an x-ray, just in case they were broken and needed to be set properly for healing.  Rob and I left the kids at the Hotel and headed back to Lakewood to visit the ER.  Thankfully the fingers were not broken and the Dr. did a proper hand splint, and hooked me up with some pain meds to get me through the night.   I slept real well that night...LOL.  We hit the road bright and early the next morning.  It was a beautiful drive I was told,  I was feeling a little nausia and took some dramamine to take the edge off and was knocked out for about 2-3 hours. 

Day 2...we arrived in Moab, Utah.  A beautiful little town.  The temp was 102 degrees.  We found a campsite and set up and then headed to Arches National Park to tour.  Upon entering the Park we drove a little while and then noticed that we were almost out of gas and decided not to temp fate and turned around, went into town and filled up and then returned to the park for what was a lovely drive and hike to explore and see all the rock formations.  Words really don't do it justice, it truly was a diamond in the rough view.  Above Jeremey attempts to make it look like he is holding up the balanced rock.  By 7pm we were famished and decided to run into town and get some pizza before returning to our campsite.  It was way too hot to start a fire and cook.  While eating, Rob and I started to hear this rumbling noice...both in denial we assumed it was trucks going by, or perhaps the oven in the back of the resturant.  Neither of us wanted to admit that it might be thunder, as due to the heat we didn't put the rain fly on our tent.  Sure enough, lightening struck and you could see the storm moving in.  Needless to say we consumed our pizza at warp speed and got back to the campsite in just enough time to put on the rain fly....it was hot but we stayed dry.  I was having a hard time relaxing so Rob suggested I use an MP3 player to help me go to sleep...grand idea expcept for the one Jeremey got me had songs by Meatloaf....that's hard rock in case you didn't know.  Not so much relaxing...but it did block out the noise of the campground and interstate.

Day 3, we arrived at the Grand Canyon.  It was a great drive as we had never traveled that particular route before, and enjoyed the scenery and diversity of the land along the way.  We entered through the eastern most point of the Canyon.  Truly Amazing!!  It was hard to take it all in.  We spent some time hiking and checking out some of the points of interest prior to making our way to our campground.  The campground was beautiful and everything we would have dreamed in a rustic setting.  Spacious, shady, easy walk to water, & restrooms.  We set up camp and got busy cooking our meal as we discussed our plan for the next day.  We starded a card game and were having fun when we noticed some sprinkles, so we moved into the screened in porch of our tent.  The rain came down and started blowing a little, so we moved the card game inside the tent.  All of a sudden it was like someone tooks buckets of water and poured over our tent...it kept coming, and coming, and coming.  Soon streams of water came through the seams and we scrambled to move everything to the center of the tent and came to terms that we would be sleeping in wet gear.  The next morning the sun was shining and it was beautiful.  We had high hopes of everything drying out by the time we were done hiking.   Day 4...we spent taking shuttle buses and hiking to different points along the canyon.  We got rained on, we saw lightening strike way closer than one would like, we met lots of interesting people, and we forged ahead trying to capture hikes and photos inbetween downpours.  Despite the rain the canyon views were amazing and we had a great time.

Day 5...Good morning Mr. Elk...would you like to join us for breakfast?  This is the ruckuss we awoke to that morning.  We fixed our breakfast in the rain and ate in the van.  We packed up everything and decided we could dry it all out in Pheonix in no time at all as it had been sunny and 105 degrees.   We made our way out of the canyon and proceeded to Sedona, AZ to Check out Slide Rock State Park.

Who needs a waterpark that costs $25 to go to when you can enjoy the Natural Water Park that God provided for free!...This also is a hidden pleasure that one needs to get off the beaten path to experience.  We decided to take the scenic route and drive through the Red Rock Forest.  It was breathtaking.  You could see the remnants of the recent forest fires that were ablaze and you could still smell the smoke occasionally, but beyond that the mountains, and nature was amazing.  We spent a couple of hours enjoying the natural springs and water slide.  Rob and I hadn't been there for 20yrs and were pleased that it was just as fun as it used to be and that the kids thought it was awesome.

Day 6 through Day 10 was spent with the Arizona Families.  We arrived in mid afternoon and started getting our gear all layed out to dry out in that amazing Arizona desert heat....just as we finished getting things spread accross the yard and driveway...the wind picked up and a monsoon set it.  A monsoon hits similar to what a tornado does....it comes up out of nowhere and blows and downpours.  As everything was whipping around we scurried to gather everything in the shop and garage and then made it inside to wait it out.   So much for a quick dry out!!!  Note that Bob & Dorothy told us that prior to this they hadn't had rain since April 22nd.  They were thankful for the rain...us...not so much, we had had our fill.  Taking it all in stride we had a great time catching up with everyone.  Above, John's older girls (Malaina, Kaylee, & Amya) had fun swimming with Rob, Jeremey & Jaydin in Nana's pool.

Miss Lilly & Miss Daisy enjoying the pool at Auntie Dawn's house.  It was a joy to meet the girls for the first time.  They are 2 1/2 and just precious.  They were a bit timid at first but by the weeks end we had captured lots of snuggles, laughs, playtime, hugs and even kisses goodnight.

Uncle Rob takes advantage of playing tag with the kids in the pool.  Here- he and Jayce (birthday boy, 11) pose for a picture for me.

After loads of fun, playing cards with the older kids, and swimming with the younger ones we came to the point of having to continue on our adventure.  It was an emotional goodbye...when thoses nieces and nephews grab you and hug you tight and whisper in your ear that they love you...it just gets me all choked up.  They are all such a blessing.  We were blessed to spend quality time with Bob & Dorothy as well.  It was great to reminesce, laugh, cry, and share in each others lives.  We were blessed to have family photos taken professionally with all 21 of us.  Truly a treasure as we know that it will probably be one of the last with us all together, as our kids go off to college and we all age.   Day 10 was spent traveling to Buena Vista, Co.  I must mention here that during our time in Pheonix,  Papa decided that he wanted Jeremey to have his 1978 Ford Mustang....this resulted in us getting a hitch put on our van and renting a tow trailer from u-haul and bringing the car home with us.  It will need a little work, but the engine is rebuilt and will make a great car/project for Jeremey as a first car.  The joy it gave Bob to give it to Jeremey was worth the tow home.  Upon our arrival in BV at midnight in the downpouring rain...we slept in the van and upgraded to a camping cabin the next day.  That morning proved to be a gorgeous morning.  The scenery was breathtaking and we captured a photo of one of the numerous hummingbirds that fluttered around the campground.  We stayed at a KOA and experienced the most hospitable, and clean campground ever!!!

Day 11,  we set off down the Arkansas river on an adventure of a lifetime.  We spent the day rafting through brown's canyon and taking in the scenery, history, and challenges of the areas.  Our raft guide, Thad was amazing!  He taught us the basics, entertained the kids, kept me calm and shared valuable history, tales, etc. of the canyon.  It was a trip that I would take again...and that's says alot coming from me...the nonswimmer of the group.  We enjoyed sleeping in a warm, dry cabin that evening and headed out the next morning to Colorado Springs.

Jeremey shares his excitement for his new digs!!!

We stopped and toured the USAFA in Col. Springs.  It was an interesting venture as we had to stop at security and get the vehicle (s) inspected before going in.  We were afraid that it would take hours as we had the topper on, the vehicle we were towing filled with boxes and suitcases, and the back end of our van filled with camping gear.  We must not have fit the profile of terrorists, cuz they just did a quick glance, checked out the car and admired the condition, yadayada and then waved us through.  The Academy was amazing and inspiring.  We spent about 4 hours checking it all out and taking it all in.  Jeremey has this as top on his list of places to further his education.  We will be setting up a more extensive tour in the spring, where he will shadow a cadet for a couple days and experience the life of an Academy Cadet.  As we toured, I have an overwhelming feeling of pride, joy, fear, and reality set in.  16 years ago I wouldn't have dreamed I would be sitting here and experiencing this all.  It all goes way too fast. 

Our trip continued with a hard pressed 2 days of travel back to the fair state of Iowa.  Travel went much slower with the fact that we couldn't go over 55 mi. per hour towing that car.  We tried to keep our sense of humor, and our spirits high.  But we made it home safe and sound.  We are now trying to get a semblence of normalcy....whatever that may be?! as we prepare to go back to school and return to the regular schedule of work.  We were blessed to have these 2 weeks together and will cherish the memories forever.