To my lucky readers, I’m still alive! Neither this trip nor my late night visits to the campground bathrooms have killed me yet! And good thing since our last day in South Dakota was a keeper!

We kind of stumbled upon Windcave National Park.  After mapping out our day, we realized this park would be a nice, easy stop.  And boy it did not disappoint!

First, there were prairie dogs running EVERYWHERE.  They are really cute when you’re in a car.  

But then we spotted our first bison!!! Wow! Who knew that seeing bison would be so flippin’ cool.  But it was.  I’m not even sure they are awake.  They stand there frozen in place. Weirdest thing but damn, we really enjoyed looking out for them around every curve in the road!

And after a recommendation by my dear friend Stephen, we planned to swing by Mammoth Site.  You must make this a stop when you’re in South Dakota. I have come to really appreciate a well done experience and Mammoth Site was awesome!

There was an informative video to start the tour.  It does such a good job explaining how they think the Mammoths fell into the sink hole.  Excellent details without being too hard to follow. This was followed up by a live audio tour of the actual site.  Who doesn’t love a good audio tour?!

It really blew our minds!  The fact that they have unearthed 61 mammoth skeletons so far and they know there are more and more the deeper you go is totally nuts!  

Harry really loved the experience and said it was his favorite spot of the week!   

After mixed reviews for South Dakota, we headed off to start our week in Colorado. The first stop was to Rocky Mountain National Park. We didn’t do anything there except a long scenic drive but we wanted to check this one off our list and get our National Park Passport cancellation stamp! We actually love going into the visitor centers at each park/monument, getting our book stamped, and then watching whatever movie they offer on the site. Comfy seats, air conditioning, and a little learnin’ for your ass!

Then it was onto Boulder! We planned to stay with our friends Mike and Teal at their mountain top paradise affectionately known as Wind Song Mountain Lodge and Spa. And wow, what a treat it was! A real bed and real people other than my family! If that’s not heaven to this extrovert who loves her sleep, I don’t know what is!

Backing up a bit for those who don’t know: Mike and Benj met each other at a nerdy high school, also known as Mass Academy. Mike and I met at a frat party at WPI. Same, same. A few years ago, we connected the dots, met his lovely wife Teal, and fell in together like old friends. This trip, though, was the first time they met the kids, and for us, their sweet dog Bhakti! Harry was especially smitten!

Okay, so back to Boulder. After we realized we had to abandon the RV about half way up to their house, Mike rescued us in his Subaru and we were greeted with an amazing dinner on their back deck overlooking the mountain side. Sublime!

The next morning was packed full of the Boulder Farmer’s Market, a picnic lunch in the park, and swing by the Flat Irons for a photo op!

We did some hiking in the afternoon and after some showers, we headed off to Pearl Street for some shopping and dinner!

Then next morning they spoiled us AGAIN with an amazing, beautiful brunch on the deck and sent us on our way with a batch of home brew cold brew. We loved Boulder, Bhakti, and, of course, spending some quality time with dear friends.

Though perhaps my favorite part of the weekend was when someone in our party messed with this puzzle at a store and it fell all over the floor and we all frantically tried to get it put back together before our dinner reservation.

Oops! I’ll let you guess who it might have been! Hahaha!

It was bound to happen. You can’t show your kids this big, beautiful world and not expect them to want to go off and explore it! Just look at him whitewater rafting in Durango, CO! PURE JOY! Don’t get me wrong, he mopes and complains a lot. But then there are those moments where he is just living his best life!

Hiking: Speak softly and carry a BIG stick. Preferably the biggest one you can carry.

Hot Springs: Definitely go because you might get lucky and see naked people. But maybe don’t tell your parents this because then they will take you to the place where clothes are not optional.

Coffee: If you beg your mother enough, she will give in eventually. (Ha, it was decaf!)

ATV: A little boy’s dream come true! As long as you go slow and wear a helmet! (I can’t believe I actually let him do this, but he only drove off the road once. Trying to say yes more on this trip!)

And finally, Harry has decided he is moving to Frisco, CO. We met up with Benj’s friend Melissa from growing up in Sterling. She has two very active teenage boys and Harry loved every minute of our time with them. They snowboard, skateboard, scooter, mountain bike, you name it! And now Harry is dying to try all of these things! I caught a great video of him and Mitchell flying down the hill!

Thank you, Melissa and boys, for showing us around your ‘hood! It was a blast and we look forward to visiting Harry there again soon! LOL!

We continued our trek across Colorado being sure to stop off at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. It was the first day of school for the kids back home so it was a bit of a sad morning for us. But here is our first day of school photo!

For the second half of our week in Colorado, we stayed with our dear friends in Ridgway. Barthold and Benj met many moons ago through work.

Cat and I met when we all brought our families on a work trip to Ireland (Felicity was 5, Harry was 2, Koen was 10, and Finn was 9). We hit it off immediately and also spent a week in Disney World together that next year.

Can you believe we haven’t seen them in person since then?! Facebook keeps us connected though the kids have grown up a LOT in 7 years! On our first night we arrived to a beautiful dinner on the back deck over looking the mountains. (How lucky are we to have all these friends with mountainside houses?!?) Here is Harry on that same deck with the eggs he collected from the chickens for breakfast!

We spent the next morning off roading over the Dallas Divide, playing around with Finn’s drone (you might have spotted our Lion King reenactment on Facebook?) and picnicking with a view!

We spent the afternoon checking out Telluride, riding the gondola, and caffeinating ourselves, of course!

(Sidenote: The kids we’ve hung out with in Colorado are SO independent. They bike or use public transportation everywhere WITHOUT their parents. They mountain hop to ski and go to really innovative schools where they can specialize in a sport or start college early. Some really neat stuff going on here. Heck, they learn how to drive before they even get their licenses! They just seem like they are well prepared for the world. We really enjoyed our time with Finn though we didn’t see Koen but for a minute.)

As you saw in the previous post, we hit the Ouray Hot Springs at night. It was the perfect temperature and nice relaxing way to end the busy day.

The next day we made the trek down the Million Dollar Highway to Durango for Whitewater Rafting! This ranks right up there with snorkeling as a favorite activity for me!

It was both the kids’ first time. As you know, Harry loved it. Felicity pretended she didn’t but at the end of the night she whispered, “Don’t tell anyone but I had fun today!” Tweens, yo.

But the best part of our visit for me was just sitting out on the back deck at night star gazing with friends. Jupiter, the Big Dipper, and the most visible Milky Way we’d ever seen were just amazing. Thank you, Barthold, Cat (and Finn, too!) for spoiling us with your hospitality, hot showers, comfy beds, and fabulous friendship! Come visit us soon! We love you!

Below I give you a final review of our week in Colorado in the only way I know how. With a nearly 5 minute video that you can barely hear. Colorado is currently at the top of my must go back list for sure! Enjoy!

We spent today driving to Utah so I thought I would give you a bit of “a day in the life” for us on this trip!

First, as you can see above, we take a photo at every new state line! It’s super fun and nearly all of them have a great pull-off area!(Except you Arizona! Lame!)

Next, when we see a cool spot and we have time, we pull-off to take some pictures and stretch our legs.

One of us stretches more than others…

One of us build cairns and then right after jumps off a rock and rolls into spiny grass and comes running with hundreds of barely visible spines all over his body…

One of us sometimes refuses to cook and presents this type of meal to her family.

And one of us books super beautiful campgrounds (Like Dead Horse Point State Park!) with amazing views, spectacular sunsets, and gorgeous stargazing! It’s Benj, BTW.

Stay tuned for a bunch of fun-filled updates from Utah! We’re planning to hit ALL FIVE National Parks (and then some!) while we are here! Wish us luck!

So it was bound to happen, me crying on this trip. (AGAIN, I mean, Glacier made me cry, too.) But the Delicate Arch at Arches National Park was one of the most beautiful sites I’d ever seen in my life.

Now, as most of you know, I’m not a huge fan of hiking. But I knew this was one we had to do. We packed up a backpack with snacks, full water bottles, and another entire gallon of water. We donned our sunscreen, hats, and glasses, and started on our way.

Part of the emotion of the day might have been reaching the end of 90-100 degree hike straight up hill for a few miles? Who knows but the best part is that once you get up there, everyone waits patiently in line so everyone can get their photo in the arch without anyone else in it. And everyone helps takes pictures of each other! I spoiled this one on my facebook page already but damn, right?

We have so many amazing shots from Arches but I’ve narrowed it down a bit. Things are a bit suggestive in the sandstone…

No matter your preference.

And of course, Harry doing his crazy thing.

And this one doing hers. I have no words for this one.

You can find our little dude in here. It was helpful that he was wearing bright orange on this day!

Arches was a hot, difficult, rewarding, and amazing day. We decided to do the Delicate Arch hike first since it was going to be the toughest on our list for the day. Now, that’s my recommendation every day. Start with the hard thing (eat the frog, if you know that phrase) because otherwise the crew will be too tired. This day was one for the books!

Oh, but did I mention that we are doing ANOTHER park today in the same day?!? That is NOT recommended.

As if one National Park wasn’t enough for one day, we had to squeeze in another! Thankfully the drive from Arches wasn’t too long and we landed ourselves in Canyonlands National Park!

I tried out a few panoramas here. I’m terrible at them (can anyone keep it on that line?) but I feel like they give you a better idea of just how vast these canyons are!

We decided to keep this one to a mostly scenic drive. It was really neat but hard to follow Arches for me. Especially in the same day. Harry had to quit on us.

We finally headed back to our campground (Dead Horse Point State Park) which is a site to see on its own and took one last shot at their view point.

It was a long, exhausting day so let me just give you a video recap of all my feelings, shall I?

One really important and quite interesting thing about this trip has been learning all about the Native American tribes in each area. The Blackfeet in Montana (long held Sands family history says there is a line in our family but we haven’t been able to trace it). The Sioux in South Dakota. And the Ute, Navajo, Hopi, and most recently the Ancestral Puebloans in the Colorado Plateau area.

Anyway, just when you thought we were done with Colorado, we dipped back in for a quick minute. Maps just sometimes be that way.

So, today we pre-gamed at Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. What I really loved about this place was that one of the films was geared towards young people and educating them on how to respect these sacred lands. Sometimes we’re pretty sure they are talking directly to Harry. Stay on the path, Don’t pick up rocks, etc. I also loved the sentiment that although everyone wants to take a piece with them when they leave, if we all do it, there will be nothing left.

After this stop we headed into yet ANOTHER National Park: Mesa Verde! Are you guys bored with this yet?!?

We did a few scenic overlooks but the big dance was the ranger-led tour of Cliff Palace! A must-do if you are in the area but note: you cannot book a tour online. You can only get tickets up to two days in advance and you can only buy them onsite. Seems an odd way to do things, especially since the tickets are only $5 but thankfully the line moved pretty quick and we only waited 20 minutes. I highly recommend stopping in the day before if you are in the area early or getting there in the morning. The first tour we could book was 4 hours later in the afternoon.

Anyway, this place is UNBELIEVABLE. You just stand there in awe of what was created so many centuries ago.

We were even able to stick our head into one of the rooms to view some art that has withstood time.

After watching so many national park videos about native people, I think it was great for the kids to finally see something more tangible. And a nice woman insisted on taking our picture here.

Okay, Colorado. We’re really done now. Love you. Miss you. Mean it.

So we decided to each spend some time in a different state. Ha! You all know we traveled into Navajo Nation and hit the four corners today! While everyone else in line took ho-hum photos in a group, we decided to be a little extra.

This area ALSO meant we could check off two more states on our list! As I mentioned before Arizona gets the award for lamest state sign pull-off area. Totally not as safe or as cool as the rest! But we will take it!

And I think my family gets coolest award for how bad-ass they are in New Mexico! This area feels a little too “Breaking Bad” for my liking.

Another thing we do in each state is find a geocache! Four corners literally has a virtual on EACH corner of the monument! Done and done and done and done!

And in case you are curious, I only have 4 states left on my license plate search: West Virginia, Delaware, Alabama, and you guessed it, Hawaii! Wish me luck!