Road tripping to Goblin Valley and Four Corners

I was desperate to take a trip over Fall Break this year. Not sure why...it's not as if I hadn't done a lot of traveling over the summer already, but for some reason I couldn't get it out of my head. A road trip of some sort. And what I was really hoping for was a drive up to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. I knew Bryan wouldn't have much interest and so though I did ask him first, I wasn't surprised when he turned me down but gave me the green light to take Lilian on my own. I floated the idea past Melissa and to my surprise and delight, she jumped on it immediately. Her husband Scott was going to be out of town that weekend anyway and so she loved the idea of a Fall Break girls trip. But then as we sat down to make official booking plans, we noticed a red flag on the website for Mount Rushmore that hadn't been there when I'd looked before. Renovations, it warned, were being done through the fall and winter. And though the park would still be open, the museum and main viewing area would be closed. That was a bit of a blow. But by this time Melissa was even more determined to road trip than I was. We'd visit Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt another year, she said. But in the meantime, why not find a different locale? We debated various ideas until Melissa came up with the winner. How about Goblin Valley, then a quick stop at Four Corners on our way to Mesa Verde in Colorado? I'd been to none of those places and a quick google search just made me that much more excited. We booked a motel near Goblin Valley for our first night and then two more nights at a lodge inside Mesa Verde and started counting down the days.

I checked Lilian out from school an hour early on Wednesday and with suitcases already packed and in the back of the car, we left straight from there to meet up with Melissa and her daughter, Maddy. We made it to our motel in Hanksville after a four hour drive filled with snacks, girly chatting and singing along to musical theatre soundtracks. {Throughout the course of our four days on the road we sang our way through Wicked, Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, Come From Away, Waitress, Freaky Friday and Tuck Everlasting.} We had dinner at a local cafe and then settled in for the night. Our road trip was officially underway!

The next morning we continued the short distance back to Goblin Valley. And then...WOW! The place is incredibly beautiful in a kind of otherworldly way. It's no wonder they used the locale for filming an alien planet scene in Galaxy Quest. {Side note: The girls had not seen Galaxy Quest and while describing the plot, mentioned that Tim Allen was in it. We were surprised to realize they had no idea who he was either until we referenced Buzz Lightyear. ha! I think a viewing of Galaxy Quest is in our future. Such a hilarious movie.}

Goblin Valley is truly a delight. The girls had a wonderful time clambering all over the rocks. We adventured up, down and all over that place and even after spending multiple hours down in the middle of it all I still couldn't get over the view.

{The sky and clouds were so amazing that morning...especially against all that red rock!}

A couple of outtakes:
1) We decided this rock formation looked like a face and the girls convinced me to give it a little kiss.
2) Melissa the photobomber!!!

After leaving Goblin Valley we drove through Glen Canyon which equally knocked my socks off. I made Melissa pull over a few times so as to take it all in more thoroughly. I forget sometimes what a beautiful and varied state Utah is.

We pulled up to Four Corners around 5:30pm and found the place closed. What?! It hadn't occurred to me that a place like that could close. I didn't realize that Four Corners was on a Navajo reservation. Somehow I'd had it in my head that it was a monument in the middle of a little town on the border and that you could pull up any time of day or night and happily position yourself in all four states. Research fail on that one. Also strangely, the sign said that it closed at 4:50pm. A bit random? We missed the closing by 40 minutes and found ourselves a little baffled along with a few other carloads of families who were in a similar predicament.

Disappointed, we could do nothing but head on to Mesa Verde to check into our hotel, but decided to get up extra early the next morning to make the drive back out to Four Corners. Out of our way at that point or not, we couldn't be this close and miss it. A bit of a silver lining? Or maybe I should call it an orange lining...the drive up to the top of Mesa Verde was absolutely beautiful and we were rewarded with a stunning sunset.

So the next morning we woke the girls earlier than they would've liked {but later than we had originally planned} and drove back down the mesa and south to Four Corners. Because we were there shortly after it opened, it wasn't very crowded. There were signs limiting groups to three pictures each so that lines to stand in the coveted spot marking Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona wouldn't get too long. But we ended up being able to spend plenty of time taking as many silly pictures as we wanted. Around the perimeter were booths set up with Navajo crafts, art and jewelry for sale. The girls wanted to buy some jewelry as a souvenir and took their time at each and every booth. I don't think Melissa and I really minded, especially seeing as we ended up buying ourselves a few souvenirs as well. Who would've guessed that standing in four different states at once on an Indian reservation would've given me such a thrill, but it really did. I'm so glad we went.

Up next... the spectacular Mesa Verde.

A final summer hurrah

This summer was a busy one. Travel here, there and everywhere. China, Florida, Europe, New Jersey and New York, YW Girls Camp, business trips...but nothing that included all of us. So before school started again and everyone scattered to various parts of the state, we decided to rent a cabin in Island Park as a final summer hurrah.

All the kids were able to arrange their schedules to come, including Jordan with Julianne and the newly marrieds, Rebekah and Tanner who were unsure at first whether they'd be able to make it, so busy were they with getting Rebekah's new 4th grade classroom set up and her lesson plans created. But it all worked out and we spent 5 days in some serious family togetherness...game nights and slumber parties, movies, hiking, exploring West Yellowstone {although we did end up foregoing a trip into the actual park, go figure}, even taking in a play at the Playmill Theatre. Snacking, BBQing, hammocking inside the cabin, reading, Playstation gaming, moose sighting {also a bat stuck in the shutters and a snake in the driveway}, and even Sunday church in a big overflow cabin at the local meetinghouse. It was a pretty good mix of activity and relaxation.

There was a binder filled with information about the cabin specifically and the area generally that Julianne read through shortly after we arrived. One section was all about being "Bear Aware" describing the different kinds {Black, Brown and Grizzly} and what you should do if you encounter each. Being Julianne, she insisted on role playing defensive situations. In one case the recommendation was identifying yourself {standing tall and wide and making sure the bear knows you are a human and not an animal}. Brandon said, "So what...I should say, 'Me, Brandon...You, Bear' or something like that?" The whole thing was hilarious and had us laughing till we cried.

Tanner, Rebekah, Julianne and Jordan saw a comedy called The Foreigner. I'd seen it numerous times but none of them had and they came home raving about how great it was and how hard they laughed. {Also, we've decided to call them "the spectacled squad" when all four of them are wearing their glasses.}

One day we hiked the Upper Coffee Pot Trail. The river was calm and placid where we started, and then became more and more rapid further upstream. And the views were pretty gorgeous.

 Tanner had a great time skipping rocks along the smooth water. And at one point he and Jordan decided to trail run ahead for a bit.

Bryan and I slept in the master bedroom downstairs, but the majority of the beds were upstairs. Brandon, Julianne, Lilian and Jordan all slept in the loft and Rebekah and Tanner took the little bedroom. It was quite the slumber party each night.

After church on Sunday {where I was rather delighted that the opening song was Our Mountain Home So Dear} we drove out to explore Upper Mesa Falls.

 The cabin was pretty perfect for some serious relaxation and fun...

Here I was able to get a picture of everyone below either reading, napping or working on some project or another down in the living room. 

 This grassy area was across the street from our cabin and worked well for Spike Ball.

 Game night, every night.

One evening Julianne, Lilian and I went for a walk around the "neighborhood" where we also found a momma and baby moose. I wanted to get closer but Julianne wouldn't allow it...

On our last day we went into West Yellowstone for lunch and to explore the charming little town and pick up a few souvenirs.

We took a few family pictures out on the deck before heading home. I could've used one more day...but I'm so glad we got the chance to enjoy this family time and bid farewell to summer.