The End of our Memory Making Trip!

Well, we’re on the last leg of our trip with Lucy and Aiden!  We left Capitol Reef and drove to Grand Junction, Colorado where we stayed at a nice KOA.  The kids really enjoyed the swimming pool. 

We arrived in South Fork on August 5. Got parked in our site and started visiting with all our friends.  It seems like half of the population of Sweeny, Texas is here!  Our kids were excited because Donna and Greg’s grandkids were still here.  Right off the bat, our friend Doyle took them on an ATV ride up the mountain behind the campground.  They were super excited about that!  And before we left, Doyle made them 2 whistles!  (Sure hope their parents will enjoy!!)

Gregurek and Koether grandkids might have been too much for the hammock!

Lucy giving our friend Doyle a hug!

 

Later that evening Greg took them to go harvest some aspen trees to make walking canes.  They had a blast, especially when it came to stripping the bark off the trees.  They are quite impressed with Mr. Calvin who makes beautifully carved walking canes from the trees.

 

Whittling on aspen sticks.

We only had one full day with them here and decided the next day the best Jeep ride to take them on to introduce them to mining and the beautiful scenery would be the Bachelor Loop above Creede.  It did not disappoint them!

A lot of old mining history here.

Papaw, Aiden, Lucy and our friend Jim Hensley

Lucy is checking it out!

Aiden climbed down to the creek to check out the water temperature.

Another old mine building to explore

Aiden went exploring inside.

Looking down at Creede

 

We ended the trip by touring the Mine Museum there in Creede.  Very interesting!

 

Check out the toilet!

One of the cool displays in the mine.

A really good audio tour. Had to wear jackets in the cave!

The next morning we left the park at 6 am.  It was fun to just slide those slides in with the kids each still in their sleeping bag sleeping.  Our destination was Abilene, Texas where we stayed at the Whistle Stop RV Park.  They had an awesome salt water pool which the kids really enjoyed after an 11 hour drive.

Saturday we were Sweeny bound!    We arrived at our house about 2:30.  Moms and kids were super excited to see each other!  And we were excited that we had a safe journey with our two grand blessings!

Liz and Lucy!

Amy and Aiden

So thankful for a safe trip!

Papaw checking out Aiden's new dirt bike!  Lol!

We had an adventurous 3,057 mile trip and hopefully made memories they will not soon forget.

Next up will be fun times with family and friends on the trails!

Touring Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef With the Grandkids!

 

Our next stop on our memory making trip was Bryce Canyon National Park.  Our first stop was at the Visitor Center where I was happy to see that they moved the information desk rangers outside under a tent.  The kids did a little shopping and we picked up their Junior Ranger books.  We only had the afternoon and we had missed a ranger talk.  I really miss not being able to see the overview movies as it really would help to orient the kids better about geology, etc. 

 I will let the pictures show what they saw!

 

Who would have thought there'd be an ice cream truck at one of the pull outs?

And they did earn their Jr. Ranger badges!

Showing badges along with a souvenir snake and whistle!

 The next day we moved camp to Capitol Reef National Park, which still ranks as one of our most favorite parks.  In 2016 we spent our summer as volunteer camp hosts here at the Fruita Campground, which was a lot of fun.  It was exciting to be back in the park and see a few familiar faces. 

We stopped and got their Jr. Ranger books then headed for a Ranger talk on “Birds of Prey” at the amphitheater. It was interesting!

 

Ranger Eric

Next on the list was getting a homemade cinnamon roll from the Gifford House.  We watched a couple of bucks attempt to eat pears off of the trees.

Next we were fortunate enough that the park opened one of the apple orchards that day.  Kids ended up picking about 5 pounds of fresh granny smith apples.  We turned that into a pie for supper!

Ron in the background talking to old friends.

You pay $1 a pound.

We hiked a little ways down the Grand Wash trail, but I guess these kiddos are not used to altitude and the heat and they drank all of their water up pretty fast.  They really loved rock climbing!

Lucy and Aiden peeking through the rock!

Aiden always helping his cousin.

Ron and Aiden peering into an old uranium mine shaft that still has dynamite behind the bars.

Kids decided to wade in the creek.

Getting sworn in (ranger is hiding behind the glass)

The newest Junior Rangers!

The campground we stayed at was really nice, Thousand Trails in Torrey.  Kids enjoyed playing on the playground.  And the full moon view was awesome!

Beautiful full moon

I think Papaw had a distinct advantage!

Lucy couldn't stand Papaw's hair that was sticking straight up!

After our stay here we will start the journey to take them back home to Sweeny Texas, by way of South Fork Colorado where we had some fun and cool times!  Stay tuned!