Puking in the Park

Wednesday, July 27:  As planned, we started our descent out of the cool, beautiful Rocky Mountains at 9:45am headed for downtown Denver and Elitch Gardens (amusement park and yes the park really is smack downtown).  Before we left David took some photos of the beautiful Rockies surrounding us.

Our RV (home sweet home) in the foreground

Photo David took from the roof of our RV

Remnants of an Old Mining Operation

The downtown of Central City lies below, it is a tourist town

Thankfully the drive back into Denver this morning is faster and not as stressful as the drive up was last night.  I snapped this photo through our windshield as we exited Central City Parkway.

We arrived at Elitch Gardens just after 11am, the park opened at 10am so we hadn't missed much.  It was supposed to be around 88degrees, very sunny.  Ou plan was to start with the dry rides first before lunch and then switch into swim suits and over to the water park.  Daddy and Rachel headed for the big coasters, while Ellie and Mommy chose the tilt-a-whirl and high swings area of the park.  We planned to meet up later.  After our first two rides Ellie wanted to go on the black spider next.

As we were waiting in line, this one a bit longer (20 min) because it takes so long to load and unload riders, Ellie started to not feel well.  She said "I need to go to the bathroom".  Mom started to get a bit concerned because the look on her face wasn't normal.  Just then Daddy and Rachel showed up and Mom told Dad to take Ellie to the bathroom, while Mom waited in line.  A few seconds later and Mom could tell that Mom should take Ellie to the bathroom.  So I got out of line and took Ellie by the arm and started walking towards the nearest restaurant.  Along the way Ellie said, "I need to lay down" and headed for a park bench.  I realized at that point that she was dehydrated and we had a problem (even though I made her drink water after and before each of the rides we went on).  I made her drink some water and pulled her to standing and told her we needed to get to shade.  She headed for the next park bench and said, "I need to lay down".  I followed her to the next bench and forced her to sit up and drink a few sips of gatorade.  She then said, "Mommy, where are you, I can't see you" even though I was standing right in front of her.  She was white as a ghost.  At that point I yelled to David to come carry her to shade, I was afraid she would pass out.

We got her inside a restaurant and put her down in a booth just as she proceeded to lose all of the water and gatorade in her stomach.  We took her to the bathroom where she lost more stomach fluid.  At that point I told David to go ahead and call for the park medic.  They brought a wheelchair and took Ellie to the first aid clinic.  They checked her vital signs, all were fine except blood pressure was low because she was dehydrated.  They monitored her for about 1 hour, gave her water and some crackers.  Medic told me that while the avg temp was 88, it was closer to 90+ in the park and closer to 100+ in the direct sun.  They suggested we get something more to eat right away and let how she was feeling dictate any future activity.

We got junk food for lunch (what else is there in an amusement park?).  Ellie consumed an Icee and a piece of pizza.  Then she was ready to try a mild ride - we went on the rapids ride and she handled it just fine.  So from there we went to the water park and bought a refillable Icee along the way.  By the end of the day, Rachel and Ellie refilled the 20oz Icee 3 more times.  We had a great rest of the day without incident.  We left the park for the day at 7:30pm just as it started to rain, thunder and lightening.

Would you have guessed Ellie almost passed out earlier today?

Mountains Again ?!

Tuesday, July 26:

We slept late today.  We’ve been pushing the schedule pretty hard since we hit the string of National Parks, so we decided to wind it down a bit today.

Had originally been hoping to squeeze in a trip on the Cog Railway up Pike’s Peak.  But it just isn’t in the cards.  David did that ride with his family during their 1980 RV trip of the US.  It was one of his favorite memories.  

We have about 6 hours of driving to do today, the first part through the San Juan Mountains of the Rockies along route 160.  We hit 10,000+ ft elevation at Wolf Creek Pass.  The V10 Ford engine sounded like “I think I can, I think I can” as we ascended.  At the top we found the signs for the Continental Divide and stopped to take some pictures.

After finishing our drive East on 160, we picked up US 25 through Pueblo and Colorado Springs to Denver.  We had originally made reservations for 2 nights at a KOA in Central City, Co.  That was when we were planning to return via I-70 through the Rockies.  Well when we changed our route to bypass 70 and Rockies we should have changed our reservation.  BIG mistake.  By the time we realized our BIG mistake (7pm today) it was too late.  So we had to drive 30 miles back into the Rockies to our KOA for the night.  It is a beautiful vista, but took an extra hour plus of driving East (wrong direction) and 8% grade up and down mountains.  Well we made it and are having a campfire to take advantage of the beautiful mountain air.   Have you ever made Jiffy Pop over a campfire? The directions say absolutely not to do that - but we do it all the time.  Lots of fun. :)

Tomorrow we drive 1.5 hours west out of the mountains and into Denver to spend the day at Elitch Gardens Amusement Park (Colorado’s version of Valley Fair).  The girls are really looking forward to it.

Livin' on the Edge

Monday, July 25:  We awoke at 8:15 am hoping to enter Mesa Verde NP around 9am.  Wishful thinking.  Instead we spent an hour and a half figuring out how to unlock the bathroom door (did not know it could even lock) and then unplugging the "toilet" or as RVers would refer to it - the blackwater tank.  Fun stuff.  :(

On our way about 9:45 am, we entered the park around 10.  Visitor Center is 20 miles into the park up very steep, twisting, switchback roads, so it took us nearly an hour to reach the visitor center where we bought our tour tickets for the guided tour of Balcony House.  At Mesa Verde, there are some self guided cliff dwellings, some 1 hour guided tour dwelling and half day or longer tours.  No shuttle buses so you have to drive your own transportation from stop to stop.  We opted for the most strenuous 1 hour guided tour - Balcony House.

Leaving the visitor center, we went to the Museum and watched the 22 minute video about the ancient Pueblo people and their building of and migration from the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde.  It was very interesting.  In short, they are the ancestors of today's Hopi and Peublo Native Americans.  They built and inhabited the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde starting around 700 AD and migrating away about 1300 AD.

Our guided tour started at 12:30pm.  We drove the RV out to the mesa above Balcony House where we met up with a Ranger and 34 other people including some very young children.  We were surprised.  Tour started out by descending steep metal stairs, then along a paved path, then up a 32 ft wooden ladder to the first half of the dwelling.

We stood inside the first balcony area which had a 3 ft wall on the edge.  Archeologists guess that this half of the dwelling was where the younger children were kept as it is 600ft straight down.  There is a wall dividing the other half of the dwelling, the other side has no retaining wall.  Approximately 40 rooms all together.  Approx 45 people are believed to have lived in this dwelling.

We crawled through a small tunnel to the other side of Balcony House, where we found more rooms and a Kiva.  This is a round ceremonial and community room entered via a ladder that descends into the room.  It is uniquely engineered with a vent for airflow and hole at the top for entrance and for the smoke from the fire to rise.  This one did not have it's roof on.  There are many Kivas throughout Mesa Verde, 3 have had their roofs restored by the National Park service.  This one did not.

To exit this dwelling, we crawled through a very small tunnel on hands and knees then up a 60ft cliff face via 2 wooden ladders and foot/toe holes with metal chains and stantions to hold onto.  We were instructed to keep climbing and not look down.

The 3 girls were very glad to be back ontop the Mesa.  We have no idea how the ancient people managed to live for so many hundreds of years literally on the cliffs.  David wanted a vista picture of Balcony from the Mesa across.  So we parked at Soda Canyon Overlook and he walked 1.5 miles round trip to get the picture of the dwelling we had just visited.  While he was doing that, the girls made lunch in the RV.

We then traveled back to the museum area to do the self guided tour of Spruce Tree House.  This is a larger dwelling consisting of over 100 rooms and 8 Kivas.  It is lower in the canyon, closer to the canyon floor than Balcony House.  It requires a 1 mile trek on paved switchback path into the Canyon.  On the way down we found this cliff overhang and told the girls to pose as if they really liked each other just for a moment. :)

The photo above is of Ellie descending into one of the 3 restored Kiva's.  The ceiling is supported by almost a foot of clay above wood beams.  This same ladder style is how the ancients went in and out of their Kivas.  While it was cool down there, Mom did not think the air flow was fresh enough.  So we only stayed down for a few minutes.

We hiked back up the path and made the hour drive out of the park around 4:30pm.  We started driving East hoping to get across the San Juan mountains before dark.  But our progress just wasn't fast enough. So about 8pm we pulled into our 3rd try RV Park and found the last available site, whew!  We are camped in Pagosa Springs, CO, in the middle of the mountains and it is a lovely cool evening.  They have a lot of hummingbirds here.

Four States in One Day

Sunday, July 24:  We left Tusayan, AZ this morning and drove East back through Grand Canyon National Park.  We stopped at Desert View Watchtower again to take a few last photos of the Canyon and get our NP passport book stamped (we've done that at each of the NPs so far).

Most of the drive today was making our way East across Arizona.  We drove past more red and white plateaus, it is truly beautiful landscape.  Once outside the park driving East, the rest is Native American owned land including our one tourist stop today:  Four Corners.  This is the spot where the state lines of Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico meet at one spot forming four corners.  The monument is run and maintained by the Navajo tribe.  It costs $3/person to enter the area.

We went and stood in line along with the other tourists awaiting our turn to actually stand on the spot where four states meet and take pictures.  Rachel and Ellie did this, then David had Ellie run in a circle crossing the four states while he took video.

We also spent a little time visiting the souvenir vendors and picked up a few small items.  Then it was back on the road to our destination, Mancosa, Colorado which is just 1/2 mile outside Mesa Verde National Park which we will be visiting tomorrow.   Oh and we couldn't resist sending the photo below to Nana.  David always said we'd get use of the hallway sink someday - It's Rachel's cosmetic counter.

Sore Butts

Saturday, July 23:  Rachel titled this one - just so you know.  Today is our Mule trail ride.  In case you didn't know (Ellie did but the rest of us didn't - way to go Cedarcrest);  Mules are bred from a female horse and male donkey.  They are larger, heavier (1,100 to 1,300lbs) and have more rounded backs than horses.

Our ride was scheduled to begin at 1pm, so we packed our sandwiches with us late morning and headed via the shuttles back into Grand Canyon Village.  We were required to wear long pants, long sleeve shirts, and hats.  Cameras and all glasses had to be on a string, lanyard or croakies.  No backpacks.  We were provided our own new personal Bota Bags for water.

We were in a group of 20 riders.  Our guides were Dallas, Kenny and Utah.  These were real cowboys, chaps, spurs, dusty 10 gallon hats and all.  Ellie mounted first onto Cracker Jack a small white mule.  Rachel was next onto Buckshot.  Followed by Mom on Charlotte (in the photo below I am in the pink shirt and white hat next to Rachel) and Dad on Lucy - Lucy was one of the biggest mules in the group.  They have 150 mules at the barn.  As everyone mounted, the Mules were anxious to get going many pushing their way to the front of the "line".  Despite the best efforts of the guides, we all got separated from our families and they decided it best we just go in the order the Mules decided and they would reshuffle us into our families on the way back.

We rode through the Kaibab Forest.  About half way to our destination, on a hill, Kenny yelled out "Pitstop" - Ellie's mule, CrackerJack, had stopped and spread his legs to take a long leak - we all put our mules in "park" until instructed to ride on.   After 1hr and 15min of riding we made it to the Vista called The Abyss because it is the longest drop straight down the Canyon - 1 mile.  It is also the widest part of the Canyon - 18 miles across.  We dismounted our mules and walked out to the vista where we stayed for 20 minutes - and had a snack provided by our guides and took some more pictures.  Did I mention Ellie took 127 pictures on Friday?  We have over 750 photos now loaded on the laptop.

Then we remounted our Mules, with the help of our guides, they organized us into family groups and took family photos.  It was a hot and dusty 1 hour and 15 min back the same trail through the forest to the Mule barn.  The Mules were very well behaved.  Much less temperamental and unpredictable than horses.  However, Rachel's mule, Buckshot insisted on trying to eat anything and everything he passed including bark off trees.

We dismounted back at the barn around 4pm on shaky legs and sore butts.  But it was a great time and an authentic way to see the landscape.  The way travelers have since the early 1900s.  On the way out of the park we stopped to shop - We all bought souvenirs especially Ellie's set of miniature cacti with pot to plant.  We went back to the RV and roasted pizza pie dies over the campfire.  Then spend 90 minutes updating this blog for you all - it takes a bunch of time - that's why we aren't current every day.  But we will keep trying.  Thanks for following us on this trip of a lifetime.  Tomorrow is a travel day onto Mesa Verde. :)

Vista Upon Vista

Friday, July 22:  We slept in a bit and had a lazy morning making breakfast, girls playing on wifi.  We caught the shuttle from the city Tusayan into the Park late morning.  It took us to the main visitor's center of the South Rim where we saw the 22 minute movie on the Grand Canyon - very informative and well done.  Then we walked out to Mather point to see the view.

We boarded the park shuttle and took it to Bright Angel Trailhead.  The Park amenities are wonderful.  There are four different shuttle routes you can take to various sets of viewpoints, lodges, visitor centers, cafes, gift shops, museums and other amenities.  We took the blue route out and stopped at Bright Angel Lodge where we had a very nice lunch. They had some of the old menus from long ago framed on the walls.  Back when eggs on toast was $0.30 and a cup of coffee was $0.10. We also checked in there for our mule ride on Saturday - they gave us lots of rules, weighed us and gave us our tickets.

After lunch we walked to Bright Angel Trailhead.  David hiked down this trail 30 years earlier with his brother Ed.  It is a full day's hike to the bottom (Colorado River). The NP does not recommend you hike all the way to the bottom and back in one day - best to stay over night or hike just part of the way down and back.  There was a notice there about a woman who died hiking this trail in 2004.  She had just previously ran the Boston Marathon - so obviously in very good shape. Her mistake was not having a map and enough food and water for the hike.  Her friend was rescued, she perished.  Needless to say, David and Ellie just went a few switchbacks down to get some good photos and came back.

We then took the red route shuttle bus.  It heads furthest west stopping at 8 different vistas out to a point called Hermit's Rest.  You can hike by foot from that point.  We chose to get out and visit 6 of the 8 vistas - each with a little different vista of the canyon - some with great views of the Colorado River.  It was hot - 95 in the sun, about 85 in the shade.  It was also fairly windy and there were a lot of people.  More than half are foreigners from Europe (predominantly German speaking, and quite a few French).  They tell us it is the exchange rate.  Every time we got back on a shuttle, chances were 50/50 you would be standing vs. sitting.

We hit a few more gift shops on our way out of the park and caught the shuttle back to the town of Tusayan about 7pm.  On our way out of the park the shuttle stopped so we could take pictures of the mule deer along the side of the road.