2009 Road Trip

Todd and I haved talked for a while, especially since we went on our Harley excursion to Moab, to bring the kids on a little trip to Moab and then down to Mesa Verde.  Well we invited my mom to come along and decided to take a long weekend and go.  Well the more we thought about it, the more we decided to take our 5th wheel trailer and not have to deal with motels and camp wherever the wind blew us.  So we packed it all up and took off last week.  Little did we expect this to be one of our favorite trips ever!

Me with the beauty of Moab in the background

Gabe and Jake were really excited to get to go camping!  

Here's Nonna still liking us after the ride to Moab.  We'll see how long it lasts!

Sunset on the Beautiful Moab cliffs!  It truly is it's own beauty.  I think Utah is so awesome that way!  Some much diversity in the landscape.

Another Sunset shot

After ice cream, we went back to the trailer.  The kids wanted to watch a movie and since the mosquitos were pretty ruthless we were okay with that.  So here's Nonna on the couch (which would double as her bed for 4 nights).  It does fold down (FYI).

Gabe and Jake in their bed. (Which by day doubles as the kitchen table)

Me & Mom

Our family

Posing for Mom

I like this one of us.  

Here's our little home away from home

I was pretty happy with Jake.  He got out and hiked around and didn't whine and complain

They had a blast hiking to the arches and the best thing I did was bring another camera along.  They took turns taking pictures of each other and, well, pretty much everything else!  It made it fun for both of them.

Under the arch

cute pic of us!  We really were having a great time together.

Good times in Arches.  We ate lunch in the trailer and played around for a little longer. Then we decided to head down to Cortez, Co., to go to Mesa Verde.

We stopped for a minute in Monticello to see the temple.  It's really cute and little.  It was funny to see this temple in such a little town.  A good excuse to get out and walk around for a minute.

Nonna waiting for us to go.

And of course we had to bring our light sabers!

Todd had a box of gloves to use while he hooked up the sewer hose.  The boys probably wasted a few pair each.  If only I had known, I could have bought them some for their birthdays.  I'm sure they are a lot cheaper than the toys we buy!

Here we are at Mesa Verde

Gabe was so excited to be able to see the ruins.  We had checked out a book at the library last week about the Anasazi Indians and how they were cliff dwellers.  It's fun to be able to read about something and then actually experience it!

Ruins

Nonna and Jake

So cool to see how they lived

Jake climbing down into the Kiva

This was down inside the Kiva

Taking more pics!

Jake indulging me!

Todd looking around

While we were hiking back, we got caught in a down pour!  That wasn't so bad but the thunder and lightning freaked me and Nonna out!  Here's Nonna waiting it out under a rock!

The drive between Durango and Silverton was rainy and as we climbed higher, we saw snow!

It was a beautiful drive!  It was cool to see the land and all the abandoned mines dotted along the way.

We finally got to Ouray (you-ray).  We were all so impressed with the beauty!  What an amazing area!  The sign is right, it looks like Switzerland!  Green and tucked away in the mountains!

This was the view outside our trailer.

See how pretty?  

Todd walking around town

The waterfall right in town!

This was actually in the next town over, but we got to try on John Wayne's Hat at the Outlaw saloon.  For some reason those pics wouldn't post!  Maybe I'll try again.  But this was the area that True Grit (John Wayne movie) was filmed.  Anyway, we just loved the area and are planning another trip back, most likely on the Harley!  We want to experience the Million Dollar highway on bikes the next time!  Wanna come?