Daddy's Helper

We had a few things to fix at the new house, and Graydon has been very eager to help!

Mr Brown Reading

Graydon just kept asking me to bring him more books. I don't think he knew I was watching, let alone capturing this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9Csu_ZfJCQ

We made it!

We've moved most of our stuff into the new house, but still have A LOT of unpacking to do.

Almost there!

We just pulled in to a motel in Snyder and should get "home" tomorrow. Graydon had a big day of tractor and boat driving.

Gramps putting Graydon down for a nap

Gramps putting Graydon down for a nap

Ehinger-Schwarz Jewelers in Santa Fe!!

Homeward Bound

On a rather chilly morning in pagosa springs, we're headed for home.

A great day skiing!

It snowed about a foot overnight last night, and we got up pretty early, so we had a few runs on which we got to make first tracks. Even on our last run of the day (around 3:30), we found some pockets of undisturbed powder in the trees. What a fantastic day - woohoo!!

Oh, wait, it's WINTER??

Hmm, all the open passes and nice weather kind of made us forget that, yes, we are driving through the Rockies in January. That is, until now. We've already seen tracks of one car hitting a guard rail on the way down from Mesa Verde, and two other cars in the ditch since then. We're following a snow plow right now (and have a pretty good driving surface thanks to it).

PS: We decided to wait on posting this until we made it to Pagosa Springs safely. Which we did.

Mesa top pueblo village...

...in the snow.

Mesa Verde

It's cold, windy, and predicted to snow, but we're going to look at some 8,000 ft elevation cliff dwellings...

Birthday Fun

Graydon celebrated his 2nd birthday today by playing in the sand at the beach.

Sopapillas!

I love the southwest!

Just before sunrise

This was our campsite just before sunrise this morning.

Pancake Awesomeness

Never did just-add-water pancakes taste as good as at the campground in Arches National Park! Mmmmmm...!

Delicate Arch

This is the one that's on the Utah license plates. The hike up to it was a pretty steep 1.5 miles and now we are sitting on top enjoying the view as the sun goes down. (Yes, I have three bars of reception and 3G coverage up here.)

Which one of these is not like the other?

A trail marker nearly to the top of the hike up to the delicate arch.

Arches

Almost everyone we talk to says this is their favorite park in the area, so we have high hopes.

Canyonlands...

...now with canyons visible. Specifically, this is the Colorado River flowing through Buck Canyon.

Canyonlands

This park is HUGE and very difficult to get around if you don't have wings.

Another Texas Update

Gramps made Graydon a new swing!

Goblin Valley State Park

After a whirlwind car tour of Capitol Reef National Park, we made it to Goblin Valley before sunset!

(we'll replace this photo with one from our good camera when we get those downloaded).

Capitol Reef National Park

After a breathtaking three hours on Route 12, we finally made it to Capitol Reef National Park at about 2:30.

Big Milestone

After a wonderful morning hike through the Bryce Amphitheater, we hit the road (Utah State Highway 12, to be precise) heading toward Capitol Reef National Park. A few miles after entering Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument, which we are just fortuitously driving through, our trip meter for this trip hit 1000 miles.

Bryce Point

Mami standing on Bryce Point with the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon in the background. Our tent is pitched and we've put on just about every article of clothing we have with us. The forecast for tonight is <10 F.

Bryce Canyon,

It took us a little longer to get out of Zion this morning (just so much to see!) so we arrived at Bryce at about 3 pm today. We'll spend some more time here tomorrow.

Waking up in Zion

We drove in here last night at 9:30 and picked a campsite at random. Overnight, we kept adding layers as we got colder. This morning (at 18F!), we were rewarded with this view from our campsite!

Hoover Dam

Tool the full tour - it was awesome (in the original sense of the word)!

Badwater

Lowest point in the US! Anyone want some salt?

DeathValley

With Mt Whitney at our backs, we are dropping rapidly into Death Valley.

Day 2 begins...

... in Lone Pine not far from the base of Mount Whitney! This photo is taken from the parking lot of the Mt. Whitney Cafe, the diner where we are supper last night.

Meanwhile, in Texas...

...Graydon is having a jolly good time.

Tioga Pass

We reached Tioga Pass at about 4:30. It was 25F and extremely windy so we didn't spend a lot of time taking photos!

Yosemite!

This is out first way point, we reached it at 2:10pm on Sunday. It is surreal that there is no snow here the middle of January!

All packed up!

We fit everything (and more!) in our PODS container, and finished this morning. Then we said good-bye to some of our best friends, and now we're off!

Moving Graydon

Gramps had a great idea for toddler entertainment - it's the "taxi"!

We have a POD!

The question now is, will all of our stuff fit into it? If you want to see a video of how their crane system works, search YouTube for podzilla.

California Commuting

Graydon and Daddy took Mami to the train station this morning (since we sold Mami's car before Christmas). It was cold, but beautiful! Graydon wanted to see Mami's train so they joined her on the platform.

Recycling

Eva gave me an anti-hoarding self help book for Christmas and I've actually read most of it! These are all class notes, homework assignments, and academic papers on their way to the recycling bin.

Say goodbye to winter

We're at the airport on our way back to California. Graydon had a wonderful time visiting grandparents in Canada.