California, part 1

 After spending the night camping, we drove to California.  We stopped and got gas before we crossed the boarder (because California gas prices), where we got our credit card skimmed.  So Peter dealt with that across the Mojave Desert.  We stopped in Bakersfield at an ATM and got some cash, and then went to see General Sherman!  I was planning on going to see it the next day, but we were running ahead of schedule, so Peter said we should fit it in on Thursday, so we did.  Best decision ever.

We got there in the evening.  There weren't all that many people there, but I was surprised by the number of tourists from other countries.  I've wanted to see General Sherman my whole life, so I was a little giddy to actually be there.

We parked in a parking lot up the mountain a little ways, and then walked down to it.  Sequoia National park was super pretty, but I was driving (I drove all but about 2 hours of the whole trip), so I didn't see all of it.  The hairpin turns up the mountain were a little scary!

There it is!

It doesn't all fit in one picture, that's for sure.  Up and down panoramas for the not-so win!  Poor Benton's head!

The kids and General Sherman!  They might not have been as impressed as they should have been. ;)

There were these other two trees very close to the General.  They're SO BIG!  Do you see my tiny family?  

The inside of one of the two big trees from above. 

So many rocks!  So many trees!

And a deer.

The bricks make up the size and shape of General Sherman's trunk.

We came down off the mountain in the dark. It was pretty late when we got to our hotel, but it was totally worth it.  And we saw a cayote cross the road, so that was fun. 

Arizona

 After Four Corners, we went to the Grand Canyon.  It's SO BIG,  Some of my kids were not too keen on being near the edge. 

And here's the pictures in reverse order because blogger.

Peter took Elias to the bathroom, so we got separated for a little bit.  We hung out here waiting for him, but he didn't come this way.  Luckily there was cell reception.  It's only a 277 mile long canyon. 

After the Grand Canyon we went camping.  It was our first time camping as a family.  It was pretty fun even though it rained a little.  The storm clouds and the rain coming out of them on our way to the campsite made us a little nervous, though.  Thankfully we camped where we did in Kaibab Lake, which was before we camp down out of the mountains.  It was about 80 degrees where we camped.  Less than an hour away it was 117 degrees.

We hung out in the tent and played games a lot of the time because it was raining outside.  Have I mentioned lately how glad I am I married Peter?  Because I am.  Very.

ArizonaNewMexicoColoradoUtah

 We went to Four Corners!  It's such a touristy place, but I still like it.  I remember going there as a kid.  The kids each got to pick out a souvenir, which took way longer than I anticipated.

New Mexico

We spent the night in Tucumcari, NM. The next day we went to Amarillo and got an oil change.  (When we lived in Oregon, we would always say that's what we did for fun: go in to town and get an oil change.)  I dropped Peter and the kids off at Walmart and I took the van in for an oil change, which took forever.  They were done LONG before I was.

Then we went to Bandelier National Monument.  We took the shuttle up to the park, and then walked around and saw the cliff dwellings.  There were little gnat things that really liked Elias's face, so it wasn't his favorite place.

Brita liked looking at the pottery pots along the way. 

The cliffs were crazy because they just had holes all over in them.  I thought it was neat to see where people lived.  They had a place down below, and places in the cliffs.

We saw lots and lots of rocks.  And some trees.

 

As always, it was super hot.  Elias turned very red. :)

Then we went through the rest of New Mexico and stayed the night in Farmington.  It was pretty crazy to be in just one state the entire day.  The scenery there was BEAUTIFUL!  So beautiful, in fact, that I totally missed a turn and had to back track a bit.  It wasn't too bad, though, because it was so pretty.

Sleeping in the hotel room.

Texas

We stopped at the Cadillac Ranch just outside of Amarillo.  We picked up a bunch of litter, so that was fun. :)  It was funny because as soon as the car doors were open you could hear the rattle of spray paint cans being shaken in the distance as people walked towards the Cadillacs.

It's just a line of 10 Cadillacs that someone put in the ground, that have been spray painted over the years to the point where they have stalactites of  paint hanging on them. It's actually super cool to see!

They had a bunch of garbage cans there that were full of spray paint cans, but there were so many lids on the ground.  We picked a ton of them up, but there were still more.

The view from the road.  You can kind of see the little line of cars.

Oklahoma

 After the diamond mine we went to Oklahoma.  It was crazy how it switched from hilly and Ozark-y to cowboy country almost at the boarder.  We had a detour (I think for a traffic accident, but I'm not sure) which took us on some not-so-nice roads for a while.  I felt like it took forever to get through Oklahoma.  And the bathrooms there were terrible.  Except the ones at the Welcome Center. 

We stopped at the Welcome Center in Oklahoma City.  We were planning on going to the Capitol Building, but we got to the city right at five and I didn't want to deal with the traffic.

It was sunny, and like everything in the South during our trip, SUPER HOT.

We stopped a few cities over and got some pizza for the road.  The kids really wanted to stop at Texas Roadhouse in Texas, but we didn't have time.