Ups and Downs

Today was the day we left the Grand Canyon. We got up around 5 am, and drove through part on our way out. So nice seeing the sun come up and so many animals were out. Andrew and Ally loved seeing it that early but Ally started too cry; she was so sad to leave!

They went back to sleep and we headed to Colorado, with a stop planned for 4 Corners. What a DISAPPOINTMENT!!! When we got to 4 Corners, we were told they were doing construction and could not stand at the spot but we could take a picture by the fence. It was awful!! The fence was no where near the spot, you couln't even see the marker!! we walked all around to say that we walked through 4 states but the worst aprt was, no one was even working!! They could have put a gate and opened it since there was no work actually being done. So we showed our disappointment through this picture!!

But on the way to Colorado Springs, we added in an extra stop. We decided to stop at Mesa Verde National Park. They have these pueblo ruins there that you can hike down to and walk through, they were so great!! Andrew and Allly were even able to climb down a ladder into an underground room. The only down side was that they were down road work in the park so the one road that runs through was backed up. So, we got to Colorado Springs MUCH later than expected but it was a great stop.

While we were there, Andrew and Ally got their 3rd Junior Ranger pins! Here they are getting sworn in...they are asking where the next national park is so they can get some more!!

Even though it was a long ride, Colorado is beautiful. In terms of drives, it was definitely the most scenic of anywhere we've traveled. The mountains were beautiful and everything was so greeen, a big contrast to where we'd been before.