Isabelle: Guest Blogger

We are back home in South Carolina. The QB (Queen of the Backseat) and I came home since I have a volleyball tournament tomorrow and we want Isabelle to get her clock straight before she starts back at school on Monday. Isabelle will do a swim practice tomorrow and a dive lesson on Sunday. We have homework mostly covered but will review some more later in the weekend (I've got it under control, Mummy). Jane is still in Phoenix for the ARIPEX stamp show and will be back Monday.

Yesterday we went to the zoo in Phoenix. Isabelle took lots of pictures so she is going to do this blog entry this time. Here she goes with very little input from me except to fix a few spelling mistakes (you can blame me for the rest).

My Vacation In Phoenix by: Isabelle Melanson

Yesterday we went to the zoo. It was a really hot day. We saw a lot of animals! There were prairie dogs, amphibians, a bobcat, and three Mexican wolves. My favorite was a small monkey. He was yellowish and brown. He was a common spider monkey. We got to see peacocks and monkeys close up on a trail.

Here are small prairie dogs. They were very cute.

The giraffes were very tall.

Here is my best photo of the tiger. It was really orange and black.

The rhinoceros iguana had a nose that had something like a horn on it.

Here is a zebra that had a lot of stripes.

This turtle had a hard time getting on the log with his two friends.

I'm holding the earth!

After the zoo I went to my Mom's stamp show in Phoenix. She was one of the judges. There were seven judges in all.  It was by our hotel. I was the first kid in the kid's area. There were games, a very old computer with a quiz, colouring sheets, and a poster that you had to find the stamps that went in the right space.

I was sorting the mail into different boxes like a post officer.

I coloured this picture while we were coming back on the second plane.

We ate at an old restaurant from the 90's. There was dough on a plate at the table. It was like Play Dough. I made a snail and a pizza from it. I ate penne with marinara sauce and a meatball. It was very good. Papa says the name of the restaurant is Oregano's.

One Last Park

We left Gallup this morning and stopped by a little donut shop on the way out. It's not the kind of place you would end up by accident but Westend Donut & Deli sure had a nice selection of donuts. The donuts were great, my dad would have loved it.

The drive to Petrified Forest National Park was easy. The highways here are very flat, mostly smooth, and have very high speed limits. We cruised at 75 to 80 mph (that's about 130 km/h). I hear there are a few places where the limit is actually higher. Add to this the fact that traffic was light this time of year without the usual tourists and everything was fine. It seemed like every other vehicle on the road was a truck and trailer, but that just keeps us at Michelin going, after all trains can't deliver goods everywhere.

The park was neat but the emphasis when entering was clearly on the fragile and limited nature of the petrified wood. We were constantly reminded not to collect petrified wood, and for good reason. They estimate that as much as a ton leaves the park illegally every month. I can't understand some people.

The park also has a section dedicated to Route 66, on which we drove for a few miles as we headed out of Gallup. It's not all concrete teepees and classic diners, but it is a piece of Americana none the less.

My favorite part of the park was the Crystal Forrest where hundreds of petrified trees were scattered about. Isabelle enjoyed it too. The colours and textures of the fossils was varied and stunning. Despite what I said above it is still a hands on park where you are encouraged to feel the fossils as long as you stay on the trails.
There were more petroglyphs as well including one called Newspaper Rock that was very impressive.

The Queen of the Backseat completed another Junior Ranger program and came away with a badge and a patch. For those of you who don't know, most national parks have a Junior Ranger Program where kids of all ages are invited to complete an age appropriate activity booklet while traveling through the park. It helps to make it a more interactive adventure for everyone. At the end the booklet is reviewed by a Park Ranger and questions are usually asked of the child to make sure they understood, mostly things like: Why is it important to protect the park, why shouldn't we feed the animals, what was the best part, and so on. The junior Ranger then takes an oath to protect the park and respect the environment and usually ends up with a badge, or even better, a patch. The ranger usually tries to sneak in a part about always cleaning their room but it never takes.

Tomorrow should be the Phoenix Zoo and the Arizona Science Center if all goes well, and maybe even an H&M for Jane.

Here are the pictures:

The badlands as we entered the park from the north

The Junior Ranger at work

Another panorama (it's not the same as being there)

An old clunker we found in the park on Route 66

Two of the biggest ravens I've ever seen who went straight to the back of the car as if we were going to drop some snacks. These two and the others we saw all through our trip were very intelligent birds. 

A somewhat disturbing petroglyph (especially considering the two amigos in the picture above)

Petroglyphs at Newspaper Rock

The colors and stripes at the Blue Mesa

Some of the local wildlife. This one was hardly three inches long.

The Junior Ranger at work again

Some of the petrified wood at Crystal Forest

More wood...

The Junior Ranger getting sworn in by a Ranger.

The week's haul, some badges and some patches. (I suppose we'll need to get Grandmere to sew the patches to the blanket Tante Rhea gave her.)

Four Corners or Bust...BUST!

Today's adventure was supposed to take us to Four Corners Monument and Arches National Park.

I say supposed to because the Arches did happen, the Four Corners Monument did not. Four Corners is the intersection of Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. We arrived about ten minutes before the monument was to close but the gate was already closed. It seems the staff wanted to leave early and called it a day. We watched them leave while Jane got a picture of the sign showing they were supposed to be open until 5:00. It was very disappointing, especially since Isabelle had said that was one place she really wanted to go and see. My take on it is that we were within a few hundred yards and besides, the marker may not really be at the exact location of Four Corners anyway (depending on who you believe), so no big deal. See here for more discussion on this.

The first part of our day went very well. Arches National Park is a wonderful park full of fins, arches, and pinnacles that defy description. We did a few hikes, some in the snow, and took lots of pictures. Isabelle got another Junior Ranger program done and got the badge to prove it. Again it started out cool but warmed up by midday.

On the drive to where we are tonight we found a Geocache so that I could claim one in Colorado. So far that's three for three. Tomorrow I need one in New Mexico to get one in that state.

Again the terrain changed dramatically as we went from desert to shrub land, and then through some grassy plains, back through dessert and into the dark. The change in amount of civilization was also apparent as we drove from deserted areas through farming communities and the Navajo and Ute areas.

Tonight we are in Gallup, NM. Supper was another Sodero Special as Jane picked out a great little Mexican place that was a little off most people's radar. It was called Jerry's Cafe. We had some of the best Mexican I have ever had. Jane fell in love with her stuffed sopaipilla.

Now for the pictures.

One of the first arches you see in Arches National Park

 

 Landscape Arch

 Landscape Arch in panorama

A view of the big sky out here in Utah

 Having a little fun with the camera in front of Fiery Furnace. (We figured out how to clone Isabelle. Now we need to send one to each set of grandparents while we keep the original at home.)

 

Delicate Arch taken from a distance. We didn't hike in the three miles to see it up close. There just isn't enough time for everything.

More petroglyphs near Delicate Arch.

 More big sky as the sun came out in the afternoon.

The girls and me in the North Window.

Turret Arch

The most spectacular view with several arches, including the one below, Double Arch.

 

Jerry's Cafe in Gallup, NM - the best Mexican food I've had in a while, maybe since San Diego two years ago.

A Sunny Day in Utah

Day three took us to yet another national park here in Utah. The sun was out but it started as a chilly day, well below zero (that's 32F for some of you). It was better than last night with the howling wind! We hit the road early again and took the scenic route towards Capitol Reef National Park. On the way there we drove through lots of national forest, in particular Dixie National Forest.

The park itself was closed, which seemed strange to us seeing as it is a holiday here in the US. We thought more people would be visiting on a holiday so the park would be open. Either way we went in and did the scenic drive and two side routes. The Capitol Gorge and Grand Wash canyons were both amazing. At the end of the Capitol Gorge we had our picnic lunch and went for a hike. Isabelle, who isn't usually a big fan of hiking on a good day actually enjoyed herself. She said it was the best part of the day. Walking through the slot canyons was pretty cool, being hemmed in on both sides with several hundred feet of rock hanging over you is a feeling you don't forget. It was cold and breezy at times in the shade but nice in the sun.

At the midway point we climbed a secondary canyon and found "The Tanks" which are pools carved by water in the sandstone where prospectors likely collected water. The view was very good from up there and the exertion warmed us up a little.

The only disappointment, other than the park being closed so Isabelle couldn't do a Junior Ranger program, was the writing on the sandstone walls in the canyons. I looked for the original writing from 1888 but couldn't find it for the more modern graffiti. We did find the few petroglyphs in the canyon and stopped just outside the park entrance to see some more. Before coming into the town of Moab, after another amazing drive through some diverse topography and geology, we stopped at the Arches National Park visitors center. The girls picked up some brochures and a junior ranger book to plan for our day tomorrow.

Tonight we are in Moab and at the third best Western in as many nights. Best Westerns are everywhere here, and quite good by our standards. Tomorrow we will got to Arches in the morning and then probably head south and east towards Colorado and New Mexico, maybe stopping at Four Corners, before getting back to Phoenix on Wednesday, if all goes well.

Here are a few photos of our adventure today.

This video is a 360 degree view just inside Capitol Reef National Park at Panorama Point..

There are so many great rock formations it's hard to decide what to show. This one is called Cassidy Arch. Notice the arch in the top layer of rock. It was named after Butch Cassidy, who may have used the canyon as a hideout.

Me in Capitol Gorge, but was it ever cold in the wind.

A panorama from above the canyon. Note the trail on the creek bed at left and then again about two thirds across at the base of the cliff.

Isabelle after having climbed up to "The Tanks."

A silly photo showing the canyon wall.

Egyptian Temple rock formation

Another view in Capitol Reef National Park

Petroglyphs in the sandstone at Capitol Reef National Park

One more thing about today: yesterday at some random point in our travels, Isabelle announces that she is "Queen of the Backseat!" Well I can't disagree as she has her seat all set out with her snacks and entertainment, books and music. But now it seems to have become a recurring theme. At one point we were hiking back down to the canyon floor and Isabelle jumps off a rock and says: "I'm Queen of the Backseat!" I love my little girl.

We'll be back tomorrow with more from the "Queen of the Backseat" and her trusty tour guides.

Remember, if you are looking at this on my blog make sure to click on the pictures, especially the panoramas, for a better view.

Arizona to Utah

Today we hit the road again and headed to Zion National Park. Just outside of Page, AZ we stopped for a few minutes at the Glen Canyon Dam at the end of Lake Powell. I just can't get enough of these engineering marvels (even though this one is a little controversial). It wasn't Hoover Dam but it was still pretty neat.

The weather started off as a cool, gray day but quickly turned to snow. As we headed north we got more and more of it until there was at least three or four inches down. Thankfully the driving wasn't too bad.

The trip into Zion took us over the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway. It was beautiful in the snow an even better coming back out once the sun was out. We went through the 1.1 mile tunnel and made a quick stop at the visitors center to have a look around. The drive through the park was almost as amazing as the Grand Canyon yesterday. By the end of it the sun was starting to break through and the clouds were lifting. It turned into a great day. We saw some amazing sights.

We put in a few more hours on the road and got to Bryce Canyon about 2:00 or so. Little did we know that most of the park was closed due to snow (the roads hadn't been cleared). The part that was open was great. We hiked a little in the snow and saw some amazing views of Bryce Canyon with the mountains in the background. Isabelle played a little in the snow. The park is known for its hoodoos and it did not disappoint. They were particularly impressive.

One of the neatest things here on the Colorado Plateau is the the changes in geography and flora. We went from desert one to other so quickly and saw changes in terrain and color that were almost too amazing to be real.

I am looking forward to tomorrow. We heard Capital Reef National Park is one of the most underrated parks in this area. It should be good and the weather promises to be good.

Here are a few pictures of our day.

Glen Canyon Dam

 

 Driving along the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway

 In Zion National Park

 The Girl with one of many snowballs for the day

I forgot to mention the Mule Deer we saw last night leaving the Grand Canyon. We also saw some today in Zion munching away at their lunch.

 More of the views at Zion.

 The arch in Zion just before entering the tunnel as we were leaving.

Bryce Canyon

 Bryce Canyon and the hoodoos

 The Girls at Inspiration Point. She was dropping snow into the canyon.

 There was no-one to take the picture.

A picture Isabelle took of us. It was colder than it looks.