Twelve (gulp!)

Annabel turned 12 years old yesterday, which is a bit of a shock to both Jordan and I!  She is such a kind, smart kiddo - we aren't sure how we lucked out.  Annabel is a great friend and super helpful with little ones. 

She especially loves animals.  She would still like to do some type of dog training when she is older - perhaps for service or military dogs.  While this may change over the years, we're pretty sure that her love for animals won't.

Annabel really connected with her inner strength this summer, crushing long distance hikes despite her occasional lack of enthusiasm and altitude sickness.  She pushed through and learned a lot about herself in the process. 

We are very proud of and love you girlie!

Hometown Perks

We finally feel like we are settled in our new home here in Wyoming.  There are a bunch of perks:

-Starbucks is only 1.1 miles from our driveway (happy dance!  happy dance!)
-There are a plethora of dining options.
-The sun shines here a lot - even in the winter.
-We enjoy big city amenities with a distinct, welcoming home town feel.
-Most importantly, we get to hang out with Jordan's grandparents.

Grampa has taken Thane out to the ranch on several occasions to learn about the authentic cowboy life, while Gramma and Annabel enjoy baking and hanging out at home.  Grampa and Jordan have even taken Thane hunting a time or two, much to Thane's delight.  Another perk is that wildlife is plentiful here in Wyoming.  With a small town plot, we aren't able to raise our meat but are grateful for this beautiful state's abundant elk and deer which will keep us fed over the winter months.

It's been an adjustment, but life is good!

Halloween

Happy Halloween from Lilo and Stitch!

Thane - the First Decade

This little man recently celebrated his 10th birthday.  We are so grateful that God chose him to be in our lives.  He continues to love the great outdoors, especially huntin' and fishin' (although quite honestly he'd prefer if he were always catchin').

He's a great helper, and a good friend.

It's been fun to watch him grow and mature.  Thane is settling into life here in Wyoming, and he still talks about being a cowboy rancher game warden when he grows up.

Happy Birthday Thane - we love you!

Staking Our Claim

Last week we closed on a 2.3 acre parcel of land in a small subdivision just outside of the Sheridan city line.  The area is not super developed, and it's close proximity both to town and Jordan's grandparents make it ideal.  The gorgeous view of Cloud Peak in the Big Horn Mountains isn't bad either.  We hope to break ground in early spring.  To be continued...

Town House

Shortly before our RV trip, Jordan and I drove to Wyoming with a 26 ft UHaul full of our junk, er, stuff.  It was an exhausting 44 hr trip followed by a long day of moving all of our earthly possessions into a storage unit while battling altitude sickness.  Later we put an offer on this quaint little house in the city.  The house wasn't technically on the market, so we bought it sight unseen.  A gamble (we know), but the location and spacious grounds were perfect.

 

While we have since decided that we are going to build a house just out of town, we are definitely enjoying our new home.  We especially love the courtyard and lush gardens.

Unfortunately the infamous Lentz climate curse is running at full strength.  Every time we move to a new town, we experience the worst winter weather the area has seen in years.  True to form, since mid-October Sheridan has had more than a handful of snow storms with temperatures reaching below zero on a few occasions.  Still, we are happily fitting in to our new life here.  We just wish we could have enjoyed the garden more!

The End of the Road

On September 17th we parked the trailer for the last time on our trip.  What an adventure!  By the numbers:

• 13,010.6 miles
• 310 hours 46 minutes of driving
• 1,318.3 gallons of gas
• 81 days
• 30 stops
• 20 states
• 15 sets of family members seen
• 7 sets of friends visited
• 19 national & state parks and monuments 
• 1 Presidential Library
• 26 hiking trails
• 88.8 miles of hiking

To quote Dickens, it was definitely the best of times and the worst of times.  Trips like these tend to bring out the very best and worst in each of us.  But through it all, we learned to appreciate each other's strengths and forgive weaknesses.  We are extremely grateful for our amazing families and all of the incredible friends who hosted us.  We treasured each moment we were able to spend with you.  If you are ever in Wyoming, stop by for a spell.  We definitely owe ya!

Bryce Canyon and Willis Creek Slot Canyon

Yesterday we visited our last national park of the trip.  Bryce Canyon is small, but really interesting.  The canyon sits at the top of the Colorado Plateau (Zion lies toward the middle and the Grand Canyon at the bottom), and it is filled with hoodoos which are columns of rock weathered over the ages.  Each of these pinnacles is stranger than the next.

We hiked to the bottom of the canyon and walked a loop through the hoodoos and sparse vegetation, offering some unique sites.

The kids stated it best when they proclaimed that "it looks like a Dr. Suess book!"

Afterward we traveled on some pretty rugged back roads to a hike in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.  The Willis Creek Slot Canyon trail literally follows the creek through several "slots," which are narrow canyons formed by the force of rushing water.

We literaly had to jump back and forth across the creek almost the entire 4+ mile hike, but it was totally worth it.  This was easily one of my favorite hikes of the trip. 

Today we are taking a rest day before we head north toward our new home in Wyoming.  It's hard to believe that we are almost done with this great adventure.  It's been an incredible experience.

Zion - Day 2

Zion was so beautiful that we just had to go back a second day.  First we hiked up the Watchman Trail.  This was a moderate 3.3 mile trail that led to the top of a butte with a striking view of the valley.  Along the way we spied a (thankfully) small snake in the trail.

Later we opted to drive to the eastern entrance of the Park to see the topography above the canyon walls.  To get to this less crowded area of the Park, you have to drive through a 1.1 mile tunnel that was blasted through a mountain in the 1930's.  On the other side the scenery is quite dramatic.

The mountain tops are rugged and beautiful, and it's easy to see the various layers that form them.  One particularly striking example is called Checkerboard Rock.

Seeing wildlife in the southwestern national parks is difficult in the oppressive heat of summer, and we have been disappointed to not see more.  Thane and Jordan especially were hoping to glimpse a mountain goat or two.  We briefly spied the back side of a few sheep on one of our hikes, and we were grateful for this rare glimpse.  But then on our way back, Jordan spotted another group of desert sheep.  We followed them slowly until they crossed the road right next to us.  What luck!

We drove another mile or two when Jordan spotted another pair of rams on a stone shelf just off the road.  We parked the truck and watched them eyeing each other (and even butting heads once) for about 30 minutes. 

It was a truly incredible experience - one that we won't soon forget!

Zion National Park

On Tuesday we headed to the glorious Zion National Park.  Wow - this is truly one of the most beautiful places we have ever traveled!  The Park is not big, but it is popular and visitors are required to ride a shuttle through the Park this time of year.  We opted to travel to the last line of the shuttle service and then work our way back.

First we hiked the easy 2 mile Riverside Walk, which follows the north fork of the Virgin River. 

 

We made some brief stops to get some photos, and then we hiked part of the Kayenta Trail (the rest has been temporarily closed due to a recent rock slide).  We thought that the view of up the canyon was spectacular.

And it was, until we turned the next corner to see THIS:

When we finished this trail, we headed across the way to hike the Lower Emerald Pools trail which features cool hanging gardens.  Zion is located in the high desert, and it was fascinating to see these gardens nourished by water that flows in nearby heights into porous sandstone.  The water continues to work its way through layers of sandstone until it hits a tough rock layer where it seeps out of the sandstone sideways watering ivy and bushes that grow in the moist environment.  The excess water then flows into pools that turn green with algea (hence the emerald pool name).

This was a tough place for the kids to earn their Junior Ranger badge - the Park takes education very seriously.  Still the Park staff do retain a sense of humor, as is evident by this sign we spotted in one of the shuttle buses.

If you ever get a chance to visit Zion, you should absolutely do it.  Just don't feed the animals!

Arches National Park

On Sunday we visited Arches National Park.  While the scenery is super cool, we were a bit underwhelmed.  Perhaps it was because the park is crowded or that it somehow felt lacking after Canyonlands, but either way we all agreed that this was not our favorite. 

That's not to say that it wasn't beautiful in its way.  The beginning of the park, especially, has a great mountain view with a field of undulating rocks that almost looked like a funky eiderdown quilt. 

We all enjoyed the walk around balancing rock, which is much larger (and more precariously perched) than it appears in the following photo:

The far end of the park holds the remnants of an old ranch nestled in a valley.  We enjoyed exploring this area, and the kids especially liked the close up view of some Indian petroglyphs from a rock outcropping on the ranch.

As we are in the last days of our great adventure, Jordan and I are really proud of how much the kids have grown over the summer.  They've been pushed to their limit both physically and emotionally, and they have met each challenge with grit. 

We are all looking forward to getting settled and back into a routine, but we will all hold special memories of our trip.  Only a few more stops before we reach our new home...

Canyonlands

In the race for best underrated national park, Canyonlands is a definite contender.  While not quite as dramatic as the Grand Canyon, Canyonlands is magnificent.  In fact, Jordan and I both agree that Canyonlands might be even better.  The Grand Canyon is narrow, and it is difficult to gain a clear perspective of its immensity.  Canyonlands, on the other hand, offers wide vistas and distinct layers in the canyons to appreciate. 

We first hiked to the top of Aztec Butte, which offered some great views of the park.  

It's hard to see, but the butte has a ledge around the top where you can hike and explore some old grain storage bins tucked away from the elements.  The kids especially loved this part of the hike.

We did some more hiking and then stopped at numerous scenic viewpoints around the park loop.  Each view was more striking then the next!

To be honest, we were all starting to get slightly weary of seeing "more red rocks."  In fact on the way to Canyonlands I told the kids not to expect much.  Boy do I stand corrected!  We are grateful to this guy for his love of the great outdoors and hiking.  We may grumble and complain on the way up, but the sweat and effort have been totally worth it!

Monument Valley and Bluff Fort

Today we traveled to the iconic Monument Valley.  We've seen this place in numerous films, and it was pretty amazing to be able to see it in person.  The Valley is located on a Navajo Reservation, and the museum at the Visitor Center featured the role of the Navajo code breakers during World War II.  What a meaningful contribution to the war effort!

There are numerous ways to explore the valley, but we opted to drive on our own.  While it was great to be able to view this gorgeous spot without distraction, the road through the valley is very rough. 

Still the drive was worth it, and even the kids were impressed.

On our way back to the RV park, we made an unplanned stop at a small living history museum called Fort Bluff.  Nestled in a narrow valley, Fort Bluff was a village first inhabited by a group of Mormon missionaries.

The museum featured some of the original log cabins, numerous reproduction wagons, a mill, a blacksmith, a community hall/church and a school house.

We saw a short film about the pioneers who settled this area.  Settling the west involved back- breaking and often fatal work.  Topography in the west is stunningly beautiful, but it is in many ways a brutal environment.  We are grateful for those who settled this area, and for those men who helped to keep it free.

Mesa Verde

Yesterday we visited the fabulous Mesa Verde Park in southern Colorado.  This has been on my bucket list for awhile, and the park didn't disappoint!  Our first stop was a tour of Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling in North America.  Built between 1190 and 1260, the dwelling was home to about 150 people.

It was fascinating to learn about the ancient Puebloan people who built numerous cliff dwellings throughout the surrounding area. We had fun speculating on the surprised reactions of early explorers who were just riding/walking through the mountains (like the ones below) to find these spectacular ruins nestled in the cliffs and overhangs. 

Our park ranger was a top notch tour guide.  In addition to his extensive knowledge of the park and Puebloan Indian culture, he had numerous anecdotal stories of his years at the park.  One included a special tour with Charlie Daniels (of "Devil Went Down to Georgia" fame), who sat right in the spot where Annabel was seated.  Annabel thought this was pretty cool, especially since she does want to learn to play the fiddle.

Evidence of the everyday life of the cliff dwellers is abundant.  You can even see where the Puebloans placed their hands to steady themselves as they walked up and down steep stairs to get to/from their homes.  There are even finger imprints in some (see the bottom circle in the photo below).

The Puebloans had two types of pets:  dogs and turkeys.  Turkeys were utilitarian pets, as the Indians used their feathers to weave into other fibrous plants to make material for clothing.

There are numerous other types of dwellings - both cliff and ground - to explore in the park.  Mesa Verde also boasts some beautiful scenic vistas.

On our way back to the campground we made a detour to see the 4 corners monument.  Here's Thane standing where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah all meet.