The day Derek turned 10, I realized that I only had 8 summers left with him at home before he graduated from high school. I decided then to stop "waiting for the kids to get bigger" and to start making memories around this beautiful country. We have been some amazing places and I have enjoyed every one of them. This year was no exception.
Over the last 12 months I have looked into going to Alaska, Hawaii and South Dakota. Once the first 2 ideas fell apart with my family, I knew that I would head up toward Mount Rushmore. I was very excited because Anthony was going to join us for our adventure, but he didn't want to go farther than the Rocky Mountains. So, we made the necessary arrangements for a fun time in Colorado. Then at the last minute, his job pulled his vacation and he was out of the trip. Wanting another adult to join me for the "just in case", I called and invited the unemployed Sydney, who happily agreed to meet us in Denver.
Our adventure began on Wednesday, July 24. The boys and I loaded up the Pilot and headed North. We had planned on going to Albuquerque first so Anthony could show the boys his home town, but without him we decided to take a more scenic route. Instead of heading due East from Flagstaff, we headed NE, through the Navajo Indian Reservation.
The mountains were all so interesting and beautiful. I drove past this spot and then turned around and drove about 5 miles back to it to get a picture of the boys. I think it is just amazing.
By late afternoon we arrived at Four Corners. I have wanted to go to this place my whole life. I don't know why, but I was happy to pay the $15 to get to the very special spot where AZ, UT, NM, and CO all meet.
The boys each picked a hand made souvenir from the Native Americans that had little stores there. Jake bought a sling shot, Carsen bought a tomahawk and Derek bought a snow cone. I bought a beautiful necklace for Carlys and a Navajo taco for myself. Yum!
We got back into the car and drove into Colorado.
It really didn't look much different than NE Arizona, which surprised me. But we continued on until dusk, when we reached Durango, CO. This place looks a lot different than Arizona. The boys fell in love immediately. Because our plans had changed, we didn't have a hotel reserved. The boys quickly spotted one on a river and insisted we stay. Just as we parked the car, the rain, thunder and lightening began. The plans quickly changed from fishing to hot tubing, followed by take out dinner in our room. Our day couldn't have been better.
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