July 8

Colorado Springs, CO to Dubois, WY

Today was a long day of driving - 554 miles and about 480 of that after lunch. We started the day in Colorado Springs and left our hotel around 7:30am heading to Denver. Our Bible Hour was Luke 22 to John 4. We had two stops in Denver to look at, the Denver Mint and Casa Bonita. I had looked into the Denver Mint at the beginning of our planning for the trip but forgot to look again once our dates and itinerary was set. They offer a free tour but you MUST make reservations. I was reminded of this last night in my nightly prep for the next day. They said they do take walk-ups but a limited number.

In blind faith or desperate hope, we headed to the Mint in the attempt to get in the 9:00am tour as we had planned. They would add us to the next available tour - at noon! So, we went to the gift shop and took a couple pictures of the outside of the Mint. Way to go Dad in ruining our trip to the Mint!

So with a little extra time, we went to Casa Bonita to make sure we were there when they opened. We got there at 9:47am. They open at 11:00am. We wasted some time in the "Everything $1" store and the Family Dollar store in the plaza before heading to the restaurant. Casa Bonita is a Mexican restaurant where the food is only part of the experience. They have a 30-foot waterfall in the restaurant and a cliff diver (see the picture of him doing a handstand dive) who regularly comes out and dives for your entertainment. As well there are gunfights, and escaped gorilla, an arcade, a gift shop, a haunted tunnel and much more to do. We stayed 2 hours!

We then got on the road for Wyoming. If you are looking to go to the Grand Tetons or to Yellowstone from Denver, I highly recommend the I-80/287 route through Dubois, WY. The US-287 road is only 1 lane each way but it's 65 the whole way, except for 3 or 4 towns. You feel like you are driving through "Dances with Wolves!" Along the way we saw a sign for Sacajawea's grave and pulled off to find it only about 4 miles from the road. What an unexpected treat! If you are ever in Dubois, WY, the Super 8 motel is very nice and Chandler's Restaurant (next door) is a wonderful local restaurant with great food and a wonderful staff.

Well, everyone else is in bed except me. It's 11:01pm local time and we need to be up at 5:30am to begin our trek to Yellowstone. Thanks for reading!

July 7

Alamosa, CO to Colorado Springs, CO

This morning was our "special" day. We only drove 198 miles today - our Bible Hour was from Luke 13-21, our movies were the Muppet Show. We left our Motel 8 (not good but no bad) about 7:30am and got on the rode for Canon City, CO. Just outside of Canon City is a place called Royal Gorge which has the world's highest suspension bridge.

The bridge is 1,053 feet high over the Arkansas River. It was constructed in 1929 and made largely of wooden planks and steel cables. It crosses a span of 880 feet. It connects several shops, rides and attractions on both sides of the gorge. Besides the bridge we took the aerial tram across the gorge. The tram is the world's largest single-span aerial tram. We took the tram over and then visited their animal zoo (elk and bison including a white bull bison), petting zoo, rides, shops and shows, and then walked on the bridge back to the other side.

We rode their train to the bottom of the gorge. The train is the world's steepest incline railway - a 100% grade (45 degrees). We rode the train down to the Arkansas river. One of the neat things at the bottom is the remains of the old 30" wooden pipe that used to supply water to Canon City from the river. The train only goes 3 MPH and takes 5.5 minutes from top to bottom (or bottom to top), Everything went well until the brakes failed and Jariah panicked - just kidding, it was fine.

One last special treat was that Lisa, Makaylah and I took a ride on the Skycoaster. A Super Swing like the one in Old Town (Orlando). The one in Orlando is 300 feet high and this one is only 100 feet high BUT it is on the edge of the gorge so when they let you go you swing out over the gorge and are 1,300 feet above the river below. What a rush - we have a video of the flight!

July 6

Williams, AZ to Alamosa, CO

This morning started at night, 2:30am to be exact. That's when we got up and then the kids got up shortly after that. We left our hotel at 3:30am to head to the Grand Canyon. We did our Daily Bible Hour on the way - Luke 8-12. We got there and parked at one of the many open spaces at Mather Point and then caught the Kaibab Trail shuttle to Yaki Point. That's the farthest East point at the South Entrance (best spot on the South to see the sunrise and hardly anyone was there - maybe 20 people).

After taking some pictures, we walked back to the Kaibab Trailhead (about 15 minutes). At 5:57am we headed down the trail intending to go down the .75 mile to Ooh Aah Point. The ranger estimate the roundtrip to be 1-2 hours. We got down in about 25 minutes...oohed and aahed...took some pictures and then began our ascent.

They tell you to bring water or Gatorade type drinks and some snacks but we forgot our snacks. Don't do that. Jariah started to have a hard time going back up and nearly passed out. He sat down and waited and then took turns walking and riding on dad's back (making dad's trip up all the more challenging). We all made it back up in about 35 minutes, so we felt good with a 1 hour time on the trail.

From there, we left the South Rim and went to the East Entrance to look at the old tower there and bought our souvenirs there. Finally, about 9:30am we left the Grand Canyon. We headed out for Colorado by way of Four Corners. So far, if there was one "attraction" I would cut from the trip it would be Four Corners. It's neat but to get there is on no major roads (1 lane each way with some passing) and the one road there had 4 construction zones...ugh!

Well, we did finally get there. Here is Jedi visiting his four siblings each in a different state all at the same time. From there we drove into Colorado and across the lower Rockies to our destination Alamosa, CO. We drove 546 miles today. Our in-car movies for the day were the Muppet Show, Ice Age 1, National Treasure 2, and Star Wars 2. Tomorrow is a "special" day we haven't told the kids about. We'll see if they are surprised and if they enjoy it!

July 5

Las Vegas, NV to Williams, AZ

Blog written 7/9.

This was going to be one of our light travel days or so we thought. The boys, Makaylah and I got up early and went down to the Casino's bowling alley for $1 bowling at 7:00am. After bowling a game, we joined Lisa and Makenzie in loading the van and then heading to breakfast. Traveling out of Las Vegas we went to the Hoover Dam. It is one of the most impression feats of human engineering. The picture is of the kids standing in Nevada (right foot) and Arizona (left foot) in the middle of the dam.

From the Hoover Dam we went south to Lake Havasu City, AZ to visit the old London Bridge. It is quite the drive into the desert and the Lake itself is impressive. We got out of the fan and hit heat that we NEVER have in Florida. I think it was over 100 plus extra from the heat index. The bridge was purchased and moved from London to Arizona by a man looking to preserve it and to bring some attention to his home area.

Leaving Lake Havasu City we headed back towards Kingman, AZ to make our way to Williams, AZ for the night. About 20 miles west of Kingsman we noticed a real shudder in the back of the van and both back tires seemed to be shaking. We pulled over and I used my unskilled, untrained ability as a mechanic to check the tires - nothing noticeable. We got back on the road and went 20 MPH under the speed limit. Pulled off again in 20 miles and let the van cool down and re-examined it again - nothing. Got back on the road and about 10 minutes later blew out the driver-side rear tire. We called AAA to come help change tire (not that I couldn't) so we could get a recommendation on who we could get a tire from on Sunday evening of a holiday weekend. The mechanic came and immediately called a tire guy who was still open (4:00pm) and was willing to stay open until we got there. $400 and 4 hours after the tire blew, we were back on the road with new tires (the one that blew and 2 others were original tires - 6 years old with only 48,000 miles).

Instead of arriving in Williams around 4:00-5:00pm we got in around 9:00pm and needed to get to bed to get up by 2:20am to head to the Grand Canyon. As you can see, the kids were wiped out by the time we got there. Our only lingering issue with the van (besides some finishing attachments to the back panel near where the tire blew) is that the gas line (from where you put gas into the van) is not attached as it should and leaks when gas is being put into the van (not after it is in the tank only when in the line going into, not out of, the tank). I have crawled under the van several times and tried to tape it, and it has slowed or temporarily stopped the leak. It will be good until we get home. What an adventure!

July 4

Benson, AR to Las Vegas, NV

Blog written 7/9.

We left our hotel in Benson and headed south to Tombstone, AZ. It only took about 45 minutes to get there and our first stop was the Boothill cemetery. The cemetery is free to enter through a souvenir shop and the people there are very friendly. You can get a brochure to help you walk through the cemetery and find the notable tombstones or notable people. The tombs of those killed in the gunfight at the OK Corral are there as well as the men hanged for the Bissel massacre.

From there, we went into town and to the site of the OK Corral. You can only get to the actual site if you buy an admission ticket - we didn't. Besides, we were there early and they didn't have a show yet and we were looking to leave by their first show because of the special parade for the 4th of July. Better than any show, is walking through the town, it's like walking back in time - wooden sidewalks, old shops, original buildings, etc. This is one of our kids' favorite stops on our trip.

From Tombstone we drove to Las Vegas, that's 505 miles of driving for the day and over 8 hours of driving. We got into Vegas, after a short drive into California so they kids could say they visited that state, around 6:00 pm. After dinner and getting settled in our hotel/casino, we caught their free shuttle to the Strip. We immediately headed down to Treasure Island to see if we could catch any of their out-front show. We caught the fireworks as the end. We then went back to the Mirage and watched their Volcano eruption. It was pretty good.

We then tried to head back up to the Bellagio to watch the fountains. We got caught in the crowd (Las Vegas - Saturday night - July 4th) in front of Caesar's Palace during their fireworks celebration for the 4th. We finally broke through and got back down to the Bellagio and got to see fountains at night - what a show! Fighting our way back through the crowd to our shuttle bus stop (and onto our shuttle bus), we got back to our hotel and to sleep around 11:30pm.

Overall, the kids were less than impressed with Las Vegas but the pressing crowds were overwhelming.

July 3

Carlsbad, NM to Benson, AZ


We got up early (5:00am) this morning so we could eat breakfast (6:00am - hot breakfast at Holiday Inn Express) and leave for Carlsbad Caverns by 7:00am. Well, the kids did so well, we left 20 minutes early and got to the park early. That gave us time to take some extra photos including some at the opening sign, some wild deer we saw on the cavern road, and some scenery around the National Park center. We were the 2nd family to arrive at the center but had to wait for it to open (about 15 minutes).


We had bought an annual national park pass (highly recommend it if you are going to multiple parks) and so we just waited in line to get our tickets, then watched a movie about the caverns and at 8:30am started our walk into the caverns. There are two self-guided routes you can take: the natural entrance and the big room route. We were told the first takes 1 hour and the second takes 1.5 hours but if you are not pressed for time, you could do both. Well, we were looking to leave around 11:00am so we thought we might have the time.


We started down the natural entrance after a brief orientation from the park ranger. We nicknamed Jariah, "Guano", after the report and he thinks it's funny but then when doesn't a 10-year old boy think poop is funny? The wonder of the entrance is how people years ago ever really got into or out of the cave safely. We finished this route in about 40 minutes - way to go Team Kroll.


We then launched out into the Big Room route and finished it in 40 minutes - taking our time to see and enjoy the cavern and take a bunch of pictures. I think since we were in the first couple into the cavern and there was no one really in front of us, we could move at our own pace. After leaving the cavern, we spent a little time in the gift shop, and a little money, before heading out to our next hotel in Benson, AZ (a trip of 452 miles).


On the way, we drove around and through the Guadalupe Mountain National Forest - not planned but what a blessing! We then ended up passing back into Texas (the kids thought we were done with Texas having driven over 700 miles in Texas), through El Paso, back into New Mexico and then into Arizona. Our Bible Hour was Matthew 23-28 and our in-car movies of the day were the Mummy 3 and The Two Towers. We got to our hotel early and ate (first time for Lisa and kids, first time in 35 years for Tim) at a Jack in the Box right next to our hotel. Kids are swimming before bed. We head out tomorrow for Tombstone and then Las Vegas.


Pray for Dave and Cindy Bintz as they travel to Spain today. We thank God for Bob Rajewski (he sold us our great van which is doing spectacular on this trip)!

July 2

San Antonio, TX to Carlsbad, NM



We left our hotel around 8:30 am this morning and headed downtown to the Alamo. Jordan gave his report on the Alamo on the way there. We visited for about 1.5 hours and then walked around the surrounding area and the Riverwalk again for another 1.5 hours (shopping for souvenirs). We left San Antonio around 12:00 pm.



We drove to Carslbad, NM. A trip of about 480 miles. Our Bible hour was Matthew 15-22. Our in-car movies were I, Robot and Benji. We got a little lost and endded up at Stonehenge. Not really. We stopped by Ingram, TX and visited Stonehenge II (Texas actually has two such replicas - the other is in Odessa). The kids not only liked the Stonehenge replica but the Easter Island Head replica - given the "Dum Dum" character in the "Night at the Museum" movies. We got pictures of Jedi picking his nose and Makaylah catching a "booger" when he sneezed.


We drove for over 250 miles on I-10 towards El Paso - the speed limit is 80! We then spent a couple of hours on SR-285 which looks like nothing on the map but is 70 MPH, wide, flat and the most desolate road we have travelled for this trip. We came over one ridge and in the distance I could see a water tower. We measured it and it was 16.5 miles away - now that's flat and desolate!

Finally got to Carlsbad, NM and had time for dinner, swimming and laundry. Some last minute "go to sleep!" to the kids while I write this and soon we should be in bed. It's 9:19 Mountain Time (first time Lisa or any of the kids have been in Mountain time) and we need to start our day around 5:00am so we can eat breakfast and leave the hotel by 7:00am. We head to Carlsbad Caverns first thing in the morning.