4 Wheels 4 Girls

April 3rd, we drove through a place called Monument Valley, in Utah.

Monument Valley

We saw big mountains. They were shaped like different people and things. I saw a lot of shapes and designs. Everything looked cool and I loved it. I love seeing out my binoculars. We went through a little town. We saw a dog and almost hit it. It was crossing the road.

I am a Junior Ranger. A Junior Ranger is a person who keeps the parks clean and beautiful. A Junior Ranger also helps people if they have a question. You become a Junior Ranger by learning about all different national parks, filling out a booklet, and saying the pledge. What I like best about being a Junior Ranger is getting badges. Being a Junior Ranger makes me feel happy.

I went to a national park and I got a Junior Ranger vest with everything I need. I have a pocket and it can hold my camera. I can carry our food, too. My pockets are big, small, medium, and large.

Me, the Junior Ranger

We drove through a town in Utah called Mexican Hat. There was a rock that looks like a hat sitting on top on another hat.

That rock looks like a hat on a hat.

It looked really cool and fun. I was very amazed.

On April 3rd, we went on a hike to Horseshoe Bend, a part of the Colorado River just below the Glen Canyon dam. When we got on our hike I liked it already. We started our hike and got lots of sand in our shoes. We saw neat plants and cool rocks. We walked for a long time until we got to the canyon. When I got to look out over the edge my mouth dropped open when I saw Horseshoe Bend. There was the Colorado River and there was a bridge that was made out rocks.

The Horseshoe Bend of the Colorado River

We looked for a while and then we started our trip back to the RV.

Greta and my dad looking 1000 feet down into Horseshoe Bend

When we got back to the RV, Greta and Stella saw jewelry. They each got a pair a earrings. Then we got back on the road.

Saturday, April 2, we left Grand Canyon National Park and made our way northeast toward the Navajo Nation. We drove through the painted desert, which was stunning. We drove along the Echo Cliffs, then back to the upper end of the Grand Canyon along the Vermillion Cliffs. All, stunning.

We crossed the Colorado River at Navajo bridge, a mere 450 feet above the river (compared to the 5000+ feet drop at the Nation Park center). On the north side of the river was the “balanced rock.” Look closely, and you will see Stella, Ellie, and Ana at its base in the photo below:

The Balanced Rock near Navajo Bridge

We made our way upriver to Lee’s Ferry, which is effectively the mouth of the Grand Canyon and the only place you can drive to the river. There were a couple of rafting companies preparing for the trek through the canyon; it was impressive to see how much gear and provisions they were packing into the rafts for the 18-day journey downriver.

We camped in the state park there, alongside the river. In the picture below, you can see the Colorado River left of the trees on the left and our campground at the end of the road to the right. The Vermillion Cliffs are in the distant background.

The View at Lee's Ferry

As one might expect, the Colorado River was icy cold in early April. Cold, fast, and beautiful.

On the Colorado River at the Mouth of the Grand Canyon

On April 2nd my family and I went to the Desert Lookout. On the way there we saw elk. We saw a big herd of 28 elk.

A herd of elk

They were big, brown, tall, furry, and had a white rump. We kept on driving and saw more elk.

When arrived at the Desert View and went to the Visitor Center. We looked at books and then we left to go to the Desert Lookout. We walked to the Desert Lookout. When we got there we ran into the Lookout and started our journey to the top. We kept on walking till we got to the top of the Lookout. When we got to to the top you could see the Colorado river. You could also see part of the Grand Canyon. We stayed up there for a good view.

My family at the Desert View lookout

When we got down we looked in the gift shop. Then me and my mom went to look in a different gift shop. I found a water bottle that I loved. I got to get it. And there was a mountain lion in the gift shop!

We finally saw a mountain lion!

On March 31, we went to the Grand Canyon. I saw big rocks when we got there, and I couldn’t wait til the next day because we were going to get to hike down into the Grand Canyon. It was very cool. I thought one of us would fall off, but we didn’t. It was very rocky, beautiful, and colorful. When I started the hike, I looked down and it didn’t look like a long way to go, but it was a lot to go. My dad said, “Don’t drink so much water. Save it for the walk back up.” We got to the red rocks and those are the oldest rocks in the Grand Canyon. [editor’s note: the rocks at the bottom are actually the oldest, at 2 billion years; the red rocks we reached are more like 350 million]. We stopped at Cedar Ridge.

Along the trail in the canyon

Then we started to hike back up. We got some trail mix on the way. Then we got to a shady spot and had some more trail mix and then we walked on. It was very hot in the sun. We stopped along the way and a squirrel nibbled Ellie’s finger. Mama came down and met us along the trail near the top. Greta pointed her out. I didn’t see her and might have run into her. I drank all my water and then we made it up to the top.

Me and Ellie saw the mules at the top. One almost got out.

We stayed at a campground that did not have a pool. I wish it had a pool.

When I was dreaming, I dreamed I was going all the way down to skeleton point with my kids. I think Skeleton point is a campground.

Friday, April first, we woke up and were ready for the the second day in the Grand Canyon. We were in such a hurry to get to the tour that we didn’t notice until we got there that Ana, wearing five of her junior ranger badges, was definitely ready to get her sixth. We all had a great laugh at the way she wore her badges. She looked pretty hilarious.
Check out this picture of Ana and her unorderly pattern of junior ranger badges.

Ana with her Junior Ranger badges

Here is a picture of the awesome Grand Canyon from the amazing view of the rim.

The Grand Canyon from the rim

We headed off to the tour and it started! We walked along the edge of the canyon and the tour guide showed us lots of juniper trees and a yucca cactus. A yucca plant is like a huge ball of spikes with swirly, curly fiber strings. One thing we learned about the yucca is you can use the fiber to make rope, baskets, and sandals. We learned the yucca plant is used in shampoos.

Yucca plant

A juniper tree is a tall, stringy, hairy-barked desert tree with bright green leaves. We learned you can use the bark for a diaper. Here’s a picture so you can see what it looks like.

Juniper Tree

On March 31st, we visited the Grand Canyon. I had seen pictures of it and people told me it was really awesome, but I never expected it to be SO awesome and huge. When we pulled into the visitor center parking lot, I couldn’t see the canyon at all. We had to take a little walk to get to the rim of the canyon after visiting the park bookstore and museum/visitor center. As soon as I saw it, I thought, “WOW. That is BEAST.” I went crazy with my camera and took tons of pictures. Here is one that I really like: 🙂

The Grand Canyon is actually WAAAY bigger than this. Can you believe it?!

We stood on the lookout for awhile, then started to walk back toward our camper. All the sudden I saw some people looking at something in the woods, so my sisters and I all ran up to where the people were standing. There was a big BDLTWH, as Stella would call it, a.k.a. Big Deer-Like Thing With Horns. We soon realized that it was an elk, and we all took tons of pictures of it! Here is a great one that I took:

There's the elk running through the woods! 🙂

When we got back to our campground, we went for pizza and talked about how our first day at the Grand Canyon was really cool. I agree! 😀

Another weird name! This little national monument is pronounced too-see-whoot, and it is in Arizona. It is a thousand year old Pueblo ruin, houses made of rock, that the Yavapai tribe lived in. There are a bunch of ruins to explore and hike through there. We started up the path and we saw two lizards. I would’ve gotten a great picture- if my camera wasn’t still on the black-and-white setting. The ruins were really cool, and I took lot of cool pictures. (after I fixed my camera! 🙂 ) Here are Ellie and Ana in front of an ancient stone wall:

Ellie and Ana standing in front of the ruins

You can see some of the pueblo ruins down the hill behind them. One family lived in each room. The doors were in the rooftops.

Here is a picture of me looking out over the Verde River Valley from the top of the ruins:

Looking out over the valley

I took this close-up picture of the patterns made by bugs under the bark of one of the wooden beams supporting the main building of the pueblo:

Insects turned this beam into a work of art

The ruins were really cool, and after seeing them it made me glad that I live in a modern house. The pueblo was nice, but there were a lot of things that are much improved today.

The hike would have been a lot nicer if it wasn’t so HOT. When we got back to the visitor center, two nice park rangers, Lisa and John, taught us a lot about the park. We went there on March 31. I really liked Tuzigoot National Monument! 🙂

On March 30, we left from phoenix and headed to a place were my mom had never been before. We crossed three mountain ranges. Coming down the side of the third mountain, we came to a neat little town called Jerome on the side of the mountain. We saw small houses and a few cars. The houses were all built along the winding road on the side of the mountain. They were built one on top of the other down the side. Then we drove a little farther and saw stores and people. We got even farther and then my mom said, “Look, there’s a big, old hotel over there.” We all looked and we thought it was really cool. Then we stopped and got out to look back at the town.

An old mining town way up on the side of a mountain

Jerome was a mining town a hundred years ago. Then everybody left and they called it a ghost town because the buildings were all empty. Now people came back and live there.

I had the girls to myself because Jean had to travel on business for a few days. We dropped her off at the Phoenix airport on Sunday morning and picked her up again on Tuesday evening, March 29. It was awfully good to have her back with us.

From the airport, we drove down to Florence, AZ to spend some time with Uncle Dan and Aunt Sarah. We arrived late but were welcomed with open arms. A wonderful neighbor, Wes, invited us to park our camper alongside his home. The following day offered swimming for the girls and very nice time spent with Dan, Sarah, Wes, and Arlene. We all had lunch together; homemade chili and root beer floats.

Our Favorite Relatives in Florence, AZ