Five States in One Day

We snagged our free continental breakfast this morning and then bid the Las Vegas Red Roof Inn adieu.  The girls were loathe to leave it, not understanding that there were more adventures in store.  But they quickly lost their train of thought when drove by the enormous guitars at the Hard Rock Cafe.

For some reason, in my head, I had thought the best course of action for today was to go to Bryce and then on to Cortez, CO (staging us for Mesa Verde tomorrow morning), not realizing that Bryce was actually kind of out of the way.  So, we decided to skip Bryce and departed from the written itinerary fairly early on and were not disappointed.

About an hour into our drive we see a little brown sign on the side of the freeway that says "Dinosaur Tracks - 2 miles."  I was driving at the moment, so I hollered back to see if anyone was interested.  The answer was a resounding, YES!!!!!  So, we got off the freeway in St. George to go see what we could see. 

Standing in front of the sheets of dinosaur tracks

Finally, something they were allowed to touch! A cast
of a dinosaur footprint.

Apparently, in 2000 they were leveling an area of open land for development when they pulled back about 20 feet of top soil only discover dinosaur tracks.  As it turns out they hit the jackpot as it is the largest site of dinosaur tracks ever discovered in the world.

They've preserved big sheets of rocks with tracks embedded in them inside of this museum.  One of which was the longest track every found.  Plus, there were tracks of dinosaurs swimming and even one spot where one must have squatted down on its haunches and rested its front feet.

After we left St. George we drove through some beautiful countryside, finally arriving at Zion National Park.  We hadn't realized that this would be on our route, so it was a happy surprise!  We went ahead and bought an annual National Park pass, since we'll be seeing Mesa Verde, Mammoth Cave and perhaps some other sites, too.

Scenes from Zion National Park

The girls were quite impressed by this loooong tunnel.
It even had windows looking out into the canyon.

Had to get a picture of Arthur in front of
Checkerboard Rock.

Not far out of Zion, Jane begged for a pit stop.  Grudgingly we pulled over (seriously, we had just been at the Zion Visitor Center, not 40 minutes ago).  So glad we did!  I think we found the winner of the cutest potty award!  And yes.  I am actually posting a picture to this blog.  It was this little non-descript gas station that had a decent size gift shop (more on that later) and a clean bathroom with this cute mural of a little garden! (We also saw probably the worst potty, so far, at a gas station in Black Mesa. However, they had a gift shop there and Arthur did buy me a very beautiful turquoise pendant that was made on the Navajo reservation.)

She named it Utah because, well, I'm sure you can guess.

So, Jane has had $10 burning a hole in her pocket since we left. (Well, actually $20. Ten from Grandma and Bumpers and ten from Grandma Mary Ann at church for a birthday present.)  She has wanted to spend it on everything from a dinosaur egg you have to soak for two days until it cracks open and produces a toy dinosaur to beef jerky.  But, I had to admit she finally found "her" thing--there was no denying it.  This little fox screamed Jane.  She is a happy girl.

Pretty Sights Along the Way

Look at that sky!  There just aren't words for this!

Lake Powell.  Grace actually took this picture from the van.

Looking back at Grace, who refused to get out because
it was too hot (approximately 100 degrees)

Baby Rocks, Arizona

Four Corners

Dogpile!

When I was about Jane's age, I remember Papa telling me about this place where you could go and put each of your limbs in a different state. I have wanted to go to Four Corners ever since.  For some reason, the idea being in multiple places at one time is just so appealing to me.  Well, twenty-five years later, I finally made it.  I laid down and put my arms in Colorado and Utah and my legs  in New Mexico and Arizona.  Even though it was about 7:30 p.m. and cooling off, the marker still held the heat from the day and felt good on my back.  A sweet girl (who had her picture taken while doing the splits across the marker) offered to take our picture so the whole family was in it.  While this whole entire day was fun--this part was my favorite!

We did arrive at our hotel in time for a quick night swim to get the wiggles out and the girls crashed within seconds of their heads hitting the pillows. I think I'd better turn in, too!  Good night!

I think this is our Christmas card photo, right here!