Schulert Family Road Trip: HoJo, We Won't Go.

On our last morning, Char woke up early to prepare a hearty breakfast of pancakes, turkey bacon and scrambled eggs. We cleaned up our various messes and Joseph took Rosalie on one last wagon ride through the house before putting the moose back in their spot. Grandma Char Char and Charlotte took a nice long walk and picked wildflowers while Zach and Arthur loaded the cars. And before we knew it, it was time for good-bye hugs.

Trying on Jane's mood ring.

There's the Christmas card pic

Good-bye sweet cabin!

We headed down the road to town only to be met by a guy in a pickup truck herding cattle back up the road. We actually had to pull over and wait for the cattle to pass! Then it was off to Walmart for driving snacks and water. Next stop - Mesa Verde!

We made it to Mesa Verde in about an hour. After touring the Visitor's Center, we enjoyed a picnic lunch of one those crackers/cheese/olives plates. Plus, dill pickle Pringles (those got mixed reviews). The kids enjoyed running around and playing "Mother, May I?" until it was time to load back into the car. Then it was off up the hill to visit the cliff dwellings.

Not sure if this is Google street view van or what, but it had signs saying not to follow too close because it was using lasers!

We had all the kids - and Arthur- trying to make all the display lights light at the same time. They are too easily entertained.

Picnic time!

Wanna grape?

This tunnel was probably Joseph's favorite part of the whole trip. And we got to in it on the way back down again!

Charlotte was not terribly impressed. Zach spent most of his time pulling her back from the ledge she was trying to jump off. The dwellings that we had hiked down to on our cross-country trip to Kentucky in 2014 were now closed. Apparently, a year later, a giant piece of rock fell and so it is not structurally sound enough for tourists to explore. They are working with geologists and engineers from other National Parks to shore it up and hope to reopen it again one day. We were fine admiring it from a distance.

Racoon puppet - it's in a trash can! Ha!

Faithful Ol' Blue.

Here it is again!

We had to make it to Flagstaff where our hotel was booked, so after Mesa Verde we settled in for a loooong car ride. Driving days are the worst. Especially when one of the kids is constipated. Mommy and Rosalie spent a lot of time visiting just about every gas station for nearly 300 miles. Our favorite was DinoGas - they even had a fiberglass dinosaur standing outside. Dad bought us some of the best beef jerky I've ever had there! The only bad thing about that stop was that we were immediately met by a friendly stray dog as soon as we opened the door. Of course, Jane figured we should adopt it. Nope. Mom had bought the kids glow sticks for the ride home. So, as soon as the sun set, we cracked those puppies open.

Mmmm - jerky.

Probably our 6th or 7th potty stop.
She really was hoping we'd stop on the side of the road.
Pooping in bush sounded adventurous to her.

When we finally rolled in to Howard Johnson, we were beat. The second we unlocked our hotel room doors, the smell of cigarette smoke hit us. The rooms were filthy and smelly. And there was cat food on our bathroom floor. Grace immediately had an allergy attack. I was so embarrassed for booking it. Heather was furious. She marched down to the front office and demanded the charges be taken off and immediately found us another room at a Marriott Residence Inn. She is amazing. The kids wanted to move in! It had a kitchen and a sofa and a computer table. Jane decided she's going to college in Arizona and living at that hotel. I tried to explain that that's not how it works. But, she can dream.