Grand Vacation-Day Two-Morning

On the second day of our vacation, we woke up bright and early. I can tell you that American robins are the first bird to start singing, and they start long before the sun is even thinking about coming up. My tentmates were thankfully more oblivious to the noisy birds, so we didn't get out of the tent until the sun was up.

The DeMotte campground was quite nice, although I noted that many trees had been cut out of it. I'm guessing that they were diseased or dead, and the Forest Service didn't want any hazard trees left to endanger campers. There were a nice variety of ponderosa pine, aspen, and white fir.

We were on the road to the north rim of the Grand Canyon before 7:30 a.m. My brother Ed and I were surprised by the big open meadows along the way. We had visited the canyon in 1989, but we found we had huge gaps in our memories.

Being early meant we got a good parking spot, and we immediately started off along a trail near the canyon.

Ah, the early morning view of the Grand Canyon. The gorge going down the center of the photo from left to right is where the Kaibab Trail goes, 15 miles of hiking to get to the Colorado River. I had remembered that the trail was very long on the north rim side, but I sure didn't remember looking at the topography and seeing how far away the river was.

We met up with a volunteer ranger-guided hike and decided to join them. We learned about the different plants around the rim.

Emma didn't seem to appreciate the knowledge. As you can see, she was in the jogging stroller, which handled the terrain just fine, although I wouldn't want to let go of it in the wrong spot! But alas, we eventually got a flat tire and didn't get to finish the hike. We went back to the van and tried to patch the tire, but there were so many thorn holes (I think from near our house, not in the Grand Canyon), that it didn't work too well. So out came the baby carrier and we headed back to the canyon.

The Grand Canyon lodge is perched on the canyon edge and allows for spectacular views. It wasn't even busy at about 9:30 a.m.

Then we started hiking some more and stopped to take more photos. It's hard not to take photos at the Grand Canyon.
Desert Boy likes to dress himself these days, so his clothes are always askew and often backwards. We even had two different types of shoes on the other day. It gives him a great sense of accomplishment to dress himself, but it can make for some interesting photos!

We continued on the trail to Angel Point, which had some steep dropoffs. Fortunately Desert Boy listened to directions. He wore his adventure pack so he was ready for exploring.

We found a safe place to do a little rock scrambling and see more of the view. The Grand Canyon is so immense that it is quite overwhelming. It's hard to know where to look and definitely difficult to comprehend the grandness of it all.

Although the north rim is remote, there was a steady stream of people visiting the overlooks and hiking the trails.

On the way back to the van, Desert Boy spotted a bright red flower and wanted to take a closer look. So he took out his magnifying glass. I thought it was so cute of him. Then we realized he had picked the flower to hold it at a more convenient angle. Oops!

Here's one of my brother Ed's great photos. He took even more than me and generously shared them.

It was getting time for lunch, so we drove to Point Imperial to have a picnic lunch. Desert Boy thinks picnics are exciting, and we were happy to agree. There were picnic tables at the viewpoint, but they were in the sun so we got out our lawn chairs and made our own picnic area.

The view was great, and we had a relaxing lunch. The main course? Why, chips, of course! We could get Desert Boy to eat anything if we promised he could have some chips afterwards.

I guess this is what Emma thought of it all.

Grand Vacation-Day One

My brother Ed came for a visit and I went down to St. George to pick him up. We decided we would take a little excursion and go camping for a couple nights. Ed let me pick the destination and even was willing to have me keep it a secret from him.

So we headed off to the east of St. George and after a couple hours found a good place to take a break.
The Fredonia public swimming pool. Because we don't have a swimming pool in our community, we are always on the lookout for good swimming pools.

Fredonia has a nice pool, with a little kid section, a main pool, and a diving well.

Uncle Ed got to have some bonding time with Desert Boy and Desert Girl.

Desert Boy always had plenty to tell Uncle Ed.

Desert Boy got brave in the kiddie pool section.

He went under water several times and thought it was great.

I like how he smiles with his eyes shut.

Then it was time to continue on, and we stopped at an overlook with some beautiful views.

The colorful cliffs in the desert made the drive very pleasant.

Then we finally arrived at our destination: the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It's the much less-visited side of the Grand Canyon due to its remoteness. The park entrance station said the campground was full, so we retraced our steps about seven miles to a Forest Service campground.

It was called the De Motte campground, and it had three spots left.

Desert Boy helped Uncle Ed put up the big tent while I made some yummy dinner. Well, it was yummy by Desert Boy's standards, combining his two favorite foods: ramen noodles and bean and bacon soup. I found it quite edible and would even eat it again.
Little Emma (who is starting to get enough adventures under her belt to be called Desert Girl once in awhile), enjoyed watching the whole process. This was her first time camping in a tent.

How did she sleep? Check back for the next installment!

Amtrak Adventure-Day Two

Our second day of our Amtrak Adventure was from Glenwood Springs to Denver. We were supposed to depart Glenwood Springs at 12:50 PM, but due to a broken down freight train on a single-track section, the train came about an hour late. I've heard many stories of delayed trains, so we were prepared for much worse. We were entertained while waiting by watching big logs and even entire trees float down the Colorado River. Some locals also gathered to watch the train, and it was entertaining talking to them, as they were a bit on the colorful side, to put it mildly.

As soon as we got on board, we went to the observation car. We wanted the full experience of seeing Glenwood Canyon with the big windows and skylights. We also went because National Park Service volunteers with the Trails and Rails program provide commentary from Grand Junction to Denver (and back) on weekends in summer. I really liked listening to the extra information they provided.

The volunteers were excited about the new technology they had to share information: an iPad. It was loaded with the Audubon apps with birds, wildflowers, mammals, and more so if any passengers wanted to learn more about a particular species, it would be easy to pull up.

(If you're planning on taking the train at a different time and still want to learn some information, their are some great books by Eva Hoffman that cover the entire California Zephyr route. I actually bought one in Grand Junction before I knew about the NPS volunteers coming on the train, and it is full of wonderful info and photos.)

Glenwood Canyon is one of the most spectacular sections of the Interstate system in the entire country. The scenic canyon has the Colorado River charging down it, the train tracks perched on the side, and the Interstate weaving its way over the river, through the cliffs, and along the edges. It was started in 1980 and completed in 1992.

During drier parts of the year, some of the river goes nearly dry due to diversions for water power. However, this section was a massive whitewater section--Class VI rapids, too dangerous for anyone to run. Three people tried a number of years ago and their raft flipped instantly. Two were saved by people watching close by, while the body of the third was found weeks later downstream.

In one place the canyon is so narrow that the Interstate goes double decker. Along with the river, the train tracks, and the road, there is also a bike trail. Someone please drop me off on the uphill side and let me ride down the 16 miles! Much of it was submerged by the flooded river during this trip, though. When it's dry, the bike path must be a fantastic way to see the sights at a slower pace.

The train eventually veered away from the Interstate at Dotsero and heads north. We passed a water wheel, and only when I looked at this photo at home did I realize I also had a photo of a horse stranded on a little island.

This section of the river is quite a bit calmer, with rapids interspersed. It has become known as Moon River, due to a frequent action performed by river rafters. As one of the volunteers said, we saw plenty of white-rumped rafters and bare-breasted rafters. (Click on the photo if you want a larger version.)

We continued north with some spectacular scenery.

As we entered Gore Canyon, we could see a highway high above us on the west. A couple wrecks are located on the steep slope below Inspiration Point, also known as Dead Man's Curve, but fortunately no one was injured.

Gore Canyon was steep and narrow, and this terrain made the Interstate planners choose another route.

Middle Park is crossed next. In Colorado, the term "park" means "valley." You can see the snow-capped Rockies in the distance.

Then it was time for Byers Canyon. Many places along the canyon have wires hanging just above the train. These detect falling rocks and can send signals to the train if there is any disturbance.

Then it was time for dinner. I had enjoyed breakfast in the dining car so much that I decided we would also do dinner there. We were seated with Grandma Pat, who has a plethora of children, grandchildren, and great-grand children. She has a friend in Grand Junction and travels by train to see her several times a year. I asked her what was her favorite season to travel, and she said she enjoyed them all, and that they all look quite different. Hmm, another reason to take the train again!

Here are the three of us! Hopefully next time my husband can come, he would really enjoy the trip, too.

We started going through a lot of tunnels as we got closer to the edge of the mountains. There are 42 tunnels between Denver and Grand Junction, and Desert Boy enjoyed seeing how long they were by counting in each of them. We knew we were in a long tunnel when we counted more than 15. And then of course there is the Moffat Tunnel, 6.2 miles long. We were busy eating dinner then so we didn't have to count. (Thank goodness)

The sun was shining on the distant skyscrapers of Denver. A group of teachers helped me entertain Desert Boy and took turns holding Desert Girl in the observation car. The train is a good way to meet people. We enjoyed the sunset arrival into Denver.

We arrived in Union Station in Denver, happy to have had such a grand train adventure.

Glenwood Springs

We got off the train in Glenwood Springs partly because I had stopped their briefly on a trip may years ago (maybe with my Grandma on the way to Death Valley?) and I had remembered the awesome swimming pools. It was also partly because I figured that eight hours of train travel was enough for one day with two little kids. And I had a third reason: the National Speleologic Society convention in 2011 is going to be held in Glenwood Springs and I wanted to scope out the area.

I had booked a room in a motel only about five blocks away. Glenwood Springs turns out to have lots of motels with a total of about 1,700 rooms. Yikes! We walked up from the station (which will hopefully have the handicap ramp completed soon--carrying the stroller up all the steps was not fun) onto the pedestrian bridge across the train tracks, Colorado River, and Interstate.

We had an awesome view of the pool. And after we all took a three hour nap in the motel, that's where we headed.

They have two main pools, a therapy pool at 104 degrees and the big pool at 94 degrees. It was definitely a place to relax. Desert Boy tried out arm floaties and liked them. By the end he was able to kick himself around without hanging on to me. He also really liked to play on the steps and even found a friend to play with for awhile.

It was convenient going later in the evening because there's a discount after 6 pm and I had forgotten the sunblock.

Little Miss Emma (aka Desert Girl, but she just hasn't had enough desert adventures for me to be ready to call her that) was all decked out in her swimming costume. She sat on the edge of the pool for awhile in her stroller, but eventually she told me she wanted to get in. She loves the water just as much as Desert Boy.

We strolled around and played in the water for a couple hours and then decided we were pruney enough to head back to the motel.

The next morning our destination was Two Rivers Park, a beautiful spot near the river. They have a neat playground, and Desert Boy gave me a little attitude when it was time to leave.

He got happier when I pointed out the freight train crossing the Roaring Fork River, which in the above photo is joining the Colorado. We took the pedestrian bridge and followed the trail along the river. With both rivers slightly flooded, it was neat to get to be so close to them. The trail system is excellent in Glenwood Springs.

From the pedestrian bridge we got a closeup view of the freight train--and of the many barn swallows that make their nests under the bridge.

Many of them flew when we got close.

The trail along the river follows an old railway right of way so is very gradual. In places there are some old tracks, and Desert Boy had fun walking along them. We also had fun watching the paragliders come over the mountain. They land in the dog run next to the trail.

We were getting hungry so we walked a couple blocks east and were on main street and found a grocery store. Desert Boy declared he was ready for a picnic as soon as we got out of the store, so that's what we did. Hey, whatever works, right?

We had walked over two miles by this point and still had at least a mile to go. Desert Boy was getting a little cranky, but fortunately a bus pulled up. Glenwood Springs has a free bus system, and since we still had some free time, we rode it out to the mall so we could see a little more of town. Glenwood Springs is a very linear town, with the river, Interstate, and train tracks creating a bit of a barrier between the two sides of town.

Finally it was time to pack up and walk to the train station to catch our train. Inside the train station is a small railroad museum, and Desert Boy was fascinated with the model trains.

Our train was delayed, so we went out and got some ice cream. Waiting is always better if you have some ice cream.