That's one big hole in the ground!

We stayed at Kirtland AFB, NM for 2 days and met a very nice couple with 3 kids.  We all spent allot of time together and the kids loved playing together.  We also went to church on base and met some really great folks as we were invited to a social time after church.  We might have gotten the Pastor in a bit of trouble with his wife though because he has talked about full timing and we just furthered his cause.  We enjoyed our drive and stay in New Mexico and headed to Flagstaff, AZ.

At El Mapais learning some history and seeing a volcano.

 We stopped in Flagstaff, AZ and stayed in a Cracker Barrel parking lot that night.  Of course we headed inside to play with the toys and hang out for a bit and had a great time.  When we went in the RV for the night, the boys saw a group of folks going to a tour bus parked behind us.  We peeked through the windows and they were all pointing and talking.  Come to find out, they were on a tour from France.  Kamryn stuck her head out and one of them yelled to her, "Bonne nuit."  They explained that it meant good night and we talked for a few minutes with a group of them.  When we were done chatting, Kamryn yelled, "Au revoir" and they all clapped and laughed before they got back on the bus. We had a good night sleep and we had to stop at the Police station before we headed out the next morning.  While there, the kids were invited in for fingerprinting and were made honorary police members. They thought that stop was really cool.  After that, we headed for the South rim of the Grand Canyon.

This was our yard for one night.  We made some French friends here!

On the way to Grand Canyon, we stopped at a National Park of a dormant volcano and also visited the Petrified Forest and the Painted Inn.  The kids earned badges at both of those places and we saw some beautiful sites.  We met a few folks there but had a great conversation with one of the Park Rangers.  He wanted to know more of our story and how we came to this point and he also had a great story to tell.  We continued on our journey down Route 66 to the Canyon.

Hanging out at the famous Painted Inn

Talking to the Ranger and exchanging stories. 

Working on their badges at the Painted Inn.

 When we entered the South Rim area, we drove down some forest roads and set up for "dry camping" for a night.  We had a young lady stop and ask a few questions about the area and we chatted for a bit.  She was in between jobs and wanted to clear her head so she went on a 30 day road trip.  She was staying in the woods that night and we ended up getting to see her that night again when she needed something and again the next morning when her battery was dead.  She had a great story.  I did some survival lessons with the kids that night, started a fire with Elk poo and tree sap, made an epoxy from sap and charcoal and munched on s'mores.  We went to bed that night and woke up with a mini van parked right next to us.  I ventured out to hook up and started talking with the guy that came out of this van.  He and his friend were from Spain and were here for 7 weeks on a road trip.  He had made a platform in his mini van and stays in it.  All of my clan ended up coming out and we all stood around talking and sharing stories for quite some time.  We said bye and headed for a day at the Grand Canyon-South Rim.  It was amazing to spend that time in Creation and see what God has created!  We experienced so much that day and met so many people with cool stories.  We hiked into to the Canyon a ways and took tons of photos.  We also saw 2 California Condors and the kids earned another Jr Ranger badge.  That place is amazing!

Kamryn gathering charcoal from an old fire to start a new one. 

Our yard for the night. 

High atop the Grand Canyon.

Getting sworn in as Jr Rangers after seeing California Condors.

Could this be or Christmas picture!?

Hiking at the South Rim

Learning about fingerprinting.

Home...

Displaying their new badges.  (Of course Kamryn does't have a shirt on!)

We went searching for items to start a fire. 

We made some emergency repair epoxy from sap and charcoal. 

From the South Rim!

We left the South Rim and headed to Zion National Park.  We got in there LATE because we had to take a detour.  On the way, we made an extremely unplanned stop at a BLM visitor's center.  The kids had a chance to earn a BLM badge but amazingly enough, while there we found out that the road that we needed to take to Zion was closed due to a large boulder falling on the highway.  This proved to be a HUGE blessing as we would have not known otherwise.  This BLM stop was an extremely unplanned stop and proved to be a blessing to our family.  We arrived at Zion safely and it was very difficult driving through the campground and having to go back and fill up with water.  It was pitch black because they don't have lights anywhere to alleviate light pollution.  Anyway, we had an amazing spot, got set up and Zachary, while helping me park, met our neighbor.  We quickly went to bed and woke up to amazing views of our new back yard for a few days.  We did a few hikes and went swimming in the afternoon in the Virgin River.  We ended up talking with our neighbors as they sat by the water.  We had a great chat and found out that they don't live too far where we will be visiting my aunt in California later.  We all talked and I ended up getting in the 50 degree water in small rapids with the kids.  It was very refreshing and felt awesome on my back!  We went back home and built a fire.  The kids invited our neighbors over and we visited for awhile longer.  We also went to Ranger led astronomy talk that night and saw an amazing sky.  We saw our neighbors the next morning and exchanged info with them.  We headed out for a hike that blew our minds!  We hiked the Narrows at Zion and had a blast.  We let the kids tell us when they were ready to turn back...they didn't turn back for a long while and we hiked through the water for about 3 hours.  It was beautiful.  When we got back home, we had a note that there was something hidden for us.  We followed the note and found a huge blessing from our neighbors that they left us on their way out.  We were greatly blessed by them and can't wait to see them again in California, they even invited us to their church.  The kids earned another badge at Zion and that night we met some families that were camping behind us.  Zacahry and I went over and met them becuase there was a young man that looked to be about Zachary's age.  I spoke with the adults while Zachary and his new buddy played ball and star gazed.  We stayed up late with them and then headed in for bed as we were heading out that next morning to go to the Grand Canyon-North Rim.

This was our front yard!

Taking a break during a hike along the Virgin River.

Playing in the rapids. 

An awesome couple that we met and spent some great time with.

Hiking up The Narrows. 

The scenes just kept changing and becoming more beautiful. 

Amazing.

Zachary found a bed for the night!

Taking a break for lunch.

Cheese!

The enormity of some of these stones were amazing. 

We found this shadow of a cowboy's face.  Each afternoon it came out.  See it?  The boys talked about how neat it would be to bring their kids back there to see the same face when they are older. 

Another badge!

We ended up getting to the North Rim area of the Grand Canyon but not before having to pull over at about 8,000 ft and let the truck have a rest.  We weren't the only ones that had to let our vehicle take a break but we let it cool down and we headed up further.  We were about to experience something new; we were going to dry camp for a number of consecutive days.  WE hadn't done this except for overnight stops in different parking lots.  We found a spot deep in the woods and this proved to be one of the best memories we will ever have.  We dry camped for 5 nights in the middle of the forest with noone but ourselves and the animals.  We said that we didn't do anything but we played capture the flag, hiked, did school, 4 wheeled, called in and followed four turkeys, got "snorted" at (and almost beat up) by a doe with 2 fawns, saw a "blood moon" with no light pollution, cooked over the fire, star gazed, played cards and other games, built fires, caught bugs, and shot.  There is so much more to share but I won't gross you out with some of it or bore you with the rest.  I just have to say that God showed us that place so that we could spend time together and spend some amazing time with Him.  It did a Good thing for or family.  The North Rim was neat.  It was so different that the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in so many ways.  One of the most surprising things was that the South Rim seemed to be more of a "touristy" area and the north Rim was more like a local attraction.  There was nothing around or at the north Rim in comparison to the South Rim.  We loved them both equally and still believe that God generously made things such as this for our pure enjoyment and to show His amazing power.  The kids earned another badge and we went back to camping in the woods.

Kids ands sticks...



First they made this log a trampoline.  Then it ended up as a teeter-totter.

5 nights...perfect place.

Helping his little sister. 

So beautiful.

Doing their badges books high atop the rocks. 

Hanging out at the North Rim. 

Hiking at the North Rim.

Kamryn took a nap and was a bit cold. 

This was the beginning of the blood moon...the full moon during an eclipse. 

Kamryn wanted to lead "church" again. 

He's learning. 

What a proud daddy moment!

School and relaxing. 

A beautiful site that we saw today near the Four Corners. 

Leo is being a dog!

 As we left, we all prayed about how grateful we were to have had found that forest spot and we headed out for Mesa Verde.  That is near where we are now...