Build your house upon a rock

 

We headed to Mesa Verde, Co and needed to fill with water and dump our tanks.  We pulled into one of the only places in the area to accomplish this; it was late, we were tired and we were very hungry.  Instead of sleeping at Wal Mart as we had planned, we were greeted by some very happy and lovely folks at the RV park and were quickly convinced to stay for a night.  We pulled in, made dinner and began cleaning up the RV after being at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon dry camping for the last 5 days.  We showered and quickly turned in for the night.  The next morning, after meeting and chatting with a few of the neighbors, we decided that we would return to the same RV park after heading into the mountains and dry camping again for a few days.  We made some reservations and headed to the forest where we would stay while we visited Mesa Verde National Park.  We drove about 35 miles into the mountains and found our spot in the San Juan National Forest.  It was beautiful up there.  We got set up and began our fun!  We found a partially built firepit that proved to be of great use out there.  We found some game trails that later allowed us to see deer and other animals.  We pulled the guns out and did some more training/shooting (we wanted to make some noise for the bears and mountain lions!).  We also cooked many meals over the fire, hiked, did a little trail driving, and saw an amazing sunset over the mountains.   

This was our firepit that we used for everything from meal-making to a seat to a dinner table.

Loving the "eating out" night.

We found our way to Mesa Verde National Park and it took a long while to get there.  Once you enter the park, you have about 21 miles to drive to get to the actual sites.  We stopped at the Visitor Center to get the kid's Jr Ranger books and started driving.  We joined our tour into the "Balcony House" cliff dwellings.  We were in awe at this place!  It is so amazing what the Pueblo people did with what God gave them.  We learned so much about the people that lived here and how they lived.  We also met a family that was from St Louis and found out that the Ranger was a Cardinals fan! Additionally, we started talking with a lady and her daughter that were from Victoria, British Columbia and we reminisced about the places that we all knew about on the island.  We ended up beginning the tour and the Ranger took us in the "back  door" of the cliff dwelling.  This included a VERY steep stairwell and walkway to reach the 32 feet ladder (the first of 3 ladders and the side of a cliff) that we had to go up.  There were rules that everyone had to climb by themselves with no help and that once you started the ladder, you had to keep going up.  We knew this the day before when we bought the tickets and knew that our children could handle it.  We all climbed the ladder with great courage and without event and through a skinny hallway, entered the living space of the cliff dwelling.  It was amazing!  We instantly began to take it all in and notice how it was built, the soot marks from fire, the sleeping areas, the kivas (equivalent to a modern day living room) and the view.  We could also see another cliff dwelling across the canyon who would've been neighbors until a second drought, then they might have been enemies.  We went through and enjoyed the tour and the challenge it took to get in it and out of it. 

Our view as we went down the hill towards the dwelling.

Steep steps and a walkway!

32 feet of ladder and my girl has got this!  She (and the boys) went all the way up! 

After we came off of the ladder, we entered the dwelling.  We were in awe.

Do you see the 1000 year old hand print towards the middle?  It was high on a wall and would have been used as decoration for that area. 

This is how we got out.  This was their main way to enter and leave the dwelling...without the chain and fencing!

Another ladder!

The front porch and the entryway! 

A well deserved lunch after the tour.  We met an older couple and talked for a long while.  We exchanged stories and how God us on this trip and even we even gained some tips and tricks. 

Mesa Verde's newest Jr Rangers!

Another of the cliff dwellings.  This was a self tour and just as amazing. 

We were able to enter a kiva.  The science and engineering behind this blew our minds. 

We are happy!

Learning to grind corn. 

We found an unmarked trail and took a hike.  We found some really neat things like an irrigation channel they made that was used for the dwellings.  We also found this view. 

We left the cliff dwellings with many stories to tell and headed back into the woods to go home.  We had a great dinner over the fire, shot some more, made s'mores, and played some games.  We were tired that night and slept very well.  The last night we found out it was supposed to rain that next morning so we packed stuff up so it wouldn't get wet and we would be ready to head out that next morning.  BUT...it rained HARD all night.  Apparently, unlike it never does here.  Well, what I didn't tell you was that our homestead was off of the gravel road (no problem) down a dirt road (this is where you can feel my concern).  I woke up that next morning and began praying as I walked in mud over my boot toes.  I tried to go out and find the "hard" spots in the road and prayed some more.  Then, after praying some more, I hooked up and got ready to go.  We knew it was going to be messy and had a great chance to sink our 11,000 rear end in the road but we had to head out to be back in Cortez.  We dropped it in 4 wd and slid side to side all the way down the road.  Thankfully, we made it to the end and I stopped to check on everything. It was quite a mess but we made it. 

Kamryn woke up the next morning ready for play.  This is her Spiderbatpirateprincess outfit. 

This was our yard for 5 days.  Allot to be thankful for plenty of room to walk and pray. 

At the shootin' range in the back yard. 

We ended up back in Cortez at the RV park.  We were greeted by the happy folks we met before and got settled in.  We have had allot of chats with the folks that camp host here and they are all wonderful.  The next day, we took a drive and ended up at the Anasazi Heritage Center.  This place was as amazing as the cliff dwellings.  We spoke with a few of the folks there and again, learned so much about the culture and the lives of the people that once lived here.  We took full advantage of every minute there and had a great time.  Additionally, the kids earned another BLM badge (like the Jr Ranger badges for the NPS but for the Bureau of Land Management) and we headed out for lunch in the truck. 

Testing their skills at grinding more corn.  The young ladies of this culture had to grind corn for 3 days as a part of their "coming of age" celebration.  The photos on the walls in this place were amazing. 

Learning how the men (yes, primarily the men) made clothes and rugs. 

We spent allot time examining this area.  It was a previously whole dwelling that was brought here and reconstructed. 

 

 

While we have been here in Cortez, we have met allot of great folks.  The scenery here is beautiful and there is such a small town feel.  A few days ago, we contacted a local church who does AWANA.  We told them our situation about traveling and asked if we could obtain the kid's AWANA books from them.  The spoke with the Pastor and let us know that we could come by or show up at AWANA the next night.  We decided to go to AWANA and hope that they had room for the kids to join in.  We were welcomed before we ever got in the front door and they knew who we were before we showed up.  The kids got signed in and we took them to their areas.  We had a chance to talk with their Pastor for a while and he gave us a tour and we talked about everything under the sun.  We also met some other folks and exchanged some great stories.  The kids had blast there and were very excited to have their books once again.  They all woke up this morning and dug right in!  We also met a lady this week who is from near where Kelly is from.  She noticed that we were doing school while waiting for the truck to get looked at.  We had a wonderful conversation and Caleb made new friend while learning about how school "used to be".

 

We took a fishing trip today and ended up in the mountains on the Delores River.  We fished for hours as a family and didn't catch a thing.  The greatest thing was the scenery of being in a canyon and seeing and hearing the beautiful water that has such an amazing history.  We ended up meeting an 83 year old man at our first spot and we talked for a bit.  We told him bye, after getting some fishing tips, and went on our way.  He was gone when we passed by the spot that we met and we kept driving.  We tried to follow a map that someone gave us last night and ended up about 25 miles from where we started fishing for the day.  Guess who we saw...the same 83 year old man.  We exchanged some stories and he shared that he had been in this area his whole life.  he gave us some of his bait and came and talked with us.  On our way out, we all met at his truck and he invited us to his "special" fishing spot at 13,000 ft about 40 minutes away.  We shared our appreciation and a few more stories but had to decline.  We said our good-byes and he said that hoped we would meet again. 

 

We are here for a couple more days and are praying about where we are headed to next.  We are waiting on word back from another YWAM campus near here to see when we can go there for a bit to serve.  One last story for now...Kelly and I went for a walk around the RV park tonight and saw a license plate in the window of a 40 diesel pusher that said "Servants of Our Savior - SOS - Rv ministries".  We were quite intrigued and after doing the third lap, decided to stop and knock.  We met a wonderful retired couple who does what the Lord laid on our hearts early in this trip.  They travel and help individual churches, camps, local communities, etc. and have been doing this for 20 years!  This is a great and exciting way to serve but it is a bit difficult to just walk up to any church or camp and ask to help.  Well, God may be showing us the "in".  We had a very long conversation, asked many questions, and shared some great stories about both of our lives.  In addition to YWAM, we will be praying about this possible new opportunity. 

 

 

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...