Tuesday morning started chilly by the North Rim of the Grand Canyon but the sun heated everything up quickly (that tends to happen at 8,000 feet above sea level.) Jenny prepared a lovely breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon on the camp stove perched on the front stoop of their cabin. Jim and I took Liam and Molly (and a napping Mary) back to the park one last time in order to get the official NPS stamp for the Grand Canyon. Also so I could get one last wistful look at that beautiful sight. We finally got on the road by noon mountain time. We had a 5-6 hour drive ahead of us with our final destination being a campsite, so we'd want to arrive before it was too late (not to mention the wrinkle of severe thunderstorms in the forecast for that area of Colorado.) We drove past the fire-damaged forest again, then made our way northeast toward Page, Arizona to see the Glen Canyon Dam. We got to pass through Marble Canyon which is sort of the gateway to the Grand Canyon. It's also where our rafting trip began 11 years ago. This time, however, there were crazy rain storms as we drove through. We could see little storm pockets across the landscape, some with copious lightning. Thankfully we just got the rain. We did a drive-by of the dam since it was still raining up there. I couldn't get over the fact that there was a Wal-Mart right there. It seemed so out-of-place.
Our lunch stop that day was a middle-of-nowhere gas station in the heart of Navajo Nation. We made sandwiches in the back of the truck (Billy and Jen's Suburban), took our bio break, and kept wading toward Colorado.
We passed through Monument Valley with all its beautiful rock formations, but we missed my favorite: Mexican Hat. Four Corners was to be an interim stop on our way to Cortez, but after reading what they wanted us to pay to "see" the monument, we opted not to be Rushmored again (see day 7), and instead drove past the New Mexico border and back out. Woohoo, another state!
We made it to our campsite just outside Mesa Verde Park by around 6:15, just in time for dinner. Also, our weather-related prayers had been answered so far. We ended up with Threatening skies, about 4 drops of rain and a bright rainbow (again)! Jenny got dinner going on the camp stove while we set up the tents. This time, we decided to try and attach our tent to the car. Yes, the car. Pardon me while we flashback a few months.
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Back when our dear cousin Annie announced her upcoming wedding in Napa, we figured we'd probably fly, despite my lack of enthusiasm about air travel of late (see also: TSA, groping). I secretly hoped we might consider driving to Napa since I'd had such a wonderful time driving to California with my brother JJ in August of 2000. I didn't bother mentioning my secret desire, however, figuring it just wouldn't be feasible, until Billy and Jenny mentioned that they were considering a cross-country drive. That's when I threw down the gauntlet: if we can drive cross-country, I'll finally agree to buy that minivan Jim's been suggesting for months now. It worked! (Even though I was sort of hoping to still avoid the minivan.) The Rowans got their Honda Odyssey, we planned for months, Jim managed to finagle being gone for 3 weeks yet needing to take only 4 vacation days. Epic Win!
Oops, where was I? Oh, the car. So, we settled on the Odyssey, but with Jim's travel schedule and our busy weekends, I ended up taking the kids to the dealership to buy the car one Monday afternoon. I'm not sure the car salespeople knew quite what to do with us, particularly when I had to pause negotiations to nurse the baby. We ended up getting a great price (thank you, USAA!), and I ended up with one particular accessory I really wanted: a tent that attaches to the back of the van.
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So, long story short (TOO LATE!), we attach the tent to the back of the car and eat a fantastic dinner (pork tenderloin, grilled vegetables and hash brown potatoes. Have I mentioned how awesome it is to travel with my sister-in-law Jenny? If it weren't for her amazing culinary skills and ingenuity, the Rowans would have been on their 4th jar of peanut butter by now.) Oh, and the wine. A bottle if red, a bottle of white. (Perhaps a bottle of rosé instead. Get a table near the street in that old familiar place. You and I face to face. Oh, Billy Joel, how your lyrics remain etched in my brain.) Wow, clearly the train of thought has derailed a few times here in Missouri. The stars came out in southwestern Colorado and we had a nice sleep (sort of, thank you, Mary) in our tent attached to the van. (Down by the river.) Meg! Focus!
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