Road Trip: Day Four

July 11, 2006

10:10 am Departed Colorado. Yes, we actually took a little time this morning and just relaxed with Amy and Jack. I think we deserved that after our LONG day the day before. It was SO fun to hold a little baby again. None of my friends have little babies, so it has been a long time. And Jack is SO cute and so small. Fun, fun.


11:30 am Stopped for lunch at a cute McDonalds in Idaho Springs, CO. It seemed so funny to be stopping for lunch an hour and a half after we left, but that's how it worked out, so we did it. Colorado is so beautiful. I absolutely loved this part of the drive. I told my mom, "If we see a scenic view sign, we are pulling over."


12:00 pm I saw a sign that said, "Wildlife Viewing Area." Close enough. We pulled over in Georgetown Co. It is gorgeous. There was this pristine little lake right up against a mountain. It was unreal. They had a little building with telescopes where you can put in a quarter and look for big horn sheep on the mountain. The kids loved that. We didn't see any sheep, but had fun playing "Where's Waldo?" with them on the mountain.


2:00 pm Uh oh. My mom and I saw a sign for an outlet mall in Silverthorne, CO. You know what that means? We HAVE to stop and shop! This was the most amazing outlet mall I've ever seen. There was a beautiful wooden bridge with hanging flower pots and a river running right through the middle of it! And, silly me, I didn't bring my camera with me to go shopping, so I can't even share it with you. If you ever get a chance to stop there, you should. Plus, I found some great deals at the Old Navy outlet that I couldn't pass up.


I've decided that if Mapquest says the route should take you about 7 hours to drive, that is the perfect distance to cover in a day. You can take plenty of breaks and stop when you want to and not to have to worry about getting to your destination too late.


7:00 pm Stopped in Dinosaur, UT. This part of the state is known for all of the fossils that have been found. I think every little town tries to captilize on this. We passed two "Dinosaur National Monuments", one in CO and one in UT. There's this city named Dinosaur and we also found out (later) that there is a Dinosaur Rodeo in Vernal every year. I guess if that's what you're known for, why not work it?

Brandon and Whit by one of SEVERAL dinosaur
statues we saw along the way.

8:00 pm Stopped in Vernal, UT to visit some good family friends who used to live in AZ when we did. They had a trampoline and video games. Brandon was thrilled.


9:30 pm Reached our final destination(for this half of the trip, at least): Roosevelt, UT. Got to see my Dad and little sister and take a tour of their new house.

Distance travelled: 376 miles
States passed through: CO, UT
Total time: 11 hours, 10 min

Random thoughts:
I never had to pay $3 or more for gas on this entire road trip. Yippee! I usually paid 2.79-2.89/gallon.

One of my favorite things about this trip was watching the landscapes change as we made our way across the country. I found beauty in each one--from the lush tree-lined highways in the south, to the towering mountains in Colorado, and, yes, I even loved the desert in Texas and NM. It gave me a renewed gratitude for the beauty that God has given us all around.