Day 10: Green River, UT to Salt Lake City, UT: 182 miles

We broke camp and had a light breakfast at the camp.  Our mission was to see Arches National Park.  This park is vast and unique.  As the Badlands has valleys and depressions in the earth, Arches had vertical spires that are red and orange.  The land is expansive and beautiful. 

Day 9: Snowmass, CO to Green River, UT: 213 miles

Goals for the day:

Clean up the house.

Get a breakfast on the road.

Shop for food.

Hike Canyonlands National Park

Meet my folks in Green River

Set up camp

Enjoy a 40^th birthday on the road

Saying good bye to Snowmass was done with military precision.  We assigned jobs to kids so they felt responsibility to get out the door.  We left on time and reflected on what a great time we had at John and Shannon’s. 

 An hour outside Snowmass is Glenwood Springs.  Meg researched a highly rated breakfast place called Rosies.  Everyone ate their fill!  Rosies is a must for anyone looking for a good meal.

 We were suspect of the 100 degree heat that was heating up the Moab area.  Thankfully, it cooled to 92 for us.  Canyonlands National Park is beautiful.  It has some feeling of the north rim of the Grand Canyon.  It is a mountain bike hot bed.  The kids enjoyed running around until heat exhaustion knocked them over. After our fill it was time to check into our campsite.

 We checked my folks’ flight as they were flying in from Seattle after visiting family. They safely arrived and drove the 4 hours south to Green River.

When planning the trip, we wanted to know if my folks wanted to camp with us.  My dad say absolutely, so long as there is not a hotel within 500 miles.  They stayed a mile away.

Having a destination birthday is great.  Jen and Meg planned a fantastic birthday celebration.  The campsite menu included:

Crackers with cucumber and sun-dried tomatoes

Tenderloin with an apple salsa

Salad

 The desert was curiously in a Dutch oven at the bottom of the fire pit with hot coals packed around it.

After the delicious dinner was consumed, Meg lit 40 candles on a chocolate cake that she baked in front of us on a campfire.  It was amazing and tasted awesome.  She is a talented mom who I will take anywhere!

After cleaning up we slept…. Until the trains rolled by….and again….and again….

Day 8: Snowmass, CO

The day started with Liam checking in with his class. Mr. Wolpe's 4th grade class did a video conference with him.  Thank you boys and girls for checking in with Liam.

Day 7: Snowmass, CO

We started Wednesday as a quiet down day.  The kids explored around the house and played board games.    The adults planned for the second half of the trip.  Yellowstone is making news, but it will not change our plans.
We walked around Aspen after lunch.  We ran into a friend from our last visit.  Consi, Alison's sister, lives and works in Aspen.  I love how we can travel across the country and run into people we know without planning.

Ever wonder how our athletes train during the summer?  Check out this video of ski jump training at Buttermilk Mountain:

Then it was time for Rodeo!

The first cowboy out of the gate needed the medics to get him off the ground.  Jen and I gave a parental look towards each other, "was this a good choice?"
The second cowboy needed all the rodeo hands to help get the horse off of him as he and the horse fell over and rolled on the ground.  Jen and I looked at each other again, "ahhhh, if this is amateur night at the rodeo, lets get out of here!"
Thankfully, the rest of the night did not require medical attention.
Some of our favorite events included:
Mutton Run: This is when a 10 year old kid hops on a sheep and holds on for dear life.
Calf Chase: This is when 30 kids chase 10 calves and try to get the ribbon tied to the tail of 3 of the calves.  That event was sponsored by Purel!

Tomorrow is our last full day in Snowmass.

Day 6: Snowmass, CO

There is nothing like going off-trail with Uncle Bobby on a hike.  Bobby took Marta, Molly and Samantha way off trail over high rocks at the Grotto.  The base camp was 9600 feet.  At the highest point they were able to see clouds forming right in front of them.

The kids were able to climb into a crevasse and see several feet of ice.  They had a snowball “fight” as well. 

Jenny, Lauren, Jim and Meg whipped out the camp stove and grilled some steaks, cut some avocados and peppers, and made some fajitas for all.

We changed our literary today due to the high temperatures in Moab. This simply means more time in Snowmass!

Bobby and Lauren are leaving today.  We sent them off via Independence Pass.  

Day 5: Snowmass, CO

Ahhh! To not have to pack a car….

We did a 3 hour hike around Snowmass Mountain.  The photos are amazing.  Bobby and Meg took over 700 photos combined.  Here are some of the shots from the morning.

Illegal: Do you see the Columbine?

We went to the Husky Training Center and we were able to hold puppies that were under 10 days old.

First Injury:        Guess who fell off the bike...

Marta!