Today we had a rest day at the campsite. I went to play pool at the arcade room with my new friend Joshua from Kansas. After that me and Gaggy played 4 games of pool. A little while after that, we played the tie-breaker game. Then Gaggy sunk the 8-ball into the hole and I WON! Also, me and Joshua went to the pool to go swimming. He got a torpedo sinker that you throw into the pool, and we made up a new game where you throw the sinker like a football and try to hit one another while the sinker’s going under water. I won.
MONDAY, MAY 31, 2010
Today we drove to North Colorado to Rocky Mountain National Park. When we got there we hiked thru a walking trail and saw a jack rabbit. I got up close to it. Then we went back to the campsite.
TUESDAY, JUNE 1. 2010
The first thing we did today was to go to Bear Lake. Bear Lake was frozen and we walked all around it. I saw at least 6 chipmunks. By the way, I was in my flip-flops the whole time, and there was ice everywhere. After Bear Lake we went to the Albert Falls, and I almost climbed to the top of the rocks. On the way back to the truck, we saw Western terrestrial garter snakes, at least 4 clumped up on one another. Luckily they aren’t poisonous. Also, we got up close to 5 elk and took pictures of them. Next we went back to the campgrounds to rest a little while. Then we went to Estes town. I bought some candy and ice cream; Gaggy got some chocolate; and Nanny did too. We also saw this big dinosaur skull in a shop there. It was worth $7500.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 2010
Today we drove the Trail Ridge Road up to the top of Rocky Mountains to the Alpine Tundra. The elevation there was 11,760 ft. above sea level. We were above the tree lines and in the clouds. We stood in front of the Continental Divide which divides the East and West. On the way back we saw a gopher on a rock covered with ice. To make things even better, I got my Jr. Ranger badge when we got back to the campsite. I learned how to protect the forest and the animals.
THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 2010
Today we traveled from Rocky Mountain National Park to Vernal, Utah, to our campsite Fossil Valley V Park. We rented Star Trek at McDonalds and watched it that night.
FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 2010
Today we went to Dinosaur National Monument to look at the bones on the side of the mountain. We saw a big leg bone, a smaller leg bone that belonged to a juvenile dinosaur, and a bunch of fossilized clams. Also, we saw our first petrified stump. The bones here were from the Trassic time period. At that point Utah was covered in water. The dinosaurs would try to find water during droughts and died near the Green River.
After that we went to Utah Field House of Natural History Museum. I signed up for the Jr. Scientist program and worked thru 11 sites to get my Jr. Scientist patch. We saw a lot of petrified wood and petrified animals, replicas of dinosaurs placed outside the museum, fossilized dinosaurs, and dinosaur skeletons. Five minutes before the museum closed, Nanny, Gaggy, and I were racing around, trying to finish the last site activity. I got my Jr. Scientist patch just in time.
FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2010
Today we traveled to Moab, Utah. We drove thru Arches National Park to see the delicate, red, rock formations. One of the big arches had broken in 2008. The arches were formed by erosion millions of years ago. We left Moab, Utah and traveled to Monument Valley which is on the Utah, Arizona border.
SATURDAY, JUNE 6, 2010
Today we toured Monument Valley to see where John Wayne made his movies. There we saw John Wayne’s office. It was made smaller to make John Wayne look bigger in his movies. In the John Wayne museum, we got our picture taken with an Indian lady that worked there. In the gift shop we met Gloria Chee. She’s an Indian lady that works at Monument Valley Gift Shop. She gave us directions to a Navajo marketplace owned by her family. There we met a man named Stephen Goodman who made and gave me an arrowhead necklace. It took hours to get out of there because Nanny bought a ton of jewelry. I played with their dog named Nachos. When we got back to the campsite, we went swimming in the pool. There were a lot of people who spoke different languages there.
SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2010
Today we went to the Navajo Visitors Center. We found my brothers a birthday present in the gift shop and me a pressed penny for my collection. Nanny and Gaggy got some pottery. Our campsite and the whole area was owned the Gouldings who talked to the director of John Wayne’s movies and brought him to Utah to see the red rock formations.
MONDAY, JUNE 8, 2010
We left Monument Valley and traveled to Holbrook, Arizona. We met Emma and her family from Oklahoma. That afternoon we went downtown to the Courthouse where we saw the Navajo dancers. I met two Navajo children, one boy and one girl. We played on a jungle gym that looked like a jail. Emma and her family were there too. Nanny and Gaggy ate a frye bread Indian taco. I ate a sandwich when we got home.
Loved reading your posts! I wish I could see the drawings in your journal. I know they are the BOMB! Can't wait to get my hands on you...you had better be ready to get lots of loving when you get back. Kisses and I love you very much.
ReplyDeleteMama :)