BT 4.0: River Rescue

It's been a busy two days on Big Trip 2012. We celebrated Mark's 35th birthday yesterday. Both kids picked out gifts for him. Milo a fishing pole and Odelia some Angry Birds pajama shorts and a little tykes football. They were delighted to watch him open the treasures they found for him. For breakfast we feasted on Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Mark's favorite cereal. We headed to 4 corners first. It certainly didn't exceed our expectations but it was worth the trip. Milo loved all the flags and both kids loved perusing the jewelry stands. Just as we were entering 4-corners Mark decides to tell me that technically the park is about 2 miles off in accuracy. This didn't sit well with my love for precision and totally stunted any desire I had at taking silly 4-corners pictures (think Twister).

We picnicked at Monument Valley park. It was definitely a low point on the trip. We were all super crabby and ready for civilization. As we paid the ranger handed us a map and casually mentioned that the 15 mile scenic drive would take approximately 2 hours all on unpaved roads. I struggled not to laugh at the image of us off-roading in the Matrix and kept quiet in the name of birthday fun. Ten minutes into our visit (after several preschool meltdowns, a huge walk to the picnic area, many closed bathrooms and a handful of locked entrances to the visitor center) I snapped and inquired as to whether the birthday boy was hoping to take the highway to hell (aka 2 hour, 15 mile off-road "scenic drive"). Initially he said yes and then changed to maybe and then, in the end, said he didn't want to take it. The only problem was, I didn't hear the last part (the "no, I don't want to take the 2 hour, 15 mile off-road "scenic drive"). Turns out desert picnics in the middle of nowhere with pending 2 hour, 15 mile off-road "scenic drives" are not our thing. We quickly recovered once everyone was back on the same page (that being no 2 hour, 15 mile, off-road "scenic drive"). We did stop to look at dinosaur tracks later in the day. We had a self-selected tour guide who showed us all the tracks. It was well worth the short stop and both kids enjoyed photographing the tracks. We also stopped at Sunset Crater National Monument. It's a volcano! Seriously. It was so cool. Black dirty and real lava rocks (gigantic ones) were everywhere. We hiked and played in the volcano dirt (which, sadly, has a scientific name that has never entered my long-term memory so we'll just call it volcano dirt). We arrived in Flagstaff to eat birthday dinner at Beaver Street Brewery chosen by the birthday boy. The kids loved doting on daddy. Milo proved to be the most assertive Holdhusen when he volunteered to tell the server that it was Mark's birthday. He was very, very proud of himself when he scored a free dessert for us to share.

That night we headed to Sedona, AZ to stay at the lovely La Quinta. We are genuinely a 2.5 star hotel family. Free wireless, free breakfast, abundant parking. They even had the big pitcher of lemon water in the lobby. Nothing beats the national hotel chain catering to families when you're a family.

Today was filled with A LOT of swimming, both hotel swimming and river swimming. Oh, mom, stop hyperventilating. We were in good company with 500 other people. We went to Slide Rock State Park, just a few miles outside of Sedona, AZ. It's a "natural" waterslide within a state park. Milo, Mark and I all had a blast trying out the natural slides. It's hard to explain but imagine a shallow, fast moving body of water that has created slippery rocks that you slide down. It also had some great rock scaling and a small cliff for Mark to jump off of. Are you still with us, Mom?

Milo was set on getting Mark a new watch because he said that his was "dirty". Fortunately for Mark I was able to gently redirect Milo away from the lime green slap bracelet watch that he had his eye on.

Odelia saw the angry birds short pajamas and she was done. Daddy had to have those shorts.

Advertisement for Keen or leisure family vacation? You decide.

I'm all smiles but inside I'm riddled with frustration that the "real" 4-corners is lonely, unloved and sadly under-photographed.

Milo requested a picture of all the flags. Your wish is our command.

We bought this sticky dashboard thingy at our new favorite travel stop, Family Dollar. This is ibuprofen giving it a test drive.

And now Diet Coke.

And lastly a Ritz Bit.

The Matrix in Arizona or Utah or Colorado...

This photograph will forever be associated with the imminent 2 hour, 15 mile, off road "scenic" drive. Milo can't even fake a smile because he is so confused. Why would we smile when we're all about ready to wring each others' necks? Monument Valley Park (border of AZ and UT).