California Adventure 2018 - Part 1

Days 1 & 2

To start things off, I wanted to back up a bit, to May 2018 when my sister and I went on an amazing 2 week trip from Missouri to California, hitting some major highlights along the way, but the main goal being to spend some time in Los Angeles and drive 1 highway.

First we had to cross Kansas, our goal was to camp in Colorado that evening. We arrived in Colorado near dusk and at the first good sight of mountains we stopped to snap a few pictures before the sun was gone. We stopped again soon after because our chip bags we had packed had swollen with the pressure change and had popped open! It was at this stop I also found a couple of deer vertebrate and they rode home the rest of the way in the glove box.

Near Alamosa, Colorado

As often as possible, we wanted to sleep in my mountaineer to save a bit of money. (I say "want" but not everyone wanted to sleep in the car that much. Ahem. Sammi.) 

I whipped up some window coverings for privacy and a full size air mattress fit just right in the back with the seats folded down. This made for some interesting maneuvering each night to get our luggage to fit in the front seats but in the end it worked out pretty well. Minus the time I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and I set off the car alarm. Twice. 

In the end we only spent 3 nights in the car at Wal-mart parking lots.

Day 2!

The next morning we were off and making our way to the Four Corners Monument. We had been several years ago but we couldn't pass up another opportunity to stop by.

We made another road-side stop that we probably shouldn't have, but I couldn't resist the skulls and crossbones and ominous warnings. Rest assured we didn't leave the car or hang around there long.

It was amazing to us how quickly the scenery changes from mountains and greenery to desert and lack of vegetation.

At Four Corners Monument

On the Western side of Colorado, crossing into Arizona

Our next stop was Olijato-Monument Valley. Most of you will remember it as the place where they filmed the scene in Forrest Gump where he's running cross-country and decides to stop and go home.

 We had to stop to look at this amazing little motel sticking out over the river. And there were wild donkeys (I assume they were wild) down by the riverbank!

Samantha liked to keep a running list of the variety of animals we saw. To the point she even made me pull over so she could look at llamas in someone's front yard.

Dust devils!

We were thankful that this particular stop was fairly deserted with very little traffic.

Our last stop of the day was Horseshoe Canyon. Easily one of the most terrifying experiences on this trip. And that's saying something considering how the end of our trip went. Samantha even refused to approach the edge. No railings or barriers of any kind, lots of other tourists, and gusts of wind made this a heart-dropping view. 

Not so fun fact: on average 3 people per year die here from falling. I'm frankly amazed it isn't more. If it continues to increase in popularity, I'm sure deaths will increase as well.

But that being said, it was a truly beautiful vista. We heard many different languages on the round trip mile hike and we quickly learned how out of shape we are. Like so many beautiful places, our least favorite part is always the people. The highlights of our entire trip was often when we didn't have to interact with the crowds. Which is difficult when your destination is also the destination for so many other people. 

I'm still a long ways from the edge and my legs were shaking.

The next stop (and the next post) is Las Vegas!