3 National Parks in 3 States in 4 Days

Our return cross country trip is in full swing.  We officially began our journey Monday August 8th.  With Vegas in our rear view mirror we headed across the desert to the south rim of Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.  As we were setting up our tent there were two Elk roaming behind our campsite to greet us.  As soon as we had our tent set up, we hopped on the shuttle bus that took us to different vista points along the rim.  We then grabbed some dinner in the Grand Canyon Village, before we drove to Yavapai Point  to watch the sunset over the Canyon.

Tuesday morning we packed up our campsite and headed to Mesa Verde National Park in Cortez Colorado.  On our way to Cortez we made a quick stop at Four Corners, where Tim did a push up and Jodi did a backbend in 4 states.  After setting up our campsite in Mesa Verde National Park, we drove around the park looking at the various cliff dwellings.

Wednesday we loaded back up in the car and took the scenic route to Arches National Park in Moab Utah. From Cortez, CO we headed east to Durango.  After walking around Durango for about an hour we got back in the car headed North on U.S. Route 550 to Ouray Colorado.  This stretch of road winds through the rockies and various mountain passes is better known as the Million Dollar Highway.  On our way to Ouray we stopped for lunch in the sleepy western town of  Silverton, which is surrounded by 13,000 ft. peaks.  From there we winded around the cliffs as we made our way into Ouray.  In Ouray, the massive rocky peaks dominate the skyline in every direction, making it easy to see why this town is known as Switzerland of America.   After descending from Ouray we headed Northwest to Arches National Park.  We were lucky enough to be able to reserve a campsite in the park at Devils Garden Campground.  The entire campground is surrounded by the various rock formations and arches that make this national park so amazing.  The only problem with the campground is that there were no shower facilities available.  This meant we would have to go the next 2 days in the blistering desert sun without bathing.

Thursday we spent the entire day driving, hiking and climbing around the spectacular arches and rock formations throughout the park.  We hiked to Double Arch, The Windows, Turret Arch, Balanced Rock, Landscape Arch, Double "O" Arch, Skyline Arch, and Delicate Arch upper overlook. All in all we hiked and climbed our way through about 9 miles of trails before sunset.  Needless to say as soon as the sun went down, we went straight to bed.

Friday morning we packed up our campsite for the final time and headed back up the Rockies to Colorado Springs.  From Arches we drove North through the canyon along the Colorado River to Interstate 70.  Amazingly enough this was the first time since Monday that we were going to be driving on an Interstate Highway.  Interstate 70 heading East to Denver is one spectacular stretch of highway as it ascends the Rockies winding along rivers and passing through various ski towns.  As soon as we checked in to our hotel in Colorado Springs we took much needed showers, even Bogey received a well deserved cleaning.  After cleaning up we went downtown Colorado Springs to grab some dinner and a cold beer.  While we had a blast camping in 3 different National Parks over the previous 4 days,  we were thrilled to return to the modern comforts of a bed, hot shower, TV and internet.

Check back soon for more travel and sightseeing updates as we continue to make our way along the scenic route to Tampa.

Until then, here are some pictures from the past week.