Just going to throw this out there, Bootjack has the best sunsets. No competition. Every single night there is an amazing sunset just waiting outside of our window. It truly is spectacular. We have a front row seat every night of a sunset over a beautiful lake. Let me re-iterate. Every night, beautiful sunset, right outside. We are very lucky to have this spectacular natural wonder be our guest every night. We really enjoy it and I want all of you to enjoy it as well. ...

In the Navajo National Monument there were these really intriguing yellow yucca plants with this cool little wiry curls breaking off from the plants limbs. I thought this was an interesting hairy little plant. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

You were adorable. It is amazing to see how such a simple thing as a spraying water fountain can amuse and bring happiness to someone. You were having so much fun trying to grab the water as it shot up. You seemed to have so much fun even when you saw that the water simply slipped away because you knew in a few seconds more chances to catch it would arise time and time again. It was refreshing to see you having fun even though you never really could succeed. ...

Today was our last day on the road. We finally arrived safe and sound, just slightly busted up (me) ready for fun in Michigan. We started out our day with a nice ride along the Lake Superior coast in Ashland. We passed some really cool old dock pilings out in the water mostly covered by fog. We are tired but very glad to be at our home away from home with out family. I am glad to have the library and the time to relax finally.

Today was an entire day of nothing. We went through Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, and finally here in Ashland, Wisconsin. It rained almost the entire day and there was nothing to take pictures of at all. The only real event was me slipping in the rain. Yes, a little know fact about me (unless you know me really well) is that I am a total klutz. So Me + Rain + Sandals + Slippery Surfaces = bad fall ...

Butterflies are crafty creatures. They look so beautiful and graceful but when you look at them closely they are horrifying. Butterflies must be one of the scariest looking animals up close. Like this one here that I found in the Navajo National Monument in Arizona feeding on a Paintbrush flower. I was trying really hard to get a photo of him and was so jazzed when I got these but when I looked at them up close I realized they look like monsters. No wonder Mothra in Godzilla was so scary, it is the same sort of thing. Nature is a very deceiving thing some of the cutest or prettiest things are really scary. I don’t think I can ever look at butterflies the same again. ...

Today was the last day of anything really interesting at all sadly. The first interesting note of our day was some wildlife in an odd place. As we were packing the car my mom noticed a coyote walking on a running path right towards us. The coyote just strolled through the parking lot right by us, took a quick glance and nonchalantly moved onward. We proceeded to start our day out in Colorado Springs and visited the Garden of the Gods. ...

Today was an amazing day because we spent almost the entire day checking out the different Cliff Dwellings in Mesa Verde. I have always wanted to see these ruins and finally I did, and let me tell you, it didn’t disappoint. The first ruins we visited was the Cliff Palace ruins. This dwelling is the biggest in North America and is approximately 700 to 900 years old. After the Cliff Palace we went to the Balcony House. This was an extremely intimidating hike for me. To get to the cliff dwellings you have to go down a huge amount of stairs and from there it gets really tricky. You have to climb up a 32 foot ladder. I am not particularly afraid of heights but I got pretty freaked out by this. It was a huge ladder over an even bigger cliff. It also didn’t help that the ladder got super heated so it burned to hold onto the rungs. By the end I was ready to freak out. Can you tell by my face that I was slightly concerned? ...

Yesterday was our biggest day yet. We woke up really early to watch the sunrise on the Grand Canyon. We got the best spot, a small upraised platform of a rock that we sat on over looking Bright Angel’s Point. It was a nice sunrise but very cold out, I spotted Waldo from up there ;). After sunrise we said goodbye to our beautiful cabin and started our long trek across Arizona to get to Mesa Verde National Park. We made a lot of little stops along our way. The first of which was the Vermillion Cliffs. They were these magnificent red rock cliffs that were gigantic. ...

I didn’t get to post last night due to the lack of internet connection in our wonderful, western facing room in the Grand Canyon National Park. We left the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas for the peace and tranquility of Arizona’s Grand Canyon. Don’t ask me how but my mother is a miracle worker. Some how she managed to get one of the best rooms in the entire lodge which are always book a year in advance. We had a balcony that looked right over the edge of the Grand Canyon. It was beyond gorgeous. ...