Day 21 - the actual day 21

Somewhere in Phoenix, I lost track of days, but today actually is day 21 and it is a travel day.

Piute County, Utah

Snow up on the mountains.

We spent over three hours trying to find an RV park near Yellowstone last night.  Most places are already booked for the long holiday weekend and /or they are in the $80/night range!!  Ken found one near Henrys Lake, ID which is about thirty minutes from the west entrance to Yellowstone.  We might not make Grand Teton due to the camping situation, but we will see. Right now, we are headed north on US-89 and in Salina, UT we will get onto I-15N and ride that up through Salt Lake City and into Idaho.  We hadn't planned on Idaho, but, it looks like we will be adding it to our map afterall.

US-89 is a good two lane road and a beautiful scenic route with a great view of the Rockies.

Sevier R.

US-89 near Big Rock Candy Mtn.

Traveling I-15N toward Salt Lake City, and the signs that we are in Mormon country evident everywhere! A small Young Living Family Farm field of lavender lies only a few yards from the interstate, Marriott, Amway, doTERRA, towering white Temples, Brigham Young University, and more prove the stronghold of the LDS and their success in business in this area.  Scrapbook businesses such as Creating Keepsakes, ProvoCraft and WeRMemory Makers are here as well.

Passing by the Great Salt Lake and nearby Promontory Point was a good teaching moment.

The scenery changes again as we approach the Utah-Idaho border and grasslands and farms replace the scrubby bushes and cattle ranches.

Potatoes, anyone?

We are an hour from the campground and I still have cell service, so I will post this as I am able.  The campground does not have wifi and cell service is spotty at best inside Yellowstone, to my knowledge. We plan to stay at Jared's Wild Rose Resort RV park through next Tuesday.

Day 21

More thoughts on Bryce:

Aliza : It looks like creamsicles!

Ken : The horseback ride was very tenuous.

Today, we head to Zion National Park.  I am not taking my iPad in my pack so, most photos will wait until Ken uploads.  We plan to hike part of The Narrows, The Patriarchs,and Emerald Pools in the morning, then go to the myseums, etc in the heat of the afternoon.  We a required to ride the shuttles here so all of us will carry our own pack with water, sunscreen, etc., so we won't carry anything we don't need.

Driving into Zion NO

This is just a little tunnel.

Here we are waiting to be measured to go through the big tunnel, not wide nor high, but long - 1.1mi. long.  It was constructed between 1920 and 1930 and n some concrete and steel reinforcement, it has not changed much, so large vehicles must pass through very carefully.  Oh, it is also quite curvy.  I like tunnels about as much as I do heights, so this has been another stretching experience for me (Crystal).  Did I mention there are no lights in the tunnel except the occasional window and headlights?  I have my "panic attack aromatherapy stick" handy.

Whew, and we are through the tunnel and snaking down, down, down into the canyon... I tried several times but could not get a good photo of the hairpin turns of this entry road.

We hiked to the lower Emerald Pool and the Riverwalk trails.  Aliza, Annie, Zeke and I waked up the river almost to the entrance of The Narrows, but we were not adequately prepared to hike The Narrows (hiking boots are not good in the river).

Lastly, we experienced a rare phenomenon-- a heavy downpour lasting about 15 minutes in Kanab, UT (high desert)!  We were warned at Zion that the risk for a flash flood in the Narrows for tomorrow is "probable".

Tomorrow morning, we will head north for Grand Teton NP followed by Yellowstone NP.   We may not have cell signal nor wi-fi in northwest Wyoming, so, if I don't update the blog it is due to no connectivity.

Day 20 - midway

We are officially past the midway point of our trip - the trip is 39 days, and so day19/20 marks the halves.  The rock formations in southern Utah are stunning especially in the earlier parts of the morning.

North of Glendale, en route to Bryce Canyon, the landscape once again becomes green and speckled with cattle ranches.

The road we are traveling, US-89 is very reminiscent of the hilly, winding roads theoughout northern and western Pennsylvania.  Conifer forests cover the Rocky Mountains here.

The sun climbs over the Rockies in Hatch, UT ay 7:50am MDT.  The size of the moutains cannot be captured accurately on my iPad camera.  

All the children are working on Junior Ranger program and as a family, we are working on Bryce Canyon NP's "I Hiked the Hoodoos!" Hiking scavenger hunt.

Ken, Abby, and Aliza rode mules down into the hoodoos.  It was a two hour ride. Abby said that she was pretty sure that this was the end or how she would end up in a full body cast as her mule and Ken's mule walked on e very edge of the cliff.  Aliza's did that occasionally, but not to the same degree.  (Photos later)

It was a long day at Bryce -8a-8p plus the hour and a half drive each way and a LOT of hiking!  At the end of the day, we went to see the Ranger about Junior Ranger badges and "I hiked the Hoodoos!" Rewards, and the Ranger asked where we are from.  The kids answered, the. The lady behind us said, "We're from West Virginia and have five kids also, do you happen to homeschool?"  As it turns out, they were parked right next to us in the parking lot in their Ford Expedition (we drive a Ford Excursion). So we chatted a couple minutes about road trip destinations and the Creation Museum.

Tunnel on Rt. 12 leaving Bryce Canyon.

(We are doing better health-wise, but I struggle with the altitude)

Sunset near Hatch, UT. (8:51p MDT)

Day 19- I think

We are mid-week 3 at this point and have racked up more than 3700 miles thus far!  Today we went to a small Baptist church here in Kanab, UT, got some lunch at a little Mexican place (it was okay - and very SLOW), then we drove 20 minutes south into Fredonia, AZ to Pipe Springs NP.  We called it an early day and came back to Crazy Horse CamPark to make some dinner (steak on the RVQ, veggies, chips, etc.) and do laundry.

Tomorrow, we plan to head to Bryce Canyon NP.  There will be a lot of preparation tonight as we want to leave early tomorrow morning (Bryce is 77mi away) and we want to pack our lunches and make sure that we have plenty of water for some hiking.  

We also stopped at a little health food shop by the Mexican resteraunt and picked up some (more) homemade lip balm and body lotion to soothe our desert-dried skin.

Day 18 - Southern Utah

It feels like so very long ago when we worshiped with Hayes and Toni Price in Bernalillo, NM, and yet, it was only one week ago.  For those who are interested in the SUV, we have not had any further problems - for which we are thankful. 

For those interested in our health, we have gone a full 24 hours without someone vomiting, however, some of us have come lingering effects, and a couple of us are hoping that we do not come down with it.  Once we arrived in Kanab, we set up and everyone had a nap or quiet time for a couple hours - we needed it!  After our naps, we had dinner at Big Al's Burgers then went to the Little Hollywood Movie Set and Museum - that was a really neat (free) little spot.  We also went to a rock store, which Abby enjoyed, even though she still isn't feeling well.

We are/were planning to meet up with Crystal's Uncle Chuck and Aunt Yvonne at Zion NP, but that will depend on our health status as we do NOT want to share the stomach virus with them.  We will be in contact them them over the next two days to determine how we are feeling and how much risk there is on their end.  In order to see everything we want to see, the latest we can head to Wyoming is Wednesday morning.

For those interested in National Parks, we have been to eight so far, plus drove through one more today and right by three others today.  We have been to / through 11 states so far on this trip.

Annie and Zeke are working on their road trip shirts. 😀❤️😀❤️😀. Eventually, we will all decorate our roadtrip shirts.

Day 17 - progress

We spent thie night at a Cracker Barrel in Flagstaff - the parking lot was teeming with campers and RVs!  We drydock at Cracker Barrel occasionally, but I have never encntered so many other campers at one!

Ken, our fearless leader, feels well enough to drive the next leg to Kanab, UT via US-89.  The landscape is beautiful., cliffs, buttes, Painted Desert hills and more.  My photos do not do it justice.

Flagstaff to Kanab is about three and a half hours, but we will make stops and go slow.  Also. We will have another time change in Utah, back to Mountain Daylight (-2h) instead of Mountain Standard (-3h). This makes for some extra math for Crystal as we step Annie's medication down over the next week. 

We will not stop at the Grand Canyon proper, but we will be driving through the region all day and crossing the Colorado River in Page, it is outside the NP, but is still part of the Grand Canyon.

Page, AZ and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area / Lake Powell

Water here is incredible shades of blue contrasting with the red canyon walls!  The road we are traveling is fairly good, and we are enjoying the view.

Abby is still feeling not-too-great and did not get out of the SUV to look at Navajo jewelry - which she would normally be excited to see.  Annie is weak and hopped up on steroids, but improving and out of danger. Ken seems to have bounced back for the most part.

The Grand Staircase NM

We are at Crazy Horse RV park in Kanab, UT and got some lunch in the camper and resting.  Going forward, we need to rest and recover and pray that Annie, Abby, and Ken continue to heal and tgat those who have not yet been affected by the stomach bug stay symptom free (Aliza, Crystal and possibly the boys- but they may have had light cases yesterday).

Day 17

...we all fall down

The stomach bug has conquered us and our friends in Phoenix.  We are falling one by one, last night, Abby succumbed as we drove from Phoenix to Flagstaff as Chad and Catie had it in PHX.  My boys might have had light cases yesterday, Ken and Becky went down this morning.  Essentially our friends an most of us are working through a stomach virus if some kind

Now we are waiting for Aliza and Crystal, who is not feeling great, but she also struggles with the altitude, so it is hard to tell.

Please keep us in your prayers as you think of us. 

Day 15

30 hours later - A Happy Annie

She held down a fairly heavy dinner and Daddy got her a frozen strawberry bar last night.  We slept pretty well last night, and only the 2a med/check woke us fully.  Her face did become red/blotchy again around 2a (this happened in the ER yesterday and was a little concerning), but otherwise, everything has been smooth through the night. (Note - the diagnosis has been "adrenal crisis subsequent to stomach virus")

Thanks to "Papa TV", free WiFi, and the kids' iPad, Annie is happily watching Full House this morning.

Breakfast should be coming shortly, followed by morning rounds by the pediatrician, who has the power to send us on our way!  😊.  It will take about a week to taper her meds back down to her normal maintenance dose, so I am prepared for a somewhat hyper and hungry child for a few days.  

How has everyone else been?  I cannot speak to that personally, but Ken played National Park Monopoly with them yesterday, and Chad and Becky took them swimming last night, so, I am guessing that they are doing just fine!

Later

Only one last requirement for discharge: dinner.  It has been ordered, once it arrives, if Annie handles it well, we will be released.  Ken, Abby, Aliza, and Zeke stopped in for a while this afternoon and Ken helped Annie with a sand art picture.  Isaac decided to continue hanging out with his buddy James (has was likely also avoiding seeing Annie with tubes in her arm as he and Annie are VERY close to each other).  Zeke seems to be particularly whiny, and "mommy-sick", but hopefully that will improve soon.

One really fun note is that Annie and Zeke both figured out swimming in the Holt's pool this week!  This was very exciting!

Day 14- hospital and hospitality

We are having so much fun with our friends that we decided to stay.....  kinda.  We ARE enjoying the above and beyond hospitality of Chad and Becky, and we intended to head to Utah this morning around 6a, but instead, we are at a local hospital in Phoenix.

Annie started vomiting at 2:30am and by 4:15am it was obvious we needed to get her to the ER to prevent progression to a full blown adrenal crisis.  Becky  heard us moving about and, long story short, Becky and Crystal took Annie to the local hospital with an excellent pediatric ER.

They did not waste much time getting an IV in and were on the phone with her specialist in Philly and soon had her stabilized.  Then she vomited again and they decided to admit her overnight (wise call).  I have been very impressed by the hospital staff.

At this point, if she keeps down a popsicle and water ice, she will be allowed solid foods for dinner, and hopefully will be released tomorrow morning.  She looks SO much better than she did this morning! 

We are so glad that we were still in Phoenix and that Becky and Chad have been amazing hosts and so gracious in our time if need. 

Ken and Chad are caring for the rest of the children.  Annie likes the arts and crafts provided to the children in the pediatric ward.

UPDATE:  Annie had a large dinner around 4pm and has kept it down, the hospital, in conjunction with our specialist at CHOP has been aggressively stress dosing her and she is responding very well.  We should be released tomorrow with directions for tapering her stress dose down over then next several days as we continue on our journey.  

Day 12 - wake up!

Heading out of USA RV Park in Gallup, NM.  Early.

Pool w American flag

Life sized chess

We are heading out early so as to beat the heat in the painted desert.  It will be a long hot day for us today with three National Parks on the plan.

Day 13

We are greatly enjoying some time with our dear friends, Chad and Becky Holt and their sweet children here in Peoria, AZ.  Yes, it is very hot, but the pool is a delightful refreshment and the fellowship and laughter is equally refreshing.  

Becky had a special project to do with the children today: Car Cookies.  Yes, we baked cookies on the dashboard of Becky's van and they were delicious.

Annie did not want to enter "the oven".

We had dinner at Chino Bandito - a local Chinese-Mexican Fusion place featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  It was very cool!  Here we had Chinese food served wrapped in a burritos with fried rice and refried beans!

The children get along really well and went swimming three different times today.  James and Isaac are particularly close.

Day 12

At 7:49am local,

Ken found some kind of local radio station with "Native Traditional" music and all the announcements are in Navajo (?).

Ths Southwest is in a "record setting, lethal heatwave".  We are heading to Phoenix where the temperatures are around 120F and when I checked last night at 11p, it was still 101F. It isn't getting below 92f at night.  We prepared for the heat with plenty of sunscreen, hats, gel-cooled neckbands, and plenty of salty snacks, water, vitamin water, and gatorade.   

The one question we keep getting is: Are you going to the Grand Canyon?  Well, maybe.  If we do, it will be from the north rim when we camp in either Page, AZ or Kanab, UT.  We will decide that when we get there.

8:40a local, Petrified Forest NP

The landscaping is constantly changing every couple hundred feet as we drive through The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest.  Ken took photos on the Canon Rebel, but I do have a couple to share.

We didn't realize that Arizona does not switch to daylight savings, so, we are now three hours behind the East Coast!

Part of Historic Route 66 is maintained by the NPS as part of Painted Desert / Petrified Forest.

We also crossed the Santa Fe rail line.

The Agate Bridge

It was hot - 100+ hot.  It will cool by about 10-12 degrees as we head up (altitude) into Flagstaff this afternoon for the Indian cave dwellings at Walnut Canyon National Monument.  Our cool-gel neck wraps have gotten a workout today as have the "desert" hats, sunglasses, and sunscreen!

Traveling parts of Historic Route 66 has been fun.  We drove past the Teepee motel in Holbrook which inspired the Cozy Cones from the movie "Cars". Route 66 parallels I-40 most of the time - we have been traveling I-40 from somewhere east of Albuquerque and are driving by many of the towns listed in the   old Nat King Cole standard, "Get your Kicks on Route 66".

Crown Railroad Cafe on Historic Route 66 in Flagstaff, AZ is a great little All-American diner.  They have  trains running outside and model trains on a track encircling the diner's ceiling inside.  It was a fun place to refresh and renew before heading down to PHX 

Here are some sunset photos between Flagstaff and Phoenix on I-17:

Heading down into Phoenix.  Over the next 2hours, we will descend from over 7000 ft above sea level in Flagstaff to an altitude of 1000 ft in Phoenix.  The temperature will go up more than 10* in that time as well!!  Adventure is ours! (7:23p local / 10:23p Eastern)

At 8:30p local, the temperature is 107*F, about 45 minutes to our friends' house near Phoenix.