I apologize for missing last week's post, but I just got back from a 10 day driving vacation with family to South Dakota and Colorado. In all, 10 of us (2 daughters, 1 son-in-law, 5 grandchildren, Denis and I) traveled in a two vehicle caravan. We drove 3600 miles, visited National Parks and other attractions, and bonded with each other. Our ultimate goal was Grand Junction, CO on the western slope of Colorado. Here's a photo of our group on the day we left:
We visited National Parks and Monuments: Mt. Rushmore, Badlands National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado National Monument, Arches National Park (in Utah) and Black Canyon National Park. Badlands NP was the odds-on favorite of all the parks, mostly because they are the most accessible for rock climbing.
We visited roadside tourist stops, too, just for a little fun: Jolly Green Giant in Blue Earth, MN, the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD, Fort Cody in North Platte, NE and Antique Archaeology in LeClaire, IA. And, of course, what visit to the Black Hills of SD would be complete without a stop and shop at Wall Drug?
We mixed in some other interesting activities to break up the long hours on the road: Downtown Art and Enstrom Candy Factory in Grand Junction, CO, The Golden Spike observation tower at Bailey RR Yard in North Platte, NE and the Archway Museum in Kearney, NE.
We drove through the heart of the Rocky Mountains twice (on the way out and on the way back) and made a visit to Loveland Pass, just west of Denver on Hwy 6 (off I-70). I wanted to show my daughters and grandchildren where their Grandmother's ashes were scattered. At elevation 11,990 ft, Grandma Fran has a great view!
Just a few days after returning home and getting settled from the trip, we had our monthly scrapbooking evening. The pages we made are from Close To My Heart's Into The Wild paper collection. These pages will be perfect for our CO trip photos!
I'll be back to sewing again this coming week. The annual September scrapping retreat is coming up in 3 weeks and I have yet to make my door prize offering. Till then...
