Colorado National Monutment, Colorado (ana)-Grand Junction, Colorado

hehe, colorfu

next to us on our drive

the view forever

we drove into colorado through a desert.
i wrote a few postcards to some friends, and we continued onto Grand Junction, Colorado.
we were looking around in amazement. there aren't many deserts in New Jersey.
and i don't think any of us have ever seen one, at least, us kids haven't that's for sure. well, maybe Bolivia, but that's a different story.
so my mom finds this one place, call the Colorado National Monument. none of us have ever heard of it, but the pictures she shows us on my dad's IPhone, it looks amazing.
so we're driving along this nicely paved road, following directions, when these giant mountains loom in front of us. they're not the snow-capped type. these are flat on the top, and red and dusty. desert mountains.

this is what we were driving next to

we go up to where the little booth is, ask if there's vacancy (which there is), and start driving up the mountains.

this is him making us all scream from the car

pretty picture

that in itself is an adventure.
these mountains go straight down, to the land below. and even though the roads are very nice, there's not a whole lot of railing on it, so you pretty much always are about to fall off the edge. and that would really ruin the whole vacation.

fat rocks

thankfully, we finally managed to get to the top without dying, and we went to check the campsites out. we were looking for shade, and somewhere close to bathrooms and water. we found one that had a pump near it, and the bathroom a short walk up a hill. and it had a tree that provided shade, and man was it hot outside.

pretty view

after we registered for our campsite, we went to the education center (of course). we roamed around a little bit, but it was small, and i had looked at everything in a span of 10 minutes. i did learn about the different kinds of rocks that Colorado National Monument is made of, so that was kind of cool.
we went outside and took a few pictures with the incredible background.
then we went to Grand Junction, which is the city near Co. National Monument. we drove around a bit, and then we saw signs for a farmer's market. we went to that, and it turned out to be really fun. we tried out all types of food, and we got to get shaved ice, which was refreshing.
my dad got this chili thing for his dinner, because the entire trip he was begging for it, but we never got the chance to make it.
there was this bellydancing thing, and we watched a little bit of that. also, there was a live band, but they weren't all that great.

i was mad at mary when i took this picture

and there were all these weird sculptures all over the place, which was pretty random.

this was the first sculpture i saw, and i was a little disturbed

so all in all, we all really liked Grand Junction, and we were glad that we went.

the tent

we took the perilous drive up the mountains again, and then set up the tent. for some reason, it was acting weirdly, and we had to set it up and take it down 1 or 2 times. now it chooses to be annoying, in this heat. really.

setting up the tent in the boiling heat

we finally decided that whatever, we'll just be careful with it, then sat down to have dinner. mac&cheese is always a good option.

mary and allana before dinner, playing a hand game

then we got ready for bed, went to the restroom, brushed our teeth, ect. i was the only one to change into pajamas though. my mom and mei slept in dresses, and the rest of them in shorts and shirts. well, that's camping for you. you aren't the cleanest person.
the next morning, we got up a little later than usual, and my dad told us about that he saw a scorpion before he went for his run this morning. again, it was like bolivia.

the scorpion next to my dad's foot

then we packed up camp, and drove down to Serpent's Trail, a trail where my mom wanted to go walking on for 20 minutes or so.
since we were at the top of the park, and Serpent's Trail was at the bottom, we got one last chance to admire the beauty of Colorado National Monument.
it really is amazing.
you should try to go before you die. even if you live across the world, it's worth it.
we got to Serpent's Trail, went walking, which you have to look down to not fall of the side of the cliff.
it was fun though, but it was ho, so it was nice to go back to an air-conditioned car.

my sweaty family

we left the Colorado National Monument for Denver, Colorado.