{Road Trip} Day Eleven - Four Corners, Four States, and a Four Gazillion Hour Drive

Today consisted of a lot of driving. We had the Four Corners Monument on our list to do today...

and it's one of those things that you just can't get to very easily. It is kind of near-ish to the Grand Canyon in Arizona, or at least in the same vicinity of the country, but probably closest to either Canyonlands in Utah or Mesa Verde in Colorado. We visited the Grand Canyon on our first cross country road trip, and unfortunately, we didn't have time to stop at either of the other two, so this felt very much like we drove for hours in the middle of nowhere to visit and then drove for even more hours in the middle of nowhere to move on! I was just ready to get out of the desert and off of a reservation, but if you decide to go, I would definitely work in one or more of those national parks so all that middle of nowhere driving gets you a little bit more!

The Four Corners Monument is the only place where four states meet - Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico...

We spent some time at the monument and some time walking around, as well...

It was a fun stop!

Now, on to cover some major ground!

More {Road Trip} 2024 Fun

Day One - Meet Me in St. Louis, Later on Tonight?

Day Two - CITY Fun in St. Louis!

Day Three - A Prime Time in Kansas City

Day Four - Denver to Salt Lake City, and Beyond

Day Five - Operation #CapitolStepsChallenge Completion

Day Six - San Francisco, What a Treat!

Day Seven - A Beautiful Drive

Day Eight - A Univerally Good Time

Day Nine - Heading South and Then East

Day Ten - A Day at the Burning Bush...Errr, I Mean the Joshua Tree(s)

Day Twelve - Going Nutty and Covering a Lot of Ground

Day Thirteen - A Little Bit of Elvis and HOME!

{Road Trip} Day Ten - A Day at the Burning Bush...Errr, I Mean the Joshua Tree(s)

Oh my word...it was sooo hot today! 

We made a stop in Joshua Tree National Park...

where we saw, dare I say "cute", cacti...

big, cool rocks...

and of course, joshua trees!

We left the park, and grabbed a late lunch at Del Taco (again)...

before bidding farewell to California!

Once in Arizona, we did make one nostalgic stop...

from the last time we were in the area!

{6/29/2015 - on our last road trip to California!}

Making one last "desert" stop tomorrow!

More {Road Trip} 2024 Fun

Day One - Meet Me in St. Louis, Later on Tonight?

Day Two - CITY Fun in St. Louis!

Day Three - A Prime Time in Kansas City

Day Four - Denver to Salt Lake City, and Beyond

Day Five - Operation #CapitolStepsChallenge Completion

Day Six - San Francisco, What a Treat!

Day Seven - A Beautiful Drive

Day Eight - A Univerally Good Time

Day Nine - Heading South and Then East

Day Eleven - Four Corners, Four States, and a Four Gazillion Hour Drive

Day Twelve - Going Nutty and Covering a Lot of Ground

Day Thirteen - A Little Bit of Elvis and HOME!

{10 Trip} Celebrating TEN ~ Arizona!

So, we wanted to plan a special one-on-one trip with our littles when they turned 10, and with our oldest turning the magic number later this month + our favorite Tigers heading to the CFP National Championship in Arizona, we thought that the perfect little getaway surprise!

When I think of B, I think of Clemson, football, hiking (really nature and anything outside), and presidents, so here we go!

 

From getting up close and personal with all of the important trophies...

  

to getting autographs from some of his favorite players of the past...

we had a wonderful time...

even if our favorite team didn't come out on top.

We also made time to get in a little presidential history, of course, by visiting the Roald Amundsen Pullman Car at the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale...

  

Built in 1928, and now listed on the National Historic Register, the Roald Amundsen is best known for being used by every president from Herbert Hoover through Dwight Eisenhower.  In 1940, President Franklin Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister W. L. McKenzie King signed the agreement that provided for the joint defense of North America, now known as NORAD...

 

Before catching our flight home, we got in a little exercise, too, with an afternoon climb to the top of Camelback Mountain... 

All in all, a great little getaway with our most favorite 10 year old!