{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 Four - Denver to Salt Lake City, and Beyond

We slept in a bit this morning and then made it over to the very first Chipotle restaurant...

{a very favorite of these two, especially}

We had attempted to eat there the last time we were in town, but it was closed for renovations! So glad it worked out this time!

From there, we made a stop at the Denver Selfie Museum...

and it was a lot of fun!

On the way out of town, we made a stop at the home of the Denver Broncos...

and then hit the road for a looong drive ahead.

We drove through the beautiful Rocky Mountains. I love watching how the landscape changes through this area!

We grabbed a quick dinner on the way and made a couple of photo op stops in the area around Salt Lake City. First up, the real life "Up Movie House"...

and then we swung by East High School...

where parts of High School Musical (including the exterior of the school) were filmed!

From there, we took our time driving on into the night and into Nevada...

More to come!

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 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 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!

{Road Trip} Day Nineteen - From the Mountains to the Plains

I've said it before, but I'll say it again...  Road tripping is definitely NOT for everyone, but one of the things that I love so much about driving around the country is seeing firsthand the landscape and how it changes literally from lush forests to hot deserts to rocky canyons to tall mountains to vast farmland and everything in between...

It amazes me every single time, but today was something else...  I drove through the Rocky Mountains and into Denver, but once I picked up my mother (aka - backup reinforcement) at the airport on the other side of the city, it was flat as far as the eye could see.  I had no idea that Denver had any flat farmland anywhere around it!  I just assumed that it was in the mountains...  Well, that is only on one side, and flat plains are on the other...

Who knew?  Fascinating to me, really...

So, as I said, we drove through the mountains today...winding and twisting up and down and through tunnels...super fun...

and made a couple of presidential stops...

Beaver Creek Resort in Avon where President Gerald Ford once owned a home...

We didn't even attempt to sweet talk our way through the gates, as I was not feeling as confident in my persuasion abilities after the whole Mormon Tabernacle Choir incident... 

Maybe next time...

Instead, we admired the flowers and other scenes around the Eagle River...

 

before continuing on to Vail, where President Ford once owned a chalet at The Lodge at Vail...

Finally making our way to Denver, we made our first stop at the Colorado State Capitol...

From there, we attempted to grab dinner at the very first Chipotle location, one of our favorite restaurants back home...

 
but alas it was closed for renovations...boo...

It was confirmed right then and there, that we will be back to Denver for sure...

We settled for dinner at the very first Qdoba location, one of our favorite restaurants that we've gotten to know on the road over the last couple of years...

Yum...

After dinner, we headed to the airport to pick up GRANDMA!  Yippee!!!

I'm happy to report that my backup reinforcement is here, and we are safely in Kansas, the kids' 47th state, and last of the 7 NEW states picked up on this trip...

More {Road Trip} 2017 Fun

Day One - A Presidential Start

Day Two - Getting Corny

Day Three - Oh, Canada! + Happy Birthday, Hubby

Day Four - Alaska Highway - Dawson Creek, BC to Muncho Lake, BC

Day Five - Alaska Highway - Muncho Lake, BC to Whitehorse, YT

Day Six - Well, Hello ALASKA!

Day Seven - Icebergs, Glaciers, and Fjords, Oh My!

Day Eight - All Around Anchorage + the Parks Highway to Fairbanks

Day Nine - Denali National Park & Preserve + Go UAF Nanooks!
Day Ten - Into the Arctic
Day Eleven - JUNEAU
Days Twelve & Thirteen - Driving for Days
Day Fourteen - Hello, Seattle!
Day Fifteen - A Couple of Capital Cities with Capitol Steps to Climb
Day Sixteen - Out and About in the Portland Area
Day Seventeen - Idaho
Day Eighteen - Utah, and a Goodbye
Day Twenty - Canvasing Kansas
Day Twenty-One - Good Bye, Kansas + Hello, Missouri!
Day Twenty-Two - Finishing Up Truman's Missouri
Day Twenty-Three - Kicking It Through Kentucky and HOME!