Canyon Country Trip - August 24 & 25

Frank's Journal:

We got up and ate breakfast at the hotel. Then we went to hike up the Organ Mountains. When we got there we saw hummingbirds, signed in, and went to go hiking. We got there and went hiking on the trail. The trail took us up to the mountains but not up them. We turned around and went on a different trail back to the car. When we got to the car we drove and and ate lunch at Burger Time. Once we were done with lunch we went back to the hotel and swam in the pool. Then we went shopping and went to the Rio Grande. After we were done shopping we went to a cool playground, and swung. Then we went back to the hotel and went to bed. The next day we drove home--most of the way across Texas...

good bye!

Canyon Country Trip - August 23

Frank's Journal:
We got up at Aunt Linda's Dad's house in Phoenix and went for a hike at South Mountain Park. We got there at 9:00 and it was 95 degrees! We went on a hike, saw cool quail, and lots of small lizards. My Mom and I climbed up some rocks to look for lizards. We were climbing and I saw the tail of a Chuckwalla! We didn't see a Horned Lizard but we did see lots of other lizards. Then we drove through Saguaro National park and saw lots of cool saguaro cacti. Then when we finally got to the Desert Museum, we went on lots of hikes, and saw awesome animals. We saw birds, reptiles (including a Gila Monster in the zoo and a Regal Horned Lizard in the wild!), foxes, pumas, coyotes, wolves, and lots more. Once it closed we drove to Las Cruces and spent the night there.

Canyon Country Trip - August 22

Frank's Journal:

Abby, me, Kayla, and Aunt Linda with their new calf, Star

We got up and met Michael, whose house we had been staying at. He was nice, but he had strep throat. Then we started on our trip to Phoenix. We drove past Vermillion Cliffs and some rocks called Balancing Rocks. On our way we stopped on a bridge to look for California Condors. We looked for a couple minutes then my Mom said, "I got excited because for a second I thought that was a Condor, but it's only a vulture". I looked at it and it spread its wings out. "That's a big vulture!" I said to myself. Then it turned to us and it had white triangles on its wings; it was a Condor! It went inside a little cave; then it flew away from us. After a little while we saw it coming toward us. Then it landed right under us! It stayed there a while, and then it flew off the other way. Then another one came flying really high! Then they flew off in separate ways, and we left. After driving for a while we stopped at a Navajo roadside market, and I got a cool necklace.

It was my favorite day. =)

Canyon Country Trip - August 21

Frank's Journal:

When we got up we went to Cedar Breaks National Monument. It was cool, there were cedar and pine trees, and then it all of a sudden was desert. In the desert there were tall slender rock formations called Hoo-Doos. We did the junior ranger program and got our badges. We drove around to some cool overlooks of the desert. Then we hiked some trails. One of the trails was hard because it was long, it went up and down, and it was at a high altitude. On the way back to the house we stopped at a rock shop and bought some cool sandstone carvings.

Canyon Country Trip - August 20

Frank's Journal:


On Monday we went to the Grand Canyon. On the way there we stopped at a couple of cool overlooks of the north rim of the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is so big and so massive that it's hard to believe it's real! We did some hiking along the Grand Canyon but not in it. We stopped and ate sandwiches and chips. Then we went on some more cool hikes and Abby and I got the junior ranger badges. My favorite hike went to a cool overhang with a window in it. When we left the Grand Canyon we drove back at night to Aunt Linda's old house.

Canyon Country Trip - August 19

Frank's Journal:

We got up (from our campsite) and went to church. After church was over my Dad, my two uncles, and I went to the raft trip building and waited. Then the bus got there and we went on a bus ride through a cool tunnel, to the inside of the dam. When we got there we got on the rafts and started down the Colorado River. We went on turns through Glen Canyon and stopped on a little beach where some people got out and swam in 47 degree F water! At the stop we also went on a hike up a little slope to the side of the canyon where they had some cool petroglyphs. Once we finished the raft trip we took a bus back to town. Then we drove back to the house.

Abby's Journal:

On Sunday I rode Lillie--a draft horse--it was really fun. She was a gentle giant! She was a Shire. She was 17.2 hands tall. (Now you know why I call her a giant).

Canyon Country Trip - August 18

Frank's Journal:

We got up and went to Paria where they were filming a movie about two kids in the desert. Then we went to Lake Powell where we set up our tent at a place called Lone Rock.



Once we got it set up we went to tour the Glen Canyon Dam, which is the most massive and one of the tallest dams in the US. The tour was cool; it went through and on the dam. After the tour was over we went to town to buy some supplies. While we were shopping the wind started blowing really hard, and we began to worry about our tent.






We hurried back to the lake and found our tent blown over but saved by our neighbors! When we got the tent set back up we went swimming. When we got out we ate supper and tried to go to bed, but some other people kept their light on and it was hot.

Canyon Country Trip - August 17

Frank's Journal:

When we got up Abby and Mom went to ride horses, and Dad and I went to to climb F hill. When we got to the top, we stood by the F (which stands for Fredonia). After we climbed down, we went to Pipe Springs, where we learned how Pioneers and Indians lived. At Pipe Springs my favorite part was the big garden. They had lots of cool garden plants there. =)