The Cinnamon Roll Chronicles

 On Thursday morning before we left the Grand Canyon we had a few things to finish up. We started with breakfast at the Harvey House Cafe and breakfast is much better than their lunch. Then we went to the visitors center so EG could be sworn in a junior ranger (she is really racking up the Jr Ranger badges on this trip). And then we made a few purchase and most importantly we mailed a few postcards 😉 As we left the Grand Canyon we did a scenic drive for 34 miles that took us around two other National Mounments - Watputki and Sunset Crater. Both were really cool to see but Sunset Crater was incredible with all the lava fields.  However because we chose to do that it put us super behind on getting to Santa Fe. We ate dinner on the road all day including a stop at EG’s favorite McDonalds 🤦🏻‍♀️ and it cost us $42 to eat there 😳 We finally made it our campsite at 9:30 that night. And it was so weird to arrive in the dark. Honestly in the dark Santa Fe seemed a little questionab...

 Tuesday we headed to the Grand Canyon by train. One thing about us is if there is the ability to take a train ride…we are going to do it. So we had to be in Williams, AZ and on the train for a 9:30 departure. On the way out of Flagstaff we stopped at the Campus Coffee Bean for coffee and pastries and it was so good! I had an Almond Joy latte and Daniel got another cinnamon roll.  The train ride lasted 2 hours and 15 mins but when you got off in Grand Canyon Village you had roughly three hours before you had to be back on the train. On the train ride to the Grand Canyon we had a fiddle player come to our car. EG got to play the fiddle with him.  Once we got off we walked around all the points of interest in the Village. Had lunch in the Harvey House Cafe which was very mid. And then by the time that was over it was pretty much time for the train ride back.   On the ride back we had a guitar player sing in our car. We got ice cream sandwiches from the cafe car. And th...

Saturday Night we stayed at a KOA in Flagstaff. I’ve always been a fan of KOA’s because they have showers and have things for the girls to do. And because we normally tent camp and that occasionally we could switch to a cabin if we decided too. But recently the ones we have stayed in have been very meh….I honestly think they are trying to squeeze too many people into each location and as a result they can’t keep up with the cleaning of the bathrooms and facilities but that’s not the point of todays post…. Sunday morning after leaving the KOA we headed for Sedona. After coffee where the girls shared a cinnamon roll….  Our first stop was the Red Rocks visitors center and then we decided to hike around Bell Rock. The scenery was beautiful but there were a lot of people on the beginning of the trail.  After Bell Rock we headed into Sedona for lunch. We ended up at a place called Wildflower it was similar to a Panera but WAY Better!!! The blackberry orange lemonade was fantastic! M...

 We learned very quickly with EG that we would move at her pace. But we do like to push her a little. And we got so use to her going with the flow that we have to relearn things on this trip with C. Let me say that EG never really experienced the terrible twos. But well C is what we have nicknamed on this trip a little terrorist 😂 She is very demanding and only wants to do what she wants to do 🤪 But she is doing well and I just keep telling myself she will grow out of it 😳 We left New Mexico on Friday to drive to Arizona. About 30 mins away from Petrified Forest we saw a sign for Hubble Trading Post NHS. So of course we detoured to check it out. It is the oldest continuously operating trading post in the southwest. And they still sell authentic Navajo made goods.  We finally made it to Petrified Forest about 3pm. We decided to divided our time in half. We did half the sites on Friday. Which included most of the painted desert and the Painted Desert Inn. The inn was celebrat...

 Thursday morning we left Missy’s. We had three things on the agenda for the day 1) Chaco Cultural National Historical Site 2) Petroglyph National Monument and 3) Old Town Albuquerque  Chaco Canyon is only about 1.5 hours from Farmington so it was our first stop…..we turned off the main road on to a dirt road drove for about 30 mins…..saw some really pretty horses. Then we hit a random traffic jam.  Couldn’t figure out what was going on at first but quickly found out it was a Native American Protest.  They had the road blocked and wouldn’t let anyone pass to go to the park.  Which was kinda a bummer but….it just means we have to come back again.  Our consultation picture for not making it to Chaco was a picture with the Dino at the Sinclair Gas Station.  We did make it to Petroglyph….it’s right in the middle of Albuquerque and pretty split up.  One of the locations had had several break ins…so we skipped there. And the other was pretty far north. ...

 On Tuesday the girls spent the morning at the Farmington Children’s Museum and Nature Center with Aunt Missy and Jenna.  Daniel and I stayed back because we had a zoom meeting for school 🤪 The rest of Tuesday we spent the day eating our way through Durango, CO. Missy and Roy live right on the border of New Mexico and Colorado. So we were able to go into Colorado for the day. So now C can say she’s been to Colorado 😉 We had appetizers and drinks from Carver’s Brewing Co. Purchased delicious chocolate from Animas Coffee and Chocolate. Had street tacos for dinner at Switchback. And ended the night was delicious homemade ice cream. I tried balsamic strawberry in a blue corn cone…it was so good I didn’t think to take a picture until I had crumbs left. 😋 Wednesday we got up and started the day with a visit Aztec Ruins National Monument.  I will say all of the small NPS sites that are in the southwest area are really nice and well kept.  Daniel took a cute picture of C ...