Friday, July 27, 2012

Utah, Colorado & Kansas

On the road again,




I am so excited. We took off on July 18, driving to Chicago for mom’s family reunion. We knew we were heading into a major heat wave, but never imagined how hot it would be.  After the first night in St. George, Utah we decided to detour to try and cool off a bit at Capitol Reef National Park.  Check me out on the roof of our car enjoying the views!


We stayed at the in the park at the beautiful Fruita  campground.  Lots of deer close to our RV.
 We escaped the heat for a little bit, but it caught up with us.  It was too hot for mom and dad to take any hikes, which was good for me cause that meant I could go with them in the car for the scenic drive through the Capitol George.
We saw huge rock formations and cliffs formed over 22 million years ago.
The centerpiece of the park is the Waterpocket Fold, a 100 mile fold in the earth.


Lots of hoodoos and pinnacles.


Our next stop was in Fruita, Colorado to visit the Colorado National Monument. Again, a great campground, but too hot to do anything but stay in the RV or car. We took the 23 mile scenic drive through the park, rising 2.000 miles above the valley.




























Magnificent views

colorful sheer wall canyons , vertical cliffs,


and great natural rock sculptures

Do you recognize this from a commercial?




The next day we drove 380 miles across Colorado to get to Abilene, Kansas to visit the Eisenhower Presidential Library - great visit, but so hot dad forgot to take his camera. 

Our last stop in Kansas was Topeka, to visit Brown versus the Board of Education National Historic Monument.  The site was the original Monroe Elementary school, one of the five school districts involved in the Supreme Court desegregation ruling. 




It was an extremely interesting and thought provoking exhibit and one mom and dad really enjoyed.

Adios,
Yuki