Recently my family went on a great adventure. We explored the American West. From June 4th through June 16th, we had the best time of our lives camping in various places from North Dakota to Texas....and it was AWESOME!
On day one, we started from our home in North Dakota, drove through the north western part of South Dakota, then to Devil's Tower National Monument in Wyoming.
We then back-tracked to Keystone, South Dakota and visited the Mount Rushmore National Monument. That's my son Ethan holding up Roosevelt's head.....
Our plan was to have our first camp night around Lusk, Wyoming. Due to flooding and our youngest daughter throwing up in the back of the car for two hours, we got a hotel in Wright, Wyoming instead. Thank goodness for the digestive blend or it would have been much worse, I'm sure!
After a good night's sleep, we were ready to roll! From our stop in Wyoming, we ventured into the Rockies of Colorado by way of the Arapaho National Forest. Let me just say, driving up a mountain peak at 10,000 feet is both amazing and anxiety filled! But, I had my calming blend of Balance and Serenity to help me...and my 18 yr old daughter who fell right to sleep after applying it. That pic above is the range we ended up topping. There are so many cute towns on this path in Colorado that I will go into more detail about in my next few blog posts. They are must visit places!
We finally arrived at our camp site in Cañon City, CO just in time to set up camp while there was still daylight.
Once the older kiddos got over the initial shock of no service on their phones, they were happy with the warm fire, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows for s'mores, and telling ghost stories!
Upon waking the next day, after a beautiful sunrise with bacon and eggs, we set off for New Mexico. We drove until we got to the Capulin Valcano National Monument. This place was a lot more interesting than I planned on it being. I highly recommend this on your trip.
Our next stop for the majority of our trip was the Mother Land.....TEXAS! We stayed a couple of days in Odessa with family, then headed to Lake Brownwood State Park to camp for 4 days.
Lake Brownwood State Park is home to me. I grew up here during the summer months. As far as camping goes, it's pretty great. They have good bathrooms and showers, the swimming area is great, you can boat, and the fishing is FREE! It's even better now that the lake is full....but bring water shoes as the overgrowth from the drought has left the water kind of bushy in places. Be prepared for lots of bugs..especially mosquitoes and ants...and heat. You can get all you need to make effective and safe insect spray and sun screen from my doterra store! Learn how to order!
When we left Texas, we were in for a treat. Our next camp site was in the Gila/Apache National Forest in Quemado, New Mexico. The weather was perfect, and the stars seemed so close! Lots of Elk so drive careful. And if the sound of coyotes and wolves howling put you to sleep, then this is the place for you!
From there we drove past the Petrified Forest in Arizona, to the Grand Canyon. If you thought this was just a big hole in the ground, I encourage you to go see it! Be prepared, this was the most expensive thing on our trip. It cost $30 a car, so make your stay last a while. It was so worth it! Oh, and another tip. When emailing pics from your phone to yourself, always save the original or largest size. If you do the smaller size because it takes longer to send, they turn out kind of blurry like this....I forgive myself....
Our final camp site was in Shonto, Arizona at the Navajo National Monument. This place is full of beauty and history, and will hold a special place in any one's heart that have Native American in their heritage like I do. I will expand on this more in blog posts to come.
On our way back to North Dakota, we drove through Monument Valley on the Arizona and Utah side. We planned to go through the Arches, but ran out of time. We will go back, though. The pic above is the Utah side.
We had one final stop in Parachute, Colorado by way of Palisade...probably one of the cutest towns ever! We stayed the final night at a very nice and affordable Comfort Inn to hot tub and rest before our long 12hr drive home the next day.
We did all this for around $2,000 total! It was so worth the effort. My only regret is we were not able to do this before our two oldest boys grew up and developed responsibilities of their own. Take my word on this.....take your family on a cross-country camping trip ASAP!
How are you spending your summer this year?
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