Rowan Family Fun!

We just got back from our Rowan family vacation and it was pretty great! It was the ultimate vacation for my dad, especially! He was like a kid in a candy store! He loved every minute of it, we all did! We went on a camping/backpacking trip though the wild wild west! We went to the Bandera Volcano and Ice caves in NM, to El Morrow National Monument in NM, drove by the Painted Cliffs and many other beautiful sites, to the Petrified Forests in AZ, camped and hiked at the Grand Canyon, took a beautiful scenic drive to the Ancient Puebloan Indian ruins at Mesa Verde in CO where we explored and camped and then drove back home and ran out of gas along the way! It was great!

El Morrow was amazing! it is definitely up there on the list of favorite sites! We hiked to the top and the view was outstanding! Joey had so much fun jumping from rock to rock and running around like a little kid! It poured on us on the way up and when we got to the top the lightening storm was crazy! It was so cool to be so close! The ice cave was 31 degrees year around and the temperature difference from the top to the bottom was like night and day! I was freezing in the middle of the desert! Being able to walk through a forest of rocks that were once trees was also a pretty neat experience!

Once we got to the Grand Canyon we set up camp and hurried to see the wondrous site! It was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined! We camped there a few nights and hiked a few miles into and out of the Canyon. We watched the sunset and saw tons of wildlife. A mountain goat even followed us up the trail a little ways. We also saw an Elk while we were there! Along with lizards!

Then we went to Colorado to see the ancient Indian ruins in the cliffs! The drive there was amazing. We camped out there and some people a few camps down saw a bear but unfortunately we did not. We did see many deer and lizards. The ruins were awesome. It is nuts to think people actually lived there! I cant even imagine! The only real bad thing about the whole trip was the van rides. And they were not really that bad, only after we were in the van for hours and hours driving around and around the mountain. That's when we all got car sick. Oh, and on the way home Joey and I were the ones up front driving and once we left Albuquerque we did not see another gas station for over a hundred miles which was further than we had gas for. So we ran out of gas and waited on the side of the highway for a few hours. But we went exploring since we were still in the desert and we found a crazy looking lizard, $20 which went to pay for the gas, and a few pipes that we could use on the bad guys that would try to kidnap us.

It really was a great time had by all! We are such a large family it is getting too difficult to get everyone together for trips and everyone went (except Ryan) so it was great! I just really really missed my baby, Odin. I hate leaving him! Anyway, here are some pictures from the vacation!
Oh yeah, and my dad was cracking us all up the entire time. My favorite was when Joey was taking down the tent and my dad grabbed his camera and said "OH SNAP!" and took his picture! He really does not realize how funny he is!
Cody in the Ice Cave in Grants, NM.

Dad and Paula with the mountain goat that followed us up the trail at the Grand Canyon, AZ.Joey sitting on Old Faithful, the largest piece of petrified wood at the Petrified Forest, AZ.Go Pokes! Us after we hiked to the top of El Morrow National Monument in NM.
The family sitting on Old Faithful in the Petrified Forest, AZ.
Shelley (Codys girlfriend), me, Ashlie, Charissa, and Paula at the Ice Caves in NM.

The Family at the top of El Morrow National Monument, NM.

Cody, Joey, Jake, and Dad at the Ice Caves in NM.

Joey and I sitting on top of El Morrow National Monument, NM.

Sunset Kiss at the Grand Canyon, AZ.

The family at the Ancient Puebloan Indian Ruins at Mesa Verde in CO.

Somewhere between NM and TX on the highway as we are waiting for AAA to bring us gas.

Camping at the Grand Canyon with our super cool headlamps!