Day 11- 2016 National Park Tour: Hovenweep, Yucca House National Monument, Four Corners, San Juan National Forest

Friday July 15, 2016

*No Pictures Note: When transferring ALL my pictures from my camera to my external hard drive, something went wrong and ALL my pictures are gone :( Pictures will be back in future posts!

Woke up with the sun already in the sky and a somewhat deflated sleeping pad... Crap! After blowing it up and sitting on in in all sorts of different ways, I couldn't hear it leaking and kind of remember dreaming about the sleeping pad, so I'm hoping I let the air out while dreaming... 

The kids slept in while I started our cheesy eggs with the cheese we bought last night at Family Dollar, which has all sorts of things we didn't need, like the thin plaid button up I purchased to wear when it was warm but the sun was too much on my arms. The kids took their sweet, loud time getting dressed. Chuck Roast hated cheesy eggs as much as he hates oatmeal and instant mashed potatoes. 

I spread our sleeping bags out on some bushes along with our pillows to air out a bit while I packed up the rest of camp. The kids played catch with their velcro balls and frog faces... maybe I'll remember to take a picture for a better explanation... Pumpkin got sassy and when I told her to take a break, she called me a mean mom, which was better than when she called me 'stupid mom' yesterday when I told her 7 times to stop playing in the water pump at Arches while 4 people stood in line to fill bottles until I physically moved her away from the pump. Stupid me. She was very upset, sticking her tongue out and yelling random sounds at me and was told to take a break in the car. She spent 5 minutes in there reading, but she came out and reacted the same way when asked to close her car door. 'why do I always have to do everything!?!' was the conversation that ensued. We all sat down and talked about jobs and responsibility. It fell on deaf ears as I finished packing the entire camp minus their specific gear. The kids then eye-rolled and stomped when they realized that they had to carry their own things to the car. I sure am the meanest mom ever. 

***TMI: last night Chuck Roast had to defecate. He couldn't do it into a hole last time and apparently I had less than 'right now!' to provide him a space before he went 'in my pants or on the ground' so I pulled out a plastic bag... fast forward to this morning when I spent more time looking for a dumpster than at the sights around Hovenweep knowing that I was driving around with little human poop in my trunk. Just beware before dispersed camping with kids!***

We drove down to Hovenweep, which was a crazy long drive. We happened upon Painted Hand but didn't realize that it was part of the park until we got to the Visitor Center (which didn't have a dumpster but had an outdoor metal garbage that I snuck my 'garbage' into). We finished our Jr. Ranger books in under 15 minutes, took the pledge, and then hiked to see the ruins. There were lots of rocks and the canyon was neat, so Chuck Roast didn't notice how far he was hiking and wanted to keep going after the candy conversation. Being aware of your kids and their different needs is very important, especially while traveling. Pumpkin runs ahead on trails, climbs everything she can, and clearly doesn't tire until she crashes at night before her head hits the pillow. Chuck Roast 'needed' to take a break on the trail less than 20 feet from the Visitor Center. He immediately got too hot and his legs were too tired to walk anymore. Our 'exploration walk' (I MUST avoid using the word 'hike' with Chuck Roast) was going to be mighty short until he asked if he could have candy. I told him he could if he didn't complain on our exploration walk. A few reminders of what complaining was when it happened made the hike so much more enjoyable for myself but especially for Chuck Roast, who ended up showing more excitement than Pumpkin or me.

Once done with the hike and after watching the informational video at the Visitor Center, a calculated move on my part to sit quietly in the air conditioning after our mile-long hike, we found a picnic bench to have lunch after refilling all of our hydration pack bladders, bottles, the 5-gallon water container that sits on the front passenger seat floor, and the 1-gallon water jug that we used on our last camping trip. We had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and were obsessed with the bird that kept hopping around us and on our table, continuously reminding ourselves that we Do Not feed wildlife or it becomes reliant on humans and can't survive in the wild. I caved and agreed with Chuck Roast's 'knowledge' that only the farmer can feed the bird if it lives at his farm if it doesn't like any of the food in the area where it lives, since someone has to feed the animals or they die, which is a concept we discuss when talking about other people so of course it relates to all living things :) This is one such time when I am incredibly proud of my children.

Chuck Roast feel asleep shortly after leaving Hovenweep and Pumpkin and I listened to more Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events while driving south to Yucca House National Monument and Four Corners. We called grandma on the way, the first conversation with her since we left on our trip (grandpa called us back at the hotel when we called them both and no one answered). She's been in the area before and talked about Arches with Pumpkin while Chuck Roast napped. We also talked about the rest of our trip since our plan changed so much from the original. She was surprised to hear where we were and how we got there since Utah was NOT on the original plan's map.

We drove past Yucca House TWICE before finding it on Google Maps while BACK in Cortez for the second time. We drove in the direction of Yucca House TWICE before going back to Cortez a THIRD time and looking up the National Park Service website to get their directions and found that they actually state that they DO NOT have signs to the site. We followed their directions though multiple gates that say 'No Trespassing' but the NPS website says they are for the land around the county road. We pulled up INTO the driveway of a house (the website says NEXT TO) the house's driveway and saw a tiny sign for Hovenweep National Monument. Chuck Roast had to use the bathroom in a bad way (it's always in a bad way) and we left. We drove back to the main road and found Four Corners, took our #itstheguerraway picture of all of us eating a taco on the four corners along with a few regular pictures, all of which have us facing away from the sun so you can barely see our faces (I'm an amazing photographer by the way :/ ). Pumpkin ate her taco in the car while Chuck Roast and I waited until we got to the campsite so we didn't spill and attract bears.

I'm worried that my fear of bears will be passed onto my children, but I don't care on this trip since we are spending all of our time in bear country. My fear involves barely even eating 12 hours before camping where bears may live. I started the trip with the kids not being allowed to wear their day clothes into the tent for fear of a smear of food on their clothes attracting a bear that will eat us while we sleep.  This fear comes from my childhood, which I am fully aware my parents didn't support other than tell me to be careful to not have food in the tent so animals don't smell it. On our camping trip with my dad last month, after I explained to my kids again that we can't have food by our campsite for fear of bears, he made it clear that it wasn't the bears we were warding off as much as small animals that will nibble around our gear, including our tent. Even after typing this information while on sitting our 'table cloth' which consists of a Walmart tarp, I am still very aware of my surprisingly warm Sangria possibly splashing onto the dirt around me and attracting black bears that may maul us through our tent while we sleep. Irrational, I know.

After Four Corners, we drove BACK to and through Cortez. We stopped for a mini atlas for Chuck Roast so he has one like his sister, but we couldn't find one. We filled up with gas... NEVER let your tank go below ½ out here, distance is VERY deceiving (for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to spell this word but Pumpkin spelled it for me while only missing the first 'I', she's not quite 7). We also used the bathroom so there were no more defecating into plastic bags (cross your fingers, although I did pick up doggy bags from Hovenweep as a backup plan). We drove past Mesa Verde National Park into the San Juan National Forest and found a lovely set of campsites on one road, where we had to drive through the first to get to the second. We took the second but have spent the last couple of hours watching vehicles drive by the first, not sure if they can see us, but we can see them.

The kids have spent the time creating a store full of nature items; sticks and pine cones, for me to buy. Pumpkin wants to go to the road and tell people to come to their store, but mean old mom said no. We are going to crawl into our tent and call it a night.

My conversation with my mom lead to us talking about how Chuck Roast might need some more down time than the rest of us. This site seems cool and large, exactly what I want for an entire day spent in one place. Depending on what tomorrow morning brings, we may just stay here all day. Playing catch, soccer, Mexican Train Dominoes, and napping. We might all be better off with a day off from travel and exploration.