5 National Parks

Hi All

As you can see we had a busy week visiting lots of National Parks. We started at Bandelier, just outside Santa Fe New Mexico. This was actually my favourite. It's where the people lived in the caves in the mountain side. There were ladders to climb and small dwellings to explore and we all had a great time. There's a photo of Allen and Jacob in a 'house'. Mum and Dad got on a ranger led tour, Dad thought it was good Mum was a little bored! Their highlight though was Mum nearly treading on a rattle snake and Dad taking a very good photo of it.

Next we drove to Flagstaff and met up with Carrie, Jake and Annie. Dad enjoyed seeing the trains rushing through the station and we enjoyed a beer! I've put a photo of all the children in. We're going to miss Carrie and Co and hope to meet up one more time before we leave America and I also hope they will visit us in the future too.

Next was the Grand Canyon. There's a photo of Mum and Dad near the edge. They then did a helicopter ride over the Canyon and loved it. I chickened out again. The Canyon was as impressive as ever and clearer than when we were there last.

Then we had a night in a Caboose. It was fun to see it and be there but not so great to sleep in! I've included a photo of Jacob and Abi climbing on the roof (not sure they were meant to!) and one of us and the Caboose. From Williams, where the Caboose hotel was, we drove via the Petrified Forest National Park. I would have liked more time here as we didn't get to see it all. Actually I'd say that about all the parks we went to so we'll be here at some point in the future to do more exploring. There's a photo of Petrified wood - like stone really.

Next it was a 3 night stay in Durango. We rented a house. Mum and Dad went on a days trip to Silverton on the Steam train. They enjoyed it all. On mum's birthday we went to Mesa Verde, another dwellings in the rock National Park. It was good to see but I preferred Bandelier. I've included a photo of our birthday breakfast.

Finally we drove back and stopped at the Great Sand Dunes National Park. I was most impressed as it's loads of sand that seems to have been dumped right by the mountains. The sand was a bit hot but Jacob and Abi still managed lots of rolling around and had a wonderful time. I've put in a photo of the dunes too.

So all in all we travelled over 2000 miles in a week. There's still so much we haven't explored here, the country is so vast and has such different landscapes. I will look forward to taking holidays here in the future to show Jacob and Abi it all over again!

Hope all's well

Rachael.