Day 5

To say it rained last night would be a huge understatement. I'm not sure how but in all our travels we have never been to Oklahoma, but this state is definitely not my friend right now. We knew there would be rain. We knew there would be some thunder, but we didnt anticipate the severity of the storm. Coupled with sandy ground for securing our tent and you end up with collapsing tent walls and rain coming in the tents.

It started about midnight, so I grabbed my laptop and started to edit pictures and write. The rough part of the storm seemed to last about 15 minutes and then soften. About 30 minutes later another heavy band of rain would come through. I decided to try to go to sleep or I would be pretty grumpy by 7pm that night. What I actually ended up doing for about an hour is stare at the top of the tent watching it sway in the wind while being blinded temporarily by each lightning strike. That's about when the tent walls started threatening to cave in on me and Dave so I popped up to watch the other tent.

After our division into two smaller tents last year I realized my children are growing so we upgraded to a little bit bigger tent to accommodate the three of them. With Grammie here only two are actually sleeping in it each night. Within about 5 minutes the "closet" storage section pulled free from the stakes and caved in on them. The majority of the top of that section is screen for ventilation but tonight it was actually beginning the flood in their tent.

Knowing they would be more worried and scared than me, I hopped out into the middle of the storm and moved to their tent while Dave held down our tent. Their little eyes were as big a saucers as they held onto the walls to try to stay dry. I held onto the storage area for a little bit to see if the storm was settling but each time it seemed to calm down it would come back with a furry.

I ran the kids over to Grammie's RV, got them inside and flattened their tent. We'd just have to deal with the insides the next day. Meanwhile, the poles on our tent had popped inside out due to the winds so after righting it I moved all the mostly dry bags and sleep mats to the inside of my car. I grabbed some dry clothes and towels then Dave and I lowered our tent. Once again I found myself dripping in the RV bathroom peeling off soaked clothes. This is the point in past trips where I would cram everything into the car and head to a hotel for the night. Or three. Thank goodness Grammie is along with us. Reason # 421. After we all settled in and warmed up we slept sound, barely hearing the same rain that had been pounding on our tent.

Dave and I got up the next morning and worked for about an hour drying everything. We didn't have any neighbors so it was nice to be able to hang our sleeping bags, sleep mats, clothes, etc on all the cables that divided the sites. As expected the kid tent was the worst, but both were still functional and we were all safe so we're good.

Grammie made us breakfast for the car and we got on the road pretty quick. We had yet another long drive ahead of us. This was our view for what seemed like the next umpteen hours. I thought we'd never get out of Oklahoma!

We made it to New Mexico!

The skies were taunting us with rain the entire trip. That makes for a grumpy Clarke family. We're ready to sleep in our tents!!

After a Walmart stop we turned into the Capulin Volcano National Monument excited to see what it was like. We were also very excited to see the bathrooms as we all ran to pee. I bought our National Parks Annual pass for our admission for the rest of the trip and we stocked up on some post cards (get ready friends!).

We made the terrifying, twisty drive to the top and were excited to see the view from the top!  We were even more excited we could walk down into the crater vent. Our Florida family all had to don sweatshirts as we were now at an altitude of more than 8,000 feet. The lava rocks were significantly larger than the ones we'd seen at Sunset Lake Crater Volcano.

After exploring for a little while we got back in the car for our final trek to our next site. Shortly after we started we made it to the sign we'd all been waiting for.....Colorado!!

After another hour drive we arrived to a beautiful ridge where our campground was perched. The temperature was chilly so we all added pants to our wardrobe for the day. While I got our wet stuff in the dryer Dave checked the weather for the night. He was admittedly very gunshy after the night before so once he saw a prediction for rain we humbly asked if we could hang out with Grammie again for the night.








We had yet another delicious dinner of shrimp and crab gumbo to warm us up on this chilly rainy night. The kids asked to paint with some of the art supplies Grammie had given them so I cleaned up and watched the artists at work while I updated the blog. We realized after awhile the reason we were all getting so tired. We were now in the Mountain Time Zone! Put that together with being up for a few hours in the middle of the night and we all fell asleep even without a crazy bedtime story!  I couldn't wait to wake up in the morning and see our campsite view!

Day 4

We woke up today expecting to quickly pack up and avoid the morning showers, but when I checked my phone as I woke up there was nothing. We were able to take our time packing up instead of shoving things all over the place which can seriously drive me crazy. It's hard enough for all of us to fit in my car much less with piles of stuff out of their places!

Once we ate breakfast we packed up and headed to the trail for Natural Falls, the namesake of this park. We tried to convince the kids it was a five mile one-way walk down to the falls but they just happened to be standing near enough at check in the day before to hear the ranger tell us it was only 47 steps down. Laney was super excited to learn this waterfall was featured in the movie "Where the Red Fern Grows" which she read last year.

We walked all around the trail surrounding the falls to learn more about the plants and animals in the area as well as to see the waterfall from different angles. Grammie even spotted a chipmunk who wasn't scared of us at all as he ate his mid-morning snack. Grammie must have been smelling really good this morning because a moth tried to adopt her on the way to our cars. No matter how many times we touched him to encourage him to leave he would simply fly around to the other shoulder. She ended up having to climb in next to the rose bushes to entice him to leave!

We got on the road and headed to our next stop in Oklahoma City. While we have just completed learning about modern history, it didn't cover as far up as the 1990s so Dave and I had the task of explaining the Oklahoma City Bombing to the kids in our car. I remember feeling so shocked and sad, but so much time has passed that there were so many details I didn't remember.

We had our first experience exploring a bigger city with Grammie in her RV! Of course, Grammie scored the front row parking spot as she always does. Once she had Lola secured in the RV with the air on, we went to explore the memorial.  We were welcomed to the memorial with the words, "We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever.  May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope, and serenity."

The first area we got to was the wall where people could leave things. The kids were very anxious, trying to figure out something they could also leave. They saw a few pictures of the children that were killed in the bombing too.

Next we walked through into the memorial plaza and were instantly
in awe of the concept of the memorial. We spent a few minutes talking to the park ranger about the meaning behind many of the objects in the area. There were the enormous walls with a reflecting pool between them. Each had a times carved into it: 9:01 for the last minute of innocence then 9:03 for the first minute of healing.

There were 168 chairs with names strategically placed on what floor and area of the building the victims worked or were visiting at the time of the bombing. There were some of the original walls still in place with names of the survivors from  buildings in the immediate area.

The part of the memorial I liked most was the Survivor Tree. This tree was surrounded by burning cars after the bombing and still survives today. It would imagine is a symbol of hope and strength for so many people. And it's absolutely beautiful!

The view from the tree over the plaza was breathtaking.

After walking around a little bit more we decided to go by the children's area. For months after the bombing Oklahoma City received tiles from children from all over the country and they are part of the display. The kids also added their marks on the chalkboard tiles on the ground.


On the way out the kids had the idea to leave a few Pensacola Rocks for the children that were taken that day.

A few hours later we drove into our spot in Little Sahara State Park. It was blazing hot and we were all starving so we set up in record time to eat. Of course we'd heard there was rain coming so we prepared by making sure the rain fly was secure. After dinner Brayden decided to read so the girls played My Ship Sails with me and Dave. We hadn't played since our summer trip 3 years ago. After a raucous game we decided to head to bed. I brought it my laptop and things to work on should the storm keep me up.

Day 3

The three adults started this day by bringing our laptops out while the children slept. Dave began working early so he would be able to go on a hike with us to the waterfall later that morning. We all devoured a breakfast of potatoes, fruit, bagels, and eggs then mostly packed up and showered.

We picked the 2 mile waterfall trail thinking it would take us about an hour to go down and back. We would be able to get on the road and Dave would be able to finish his work day as we drove. As we walked out to the trail head we were greeted with this beautiful view!

 And that was the last time that lens worked with the camera. It was a favorite lens of ours and had been just about everywhere with us for the past 11 years. Thankfully, Dave had thought to bring an extra lens along so we'll be able to use that one, but it is definitely a little more difficult to work with.

We started down the trail and were then greeted with a very large red sign warning us of the strenuous, rocky trail ahead. Over the years we'd finished all sorts of rocky and strenuous trails so we weren't deterred in the least, but I quickly realized it wouldn't be something we could do in an hour.

Our fearless, furry leader took the job of navigating us through the rocks taking frequent detours thanks to her keen sense of smell. We kept trying to teach her to look for the trail markers on the trees but she just wasn't getting it. She kept lookout while the kids climbed all around off the trail too.









We made it down to the waterfall and were all in awe of the rock wall surrounding us. It was a 100-ft rock wall whose middle had just collapsed leaving a waterfall and pool full of boulders. And where there are boulders, there will be children climbing them!

Here is Cedar Falls:

It doesn't look all that impressive until you add the kids in the picture for perpective! Shortly after this the girls got soaked when Grammie kept telling them to move to the left!

And Lola just waited every so patiently as they played.

Normally on our hikes we don't have much of a schedule so the kids are used to being able to freely climb around and explore. With Dave on a work schedule we had to get back so the kids had to pick only one spot on the way back to climb around. They chose to go through the rocks and water instead of going across the bridge with my warning, "You need to keep up or catch up". Only to find out they beat us to the other side!

The walk up was especially difficult for all of us, but we made it! The kids talked about going to the pool while we packed up but knowing we would be finished within about 30 minutes decided to just get sprayed by Grammie's hose and get on the road. They even drank from the hose like real-life 70s kids!

Brayden was especially excited to get to ride with Grammie today, to pick out his own snacks from her stash, and do many of the activities in his bag she'd put together for him. I was excited to have two girls in the card with us and no fighting!!

After a few hours we were nearing the state line but there was NO SIGN!! There was a sign welcoming us to Cherokee Nation, but nothing for Oklahoma. So the kids took a picture at our state park once we got there.

Reason #344 why we love Gramme coming with us - she brings fish and shrimp for dinner! We feasted like kings and queens on Joe Patti's shrimp and fish grilled, quinoa and rice, salad, and baked beans. And if that wasn't enough some famous white chocolate chip cookies that were simply awesome. With all that I was ready for a long nap.

But with this big, beautiful field right by our campsite we just had to initiate Grammie to camp ball! Laney had a plan already for teams. Since Dave was more like a kid than an adult, Grammie and I would be team captains. Grammie picked first by taking Brayden, then I took Dave. She looked at me like I was cheating, then grabbed Ryan for her team and Laney went with us to go bat.

With Grammie's softball pitching expertise I knew it would only take her a few minutes to get used to our homemade balls. She only hit Laney a few times before giving her a few she could hit. At least they were pretty soft! My team ended up scoreless that inning and our rivals scored four before we got them out. The remaining innings were scoreless and with the old people no longer being able to see the pitches so we called it a game. Grammie/Brayden/Ryan 4, Jen/Dave/Laney 0.

We don't have many good pictures because this is what happens when you give the kids the camera.

Shortly after the end of the game we quickly planned the next day since there was supposed to be more rain coming early in the morning. We hoped to be packed up and on the road early with a long drive ahead of us. We tucked into our respective sleeping areas for the night and I wrote and edited pictures until my eyelids were heavy. Late night computer time is the best sleep medicine!