Day 2 started off beautiful. The rain was gone and the morning canyon was a beautiful sight.
There was even a dot of rainbow. I've never seen just a little spot like this before.
The kids went up on the roof to wish Rodney a Happy Father's Day and give him his gift.
Then we were back on the road again. We will be passing through New Mexico today and entering Colorado. There is a lot of driving today, but we have some fun planned in along the way. It was chilly this morning because of the previous night's rain. Morgan saw a DIY video before we left for the trip and decided to make blankets for her and Caleb for the trip. The blankets have pockets sewn on them so the blanket can fold into the pocket and turn it into a pillow. She's so crafty!
Our pit stop for the day was Capulin Volcano National Monument in New Mexico. I wasn't expecting much from this stop, but I was pleasantly surprised.
This stop was also very important because Morgan turned in her paper pass for her official plastic 4th Grader parks pass. That will be our ticket to the next 7 national parks!
Capulin Volcano has a road that circles around the volcano and takes you all the way to the top. We drove this road and hiked the 2 trails at the top. The rim trail is 1 mile long and quite steep. It is also at an elevation of over 7,000 feet so it was a challenging hike.
There were lots of ladybugs on the trail. Fun fact: a group of ladybugs is called a loveliness of ladybugs. The kids thought they were indeed quite lovely.
There were interesting signs to read along the trail. At one point, Rodney began reading a sign out loud to the family and we had to take turns reading because we were so out of breath from the hike and elevation! This particular sign warns of the dangers of lightning while on the volcano. Because of the exposure at the top and the fact that the volcano itself is made of iron, you should immediately go back down if you see lightning within 10 miles.
This bench shows the scar of being struck by lightning.
The views at the top were spectacular. It was a beautiful clear day and you could see for miles.
We enjoyed a little more Charles Goodnight history here also. He used the land is this area to graze his cattle herds.
After walking the rim trail, we headed down into the crater. It didn't seem that deep until we got inside. The picture below is taken from the bottom of the crater. You can barely see people up at the top walking on the rim trail.
Close-up of the people on the rim trail from the crater:
There is black lava rock all over the area and for miles around the volcano, but especially lots of it inside the crater.
By the time we finished our hikes, my Fitbit had logged 55 flights of stairs! That made us pretty hungry so we stopped for a picnic on the way down the volcano.
Our bags of chips were all inflated from the elevation.
We stopped back at the visitor center and the kids were sworn in as Junior Rangers. They got a Junior Ranger badge and also a special patch because they hiked the volcano.
We drove another 3 hours to the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park. What a beautiful place! The Arkansas River runs through this very deep and narrow gorge. A walking bridge was built across the gorge so you can stand right over the center of it.
There is a water clock that uses a water wheel to control the clock that shows the time, date, and season. There are only 3 like it in the world.
They have gondolas that go across the gorge in addition to the footbridge. We rode the gondola across and then walked back over the bridge.
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| The giant gear that moves the gondolas across the gorge |
There was a playground so the kids stopped to burn off some energy.
This was taken looking straight down from the center of the bridge. It's a long way down!
We thought this sign was funny. That would be a long fishing line!
Next, we went to Chili's for a Father's Day dinner. While we were waiting for our table, Rodney asked me for some lotion. I handed him the small travel lotion that I had put in my purse before the trip. He squirted it in his hand and yelled "This isn't lotion! It's shampoo!" and ran to the bathroom to wash the shampoo off his hand. Oops! I guess I grabbed the wrong bottle! We all got a good laugh, though.
Then back to the hotel for late night swimming. Rodney showed off his great dad skills by tossing the kids in the pool.
I loved the Royal Gorge when I went as a kid. My Dad took me on the gondola. My mom and sister were terrified. So fun reading about your adventures. Thanks for sharing with us!
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