(Trip dates: Friday July 7 through Saturday July 15) In July the kids and I drove to Pagosa Springs, Colorado, to meet up with other family members at the Fairfield timeshare there. I didn't have time to think much about the trip before we left, and maybe that was a good thing. Work has been very intense for months, and the approach that works best for me is to just ride the moment and not dig too deep into what doesn't need to be dealt with immediately.

Even the first stage, driving south through the California Central Valley, was just like any other long drive: rest stops, lunch breaks, gas stations. I shared my previous experiences of the region with the girls, telling them at intervals about trips Rob and I had taken before they were born.
The first day we drove south on I5, then headed east through Bakersfield and up through the Tahechapi Mountains to the Mojave Desert. We finished the day in Barstow, arriving in midafternoon on Friday, at aproximately 96 degrees F. As we finally stopped moving and unloaded our night's gear in the motel room I began to realize the magnitude of the adventure.

There was a thunderstorm moving from north to south about 20 miles east of Barstow. We sat on the curb outside the motel room and watched it for a long time. We were hit with splatters of rain but not enough to cool things down or get us more than damp. The lightning stood out vividly against the dark thunder clouds. The next morning we were on our way by 7:30, driving east on I40. A few minutes outside town we came to the area where the rain had fallen the night before, and saw pools of water filling every low spot along the road.

We reached Needles by 10:30, making our first gas stop of the day in 100+ degree heat. We crossed the Colorado River and began winding up onto the northern Sonora Desert.

Close to lunchtime we reached Speligman, a spot in the middle of ... somewhere along Historic Route 66. It consists of a short main street filled with Route 66 nostalgia, including a wonderful greasy spoon diner where we ate lunch. Pictures of Speligman are below in the return post of this travelblog.

Shortly after Speligman clouds began rising ahead of us in the east. Soon the girls were on the lookout for flashes of lightning, while I wondered what we were driving into. We didn't encounter any active weather until we turned North to head up to the Grand Canyon. Almost as soon as we did, however, we slammed into an almost solid wall of rain and darkness, with brilliant flashes and rumbles. We loved it.

The storm had already left the Grand Canyon park by the time we arrived. We spent a good amount of time looking over the various viewing points and taking pictures, getting used to the height and breadth of the place.
Eventually we began to feel tired and think about rest. We piled back into the van for the short drive to Cameron, where we booked into the Cameron Trading Post Inn. They gave us a room off the fountain courtyard, a big roomy one, and we settled in for the evening. Had dinner at the restaurant, spent a lovely long time going through the store and deciding what to buy, and finally retiring for the night. Little Rachel and I sat up watching the night's thunderstorm show, which passed about 15 miles north.

The next morning we had an early breakfast (mostly me getting coffee) and headed north then northeast, into the Navajo Reservation. By now the girls had an excellent sense of how vast our American West is! Knowing it might be our only chance to see things kept them somewhat calm about the long hours of driving.

The Navajo country was beautiful, and everyone agreed it was the most beautiful 'middle of nowhere' one can find. By the end of the trip, after driving through the Mojave, Navajo, and New Mexican deserts, we decided the Navajo definitely got the best land in the region.

I took one last detour off a direct route, turning up Highway 163 to take in Monument Valley. We ate lunch at the visitor's center, and the girls took pictures themselves of the rock formations and scenery, but balked at the idea of a tour. We headed sout on H191 to join back with HW 160, and kept moving into Colorado, through Durango and on to Pagosa Springs in a steady rainstorm. We finally arrived at our destination in mid-afternoon, tired but thrilled to be with everyone!