Provo, Utah to Leadville - and then back home

The last leg of our summer vacation took us from Provo, Utah to Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park near Moab, Utah... and then on to Leadville, Colorado... and then back to the Denver airport. In total, we drove about 2200 miles during the week. 

The area near Arches and Canyonlands National Park typically has very hot and dry weather, and very blue skies. However, we spent our time checking the weather maps and trying to avoid desert downpours. Despite being cloudy and rainy, it was still a beautiful area. 

 Balancing rock

 Petrified sand dunes

 Cactus plants

 Nicholas and Donovan

 Lily, Nicholas, and Donovan inside an arch.

Nicholas, Lily, and Doug 

Moab fault

 

 White rim rock at the Canyonlands

 Nicholas

 Donovan, Lily, and Nicholas

 Donovan, Aricca, Lily, Doug, and Nicholas... the dropoff on the other side of Doug is probably 500 feet... Ugh.

 Lily and a raven

 Donovan, Nicholas, and Lily throwing rocks. 

 A view of the Canyonlands.

 We spent a little bit of time walking and driving about, and then headed East to Leadville, Colorado so that we could visit with our friends Chris and Luke Horning and their children. The town of Leadville is at 10,200 feet altitude and you can really feel the lack of oxygen. 

Aricca and Chris

 After visiting with the Hornings, we went to the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum. The boys really enjoyed taking pictures of the different minerals (Calcite above, Silver ore below), and also walking through the mock mine exhibits within the museum. 

 Donovan, Lily, and Nicholas near the dinosaur wall of the museum.

Lifelike example of a coal mine. 

Our final stop prior to the airport was the Silverthorne Recreation Center.  The Center has four pools, two hot tubs, and three water slides. One water slide was designed for children Lily's age, one was a corkscrew, and the other was a dropslide (where you drop about 4-6 feet through the air into deep water). In order to go off the drop slide, one has to demonstrate the ability to swim the length of the pool. Nicholas quickly passed the test, and then Donovan attempted. Prior to this, Donovan had never swum more than 8 feet by himself. But, he swam four-fifths of the way across the pool before accidentally touching one foot down to the bottom of the pool. He was very disappointed in not being able to swim the full length, but Doug and I couldn't have been prouder that he swam that far (especially at 8,000 feet altitude). It is a relief to know that they are learning such a great skill!

Donovan

While Donovan wasn't able to go off the drop-slide, he went down the corkscrew over and over again. Doug and I even took Lily down it with us.  

 Donovan coming off the slide.

For more pictures, click here or see the slideshow below.