Monument Valley and Four Corners Monument.

We woke up early hoping to get on the road early as we had quite a bit of driving to do. Our tentative plan was to visit Monument Valley and Four Corners. But Ms. I went to bed at 3:30 a.m. Sunday, and clocked in less than four hours of sleep had other plans. She was out and snoring loudly. By seven we starting moving around packing hoping it would wake up our precious grizzly bear. Silly us thinking we could get our way. What matters is that SS was rested even if we had a late start. We were wearing shorts and although it was not terribly cold it was very windy.

SS was initially standing next to the child on the right, but P asked her to get in the middle of the parents like she does with us every day. This is located in the parking area a Burger King with an unusual menu. We had never encountered hard tacos, green chili cheeseburgers, and a Dr. Pepper milkshake at a BK.

After the picture below we had to change SS into long pants because she could not stand the cold. For P and I as long as our upper bodies are warm, we can wear shorts in cold weather.

                                             A sweat lodge just SS's size.

Like I said it was REALLY windy, wind and my kinky hair are a bad combination.

.After we took the picture above a group of sheep decided to play suicide sheep.

Notice how SS won't let go of her camera even for a photo op. My goal is to have P buy me a replacement camera since he gave mine to SS. But I intend to be compensated for pain and suffering, and that means a better camera than SS's. Like I said before I'm selfish.

P told SS that yesterday I took them to see a hole, today we would drive around looking at rocks. He asked me if I was a geologist in a former life.

Remember this scene when Forrest Gump decides to stop running?

And there she is, although SS has no clue about the iconic scenery. We explained why we were taking her picture there. We will probably show her the scene later to help her understand.



SS even did a reenactment for us, but not in the middle of the street. When we arrived there was a large group taking turns posing, then jogging in the middle of the street. We are not fond of risking watching our daughter become road kill.

Mexican Hat rock is right behind SS. We couldn't stop just anywhere to take pictures, had to find a safe place. That is why the rock is so far in the background.

Better view that I took it while we drove by.

Our next stop, Four Corners Monument, the point where Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado meet.

And here is SS in four states at once, a limb on each state. She really had a blast finding the right position.

Other than standing at the meeting point there is not much to do at Four Corners. We browsed around the shops and bought three items. Souvenirs get old once you have visited a few places. How many T-shirts and magnets can one purchase? Before the New Orleans trip I suggested we get Christmas ornaments as souvenirs. It's something we will always use, and when SS grows up she can have them as keepsakes. It would be nice if she can pass them on to her children in the future.  We now need to order Online ornaments for places SS has visited. We predict Kunming and Guanghzhou will be difficult.  SS found a hand carved bear which fits her current love of wildlife.

Why is Patrick so excited about New Mexico? Because it's the land of Breaking Bad.

We then drove to Colorado where we are spending the night. SS was treated to a lot of SNOW! We Southern Californians get way too excited about snow.

This was a first for us because the fact that marijuana is legal in Colorado had escaped our minds. This sign also led to a conversation with SS about marijuana and the controversy as to whether it should be legalized. Funny thing is when we arrived at the place we were going to have dinner, we saw a sign for a marijuana dispensary located on the second floor. We were tempted to have SS pose as though she was on her way upstairs but decided against being twelve.

Abuela mentioned that SS is traveling with a lot of toys and that is an accurate observation. It's difficult to be cooped up in a car for hours. I made sure to get enough things to keep SS occupied. We could have opted for letting her use the iPad until her vision gave in, but it did not feel right. SS decided to use her book on how to draw, and drew several animals before bed.