Update from Fruita

Good morning from Fruita, Colorado!

I was too tired to post last night, but I guess Ben managed to do so before going to bed. Yesterday was a tiring day… no sights to stop and see, so it was just driving. Ben did all the driving, but I was still tired. J Let’s say that it was not a great “mommy” day; I wish I had more patience than I had, and better self-control over my frustrations. But at least God’s mercies are new this morning!

Since yesterday was mostly a car day, the kids occupied themselves with books on tape (thanks, T!), more music, and more music. A good chunk of time was spent working on their Sticky Mosaics, too (a great car activity).

We were excited to head into Colorado, in anticipation of all the mountains:

This was much of our drive for the first hour or two, and the kids asked, “Are these the mountains?” Haha, no, they’re not. Trust me, you’ll know when you see mountains. But it was just a precursor of things to come, as we were no longer in utter flatland.

More cheap gas along the way:

Hello, mountains!

A chunk of the mountain carved out to make way for roads

close-up of the carving

Argo Mill

Ski slopes!

Something about seeing a massive Target amid the mountains just seemed wrong.

Along with the mountains come some interesting signs. This one is understandable:

Then there were others that made me chuckle, serious as they were. One sign that I didn't capture on camera said: “Truckers: Don’t be fooled. Still 4 more miles of steep grade.”

Then followed these signs:

One thing about Ben driving meant that I was able to drink in all the scenery while Ben had to keep his eyes on the road. Uphill, downhill, curving at the same time… at some point, I commented that our mountain driving must be to Coloradoans what Californians’ snow driving is to us. J

However, while it was great to soak up the landscape, I found it challenging to answer to the kids’ needs & requests (going into the cooler, getting activities for them, picking something up they dropped, etc.) Not to mention trying to snap photos throughout. Add to that the overcast/rainy weather, and the fact that I don’t really know how to use the camera yet, but it’s a work in progress.

As Ben mentioned previously, Abby got carsick on the way. L We were in the midst of construction and one-lane traffic, so we couldn’t stop right away to fully clean her up. Thankfully, she didn’t have anything on her lap, so there wasn’t much to clean up in the way of the kids’ supplies. But the car seat/car were pretty nasty. We stopped off at a McDonald’s to clean up, and that was an hour’s delay. Don't worry, we didn't take any photos of that. But here’s a neat bird that stopped by during our delay:

And if you're not already bored of all the photos, allow me to indulge you in the glorious clouds:

Just breathtaking!

Another comment about Colorado: I don’t think I’ve ever seen a state with so many different styles of license plates! They all have the mountain crags along the top, but I’ve seen red, green, a gradient of lavender and light blue… green along the bottom with various colors on the horizon… I just found it interesting. Which brings me to our license plate sighting update:

• Missouri
• Indiana
• Colorado
• Nevada
• Washington
• Utah
• Wyoming
• New Mexico
• Texas