Monday: Grand Junction, CO to Cedar City, UT

We do miss Annina, but it is nice to have just our family again. We thought about some more interesting stops, but we've been spoiled with Annina's extra hands and we are tired so we're making easy stops.  For instance, the Powell River Museum in Green River, UT, was a great place to stop because 1) it's cheap admission, 2) it's not a long distance from the parking lot to the museum, 3) the museum is interesting, and 4) it's a contained area so Natalie can't wander off.

Uh oh, now we're stopping at Fremont Indian State Park.  I guess Tom thought he could pull another Indian stop on us...but it meets the important requirements I listed above.  And that's just the museum...there's a paved walking trail to view the petroglyphs.  That's probably the only petroglyph trail we'll ever be able to take Natalie in a stroller!  Once again, there's a family rate for the entrance fee (also at Green River).  Is this from the Mormon influence of large families?  Do we have a large family?  After seeing families of 6 and 8 kids, I don't think so, but I'm thankful for the family rate!

Another 4-5 hour driving day (not counting stops).  That's a doable distance for our family...more than that means we arrive too late in the day or we're just too tired.  And this from the family that did 12 hours the first day of our trip!  We could do that the first day, but not near the end.

We arrived in Cedar City so "early" that we decided to find a playground for the kids to burn off some steam before dinner.  After about 10 minutes of searching, we found Park Discovery, an awesome park that had every child's favorite playground equipment, all in one place.  But it was hot and dry and we probably stayed 15 minutes too long, because the kids were parched when we left for dinner.  We intended to try a Mexican restaurant we'd seen advertised on billboards, Costa Vida.  But when we drove up, it looked more like a fast food restaurant, so we looked some more (we've been trying to have nicer dinners since we're getting free breakfast and homemade sandwiches for lunch).  Just as we were about to go to another Mexican restaurant, I saw a Thai restaurant!  Tom swerved to get in the parking lot, and we were in the restaurant within a few minutes.

But after waiting five minutes with no water glass service, and no eye contact from the one waitress serving the full restaurant, we left.  Yes, we're from California and we've both been waiters, so we don't have much patience for slow service, especially when our kids are thirsty and hungry.  We were about to go to the Applebee's next door, when I saw the Costa Vida again across the street...we were desperate to have quicker service at this point, so we went there.  It was great!  The food was bland compared to California Mexican food, but with a little hot sauce on top, it tasted authentic.

And instead of ending our day with a swim (which requires both of us to be in the pool, and then bathe and dress three kids), we put Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in the laptop and the kids were satisfied while we relaxed in our hotel room.  In honor of our last night on the road, we were blessed with the nicest hotel room so far: right next to the elevator, 2 queen beds in the largest suite we've had.

California, here we come...right back where we started from!