Petroglyph, Painted Dessert, & Petrified Forest National Parks: The Ilberys go West, Part 3

The great thing about the west: there is never a shortage of National Parks to visit! We did 3 of them, on day 3 of vacation!

We started our morning with a short 20 minute drive to Petroglyph National Park. I wasn't sure what to expect about this park, I had just found it was along our route and it was close to Albuquerque. We wanted to make sure we actually stopped and DID something in each of the states we were visiting, and Petroglyph seemed like a good candidate.

May the photo overload begin!

Naturally, the boys decided they wanted to touch the cactus.

Uncle Dude being the favorite :)

I don't know what I expected, but... it was hot in the middle of the dessert.

If finding the actual Petroglyphs on the rocks was a game, we would win!

 Myself, Mike, Noah, and Kourtney decided to make the trek up to the top of the mound. Naturally, I was in flip-flops.. but I was first up to the top as well!

Our car's the farthest one to the left :)

 The view up top!

See the hands in the air? That's us!


A few hours down the road and into Arizona, our next stop was the Petrified Forest/ Painted Dessert!

We were out of the car, so Uncle Dude was in charge of Thatcher :)

Taking in the views (from a safe distance..)

 Newspaper Rock

My favorite part about this tour was that it was a drive-thru tour. Which meant air conditioning! (Until we got out to see the various areas)

 A petrified log

The boys smelling and tasting the petrified log...

I'm definitely glad we got to see these places!

Texas & New Mexico: The Ilberys go West, Part 2

 I would like to tell you that I didn't sing George Strait in my head most of the way to Amarillo, but I'd be lying... I mean, our goal was Amarillo by (the end of) morning- it would have been rude NOT to. The rest of the car should just be grateful I kept it to myself.

 We made a pit-stop to see a building that inspired 'Cars'. This was the best I got since I didn't get out of the car. I thought that getting Thatcher out of his seat for just a few minutes would make him more mad than us just sitting in the car for 5 minutes.

We stopped for lunch just inside the Texas state line at a place I don't remember the name of- but I DO remember it taking the better part of an hour for us to get our food, and then it being sub-par. It was "edible. Not much else." in the review of my husband.

We finally made it to Amarillo in the early afternoon and Thatcher was SO happy to get out of the car! We tried conditioning Thatcher to make Aunt Lady and Uncle Dude his favorites by giving him to them when we get out of the car, so he would associate them as being fun and mommy being the mean one that puts him in his car seat.

The gardens were pretty, but they weren't very big. But then again, it only cost $5 to get in and the kids were free.

 I loved how well maintained they kept gardens. I also loved that we were one of two families visiting at the time, so it was like we had the entire place to ourselves.

After spending about an hour here, we got out of the 100 degree Texas heat and back into the car. Today's end goal was Albuquerque, New Mexico, and we still had several hours left in our drive. 

Just inside New Mexico's border, we stopped at a gas station for gas and restrooms. Inside the station was a free car museum, so we walked around in there for a few minutes before getting back on the road.

 The rest of the day was spent with me trying to take pictures out the window of the new landscapes. We made it to Albuquerque late, and walked to Cracker Barrel for a 9 pm dinner.

Missouri & Oklahoma: The Ilberys go West, Part 1

Who takes a small child on a cross-country road trip?

We do.

Who packs activities in Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada all into one week?

We do.

Who has a 1 year old who has been to:

The Painted Desert
The Petrified Forest
The Grand Canyon
Petroglyph National Park
The Hoover Dam
Las Vegas
The Oklahoma Aquarium
The Amarillo Botanical Gardens
 AND
A meteor crater?

We do.

This year, we did vacation, and we did it BIG.

I'm going to take a minute to brag on my little guy- it was a 20+ hour drive from our house to our cabin in Flagstaff, Arizona. We took the drive over the course of 3 days, trying to drive 8 hours each of the first two days then 4 hours the last day.

All things considered, this little guy took being in his car seat like a ROCKSTAR.

I'm going to try and keep this as short and sweet as I can, but it will probably be a little bit long regardless. 

*EDIT: I actually decided to break this trip into sections, because I would like to talk just a little bit about each spot we stopped and visited*

We started our adventure Saturday July 28th, with the goal of reaching Oklahoma City, OK to spend our first night. Our first stop was at Uranus Fudge Factory in Uranus Missouri. 

It's...your average side-of-the-interstate "tourist trap".

 

 Complete with photo of cutouts, playgrounds, concession stand style eatery, and the Fudge Factory was just a general store with a counter that sold fudge. Nothing factory about it. Which disappointed me a bit, since I was hoping to see how they made their fudge.

We spent about an hour letting the "kids" play, and right before leaving, Thatcher peed through his diaper and all over Papa, so Papa had to buy a Uranus t-shirt to wear for the rest of the day ;)

We stopped for lunch and gas, but other than that we didn't stop again until Tulsa, Oklahoma, where we paid the Oklahoma Aquarium a visit. 

The only aquarium I've ever been to was the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, and that's been....at least 10 years, so I was excited for this stop. 

I think Thatcher enjoyed looking at everything. He loves colors and things that move, and fish do both!

Our "state picture" for Oklahoma :)

Blessing the rains down in Africa. 🙄

 Probably my favorite part was the shark viewing tank. They had a tunnel you could walk into the shark area and watch them swim all around you and above you. A little disorienting, but very very neat. We stayed in here for almost 20 minutes.

After a quick dinner we were back on the (toll) road, and made it to Oklahoma City, where we stayed for the night.

After breakfast (and some Little Baby Bum) we headed for Amarillo, Texas.