Welcome . . . our life, our family, our travels.
Hip Hip Ouray! We love Ouray, Colorado!! It is pronounced “you-ray;” self-proclaimed Jeep capital of the World and Little Switzerland because of the towering jagged snow-covered mountain peaks. Day 1 Saturday: We arrived into town after lunch and wasted no time hitting the trails. Dakota knows what the open trunk means! He is 9 months old …
Continue reading “Day 39-42 Sat-Tue, July 11-14, 2015 Ouray, CO”
Travel from Moab to Montrose, Colorado We stopped for the night in Grand Junction to restock supplies in a “big city” then headed to Montrose to try out a new Jeep trail. But first–a stop at the Montrose Riverside Park facilitated some fun and relaxation. Montrose Black Hills ATV/Dirt bike/Jeep Park This trail was …
Last Days in Moab Two towns top the list of Fenlason favorite Jeeping destinations. Moab, Utah is one of them. (The other one is Ouray, Colorado.) This video shows off why! We extended our stay in the red rock labyrinth set on conquering two final challenges: Dome Rock and Gemini Bridges. Little did we know …
Continue reading “Day 33-34 Sunday & Monday, July 5-6, 2015 Moab, UT”
Travel from Jackson, WY to Moab, UT!! Moab is one our best loved Jeeping destinations! Despite the incredible heat (reaching 95º by 10 a.m. and 105º by 2 p.m.), the 27% humidity level is a relief from South FL summer weather–no complaints here. Day 1 Moab Adventure: Travel & Setup Young son instantly hung …
Jackson Hole, WY The popular little ski town lies just south of Grand Teton N.P. and was experiencing higher-than-normal temperatures today! This green space in the center of downtown found us relaxing and simply enjoying each other. Jordan broke out the ukulele and Carlye sang along much to the delight of other park patrons. After some …
Grand Teton National Park is just south of Yellowstone, and is completely different in topography and vistas. Day 1: After quickly settling into our campsite at Colter Bay RV & Campground, we set out on a lakeside hike. Starting at the south parking lot near Jenny Lake, we hiked north past String Lake (not named …
Travel from Deadwood to Yellowstone National Park! …Finally! 🙂 This stop along the highway should be a national park unto itself! But it’s just a stop . . . along the very windy, mountainous route through the Big Horn National Forest in Wyoming. Our brakes were telling us they needed a rest. It was the …
Travel from Custer, South Dakota to Deadwood, SD So, we thought about driving the 9 hours to Yellowstone today . . . but the drive past many streams, waterfalls, and lakes strewn throughout Black Hills National Forest enticed us to stay longer. Deadwood is famous for the 1876 gold rush that brought a flood …
Happy Father’s Day! The Beaver Lake Campground, where we also stayed 8 years ago, has this super slide for its campers! But that’s not the even the best part about it. What do the kids remember most about staying here? The tame wild-bunnies that roam the grounds. Here, we’re 30 minutes from Mount Rushmore (see …
Travel from Wisconsin through Minnesota to the Badlands of South Dakota with an overnight stop in a Walmart parking lot. This land is your land; this land is my land; NO! It’s Dakota Territory! 🙂 No trip to SD is complete without a stop at the famed Wall Drugs. The billboards offering “Free …
Travel through the U.P. of Michigan to Wisconsin Crossing the Mackinac Bridge is always a breathtaking experience! It’s the 5th longest suspension bridge in the world; longest in the U.S. We climbed the amazing viewing tower located on the shore of Lake Superior, took a family selfie and… …a drone shot with the …
Travel from Port Huron, Mi to East Jordan, Mi We arrived Wednesday evening to our beautiful RV spot on the East Jordan Bay of Lake Michigan (compliments of Scott & Cheri Scheer) First day there was busy as we help as “staff” of a Jordan Valley Barn Wedding (Rochelle’s parent’s weekend business). This is a …
Travel to Port Huron, Michigan located just over the Canada/USA border The hard part of being in Canada was also the best part. ATT charges $1/minute for calls, .50/texts, and $20 per 1mb data. Airplane mode for a day and a half brought our family that much closer 😉 Now…back in the USA…We stayed at …
Days 4-5 Travel from Asheville, NC through VA, WVA, PA, & NY to Ontario, Canada and Niagara Falls Love traveling in the motorhome because we can stop whenever and wherever . . . like at The New River Gorge in West Virginaia We released the drone to fly all around it and along the …
Welcome to the Fenlason Family Travel Blog 2015! Although there have been many FenFun WestFest travels since 2009, this is first time the travels have made it to the blog in six long years. The children have grown into teens and the cute five year old has become a beautiful 11 year old. We …
Welcome to our 2015 summer family travel blog! Join our family this summer (2015) as we take an 8-week RV trip across the country. We hope you can feel the love in our family adventures, for with Love, all things are possible. [This blog places the last written post, latest in date and newest in …
Thursday morning we woke up to see another rainy day and we made the decision to head home. The map below shows our 3-day, 2,078 mile route from Denver to Stuart, FL. We took the northern route out of Denver so we could see the beautiful state of Nebraska–one of two states we haven’t been …
Continue reading “Day 62-64: Thursday-Saturday July 30–August 1, 2009”
We packed up–in the rain–and left Garden of the Gods to head (hopefully) to drier weather in Aurora, CO. We stopped at Focus on the Family headquarters in Colorado Springs and played in their amazing kids’ area. The kids rode the 3-story corkscrew slide, performed a puppet show, and ventured through the wardrobe door into …
Wow… 60 days in a motor home with 5 people and a dog and we haven’t hurt each other yet! (well… at least seriously) 🙂 It rained and rained and rained . . .but the kids didn’t care. They made friends at the playground and introduced the new kids to their lizards. The lizards were …
Today I got up at 6:00 AM to hike Mayflower Gulch while Rochelle and the kids went sightseeing around downtown Leadville. Mayflower Gulch is in the Ten-mile Mountain Range and is abundant with wildflowers and small creeks with the mountains framing it in. Once you arrive in the gulch after a 45 minute hike up …
This morning brought an impending cold-front of thick clouds which dispensed rain, hail, and lightning. By mid afternoon we were enjoying 54 degree mountain weather. Not a great day for family hiking. So we did the “tourist thing” and toured the Matchless Mine and the National Mining Museum. The Matchless Mine is located just 3 …
We got up early and drove the 4 hours to Leadville, Co in 78 degree sunshine. At 10,200 feet above sea level, it is the highest incorporated city in the US. Leadville was the second largest town in Colorado (Denver was #1) during the last 3 decades of the 1800’s. At it’s peak (in 1893) …
Today we had to move to another RV park in Ouray because they had no space for tonight. They told us the last week in July and first in August are the busiest time of the whole year. We checked into “4 J’s Campground.” We have stayed here a few times before. We can walk …
Ouray has earned the much-deserved reputation as the “Jeeping Capital of the World”. Jeep roads, rated from easy to difficult, traverse a variety of terrain from extreme high mountain passes and rugged winding roads to areas of spectacular wildflowers that blanket the ground throughout the spring and summer. Today we got up early excited about …
Welcome to Ouray, Colorado the Jeeping capital of the world! Today is a high of 74 degrees thanks to an elevation of 7,792 feet. Ouray, Colorado is one of our favorite little towns. It sits in a bowl-shaped canyon surrounded by rugged mountain peaks reminiscent of the Swiss Alps. The year-round population is only 896. …
This morning before we left Silverton we ran back into a few stores so Jordan could buy the cap gun he had been eying and Rochelle picked up a flower bracelet. Then we hit the Million Dollar Highway one more time to head into Ouray (pronounced “You-Ray”)–our destination for the next several days. Ouray is …
Today we left Gunnison and headed high into the San Juan mountains to a town called Silverton. It is one of the highest towns in the nation at 9,318 feet. We like that as it means cooler weather. 🙂 Silverton was established in 1874 & quickly swelled to 2,000 residents who came to strike it …
Today we took a day trip up to Crested Butte. It’s about a 45 minute drive north from Gunnison into the mountains. The temperature was about 15 degrees cooler than Gunnison… no complaining here! Originally a coal mining town of the late 1800’s, Crested Butte is a quaint ski town in the winter and a …
This morning we went to the Gunnison Saturday Farmer’s Market and sampled fresh-baked bread, local honey, cookies, and lemonade. Jordan got lots of attention from his pet on his shoulder. And the girls got a few stares and chuckles from people who momentarily thought the stuffed pets were real. We were pretty lucky to be …
Today we left Vernal, Utah and drove to Gunnison, Colorado. But we just couldn’t seem to escape the craziness of all the dinosaur madness of the past two days. Z, Grip, & Blink enjoying our trip on the warm dashboard (left). They had some fun (I think) riding the dinos thanks to Jordan & Carlye. …
Today was a great and relaxing day. We drove about an hour north to Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area and toured the dam’s visitor center (Rochelle loves visitor’s centers). Next we went to down from the dam into the Green River. Jordan & I fly fished while the girls relaxed in the river. It was …
This pink dinosaur welcomed us to the city limits of Vernal, UT. It had an odd affect on our family (as you can tell from the picture below) we all started feeling a little savage. Actually it made us all feel a little goofy and we made it our goal to get a picture with …
Today we left Idaho Falls and drove to our RV Park in Vernal, UT–Dinoland KOA. On the way we stopped at a rest area and Jordan & Alyssa caught a Mountain Short Horned Lizard. They were soo0 excited… until we read in Jordan’s A to Z Lizard Care book that they don’t eat well in …
Today we left our RV Park at Glacier National Park around 11:00 AM and headed to Dinosaur National Monument and Flaming Gorge in Northeast Utah. We passed up Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, both amazing National Parks, as they were on our 2007 itinerary. On the trip we had fun stopping every few hours at rest …
Today Rochelle & I went on a hike in Glacier National Park while the grandparents (Poppi & Amma) watched our kids. Hike: “The Loop” Highline Trail to Granite Park Trail Distance: 11.6 miles Rochelle at the trail head near Logan’s Pass (1.5 hours from the West Glacier park entrance) The narrow paths and steep drop-offs …
Today we slept in a little then headed to Glacier National Park. First stop: Apgar Visitor’s Center where we picked up the kids Junior Ranger books. We checked out the gift shops then headed to a lakeside picnic area for lunch. We joined a 2 hour Ranger-led hike (it ended up being just our family …
Today we left our overnight stop in Idaho and drove to Coram, Montana at the West entrance to Glacier National Park. We left at 8:00 AM and pulled in by 2:30 PM (7.5 hour drive losing an hour changing time zones.) Girls having fun at the RV playground. After settling in we went into the …
This morning we left Forks, WA to head to Glacier National Park in Montana. On the way we stopped in the historic town of Port Townsend along the northern coast of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. The town, established in 1851, is one of only three remaining Victorian-style seaports. We went to Fort Worden State …
This morning we left Port Angeles, WA and headed to Forks, WA. Forks is a small town in Northwest Washington near the Pacific Ocean and is also about 45 minutes from the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park. On the way we stopped and had breakfast at the clear emerald green Lake Crescent (on …
Today was a great and fun day. We started by getting up early (as compared to the last few days) and headed to the tide pools at Salt Creek Recreation Area for low tide. As the tide recedes, the water and sea life gets temporarily trapped in the rocks. We had a blast looking at …
Today we left Bellevue, WA and drove 3.5 hours west to Port Angeles, WA. Port Angeles is located at an entrance to Olympic National Park and on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We found a great campground in the woods. This kids had fun playing on the playground and riding bikes with other kids. …
We extended our trip to Seattle for another day… just too much to do here! This time we drove into the city and found a parking garage for only $8. Much easier than taking the bus. After parking we walked to the monorail and took it to Seattle Center. Monorail to Seattle Center (left) Two …
Happy Fourth of July! In remembrance of all those wonderful Fourth of July celebrations at Dixon Lake, we made taco salad for lunch and played on the playground at the RV park. We grilled burgers for dinner and made a “flag” cake with blueberries for the stars and raspberries for the stripes then headed to …
Today we went into Seattle. On the advice of the locals we drove to a Park & Ride and took the bus into the city. Our first stop was the historic Pikes Place Market. Pike Place market is a large covered market downtown that sells everything from fish, meat and produce to clothes, paintings and …
Today we arrived in Bellevue Washington (which is about 10 minutes from Seattle on the East side.) We pulled into our RV park around noon… just in time to meet the glass company. We pre-arranged to have our cracked front windshield replaced. The kids went swimming in the pool as we caught up on bills …
Wow! I can hardly believe it’s July! We spent the day learning about Mt. St. Helens. Mount St Helens National Volcanic Monument The hour-long drive from the park entrance to the Johnston Observatory (visitor’s center) provided great views the dried mud flows that spread miles and miles of devastation after the initial volcanic blast May …
We drove 1.5 hours to Mt. St. Helens in the state of Washington and set up camp at Silver Lake Cove RV Resort. Jordan spent every minute since we arrived fishing and caught quite a few. They are currently in our refrigerator awaiting their date with the fillet knife. We took a quick drive to …
What a day . . . sunny blue skies, 78 degrees, and 55% humidity . . . perfect for exploring the Columbia River Gorge and hiking the water falls. Sorry to our Florida friends enjoying 90+ degrees and 95% humidity! 🙁 The state park entrance is only 20 min. east of the RV park. One …
Today we took the public train ($free all summer) into Portland (about 15 minutes from the RV park). First stop: the “Saturday Market” which actually is open Sundays too in the summer. It’s a mix of flea market, craft show, and artisan fair. Each booth must be manned by the artist and everything for sale …
Today we checked into a nice RV park in Fairview, Oregon (near Portland). The kids had a blast swimming in the pool. I think they were glad there was no hiking today! 🙂 Kids swimming and having fun meeting new friends. Our motor home on left and my parents on right. It has been fun …
Today we left Florence and headed up the Oregon coast on Hwy 101. It is a beautiful scenic highway that hugs the coast meandering through small towns. We stopped for a few hours in Depoe Bay for a hope to see a Gray Whale. No such luck… but we had fun looking. Whale watching visitors …
Today is our 15th anniversary! Rochelle & I spend the first half of the day on our final term papers for school. Then the grandparents watched the kids and we went out for a night on the town. We had a great dinner at a nice restaurant then went for a romantic hike up to …
Today we took a long morning hike on the sand dunes. It was a comfortable 70 degrees and sunny. We hiked to “tree island.” It looks like a lush oasis in the desert. While on our hike we watched ATV’s doing tricks and jumps on the dunes. We also watched the misfortune as one ATV …
We got up and headed northwest to Florence, Oregon. Florence is on the Pacific Coast and has many activities nearby. Our campground, Woahink Lake RV Resort, is sandwiched between its namesake lake and the Oregon Sand Dunes. After settling in we took a walk and had a blast playing in the sand dunes! The sand …
Today we got up early and drove to Crater Lake National Park. I was hoping it wouldn’t be anti-climactic after spending three hours driving East from the Pacific Coast (to Grants Pass) and another 2 1/2 hours each way today… But we figured when are we going to be in Oregon near it again? We …
Happy Father’s Day! We celebrated with Daddy’s favorite breakfast (french toast) and opened cards and gifts in the motorhome. Our new campground (in Grant’s Pass, OR) is right on the river, so Jordan fished while the adults read books sitting on the seawall and the girls collected duck feathers. Later we explored the quaint town …
Quite spontaneously we decided to pack up the Winnebago this morning and move north. We stopped in Crescent City, CA for the day and explored this part of the Redwood Forest (Jedediah Smith Redwoods State park) and took the Howland Hill Road (below). This narrow packed-dirt road is the original logging road used since the …
Today was a down day. Rochelle & I worked on our term papers while the kids played in the campground hiking trails, playing volleyball, frisbee, and with their new friend. We ended the night with a very competitive game of bocce balls (girls against the guys) with John & Suzi. The boys won. Jordan finally …
Today we drove to Prairie Creek State Park, one of 5 state parks that fit within the Redwoods National Park. These Redwoods are even more immense in person! We drove the 10 miles from the visitor’s center to “Fern Canyon” to see where some of Jurassic Park was filmed. Fern Canyon is one of the …
First morning in a new campground was celebrated with pancakes for breakfast–yum! John & Suzi joined us for sightseeing along the Pacific coast. These pictures were taken about 1.5 miles from our campground. From there we hiked to a covert radar station that was built in anticipation of a Japanese attack here shortly after the …
Today was a long 12 hours of driving. We left Carson City and got on I-80 driving west through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. One would think that an interstate would be smooth sailing for our motor home… not so. This was a very rough and bumpy interstate that shook and rattled our vehicle for what …
We should have known that the “Gold Dust West” was a casino . . . but we didn’t when we reserved our spot at this affordable RV park. It got down to 43 degrees last night and only reached 68 today–perfect for our hikes around Lake Tahoe. It reminds me of the Lake Superior coast …
Today we left Salt Lake City heading west with our final destination of Northern California and the Redwood National Park. On the way we decided to take a detour and visit Lake Tahoe as we have never been there. We switched our GPS to Carson City NV. First, just before leaving Utah on I-80 we …
We met up with John & Suzanne here in Salt Lake City. Saturday morning–a great day to sleep in, clean the motor home, try to fix the giant crack in our windshield, and get laundry done. We couldn’t fix the crack. But we accomplished the rest while Poppi & Amma took the kids to the …
Today was a very fun day in Bryce Canyon NP. Our first stop was Natural Bridge. Natural Bridge is not a bridge, but actually one of several natural arches found in the park. It is sculpted from some of the reddest rock (rich in iron oxide minerals.) Natural Bridge – Bryce Canyon National Park Next …
Yeah! We slept in today until 10:00. We were all so tired, but now are refreshed and ready to go. We left our campground in Springdale, UT and headed for Bryce Canyon National Park. It is a few hours drive. The drive was beautiful with lots of lush farms with mountains in the background. We …
Today we parked at Zion’s visitors center and rode the tram to different trail heads throughout the park. In 1920 Zion had 3,692 visitors. By 1930 55,000 and in 1990 more than 2 million people visited causing congestion in the park and the need for the shuttle system which opened in 2000. They don’t allow …
Today we left Page Arizona and drove 2.5 hrs. to Zion National Park. To get to our campground we have to drive through the East entrance of Zion and exit through the South entrance to a small town called Springdale. The only issue is the 1.1 mile long Zion Tunnel, built in 1930, that was …
This morning I took a photographers tour of Antelope Slot Canyons. Antelope Canyon is the most-visited and most-photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest. It is located on Navajo land near Page, AZ. The canyon was made by the erosion of this sandstone, primarily by flash flooding (in fact a flash flood in this canyon …
I got up a sunrise to take more pictures of Horseshoe bend. There was too many shadows on the river so I waited until the sun rose to light the canyon 1,100 feet below. This picture has different lighting from the one yesterday that was taken in the evening. Next we took the Glen Canyon …
Today was a great and full day! We left Moab, UT at 7:00 AM and headed to Page, AZ with a half day detour at the world famous Monument Valley. Monument Valley is run by the Navajo Nation Tribes. We drove on a 17 mile round trip self tour (on a very rough dirt road) …
We finally made it into Canyonlands National Park–the reverse of Arches’ upward topography. This park is really like a miniature Grand Canyon complete with a river running along the bottom. We completed 3 hikes–a total of only 4 miles but tough climbs up large boulders. The kids enrolled in the Junior Ranger program, completed a …
Today we started out strong heading to Canyonlands National Park. A mile into the park, the Honda Odyssey’s transmission started skipping and overheated. While it cooled down, the kids had a blast running up & down the nearby boulders and catching Moab Lizards (see pic below). Jarred’s parents took the kids to a rodeo after …
Yeah! No driving the motor home today! 5:00 AM comes early… but this is when Rochelle, Jordan & I got up to go to Arches National Park to photograph the arches as the warm morning sunlight hit the rocks. “Delicate Arches” – the most popular arch in Arches National Park (only accessible by 3 mile …
Today we left Albuquerque and headed for the only place in the United States you can stand on 4 states (Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado) at once–Four Corners. It is run by the Navajo Nation. We are each standing in a different state in this picture. After Four Corners we drove into Moab, Utah …
Today we drove from Oklahoma City, OK to Albuquerque, NM. The drive was the best so far. The air outside was so cool we didn’t need to run the A/C and generator in the motor home. Near Amarillo in a small town called Groom we saw the second largest cross in the Western Hemisphere. It …
Drive, drive, and more driving. Today we drove from 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM. The kids had fun at a rest stop playing on the construction barriers. Forget the expensive attractions… just give them concrete to climb on! 🙂 We are spending the night in Oklahoma City, OK. We found on www.overnightrvparking.com a casino that …
Yeah! Today we left on our home in Stuart, Florida for our out west motor home adventure! Attack of the Love Bugs!! After nearly being overtaken by the love bugs we finally made it through our first day of driving. From Stuart, FL we had smooth sailing on the Turnpike to I-75 in Atlanta and …