BREAKING OUR FALL

I am three weeks away from my next epic adventure. But memories from my last trip are still fresh in my mind. Last week, during fall break, I decided to make use of my oldest being in fourth grade and obtained a National Park pass from everykidinthepark.gov for our family. If you have a fourth grader, GO CHECK IT OUT. It is a free pass that will get your family into all national parks across the country (and many state parks) at. NO. COST. And since I will basically have a fourth grader each year for the next seven years, you better believe we will be making the most of that pass with every chance that we get.  This last week, we decided to check out Wupatki National Monument up in northern Arizona. It was PHENOMENAL. We visited Montezuma Castle during spring break, but it doesn't even come close to the Wupatki pueblos. At Wupatki, you are able to get up close to (and inside of some of) the pueblos. There are five or six incredible structures in the area that are easily accessible and well maintained. Wupatki is on the same loop as Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, so both areas can be visited in one day. While we drove past Sunset Crater and the [amazing] surrounding lava fields, we didn't take advantage of the proximity. Instead, we drove about an hour southeast to Meteor Crater. Now... I have to be honest. I didn't love Meteor Crater. Part of that comes from the fact that I am the idiot that didn't realize that it is NOT a national park. Oops. After a 50+ mile drive just to get there, I couldn't say no. So I sucked it up and paid the $45 entrance fee for our family. Fine. It was fun, but I found Wupatki to be worlds better. In the end, we all had a wonderful time exploring some of the stunning sights that Arizona has to offer.
BTW, the second to last picture is proof that my kids are not always picture perfect for a photo. I was about 1000% percent done at this point and just ready to go home.