Four Corners

Hello. It is 8pm New Mexico Time. We've completed the first 10 of 40 hours of our road trip successfully. It was going to be a 10 hour 14 min drive from home, but I took a little detour to the Four Corners that added an hour+.

The little boys were too excited for our trip, I guess, because Owen Daniel and Peter were all awake and yapping it up very loudy at 5:30. I didn't get to bed early, not until 11:30 pm, so I wasn't ready to be awake yet, but I couldn't fall back asleep, so after scolding them, we got up SNK and went to the car. 

Note to self: next time tell Owen we are leaving at 10am, not 6. But we did make it out at 6, so that's good I guess? We started to leave at 6:03, but then I went back in to give Corey a kiss on the cheek, then we left. 

It was 6:09. Owen said "At 4:09 we're going to be there" (Have we mentioned before that this young boy likes math and logistics? I told him about stopping for gas, so told him to plan on 11 hours. And after we passed Price, I thought maybe we should swing by the 4 corners if it was on the way? I've never been south of Moab on the east side of Utah, so I figured I might not be coming this way again, since I've never made it this far before, so better go visit the Four Corners while we're in the area! I pulled over to quickly google it and just trusted the web address to be correct. Instead of continuing on I-70, it told me to turn towards Moab, so I turned and let Google maps take us there. From about Moab, it said we had 3 hours 40 min, and that seemed like after that it would be a good time for lunch, so that was the plan. I loved the drive south of Moab - you've got these red cliffs on the west, and the snow covered La Sal mountains on the east, it was amazing! We drove through Monticello and I saw their little temple so we drove by that, so cute! "Natalie, come out for a picture!" She reluctantly obeyed. 

I noticed a sign for Hanksville, which I was aware of cause that was where Beka came for the ring of fire eclipse. Soon enough we crossed into Colorado, then into New Mexico, then up to the four corners. Let's get out.

We stood in line to wait our turn to stand at the four corners. I told kids to choose a state and they could all be in different states. Peter didn't want to pose for the camera. 

There's always somebody who doesn't want to smile. 

Then I took a quick turn - Sophi took my photo.

I liked the words around the states - Utah - Colorado - New Mexico - Arizona : Four States - Here Meet - In Freedom - Under God. But it's cool cause you can start reading it from any of the four states and it still works: Here Meet - In Freedom - Under God - Four States. Or "In Freedom - Under God - Four States - Here Meet", or "Under God - Four States - Here Meet - In Freedom". Cool huh!

Then a nice lady asked if we all wanted to be in the pic. I said yes, and that's the pic at the top of this post. I planned to stop there for lunch, but it was too windy, so we just got back in the car and kept driving. But the internet wasn't working, so I wasn't sure if I should go left back to Colorado, or right towards Arizona. We said a few prayers, then decided to go left/northeast. Turned out ok. After 10 or so minutes, we got reception and the maps said we had 5 1/2 hours until we would arrive at Red River. So off we went. I was glad to know we had plenty of daylight. I'm not scared of being drowsy if I drive during the day. The scenery was a feast for the eyes! 

I've never been in New Mexico and never thought that it would be so pretty! Some parts of it felt like Gooseberry Mesa, and others seemed like Yellowstone with lots of trees and snow covered mountains! Carson National Forest was AMAZING! Although taking Highway 64 across was a little scary - there were hardly any other cars on the road, no gas stations, no homes or cabins, so I was like "If I have any problems right now (blow a tire or I don't know) then I'm gonna be stuck for a while..." but I kept praying and trusting and am very grateful we arrived safely.  The sky was beautiful too.

So it's been a long day, but it's been good. The kids all did so great on the drive. They watched a lot of movies and I listened to gospel podcasts (Choosing Glory Jacob 1-4 was SO good, Amen to everything she said! Follow Him, and Unshaken) or music if I started to feel a little tired. I'm glad we're doing this. I'm praying for clear skies for the eclipse! After we got here to the Red River Worldmark, I thought I'd take a quick nap and then wake up and put the kids to bed, but instead of taking a nap, I got the kids dinner, decided to blog real quick and now it's 9pm New Mexico time and I'm done and they are all still awake I think (I can hear them) but the lights are off and we're going to bed. Another 10 hours tomorrow, then we'll be ready to have fun with all the Texas Hibberts for a few days! Yay

I just sent Corey a goodnight note - he sent me a voice message reply and I could tell he and the girls were out somewhere... I looked up on Life360 and he took Abi and Lily to Aubergine! 

I'm glad they got to go taste some good healthy food. I told Corey to enjoy the quietness at home. I know I would be if I were there with only two older kids! I told him that he is welcome to return the favor and take all the little kids on a week long trip without me anytime he wants.