My Road Trip Through the Midwest Part Two: Denver-Four Corners-Phoenix

The home stretch. After a full day of driving from Manhattan, Kansas, we pulled into downtown Denver and ate at a restaurant right next to Coors Field. Downtown was so pretty at night, and we walked around for a while before turning in for the night. We decided to stay two nights in Denver because there is so much to see and we had to get mentally prepared for the 13 1/2 hour drive to Phoenix.The next day, we went to see Red Rock Amphitheater which was gorgeous. Then, we went to the top of Lookout Mountain in Golden to see the view of the whole city. You could see for miles on top of the mountain…it was breathtaking. We drove through the little town of Golden and saw Colorado School of Mines, and took a tour of Coors Bewery. It was so cool learning about how beer is made, but even cooler that we got three free beers each after the tour was over.

After the tour, we went downtown to catch a Rockies game. It ended up getting rained out in the sixth, but our crazy good seats made up for it…we were in the 12th row behind the Rockies dugout! After the game, we went out to a bar downtown with friends.I was dreading the 13 1/2 hour drive home, but I was wrong to feel that way. The drive through the Rockies at 10,000 feet up was breathtaking. We were so close to the clouds and everywhere we turned, there was some other completely stunning scenery to look at. We passed by ranches, farms, waterfalls, rivers and creeks, ski slopes, and millions of pine trees. The air was so crisp and fresh we had to drive with the windows rolled down. I can’t reiterate enough how beautiful it was.

We got to see the four corners, which was a really cool experience…you have to do it once in your life, right?? The drive through North-Eastern Arizona was terrible. It was all Indian reservation with nothing at all to look at for four whole hours…we didn’t even have cell phone service or internet. (First world problems?) The only good part about that four hours was that we could see a small glimpse of the Grand Canyon from a long distance away. Even though I’ve lived in Arizona my whole life, I’ve never been to the Grand Canyon! (That trip should be coming up soon.) Once we got to civilization, we stopped at Christopher Creek where I used to go to church summer camp and ate a yummy BBQ dinner before the last 2 1/2 hour stretch! The five days on the road was soo much fun…we got to see so many different places and visit with friends. Now we’re back home in beautiful Arizona waiting to see what the future holds. One chapter has closed, and another is opened! I’m not sure when the next time I’m going to travel is, but it’ll be sometime soon!! For now, I am loving being at home.