We received news that the wife's dad was planning to visit her. That was exciting news for us and for her in particular. The house got a going over and when the time came we met him at our local airport. He was obviously happy to see his favorite daughter. Over the next month we visited a number of tourist attractions, which included numerous trips.
 
 

As many tourists can attest, he too was impressed by the Colorado National Monument, a 20,543 acre mountainous area featuring many monoliths and huge walls of eroded rock formations. It is crisscrossed with hiking trails and has spacious picnic accommodations to which we were frequent visitors. At other times we visited Mesa mountain, the largest flat (tabletop) mountain in the world, and picnicked by one of its numerous lakes.
 
 

Several months with Dad, and word came that Mom too wanted to visit. Great news for the family. We arranged for a suite at the Marriot Residency Inn and proceeded to Denver International to meet the parents at the airport. The next few days were spent in Colorado´s Capital city. They liked Denver and the many amenities it offered.
 
 

The heavy traffic, bustle, noise, shops, malls, restaurants and a Korean section with ethnic stores reminded them of their home city, Seoul. Driving through Colorado was a new experience for Mom. There were two main items that she focused on. One was the irresistible beauty of the mountains and their snow covered peaks. The other, the distance between cities. Both Mom and Dad had difficulty adjusting to the size of the State, and they had seen but half of it at that. The names of a number of Colorado towns amused them a bit; there was, Officer´s Gulch, Eagle, Gypsum, No Name, Silt, Rifle, and Parachute to name just a few. We drove Mom around town the next two days and she could not believe the samll cities, some with just thirty thousand inhabitants. It was difficult for her to do some ethnic cooking here as well since she could not find some of the basic ingredients necessary for that purpose. Still, she did the best she could and prepared many delicious and savory dishes. Although there were limitations associated with small city living, they never could get over the huge blue sky, bright sunny days, and clear night skies reflecting a canopy of shimmering stars. They felt as though the sky was pressing down on them. The altitude at some 4,500 feet, or 1,390 meters took a little getting used to, and the fresh mountain air added to their occasional fatigue.
 
 

We decided that it would be a good time to take a trip. We were thinking of Arizona, New Mexico and Southern Colorado. We packed our Camry and off we went. Wanting to get in a bit of the rural areas, we passed Gateway, Uravan, Nucla, Naturita and Sawpit before winding our way through the San Juan mountains and the San Juan National Forest to Dolores and Cortez. We spent the night there. The next day we visited Mesa Verde National Park which features the cliff houses of the Anasazi who were there in the 12th and 13th century. We had fun climbing the several crude ladders to move around the dwellings under the watchful auspices of the National Park Service guides. The parents were surprised at the Hispanic nature of the population and amazed at the large number of hot pepper farms in the area. Later on we drove through the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation to the only "Point" that has four States as a common border - Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. As we crossed the Colorado border into New Mexico we headed for Shiprock. It was on the way there that something totally unexpected happened. We were caught in a howling semi-desert wind storm with such intensity that the sky blackened as from day to night, headlights seemed to bend with the fierce winds and it was difficult to maintain the vehicle on the road. After some two hours, the storm abated and we proceeded on to Gallup where we spent the night.
 
 

We got a fresh start in the morning together with a light dusting of snow and headed out for Arizona on Interstate US 40. At Navajo we stopped at an Indian trading center on the Zuni Indian Reservation. The parents contributed handsomely to the profits of the day for they bought many Native American souvenirs for their friends back home. Since this area was close to the Painted Desert we viewed it as well. We then made a short detour after passing Winslow and took the parents to see Meteor Crater. One can well imagine the awe that anyone looking into the huge crater from its rim would have for nature. Mom and Dad were visibly impressed. Each person interprets such a natural magnitude on their own scale; but one never forgets the experience. As we started to climb towards Flagstaff we encountered moderate snow and the weather turned cool. We slept in a comfortable suite and the next morning after a filling breakfast, started to drive up the San Francisco Mountains to the town of Grand Canyon. We took in the usual tourist spots, such as, The Watchtower, the Tusayan Ruins and the adjacent museum and of course the gift and cafeteria accommodations where more expensive gifts were purchased for the family followed by a cafeteria style lunch. We took time out to see the Petrified Forest and toured the Visitor Center and gift shop. Then we headed down Arizona Highway 17 to Phoenix and Tucson. The wife was driving over the posted speed limit but everyone passed her by even though she was clocking 75 to 80 miles per hour. To her surprise a State patrol car passed her by as well and never stopped to give anyone a ticket from what we saw; seems they move very fast in Arizona. We arrived in Tucson and after touring through the city found a very nice motel where we settled down for the night. The next day we toured Old Tucson. All of us had a lot of fun wandering through the many artificial Western streets, replete with old style shops, jails, city hall, church, stage coach and train station that are used as settings for numerous Western movies. We took a stage coach ride with six horses hitched to the coach and it was quite an experience. One wonders how people of that historic age endured weeks of travel being bounced around on primitive roads or just through prairies and trails. For fun we stopped at the old printing press newspaper and had a silly headline printed with our name. Finally, we returned to our travels.
 
 

On the way to New Mexico we stopped at the Colossal Cave and toured its tunnels and caverns. We admired the many tall Saguaro Cactuses growing in the Sonoran desert. They can grow as tall as fifty feet and live for two hundred years. We took turns posing for many photos standing next to one. A few hours later we took a cut off out of Benson and drove to Tombstone. This town was purposely maintained in an early Western character, mainly as a tourist attraction as well as a Hollywood setting. It was Sunday noon and every Sunday the town stages a shoot-out, just like in the Western movies. We lined up at the street curb and watched the show. It was very realistic since all the characters wore old time western outfits and had the weapons to match. Tombstone cemetery supposedly has a boot hill history where famous outlaws met their end and were buried with appropriate wooden headstones and brief descriptions of how they died. Quite a few well known and eulogized western outlaws are presumed to be buried there.
 
 

We left Tombstone, got back on the highway and crossed into New Mexico, The Land of Enchantment, at Lordsburg. We worked our way up Interstate 25 from Las Cruces to Albuquerque, stopping in several small towns on the way for food, rest and other necessities. I had wanted to take them on the cable car up to Sandia Mountain and the restaurant overlooking the city. Unfortunately as we entered the parking area we noticed signs indicating there would be no service for the day since there was maintenance repair work in progress; it was a disappointment for us. Instead we stopped outside Kirtland Air Force Base and visited the Atomic Museum. Later, in downtown Albuquerque we found a very good Japanese restaurant and had a delicious lunch. We bought Western hats and some other gift items and resumed our trip. New Mexico was big and charming, but also sparsely settled in parts. The visitors were becoming tired of long road stretches without towns or other signs of life. They kept asking if we were still in New Mexico.
 
 

Fortunately within the hour we arrived in Santa Fe. They appreciated the southwestern architecture as well as the Native American open air market. They also enjoyed the city´s atmosphere and cosmopolitan nature. We spent the night there, rested up and headed North towards the Colorado border. It was largely mountainous driving and took longer than I thought it would. Eventually we crossed into Colorado, took a right turn to the West at Pagosa Springs and aimed for Durango. We spent several hours touring the town, had lunch there and then it was back to the car. We crossed the San Juan Mountains again, passed Silverton and Red Mountain Pass at 11,000 feet, or 3,352 meters and drove into Montrose. We knew that small city from a previous trips. The Daily Bread is a main street bakery and luncheonette with good soups, sandwiches and desserts. We stopped in for a bit of refreshment. We detoured briefly to see the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument, which consists of long stretches of the deepest portion of the Gunnison River gorge, and then started our journey  home. The trip took us approximately three weeks and everyone needed a week or more to rest and catch their breath.
 
 

A month later it was time for the parents to return home. They had spent several months with us and the rest of the family needed some attention too. There was some last minute shopping, final flight arrangements, heavy packing and a farewell dinner out. Then it was back to the airport the next morning for the first leg of the flight home. We helped check-in the luggage, made certain of their seat arrangements, took them to the departing gate and said our good-buys. Two days later we received a phone call from them indicating safe arrival and thanking us for our hospitality.
 
 

This concludes the Bedtime Stories. Hope you had an enjoyable time browsing through them.
Thank you for visiting and for your interest.