I apologize to all you hardcore followers for not posting in a while! We have been very busy lately and I'm been slightly distracted. I promise I'll get back to our normal schedule soon!



In the meantime, listen to some great Gourd music as you cruise through these awesome pics of our trip to Grand Falls on the Navajo Reservation last weekend. I'll randomly place some more videos throughout this post since this CD was the one we listened to our whole drive in and out. Enjoy!!!

The drive out of Flag was beautiful with the snow on the Peaks and the sun shining. It only took about 45 minutes to get to the Falls. The most time consuming part was maneuvering the dirt road and guessing which way to go at the fork due to the lack of road signs on the reservation.





{Drive out to the res...check out the gorgeous peaks!}






I'm assuming this car was a landmarker..."Take a left a mile after the junker in the middle of the field..."




{Lovely dirt roads on the res (rough roads) with scenic views}

The Peaks is a dormant volcano in Flag and many years ago...I don't know exactly when...it erupted and spewed lava over the land. The black rock we have left (in many places) is left over, cooled lava. Out at the Falls, there was black sand covering the land on the north side of the falls and sandstone covering the south side. Apparently, the lava stopped at the canyon to the falls, creating the black sand and leaving piles of lava rock in its wake. Kinda neat...

We only know this info, not because we are The Smart Family, heehee, but because we actually ran into a friend of ours that happens to be a geologist while we were picnicking at the Falls...I know...only in Flag do you run into friends 45 minutes outside of town! ;)



{Pile of lava rocks}

The Grand Falls only runs like this in the Spring due to the snow melt run off from New Mexico. The water was gushing at high speeds and falling into the canyon that then carries it off to the Colorado River. Pretty amazing sight!!






{The Grand Falls}



We decided to hike down into the canyon where the water was flowing into. It was a risky adventure as we had to carry a 2 year old, Jay was wearing his Keen's (not exactly hiking boots) and we had two adventurous "I can do it!" kiddos leading the way. There was one point that I actually stopped and said, "No, no more...we are going to fall to our death!!" Yes, it was a 2 foot path descending into this canyon and the other side was a drop-off onto sharp, pointy rocks and from there, a fast flowing river that would surely pull us under before anyone even knew you fell!! I had just gotten over my near death experience...I didn't think I could do it again!! But...I did and I'm glad I did...can you believe it?!!? Stunning!!
















Can you see the two people at the top?









{In the Falls Canyon...up close and personal}

We weren't too far down, it wasn't the Grand Canyon, mind you. But it was an amazing sight to look up and see these little people staring down at us! I loved the shadows the walls created as the kids ran close to the walls (Zeek is actually peeing...boys).





{Canyon Walls}

QJ may have had to be carried down but by golly...he was determined to crawl his way out!! At one point, the same point I stopped early and said, "No Way!", he actually started laughing hysterically as I was trembling. I was in shock...the boy that's scared of Jay's "BIG TRUCK" wasn't scared of a 50 foot drop off?!! Go figure...











{Hiking back to the car}




This song is in honor of QJ for smacking Tika with his sippy cup!! (In case you can't hear the lyric its..."You boys need a spankin'...)

After finally making it back to the car, we loaded up and headed home. I would say within...30 seconds, QJ and Tika were sound asleep and within...5 seconds, Zeek had his PSP blaring in his ears and his thumbs attacking the controls...I guess you can lead the boy to nature... I don't think I was even buckled yet?!?







{The drive home...we were dirty and tired!!}




{Great song!!}

BTW- for all you hardcore Gourd fans that live in NoAZ, they are coming in April to The Orpheum!!! See you there! :)



{Can't introduce The Gourds without playing their best one...}