Watch out Waldo, we're looking for you

I'm beginning to feel like I'm living in a Where's Waldo book. Open it up, see a map and try and find the Chinchens. Or perhaps I'm living in a PBS cartoon and every morning I wait for some silly, cheesy character to jump in the middle of the screen and announce my location. All I know is that where ever we are, we are happy.
We've seen so much. Driven over 9000 miles zig zaging through 9 states. I'm now forgetting where I am when I wake in the morning. It's hard to keep track. I was reminded this morning that I am in Colorado. The Rockies greeted me at first light.
Before we got here, we spent a few more weeks in Southern Utah, which if you haven't explored yet, start packing.
We hit Arches National Park last Oct. and this spring visited Zion, Bryce, Escalante and Capital Reef.Capital Reef is the least visited of Utah National Parks. I think folks are missing out. Mormons settled here in the late 1800's and established small farming communities. The Friuta Campground is smack in the middle of it all surrounded by orchards. We were there as the trees were all starting to blossom (apple, cherry, peach, pear, nectarine). If you go in Aug/Sept/Oct you will be lucky enough to pick as much as you want. We met one of the nicest guys ever here. JoJo. Soon after pulling in he came over to say hi and soon after that presented Kaleb with a brand new snowboard, bindings, case and pants. WHOA!!!! We shared meals, hiked, biked, went to music jams and played frisbee and bochie ball with JoJo the rest of our stay.

I knew we would see amazing places on this journey but I had no idea we'd meet such awesome people on the road. The people we've met hold a special place in our hearts. We've shared lots of laughs around campfires and truly experienced in the wilderness with them.
We sometimes say it's a small world. This trip has proven that it really is. I've met people in playgrounds in the middle of nowhere who are friends of friends of mine back in Bend. We've run into people that we hung out with in Bend on the streets of tiny towns. We've met people in one state, only to run into them unexpectedly in 2 other states.
Familiar faces are always welcome. We love our family and friends who we knew before this year and are thankful for those that have joined our circle.