This morning we unhitched and drove east to Fruita.  While I was getting tourist information at the Colorado Welcome Center, Trish and the kids walked across the street to the local Vietnam War Memorial:

We next drove into Colorado National Monument.  We looked around the visitor center:

The views from just outside the visitor center:

The kids finished their Junior Ranger workbooks and received their badges:

We drove the Rim Drive through the monument and took in the views:

Here a portion of the canyon wall popped off and slid down into the canyon:

This is a hanging canyon, its floor is quite a bit higher than the Colorado River valley beyond:

One of B’s flower photos:

Once we exited the park, we drove via Montrose to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.  The canyon is one of the deepest in the US.  It was dizzying photographing over the edge, and unfortunately the photos below don’t capture the scope of the canyon as it drops over 2,000 feet from the rim to the river below:

The Gunnison River drops 49 feet per mile in the canyon, about 7 times the slope of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon:

The Elk Range is visible in the distance:

B spotted this fellow:

The kids received their Junior Ranger badges:

The kids almost completed the Junior Ranger books for Curecanti NRA, which is adjacent to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.  The ranger gave us the badges to give to the kids when they finish their workbooks:
 

From there, we resupplied at the Montrose Walmart and returned to the RV around sunset.  See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.