Vegas Baby

.July 10, 2013: we have spent the last three nights at The Mandalay Bay in Vegas. What a treat after camping for a month. The kids absolutely freaked when they saw the hotel and our room. Their eyes were bulging, they jumped up and down with excitement and they were in awe of every detail. We spent our days in the pool. There is a regular pool, hot tubs, wave pool and a lazy river. James and I enjoyed a few bud light limes poolside and it was a lot of fun. We ate In And Out burger every night. On the last night James felt compelled to match Kevin Walsh's record 5 double doubles. We took the kids to see the Bellagio's fountain show on the last night too which they loved. We had a blast in Vegas and now begins the drive home. 

Zion

July 7, 2013: we got up early after sleeping in the town of Kanab and drove into Zion. This kids loved the mile long tunnel dug through the mountain. We were lucky enough to see a group of big horned sheep by the road which is apparently pretty rare. Our first order of business was to get a camp,site as they fill very quickly in summer time. We got a spot and set up our tent. You cannot drive in Zion in the summer time, so we walked from the campground to the shuttle bus and drove up into the canyon. We set out to do the Riverside Walk, which is the most popular walk in the park. It was so crowded, unlike anything we have seen so far this summer. We were all exhausted and a bit hiked-out so we just found a nice sandy spot near the river and stopped to play. The kids went fully swimming in their undies and we relaxed. Afterwards we rode the bus back to camp for naps. Julia passed out on the shuttle and finished her nap in the shade t our campsite. We took the kids to the park's nature center for a ranger led program about Zion's animals. These programs are so great and the kids loved the nature center. They made headbands with animal ears on them, we read books, they dressed up as rangers, and saw the exhibits about animals and life at Zion. After that we went swimming in the river again but right near our campsite. Julia got bitten by a fire ant and we had to run into town to get her some medicine because it hurt her so much. We had dinner and all went for another swim right before bed to cool down. Temps were just over 100 but it did not ever feel that hot so we were lucky. During dinner a family of deer came right next to our campsite. There were some large groups camping and as it was a holiday weekend we did not eat much sleep with a lot of noise at the campground. We woke up, broke camp, and got back on the hustle. We did a short hike to the Emerald Pools. Afterwards we stopped where a ranger had a telescope set up to see peregrine falcons nesting. We did not see any but heard them and saw the nest. The kids showed the ranger their Zion workbooks and were sworn in a junior park rangers once again. Then we took off for a few days out of the tent in Vegas!

Cedar Breaks

July 5, 2013: We all had a great sleep at 10,300 feet last night. James brought Julia and Casey over to the ranger program where they caught and identified bugs while Molly and I packed up camp. Afterwards we joined them. The kids literally spent 4 hours doing this. The volunteer ranger Ken was amazing with kids and filled with energy and enthusiasm for this task. The wild flowers are absolutely amazing at Cedar Breaks. After a day with the rangers we drove down to Kanab to be close to the entrance to Zion where we plan to go tomorrow. We are having a little swim and going to camp out.

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

July 4, 2013: I am in our tent during a big thunder and lightning storm, mother nature's fire works for us this year. We are bundled up at over 10,000 feet at Cedar Breaks National Monument right now. Here is what we've been up to for the past few days. On July 2nd we woke at Bryce and had a slow morning at the campsite as we ate and packed up. At 10:30 we took the kids to a Ranger program about maps and compass use. The kids had to participate in a ranger program to get their badges so we went for it. One of the park rangers, who is not destined to be a teacher, gave a terrible 10 minute talk on maps, true north vs magnetic north, and compass use. Then our group, about 20 of us headed out to test our new skills and try to find 10 flags around the area using our map and compass. We were eager to get on the road but the kids learned a little something. Casey picked up the most but Julia also could follow a path set out by her heading. Badges secured we headed out to Escalante, a town about an hour East. We went to the visitors center to make a plan and ill out a back country camping permit. This area is not a national park and thus has very few amenities, not even paved roads. Our first stop was the escalante river. A slow, peaceful river the kids swam and played in. We then drove to an amazing plateau and cooked hot dogs for dinner. Then we drove on the "Hole in the rock road" for 26 brain scrambling miles. This is a dirt road that is wash boarded and we bounced for an hour. We were rewarded with a beautiful place to camp at the trailhead to Dry Fork Gulch. Late at night two guys came and camped there too making a big racket at night and again in the morning but karma got them in the end as they came back from the hike with one of them limping with an ankle all wrapped up. Anyways, we were there to explore more slot canyons and this is what the area is known for. We had seen that beautiful one outside of Page, AZ called Antelope canyon but that is highly touristy. These are for the adventurous and we were excited. We hiked for about 4 1/2 hours total and explored two slots. The first was called peekaboo. It is a hanging canyon which meant we had to climb up 12 feet to get into it. But is was so cool and beautiful and exciting all at the same time. It was a tight narrow slot with lots of neat features and beautiful colors. At the end we limbed out and walked above ground to the end of Spooky Canyon. This one was great too. It was so tight in parts we could barely fit you had to slither sideways. The kids loved it and so did we. As we exited Spooky we saw a baby rattlesnake. We were all exhausted and it felt long and hot getting back to the car but it was so worthwhile. We had planned to see more slots but we felt like we couldn't possibly top the two we had just explored, coupled with it getting to be old news for the kids, and James and I both were not feeling 100% and it is so hard on us to carry Molly and Julia when we are exhausted ourselves. So we came out and went to that great river swimming hole again and relaxed for a few hours. Then we drove to a secluded camp site at the Willis Creek tail head. We set up next to a river, ate some dinner and turned in. We've been reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to the kids at night and they love it. I woke this morning to the sound of a humming bird buzzing around our tent. We did a fun easy hike that the kids really enjoyed. Willis Creek is a flowing creek thru a canyon. It's not as exciting and beautiful as the slots the day before but it was still cool. It was 2 miles down and 2 miles back. The kids loved walking thru the stream the whole time. Afterwards we had lunch and debated our next move. The plan had originally been to head towards Zion but it is so hot there apparently that we headed here, to Cedar Breaks. We chose it because it is relatively close and high up to beat the heat. Well, now we are shivering! But it's nice to be chilly. We set up as the rain was catching us and cooked dinner in the tent.  We finally took showers after a long stretch with only swims. We had a campfire, drank hot chocolate and then read more Willy Wonka during another round of thunder and lightning. We'll see what tomorrow brings. 

Bryce Canyon National Park

July 1, 2013: Despite Molly having a fever last night the kids got a good sleep, it was so nice to be cold after so much heat. We made oatmeal for breakfast on our camp stove and got all set to go out on a big hike. We did the Navajo/Peekaboo Combination Loop which was 4.9 miles with 1581 feet of elevation change. It took us just over 4 hours. Casey was a super star again and hiked almost the entire way. James carried Julia on his shoulders most of the way and Molly was in the pack on my back the entire time. It was a unique and beautiful hike up and down and around the Bryce Canyon amphitheater. In and out of the hoodoos, past the wall of windows and thru narrow canyons and tunnels. We saw a long snake on the trail. We had fun but it was a challenge for sure.  We got back to camp and had naps.  The rain and thunder moved in briefly and i had to hurry to get the rain fly on while Julia and Molly napped. James and Casey were at the visitors center. After naps we just goofed around then drove out to the end of the park to Rainbow Point which is a lookout over the amphitheater. The kids were busy picking up litter as part of their junior park ranger program. We had dinner at camp and are just enjoying the nice weather and nice evening around our campsite. The kids are doing timed obstacle courses and finishing up their junior park ranger workbooks.