Other Places

Believe it or not, sometimes we go on vacations to places other than Disneyland. It doesn't happen very often due to school, work, money, and all of those other inconveniences that get in the way of recreation. But every now and then, we take off on a little overnighter.

Last month my friend, Cheyenne, posted pictures of her family in Goblin Valley on facebook. I went to Goblin Valley a few times as a teenager, and seeing Cheyenne's photos made me want to take my own kids. As soon as I got the idea in my head, I couldn't let it go. Over the course of two weeks, I talked Scotty into heading down there for our anniversary (we ended up settling for the day after our anniversary, but let's not be too nit-picky).

We left early Friday morning and came back Saturday night, so it was definitely a quick trip. We were just a little hesitant to camp for more than one night with our children because we haven't had much luck camping with babies. In fact, until this trip, each attempt we'd made at camping with our kids included several hours in the car with a screaming baby. This time, however, things went much more smoothly. Zoe ended up cutting two teeth and starting with a nasty cold while we were gone, but she was pretty agreeable considering how miserable she was.

Goblin Valley was the perfect playground for our kids. Nicky and Daisy ran and climbed and ran and climbed some more. Their little faces were beet red, adn any time we tried to get them to rest in the shade, they would sit for about thirty seconds and then take off running again.

Before we went on this trip, I showed Nicky a picture of Goblin Valley on the computer. His reaction was, "It's just a bunch of boring rocks!" That made me worried that he would compain the whole time and drag his feet. I was so glad that that was not the case. He LOVED it. He even said, "This is so much better than I thought it would be!"

(This will now be one of the "life lessons" I refer to often. "Nicky, remember when you thought Goblin Valley was just a bunch of boring rocks, but then you got there and you LOVED it?" I will say this ALL.THE.TIME. I can already feel it).

Last summer I started taking pictures of our shoes on all of our hikes (I totally ripped this idea off from Amy). Here is our Goblin Valley photo:

Daisy refused to participate because she's three, and Zoe was lovingly strapped to her father's chest.

After spending a few hours in Goblin Valley, we drove down the road to Little Wild Horse Canyon. We went on a hike through some slot canyons. 

See this?

 

I went in there!

It may seem like a small feat, but I'm really proud of myself because I'm a little claustrophobic. The first set of slots had my heart pounding, and I couldn't stop imagining getting trapped. I wasn't sure I could do it, but it was SO COOL, and I really wanted to make it through. Fortunately, I was okay by the time we reached the second set of slots (I went through a very similar thing the first time I rode the Nemo ride at Disneyland). There were a few points in the hike where the path between the walls was the width of my shoe! Luckily, the walls were a little farther apart. 

(That photo looks almost identical to the Goblin Valley one, except Daisy decided to make her presence known).

The geology in Little Wild Horse Canyon is incredible. There is something exciting around every corner. I'll probably post some more pictures from our hike soon.

We spent the night camping at a KOA. Our tent was literally ten feet away from the campsite next to us, but we survived. Despite the lack of privacy, I really like KOAs. They had an old-fashioned playground that I enjoyed introducing my children to. I taught Nicky and Daisy how to use a teeter-totter, and a little team work was good for them. We roasted hot dogs and had smores for breakfast.

On Saturday we went and played for a few hours at the White Wash Sand Dunes, then we went and saw Crystal Geyser, which did not erupt while we were there, but it was bubbling, so it probably erupted ten minutes after we left. It was still really cool to see, though. Sadly, my pictures didn't turn out well enough to go through the effort of posting them here. There were some very cool mineral deposits from the geyser that created a really beautiful waterfall leading to the Green River. 

Our little vacation was so wonderful and much-needed. Now I've got the itch to see more of Utah's amazing landscape. This truly is an incredible state.