Vacation/National Park Week

Joe took off work this week so we could venture into some more remote areas without easy Internet access.  Here's our week broken into our different destinations...

THE GRAND CANYON

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!  We arrived just before dark and were able to get a few glimpses of the canyon as we drove.  WOW!!!  We found our campsite in the park (Trailer Village) after having to turn around once.  Then we had a very stressful time parking the rig, as we went down the wrong residential road and then the wrong way on a one-way.  Luckily no one was coming while we drove.  Joe set us up in the cold and dark and we woke up to SNOW!

Later that day we went out to explore.  We went to the visitor’s center and had lunch at one of the lodges and listened to a ranger talk and saw a 20 minute movie on the canyon.  We visited some spots to look out over the canyon, but there was so much snow fog that we couldn’t see very much.  Still, even that was breath taking!  It was also FREEZING with a high of like 34 that first day, but very cool walking around in all the snow.  Here's a few pics of us on the shuttle.

Our second day, the weather was much nicer and 12 degrees warmer.  Loralai made a friend at camp for about 10 mins named Tyler and they made snow angels and threw snow balls at each other.  Then we left to get on the shuttle bus.  One very cool thing about The South Rim of The Grand Canyon is their shuttle bus system.  There are buses that run every 10 minutes to all the shops, lodges, visitor centers, and major look out points.  We left to go and see some look out spots.  We did a short hike between two look outs.  It was only a .3 mile hike, but that’s all it took for Joe and I to reevaluate our system of carrying our stuff.  At this point we had a 10 pound diaper bag, a 15 pound purse, and a 20 pound baby to carry.  Add to this all of our jackets and hats that we were coming out of as it heated up.  We decided then that we would only bring a backpack and the ergo from then on!

Day 3 we really got wise and looked up a drop-in preschool for Loralai!  We would have left Bean there as well, but there were only openings for L.  The facility was adorable and a Montessori based program.  L immediately asked to go play when we got outside where the kids were and was too busy playing with her 2 new friends by the time I left, to say good-bye.  With only one kid in tow, and one we could carry at that, Joe and I headed to the back country offices to find us a hike!  We choose a 3 mile "moderate" hike down into the canyon to Ceder Ridge.  It was awesome!!!  Perfect weather and Juliet did great in the pack (Thanks Meg!).  Doing a semi-serious hike was at the top of our to-do list and we were so excited to actually get to do it!  Work struck later that afternoon as we returned missed phone calls, dealt with taxes, and returned emails.

The very beginning of our 1400ft decent.

Joe packed up the next morning while I took Loralai to get her 4th Jr. Ranger badge at the Grand Canyon.

Then we headed out!  We will definitely be back!  It's an amazing place and there is a really cool community of rangers and residents that live there.  There's even a K-12 school!  The whole time we were there, I kept telling Joe we could live there and he could be a ranger and I could teach!  Who knows?  :)

Goofing off late one night with nose strips.

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

We spent Tues night in Mt Carmel Junction, a "town" just 12 miles from Zion NP at an RV park called East Zion RV.  It's actually just about 10 RV spaces in a dirt cut out off the side of a Hwy.  Under $18 a night, so I didn't care much once I knew Loralai would stay right by the RV.  Joe really didn't like the road noise though.  We ate at the WORST restaurant EVER across the street.  The name of it was "Restaurant".  Should have known!  I was okay with crappy food and expected it, but this was bad, expensive food!  I'll stop going on about it, as long as everyone reading this promises to NEVER eat there......EVER! 

Due mostly to the road noise, Joe talked me into moving the RV to Tropic, a town 10 mins from Bryce NP and 90 mins from where we were.  We left super early the next morning, parked at Pioneer Cabins and RV and went to explore Bryce.  It's the park of the Hoodoo's!  Really cool sites to see!

The next morning we drove the scenic drive through the park and visited some look-out points.  Then we did a 2 mile hike with the kids to Queens Court, down into the canyon of hoodoo's.  This was the highlight for me!  Loralai did great, as did Bean.  We meet some very friendly chipmunks.  They carry the Plague, you know, so there friendliness actually terrified us a little.  On our way out we visited the Prairie Dog field and saw lots of activity there and then went to the Visitor's Center for.......you guessed it!.....to get L's Ranger Badge!

She's taking a moment to journal about her hike.  She drew the chipmunk we saw.

Cool park.  Everyone should see it at least once.  It's an easy one to cover in just one full day.  FYI, there is camping IN the park for RV's.  Everything we read said there wasn't.  There is!

In other news, L learned to blow a bubble while in Bryce!

ZION NATIONAL PARK

So in Zion, there's this tunnel.....

To get into Zion, you can enter from the east (us) or the south.  If you enter from the east, you quickly come upon "the tunnel" and find most of the park beyond, closer to the south entrance.  Well the tunnel is 1.1 miles long and only vehicles under 50 feet in length are allowed to pass through.  Joe wanted to go this elaborate, 90 min, trip around Zion to go into the South entrance because he read the tunnel was pretty white knuckle to drive an RV through.  Well I convinced him that was not necessary and we could certainly drive our RV through the park!  We pull up to the gate and guess who's 51.5" long?  Us.  So new plan, we drive the RV back down the road 12 miles to the East Zion place that we stayed at originally.  Traffic noise, but cheap, and close to Zion.   Unhook and go explore the park!

Second day, we are better at navigating the shuttles and have planned what hikes to do.  The day before we had hiked to Weeping Rock (which is where water seeps down the rocks constantly, hard to photograph well)

and Emerald Pools.

So this day we did a 1.5 mile hike to The Narrows, a trail that follows The Virgin River.  We saw lots of mule deer in the woods, lizards, birds, and a frog!   Loralai played in the river at the end of the hike and Bean played in the sand.

She had to climb EVERY SINGLE rock she saw!

Both days we had lunch on the lawn of the lodge under a big cottonwood tree and Loralai played with other kids there.  The visitor center was CRAWLING with caterpillars, so we spent a lot of time there collecting them and carried them with us on buses, etc.  I didn't feel bad about this, since they were at an epidemic population according to an article I read in the Visitor Center.   

Zion is beautiful!!!  We saw bighorn sheep leaving the park both days.  I'm sure we will return!

Best Pic EVER!!!

It's been a really good week!  So much beauty!  We did move around a lot though, so I'm glad to be currently parked in Las Vegas for a full 6 nights at Sams Town RV!  Even if it is 101 degrees.  Seriously.

And....We officially have a walker!!! 

STAY TUNED FOR A VIDEO.  PUTTING JOE TO WORK ON IT TOMORROW, SO CHECK BACK.