Spring Break Part 2

I have been having some technical difficulty with this particular post and have had to try so many different things to make it work.  I guess doing it over and over again might be a good thing, or just make me crazy!  So now I will continue on with our story....

At this point we have made it to Wednesday on our journey, and that means that we are leaving Green River and going a little way down the road until we reach one of the greatest places on the planet, known as Goblin Valley.  Eli kept calling it Goblin Ballet, so you can imagine what fun we had with that while we were there!

Again, we could have spent a great deal more time exploring the valley, but we did find a substitute turtle for the one that we took pictures on during our growing up years- that particular one collapsed not too long ago.  We made it over to the cave which seems much smaller, now that I am much bigger!  

Anyway, we decided that since we were in the area we needed to go and hike up the Little Wild Horse canyon.  It is a really fun spot and the kids got to experience what a slot canyon is like; water really does amazing things to rocks!

From this point we head out, and make our way to Capitol Reef where we will camp for the night. We loved the campground there by the Visitor's Center; we woke up to find a herd of deer wandering through the campground, which Eli thought was just wonderful.  I think the herd is basically domestic as the grounds keepers were trimming the trees with chainsaws and the deer didn't even flinch!

After a yummy coconut pancake breakfast, we spent a few minutes at the Visitor's Center then on to check out the petroglyphs along the wall of the canyon. (OK petroglyph is where it is carved out of the rock, pictograph is painted on... right?) It was a most beautiful day, the weather could not have been more perfect through our Southern Utah portion of the trip, it was just delightful.

We followed up the petroglyph sighting with a hike up to Hickman Arch.  It was quite a little hike for Eli, but I had some fruit snacks and juice to bribe him with along the way.  Zach, Kaija and Bella seem to be little pack horses, they are naturals when it comes to the hiking- I was  just delighted to be able to take them, though I certainly wish Joe was there to enjoy all these amazing experiences with us- oh well, next time!

Now this part of Utah is some of my favorite territory, Capitol Reef, Escalante, Boulder Mountain and on into Bryce Canyon.  It is a perfect scenic drive and there is no place better to stop for a bite of lunch than at the lookout atop Boulder Mountain- which is what we did, ah heart be still.

Bryce Canyon was gorgeous with a little bit of snow remaining- we lucked out here because we didn't even have to pay the entrance fee- hooray, because $25 is a little steep for 45 min. in the park!  There were patches of snow all around and Eli had the most fantastic time throwing snowballs at Gram and Papa!  Bella liked it because it was orange, her favorite color!

I think what I love about all these places is obviously the beauty, but also the peace and quiet to be had.  You know the kind of quiet that makes your ears ring for lack of things to hear; so much the opposite from New York City life! 

The conclusion of this day was wonderful, as we ventured to my brother Paul's house in New Harmony, we had the most lovely sunset to enjoy, then the great delight of seeing Paul and DeAnn and Kenlynn.