Spring Break Camping With Goblins

Yeah, even though sometimes the kids do behave like goblins, that's not actually what I mean.  My super fantastic parents agreed to go with us down to Goblin Valley for part of the kids' spring break.  We got there on Thursday evening and boy oh boy was it windy.  Gusty really.  And you know what happens when you are in the desert with lots of sand and the wind starts to gust?  Sand goes flying and it gets in your eyes, and your hair, and your ears, and your pockets and every little place imaginable.  And it is even more annoying when your little dog runs off and you have to go running after him and the wind is blowing sand in your face and you're already out of breath because you're out of shape.  Yeah, that doesn't win doggie loving points with me.  But it was fun.  And from these pictures, you'll see that we had a great time, even if it was cold on Friday.

Our campsite.  We were staying up the "Temple Mountain Road" canyon. Pretty rustic.  No facilities pretty much for about 45 minutes (not counting the Goblin Valley State Park, but there wasn't much there either.)

Ian and his cousin Luke.

We went to Goblin Valley a while after breakfast.  There were a lot of people there and the kids just ran from one feature to another.  They climbed to the top and announced, "I'm the king of the world!" Then just as quickly they jumped down and ran to the next feature to climb and make their announcement all over again.  

Goblin Valley.  Isn't it beautiful?

 

We went back to the valley that evening.  The colors were just beautiful and all the crowds were gone.  It was quiet and peaceful and the kids had a blast doing it all over again.

 

 Friday night it got cold.  At one time we had talked about us sleeping in our tent.  I was sure glad we were in the trailer because it was even cold in there.  In the wee hours of the morning though, just after Jason got up to use the bathroom I heard a hissing sound coming from our air mattress.  Hissing sounds coming from an air mattress are not good.  Especially when its something like 30 degrees and you are wanting to be warm and asleep.  We quickly grabbed the blankets off the air mattress and each of us squeezed on a bed with Alyssa or Ian.  The next night we would be kept up with a two-year-old boy who had too much sun, wind, and not enough sleep.  He kept waking up screaming during the night.  I could only get him back to sleep if I snuggled him up like a baby in my arms with a blanket.  But just as I'd try to lay him down he'd wake up and scream again.  We eventually got some sleep, but every time Jason or I would move it would wake him up and we'd have to start all over again.

Indian Petroglyphs.

Easter Egg Hunt--San Rafael Swell style. 

 This is one Easter egg hunt I don't think they'll forget anytime soon.  Thankfully their eagerness (Ian especially) didn't end up with anyone falling off the edge and getting hurt (although there were a couple of close calls).

Jason and I on our motorbike ride--without any kids.  It was beautiful.  It looked exactly like the scenery in the movie "Cars."

Isn't he adorable?  He loved climbing and hiding in these little caves as much as the bigger kids.

Ian didn't get to go on a slickrock hike the day before because we felt it was a bit too dangerous for an impulsive boy like himself.  So just before we left on Sunday I took him on a little hike just by ourselves.  He wanted me to climb into this little cave with him, so I snapped a picture of us together.

And now I have the gargantuan task of cleaning up from the trip, including washing every bit of clothing we took.  I was worried about things smelling like campfire smoke, but instead everything was dusty, gritty, and very, very dirty.