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| What more could a 13 year old want? |
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| Happy Birthday, Nathan! |
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| Brandon made this moose. |
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| Best Grandpa Ever! |
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| How many is that? She loves her pacis! |
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| Handsome haircut, buddy! |
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| 2 year old Elephant Cake #6! |
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| Happy Birthday, Sarajoy Faith! |
We've Given Up the Easy Life for the Good Life
Thursday, June 30, 2011
June Photos
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
The Next Level
Squaw Peak June 4, 2011
I sat down and wrote about our camping trip while it was fresh on my mind. It took me awhile to add the photos, but it was written right after we got home.
It is probably a good thing that I've let some time pass before I write about Squaw Peak.
It was slightly more traumatic.
I was feeling pretty good about that Little Wildhorse Canyon hike! I thought we could do just about anything if we could do that! Dallin has been climbing peaks for the past several years. He usually goes with his friend and his brother. This year, he wanted to start including the boys. As we talked about some of the hikes, he thought we should start with Squaw Peak above the Provo Temple.
It is the easiest hike he takes his Scouts on. Only takes them a couple of hours up and one hour down.
I was picturing a bunch of 12 year old boys and thinking, "Two hours, we can do that!"
I suggested we take the whole family.
Dallin was a bit concerned. The biggest hike we've done as a family is up to the Escalante Cross in Spanish Fork. He really really likes to get to the top of the peak. A family day hike is just not the same, and we had already done that at Squaw Peak. We had walked up the trail with the kids, played on some rocks and around the river, and turned around and gone home.
I offered to stay behind with the little ones if they got too tired and let him and the bigger kids go on up.
"Let's just try it and see what happens," I said.
We got to the parking area and ate our lunches in the pavilion. We had planned to eat on the trail, but we were behind schedule and people were already hungry.
I threw a few snacks and water bottles in a backpack and we were off. Two hours, no problem.
Dallin had Sarajoy in a pack and I had Simon with me. I was wearing a baby pack again, but wanted him to walk as much as possible. It didn't take us long to get way behind Dallin.
I was confused because my idea was that we would hike together for awhile and then I would take the little ones to the parking lot. Dallin had the littlest one, though.
Simon was tired and grouchy about climbing from the start. I kept trying to get his mind excited about what we were doing. For awhile we followed the river and crossed bridges. That part was great for him, though he kept wanting to stop and throw rocks in. Nathan was with me because he was a bit under the weather and unable to keep up with Dallin. Daisy was also with me.
This first part of the trail is wide and covered with gravel. It follows the river. It is pretty steady as far as steepness, like a gradually rising walking path. After crossing about 5 bridges, we came to the actual trailhead for Squaw Peak. It was a narrow path through the woods. Up we went, hoping to eventually catch Dallin. By now I was having big ideas about making it to the top. It seemed that Simon needed to stop about every ten feet. He'd sit and dig in the dirt, look at ants, throw some rocks. It was steep enough and I was getting tired enough that I just wanted to keep going. Still, I noticed that taking these short breaks was surprisingly rejeuvinating.
During our little rests, people would pass us coming down. Simon would say, "I'm looking for my Daddy." They'd assure us that they had seen him. This was particularly soothing for my worry-wart Daisy who was scared that we had taken the wrong trail and we would NEVER find Daddy and be LOST! There was a young couple who came down and saw me sitting there with 3 kids and a baby backpack on. The guy said, "Whoa, do you have another kid in the pack as well?" I told him that it was just in case we needed it. He said, "We saw another guy up there with a baby in a backpack and a couple of kids!" They were shocked when I told him that that was my husband. They told us how brave we were, and I responded that we were just going to see how far we could get. But I was thinking, "We can do it! We'll get to the top!" They gave us a handful of melted Jolly Ranchers. They were sticky, but we welcomed them! Just what we needed to give us a little boost! We were pretty low on water at this point, and Dallin had all of the snacks with him. I had no idea how long we'd been on the trail, but I'm pretty sure the 2 hour limit was long past. The thing was, I kept thinking we were almost to the top. Since I hadn't been up the trail I didn't realize that once you get to the top, you still have to go around to the front of the mountain and then climb the peak.
At one point the trail became a small runoff stream with little waterfalls. There were plenty of dry places to walk, but Simon got right in. He was so proud of himself for climbing one of those waterfalls. He wanted to stay there and play, but we had to go on! I remember praying for angels to help my little guy make it up to the top.
We came up and over what I thought was the top and into a meadow. My phone signalled that I had a text message. I quickly called Dallin, hoping that he had reception still. At that point, I wanted him to wait for us at the top.
"Where are you?", he asked. He assumed that we had headed back to the car long ago, but was surprised when his calls to me weren't going through.
"We just got to a meadow."
"YOU'RE AT THE FIRST MEADOW???"
Great, I thought. We're still THAT far away? I didn't realize that his surprise was not that we were still so far behind, but that we had made it that far. A guy I had just met on the way told me we were still an hour from the top. Dallin said they had made it in about 30 minutes. I could do 30 more minutes, 30 more minutes. Guess who got picked to be Simon's angel? Yep, I put him in the backpack, hoping to make better time.
We were already beginning to be rewarded for our efforts. Breathtaking views of the mountains around us were on all sides. When we got to where we could see the lake and Utah Valley, it was very exciting. Daisy wondered why we needed to keep goin when we could already see the whole lake.
One foot in front of the other, I plodded along with Simon on my back. Finally we got to the final ascent, and I knew I could not carry him up that steep path. I asked him if he could walk, and he cheerfully said, "I can." I thought he said "I can't", and I almost despaired until Daisy said, "Mom, he said he CAN!" I shakily pulled the pack off and pulled him out of it. Up we went. Up and Up. He was very tired, and I was weary. Just before this, we had halooed across a gulley and heard voices! We knew we were getting very close. The Eastern ridge was amazing! Tall, snowy mountains loomed across the gorge. Daisy and Nathan could feel the nearness and ran ahead. Soon I heard footsteps above me and Brandon was coming down the trail to join us for the home stretch.
As the peak became more narrow, it was very obvious that on either side was a drop of thousands of feet. I was surprised at how nervous it made me. There was no danger as far as the trail goes, but it was frightening to be that high. My mind kept wandering off the edge. I finally reached the peak and saw my kids lazily resting on rock overhangs that made it look like a gust of wind could carry them to their deaths! My exhausted body did not have the nerve to enjoy it very much. I allowed myself to get close enough to the edge to locate the temple, Elk Ridge, and a few other landmarks. The most stunning view was of nearby Mt. Timpanogos and its beautiful, rolling green foothills. It really was incredible, and I was terribly disappointed in myself for being so afraid. Dallin assured me that the rocks the kids were resting on had another ledge below them that I couldn't see.
They did have some water, but they had been at the top for 2 hours, so the snacks were all gone. I did not know how I could possibly make it down that mountain. Thankfully, Brandon had a yogurt in his pack that he hadn't eaten at lunch, and he gave it to me.
All too soon, it was time to go down. The sun was setting, and everyone was exhausted. The plan was for Dallin to carry Simon and I would carry Sarajoy so we could just get down fast!
I learned that standing at the bottom of a path looking up is very different than looking from the top down. I just kept thinking, "Seriously??? Did you really bring your tiny kids up this treacherous path??? What were you thinking???"
My knees and ankles were so beyond thrashed. Daisy was sobbing with pain, but there was nothing I could do to help her because I was already so maxed out with the load I had. Dallin was in the same boat carrying Simon.
At this point, childbirth was very vivid in my mind. That feeling where you really want to give up, but you know that the only way to get it over with is to give in and suffer through it. There was absolutely no relief for the pain that my legs were enduring. It seemed horrid that my little girl had to go through it.
The three older kids had excitedly run ahead. We asked people coming up the trail if they had seen them, and they assured us they were okay and having a great time.
We finally got down to the gravel trail that has all of the bridges. We cheered each time we came to a bridge, but again, I was stunned at how much steeper the path seemed on the way down than it had on the way up. The loose gravel was brutal to my already thrashed ankles and knees. Had it really been that LONG going up?
Then came the point where I was able to look back and see the peak, the ledge where my children had been playing hours before. It was so incredibly far away! The trees looked so tiny. I had certainly taken that view for granted many times before. Never again. I stared at it like a train wreck, re-living the suffering of the last 7 hours.
The way home was rather quiet. I assured Dallin that I would be perfectly happy to stay home with the little kids the next time he wanted to climb a mountain. I wasn't sure if I would EVER be convinced to do that again. And I was mad that fear of heights had gotten in the way of enjoying the reward. I was pretty sure that I would much rather have had a baby, and at least gotten a baby out of it. Isn't life hard enough, without making yourself suffer? And for what? To stand on top of a mountain and be scared?
And the PAIN. It just didn't quit. I hoped that sinking into my soft bed would be soothing enough, but no sleep would come. I finally took some ibuprophen and had a good sob and went to sleep.
It is interesting what a night's sleep and a little time between me and that experience did. When I woke up, I was sore, but not too bad. My shoulders and neck didn't hurt at all, which was surprising for how long I carried someone in the pack. I couldn't help but enjoy the attention my kids got when they proudly told their church teachers that they climbed Squaw Peak.
Each day the pain was a little better, and each day I felt a little more proud. The "for what?" question began to be answered in my heart, though I don't know if I could ever express it in words.
Today, twenty days later, I went to the temple for the first time since the hike. (We have been on vacation for 2 weeks, so we hadn't returned during that time. )
I'll tell you that I was downright excited to see that peak.
And there it was, looking so majestic with the rising sun behind it and the temple spire in front of it.
My whole family climbed that mountain. There is some ownership there.
There is also a sense that because I did that, I know I can do other hard things.
And maybe,
Just maybe,
I'd like to own another mountain.
The first group makes it to the top in about 2.5 hours. Ruby's tears quickly dried when she saw the view.
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See why I was a bit terrified?
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That tiny line down there is the gravel trail we followed at the beginning.
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What can I say? She was born to be on top of the world!
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It took a lot of courage for me to take this picture. But I can tell you I wasn't about to go sit on that ledge.
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Here I am, much farther from the edge. I'm pretty sure that is a fake smile.
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Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! We made it to the next bridge!
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Tough little trooper on the last bridge.
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That pointy thing is the Peak where we all stood!
I sat down and wrote about our camping trip while it was fresh on my mind. It took me awhile to add the photos, but it was written right after we got home.
It is probably a good thing that I've let some time pass before I write about Squaw Peak.
It was slightly more traumatic.
I was feeling pretty good about that Little Wildhorse Canyon hike! I thought we could do just about anything if we could do that! Dallin has been climbing peaks for the past several years. He usually goes with his friend and his brother. This year, he wanted to start including the boys. As we talked about some of the hikes, he thought we should start with Squaw Peak above the Provo Temple.
It is the easiest hike he takes his Scouts on. Only takes them a couple of hours up and one hour down.
I was picturing a bunch of 12 year old boys and thinking, "Two hours, we can do that!"
I suggested we take the whole family.
Dallin was a bit concerned. The biggest hike we've done as a family is up to the Escalante Cross in Spanish Fork. He really really likes to get to the top of the peak. A family day hike is just not the same, and we had already done that at Squaw Peak. We had walked up the trail with the kids, played on some rocks and around the river, and turned around and gone home.
I offered to stay behind with the little ones if they got too tired and let him and the bigger kids go on up.
"Let's just try it and see what happens," I said.
We got to the parking area and ate our lunches in the pavilion. We had planned to eat on the trail, but we were behind schedule and people were already hungry.
I threw a few snacks and water bottles in a backpack and we were off. Two hours, no problem.
Dallin had Sarajoy in a pack and I had Simon with me. I was wearing a baby pack again, but wanted him to walk as much as possible. It didn't take us long to get way behind Dallin.
I was confused because my idea was that we would hike together for awhile and then I would take the little ones to the parking lot. Dallin had the littlest one, though.
Simon was tired and grouchy about climbing from the start. I kept trying to get his mind excited about what we were doing. For awhile we followed the river and crossed bridges. That part was great for him, though he kept wanting to stop and throw rocks in. Nathan was with me because he was a bit under the weather and unable to keep up with Dallin. Daisy was also with me.
This first part of the trail is wide and covered with gravel. It follows the river. It is pretty steady as far as steepness, like a gradually rising walking path. After crossing about 5 bridges, we came to the actual trailhead for Squaw Peak. It was a narrow path through the woods. Up we went, hoping to eventually catch Dallin. By now I was having big ideas about making it to the top. It seemed that Simon needed to stop about every ten feet. He'd sit and dig in the dirt, look at ants, throw some rocks. It was steep enough and I was getting tired enough that I just wanted to keep going. Still, I noticed that taking these short breaks was surprisingly rejeuvinating.
During our little rests, people would pass us coming down. Simon would say, "I'm looking for my Daddy." They'd assure us that they had seen him. This was particularly soothing for my worry-wart Daisy who was scared that we had taken the wrong trail and we would NEVER find Daddy and be LOST! There was a young couple who came down and saw me sitting there with 3 kids and a baby backpack on. The guy said, "Whoa, do you have another kid in the pack as well?" I told him that it was just in case we needed it. He said, "We saw another guy up there with a baby in a backpack and a couple of kids!" They were shocked when I told him that that was my husband. They told us how brave we were, and I responded that we were just going to see how far we could get. But I was thinking, "We can do it! We'll get to the top!" They gave us a handful of melted Jolly Ranchers. They were sticky, but we welcomed them! Just what we needed to give us a little boost! We were pretty low on water at this point, and Dallin had all of the snacks with him. I had no idea how long we'd been on the trail, but I'm pretty sure the 2 hour limit was long past. The thing was, I kept thinking we were almost to the top. Since I hadn't been up the trail I didn't realize that once you get to the top, you still have to go around to the front of the mountain and then climb the peak.
At one point the trail became a small runoff stream with little waterfalls. There were plenty of dry places to walk, but Simon got right in. He was so proud of himself for climbing one of those waterfalls. He wanted to stay there and play, but we had to go on! I remember praying for angels to help my little guy make it up to the top.
We came up and over what I thought was the top and into a meadow. My phone signalled that I had a text message. I quickly called Dallin, hoping that he had reception still. At that point, I wanted him to wait for us at the top.
"Where are you?", he asked. He assumed that we had headed back to the car long ago, but was surprised when his calls to me weren't going through.
"We just got to a meadow."
"YOU'RE AT THE FIRST MEADOW???"
Great, I thought. We're still THAT far away? I didn't realize that his surprise was not that we were still so far behind, but that we had made it that far. A guy I had just met on the way told me we were still an hour from the top. Dallin said they had made it in about 30 minutes. I could do 30 more minutes, 30 more minutes. Guess who got picked to be Simon's angel? Yep, I put him in the backpack, hoping to make better time.
We were already beginning to be rewarded for our efforts. Breathtaking views of the mountains around us were on all sides. When we got to where we could see the lake and Utah Valley, it was very exciting. Daisy wondered why we needed to keep goin when we could already see the whole lake.
One foot in front of the other, I plodded along with Simon on my back. Finally we got to the final ascent, and I knew I could not carry him up that steep path. I asked him if he could walk, and he cheerfully said, "I can." I thought he said "I can't", and I almost despaired until Daisy said, "Mom, he said he CAN!" I shakily pulled the pack off and pulled him out of it. Up we went. Up and Up. He was very tired, and I was weary. Just before this, we had halooed across a gulley and heard voices! We knew we were getting very close. The Eastern ridge was amazing! Tall, snowy mountains loomed across the gorge. Daisy and Nathan could feel the nearness and ran ahead. Soon I heard footsteps above me and Brandon was coming down the trail to join us for the home stretch.
As the peak became more narrow, it was very obvious that on either side was a drop of thousands of feet. I was surprised at how nervous it made me. There was no danger as far as the trail goes, but it was frightening to be that high. My mind kept wandering off the edge. I finally reached the peak and saw my kids lazily resting on rock overhangs that made it look like a gust of wind could carry them to their deaths! My exhausted body did not have the nerve to enjoy it very much. I allowed myself to get close enough to the edge to locate the temple, Elk Ridge, and a few other landmarks. The most stunning view was of nearby Mt. Timpanogos and its beautiful, rolling green foothills. It really was incredible, and I was terribly disappointed in myself for being so afraid. Dallin assured me that the rocks the kids were resting on had another ledge below them that I couldn't see.
They did have some water, but they had been at the top for 2 hours, so the snacks were all gone. I did not know how I could possibly make it down that mountain. Thankfully, Brandon had a yogurt in his pack that he hadn't eaten at lunch, and he gave it to me.
All too soon, it was time to go down. The sun was setting, and everyone was exhausted. The plan was for Dallin to carry Simon and I would carry Sarajoy so we could just get down fast!
I learned that standing at the bottom of a path looking up is very different than looking from the top down. I just kept thinking, "Seriously??? Did you really bring your tiny kids up this treacherous path??? What were you thinking???"
My knees and ankles were so beyond thrashed. Daisy was sobbing with pain, but there was nothing I could do to help her because I was already so maxed out with the load I had. Dallin was in the same boat carrying Simon.
At this point, childbirth was very vivid in my mind. That feeling where you really want to give up, but you know that the only way to get it over with is to give in and suffer through it. There was absolutely no relief for the pain that my legs were enduring. It seemed horrid that my little girl had to go through it.
The three older kids had excitedly run ahead. We asked people coming up the trail if they had seen them, and they assured us they were okay and having a great time.
We finally got down to the gravel trail that has all of the bridges. We cheered each time we came to a bridge, but again, I was stunned at how much steeper the path seemed on the way down than it had on the way up. The loose gravel was brutal to my already thrashed ankles and knees. Had it really been that LONG going up?
Then came the point where I was able to look back and see the peak, the ledge where my children had been playing hours before. It was so incredibly far away! The trees looked so tiny. I had certainly taken that view for granted many times before. Never again. I stared at it like a train wreck, re-living the suffering of the last 7 hours.
The way home was rather quiet. I assured Dallin that I would be perfectly happy to stay home with the little kids the next time he wanted to climb a mountain. I wasn't sure if I would EVER be convinced to do that again. And I was mad that fear of heights had gotten in the way of enjoying the reward. I was pretty sure that I would much rather have had a baby, and at least gotten a baby out of it. Isn't life hard enough, without making yourself suffer? And for what? To stand on top of a mountain and be scared?
And the PAIN. It just didn't quit. I hoped that sinking into my soft bed would be soothing enough, but no sleep would come. I finally took some ibuprophen and had a good sob and went to sleep.
It is interesting what a night's sleep and a little time between me and that experience did. When I woke up, I was sore, but not too bad. My shoulders and neck didn't hurt at all, which was surprising for how long I carried someone in the pack. I couldn't help but enjoy the attention my kids got when they proudly told their church teachers that they climbed Squaw Peak.
Each day the pain was a little better, and each day I felt a little more proud. The "for what?" question began to be answered in my heart, though I don't know if I could ever express it in words.
Today, twenty days later, I went to the temple for the first time since the hike. (We have been on vacation for 2 weeks, so we hadn't returned during that time. )
I'll tell you that I was downright excited to see that peak.
And there it was, looking so majestic with the rising sun behind it and the temple spire in front of it.
My whole family climbed that mountain. There is some ownership there.
There is also a sense that because I did that, I know I can do other hard things.
And maybe,
Just maybe,
I'd like to own another mountain.
The first group makes it to the top in about 2.5 hours. Ruby's tears quickly dried when she saw the view.
See why I was a bit terrified?
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Building Character
May 27-30 2011
This is the long story about how we took our six kids out in the desert to camp with no campground and hiked up a treacherous canyon on purpose.
Several weeks ago, I found myself excitedly saying "yes" to an invitation to go camping at Goblin Valley. After all, hadn't camping been one of my most cherished childhood experiences? I didn't think twice when my friend said the words "primitive" and "no campground". At least not that day.
But the week leading up to the campout led me to think twice and twice more. No water? No TOILETS??? Food for over 3 days? Our little minivan with no camper or trailer?
I was nervous.
I was stressed.
It was even hard for me to be nice at times.
Where to begin? For a couple of days, I felt like I was in a daze, wandering around thinking of all that had to be done. I finally sat down and started a list. It took me a couple of days and about 7 sheets of loose leaf to make the list.
Thursday: Have kids pack their bags. Get as much of the food and cooking supplies gathered as possible. Change some diapers and wash some faces before our "family activity" for the week: Getting a Porta-Potty. Since we were going to be out in the Provo/Orem area, we had a few other errands to run as well. Nathan needed BSA clothing for his upcoming Timberline Scout Training Camp. We also needed some more coolers, and hiking shoes for the boys, and something more rugged for Sarajoy to wear than boutique squeaky shoes. We also needed some grocery store items.
We picked up Dallin from work and got on our way. We knew time was limited because the Scout Shop closed at 5:30. As we were driving through Provo, we thought it might be a good idea to stop at DI to see if they had any of the stuff we needed. We only go there about twice a year because it is pretty far away. Somehow the time limitation slipped my mind when I heard DI. I love a good browse there. We found some pants that would work for "backup" for Nathan, but we knew he needed at least one "official" pair, and they didn't have any. But we found coolers, some tables to use for cooking and toiletries, very nice hiking boots for both the boys, some crocs and tennis shoes for Sarajoy, several other little odds and ends, and a strange-looking doll that Sarajoy wouldn't leave the store without. (I talked them down to fifty cents for that, and it turned out to be very worth it for her to have a toy that I didn't mind getting dragged around in the dirt.) At one point I heard a store clerk say, "It's almost 5:00", and I panicked. We rushed over and found the shoes we needed and quickly checked out and got in the car. It was 5:18 when we pulled out. We were pretty sure we wouldn't make it, but decided to try anyway since the Luggable Loo store was right next to the Scout Office. I ran into the Scout Office at 5:32. They pulled the metal gate down behind me. They were very kind and understanding as we picked out the socks, belt, and pants Nathan would need. Phew!
We went over to Emergency Essentials and discovered it was a corporate office, but they directed us back to Provo to the store.
Emergency Essentials turned out the be the kind of store that Dallin actually likes. He spent quite awhile discussing water filtration while I found our potty, chased my little ones between storage bins, changed a diaper, and tried not to go crazy.
By then, everyone was starving. We found a Little Ceasars and everyone ate pizza while I ran into Sam's Club and got a few things.
Then it was Wal Mart for the rest of the groceries and a Leatherman for Brandon for earning his Arrow of Light.
Then Macey's for dry ice and a candy bars for Brandon's progress on his math facts.
It was quite late when we got home, and everyone was a bit cranky from driving around and shopping so much.
And I still had all of the cooking to do. I had decided to cook as much as possible because it would make things easier there as well as take up less room in the coolers. Nathan stayed up with me and helped make the 3 breakfasts. Dallin stayed up and helped me pack food and get our own suitcases packed.
Friday: Our goal was to meet our friends at 12:30. I fed the kids and filled the coolers. We started loading the car. I was hoping the car-top carrier would hold the sleeping bags and suitcases. It was jam packed with just the sleeping bags and air mattress. I was thinking about how much camping is like moving, and wondering why we were doing this on purpose. Then we loaded the back to the top. I put the camp chairs in the side windows and at the kids' feet in the back seat. I was feeling really great about how well everything was fitting. Dallin reminded me we hadn't put the 2 tents in, or the camp stove. But we managed those plus the propane tank and the 5 gallon water jug and a bucket of sand toys and some pillows and blankets. No leg room, but we were thankful. We got on our way with a stop for ice for our friends and a stop at the Library to drop off some movies.
For the first time in a week, I felt calm and relaxed. I knew that for at least the next 3 and a half hours I would be off the hook. We were on our way!
Not quite an hour into the trip, our car gave a little warning bell and the brake light went on.
Seriously?
We had had our power steering system replaced just days ago.
We were in one of the most dangerous canyons in the US.
Could we really risk taking this fully overloaded van the rest of the way with a potential brake hazard?
No.
We pulled over and talked about our options. Dallin checked the brake fluid and it looked fine.
Someone went potty and we all got back in the car and prayed.
We prayed that we would know what to do. We prayed that if it was His will, he would make our brakes work until after our trip.
We felt good about going on.
30 minutes later we were filling up in Wellington. The brake light went off!
I read my book, ocassionally looking up at the magnificent geological wonders that Utah has to offer. I can tell why they call it Castle Country. It is incredible.
It took us an hour and a half to find a campsite. We knew we were going to be dealing with crowds on a holiday weekend.
Finally, we found a little cove at the base of a formation. We were hoping it would offer some shade and protection from the wind.
Setting up camp was pretty fun. A lot like playing house! We set up our old, smaller tent to use as a dressing room/toilet area. All of our luggage and toiletries were in there. And the Luggable Loo, of course!
Our big tent had room for the air mattress in the center, the sleeping bags for 4 kids on one end, and the porta-crib and Simon's sleeping bag in the other end. I also set up our kitchen table and food prep area in that end. Thanks to our friends' trailer, we were able to bring our nice picnic table.
The wind was pretty harsh that evening. It would be calm for awhile, and then huge gusts would come up, leaving a fine layer of dust on everything and in your eyes.
It was after dark when we finally ate our tin-foil dinners. I think they would have been better off in a pot. I've yet to have a great tin-foil dinner experience. That might be our last. Just waiting for the coals to be ready takes so long.
Nobody complained about going to bed except Simon. I guess the little nap he had in the car and all the excitement about playing with flashlights made it hard for him to go to sleep. Dallin and I were sitting out by the campfire with my friend when we heard a commotion in our tent. Simon started crying, and then we heard Ruby say, "Simon's under the tent." Dallin said, "No he's not." She said, "Yes he is, and I can't get him." We ran over there, and, sure enough, Dallin pulled Simon out from under the tent where he had been burrowing around. Apparently he had turned off his flashlight and gotten scared and come looking for us. When he realized how dark it was outside, he decided to go back in the tent. He couldn't find the opening so he crawled under, thinking it was where the zipper was open. We calmed him down and got him settled and after some more visiting time, Dallin and I settled onto our air mattress.
Then the wind picked up. It would blow around and make it sound like one of the kids was stirring in their sleeping bag. That is the exact sound that brings this mama right out of sleep. It seemed like just as I would drift off, either the wind would pick up or Sarajoy would wake and need comfort.
Still, it was better than most nights camping where I am either too hot or too cold and always afraid of critters. That's one good thing about the desert. No bear would ever survive out there.
Saturday morning, I stayed in bed awhile while the kids gradually got up and went out to play. The cove we were in was surrounded by rock cliffs, with odd formations at the bottom. The older kids were able to climb clear up to the top. From camp it didn't look so bad, but as we were driving away and I saw what they were actually playing on, it made me a little nervous. Even the 6 year olds got up there eventually, and the kids were showing other campers how to get up there.
I warmed up some water for hot chocolate and warmed up our potato, egg, and bacon breakfast that we had cooked. The morning was calm, and it was a nice break from the wind.
It took me a long time to wash dishes after breakfast. I only brought two large frying pans, so I'd have to fill them and warm them and pour them in and then fill and warm them again.
I kind of like those experiences that are more primitive. I like learning to make do and be pioneerish. And compared to the pioneers, I had some pretty incredible luxuries and conveniences on that trip.
One of the best things about it was that I could enjoy the cooking and cleaning because there wasn't something else to move on to. The kids were playing happily outside, and I had no idea what time it was.
After we got cleaned up, we went into Goblin Valley State Park to the Valley of Goblins. It was awesome! A giant playground of rock formations. The kids had lots of fun. Our friends found a geocache in there. We played until everyone was too hot and tired to do any more. We went back to camp, and it was hot! I made the mistake of opening all of the screens in our tent to cool it down. When we came back later that day, there were drifts of sand on everything in the tent. We put a tarp over the eating area, but it didn't last long in the wind. We decided to take the 45 minute trip to the nearest town to get some ice for the coolers and some ice cream for the kids. It was a nice break from the elements, and a beautiful drive. When we got back, we made dinner and just visited around the fire while it cooked in the dutch oven. After eating some delicious pork burritos my friend made, we went back to the Valley of Goblins to play games.
When we first got there, it was nice that we were one of the only groups there. Earlier in the day had been very packed with visitors. The wind was horrible, however. I was wondering if it was even going to be worth it because the little ones were so miserable and crying from the dust in their eyes. After we walked all the way to the edge of the valley, we realized we were getting short on time as we had to be out of there by 10pm. We started back toward the parking lot and found a nice cluster of formations to play a round of Vampire on. It was a lot of fun. We did that one more time and the youngest kids were having a rough time, so the moms took them back to the cars so the dads could play with the big kids.
It is great that our families are so nicely matched. Their oldest is a girl, but she gets along well with Nathan and Brandon, and all of the other kids are the right age and gender for each other. Sarajoy just loves her friend and went around for most of the trip calling her name. They were so cute in the Valley of Goblins. There are rocks there that even they can climb on and tunnels to go through. They would take off together, and in minutes be quite a ways from the rest of the group in their own little happy world. That was one of the happiest things for me on this trip, seeing those two little girls enjoying each other.
That night, the kids were all eager to get into bed, and Dallin went with them. I stayed up and visited with my friend for quite awhile before going to bed. The wind that night was incessant, and much stronger than the night before. It was hard to eat breakfast without getting a mouth full of grit. We had planned to do a little Sacrament Meeting that day, and I was really looking forward to it. We wanted to explore the Little Wildhorse Canyon as well. We found out from the ranger that we should do it in the morning as they were expecting very strong winds and possible rainfall that afternoon. You don't want to be in that kind of canyon when it rains, so we decided to do the hike first and come back for Sunday service.
We were having a rough go of it from the beginning of the hike. Sarajoy had fallen asleep in the car on the way to the trailhead. Simon kicked her in the head when he was getting out of the car, and she was MAD. She did NOT want to get into the baby backpack, and Simon insisted that he DID want to get in. I had Nathan carry the extra baby backpack that was full of snacks and drinks, and I gave Simon a short piggy-back ride. I really needed him to walk, though. He was not excited about it at all. He was tired and grumpy. He and I stayed back from the group a little and I tried to make things fun for him. We went into the little caves and sang "The big brown bear" and he would jump up and scare me. Then we pretended we were in Jungle Book and I helped him climb a couple of trees. Then we played rock jumping. I would hold his hand and he would run up a rock and jump off the other side. When we caught up to the group, he was starting to get used to the idea of what we were doing. Nathan was having a tough time with the pack, so I took it for him. The trail got very narrow and difficult at times. There was a lot of climbing up and over rocks and feeling wedged between two rock cliffs. I thought it was awesome! I was so glad the kids were having this experience. There were places where the canyon opened up and we could sit and rest or have a snack. There were places with muddy water on the trail. Daisy was throwing a fit because she didn't want to get wet. Simon was all about getting in that muddy red water. Soup, he called it. You could get across the wet places by stepping on stones or scooting along the walls if you knew how. The youngest kids were too scared, so I ended up getting in up to my shins and ferrying the kids across. Having wet shoes made it a little more difficult to climb the rocks, but I was okay. I could tell my body was getting a workout like it had never had before, though. Even down in the slot canyon, the wind could be really horrible. Simon would cry that someone was throwing "pokes" at him. We did not make it to the top of the canyon, though we made it pretty far. It got to where the canyon opened up enough that it was hot and windy so we decided to go back down. This was interesting on a busy day. People would have to climb the wall and make a bridge for others to pass under. It reminded me of climbing the hall walls at home, only much narrower. There were parts where it was narrow enough that the sides of my backpack were scraping along the wall. Going down seemed really hard on my ankles and knees. I was still with Simon. We had pretended to be snakes going through the narrows. Now, on the way down, he was a motorcycle. He was really into the hiking thing and feeling really proud and strong. Even Daisy was doing much better on the wet parts having crossed them successfully once. Sarajoy settled and went to sleep in the pack once we had our snack break. We probably had about 1/3 of the way to go back to the car when Simon ran out of gas. He wasn't being hornery or fussy, just exhausted. He kept saying, "I just need to find a rock to sit down on." or, "My legs hurt." He would sort of collapse every few steps. I was feeling really bad for him, and I knew my body was beginning to wear out. I knew I needed to get out of there as quickly as possible, and the only way to carry him was in the baby backpack. I set him up on a big boulder and had him work his legs down into the hole. He is really much too big for this. His legs went far beyond the frame, and his head was at my shoulder. We were alone on the trail at this point, so we just had to work together to get him in right. I could tell he was so relieved and happy to be up there. He chattered away in my ear with his head resting on my shoulder. "Mom, you are so good at this! Your feet are doing a great job!". Awhile later, he noticed the braid on my shoulder. "Mom, this is very pretty! I like this! You are so cute!" Then he started to hear the rhythm of my walking in the gravel. "Mom! The rocks are singing I am A Child of God!" I think it is so great that that is the song that came to his mind when he began to feel a rhythm. We sang it for awhile. He also liked "Sally the Camel", and asked me a couple of times to sing the "song with the humps". We caught up with Dallin and helped him and Daisy through a horrible tantrum she was throwing because she needed to go potty and didn't want to go in the bushes. She finally agreed to go, and when it wasn't the cleanest experience she'd ever had she went into hysterics again. We finally got her calmed down and finished the walk back to the trailhead. Once she saw the parking lot, she ran for it. I was still slowly stumbling along with a very heavy Simon on my back. When we got to the road, I just couldn't take another step. I pulled off the backpack, and it was quite the feat pulling it off of his legs. We got back to the car and I sat there wondering, "Will I ever be able to stand up again?" I felt a lot like I had just given birth. It was a deep exhaustion and deep exhilaration.
We got back to camp, and our friends' potty tent had blown over. I guess that was the last straw for him because he had hooked up their trailer. We had intended to stay another day and tough it out, but it was obvious that wasn't going to happen. The wind really was quite horrible. As I was making lunch in the tent, great gusts would come and press the side of the tent against me. Then a fine layer of sand would come in through the top and settle on everything. Dallin put aside all of the bedding and brought the camp chairs in there so the kids could eat their hot dogs out of the wind. It was very hot in the tent. Brandon had heat exhaustion from the hike, and was miserable not having a cool place to rest. He finally crashed in the tent while we packed up our stuff. Complete exhaustion was settling in on me, and I was starting to feel really glad that we were going to be in our own bed that night. I was sad that we were not able to do the Sacrament meeting. I had plenty of moments of awe and reverence in the Canyon that day, so I hope it counts for something. It is truly amazing how beautiful and magnificent even somewhere like a desert wasteland can be.
Just before we left, I was looking for one of the bags to our camp chairs. I thought it had probably blown away. I went out into the desert and found a lonely cactus in full fuschia bloom. It was so lovely I had all of the kids come see. Some other things we saw were a funny-looking antelope that looked like a short-necked llama with horns. It was all alone. We saw some little lizards, and one bigger one on the road that would do funny push-up movements. Was it trying to scare us off? I don't know, but it was really funny. The scorpion found under our friends' bathroom mat was very exciting! There were these strange looking plants that looked just like the bulbous seaweed you find on the beach sometimes. I wondered if they are some relative evolved from a time that the area was covered in water. Most of the vegetation was completely foreign to me. There were very few insects. We saw a few gnats, and I saw one housefly. I guess we traded mosquitos and flies for sand and wind! There were crickets that sang all night. We saw a few that had hidden under bags or tarps. They were big.
I was a little sorry to leave that little cove that had been our home for a couple of days. I think we all learned and grew together with that experience. As much work as it was, I think it was as magical for my kids as camping was for me as a child. Now that I've initiated myself, I want to do it again soon. It helped us all be a little tougher, a little more grateful, a little more humble in the face of the majesty of those creations, a little more reliant on one another.
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This is the long story about how we took our six kids out in the desert to camp with no campground and hiked up a treacherous canyon on purpose.
Several weeks ago, I found myself excitedly saying "yes" to an invitation to go camping at Goblin Valley. After all, hadn't camping been one of my most cherished childhood experiences? I didn't think twice when my friend said the words "primitive" and "no campground". At least not that day.
But the week leading up to the campout led me to think twice and twice more. No water? No TOILETS??? Food for over 3 days? Our little minivan with no camper or trailer?
I was nervous.
I was stressed.
It was even hard for me to be nice at times.
Where to begin? For a couple of days, I felt like I was in a daze, wandering around thinking of all that had to be done. I finally sat down and started a list. It took me a couple of days and about 7 sheets of loose leaf to make the list.
Thursday: Have kids pack their bags. Get as much of the food and cooking supplies gathered as possible. Change some diapers and wash some faces before our "family activity" for the week: Getting a Porta-Potty. Since we were going to be out in the Provo/Orem area, we had a few other errands to run as well. Nathan needed BSA clothing for his upcoming Timberline Scout Training Camp. We also needed some more coolers, and hiking shoes for the boys, and something more rugged for Sarajoy to wear than boutique squeaky shoes. We also needed some grocery store items.
We picked up Dallin from work and got on our way. We knew time was limited because the Scout Shop closed at 5:30. As we were driving through Provo, we thought it might be a good idea to stop at DI to see if they had any of the stuff we needed. We only go there about twice a year because it is pretty far away. Somehow the time limitation slipped my mind when I heard DI. I love a good browse there. We found some pants that would work for "backup" for Nathan, but we knew he needed at least one "official" pair, and they didn't have any. But we found coolers, some tables to use for cooking and toiletries, very nice hiking boots for both the boys, some crocs and tennis shoes for Sarajoy, several other little odds and ends, and a strange-looking doll that Sarajoy wouldn't leave the store without. (I talked them down to fifty cents for that, and it turned out to be very worth it for her to have a toy that I didn't mind getting dragged around in the dirt.) At one point I heard a store clerk say, "It's almost 5:00", and I panicked. We rushed over and found the shoes we needed and quickly checked out and got in the car. It was 5:18 when we pulled out. We were pretty sure we wouldn't make it, but decided to try anyway since the Luggable Loo store was right next to the Scout Office. I ran into the Scout Office at 5:32. They pulled the metal gate down behind me. They were very kind and understanding as we picked out the socks, belt, and pants Nathan would need. Phew!
We went over to Emergency Essentials and discovered it was a corporate office, but they directed us back to Provo to the store.
Emergency Essentials turned out the be the kind of store that Dallin actually likes. He spent quite awhile discussing water filtration while I found our potty, chased my little ones between storage bins, changed a diaper, and tried not to go crazy.
By then, everyone was starving. We found a Little Ceasars and everyone ate pizza while I ran into Sam's Club and got a few things.
Then it was Wal Mart for the rest of the groceries and a Leatherman for Brandon for earning his Arrow of Light.
Then Macey's for dry ice and a candy bars for Brandon's progress on his math facts.
It was quite late when we got home, and everyone was a bit cranky from driving around and shopping so much.
And I still had all of the cooking to do. I had decided to cook as much as possible because it would make things easier there as well as take up less room in the coolers. Nathan stayed up with me and helped make the 3 breakfasts. Dallin stayed up and helped me pack food and get our own suitcases packed.
Friday: Our goal was to meet our friends at 12:30. I fed the kids and filled the coolers. We started loading the car. I was hoping the car-top carrier would hold the sleeping bags and suitcases. It was jam packed with just the sleeping bags and air mattress. I was thinking about how much camping is like moving, and wondering why we were doing this on purpose. Then we loaded the back to the top. I put the camp chairs in the side windows and at the kids' feet in the back seat. I was feeling really great about how well everything was fitting. Dallin reminded me we hadn't put the 2 tents in, or the camp stove. But we managed those plus the propane tank and the 5 gallon water jug and a bucket of sand toys and some pillows and blankets. No leg room, but we were thankful. We got on our way with a stop for ice for our friends and a stop at the Library to drop off some movies.
For the first time in a week, I felt calm and relaxed. I knew that for at least the next 3 and a half hours I would be off the hook. We were on our way!
Not quite an hour into the trip, our car gave a little warning bell and the brake light went on.
Seriously?
We had had our power steering system replaced just days ago.
We were in one of the most dangerous canyons in the US.
Could we really risk taking this fully overloaded van the rest of the way with a potential brake hazard?
No.
We pulled over and talked about our options. Dallin checked the brake fluid and it looked fine.
Someone went potty and we all got back in the car and prayed.
We prayed that we would know what to do. We prayed that if it was His will, he would make our brakes work until after our trip.
We felt good about going on.
30 minutes later we were filling up in Wellington. The brake light went off!
I read my book, ocassionally looking up at the magnificent geological wonders that Utah has to offer. I can tell why they call it Castle Country. It is incredible.
It took us an hour and a half to find a campsite. We knew we were going to be dealing with crowds on a holiday weekend.
Finally, we found a little cove at the base of a formation. We were hoping it would offer some shade and protection from the wind.
Setting up camp was pretty fun. A lot like playing house! We set up our old, smaller tent to use as a dressing room/toilet area. All of our luggage and toiletries were in there. And the Luggable Loo, of course!
Our big tent had room for the air mattress in the center, the sleeping bags for 4 kids on one end, and the porta-crib and Simon's sleeping bag in the other end. I also set up our kitchen table and food prep area in that end. Thanks to our friends' trailer, we were able to bring our nice picnic table.
The wind was pretty harsh that evening. It would be calm for awhile, and then huge gusts would come up, leaving a fine layer of dust on everything and in your eyes.
It was after dark when we finally ate our tin-foil dinners. I think they would have been better off in a pot. I've yet to have a great tin-foil dinner experience. That might be our last. Just waiting for the coals to be ready takes so long.
Nobody complained about going to bed except Simon. I guess the little nap he had in the car and all the excitement about playing with flashlights made it hard for him to go to sleep. Dallin and I were sitting out by the campfire with my friend when we heard a commotion in our tent. Simon started crying, and then we heard Ruby say, "Simon's under the tent." Dallin said, "No he's not." She said, "Yes he is, and I can't get him." We ran over there, and, sure enough, Dallin pulled Simon out from under the tent where he had been burrowing around. Apparently he had turned off his flashlight and gotten scared and come looking for us. When he realized how dark it was outside, he decided to go back in the tent. He couldn't find the opening so he crawled under, thinking it was where the zipper was open. We calmed him down and got him settled and after some more visiting time, Dallin and I settled onto our air mattress.
Then the wind picked up. It would blow around and make it sound like one of the kids was stirring in their sleeping bag. That is the exact sound that brings this mama right out of sleep. It seemed like just as I would drift off, either the wind would pick up or Sarajoy would wake and need comfort.
Still, it was better than most nights camping where I am either too hot or too cold and always afraid of critters. That's one good thing about the desert. No bear would ever survive out there.
Saturday morning, I stayed in bed awhile while the kids gradually got up and went out to play. The cove we were in was surrounded by rock cliffs, with odd formations at the bottom. The older kids were able to climb clear up to the top. From camp it didn't look so bad, but as we were driving away and I saw what they were actually playing on, it made me a little nervous. Even the 6 year olds got up there eventually, and the kids were showing other campers how to get up there.
I warmed up some water for hot chocolate and warmed up our potato, egg, and bacon breakfast that we had cooked. The morning was calm, and it was a nice break from the wind.
It took me a long time to wash dishes after breakfast. I only brought two large frying pans, so I'd have to fill them and warm them and pour them in and then fill and warm them again.
I kind of like those experiences that are more primitive. I like learning to make do and be pioneerish. And compared to the pioneers, I had some pretty incredible luxuries and conveniences on that trip.
One of the best things about it was that I could enjoy the cooking and cleaning because there wasn't something else to move on to. The kids were playing happily outside, and I had no idea what time it was.
After we got cleaned up, we went into Goblin Valley State Park to the Valley of Goblins. It was awesome! A giant playground of rock formations. The kids had lots of fun. Our friends found a geocache in there. We played until everyone was too hot and tired to do any more. We went back to camp, and it was hot! I made the mistake of opening all of the screens in our tent to cool it down. When we came back later that day, there were drifts of sand on everything in the tent. We put a tarp over the eating area, but it didn't last long in the wind. We decided to take the 45 minute trip to the nearest town to get some ice for the coolers and some ice cream for the kids. It was a nice break from the elements, and a beautiful drive. When we got back, we made dinner and just visited around the fire while it cooked in the dutch oven. After eating some delicious pork burritos my friend made, we went back to the Valley of Goblins to play games.
When we first got there, it was nice that we were one of the only groups there. Earlier in the day had been very packed with visitors. The wind was horrible, however. I was wondering if it was even going to be worth it because the little ones were so miserable and crying from the dust in their eyes. After we walked all the way to the edge of the valley, we realized we were getting short on time as we had to be out of there by 10pm. We started back toward the parking lot and found a nice cluster of formations to play a round of Vampire on. It was a lot of fun. We did that one more time and the youngest kids were having a rough time, so the moms took them back to the cars so the dads could play with the big kids.
It is great that our families are so nicely matched. Their oldest is a girl, but she gets along well with Nathan and Brandon, and all of the other kids are the right age and gender for each other. Sarajoy just loves her friend and went around for most of the trip calling her name. They were so cute in the Valley of Goblins. There are rocks there that even they can climb on and tunnels to go through. They would take off together, and in minutes be quite a ways from the rest of the group in their own little happy world. That was one of the happiest things for me on this trip, seeing those two little girls enjoying each other.
That night, the kids were all eager to get into bed, and Dallin went with them. I stayed up and visited with my friend for quite awhile before going to bed. The wind that night was incessant, and much stronger than the night before. It was hard to eat breakfast without getting a mouth full of grit. We had planned to do a little Sacrament Meeting that day, and I was really looking forward to it. We wanted to explore the Little Wildhorse Canyon as well. We found out from the ranger that we should do it in the morning as they were expecting very strong winds and possible rainfall that afternoon. You don't want to be in that kind of canyon when it rains, so we decided to do the hike first and come back for Sunday service.
We were having a rough go of it from the beginning of the hike. Sarajoy had fallen asleep in the car on the way to the trailhead. Simon kicked her in the head when he was getting out of the car, and she was MAD. She did NOT want to get into the baby backpack, and Simon insisted that he DID want to get in. I had Nathan carry the extra baby backpack that was full of snacks and drinks, and I gave Simon a short piggy-back ride. I really needed him to walk, though. He was not excited about it at all. He was tired and grumpy. He and I stayed back from the group a little and I tried to make things fun for him. We went into the little caves and sang "The big brown bear" and he would jump up and scare me. Then we pretended we were in Jungle Book and I helped him climb a couple of trees. Then we played rock jumping. I would hold his hand and he would run up a rock and jump off the other side. When we caught up to the group, he was starting to get used to the idea of what we were doing. Nathan was having a tough time with the pack, so I took it for him. The trail got very narrow and difficult at times. There was a lot of climbing up and over rocks and feeling wedged between two rock cliffs. I thought it was awesome! I was so glad the kids were having this experience. There were places where the canyon opened up and we could sit and rest or have a snack. There were places with muddy water on the trail. Daisy was throwing a fit because she didn't want to get wet. Simon was all about getting in that muddy red water. Soup, he called it. You could get across the wet places by stepping on stones or scooting along the walls if you knew how. The youngest kids were too scared, so I ended up getting in up to my shins and ferrying the kids across. Having wet shoes made it a little more difficult to climb the rocks, but I was okay. I could tell my body was getting a workout like it had never had before, though. Even down in the slot canyon, the wind could be really horrible. Simon would cry that someone was throwing "pokes" at him. We did not make it to the top of the canyon, though we made it pretty far. It got to where the canyon opened up enough that it was hot and windy so we decided to go back down. This was interesting on a busy day. People would have to climb the wall and make a bridge for others to pass under. It reminded me of climbing the hall walls at home, only much narrower. There were parts where it was narrow enough that the sides of my backpack were scraping along the wall. Going down seemed really hard on my ankles and knees. I was still with Simon. We had pretended to be snakes going through the narrows. Now, on the way down, he was a motorcycle. He was really into the hiking thing and feeling really proud and strong. Even Daisy was doing much better on the wet parts having crossed them successfully once. Sarajoy settled and went to sleep in the pack once we had our snack break. We probably had about 1/3 of the way to go back to the car when Simon ran out of gas. He wasn't being hornery or fussy, just exhausted. He kept saying, "I just need to find a rock to sit down on." or, "My legs hurt." He would sort of collapse every few steps. I was feeling really bad for him, and I knew my body was beginning to wear out. I knew I needed to get out of there as quickly as possible, and the only way to carry him was in the baby backpack. I set him up on a big boulder and had him work his legs down into the hole. He is really much too big for this. His legs went far beyond the frame, and his head was at my shoulder. We were alone on the trail at this point, so we just had to work together to get him in right. I could tell he was so relieved and happy to be up there. He chattered away in my ear with his head resting on my shoulder. "Mom, you are so good at this! Your feet are doing a great job!". Awhile later, he noticed the braid on my shoulder. "Mom, this is very pretty! I like this! You are so cute!" Then he started to hear the rhythm of my walking in the gravel. "Mom! The rocks are singing I am A Child of God!" I think it is so great that that is the song that came to his mind when he began to feel a rhythm. We sang it for awhile. He also liked "Sally the Camel", and asked me a couple of times to sing the "song with the humps". We caught up with Dallin and helped him and Daisy through a horrible tantrum she was throwing because she needed to go potty and didn't want to go in the bushes. She finally agreed to go, and when it wasn't the cleanest experience she'd ever had she went into hysterics again. We finally got her calmed down and finished the walk back to the trailhead. Once she saw the parking lot, she ran for it. I was still slowly stumbling along with a very heavy Simon on my back. When we got to the road, I just couldn't take another step. I pulled off the backpack, and it was quite the feat pulling it off of his legs. We got back to the car and I sat there wondering, "Will I ever be able to stand up again?" I felt a lot like I had just given birth. It was a deep exhaustion and deep exhilaration.
We got back to camp, and our friends' potty tent had blown over. I guess that was the last straw for him because he had hooked up their trailer. We had intended to stay another day and tough it out, but it was obvious that wasn't going to happen. The wind really was quite horrible. As I was making lunch in the tent, great gusts would come and press the side of the tent against me. Then a fine layer of sand would come in through the top and settle on everything. Dallin put aside all of the bedding and brought the camp chairs in there so the kids could eat their hot dogs out of the wind. It was very hot in the tent. Brandon had heat exhaustion from the hike, and was miserable not having a cool place to rest. He finally crashed in the tent while we packed up our stuff. Complete exhaustion was settling in on me, and I was starting to feel really glad that we were going to be in our own bed that night. I was sad that we were not able to do the Sacrament meeting. I had plenty of moments of awe and reverence in the Canyon that day, so I hope it counts for something. It is truly amazing how beautiful and magnificent even somewhere like a desert wasteland can be.
Just before we left, I was looking for one of the bags to our camp chairs. I thought it had probably blown away. I went out into the desert and found a lonely cactus in full fuschia bloom. It was so lovely I had all of the kids come see. Some other things we saw were a funny-looking antelope that looked like a short-necked llama with horns. It was all alone. We saw some little lizards, and one bigger one on the road that would do funny push-up movements. Was it trying to scare us off? I don't know, but it was really funny. The scorpion found under our friends' bathroom mat was very exciting! There were these strange looking plants that looked just like the bulbous seaweed you find on the beach sometimes. I wondered if they are some relative evolved from a time that the area was covered in water. Most of the vegetation was completely foreign to me. There were very few insects. We saw a few gnats, and I saw one housefly. I guess we traded mosquitos and flies for sand and wind! There were crickets that sang all night. We saw a few that had hidden under bags or tarps. They were big.
I was a little sorry to leave that little cove that had been our home for a couple of days. I think we all learned and grew together with that experience. As much work as it was, I think it was as magical for my kids as camping was for me as a child. Now that I've initiated myself, I want to do it again soon. It helped us all be a little tougher, a little more grateful, a little more humble in the face of the majesty of those creations, a little more reliant on one another.
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