Goodbye Utah, Hello Arizona

After we left Moab, our plans were to move to another campground in southern Utah for a few days and to go see three more national parks and a state park.  Well, plans change :)...  We checked the weather forecast for the area we were going and it was supposed to be below freezing.  With our a/c being broken, that meant we were also without any heat.  We decided not to chance it and canceled our reservations at Kodachrome Basin State Park.  In hindsight, we would have probably been too rushed to really see it all anyway.  Better to wait for some other time...

We already had reservations lined up in Williams, Arizona for later in the week.  We called and they had room for us to check in that night and stay through our original reserved dates.  So, we left Moab and headed south.

The drive was beautiful, what a nice surprise!  (I hadn't checked it out beforehand, Dan knew where we needed to go and I just followed him :).)  When we told someone that we were going to Moab, they commented that the landscape with all the red rocks looks like the planet Mars.  Eh.  Not so much, in my opinion.  Too many trees.  Well, we passed through an area on the way to Williams that really did look like another planet.  In every direction as far as we could see was red rocks, some tall and gnarly, some small...all perched on the red sand.  The kids were all glued to the windows, they thought it was pretty cool. (I did too)

As we got closer to our destination, the landscape surprised us (me, anyway) again.  We were in a pine forest!  After all of the desert we had been through, I wasn't expecting trees and mountains.  There were even elk there.

The campground we chose was the Grand Canyon/Williams KOA.  There are two KOAs in Williams, the other one (Circle Pines) was right beside the Interstate.  The one we stayed at was about five miles off the Interstate, nice and quiet.

The first two full days we stayed close to camp.  I got all caught up on laundry (it was expensive there!).  Dan watched some football.  The kids played, played, and played some more :).  There were two other families staying there with kids and they all had so much fun together.  They rode bikes, played at the playground, and all took turns on the Wii in the campground game room.

The farthest we went those two days was into Williams for groceries and to check out the town.  They have a nice Safeway, in case you are ever in the area :).  The main street through town is Route 66, so that was fun.  The depot for the Grand Canyon Railway is also in Williams.  The vintage train takes you to the Grand Canyon, you are given time to sight see there, then they bring you back to Williams.  Our family could have taken the ride for $400 coach or $800 first class.  HAHAHA!  They must be joking...

While we were disappointed to miss the other parks, a few days to just hang out around the camper were just what we needed.

Utah - Canyonlands National Park

Utah is a very beautiful state.  Nearly everywhere you turn there is a State or National Park of some sort.  While in Moab, we were able to visit two of the National Parks.  Arches and Canyonlands.  These two parks offer very different experiences.  Arches is pretty high and dry, with many rock formations in beautiful shades of orange and red.  Canyonlands is where the Colorado River and Green River have cut through the landscape creating many mesas, buttes, and of course canyons.  There are also arches to be found in Canyonlands, but they are not the primary focus.

Canyonlands National Park is divided into several districts:  the Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze, Horseshoe Canyon, and then the rivers themselves.  There are no roads directly connecting the districts, to travel between each one takes up to six hours.  So, you can really only see one district per day.

We only had one day, so we visited the Island in the Sky district.  The Island in the Sky is a very large mesa with sheer sandstone cliffs that drop 1000' down (straight down!).

To pay the park entrance fee, you go into the visitor center.  It was so nice to be able to just show our pass and be on with our day.  The kids all got their Jr. Ranger books while we were in there, too.

We drove all through the park, stopping at each overlook we came to.  Most of them had areas with railings, but not all.  I was not a big fan of the ones without!  I guess we were there in a sorta shoulder season, families weren't out so much because school has started and it was a bit early for most of the fall visitors (still too hot).  It was nice, anyway.  Very quiet and easy to drive around and find parking spots at each place we wanted to see.

There were many options for long or short hikes.  Our kids all love to hike, so of course we wanted to do one with them.  We chose the Upheaval Dome Overlook Trail, we had never seen a crater and it sounded interesting.  There are two different theories about the origin of this crater.  That it is an eroded salt dome or that it was created by a meteorite impact.  Whatever...God made it and it is beautiful :).

At the top of the trail, we were suddenly standing on the edge of nothing.  Yikes!  The earth in front of us fell away and provided a panoramic view of the crater, which is three miles across, and the surrounding area.  We were the only ones up there, so neat.  I wish I had a picture to share with you, but I didn't take a camera up there.  (I think Dan took a picture with his phone, if he did I will add it later.)

It was a short hike, only 1 mile.  The going was uphill on smooth rock.  The most difficult part of the trail was these wide steps cut into the rock.  To move from step to step was a stretch, especially for little legs.  The coming back was much easier, all downhill.  Some of the kids commented after we got back to the car that they really liked hiking on the rocks.  I had to agree with them.  The rocks were huge and smooth allowing you to move fast.  It felt good :).

As usual for us, we stayed in the park as long as possible and had to hurry back to the visitor center for the kids to turn in their Jr. Ranger books.  The ranger who went over their work with them was very thorough and spent quite a bit of time talking to them.  The kids did pass all of his quizzes and were awarded their badges ;).

Another fun day of exploring and learning!

Utah - Arches National Park

Moab, Utah

We only spent a few nights in Moab, so we really just "skimmed the surface" of things to see and do there.

standing beneath Double Arch

At the top of our list was a visit to Arches National Park.  This park is famous for its many natural sandstone arches.  One of the more famous ones is named Delicate Arch.  The image of this arch is on the Utah state license plates.

Delicate Arch

When we were paying our entrance fee to get in the park, we decided to go ahead and get an annual pass.  It is $80 and it grants you (and your family of course) access to any national park or monument for one year.  We have had ours for about a month now, and it has already paid for itself.  Any parks that we visit in the next eleven months will be free.  Love that!

As always, our first stop in the park was the visitor center.  The kids got their Jr. Ranger books and we checked out all of the displays.  I think it helps to read all of the informative boards and such before going out into the park, it prepares you for what you are about to see and do.

 The drive through the park is really interesting.  We saw so many different rock formations.

left - The Three Gossips...right - The Organ

Balanced Rock

We did the short hike to the Double Arch.  It was fun to go under it...the kids liked climbing around on the rocks.

After touring the entire park, hiking to see the Landscape Arch, and eating our picnic lunch, we made it back to the visitor center just in time for the kids to turn in their books and get their badges. 

Moab on Dwellable

The good and the bad

We spent a month in Salt Lake City, Utah.  I am still trying to get caught up with my posts from then to where we are now.  We had so many fun experiences...I don't want to leave anything out!

In addition to the places and things I have already talked about, we also.............

*Met some great people!
The kids formed some fast friendships and had so much fun playing at the campground with their new friends.  They rode bikes and scooters.  Put on "shows" for each other.  Played at the playground, the pool, and on quilts in our yard.
One of our neighbors taught the girls how to make jewelry.  The girls LOVE this new hobby.  Ashlyn spent her birthday money on beads, wire, and clasps :).
We met another full time rving family with kids.  It was fun to talk with them and get some helpful tips.

*Saw some interesting things...
The city at night was beautiful, we loved looking at the lights.  Downtown you can take a horse drawn carriage ride.
The Wal-Mart has a multi-level parking garage with an escalator to get down into the store.  To get your cart back to your vehicle, there are 2 up escalators.  One for you and one that your cart snaps into, you meet at the top.  I'm not really a fan of Wal-Mart, but the escalator thingee was neat :).
We visited Willard Bay State Park.  A fresh water lake on the edge of the Salt Lake.

*Did some shopping...
We spent a day in Draper, Utah shopping at Camping World and IKEA.  We got some things at each place for the camper that I will tell you about later.
The kids needed a few clothes, so we went to Old Navy.  Shirts for $1.97?  Yes, please :).
T J Maxx.  Need I say more?

*Ate some good food...
The kids wanted to eat at Crown Burger because Adam Richman from Man Vs Food ate there.  They had really good gyros.
We ate lots of Mexican style food.  There was a Mexican grocery just a few miles south of our campground that we went to several times.  Their prices were super affordable, we bought and cooked all sorts of things.
Just a few miles north of our campground was a sorta fancy grocery store in Bountiful, Utah.  They made their own sushi daily and it was SO GOOD.  Even the kids all thought so.  They also sold gelato.  The salted caramel was my favorite.

Of course we had our not so good moments, too.  I don't like to dwell on the bad, but it was a part of our experience and so I will tell you about it.

The campground we stayed at was Pony Express RV Resort in North Salt Lake.  I have told you the enjoyable parts of our stay there, now for the bad...

The laundry room was terrible.  This is a big deal when you are trying to do laundry for 7 people.  They only have 5 washers and 3 dryers that work for 175 sites.  I got yelled at by the maintenance man when I told him that the dryer just blew cool air even on the hottest setting. (I ran it 2 full times and my clothes were still wet.  I later found out that the 2 broken dryers have been that way for months.)  After being yelled at for telling the man in charge of fixing things that the dryer was broken, I had an "aha" moment.  I got online and found a laundry mat nearby to use instead.  If you ever stay at the Pony Express skip their laundry and go to the Maytag Laundromat in Bountiful.  WAY better.  Their machines actually work and nobody yells at you.

The campground advertises how secure they are with a fence and a coded gate to enter.  The gate was broken a good portion of the time we were there and so it just stayed open.  There is also a 35 mile long bike path that goes right past the campground.  There is access to this path from the campground through an unlocked gate.  Our site was close to this gate and I saw several people come off the path to use the campground bathrooms.  One lady who came off the trail kept trying to open the door when one of my kids was in the bathroom, fortunately it was locked and she couldn't get in.  So, it's not as "secure" as they say.

There were a few other minor things, but really the worst part of the "bad" was when the man was yelling at me.  He got so mad that his face and the whites of his eyes turned red.  My kids were with me, so they witnessed the entire thing.  We were in the laundry room at around 9pm, so it was dark outside.  Then, when we were driving back to our campsite I looked in my rear view mirror and he was behind us in his truck.  That scared me.  Thankfully, he drove on past.

 Our camper had some issues...

The one thing I was nervous about, the camper plumbing, had issues within days of Dan leaving for work.  EEK!  We have 2 bathrooms, and 1 of the toilets partially clogged.  It would "burp" when we tried to flush it (you are gonna have to google it, I'm not going into details).  Fortunately it was an easy fix.  I filled the black tank with water all the way up to the tippy top by holding down the toilet lever thing.  Let that sit for a full day and night.  Then emptied the black tank.  I didn't add anything to unclog it other than the blue stuff we always put in there and the water.

One of our air conditioners died.  The motor went out on it for no apparent reason.  So thankful that we have a 2 year warranty!  On the bright side, at least it was the unit in the master bedroom and not the one in the main living area.

Our camper started leaking.  The crazy part?  It started leaking the day after Dan returned from work.  I thank God for holding it together until then.  (I would have noticed it, there was a big wet spot on the concrete under the front of the camper.)  This sent us scrambling to find a warranty repair shop.  We were able to get in at a place nearby and they found dozens of leaks in the fresh water pipes where they weren't crimped properly at the factory.  They had to pull out the hot water heater and furnace, but got all the leaks fixed and everything put back together. 

 So, there you have it.  The bad just makes us appreciate the good even more...

Happy Birthday Tyler!

While in SLC, we celebrated two birthdays.  First Ashlyn, then Tyler.  These two were born just over 12 months apart.  So, when one party ends it's time to plan the next one :).

For shopping, we love Amazon Prime.  We use this all the time and 2 day shipping is free (with a paid membership).  That is what I do when Dan is out of town and I need to order birthday surprises for the kids.  Dan and I talk about what we want to get for the birthday boy or girl and then I go online and order it.  So quick and easy and I can have it delivered to whatever campground we happen to be at.

One thing we do on our kids birthdays is let them choose a special meal.  It can be lunch at any restaurant they choose or a home cooked meal.  Whatever they want.  After much deliberation, Tyler finally decided that he wanted to eat at Cracker Barrel.  You know what he ordered?  Pancakes :).

We went and saw a movie, then we went home for cake and presents.  For his cake, he wanted an angel food cake with peanut butter icing.  We bought the cake and made the icing to go on it.  He loves peanut butter, so he was thrilled!

birthday legos

We had a wonderful day celebrating our little boy :)

Utah - Spiral Jetty

After our visit to the Golden Spike NHS, our day wasn't over.  We had plans to see another place nearby and then eat lunch at In N Out Burger on the way back to SLC.  Time got away from us and suddenly it was 2pm and we were still at the NHS.  With no lunch.  I should know by now to always, always pack some sort of food.  Did I mention that we were out in the middle of nowhere?  Yeh, we were.  Our only option was to make do with the very limited, VERY expensive food in the gift shop.  We each had a box of National Park animal crackers,1 piece of Buffalo (I thought they were bison?) jerky, and one bite of a chocolate Golden Spike.  It was over $30 for this handful of food!  A very expensive lesson....ALWAYS take along some food, even if you don't think you'll need it.  At least we had our own water bottles with us :).

Our next destination was about 15 miles further into "nowhere".  We left the NHS, made our first turn, and the pavement immediately ended.  Now I know why google maps said it would take 50 minutes to travel 15 miles.  Fortunately, there hadn't been any rain recently, so the roads weren't too bad.  Rough and bumpy, yes.  But no big deal.

We were going to see Spiral Jetty.  Spiral Jetty is an earthwork sculpture that was built in 1970 by artist Robert Smithson.  This sculpture is located in the north arm of the lake, the saltiest part.  There is a causeway that blocks off this section of the lake causing the salinity to be 27 percent.  That's a lot of salt!  Also, the water in the north arm is pink.  There is a certain type of algae that thrives in such high salinity causing the pink color.  It was light pink when we were there, sometimes it is almost red. 

The sculpture was built during a drought, lake levels were low.  Within a few years the water levels returned to normal and Spiral Jetty was submerged.  It stayed hidden under water for 30 years!  It has just in the last decade or so been making an appearance again.  Because of its long soak in the super salty water, it is now covered in pink and white salt crystals.

A very interesting place, we were all glad for the opportunity to experience it.

***And yes, we stopped at the first restaurant we could find and had a proper meal :)

Utah - Golden Spike National Historic Site

When we are going to be in a new area, one of the first things we look into are parks and monuments that offer Junior Ranger programs for the kids.  For anyone not familiar, this usually consists of an activity book that the children complete along with hands on activities (like the sea monkey program).  When all required activities are completed, the children earn their Jr. Ranger badges (sometimes patches, sometimes both).  It is a great learning tool that really helps teach the facts and history of the place you're visiting.

some of the kids Jr. Ranger badges & patches

On the list of places offering a Jr. Ranger program in Utah is the Golden Spike National Historic Site (NHS).  I have to admit, I didn't really know what this place was about other than trains.  I am really glad it is on that list or we would have missed out on a fun day!

We drove 1 1/2 hours north of our campground to Promontory Summit, the location of the NHS.  This place is out in the middle of nowhere.  That's ok, though.  We like those kinda places :).  We had just stopped at the first information board and were reading it when we saw an explosion in the distance.  Uh oh...what in the world?  Flames and a plume of smoke shot quite high in the air.  Nothing else happened, so we got back in the car and drove the rest of the way to the visitor center (the opposite direction of the smoke).  We asked when we got there if they knew what might have happened.  Yep, they knew.  Just up the road is a place that manufactures rocket fuel.  Periodically they have to burn some of it off, thus the shooting flame we saw.  Wow, totally didn't expect that!  I guess that's the sorta place you find in the middle of nowhere, huh?

Anyway, we were just in time to watch the 2 trains coming in.  They are replicas of the steam engines the Central Pacific Jupiter and the Union Pacific No. 119.  I love the sound their whistles make, not at all harsh like trains today.  The locomotives are stopped in place just as they were on May 10, 1869 when the last spike (the Golden Spike) was driven to connect the 2 railroads and form our nation's first Transcontinental Railroad.

The light colored tie marks the spot where the Golden Spike was driven

The men operating the locomotives were very patient and answered all of the kids questions.

One of the rangers gave a detailed history of the 2 railroads and all the work that led up to the completion.  He was an excellent speaker and really brought the entire thing to life for us.  We all learned a lot.  While he was talking, I saw Trevor's face light up.  He told me that what the man was saying (and everything we were seeing) had been in his school books.  How cool is that? 

Utah - Antelope Island

We wanted to really be able to experience the Great Salt Lake, and Antelope Island State Park offered exactly that.  After looking online, we decided that Saturday would be the best day.  That's the day the park was having a Junior Ranger program about sea monkeys.  Fun!

I got the kids up and out the door early with the promise of a special breakfast.  Krispy Kreme doughnuts!  We stopped in Layton, Utah, which is on the way to Antelope Island, for our treat.  Full of sugar, we headed on over to the park.

We drove across the causeway and arrived on the island with about 30 minutes to spare before the sea monkey program.  Just enough time to check out the visitor center and get Junior Ranger books for the kids.

causeway to island

Finally, it was time to learn about the sea monkeys.  There are kits that you can buy at toy stores and raise your own sea monkeys, maybe you have seen them.  The "monkeys" are actually brine shrimp that live in super salty water, like the Great Salt Lake in Utah.  These little creatures are basically the only thing that can survive in such salty water. 

The Ranger teaching the program was very patient with the kids.  She first told them all about the sea monkeys.  Then, she gave each child a little cup and led them down to the water to wade in and catch some.  After everyone had their fill of catching them, she took a cupful back up to the pavilion and set up a microscope for the kids to get an up close look.  The kids loved it!

With the program done, we had a quick lunch and then went exploring.  We saw lots of birds, a coyote, some antelope, a snake, and bison.  (The park rangers are quick to tell you that they are NOT buffalo, they are bison :).  Um, ok.)  We have seen lots of buffalo (bison?) in Wyoming and South Dakota, but never on a beach.  It was an odd sight!

At the far end of the island is an old ranch open to park visitors, Fielding Garr Ranch.  The ranch house, built in 1848, is the oldest house in Utah that remains on its original foundation.  When you enter the ranch yard, you are given a walking tour self-guide.  With this map in hand, we explored the house, barns, livestock pens, spring house, etc.  We skipped seeing Garr Springs, the freshwater source for the ranch.  One of the rangers warned us that there was an injured bison in the vicinty, beware.  Yikes, no thanks!

It was nearing sunset, so we made our way to Bridger Bay.  We wanted to get in the water.  I would say swim, but that's not really what you do there.  You float.  The water is so super salty that you lay back and just easily float.  I hate to admit it, but I chickened out.  Remember all those sea monkeys?  Yeh, the water was full of them.  Ew.  The kids didn't care, they all floated around until they got tired of it.  I did wade out in the water with them.  I just couldn't bring myself to lay down in it!  The park has pay showers with warm water for those brave enough to float with the sea monkeys.  A handful of quarters later, the kids were all cleaned up and we were ready to go home.

Bridger Bay

We had a really fun day.  Long, but fun :).

Work and Play

The next day, Dan had to leave for work.  He is employed in the oil industry with a schedule of several weeks on and then several weeks off.  The company he works for provides his airfare from anywhere in the US to the job location.  So, the kids and I kissed him goodbye and were on our own for the next several weeks in Utah.  (and yes, we miss him terribly when he is at work and vice versa)

The kids and I typically hang around home more when Dan is at work.  We homeschool our kids and with 5 of them ages 7-12, it takes a good portion of the day just for schooling.  When our school was done each day, we would usually go to the campground pool for an hour or two.  Our kids all love to swim, so this was a wonderful treat for them.

 The campground we stayed at was on the edge of the city and fairly large.  Because of this, it stayed pretty full.  This was actually nice, because there were always other children for ours to play with.  Quite often we would have between 8 and 10 children (ours plus friends) in our little yard.  I am laughing as I type this because I wonder what some of the other campers thought when they drove past my camper and saw all those kids. Haha!

Utah - Bonneville Salt Flats

Time for some fun!  The next morning, after she opened her gifts, Ashlyn wanted to go eat pizza.  So we looked online for a good pizza place, found one, and headed out for an early lunch.  If you are ever in the SLC area and want pizza, you should go to Rock Creek Pizza Co. in Riverton, Utah.  We got there as they were opening and they were so cheerful and friendly.  It's nice when people seem to enjoy their jobs!  Anyway, the food was amazing.  Seriously. 

birthday girl

One place that Dan wanted to visit while we were in Salt Lake was the Bonneville Salt Flats.  After our pizza lunch, we headed west towards the flats.

Our drive skirted the Great Salt Lake and pretty soon we passed a Morton Salt plant.  So interesting.  I don't know if the salt they had piled up outside was destined to be table salt or not. 

The ditches lining the road were obviously very salty...

Sign seen at a stop along the way.  Fortunately, we saw neither...

Surprise!  There is a tree sculpture out in the middle of the Great Salt Lake Desert.  It is called The Tree of Utah and the colorful balls are covered in rocks and minerals native to Utah.

sculpture by artist Karl Momen

Parts of the salt flats were covered in water from a rain they had the day before.

We arrived, parked the car, and the kids took off.  They ran and ran:).  It was great.

It is so vast and flat that supposedly you can see the curvature of the earth.  I dunno...maybe.

The ground was really hard.  The ridges of salt look as if you can step on them and squish them flat.  Nope.  Hard as rocks.  Or rock salt, I guess :).

When we were done running and exploring, we went back up to the parking area.  They kindly provide a "foot wash" station.  A concrete pad and water hose.  We needed it, our shoes were covered in coarse salt.

Very fun!

Just a bit further and down a side road we went to the site of the Bonneville Speedway.  This was the part that Dan wanted to see.  Many land speed records have been set there.  Speeds in excess of 500 mph.  It was covered in shallow water from the rain, so we didn't get to drive on it.  It apparently gets very boggy when it is wet.

Tristan, our youngest son, asked me a week or so later if we could go back to the salt flats.  I asked him why, and he said that he felt so free when he was running out there.  He wanted to do it again :).