Springbreak '08

Last week was Campbell's springbreak from school. We decided to take some vacation time and go to Moab, UT. There we visited Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. We all had a terrific time.

We drove tehre on Sunday. The Easter bunny delivered their baskets to the car seat and filled them with lots of fun travel stuff. We stopped in Silverthorn for breakfast which started our week of restaurant food. Our next stop was in Grand Junction for some leg stretching and lunch. Only 2 meals out and we already felt the effects of the restaurant food. Finally we were on our last leg to Moab. the drive was absolutely beautiful along the Colorado River.

After our arrival, we checked into our hotel and walked the town. The town itself is not real big but was just enough to stretch our legs. We went to the welcome center to pick up some pamphlets. Then we found a place to eat. Campbell said she wanted pizza so we went to the pizza place. She then decided that she didn't want pizza, but instead wanted salad. We made her eat pizza with her salad anyway. Once it got dark we headed to the hills to see the stars. It was an amzaing site. I only wish that I could have gotten a picture of it.

The next day we went hiking through Arches National Park. Our first hike was around 3 miles. We hiked to Delicate Arch. These arches are amazing. They have all been naturally formed. The park itself has more than 2000 documented arches. After the Delicate Arch hike we went on a couple of smaller hikes. We went to Balanced Rock, Windows Arch, Parade of Elephants and a couple of others. We then went back to the hotel where we ate some sandwiches and took a nap. Once everyone woke up we headed out to do another hike. This one was a 4.2 mile hike to the Double O Arch. Along the way we saw Landscape Arch. The views were amazing. After that hike we went to dinner where we learned that Moab is not known for its dining facilities. The food was just OK and the service was terrible.

On Tuesday we headed over to Canyonlands National Park. We were only able to see the Island In the Sky portion of the park. This park has two other portions but they are way south and just too far to travel to try to get it all into one day. We stared with a small hike that was more of a walk along the rim of the canyon to see the canyon views. Aaron liked making me a bit nervous by stepping too close to the edge of the canyon for my taste. These things were hundreds of feet high. We then went over to the Gooseberry trail. This trail was a 5 mile hike. We were all excited for the hike until we looked at it. The trail was very steep with a 1400 ft elevation change in just 2.5 miles. We decided that we would not do that hike. Instead we went to Upheaval Dome and did a nice 2 mile walk. After that we headed back to Arches and went up to the Double Arch. Caleb even got to do some rock climbing on this one which totally thrilled him. After Double Arch we went back to the hotel for naps and a leisurly afternoon. We all needed it badly. Our bodies were aching from all the hiking the previous day.

That evening we went and picked up a Jeep. We rented a Jeep for Wednesday. It was a 4 x 4 with all the goodies for climbing rockes and driving through mud. Wednesday morning we started our trip through the back country. We got to see a deer and Caleb's beloved baby cow. Caleb loved the idea of the Jeep but he couldn't stand the wind blowing on him. He would close his eyes and hold sister's hand while the truck was moving. After about 3 or so hours we headed back into town to the gas station. The kids played in the tee-pee while Aaron gased the Jeep. Then we loaded up and prepared to take off. That's when the Jeep wouldn't start. It wouldn't turn over at all. We tried everything we could think of and nothing worked. Aaron called the rental place and they brought us a new Jeep. We just know that we are very lucky that it was at the gas station and not out in the bottom of the canyons where we didn't have cell service. Once we got loaded into the new Jeep we headed up for some more driving. We got to see the Gemini Bridges and Musselman Bridge that we otherwise would not have been able to see without the Jeep.

For lunch that day we grilled hotdogs at one of the Campsites. Caleb got do dig in his "beach" while Aaron cooked. Anybit of sand he calls a beach. At the end of the day we got to see ancient Indian art on the rocks near Moab. I found the artwork to be amazing. I don't know how they got them so high on the rocks or how they lasted all this time.

Thursday we headed south to Mesa Verde. It was there that we got to see ancient Indian cliff dwellings. We even got to walk upto and into one of them. Again, it's amazing that these have survived all these years. We then headed back north to Grand Mesa, CO. We were planning on doing some fishing there on Friday. Along the way, we had to go over several passes with avalanch warnings. Rocks and snow falling in front of you as you drive is not fun, trust me. As we were getting close to our destination we started to realize that maybe we wouldn't be doing any fishing. The snow was several feet deep. We finally arrived at the cabins and knew we would not be fishing. The people who run the cabins insisted that we could do ice fishing, but we are not the ice fishing type. We instead decided to just have some snow fun.

We spent that first evening sitting by the fire and putting together puzzles. The kids were over the moon to be sleeping on a futon. The silliest things can make kids happy. We all loved just sitting together as a family with no tv. Friday was spent digging out a "snow house" for the kids. Aaron had a great time in the snow. He even included two snow slides for the kids. That evening we went to the main cabin where we watched some tv. They played "The Princess Bride". Campbell had never seen the movie but absolutely loved it!!

Saturday morning we got up early and headed home. The entire vacation was absolutely wonderful! This was the first time that we have taken a full week of vacation with kids. We need to do it more often.