alwaysafrica

3 states, 7 national parks and 1912 miles later … we’re home. And what an unforgettable trip it was – full of breathtaking scenery, lots of adventure and family memories for a lifetime. My husband and I and our two boys (ages 5 and 7) had 16 days to explore and we enjoyed every moment! Thank you to all who helped me in the planning of this trip - I couldn't have done it without you! I've decided to post each day of this trip report as a separate reply, so that I can keep adding to it as I continue to write it. I will say that I've had a lot of fun re-living the trip as I've been writing!

OUR FLIGHT:

We flew Westjet from Toronto to Las Vegas and, aside from an unexpectedly bumpy ride, all went great. A big note of thanks to Westjet for being the best airline for dealing with anaphylaxis. No nuts served, and extreme care and concern for those flying with allergies.

DAYS 1 & 2:

We arrived in Las Vegas on May 2nd… the very day of the Mayweather-Pacquiao boxing match! The city felt electric. It was packed, and as we passed by the airport, there were rows of private jets. The shuttle to the car rental centre went smoothly… until we saw the 40-person lineup at Thrifty! There were only 3 people working and so it took 50 minutes to get to the front of the line – a brutal wait for all of us after an already long travel day. Every other rental agency had no line at all. We rented a Jeep Loretto Grand Cherokee, which was a surprisingly tight fit for all of our luggage, but had lots of clearance and was a smooth, comfortable ride for all of the miles to come!

The Tahiti Village Resort was only a few minutes’ drive from the airport. We checked into our one-bedroom suite on the 2nd floor and it was fantastic. The unit had a spacious, full kitchen, great LR/DR with sofabed, and a large master bedroom with a ridiculously big ensuite bathroom. Our private balcony was huge, but was unfortunately overlooking the parking lot . The customer service was great – we called down for a couple of things and had servicemen (sometimes 2!) at our door within 5 minutes each time. A great place to stay for anyone – not just families! – at a fraction of what you would pay on the Strip (particularly when you go on the day of the Mayweather fight ).

We had decided to spend a couple of days in Vegas with the kids for some “down-time” before the more challenging adventures of our trip began. Things started off a bit unexpectedly, with our youngest son seemingly experiencing some jetlag (it’s a 3-hour time difference from Toronto), and so we were happy with our decision to take it easy during our stay. The resort itself was amazing – a very tropical feel. Palm trees swayed everywhere, and there was a huge free-form pool with a sand-beach entry (complete with sand toys, and watched over by lifeguards), and plenty of loungers abound. There was also a very large hot tub. The lazy river was in a completely different area of the hotel, but it was a fun and fast “ride” with lots of free tubes and waterfalls to splash around in. The only thing I would caution is that some of the hotel guests in the lazy river get a little rowdy by late afternoon and so earlier in the day is often safest for those with young kids.

We loved the location of the resort. There was a free shuttle that seemed popular, that would take people to the Mirage or Tropicana. We preferred to drive. The resort is only a 3-minute drive to Mandalay Bay, at the southernmost end of the Strip. And then the Strip, while busy and time-consuming, is fun to drive along – people-watching as you go. We discovered that parking at all of the hotels in Vegas is free! Yup, they want to entice you to come in and gamble however they can… which means lots of convenient free parking. We didn’t find parking a hassle (almost) at all, and bringing our car allowed us to move around quickly and easily to wherever we wanted to begin walking.

While in the city, we showed our boys some of the hotels (they particularly loved the canals in the Venetian and seeing the Eiffel Tower), but were disappointed when the Bellagio fountain show was cancelled to do supposed high winds (no winds even seemed to exist at the time!). We also headed to Circus Circus to catch some of the free circus acts. The reviews are bang-on that the place is run down (to say the least), but our kids loved seeing the circus acts (some were amazing, some not so much) and it was definitely worth stopping in for an hour.

We did some great eating in Vegas. We ate at the Wynn buffet for dinner and it was awesome. We aren’t usually able to eat at buffets anymore, due to the nut allergy, but the chef greeted us personally and gave us direction as to which foods were safe. The quality and variety of food were amazing and we all really enjoyed it – everything from sushi to chinese to ramen to prime rib to a pasta bar was beautifully presented and prepared. And the smiles on my kids’ faces when they saw the dessert bar was worth every penny . We had to walk through the Wynn casino on the way to the buffet and our kids immediately reacted to the strong smell of smoke (envision two little boys with their fingers plugging their noses the entire way ) and so we were very glad that we had chosen to stay at a place off the Strip with no casino at all.

We also ate at Yardbird Southern Table in the Venetian and it was delicious. The atmosphere was great and we had a lot of terrific dishes. We ordered far too much, often a theme for us when on vacation! We didn’t really like the bone marrow as we found it far too smoky (disappointing, given what a rare treat it usually is), but loved the Mac n’ Cheese and the biscuits, and the fried chicken was literally to die for. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

The remainder of our time in Vegas was spent lounging around the resort. I had read a few reviews suggesting that the resort was noisy, due to being so close to the airport. First, aren’t all Vegas hotels close to the airport? Second, I didn’t find it noisy at all when in our room and trying to sleep. We actually found it very cool to be swimming in the hotel pool and see a plane fly so close overhead.

Day 1 & 2 weather: 26 degrees and sunny – perfect weather. A little bit of a wind picked up by late afternoon, which was refreshing.

alwaysafrica

DAY 3:

We woke up in the morning and had a quick bite at the hotel’s “17 Degrees South Bar and Bites”. The food was not bad, but the service was lousy (e.g., after a long wait, they brought me the wrong meal, took 25 minutes to bring out another one and still charged us for it).

We then hopped in the car and our road trip had begun! We headed toward St. George and were surprised that the barren desert came into view only about 5 minutes outside of Vegas! There was some ugly scenery for about an hour, but then it quickly began to change and we quite enjoyed the drive. We had planned to eat at the Painted Pony and were glad that we did! A great little spot with very reasonable prices. The ambiance was great and so was the food. My older son ordered the burger and it was one of the most delicious he’d ever tasted.

We made a quick stop at the Desert Rat (a hiking outfitter in town), as I’d incidentally brought the wrong backpack along on the trip and needed to buy an appropriate one for our hikes. Great spot for anything one might need before heading to the National Parks. We also hit the Walmart in town, to pick up nut-free snacks and things we needed to fill our cooler. And then we headed off to Springdale! Let me just say here that we loved the town of Springdale – there was so much more to it than we expected! Cute shops, galleries and restaurants, with a really great feel, all along the main road.

Watching Zion National Park come into view (it was approx. 6:00pm) is such a vivid memory for me. I found it absolutely breathtaking from the start – and my love for Zion only grew with every moment we spent there. Our original itinerary had us doing the Riverside Walk that evening (and even part of the Narrows), but we were later arriving than we expected (mostly because when traveling with kids, everything has a tendency to fall slightly behind, and also because we’d forgotten that we would lose an hour with the time change upon driving into Utah!) and so we changed our plans. We decided on the 1-mile Canyon Overlook Trail instead, mostly because it was the shortest trail we’d chosen in Zion and we knew that darkness was coming sooner rather than later! We had originally planned to do this one on the way out of the park towards Bryce, but didn’t mind the backtracking at all.

My first drive up the windy roads of that mountain were memorable to say the least : ) I hadn’t driven on mountain roads like that in a few years and so I didn’t get past 15mi/hr : ) Warning: when you get up that mountain and through the Mt. Carmel tunnel (which is really long and very cool) to get to Canyon Overlook Trail, make sure to immediately veer off to the parking lot on your right. We didn’t know this and missed the initial turnout and had to turn around – and then the ranger at the station there refused to let us make a left-hand turn back into the parking lot. Instead, he made us drive all the way BACK through the tunnel before turning around and heading back up (and through the tunnel!) yet again. I’d be interested to hear if this has happened to others. Very frustrating.

By the time we started out from the Canyon Overlook trailhead, it was close to 6:45pm. I’ll admit that I was a little nervous that dusk was approaching so soon – especially given that this was our first hike of the trip and we really had no way of knowing how good or fast or skilled our boys were going to be at hiking on this trip! We found this to be quite a crazy trail (I do however realize that this was our first hike and it was close to dusk and so it may have seemed more daunting than it actually was). Some of the literature said that this was a moderate trail, some even said an easy trail…. We’ve done lots of hiking, and I would say that it was at least moderate. Long drop-offs, and fairly exposed (some had small guardrails, but certainly not all!). Our sons quickly had to get used to our hiking motto of the trip “Take a hand and stay on the inside!”. It was a GREAT hike though, super fun – in fact, my oldest son maintains that this was his favourite hike of the whole trip (a “rocks-and-roots” type of hike, he likes to call it). The views at the end were spectacular! There were probably 20 hikers there with us by the end, and it was quite overcast, but the views were nonetheless long and mesmerizing. The only regret I have is that it was so late. I felt like we had to rush through the view because I was (understandably) a bit panicked about getting down before dark. I wished that we could have stayed up there longer – and I even wished that we’d had time while in Zion to hike it again.

We headed back down the mountain and checked into our room at the Cable Mountain Lodge. The ambience at the mountainside lodge was cozy and serene. We were in a Classic Suite with Wallbed and it was perfect for a family of four. Beautifully decorated with an awesome balcony overlooking the mountains. It had a well-stocked kitchenette with full-sized fridge, microwave and toaster. There was a beautiful master bedroom, and my kids were able to sleep separately on the sofabed and wallbed, both located in the main room. Terrific layout. We arrived at the lodge at about 10pm and had a late dinner in the room (leftovers : )). We stepped out onto our balcony and my youngest son spotted our first deer of the trip. We didn’t yet realize just how many deer we were going to see in Utah and so this was very exciting for us (deer sightings are fairly rare where we live in Toronto : )). We then headed out to the pool for a late-night swim – our boys think late-night swims are one of the best parts of vacation : ) Good thing the pool was so warm – it was freezing outside by this point : )

Day 3 weather: 24 degrees and sunny in the afternoon; 10 degrees and overcast by evening (with a large chance of rain for the next morning).

alwaysafrica

DAY 4

We woke up far earlier than we thought we would, which allowed us to see a beautiful sunrise from our balcony. This was when we first started seeing hummingbirds! Zion was full of them at both dawn and dusk, and it was lovely. We were out the door by 8:30am to begin our day! As evidenced by some of my pre-trip Fodors’ posts, we were quite leery about having to use the shuttle system. But we were very pleasantly surprised. First of all, the Cable Mountain Lodge is in the PERFECT location for those staying outside of the park. It is the closest lodge to the entrance of the park (which isn’t really advertised anywhere and just ended up being an added bonus for us!). What this means is that you don’t have to drive to the park entrance and find parking, nor get on the Springdale Shuttle, in order to get on the park shuttle – you can simply walk out of your room and you’re almost at the Visitor Center where the park shuttles are waiting. A true perk.

And everyone who posted to tell me how great the Zion shuttle system is… was absolutely right! It’s an efficient system (we never waited longer than 5 minutes) with an automated PA system that delivers interesting information (even for kids!), and I could definitely see how the existence of the shuttle makes Zion a much better place. One of the coolest things about Zion is that it seems almost empty while you’re being shuttled through – because everyone is on the shuttles! It’s a very peaceful feeling. I can only imagine what it was like before the shuttle system. At one point though, we were on a shuttle that had to almost completely come to a stop. There were two bicyclists in front of us. The driver told us that bicyclists are supposed to stop and pull over for all shuttles – the buses aren’t allowed to pass them. These oblivious bikers took a full five minutes before realizing that a bus was crawling along behind them and that they needed to pull over!

We certainly did not find Zion crowded. While there were some people at various points on the trails (e.g. Lower Emerald Pool trail) and on some of the shorter walks to the lookouts, the trails were peaceful and we often found ourselves alone. Lucky us! And we took advantage by doing a lot of hiking!

We first hopped off the shuttle at Zion Lodge. We hiked the Grotto Trail to the Kayenta Trail to the Upper Emerald Pool Trail to Lower Emerald Pool Trail and then down. The entire thing (which was almost 5 miles) took us about 4 hours with the kids – keeping in mind that we are slow, patient hikers who like to stop for tons of photo-taking . Our boys did amazing at hiking – by this point, they were starting to get used to the tight reign that we were keeping on them in order to keep them safe. We held their hands almost the entire time where there were drop-offs (even where the trails were wide) and we’d switch them to the inside with each switchback. And of course, they learned to be patient and “not move!” when one of us would stop to take a photo… which they may have found a little more frustrating .

We loved the Kayenta Trail. The Kayenta was cool because it was a horseshoe-shaped rim and so while we were hiking, we were able to see the other side that we were heading towards, which was a great incentive. About ¾ of the way to the Upper Pool was the most beautiful view of the entire hike… breathtaking mountain views. It was still overcast at this point, and even drizzled sometimes, but we were actually quite relieved that it wasn’t sunny and painfully hot. Our boys would have had a much tougher time hiking in the heat. As it was, they became very popular! There were literally no other kids on these trails (until we were closer to Lower Pool) and all of the other hikers were amazed at how well our boys were doing. They received a lot of high-fives, which certainly put a spring in their step! Upper Pool was an awesome sight and we sat on some rocks to enjoy a well-deserved snack, when it started to rain and so we started our descent.

When we got down, we stopped at Zion Lodge for lunch at the Red Rock Grill. It felt great to rest the legs. The Lodge was a nice spot and really inexpensive for lunch. Both my hubbie and I had the taco bar and really enjoyed it. Soups, salads, and all the taco and nacho fixings for $11!

After lunch, we continued our day of hiking. Weeping Rock Trail was nice and short, if not a little steep. It took no time at all, but the views were gorgeous. And then, a lesson learned early. There was a ledge blocking the drop off at the viewpoint and we were standing beside a man who was also taking pictures when the man accidentally stepped into a pothole that had formed. He stumbled, and nearly lost his camera, and almost went over the ledge himself. A scary moment for him – and for us, as we caught his arm. A good reminder to never get too close to the edge, in any circumstance.

By the time we stopped at Court of the Patriarchs, the sun was out and so the view was lovely. We returned back to our hotel at around 4:00 to have a swim and soak our tired legs! Had a great swim and water gun fight . The pool at the Cable Mountain Lodge is in a gorgeous setting, surrounded by the sandstone cliffs of Zion. It was never crowded and it was pleasure to spend time there.

By the time we’d finished our swim, we discovered that it was once again too late in the day to do our desired hike. And so we decided to take it easy (we’d already asked a lot of the kids on that day) and hiked the 0.5 mile Archeology Trail instead. It’s a little-known and little-talked about trail that was hard to find and not all that well-marked. But we had fun just meandering along, close to sunset. It had a surprisingly lovely 360 degree view of the lower Zion area from the hill that we had climbed up, which was beautiful as the sun set. From there, we headed into Springdale and ended up at the Bit n’ Spur for dinner. Traditional Mexican that was pretty yummy. We had intended to check out the shops in Springdale after our dinner, but the skies opened up and it poured. We headed back to our room and called it a night.

Day 4 weather: The day started off cool and overcast. It started to drizzle and we thought we might get a day of rain. It was pretty cool seeing the mountains of Zion covered by cloud and fog. And then, by mid-day, the sun came out and it was 21 degrees in the afternoon. The rain didn’t start pouring down until we were sitting in Springdale for dinner. A little bit of everything

alwaysafrica

DAY 5:

We woke up this morning and hiked the Watchman Trail. It was one of the most beautiful trails – one of my favourites of the trip. We started out quite early and soon came upon a family of grazing deer who hung around for a while. It wasn’t just that the deer were cute, or that the views were spectacular (which they were), but the entire hike just felt great. The plants and trees smelled so good, so fresh and looked so amazing; once again we could see to the other side of the horseshoe rim to which we would be hiking, which was amazing; the views of the surrounding mountains were gorgeous and the views and colours changed as the sun rose in the sky. We got to the top to see the sun come up over the mountain behind us. Great views of the Watchman peak and lower Zion Canyon below. We had a picnic breakfast up top and then headed down. As we played rhyming games and “searched for bandits” to pass the time, we also came upon several older couples hiking together, and it was so inspiring to us. We hope to be one of those older couples still exploring in the years to come!

After initially postponing the Riverside Walk on our first night in Zion, we had planned to do it today after the Watchman Trail. But we knew that we had plenty of things that we wanted to see and do in Bryce Canyon as well, and by this point in the day, we knew that we would miss out on those things if we did the Riverside Walk. And so begrudgingly, we made the decision not to do it. We got back on the shuttle, made a quick stop at the Zion Lodge giftshop to get our boys the stuffed animals that they’d been begging for – yup, deer - and then headed out of Zion. I was sorry to go. Zion is such a mesmerizing place and I am already longing to be back there.

We made the 2.5 hour drive toward Bryce Canyon. When we neared the entrance to the park, we saw Ruby’s Inn and could see why so many people recommend it. But then we arrived at Bryce Canyon Lodge – the only lodging inside the park – and were so glad that we decided to stay inside the park. The main lodge itself has a great feel and we stayed in a Western Cabin, a rustic semi-private cabin with 2 queen beds. It was a fairly small room, but had a mini-fridge and fireplace and was located conveniently close to the Rim Walk. Unfortunately, our eldest son wasn’t feeling well, but as he says, “we made him hike anyway” . Jokes aside, he wasn’t feeling that bad when we started out, but definitely felt worse and worse as the hike continued. As for us, we knew that we really only had this one afternoon in Bryce (it wasn’t supposed to be great weather in the morning) and so we immediately started out on the 3-hour Queen’s Garden/Navajo Trail Loop.

Bryce Canyon is gorgeous and also completely different from Zion. Where Zion feels beautifully natural, Bryce seems otherworldly. That first glimpse out over the amphitheater was a “wow” moment. It was blue skies and the long views over the pink, red and white spires and hoodoos were spectacular. The Queen’s Garden/Navajo Trail was a completely different hike from any other on our trip. The switchbacks were intense and to me, the drop-offs seemed a bit terrifying – perhaps not as steep as on some of the other hikes, but the harshness of the rock really amplified the feel of the drop (if that makes any sense at all).

When we first started down on those switchbacks, it was packed with people (primarily non-hikers, from what I could tell) and I thought that we might hate the experience. Within about a quarter of a mile, all of the non-hikers must have had their fill and the trail emptied. We managed to see the “Queen” looking out over her garden and had some fun deciphering different shapes in the rock along the trail. Unfortunately, the Wall Street section of the Navajo was closed, but the whole thing was beautiful. And it must have been altitude that made the slopes so tough to tackle! I was holding hands with my older son for the last stretch of the hike and just remember having to stop often to breathe in deeply and us lifting our arms in victory upon reaching the rim.

My husband absolutely adored Bryce. As for me, I thought it was beautiful, but it just didn’t have the same impact on me as Zion. I kept thinking back to the different posts that I’d read about some people being Zion-lovers, while others were Bryce-lovers. Funny how that’s true.

We walked the portion of the Rim between Sunrise and Sunset Point and then headed directly to the lodge for dinner (dirty hiking clothes and all; it was already close to 8:00 after all!). There was a wait, but it didn’t take as long as they said. As we had heard, the food was delicious. I had the “Sevier Valley Short Ribs Cavatappi”, which a really fancy mac n’ cheese and it was outstanding. My hubbie had the Black Birch Braised Short Ribs, which was fantastic too. By the end of our meal, our son really wasn’t well and we carried him back to the room in the pitch dark through the forest. Thankfully he was feeling a little better in the morning and we had a day with lots of driving ahead (perfect for allowing him to rest).

Day 5 weather: A lovely, fresh day. Temperature of about 18 degrees in Zion with plenty of sunshine. Lots of sun in Bryce too, but much colder due to the higher altitude. About 7 degrees by the time we were hiking the trails!

alwaysafrica

DAY 6:

It was bitterly cold and windy in the morning. We had contemplated doing the Bristlecone Loop, but decided against it given that our son still wasn’t feeling 100%. We drove the canyon road all the way south to Rainbow Point, about 18 miles and then drove back north. Unlike driving in any of the other national parks in the area, the road through Bryce Canyon NP is deceiving – barely any views at all from the road, and in fact, it’s quite a boring drive. It’s not until you stop off that you see the beauty. It almost feels like cheating to just drive up and peek over to get a gorgeous view...

We stopped at most of the 13 viewpoints. Our favourites were Natural Bridge (loved it – what an amazing perspective!) and then Bryce Point and Inspiration Point at the other end. My hubbie and I talked about how unbelievable it would be to hike the 23-mile Under-the-Rim Trail (which goes from one end to the other).

We stopped at the Lodge to pack up and check out and had lunch at the Lodge restaurant once again. This time, my hubbie tried the Bison Stew. We weren’t sure what to expect, since we often find that bison tastes too gamey, but it was honestly one of the most delicious things we’ve ever had.

We headed out at about 1:00 in the afternoon to start our highly-anticipated drive on Highway 12! I’ll admit it right at the outset – we drove all the way to Escalante wondering what all the fuss was about! We didn’t find the stretch from Bryce to Escalante to be anything special at all. At that point, we turned off on Hole in the Rock Road for a 14-mile detour to Devil’s Garden. Out in the middle of nowhere, off a bumpy dirt road was an amazing natural rock “playground”. Our youngest son had the best time ever charging around through the arches, in between the hoodoos and inside the caves. A really great stop. Refreshing to let the kids run around and roam a little bit! We stayed for about 45 minutes and then thought we’d better head back to highway 12, so as not to let it get too late in the day.

During all of our driving on the entire trip, the kids were really great. We had an iPad strung between the seats so that they could watch movies during parts of the really long stretches. And of course we also did the classic family fun stuff – singing, rhyming, spying, joking, reading, trivia. We drove a ton of miles and they were amazing.

Once back on highway 12, we went up over a small hill and… bam! Absolutely breathtaking. Head of the Rock Overlook was before us and it was so unbelievable. It reminded us of the feeling we had when we were overlooking the Dempster Highway in Yukon, Canada. We could see highway 12 twisting for miles ahead. We were there at a gorgeous time of day too – 5:00pm. The stretch from there to Boulder was just as amazing as everyone had said. There were however certain sections that were extremely nerve-wracking! I had become very comfortable with the mountain roads over the past couple of days and yet this road made my palms sweat! I have driven hundreds of switchbacks over the years, but I guess I hadn’t really understood when people were talking about “hogbacks”... As I learned on that section of highway 12, a hogback is a long narrow ridge with steep slopes on both sides. Terrifying!!!

We stopped for dinner at Hell’s Backbone Griil in Boulder. We didn’t love it. My meatloaf was really good, but no-one else in the family really liked their dinner. Service was slooow and we started to get nervous that it was going to get dark while we were driving the rest of 12 to Torrey.

On our way to Torrey, we saw about 125 deer! It was incredible, and certainly slowed us down. The rest of the drive from Boulder was amazing; truly an equally amazing view at every turn. Quite a theme in Utah – you never know what truly amazing view you’re get to around the next corner… it’s thrilling.

We arrived at Austin’s Chuckwagon Motel at about 8:45pm. Our 2-bedroom cabin was awesome. Not quite in a secluded/wooded area as I had somehow thought – instead, it was just in the parking lot . It was nothing fancy, but perfect for our needs. 2 bedrooms, full kitchen, and a small living room with sofabed. We called the front desk to ask for pool towels and I think that the lady thought we were crazy, given that it was 9:30 at night and freezing cold . In fact, they hadn’t even taken the cover off the pool or hot tub that day. Given the cold temperatures, we convinced the kids that we should just enjoy the hot tub and the staff happily opened the cover for us. We enjoyed a soak under the stars and then had a good sleep in preparation for Capitol Reef NP the next morning!

Day 6 Weather: Freezing and windy in Bryce, but when we were driving along highway 12 and to Devil’s Garden, it got quite hot. Maybe 24 degrees with full sunshine. By evening, it had cooled off completely and clouded over.

emalloy

Great start to your TR. Sounds like the kids are great hikers. Bryce is at a bit higher elevation, do you think he could have had a bit of altitude sickness when you were there?

Keep it coming.

J62

Great TR. I love Zion perhaps more than any other park I've been to. I'm anticipating your next TR from about 10yrs from now when you'll talk about the Angel's Landing hike when the boys will scamper across the narrow ledge with 1000' drop offs, or you hike the Narrows. It just gets better.

DebitNM

I was waiting for this TR! Sounds amazing and your reports are detailed but fun to read.

MichelleY

Thank you for the detailed report. I got altitude sickness at Bryce and NR Grand Canyon. Trick is to stay hydrated.

alwaysafrica

I had thought of altitude sickness (and started getting a little worried at first), but it included a very sore throat and that sore throat ended up sticking around for about a week (making it hard for him to eat, but he felt better otherwise). That's why I thought that it likely wasn't altitude sickness...

We definitely tried our hardest to stay hydrated. We carried one litre of water for each of us on our hikes and it was generally enough. We also always had one bottle of powerade with us to share (my littlest guy always would say, "Mommy, I need some power. Can I please have some powerade?". It was very cute. And then for a long while after drinking it, he'd act like he had accelerated super-powers .

alwaysafrica

I'm glad that you guys are enjoying the trip report. I know that I'm wordy - my reports are always somewhat novel-like That's just my writing style generally, but I also know that when I read shorter trip reports, I usually long for more details... and so I make sure to provide them in mind

More to come by tonight...

ElendilPickle

This is a really enjoyable trip report! Thanks for sharing.

Lee Ann

alwaysafrica

DAY 7:

We got up early and headed to Capitol Reef to hike the 1.5 mile Hickman Bridge Trail. We all absolutely loved this hike. I wasn’t expecting to love Capitol Reef as much as I did (given that so many posters talk about it being their least favourite). The moderate trail started off a bit crowded with a bus-tour having just arrived (the first one we’d seen this trip), but it thinned quickly. The trail started with a climb, but then flattened out a bit. There were lots of rocky parts, but no real steep drop-offs, which was nice because our boys could enjoy a little bit more freedom! We started seeing a lot of Inukshuks (Native rock formations) and enjoyed teaching the boys about their meaning. We started using them as the navigational tools that they were built to be, and the boys found it fascinating. They started to collect rocks and make their own Inukshuks. We made sure to give them a lesson at this point about not destroying any existing Inukshuks and also about not removing any rocks (or any other natural thing) from a national park. They were disappointed (as they thought that these rocks would add greatly to their rock collections), but paid attention and listened well. There were great caves during parts of this hike and the boys had a ball climbing.

This was the first hike that we truly got rained on. In fact, by the end of the hike, it was pouring (luckily, we were dressed for it!). But the entire hike was great and the bridge itself was magnificent. Because it was pouring rain, once we got down again, we headed back to our hotel to check out before heading back to the park. Our plan worked because, by this point, the rain had stopped! We had a warm picnic lunch at the Goosenecks Overlook. It’s amazing how traveling just “a little bit further” along a path/road/trail can reap great rewards. There were quite a lot of people at Panaroma Point, but we continued just a little bit farther on the bumpy dirt road to the path at Goosenecks and there was almost no-one but us! It was great and we really enjoyed the dramatic, long canyon views.

After lunch, we did the scenic drive and… wow. It’s one of the most beautiful drives (I know I’ve said this a lot already in my report, but I can’t help it… this is Utah after all! ). The Waterpocket Fold was dramatic, the road was narrow and winding, the mountains magnificent. It was an enchanting drive. We stopped at the Visitor Center on our way out and while I found most of the NP Visitor Centers to be great, I found this one to be the nicest yet.

Once again, I didn’t want to tear myself away, but we had to keep somewhat to schedule and so we began our 2.5-hour drive to Moab at around 1:30pm. Within minutes, dark clouds started to form and we found ourselves in a major rainstorm. It was such a crazy storm – with hail and intense downpours – that it prevented us from visiting Goblin Valley State Park and Little Wild Horse Canyon. We were SO disappointed. My husband was particularly disappointed because he desperately wanted to hike a slot canyon and we knew that this was basically our only chance. But the storm was severe and it didn’t look like it was letting up any time soon. We actually drove all the way to the gate at GV and asked the Ranger who said that the bad weather was supposed to stay in the area for at least 2 more days. We knew we had no hope of going and so we continued on our way to Moab.

There was a lot of disbelief in our car at that moment – imagine coming all the way to the “desert” in Utah and hitting such major rainstorms! And the major concerns were that we were going to be CAMPING that night in Moab and had been so looking forward to Arches NP the next day!!! The rest of the drive was spent with us analyzing whether the rain was letting up, if it looked brighter around each corner. My husband was convinced that we were going to “skirt the storm”, but I wasn’t so sure . As it turns out, it was a major storm that was wreaking havoc in many states and causing snow and rain in the usually-dry city of Moab and beyond. Temperatures were supposed to be 25-30 degrees (C) by that point in the year, but instead were between 10 and 15!

It was still spitting when we arrived at Moab Under Canvas. What an awesome place – a great idea and terrific execution. It’s a large parcel of land with a great variety of camping options (from teepees to deluxe tents). We stayed in a Deluxe Suite Tent – and was it ever deluxe! Inside was a king bed, pullout couch, working toilet, small sink and pull-shower (separated by a curtain), a fire stove, dresser and 2 lanterns. The deluxe tents are placed far away from one another, farthest away from the rest of the camp, and have a beautiful view from the porch of Arches National Park in the distance. The place has natural paths meandering around the property and the staff is willing to take you around by golf cart if needed. I was disappointed that it was still raining for our night of camping, but felt better once the kids told me that the rain was the “greatest part of the adventure!”.

We headed into Moab (it’s about a 12-minute drive to town) and ate dinner at the Moab Diner. We loved it there. It seemed packed, but they quickly found us a booth. The service was so fast it was almost unbelievable. We all really enjoyed our dinner. My hubbie had the ribeye steak (the manager Tammy convinced him that it’d be delicious) and it didn’t disappoint. A fantastic steak (who knew!?). My youngest son loved the chicken finger and shrimp combo (adult-size) and ate the whole thing . The boys were disappointed because none of the desserts were nut-free, but we lucked out because when we got back to camp, there was a large campfire going (the rain had finally stopped) and they had nut-free s’mores fixings!

We had a really fun night in our tent. We let the boys stay up late and they had a great time playing games. Although the fireplace made it pretty smoky in the tent, the fire kept the tent nice and warm in the evening. The only real downside to the campsite was the proximity to highway 191. The road noise really was loud and did take away from the peacefulness of the camping. But nonetheless we fell asleep and ended up sleeping great. An awesome experience.

Day 7 weather: Started off overcast, and turned into torrential rainstorms as we drove into the usually hot and dry Moab. It was only 10 degrees C during the day, and about 4 degrees in the evening. We were praying for better for the next day in Arches!

Dayle

Always aria,

I Amos glad to read your detailed trip report! I was starting to think you were not going to get around to it. The details are great because theyreally give people a better picture of what you enjoyed , or not, and why. That helps people decide what they should do when planning.

So sorry you hit the crazy weather , but when visiting outdoor places you just have to go prepared. I had the same thing happen to me in the Blue Ridge mountains in early October! I am glad you were prepared and still had a good time.

Do continue!

sharondi

What a fun trip and a great report! I am a huge fan of Capitol Reef - the intensity of the rock colors, solitude, unique geologic features, and historic orchards and buildings. So glad that you guys appreciated its beauty and significance. We don't have a favorite park because they are all so unique and beautiful, but Capitol Reef is a special one. Looking forward to hearing more of your adventure. Thanks for taking the time to write!

StantonHyde

So sorry you got caught in that crazy weather! I was backpacking just outside of Bluff (about 2 hours south of Moab) that week--got to see my first flash food! We have many endurance races in Utah this time of year--running, biking, etc. and all of my friends are griping about how we have not been able to get in good shape because it rained every freaking day in May!!

Glad you made it fun!

ElendilPickle

Flash floods can come down those slot canyons, so it might be just as well that you didn't get to hike that day.

We haven't made it to Capitol Reef yet, but it sounds lovely.

Lee Ann

Samsaf

This is a great trip report! I have been enjoying your stories about your sweet boys.

alwaysafrica

Sorry for the wait! Alas, here's the next instalment...

DAY 8:

We woke up at sunrise and it was mostly sunny! Decided to get up and get going quickly to take advantage of whatever sun there was (didn’t know how long it would last). And so we headed to Arches National Park!

I should mention here that one of the first things we did was stop at the Visitors’ Center and get the boys their Junior Ranger booklets. Our boys took part in this wonderful program at every single National Park we visited and I cannot speak more highly of it. What a phenomenal idea. It kept them engaged and they learned a ton! At each park, they were given a booklet and were instructed on what to do (different parts of the booklet were to be filled out depending on age group). The boys took it all very seriously and much of their time was spent working on their booklets, like during our waits for dinner at restaurants, on the top of the mountaintops when we were busy taking photos, in the car on long drives – and they were learning in the process! They had to search for wildlife, identify flora, reflect upon and write and draw about their experiences… it was really great.

We started the hike to Delicate Arch. It was a 2 mile/2.5 hour hike and we found it really steep! So many people had recommended it, that I didn’t really realize that it was rated as a strenuous hike. And I’ll admit that, while it’s adored my most, I didn’t love this hike. It was an interesting one – very different from our other hikes – with lots of slickrock, but it was entirely in sun and was one of the most crowded hikes. I found the crowds to be a bit stressful on the ledges and drop-offs and also when trying to enjoy Delicate Arch at the end of the hike. My sons managed to find a large group of tadpoles swimming around in one of the puddles on the way up and so we spent a little bit of time enjoying that view ☺. Because it was so crowded, we had to move around people on the ledges and the way other people controlled their children (or didn’t, as the case may be!) started to really get to me. There were pretty young children running along the ledges on their own, leaping around – it was hard to watch and made it hard to enjoy. We were also pretty tired on this hike. I guess the day-upon-day of hiking was catching up to all of us and the muscles were sore – and so we took lots of breaks ☺

When we reached the summit, Delicate Arch stood in all its glory. There is no denying that it is spectacular, but there was a parade of people underneath it and so one never got a true natural view of it. There were a lot of people at the top and with the big dome that surrounds the arch, it made it tough to even find a place to sit and enjoy. We didn’t spend long up there – we took some photos and down we went.

It was at the bottom of the hike that we veered off to see our first petroglyphs of the trip! There weren’t tons, but they were much better preserved than I expected them to be.

We headed out of Arches (it’s a long way back through the park on that windy, but beautiful, road) and we enjoyed the magnificent views of the snow-covered La Sal Mountains. We went back to Moab Under Canvas to check out, headed back to Moab Diner for lunch, and then straight back to Arches after lunch. When we were heading from the campsite to Moab, we drove by the entrance to Arches and saw a HUGE line-up of cars to get in – it was backed up all the way to the highway! We remembered that it was a Saturday, and noticed that there was only one ranger station open. We estimated that it took the cars about 1.5 hours to get into the park! We were concerned that we were going to have to wait, but by the time we got there after lunch, the line had died down and we only waited about 15 minutes. They need an express line for visitors with passes! ☺

We then hiked Double Arch, which was impressive. It’s a short hike, but the arch is awesome. Our boys wanted to rock-climb, and were disappointed when we said no (especially given how many kids just a little older than them were trekking up). It just didn’t seem safe. It was moments like those that felt most challenging – for both us and them. “Don’t leap; Don’t run; stay on the inside; keep away from the ledge!” – we sometimes sounded like a broken record. ☺ But ultimately, as we told them time and again, we knew that they were becoming better hikers for it!

The park ranger at the Visitor Center had recommended a lesser-done hike called Park Avenue – he told us that it provided a “different perspective”. It was incredible and ended up being a favourite hike for all of us! We hiked it from the Courthouse Towers end – which is opposite from the way most hike it (also recommended by the ranger) – and we only did ¾ of the hike (given that we didn’t have someone to pick us up at the other end, we just hiked back). We took it really slow and leisurely and it was amazing to be at the “bottom” (ground level) with all of the rock towering around us. There were lots of plants, trees and rocks to enjoy. The boys loved running around and playing and looking at the reflections of the cliffs in the puddles, building Inukshuks and playing hide n’ go seek (they really fooled us a couple of times!). It was sunny and wonderful and we highly recommend it. All of us particularly loved the rock called the “Three Wisemen” (or “Three Gossips” as it’s sometimes called).

After that, we headed to our hotel – a townhouse condo unit that we had rented through VRBO.com. It was fantastic. It was located on Tierra Del Sol Rd., about 4 minutes outside of Moab (in the opposite direction of Arches), in a little community of newly-built semi-detached homes seemingly built for the purpose of renting to travelers. The place was a spacious 3-bedroom unit and so we could all spread out. It had a huge full kitchen that was completely stocked with everything one might need (including things like plastic cups and plates for the kids). It had a dining room and living room and all of the rooms had TVs. The place also had 3 bathrooms and a little backyard with barbeque. And of course laundry! It was desperately needed by that point ☺ It was a really a great place to stay. It was located right off of the main highway, but the road noise didn't bother us much once inside.

Unfortunately, as was our luck on much of the trip, we arrived at the poolhouse to find that the pool was closed! We thought that maybe it was still closed for the season because of the bad weather, but in fact, a part had broken and the pool wasn’t going to be back up and running until after we’d left Moab. The kids were hugely disappointed. But the hot tub was still working and it was quite large and so we let the kids do “laps” in there to appease them a bit. ☺ Also while in the hot tub, we met a group of people who were visiting from Salt Lake City to run a big race. The race had taken place that morning up in the mountains and they got snowed on! A full snowstorm – they were shocked. And so were we upon hearing about it! ☺

After our hot swim, we went to Susie’s Branding Iron for dinner. We hadn’t heard of it, but had driven by it on our way to the condo and thought the menu looked good. We liked the atmosphere (it was quite a busy place!), but the wait for our food was horribly long. We were there for 1.5 hours before our dinner arrived. The food was pretty good – their deep-fried beans and fry bread were both delicious – but the service was just way too slow. We’d been excited about trying their homemade coconut cream pie, but it was all sold out by that point.

We didn’t get home from dinner until 9:15 and the kids – who were exhausted from all of the hiking and late nights – were in bed by 9:30. I did about 3 loads of laundry and then we went to bed ourselves. One of the best night’s sleep of the vacation.

Day 8 weather: A mostly sunny and lovely day. Seemed to have skirted some of the storms that were surrounding the area (and evidently the massive snowstorms at least stayed up in the mountains!). It clouded over by evening, but we managed to get a bit of a sunset!

alwaysafrica

DAY 9:

None of us woke up until 8:00am – what a restful night! I was awoken to a lovely breakfast in bed at 8:30 (okay, so I may have already been awake and listening to them as they scrambled to prepare my Mother’s Day breakfast ☺). My hubbie had gone out and bought what we needed from the grocery store and they prepared all of my favs. Too sweet. And they also packed us a delicious picnic lunch! We each called our moms back home and then we left for Canyonlands at 10:30. Definitely a more relaxed pace today…

It felt like a long drive to the Islands in the Sky section of Canyonlands. Gorgeous drive, as usual. We hiked to Mesa Arch first. It was a nice, short 0.5 mile “hike” (more of a walk to the viewpoint) with lots of geckos to search for along the way. And then we arrived at the arch and… dare I say it? I think it was my favourite arch! It felt strange to have left “Arches NP” and then find my favourite arch, but it was truly awesome. It helped that we arrived at the arch when there were very few people around. My enjoyment of a hike definitely seems to co-relate to whether it was crowded or not. Not only was the shape of the arch really amazing, but the views of the mountains behind the arch were spectacular as well. The boys worked on their Jr. Ranger booklets while we enjoyed the views and took photos. There was a lovely couple that offered to take a family photo of us under the arch, which we gladly took them up on. And then… a bus tour of people arrived and the moment was over. We packed up our stuff and headed back to our car.

Next we hiked the Grand View Point Trail. It was a 2.5 mile moderate hike and it was simply awesome. There were people on the trail, but it never felt crowded. It was a gorgeous trail on the rim of a mountain, completely surrounded by canyons and “islands in the sky” popping out of everywhere. It was particularly nice because a lot of the hike was not right on the edge and so we could relax and let the boys roam a little bit in certain spots. We enjoyed a great picnic lunch – the weather was cool (11 degrees C) but sunny. When we reached the end of the hike, there was a rather large boulder and we decided to let the boys climb it. They had such an adventure! I stayed below while they climbed up with their Dad and I got great pics of them (I was looking up at them, so they appeared as if having hiked into the clouds) – they were so proud of themselves.

We had contemplated hiking to Landscape Arch this afternoon, but decided to wait until the following day. Did I mention that we always felt like we needed “just a little more time!?” There was so much to see and do that we always wished we had just a couple more hours in the day…

But it was Mother’s Day and, having just completed a few serious hikes, we decided to do a little relaxing. ☺ We drove to some of the beautiful overlooks at Islands in the Sky before driving back to Moab.

Back in town, we headed into the gift shops and galleries (and as my husband will attest… I LOVE gift shops ☺). I had expected there to be more higher-end galleries in Moab, and was disappointed when we weren’t able to find a great piece of art to bring home as a memory. We did however find a nice sandstone piece that now resides in our living room!

The rest of Mother’s Day was just as glorious. My boys spoiled me with hugs and snuggles and affection. I’m lucky because they do spoil me with affection most days, but I soaked up every minute. After walking the strip, we ended up at Zak’s for dinner. It was perfect. Playoff hockey was playing in the bar (we’re Canadian after all and my oldest son was dying that he was missing so much of the playoffs while we were gone, so this was a lucky treat). They had a pizza/salad buffet that was nut-free (yay!) and so both of our boys enjoyed every bite. The pizza was delicious, as were the pasta alfredo and ribs that we ordered off the menu … and we even got to enjoy their homemade “sweet cream pie” for dessert. To die for! Good service, and they even gave me a flower in honour of Mother’s Day.

We went back to our condo and traipsed in the cold evening air for a soak in the hot tub before bed.

Day 9 weather: A beautiful day of weather. 15-16 degrees C and sunny.