This is where we are taking the girls for Girls Camp and I really wanted to check it out as I had never been. The kids didn't have school on Friday so I figured this would be the perfect opportunity.
I packed all morning on Thursday and we left as soon as the kids got home from school.
The kids were not thrilled that I didn't pack the portable DVD player. I like to live life on the edge, what can I say? They were so good the whole way reading books and writing in their travel journals... I'm seriously thinking about selling them (the dvd players, not the kids). Except for that really long haul to Disneyland... I just can't give them up for long trips like that.
Anyway, we made it to our camping spot with just enough time to set up camp, do a little exploring and get dinner started before the sun went down.
What a beautiful campground! I much prefer the mountains over the desert but I have to say... it was stunning!
With the sun down however, it got really chilly.
The stars though! Goblin Valley is a million miles from anything and the stars were out of this world! Roman kept saying... "It's like a ceiling of stars!"
I pointed out all the constellations that I could remember off the top of my head and then it was off to the warmth of our sleeping bags (and all the blankets in our house in Shane's case since he has no sleeping bag).
The next morning we warmed up quickly as soon as the sun was up.
We spent the morning at the goblins exploring and climbing around. It really is a crazy landscape.
We returned to our campground to clean up camp and eat lunch then we were off to Little Wild Horse Canyon that is just a short drive from the park.
We made it approximately 2 miles up the canyon and it was really fun to explore the narrows. Utah has some amazing landscape. I love it!
Marisa is amazing! She wanted to do the whole 8 mile loop (at the start mind you, after 4 miles she was happy to quit). But during our hike she said to me.... "I'm so glad I'm alive! Because I can do fun stuff like this." Amen Girly!
That night we set up camp in Green River because I couldn't secure a site at Goblin Valley for Friday night but I really wanted to camp for two nights.
This is just a funny little campground in the *almost* ghost town of Green River. It was nice to have grass and less sand but it was a good 15 degrees cooler which made the night a bit harder to handle.
The kids enjoyed another night of playing with fire, throwing rocks in the river, and staying up late.
We came home tired and dirty but it was completely worth it. This was a good warm up for the summer. I have two nights planned in Yellowstone and I would love to fit in another two nights near the end of the summer. Maybe we'll stay some nights in Payson Lakes again. I love camping and I want my kids to love it too. So far so good, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it has only to do with the fire and staying up late. Maybe those are my reasons too. ;) All I know is that some of my favorite memories have been made while camping. I've got a great camping story to share... next time.
P.S.- I'm having a hard time loving our blow up mattresses. They take up so much room that our 10 person tent is quite full with the 5 of us. But, I like the fact that they don't take up a lot of room in our car that is full to the brim on trip like this. They also make every joint in my body ache like I'm being tortured by some Medieval torture device it seems the only advantage to them vs. the ground is that there aren't any rocks in my side. Have any of you found a better solution to the sleeping on the ground problem? I'm tempted to try the self inflating mattress at Costco that has a small layer of foam in it but also fills up with air to help with the fact that it's only 1.5 inches thick...I hate to throw away my money. Advice please?
