Capital Reef

The kids playing down in the stream

We had a fabulous near perfect Memorial Day weekend! We left Friday for Capital Reef, UT. We were suppose to leave early in the morning buy my parent's trailer had a bearing go out on one of their wheels and were held up getting it fixed.  We finally left without them and planned on meeting at the campsite. The drive was uneventful with only the joys of traffic, road construction and small bladders.  We arrived at the Sunglow campground that evening. It is a fabulous campground up a small canyon with tall red rock walls on either side and a stream down the middle.

Our trailer parking area was REALLY flat (that was said with a lot of sarcasm). One side of the trailer had to be brought up and we really had to make sure the wheels were blocked so they couldn't roll down the hill. In fact, after our first attempt to level the hitch slid off the block and bent one of the leveling jacks. Grandpa said that things like a bent leveling jack give the trailer character.

On Saturday we drove into Capital Reef. It is breathtaking. We decided to hike up to Cassidy's Arch. We renamed it Kassie's Arch (which made Kassie giggle). It is a 2 mile hike up the side of a mountain with an elevation change of around 670 feet. The kids all did great. Allie was a trooper and had to work twice as hard as the rest of us. She had to climb over rocks where we could just step onto them. The views were spectacular!

We finally made it to the top and enjoyed the view and lunch. The cheese, summer sausage, crackers, apples and trail mix were just what we needed to get us energized for the trek back down.

Ok maybe we didn't just hike directly back. There may have been a little goofing around.

On the way back to camp we drove up/hiked to sunset point.  The views were also spectacular especially with the early evening light on the red rock.

 I have to say we ate REALLY well! From blueberry pancakes, eggs, sausage and hashbrowns for breakfast to tinfoil dinners and spaghetti for dinner. 

Sunday we spent the day exploring the area around our camp. Brock and Papa decided they would hike to the top of the mountain by our camp. Check out the picture above to see where they went. They were pretty proud of themselves and Grandma and I were both glad they made it back in one piece. Really we knew our mountain men/boy could do it.

Jason and I took the girls up the canyon to find the waterfalls. Apparently the term "waterfalls" was used loosely because the tallest waterfall we found was only about 5 feet high.  Don't worry Mikele found ways to get plenty wet and muddy in the angle deep water!

Sunday afternoon we cranked some homemade ice cream. Papa and Allie helped clean off the paddles.

 Monday was my birthday. I enjoyed waffles with mixed berries and whip topping for breakfast.  We got everything loaded and the trailer backed up to hitch up the trailer. Jason left the truck idling while we hooked up. We were hooking up when the truck died. We both looked at each other and thought. That is not good. We tried to start it again with no luck. After checking a few things, trying a few things and talking to a mechanic we ended up leaving the trailer at the campsite, towing the truck into town and riding home with my parents in their motorhome. 

 We weren't going to let a little car troubles ruin our fabulous weekend. My Mom surprised me with one of my very favorite desserts - Mississippi Mud. 

 The kids had fun riding in the motor home. 

This is the sign of a great trip! 

Update on the truck: The fuel pump went out. Jason and I will be taking a road trip to go retrieve our abandoned property. Funny things our kids said:

Allie "I HATE the wind!!!" (in a whiny voice) "Mom I don't want to leave our trailer, I LOVE it!"

Brock: "We can just go camp another night when we pick up the trailer"