National Parks

Welcome to Utah

We drove out of Yellowstone and made it to Salt Lake City where we spent a night to break up the drive. We have found the kids do better if we don’t have super long drives and it’s probably the same for the parents. We were also planning on camping for the next 4 days and with it being summer we wanted to find a campsite early. Our camping plans were quickly kiboshed after Lennox got sick. We decided to find an Airbnb rather than stay in a tent with a puking child. The temperatures were also dropping into the low 40’s at night in the area and although we could do it, that is pretty chilly for the kids. Our last minute search lead us to a place we had never heard of, Brian Head, Utah, for a few nights. It’s always good to be flexible while traveling and also can be fun to discover places you may never find otherwise. Brian Head is a super small town/ski resort sitting at an elevation of 10,000 ft. It is way up there and you can feel it. It is about an hour from Bryce Canyon National Park and we discovered 10 minutes away was Cedar Breaks National Monument. Being at a ski resort in summer meant we had the whole place to ourselves and it ended up being a perfect spot to relax and recover our sick little guy and then explore some spectacular parks.

Brian Head and Cedar Break National Monument

The drive up the mountain to Brian Head opened our eyes to the destruction a forest fire can cause. There were stretches of trees charred black for miles. In 2017 a wildfire burned 71,000 acres of the land here, the aftermath is very sad to view. Cedar Break National Monument is an enormous amphitheater of beautifully colored sedimentary rock that has been carved away into beautiful formations. We viewed this park from above and it was a spectacular site. It is part of the Grand Staircase, a geological formation which begins at the floor of the Grand Canyon and steps up across the Western US. Seeing these natural wonders and learning about the geology behind their formation makes you realize just how fluid the earth’s surface is and gives you perspective on time and the mere blink of an eye we stand on this earth.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Canyon is out of this world. From your drive into the park the red-hued rock formations are spectacular and as you explore further it becomes even more impressive. Looking out from above the park offers amazing views of the hoodoos balancing below and as you walk into the canyon your perspective changes and you begin to appreciate the enormity of the formations surrounding you. We started our day here early to beat the heat and it is a good thing we did because it gets smoking hot at the bottom of the canyon. We took the Navajo Loop/Queens Garden trail which starts at the rim of the canyon and quickly descends in elevation while you walk along a windy path with steep drops. This always makes me a little nervous with the kids but they did great and the path was quite wide and well traveled. As we dropped down it was evident how difficult the steep hike up was and we knew we would have some work on the other side getting out. We enjoyed our time and our surroundings, many of the rock formations have names, like Thors Hammer, the Queens Garden, Wall Street, so it is fun to look at these and make up your own. Being at Bryce is like walking through a fairyland, each hoodoo formation is unique and unbelievable. I’m not going to lie our hike was tough, it was 3 miles and 600 ft of elevation but the heat was a factor, and the kids aren’t always sunshine and rainbows. They did realize in order to get back to our car we needed to climb out of this canyon so with many breaks and some snacks they pushed on. We were playing leapfrog with another family with small children so this added some excitement. I was happy when I saw the mom carrying her little one up the steep hills that Lennox was only pulling on my arm and still able to walk. There were definitely some big cheers as we reached the top of the canyon and cold drinks needed, it was a great accomplishment and well worth the trek to the bottom.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Hurricane, Utah

After leaving Brian Head we had a short drive to our next Airbnb in Hurricane, Utah. It is right next to St. George which we discovered is the fastest growing metropolis in the United States! There is construction on every corner of this place and it is pretty wild. You can see why people are coming here in droves, the weather is warm and it is surrounded by amazing rock formations. It is an outdoor playground with lots of mountain biking and a short two-hour drive from Las Vegas. We had a week here and our main goal besides exploring was finishing school. I appreciate what teachers endure at the end of the school year so much now. The last month was a struggle, we, however, promised (or bribed) the girls if they finished their books by the end of this week they would be able to buy guinea pigs upon our return. With lots of hard work, they both busted through their books and I was as excited as they were to be done with their homeschooling year!!!

Zion National Park

We heard Zion gets super crowded and in order to secure parking, you have to arrive early. Early isn’t too hard for us so we were fine with that. In addition, it was going to be another hot one so the morning hikes are best. We didn’t anticipate just how many people were swarming on Zion though. By the time we got in line for the bus into the park, the wait was already an hour! The hour passed as the kids chased lizards and frogs and did some Junior Ranger work. Not so bad. We opted for 3 shorter hikes and this gave us a perfect first taste of Zion.

Searching for Dino Tracks

We were full of excitement to find out we were staying in an area with evidence of dinosaurs nearby. We had to go investigate. The first site we went to was ok but a bit of a letdown. We found the marked tracks after hiking a short ways in scorching heat, they were small and hard to decipher. To the non-paleontologist I think they look like scratches in the rock but that’s ok, knowing this was a path actual dinos stepped foot was amazing and we were glad we went, the hunt was still on though. The next day we ventured out to the second site. This was an adventure, lots of dirt road driving through the desert with no cell signal and no cars in site. It’s amazing how remote so much of the land in the United States is. It felt like if our car broke down we may never get help but that didn’t happen and we always are prepared with lots of water just in case. When we arrived at the actual site there was great signage explaining the tracks and what dinos they belonged to. These tracks were huge and it was well worth the desolate drive to see them.

Santa Fe

We made it to Santa Fe and were super exciting our Airbnb was an adobe house. We had cactus in our yard and it’s really feeling like the west. Our stay here was extra long because Matt was going on a ski trip with his friends and on his return I was heading off for a girls weekend to Denver. Before Matt’s trip, we had a day to get acquainted with the town and it sure is cute! It was also small enough that I was comfortable driving our huge vehicle around so that was good.

Rollin’ with the tumble weeds

Santa Fe Children’s Museum

The Santa Fe Children’s Museum was just a few blocks from our Airbnb and we had an afternoon of fun there. Most Children’s Museums I’ve been to are amazing but pretty controlled, this one was wild and free. There was an art center with fabric, paper, beads, glue, feathers etc. and you could make whatever you wanted. There was also a water area, blocks, gardening section, and the highlight for our kid’s face painting! (Oh and making big messes is encouraged!) To be able to paint their own faces was such a treat and their individual personalities shined through perfectly with their paint choices!

Bandolier National Monument

We decided to venture out to Bandolier National Monument on our second day without Matt. 90% of the time he drives so I was in charge of driving which isn’t a problem and navigating which I will be the first to admit, I think I was born with a broken compass in my head. The good thing is phone navigation makes things relatively easy nowadays, the bad thing is sometimes in the middle of nowhere navigation doesn’t work. We made it there and back safely. The drive was beautiful, I love this desolate land, all the blonds of nature, the miles you can see in front of you. It is also amazing how you can be driving along in what seems to be flat land for miles, make a turn and there is a big canyon. We popped up on Frijoles Canyon as we entered Bandelier National Park and then wound down switchbacks until we came to the visitor center. A short hike from the visitor center with Junior Ranger books in hand brought us to cliffs in the distance where the Pueblo people made their homes. We made our way past the Kiva, then to the ground dwellings and finally to the cavates (alcoves carved into the canyon walls). Wooden ladders allowed you to climb inside and check out these small houses. I will say it is pretty cool to perch inside these dwellings and imagine living with a family here 800 years ago. This area once was covered with 1000 feet of volcanic ash which turned into tuff. Over time, in areas with less density in the rocks, hollows formed, and then Native people used tools to carve out these holes for dwellings. We also saw petroglyphs carved into the rock which is always astonishing to imagine the hands that carved these lines and the stories they were telling. The kids loved our adventure, they all became Junior Rangers and we had a great day to tell dad about.

Super STEM Saturday

While watching the Olympics Colette saw a commercial for “Super STEM Saturday” she declared we had to go. To be honest I didn’t want to make the drive to Albuquerque but when your kids are that excited about science how can you not. We got up and headed out early and it was more than worth the trip. Super STEM Saturday, full of amazing science experiments, robots, math challenges, Bob the Science Guy, and Star Wars! It was so much fun to see such excitement and so many kids enjoying the wonders of science.

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

Santa Fe, the land of Georgia O’Keeffe. I was so happy to visit this museum dedicated to her work. I loved that they gave the kids sketchbooks to create art while in the gallery. This kept them occupied while I enjoyed the paintings. I cringe at Lennox with the phone in the gallery but I consider it insurance against us ending up with a multi-million dollar destruction of artwork and a front page news story. He wasn’t as thrilled about browsing O’Keeffe paintings as I was.

Kakawa

A shop dedicated to sipping chocolate, wow! We stopped in for a treat and found an extraordinary gem. From sipping chocolate to truffles and even ice cream this place serves the finest flavors and its atmosphere is amazing. We all fell in love with this soul-warming experience.

Meow Wolf

Ok, where do we even start… if you bottle up creativity and put it in a building and shook it vigorously you would have this amazing place. It is so crazy and cool it is pretty much indescribable and all I can say is go! If you ever have a chance get there and soak up the experience, I know I did. From giant robots to playing music on the ribs of a wooly mammoth skeleton, glow rooms and eyeballs of all sorts staring at you from the walls, climb into a washing machine or walk through a refrigerator, places light up and sing, tight spaces, shrinking walls and dance party rooms, you will never want to leave. Enjoy a taste of the magic.