Goblin Valley 2013

This year we kicked off our Spring Break by going to Goblin Valley with Ryan's family. His step-sister Shannon organized the whole thing and we are so glad they invited us. It was awesome and we can't wait to go again!

The drive was longer than we expected, mostly because we have a little girl with a small bladder = lots of potty breaks. As we were almost at the campground entrance, the mini van in front of us spun out of control and off the road. Ryan was worried they rolled their car, but luckily they were just turned around and the front tires were stuck in the soft dirt. Fortunately, another car stopped and they had a shovel and tow ropes to get the car out of the side ditch. Ryan spent a good 40 minutes helping dig them out before we were on our way again. 

Here's Ryan with his butt in the air digging out the tires :)

Goblin Valley State Park is awesome. This was my first time there, Ryan's second (he went back in the day when he was a scout). The kids ran wild with their cousins while we all set up tents and got dinner going. I was nervous seeing some of the rocks they were scaling, but it really was the perfect place for  my physically timid kids to explore and try something new. By the end of the trip they had no fear. 

 

The weather was fabulous - 70 degrees! At night, it was chilly, but we had warm bags so we were fine. The next day we took the kids to the Valley of Goblins where they had an Easter hunt. After the hunt we let them hike and explore for a couple hours before heading back to the campsite for lunch.

 

 

 

 

After lunch we loaded up our cars to go home, but on our way out we stopped at a nearby slot canyon for an afternoon hike. It's actually an 8 mile loop, but we just hiked the Little Wild Horse leg of the loop. This means we hiked about 2 miles in and once we were out of the slot canyon into the open area, we turned around and hiked back out. Then it was time to come home.

The entire weekend this little gal (above) had that Camelbak hose in her mouth the entire time. No wonder she had to pee like crazy all day long.

Ryan definitely got his workout on this hike. He kept up with the adventurous boys at the front, then would double back to help others down steep parts of the trail. Then get back up to the front with the older kids so they wouldn't be without an adult in case something happened.

 

 

It was awesome and we really enjoyed our time with Ryan's family. I think this is definitely going to be on our "to-do" list for next year.