Black Friday Opt Outside

One last outdoor adventure--a day trip to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. The kids had never been and it had been decades since Daddy-o or I had seen the Grand Canyon (and both from the south rim.)

After a slightly dicey drive on icy roads for the last few miles, we made it and the views were everything we hoped for.

It was beautiful seeing the snow covered cliffs in the shadows.

We bundled up for a short hike, had a picnic in a sunny spot, and then headed off on a longer hike along one rim and then looping back through the campground and a pine forest.

We made snowballs, 

hiked through the snow,

and realized how cool snow is. The animal tracks were so much easier to spot.

These bird tracks were so cute!

And the rabbit.

It was a great day trip and totally worth the hours of driving. We made it back home in time for dinner. My mom and brother came to see us in our driveway for an hour so we could say goodbye. The whole week was wonderful--so many beautiful sights, so much incredible family time, so many excellent outdoor hours.

 

Saturday, we drove the 12 hours home and ended up with this, haha. Traveling wipes you out, and makes crazy messes, but it's worth it every time.

So Much To Be Thankful For This Year

It really was a happy Thanksgiving getting to be with family, even if it meant spending the whole day outside, which isn't completely pleasant in Utah in November. But we got lucky with sun, which felt really nice for the few hours the sun was up.

Cousins make everything fun. 

The kids made turkey place markers.

and placemats.

It gave them something to do for a bit.

They moved tables around enough to play a little basketball.

And after stuffing ourselves with great food, we visited a small slot canyon.

Kids ready to go in!

The cousins have done it many times, but mine are a little unsure about tight places.

Peanut only made it part way in and then came back out to wait with me. This girl didn't love it, but was glad she finished.

So many fun rocks to climb around on.

It was such a great outside day.

The whole family. I love these people, and it was so great spending a couple days with them.

We finished off the day with pie (no homemade pies, but Costco is a pretty good substitute and it meant Daddy-o didn't have to fit pie making into our busy schedule)

and an outdoor movie. A VERY cold movie, but it was fun. The projector was an early Christmas present for our kids. We figured it was better to give it to them now so we could extend the outdoor time for a couple more hours.

We kicked off the Christmas movie watching with a little Home Alone.

Not our normal Thanksgiving, but so much fun. And honestly, whether we are outside, freezing our toes off, or cozy in a house together, it all feels like a special holiday when we can be together.

St. George Adventures

Wednesday morning and the drive to Utah was already worth it, and we hadn't even made it to see our family, But these two friends were reunited and got to spend several hours together, hiking in an imaginary world.

The rest of us enjoyed the actual hike to Babylon Arch. It was gorgeous.

And so many climbing opportunities.

We found cute little cacti

and amazing rock formations.

We've really been enjoying all the desert spots on this trip. But the best really was getting to meet up with our friends. They moved away in July and it was great getting to meet up with them again.

After that, we had a little time before we were meeting up with my family, so we stopped by Dixie Rock for the sunset.

There's a great view of St. George and the sunset was pretty.

Of course, there was more climbing.

We'd had a beautiful day, and then, we got to see my mom/Rara for the first time in almost a year! She and Unkie D. had rented another house downtown with a patio big enough for 3 socially distanced tables for the three households. 

Even if we couldn't give her a hug, it was amazing being in the same location and getting to talk face-to-face after all the zoom calls this year. We hung out in the back yard with a fire to stay warm for hours. Uncle C and his family joined us when they got into town, and brought take out from the most amazing Peruvian restaurant. It was such a fantastic evening.

 

Made it to Utah

The Utah part of our trip was the part that we almost cancelled many times this past month. It meant more driving, more possible exposure along the way, and going to a state (and specifically an area of the state) that just didn't take the pandemic seriously, with many people refusing to wear masks and very little social distancing going on. It also meant seeing family and friends, in what we'd decided would be a safe manner, who we hadn't seen in a really long time. In the end, we figured we could go without much contact of any type, so we placed a Walmart order to pick up when we got into town, rented a small house outside of St. George, where we wouldn't have to share any spaces with anyone else, and just planned to spend a lot of time outside.

The kids and I started just as soon as we unpacked the car. Daddy-o had to run the car to get new tires (no way we wanted to chance it for the rest of our trip), so he missed out, but the kids and I hiked along a trail that went to the Virgin River, just next to the neighborhood we were staying in.

The river was pretty,

the cliffs fun to climb on,

and it was a great way to get outside for awhile after the drive that day. 

We were already off to a great start, and the next day promised some outdoor meetups with people we love!

In a Galaxy Far, Far Away. . .

Last day in the desert, and we took a trip to Jawa Canyon from Star Wars. 

It was so beautiful, and so crazy to be wandering around what looked like Tatooine.

This was a favorite hike.

Even though the main trail had quite a few people on it, we found a side canyon to explore and make everyone's Star Wars dreams come true.

We found our own Jawa.

(Look at those dirty legs on Peanut!)

Such a fun trail!

After Golden Canyon, it was time to visit the lowest spot in North America. Badwater Basin was kind of hot, and Peanut wasn't feeling well, so we didn't hang out for long, and Daddy-o and Peanut turned back about halfway through our little walkm(he'd woken up feeling sick, probably from too many s'mores.) We had joked before we got there that all you had to do is dig down a couple inches and stand in the hole, and then you'd be at an even lower spot, and as soon as we got there, we saw that a lot of other people had the same idea, haha. There were lots of little holes on the main path where you could stand just a few inches lower than the 282 feet below sea level.

The terrain was so cool looking.

The salt formations settle in these geometric shapes that go forever.

We were pretty impressed, and then, we took a closer look. . .

so beautiful!

After that, we just had a couple more stops. We drove through Desolation Canyon and the Artist's Pallet area. We paused at one spot where we could pull off the road and make lunch--we've gotten really good at the roadside/parking lot ramen or soup bowl lunches. It's more fun than sandwiches.

The colors were so beautiful.

And then we drove around to Zabriskie Point where we got some amazing views.

We'll be back to hike more of these canyons someday!

Peanut was feeling a lot better by this point and enjoyed the last stop. He's our kiddo who gets the most car sick, and just has a more sensitive stomach in general, so traveling is usually a mixed bag for him, but I think the good times outweigh the bad.