This entry is kind of long and is mostly for documenting purposes so don't feel like you need to read it!
For our family vacation with my family this year we went to Great Basin National Park. Jeff and I decided to take a little bit longer route to get there hoping that it would be a prettier drive than through Salt Lake and Utah counties. We drove out to Tooele and then down to Delta from there. Both Jeff and I really enjoy the unique vast and desolate beauty of Utah, so we enjoyed the drive out even though it took longer than we were planning. I guess I forgot that we would have to make a couple of stops since we have kids. ;) Map quest had given us some strange directions about how to get into the park which we luckily decided not to follow after about twenty minutes of me working up to panic mode because the directions seemed a little off. We got on the right course and then I started getting a little nervous about finding my family since I wasn't sure what campground we were in and there wasn't any cell phone coverage in the area. We were lucky enough to find them in the second camp ground we drove through, which was a good thing because I was getting kind of ornery. We just hung around camp that day waiting for the rest of the family to arrive and setting up camp. That night the sky was amazing, so we spent some time looking at the stars. This was the only night we had trouble with the kids sleeping. We didn't lay Max down until after he had fallen asleep. He woke up a little later screaming so we hurried and pulled him out of the tent. When we all went to bed he woke up when we tried to lay him down and decided it was time for playing. Between the noise he was making and me trying to get him to get inside his sleeping bag and be quite, Emily woke up. We spent the next 2-3 hours falling asleep only to be immediately woken up by Emily crying or Max making noise. Finally I demanded (not so nicely) that Jeff take Max out of the tent. Jeff and Max slept in the car and I ended up pulling Emily into my sleeping bag for the rest of the night. Luckily the next two nights went great, so it all worked out in the end.
On Saturday morning we walked around the nature trail by the visitor's center. Max had a lot of fun running along the trail with his cousins and carrying his camel back. The end of the trail was by the exit to Lehman Caves and had a wall on both sides that got bigger like a set of stairs. Max had to go up and down each side a couple of times before I could pry him away.
For our family vacation with my family this year we went to Great Basin National Park. Jeff and I decided to take a little bit longer route to get there hoping that it would be a prettier drive than through Salt Lake and Utah counties. We drove out to Tooele and then down to Delta from there. Both Jeff and I really enjoy the unique vast and desolate beauty of Utah, so we enjoyed the drive out even though it took longer than we were planning. I guess I forgot that we would have to make a couple of stops since we have kids. ;) Map quest had given us some strange directions about how to get into the park which we luckily decided not to follow after about twenty minutes of me working up to panic mode because the directions seemed a little off. We got on the right course and then I started getting a little nervous about finding my family since I wasn't sure what campground we were in and there wasn't any cell phone coverage in the area. We were lucky enough to find them in the second camp ground we drove through, which was a good thing because I was getting kind of ornery. We just hung around camp that day waiting for the rest of the family to arrive and setting up camp. That night the sky was amazing, so we spent some time looking at the stars. This was the only night we had trouble with the kids sleeping. We didn't lay Max down until after he had fallen asleep. He woke up a little later screaming so we hurried and pulled him out of the tent. When we all went to bed he woke up when we tried to lay him down and decided it was time for playing. Between the noise he was making and me trying to get him to get inside his sleeping bag and be quite, Emily woke up. We spent the next 2-3 hours falling asleep only to be immediately woken up by Emily crying or Max making noise. Finally I demanded (not so nicely) that Jeff take Max out of the tent. Jeff and Max slept in the car and I ended up pulling Emily into my sleeping bag for the rest of the night. Luckily the next two nights went great, so it all worked out in the end.
That afternoon we went on a tour of Lehman Caves. They couldn't fit all of our group into one tour, so my mom, Seth, Jessica, Meghan, Jay, Jim, Kaitlyn, and Rachael went on the 90 minute tour at 2:00, while we went with Erin, Brian, Ellie, Shannan, and Malia on the 60 minute tour at 2:30. They wouldn't let us use a baby backpack, so we borrowed a front carrier for me to take Emily in. She looked so cute all squished up in the carrier like a little papoose. Max had fallen asleep in the car and was so tired he slept through the first half of the tour. I was worried that he would freak out when he woke up, but he was the only toddler in the group that didn't make a sound. Ellie and Malia were having a little noise contest, and I have to admit that it was kind of nice to not be the parent with the mischief making child for once. (Sorry Shannan and Erin!) I think this was my favorite cave I have ever toured. It was a lot more narrow and winding than other caves I've been in (hence the ban on baby backpacks) and I really liked it even though there was a couple of times when I felt a little claustrophobic. It started raining right after we got done with our tour so we headed back to camp as fast as we could to clean up camp instead of waiting for those in the longer tour. I don't know what our family has done to bring about bad weather when we go camping, but every time we go on our family vacation we get rained on. At least we're prepared since we always plan on it raining!
On Sunday we drove up to Wheeler Peak campground and went on a hike up to one of the lakes. Those of us with kids turned around and headed back the way we had come, while the rest of the group (and Rachael) hiked the entire loop. We hiked about two miles and Max did almost the entire thing by himself. He especially liked using Jeff's hiking poles that collapse down to just his size. It was a lot cooler and much more green up by Wheeler Peak than down by our campground and there was a great view of the valley.
Shannan and Jim, and Seth and Jessica took off that evening to make the long drive back to their homes. After the kids went to bed that night we had a huge thunderstorm that turned into a hail storm. Max was very scared by the noise so he curled up inside his sleeping bag with his glow sticks. I have to admit I was scared a little myself when it seemed like the storm was never going to end. (I don't know how, but Emily slept through it.) Because of the storm we all went to bed early. The next morning, Meghan and Jay took off and the rest of us went on one last hike up by Wheeler Peak after we packed up. It was a great trip. Max had a lot of fun playing outside and tormenting his cousins. I've come to the conclusion that we are in sad need of another boy on my side of the family. Max is the only grandson and his cousins weren't quite sure what to do with him. I heard a couple of comments to the affect of, "Oh no, here comes Max!" We were sad that Lauren and Alec weren't able to come and wished that we could have gone for a day or two longer! Hopefully next year!!
On Sunday we drove up to Wheeler Peak campground and went on a hike up to one of the lakes. Those of us with kids turned around and headed back the way we had come, while the rest of the group (and Rachael) hiked the entire loop. We hiked about two miles and Max did almost the entire thing by himself. He especially liked using Jeff's hiking poles that collapse down to just his size. It was a lot cooler and much more green up by Wheeler Peak than down by our campground and there was a great view of the valley.
Shannan and Jim, and Seth and Jessica took off that evening to make the long drive back to their homes. After the kids went to bed that night we had a huge thunderstorm that turned into a hail storm. Max was very scared by the noise so he curled up inside his sleeping bag with his glow sticks. I have to admit I was scared a little myself when it seemed like the storm was never going to end. (I don't know how, but Emily slept through it.) Because of the storm we all went to bed early. The next morning, Meghan and Jay took off and the rest of us went on one last hike up by Wheeler Peak after we packed up. It was a great trip. Max had a lot of fun playing outside and tormenting his cousins. I've come to the conclusion that we are in sad need of another boy on my side of the family. Max is the only grandson and his cousins weren't quite sure what to do with him. I heard a couple of comments to the affect of, "Oh no, here comes Max!" We were sad that Lauren and Alec weren't able to come and wished that we could have gone for a day or two longer! Hopefully next year!!
1 comment:
Your pictures at the cave turned out so well. Mine were all dark. I guess I need to experiment with my camera some more. I hope you do a post about Bear Lake, too. What a fun couple of weeks!
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