This morning we find ourselves sitting just outside Soda Springs, ID, boondocking next to a lake, surrounded by mountains. It's pretty fantastic.
We arrived late last night after being delayed several times- rush hour traffic in Salt Lake City, a not so quick stop at In-N-Out Burger for dinner, and yet another tire problem. Let me start by saying it was 102 yesterday. So, it was hot. When we stopped to get dinner, Jared stayed in the car with the kids while I ran in to get the food. It was busy so it took about 15 minutes to get our food. When we got back on the freeway, the steering wheel was noticeably shaking, as was the front passenger tire of the truck. What on earth could have happened between getting off and back on the freeway and sitting in a parking lot? So we got off at the next exit to check it out. It seems like the tar from the parking lot melted onto our tire. Like I said, it was hot. So Jared sat on the side of the road, scraping it off the tire. He has the blisters to prove it.
We stopped in Grand Junction for dinner and to go to the Dinosaur Journey Museum. It wasn't worth the cost but Avery enjoyed seeing more dinosaur fossils and there were some cool interactive things for kids. We were originally planning to stay overnight at the rest stop but decided to continue on to Moab another hour and a half so we would already be there for the morning.
Thursday afternoon we headed into Arches National Park to do the driving tour. This is another thing to add to that road trip list you have now started. Word of advice- don't save the best for last. It was 100 degrees and by the time we made it to Double Arch and North and South Window, we were all super tired and hot. Ophelia was done walking and it didn't take much to convince me to stay behind with her while Jared took Avery and Gryffin down to double arch (about .5 miles from the parking lot). You could easily spend a few days here even though the loop is less than 20 miles total. There are many hikes that aren't too long but with kids and it being in the 100s, we opted to stay in the car to enjoy the view for the most part. I think we would definitely come back when the kids are older and not in August. Here are a few highlights:
Balanced Rock
North Window
Double Arch
Another reason to come back when the kids are older is that there were so many fun outdoor activities to do in Moab but unfortunately Gryffin was too young for just about everything. There were so many companies doing ATV tours, rafting, jet boat tours of the Colorado river, etc. We did however find something fun to do on Friday.
Ophelia and I went horseback riding at Hauer Ranch in the Moab Valley. It was two hours of absolute bliss. It was cloudy and cooler than it had been for days. Over the course of the two hour ride, we saw Fisher's Tower and learned a little more about the history of the area. The last 20 minutes, the sun came out, giving us a chance to enjoy the landscape under a bright blue sky. I think it almost convinced me to buy a ranch out west and just ride horses all day.
While Ophelia and I were having a lovely morning, I planned something fun for the boys- a 30 minute air tour of Arches National Park. Avery was really excited since he was the only one of us to have never been on an airplane. They arrived at the tiny Moab airport to discover that they were in a tiny 4 passenger airplane. It was just them and the pilot. Avery and Gryffin were fine until they were in the air a few minutes and then Gryffin lost it. He kept yelling at Jared, "Get down now!" and literally cried himself to sleep in Jared's arms halfway through the flight. Meanwhile, Avery was clinging to Jared and hiding his face. Jared was left trying to take pictures with one arm while dealing with two severely stressed out kids, which in turn totally stressed him out. Needless to say, their morning wasn't nearly as fun as ours.
Avery's report: "The first thing Maddox and his dad did when they got to the airport is look for blue tailed skinks in the garden. Then a couple minutes later, we got on the airplane. It was a small airplane that only fit 4 people. And Maddox was scared out of his pants. Then when they finally landed, they started looking for skinks again." Apparently Avery likes switching between first and third person, and insisted on calling himself Maddox because that's his name in the blog title.
Gryffin and Avery waiting for their plane ride
Coming up on the blog: Our week in Salt Lake City
Where you can find us this weekend: Grand Tetons and Yellowstone
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