Craig's blog

Today was a day of contrasts. I woke up before everyone else this morning in beautiful Zion park. I sat outside (it was 73 degrees) reading for awhile and then went for a bike ride. I rode the shuttle route up to the end of the canyon (at least of the road). It was a gorgeous ride and also great because cars are not allowed on the road (just the shuttles). It was a 16 mile round trip that was a total pleasure.

When I got back I made pancakes and eggs for everyone and then we packed off and headed off for Las Vegas. Well actually I dropped Patty and the kids at the visitor’s center and went to the dump station. The kids got their junior ranger badges for Zion.

The drive to Las Vegas was incredible. We drove into a driving head wind and the temperature ranged between 106 and 112. The Suburban was really working to keep everything cool, but turned out to be totally capable of it. I was impressed.

Here in Las Vegas we are staying at the Golden Nugget because the pool sounded exciting. There is a water slide that goes through a huge saltwater tank that has sharks in it. It’s an interesting gimmick, but other than that the pool is pretty ordinary and the kids were sort of disappointed. After swimming we had a good dinner in the hotel and then drove to the strip (which is about 5 miles away). About 10:15 the kids were really running out of gas so I hustled back and got the car and we came back. It’s a late night for them as we gained an hour today. What a difference from this morning riding my bike through Zion to tonight driving down the Las Vegas strip. It’ll be nice to get back to camping tomorrow. We’re off to June Lake (assuming we can find a camping spot without a reservation).

Yesterday we left at 7:10 (pretty good) for Zion. The girls helped a lot in getting us ready. ☺ We were here by 9:30 and it was already getting hot. It took us awhile to choose a campsite, but we eventually opted for one that was very close to the river and had a great view over one with shade. We don’t have electrical hookups (because I didn’t make reservations soon enough) so we won’t be able to run the A/C.

After we settled in, we were really hot, so all of us went down to the river. We ended up spending most of the day playing in the water – which was great. It’s quite cold and the air was about 101. We had an early dinner and then we headed off for an evening hike to the Emerald Pools. The hike leaves from the Zion Lodge, so we took the shuttle. The shuttles at Zion are excellent and this time they had a talking description of the geology as we went which was really great.

The kids were resisting the hike, but after we got them going they were great. We ended up taking the longer way up (to the middle pool) and then 0.5 mile additional up to the upper pool. The excitement began on the way down. All of the kids went in front (except Kate, who was walking slowly with blisters – I stayed in back with her). When we got to the middle pool Patty and Catherine realized the couldn’t see the other five kids. We yelled and yelled and then split up on the three different ways down. There was about 45 minutes of worried searching, but Catherine eventually caught them (on the wrong trail) and all ended up well. It was nerve racking for awhile, primarily because it was getting close to dark. We had promised the kids ice cream, but the lodge ice cream had closed. They recommended we go down to Springdale, which we did. When we got to the store in Springdale, they had closed their ice cream counter. Luckily they had some other ice cream alternatives, so we did ok. We walked back to our campsite from town in the dark. All in all it was a fun but eventful evening.

Today we got up and headed out at 9:00 for the Riverside walk and the Narrows which I’d been wanting to do since we were last here. We did the 1 mile Riverside walk and then plunged into the Virgin river and walked up the narrow end of the canyon (with hundreds of other folks). It turned out to be a great experience. The 6 kids all had a blast and helped each other over the rough (rocky), underwater terrain. It’s slow going, but lots of fun walking through the cold water. We probably walked/waded a mile and a half each way. I wore my hiking boots which turned out to be an excellent choice. Everyone had a blast. The only downside was that my knee got more and more swollen as we went. When we were done we rode the shuttle to the Zion Lodge and had lunch, then rode the shuttle to town and had more ice cream.

When we got back we spent the late afternoon in the river, although there were a couple of brief rainstorms that drove the kids back to camp to play more games of Clue. Tomorrow the Fisses are leaving early for Vegas and we’ll leave in the late morning. I had really wanted to hike to Angel’s Landing, but I think my knee isn’t up for it. So we’ll get up, make breakfast, pack up and head off for one night of real running water and electricity in a hotel room before heading off for June Lake. I should have wifi in the hotel tomorrow and therefore should be able to push a bunch of this up.

Yesterday we drove to Bryce. We stopped in Kanab to get groceries, but it was an easy 3 hour drive. We got here and Catherine & Keith had already scoped out a site in Sunset campground. This is the first time we’ve stayed in Sunset instead of North campground. The sites are equally nice, but it’s a couple of miles away from the visitor center and entrance. All in all, I think that was better because we spent more time further east in the canyon then I have in the past. Yesterday we took the Navajo trail down into the canyon and the Queen’s garden trail back up. We had at least a normal amount of complaining from the girls (although I have to admit that only two of them complain at this point), but somehow we made it. Last night we got back late from the hike and were planning to go to a show about the moon at the Bryce Lodge, so we decided to have dinner there. The food was mediocre at best, but it got us to the show on time. The show was pretty good and satisfied the kids’ need for a ranger program for their junior ranger badges.

Today we had a leisurely morning and then walked the rim trail from sunset point to inspiration point and then Bryce point. This is a section of the canyon I don’t think I’ve hiked before. It was beautiful as always. We came back for a quick lunch before heading off for a hike called Moss Cave where we were told we could see a waterfall. I decided to ride my bike the 10 miles to the trailhead to get some exercise. It was a fun enough ride, but I got very little exercise because it was almost all downhill, some of it very steep. It’s probably my fastest average speed ever because I gave up probably 1500 feet in 10 miles. The walk itself was ok – short, but not that exciting. While we were building a dam in the river Patty lost Kate’s flip flog in the fast running river. Kelly, Patty and I hiked down the stream and finally found it caught on a tree branch.

Tonight we had a nice dinner and campfire. The kids played Clue about 3 times today. Tomorrow we leave early for Zion to see if we can get a nice space.

Today was our last full day at Lake Powell. We woke up to a few clouds which was different from the 0 clouds we’d seen the previous days. I double checked the weather from a number of sources and they all said sunny and very hot (101 degrees). It took an hour and a half (again) to rent the power boats, but again it was worth it. We drove around to the dam (which we don’t need to do again – not much to see) by antelope marina (again not worth seeing, but there is a floating restaurant that we didn’t stop at) and then around to Navajo canyon. I really wanted to go down that canyon, and we did for about 15 minutes but the kids wanted to start tubing. We started tubing and realized the water was much rougher than a couple of days ago so we decided to head out of the canyon to see if it got better. It didn’t, but that meant that we didn’t get to go very far down the canyon. However, what we did see was amazing. Stunning high walls of red sandstone. We tubed some and then looked for a lunch spot. We found a perfect little protected area with just enough beach to beach both boats. We had rocks to climb on, a rock overhang to eat under, a lagoon to swim in with islands to swim to and play on and an infinite supply of skipping rocks. We could have stayed there all day.

After lunch we did a bunch more tubing and Catherine tried (and succeeded) to water ski. About 3:45 we started to head back (the boats are due back at 5:00). It had been dark and threatening all day, and we had been seeing some lightning in the distance since about 2:00. When we got about a mile from the marina it was about 4:15 so we decided we should do some last minute tubing and skiing. It started getting windy and we decided to head back to the dock. Just as we started to go in, it got really, really windy and started raining really hard. The rain drops felt like little rocks pelting us. The waves got huge. Watching the other power boat it looked like I was watching Gilligan’s Island as the boat plowed through the waves. The kids got pretty scared (especially Jessie), but we made it back fine. Instead of a 3 minute ride, it was about a 10 minute odyssey. I’ve been kicking myself for not taking a video of it. When we got back to the dock it was calming down and 5 minutes later it was completely over. It was all pretty exciting and has made for lots of fun story telling already. Tonight we bbq’d some steak and now we have to pack up to move on. Tomorrow it’s off to Bryce Canyon. The kids are pretty sad to be leaving, which is great. Lake Powell is awesome.

Tonight is the end of our second full day at Lake Powell. I had so much fun yesterday that I didn’t get around to writing anything down. Today was great too. This is a water lover’s paradise (and you need to be ok with heat too). Yesterday we rented a power boat for the full day. We got to the boat rental place (at Wahweap – the boat rental place itself was absolutely amazing) at 8:30 but weren’t off in our boat until just before 10:00. But that was the end of the frustration. The boat was great, the scenery is stunning, the air was great (~95 degrees) and the water was perfect (~73 degrees). Most of the days one or two of the girls was on a tube being towed behind the boat as we zigzagged in and out of the canyons. The size of this lake is just about impossible to comprehend. During the day we boated about 25 miles up the main arm of the lake (and out some of the side canyons) and were probably 10% of the way up the main arm. Another measure: the lake was formed when the Glen Canyon dam was built to block the Colorado river. The dam was completed a few days before I was born. The lake finished filling when I was 17 years old!

Last night Catherine, Keith and the boys showed up. They are camping two campsites over.

Today we had a leisurely morning and then drove to Antelope Canyon which is a place I’ve seen in many stunning photographs and have always wanted to visit. I went on a “photo tour” and the nine others went on a regular tour. The tours are of the same underground canyon (it’s about a ¼ mile long), but the photo tour is 2 hours instead of 1 and tries to get you some clear shots of the canyon (without folks standing around in your way). It was a great experience and I got some nice shots.

When we got back we hustled over to the boat rental and rented two jet skis. Keith and I took turns taking the kids out on rides. I always love riding jet skis, and today with the hot air (99 degrees) and warm water was no exception. I’m sitting outside at 9:00 right now and it’s still 85 degrees. It’s going to be hot tomorrow for our last day here at Lake Powell. We intend to rent two power boats and tour around again.

Pictures of Lake Powell and Antelope Canyon will appear here if I can get the wifi to work long enough. Otherwise they'll show up later (probably much later because we won't have wifi for a long time after this).

This morning we met our jeep driver at the top of the “White House trail” down to Canyon de Chelly. It turns out he was driving a Jeep Cherokee which really can’t hold him and 6 of us. I had told him we had 6, but somehow he showed up with this. We decided to pile two kids in the back and make the best of it. He took us into the canyon and it turns out he actually grew up in the canyon and still has land that he tends there. It was great to see the canyon through a resident’s eyes. We learned a lot. He then dropped us at the bottom of the 1.5 mile trail up. I asked him how long it would take his kids (roughly the same age as ours) to climb the trail. He said 15 minutes. We tried to use that as incentive, but sadly we still had to endure the complaining through much of the hike (although not really from Kelly and Maddie).

We then went back to camp, made and ate lunch and packed and hitched up. We then drove backroads (minor highways) through Arizona (mostly on the Navajo reservation) to Lake Powell where we’re now going to stay put for four nights. Tonight we bbq’d some chicken and then walked down to the lake where the girls went for a twilight swim (it was still 85 degrees). We plan to rent a speedboat for playing on the water and exploring the lake tomorrow.

I've put some new pictures and some captions in the Grand Canyon, Santa Fe and Taos sections (and now there is a Canyon de Chelly section): http://carlsonfun.smugmug.com/Travel/2010-Southwest-Camping-Trip

Well, we got off by 7:45 this morning, which was 45 minutes later than we hoped, but not too bad. The drive to Canyon de Chelly was uneventful although it was pretty windy on the two lane road up to the Canyon. By the time we got here everyone was pretty beat. We went to the visitor’s center and then on the south rim drive, but we only went out to three of the overlooks because we were out of gas (figuratively). We came back and made veggie burgers. Everyone was better after dinner and we played hide and seek around the camp (except Patty). The wind eventually died down and it was (and is) a beautiful evening. It’s 72 degrees now at 10:22 PM. We were debating whether to take a jeep ride through the canyon (which we believe will help the kids and us appreciate the canyon more) or whether to hike down to the canyon and back up which would give us all some much needed exercise since we've mostly been sitting for the past week. Maddie and Kelly had the great idea of getting a jeep to take us through the canyon and having it leave us at the bottom of the trail so we could hike out. We signed up for a custom jeep ride tomorrow morning that will do just that.

We also changed our plans and are going to Lake Powell a day earlier (tomorrow).

This morning we met Aunt Phynix for breakfast at a place called Michael’s Kitchen. It was great to see my aunt – I haven’t seen her in over 30 years! She looked great and the girls really liked her. We enjoyed meeting her friend Abel too. And as my Mom had promised, Michael’s Kitchen was an outstanding place to have breakfast. It was busy on father’s day, but it’s big and we were pretty early, so we were seated quickly. After breakfast we went to Phynix’s place and met all her animals. It was a great morning.

After we left Phynix, we did some grocery shopping, had lunch and then went to visit the Taos Pueblo. It was hot, but Patty and I had fun taking photos. The kids were mostly miserable, but Maddie seemed somewhat interested. After the Pueblo we went back into town where the girls got some ice cream and I had some iced coffee. Then I went for a bike ride from the Pueblo and did a big loop around the outskirts of Taos. It was neat to see the variety of roads and situations, from big old ranches along the creek to brand new beautiful adobe-style homes on new dirt roads. I met the family back at the campground after my ride and we had bbq’d steak, baked potatoes and sauteed farmers’ market snow peas. The kids wanted to play a family game for father’s day after dinner, so we played a game of Clue that kept the girls up too late. Tomorrow we head to Canyon de Chelly. We’re shooting to have breakfast and pack up for a 7:00 departure. We’ll see how it goes…

We had another leisurely breakfast this morning outside. It’s great to wake up to 68 degree dry air and cook and eat a meal outside. This morning it was pancakes. Then we got cleaned up and packed up the trailer and drove in to town (Santa Fe). We went to an artisan’s fair and farmers’ market where we planned to refresh our fresh fruits and vegetables. We were quickly reminded of how spoiled we are in California where the farmers’ markets bring a huge variety of produce. In Santa Fe there was very little variety. Mostly different varieties of peas. We ate lunch at the market and then drove most of the way to Taos, but stopped about 15 miles short at the take out for our white water rafting trip. We were then bussed up to the put-in. We had a 6 mile float. It was class 2 and 3 rapids. After a couple of years ago on the Gallatin everything else doesn’t get our kids too excited, but we all had fun. And Maddie had never been white water rafting and she really enjoyed it. The air was about 92 and the water was 58. Perfect for rafting. We were done around 5:00, changed and drove to our RV Park in Taos. It’s not bad for an RV park, but we still don’t really like them. But it’s convenient: right in the middle of town and full hookups. Maddie really wanted pizza, so rather than cook we went out looking for Italian food. We passed up lots of good looking Mexican restaurants and eventually found a place in the main plaza that was pretty good. They didn’t have pizza, but Maddie was happy with her selection. Now we’re settling in. Tomorrow we have breakfast with my Dad’s sister, Phynix.

Today we had a leisurely breakfast cooked and eaten outside (my favorite). It was a glorious morning. After breakfast we got ready and headed in to old town Santa Fe and did the tourist thing. The kids really enjoyed wondering around and looking at all the stuff you can shop for. We had a good lunch, walked around some more and then came back to camp around 5:00. The kids went swimming, we made dinner, played Apples to Apples and went to bed. All in all a fun day.

Here are some photos from today.

This morning we got up at 6:30 knowing we had a long day ahead of us. And it was. We left the Grand Canyon campground (Mather, which was great) at 8:15. We stopped in Flagstaff for gas, Petrified Forest National Park for lunch (which we really didn’t see because it would have taken an extra hour of driving), Gallup for some coffee (which was an unnecessarily long side trip) and Albuquerque for dinner (at the Artichoke Café which had a good review in the AAA book and was pretty good) and gas. We finally arrived at Rancheros RV park at 9:20 pm. People were grouchy. It was a long day. 488 miles.  We also lost an hour because of the daylight savings time thing with AZ. Hopefully we’ll have some fun tomorrow.

Wednesday we made French toast outside (it was a gorgeous morning), made sandwiches and then headed to the canyon for a hike down Bright Angel Trail. Originally Patty had planned to go all the way to Indian Gardens, but last night I talked her down to the first water stop (1 ½ miles down the trail). I thought it would be tough to cajole the kids that far and I didn’t think my knee would make it either. We made it down (with plenty of complaining along the way) and I didn’t have nearly as much fun as normal because I was pretty worried about my knee. We had sandwiches at the water stop and then headed back up. I felt better on the way up when I could see my knee wasn’t going to get any worse. It took us 1 ½ hours to go down and an hour to come back up. We had double scoop ice cream cones at the top and then came back to camp. We sat around for about an hour (I iced my knee) and then we went to town to watch the iMax movie about the Grand Canyon. I think Patty and I liked it more than the girls. We bbq’d and relaxed this evening (the first relaxing on the trip for me).

Here are some photos from the Grand Canyon (more coming from the other camera soon).

On Tuesday we decided to leave before breakfast and stop along the way. We stopped in Ludlow, California along historic route 66. It was an old greasy spoon and the woman that waited on us (and the whole place) looked like she might have worked there before interstate 40 went through (although she said she didn’t). It was a long drive to the Grand Canyon, but uneventful. We arrived around 4:00. After cooking dinner we headed out and hiked along the rim a little. It was partly so the girls could see the canyon for the first time and partly so we could get some exercise after two days of sitting and finally so I could see how my newly injured (2 weeks ago) knee would do. It wasn’t great… We watched the sunset and walked back to the car and came back to camp to have a campfire and some s’mores.

We left Peet's at 8:45, only about 1/2 an hour later than we were shooting
for.  At the last minute we brought along Kelly's friend Maddie (and our
almost fourth daughter), so there are 6 of us on this adventure.  We
came down I-5 and then took 58 over to Barstow where we're staying at
the KOA.  We're staying here because Kate had a memory of this
campground that was very positive and she's been begging to come back.
 Of course it's an ordinary KOA, and seems that way to her now, but
the kids still had fun.   It was very warm today in the central valley
and here in Barstow.  It was 97 when we arrived.  The girls went
straight to the pool.  I went for a bike ride.  Then we made dinner,
cleaned up, got some ice cream (which Kelly remembered from the last
time we were here - 4 years ago) and are going to bed.  It's 82
degrees at 11:00 pm.  We plan to get up early and head out for the
Grand Canyon.