Labor Day

Last day before I have to go back to work :( I've gotten used to the vacation and now it will be hard to go back, but it will be good to get a routine again (not to mention make some money).  But we made the most of today by rock climbing, volunteering at the MTC, eating at Smash burgers, and watching Pacific Rim (I am a good wife and saw it just for Jamir. ;)

It doesn't look that tall, but it gets pretty scary up there

I'm not as good as Jamir. I couldn't do this one to the top.

Jamir's early birthday present so we could go climb today

Volunteering was a great experience. I kept thinking of Cam and how sincere and cute those 18 year old boys were.  There was a really strong spirit there; it was almost overwhelming.  I can see now why people will listen to them. I was impressed by one of the lessons about just having faith.  They are so pure and so strait forward in their faith. I have a lot to learn from them.

Found a Horse!

I know this is a lame post after the vacation pictures, but we found a horse on our run yesterday morning! And you know how much I love animals. Go random fun moments

The Final Chapter; Moab Arches National Park

On our last days of the trip we traveled to Moab.  I had made a hotel reservation because I knew that we would want to change and be clean.  So glad I did. It really makes you appreciate how soft beds are.  We went to the farmers market, swimming, got pizza and chilled in our SOFT beds.  Each time we go camping we do really learn more about how to do it.  It was a fun trip and very interesting to see how the rock formed, and the history.  I also love hiking. Its a great form of exercise.  We plan on being a very active family all of our lives.  One day we will take our kids there and do the rappelling part as well. 

Moab Diner. We have made a decision that we will eat local when we travel.

Having fun in the pool

It took several tries to get this right.

Good looking at Arches National Park

We saw this Chinese guy kissing the wall several times....so we had to remember it somehow.

Bad idea to ask some European guy to take your pic. He couldnt figure it out. Didnt quite get the whole arch in there

That is the arch

Saw some people taking a pic of this tree. Jamir thought it was special and wanted one too ;)

The famous arch

And we are very far away from it. We got lazy and didnt want to walk in the hot sun to it.

Basically the whole park looks like this...with all the rock formations. 

To sum it up, it was an awesome trip. I'm sad its over. But we will have many more adventures and now are more experienced campers!

Part Five; Stuck in-between Bryce and Moab

So we had planned on spending the night around Goblin Valley but we had a little detour...right about 20 miles outside of Escalante our tire blew. We had been off roading around Spooky Gulch (below) and got a small leak caused by one of the rocks. Nice. Incidentally, our tire overheated and blew. We drove back to Escalante and decided to camp at the same site again instead of continuing to the next town. Thankgoodness we did because the next town didn't have the tire that we needed anyway.  We slept (and took showers!) and replaced the tire in the morning. This time with one meant for off roading. We were able to continue on to Goblin Valley.  It all worked out anyway because it was sooo hot there anyway and we were able to stay in a nicer campsite. 

Spooky Gulch.  Narrow canyons that continue for 1/2 mile.  Normally it isn't that muddy, but since it had just rained our shoes got covered!  

Jamir wanted a pic of Hector (our truck) after the off roading. It is covered with red mud.

Second campsite. It was a nice place with a reservoir next to it. Heard some very loud geese in the morning!

Showers behind us. I cannot express how happy I was about them.

Where the tire blew

Taking pics as we drive to Goblin Valley. I really like how light looks on the lens.

Where we pulled over to fix the flat.  Jamir wanted this for documenting purposes.  Btw, everywhere else is a very soft shoulder. We were lucky it blew here.

Almost hit this cow on the way there. And it had to run away when I got the camera out.

Goblins! These are formed by erosion, ice, wind you name it. Really cool rock formations.  It was too hot so we just took a pic from above.

You can tell from the pic, but these rocks are very large. Way taller than people.

Part Four; Bryce Canyon

On Wednesday we left Zion National Park and headed to Bryce Canyon.  We found a campsite with showers in the petrified forest. Lucky us! We were able to see the amphitheater of Bryce and go on a gorgeous hike to Calf Creek Falls. It is this waterfall in the middle of a desert.  Very cool. When we got back to our campsite I took a shower and was sooo happy! In the morning we hiked the petrified forest hike before heading to Spooky Gulch (more on that later).

Mile long tunnel built in early 1900s. It was dark!

Amphitheater at Bryce Canyon

On the way to Calf Creek.  The rock formations were awesome!

We made it! If it were hotter (we hiked in the evening) I would have jumped in the pool

Can you tell we have been camping?

Morning hike to petrified forest

Petrified wood.  It is so many colors.