We started off our trip by camping at Kodachrome Basin. It is just East of Bryce canyon. We chose to camp at this particular spot because it forcasted to be 20 degrees warmer than Bryce at night. It turned out to be a good choice.
The variation of color in the rock formations was beautiful. This was the view from our campsite. I thought the hoodoo in the background was cool.
Our friends the Castagnos came camping with us. They have three boys that our close in age to our kids. It was a lot of fun having them there. It was my 32nd birthday the day we drove down. Kev made me a yummy chocolate, carmel dutch oven cake. I blew out all the candles with one blow. You can see the smoke cloud all around me. It was a unique and fun way to spend my birthday this year.
The entertainment around the campfire that night was amusing. The kids started their own band of fart noises. Payton was the leader of the group. It was funny for awhile and then it got old.
Halle had her jacket on backwards and was wandering around. She looked like a ghost in the lantern light. This led to scary stories around the campfire. It was the perfect idea for a crisp October night. The kids came up with some really creative stories. We all enjoyed Payton's story about the possessed doll who went around saying, "I'm so pretty." The creepiest story of the night was told by Al. It was a true story about how he crossed paths with a man who turned out to be a hatchet murderer. We were all creeped out when we went to bed that night.
It rained all night long. We did manage to stay warm and dry in our tent. The Castagnos were not so fortunate. They had a new tent and it leaked. We were grateful for our shade canopy with roll down sides. It kept us dry while we had breakfast. Al taught the kids pancake 101. Mckenna and Payton took right to it. They made the pancakes while the rest of us ate. We put bananas in the pancakes and they turned out delicious.
We drove to Bryce Canyon for the rest of the day. The first stop was the visitors center. They had some fun interactive displays. The kids really got into this one.
The Navajo loop in Bryce was our favorite. The view from every angle is impressive.
We took a family picture before the hike. It was nice always having someone to take our picture.
The hike going down was steep and made me nervous with all the little kids. The view looking back up made it all worth it.
It was cool hiking though the narrow walls and looking up. It makes you feel so small in comparison.
The sunlight was reflecting off the canyon walls as we were hiking through.
We had a picture taken with all of us. It is interesting how trees grow right in the middle of the canyon walls.
The kids found plenty of alcoves to climb in as we hiked along.
We took a few breaks to rest along the way. The kids hanging out with Tessa. I was surprised how well the kids did on this hike. It was really steep going back up. Hayden walked the entire way on his own. Which really is saying something since his legs are so short. He had to take twice as many steps to match my own. There were several old folks along this hike. When they saw Hayden they remarked, "if he can do this hike than so can I."
It was nice because the next several sites were just lookout points. We could even see some of them from the car.
It is crazy how fast the weather could turn. It was nice one moment and then snowing the next. We were glad we brought our winter coats with us. We were feeling good about our choice not to stay in Bryce. It was too cold at this time of year.
We didn't get out of the car at the next few view points. The Castagnos were the only ones who braved the snow. I did hop out of the car when I saw these two ravens perched on the wall. I wanted to get a good close up picture of them.
The weather cleared up again and we were able to enjoy some more beautiful scenery.
The next day we drove though Arizona to The Grand Canyon. I had never been before. We hiked along to the trail to inspiration point.
Mckenna with The Grand Canyon in the background. This was about halfway to the lookout.
The trail got really narrow towards the end. It was a drop off on both sides. I have a fear of heights and this trail wasn't helping. I tried to walk looking straight forward so I wouldn't see the edges. I was only too happy to turn around when Hayden needed to use the bathroom.
The rest of the kids did great and made it to the lookout with Kev. It is an incredible view.
I really liked this picture of Halle. You can tell she was happy to be enjoying the great view.
We went and had a look at the main lodge. Hayden was kickin back on the nice leather couches.
We camped that night at the North rim campground. It was not far from the main lodge. Parker and Dylan hanging out while we cooked dinner.
Halle and Mason getting some wiggles out before dinner.
I looked over and saw this sweet scene. Hayden was being a nice big brother and feeding Addy some cheese.
Dinner is served! Kev cooked up some pizzas for us. It was nice to have two dutch ovens going at the same time. This was one of the deep dish pizzas.
Tessa and I hanging out around the campfire. It was a lot of fun having them come with us.
We were so busy talking that we didn't notice at first that Halle was asleep. She was so tired from all the hiking that she crashed sitting up in her chair around the campfire.
We packed up camp that next morning and drove to our final stop in Page, Arizona. We stopped at Lee's Ferry and had lunch. We saw these interesting rock formations as we left.
When we got to Page we hiked to see Horseshoe Bend. It was walking through sand most of the way. The boys taking a break to empty the sand from their shoes.
We took a family picture when we got to the top.
The view from above of the Colorado river making the Horseshoe shape.
At this point I was more than ready to head to the hotel. We stayed at this same place a couple years ago. It was very rejuvenating to take a shower and get cleaned up after so many days of camping. The next morning we went to the Wahweap Marina. We stopped to enjoy some popsicles as we looked at all the houseboats. It now felt like summer weather. It was a bit of a challenge packing for this trip. We needed winter coats, jackets, pants, shorts, and swimsuits.
The kids dancing on the dock while eating their popsicles. Halle was in her swimsuit and ready to go swimming.
We drove to lone rock beach and spent the rest of the day in the sun.
Addy had a great time hanging out at the beach. She was so happy sitting in the BYU chair. I love her toothy smile in this picture.
Kev and I enjoying the water. It was still around 70 degrees which was nice. I even went for a swim out to the buoys. The kids kept yelling, "come back Mom".
The kids spent the afternoon working on this project. They used our big camping shovel to dig the holes. They used our drink pitcher and plastic bowls to fill up the pools. The other kids lost interest but Mckenna stuck with it and here was the finished project.
The kids had so much fun chasing the ducks and splashing up and down the shore. It was hard to pack up and leave for home. When we pulled up in front of our house Hayden shouted, "THIS IS NOT THE HOTEL" and burst into tears. We were all a little sad that our trip had come to an end.
