For those of you who are new to our blog, Ryan and I have always loved our adventures (see our super old posts). We have backpacked in the backcountry, and did urban backpacking around europe, mexico, central America, the US...
Since then, we've upscaled a bit. Our two bodies have multiplied into 5. Our little backpacks have been exchanged for a van. This was the first year we have been able to pull off a legit adventure since the kiddos have come into this world. We spent 2 weeks camping and living out of our converted van (with the exception of a few VRBO nights for the cities etc) as we traveled around and experienced some of the most amazing National Parks and cities our country has to offer.
I began by cautiously, prepping myself mentally to be happy going however slow we needed to, trying not to get my expectations too high for what we would "accomplish" on the trip. After all, our little ones are 4 1/2, 3 1/2, our baby is only 7 months old. We would all be sleeping in the van with predicted temperatures in the 30s and rain...We would be keeping track of kiddos in cities, there would be long traveling days and unpredictable travel "road bumps," the second week of our trip was completely unreserved...etc, etc. the list of doubts goes on and on.
But after spending months in advance creating our little van-home, we were off! First stop? The Grand Canyon.
To keep it short, I'm putting my "favorite" and "least favorite" moments under each area. Some of the least favorite moments actually were miserable, and some were just "bad" things that are really kinda funny, especially in retrospect.
After a quick night in Tehapeau (thanks Rhiannon), we got on the road early, drove and then pulled off somewhere in the middle of the desert for a pit stop and some breakfast. As we hunkerd down on the side of the road eating our hard boiled eggs, yogurt and granola, I couldn't help but admire how our kiddos don't even question the wierdness of all this. Yesterday you ate breakfast at the breakfast table like a normal person, today you're squatting on the side of Interstate 40 in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Obviously. Cuz that's life, right?
First Stop:
Grand Canyon
Favorite Moments:
For myself, I went on a run along the canyon rim early each morning, by myself. It was so, so beautiful, I practically cried in awe of the hugeness of it all.
For the fam, the kids really did love it. We were following a "fossil walk" ranger-led tour when it started to rain pretty hard. I stacked Josiah and Kaila on top of eachother in the stroller for warmth and sprinted to our waiting, warm van. Our family huddled in the van, turned the heater on, listened to music, ate a sweet little lunch and watched the storm roll in over the canyon from our front row parking spot. It was a sweet time together.
Least Favorite Moment:
As we sprinted back after the fossil walk with the stroller in the rain, (kicking myself for not bringing their big jackets), the big kids started saying "my hands are blooded" (now repeat... 500 times). Apparently blooded means "freezing cold and turning numb" pretty accurate right? Dont worry, Donovan was cozy warm taking a nap back with Ryan.
Tuba City-Dinosaur Footprints
Favorite Moments:
We got to put our hands and feet in real dinosaur foot prints and see where the dinosaurs actually walked. It stirred the awe I had for dinosaurs since I was a kid and reminded me of how my dad shared his love of science, geology and the earth, with me, when I was a little girl.
Least Favorite Moment:
I hate to say this, but there's a good chance our Native American "guide" was a bit stoned. Don't get me wrong, there were other guides that were super knowledgable and had awesome information and experience. If you go, just try and get one of those ones. : )
Bell Rock-Sedona, AZ
Favorite Moments:
This hike may be one of my hands down favorite hikes we did the whole trip. Thie kids, Ryan and I had to scramble up and then back down huge rocks to hike up this rock. We were traversing ledges, sliding on our bellies and bums, and using cracks and crevaces to ascend the rock.
Least Favorite Moment:
We had just finished telling the kids to watch out for rattle snakes and how they can be really dangerous and you'd have to go to the hospital. The words had literally just finished coming out of Ryan's mouth, when Josiah's eyes got huge, he screamed, literally lept backwards, and Kaila pretty much lept 4 verticle feet up into Ryan's arms, Josiah yells in terror "A RATTLE SNAKE!!!!"
He has a great eye, it was a mid-sized gopher snake about 3 1/2 feet away from him under the bushes.
(and...end of day 4, more to come!)
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