Utah - Day 1

We left Boise yesterday around 1. It was a little later than we had planned, only because Jake had a weird allergic reaction to something at the creek and his eye was swollen shut, then we realized a phone had been lost at the creek, too, so this delayed us a bit. Brian and I finished up our half day of work and we hit the road as soon as we could. 

Nana had brought the kids each a huge bag full of candy and treats so we played the “can I have a treat yet?” game for most of the 6 hour drive to Sandy Utah. The drive was pretty interesting, though. Utah is a weird, weird place. And I can say that because both of my parents were raised there. We passed several pro-life billboards, followed by a munitions manufacturing plant, so there was that. Plus every small town we passed through had a huge mormon temple, even if the town itself appeared to only house 50 people. We rolled into Sandy about 630 and had time for dinner and a quick swim in the Hampton Inn pool before bed.

We left Sandy with the intention of driving to our next lodging location in Boulder, UT- halfway between Capitol Reef National Park and Bryce Canyon. We drove through some beautiful country and the kids were amazed by the red rocks and sheer red rock walls. We ended up having a picnic in Capitol Reef (I thought ahead and packed PB and Nutella and bread and had “borrowed” a plastic knife from the Hampton Inn at breakfast) then we took about a 3 mile round trip hike through some slot canyons.  It was really cool and the kids, although they got tired and worn out about 3/4 of the way through, loved climbing the rocks and had tons of questions about the geology which Brian answered much better than I was able. My scientific mind is not particularly in shape! 

The drive to our lodging took about an hour and having booked it online with very little information we were really happy to see that it was a unique lodge/ranch with several rooms (ours had two bedrooms and a bathroom with a deck which I am currently sitting on typing this), a teepee, and several private cabins. The kids have tons of places to roam and have already caught one large lizard using an empty 12 pack of Diet Coke. They named him Billy Bob. 

Brian and I got a beer and sat outside the common area while the boys played some catch on the big lawn and Faith made a puppy with blocks. Dinner at their organic restaurant was amazing. I had the best trout I’ve ever had and the kids had pancakes and root beer (protein? What’s that again?). We explored more after dinner, finding a couple beaver damns, lots of horses, and even more horse poop. Now the boys are playing a rousing game of Duck on a Rock while Faith is making an animal habitat out of an empty Capri Sun box. Love it. 

Headed to bed soon. Planning on a good hearty breakfast at the restaurant here before heading out to find some petroglyphs and view Escalante Grand Staircase. One more night here before we head to Bryce Canyon where we will hike and take a mule/horse ride down to the bottom.