Almost, anyway. For those of you who have not been down to the Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, near Moab, Utah, it is what I've always imagined Mars would be like. Crazy rock formations. Dry, desert landscapes. Giant arches and huge slickrock cliffs. It's a crazy place.
Camping there isn't easy. There are lots of campgrounds, but very few of them have any running water. Water for campers in the entire area is provided by a small natural spring that flows out of the rocks on the side of one of the roads. They've built a pull-out in the road, and you just drive up and fill your water bottles. I'm not kidding. If you, like us, end up camping 30 miles from this water source, you take a really big water jug and plan accordingly.
It was a farmer-on-vacation paradise, though. The kids got to climb lots of rocks, sleep in the tent, stuff themselves with Doritos, s'mores and other junky delicacies, and get as dirty as it is possible to get in three days by making sand angels in the desert. In return for these privileges, by unspoken agreement, they stayed upbeat, enthusiastic, and complaint free when Saturday's "2 mile hike" turned into a 6 mile desert trek with very little water because their parents didn't read the map carefully enough. It helped that they got to scale the slickrock fins, jump through at least 5 major arches, and learn to navigate by rock cairn. They were troopers. We started what we think will be a fun family tradition by buying them a patch at each park. We're going to sew them onto their sleeping bags, and keep adding patches at each park we visit. I wish we had done something like that when I was a kid. It would be so fun to have all the 80s park patches.
It was a much needed family vacation. It was the absolute best use we could have made with those three days. I feel very refreshed. I think we all do.
The kids have loved the hiking we've been doing recently so much that I think I'm going to take them up to Rocky Mountain National Park this Thursday, since they are off school again. They've been there before, but as they pointed out, they didn't get a patch there.So we'll take care of that and find another fun hike to do.
I want to encourage this love of nature thing as best I can. We do, after all, live in Colorado. It's kind of the whole point.
4 comments:
Oh, what a wonderful vacation indeed! I grew up in Fort Collins and am eternally grateful for all the times my mom and dad took us up the Poudre or to Estes Park to camp as kids... nothing beats that. Love the badge collecting idea - we should have done that too!
It sounds wonderful. When Jay and I were first married, we took a 4-wheeling vacation in Moab and camped in one of the camp sites. It was really weird for me to pitch a tent in a nice, groomed area. At home, we always just found a flat place big enough for our tent. Being in a campsite was like camping in a hotel - bathroom, running water, picnic table.
Now you've got me wanting to go back to the Moab area.
Thanks ladies. GunDiva, you totally should. Matt and I used to just backpack in where ever, but I'm all for the car camping with the kids. Even if all you get is a fire ring and a pit toilet, I'll take it!
How cool is that? So glad you all had a fun time.
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