Spring Break 2019

Whelp....I'm behind. So behind that it's starting to feel crushing. I mean seriously, I have months of things to catch up on. And the longer I put it off the more overwhelmed I feel. I kind of know why I've been struggling to blog - it's this post in particular. I have no idea how I'm going to blog this. We have about 500 pictures from this Spring Break trip, and each and every one of them makes me very happy. This was a fantastic trip and it will be a very happy memory all my life long.

Here's what we did. Troy's best best buddy ever since 2nd grade is this wonderful guy named Mike. Mike happened to marry a 2nd cousin of mine, Katrina. She and I visited the same property in the mountains outside of Oakley, Utah all our childhoods long, and stayed in next-door cabins and played on the same swing set, likely together sometimes. Our grandpas were brothers. Anyway, they are a wonderful couple and we love them dearly though we don't see them as often as we would like. This is now partly due to the fact that they have taken jobs at the schools in Monument Valley in the very VERY most south eastern corner of our state. They live on the Navajo Reservation in a spectacularly beautiful place. You know, I can't remember if I have ever been to Monument Valley in my life. I have seen so many images and in so many movies that I don't remember if I have ever been there in person. We decided to spend a few days of the break visiting them.

I was actually a little nervous about this trip, partly because I just really wanted a happy family trip together and I was afraid that we would announce the trip to our kids and they would moan and groan because this would be an outdoorsy, hiking and walking-type trip. Not lounging by a pool or riding rides or something. I was so pleased when all three of the kids seemed quite eager to go.

We left on Tuesday and drove to Moab. We decided to spend one night in a hotel there and get up early and hike to Delicate Arch. I know a big piece of Troy's heart is still in Moab - he spent so much time there, mountain biking and hiking with friends. It is a place that is deeply dear to him and I know he was so excited to show it to his kids. Moab has changed a lot - the tourist industry has really taken hold there and the increased number of hotels and motels was slightly staggering. Even I noticed the difference.

Before we hit Moab, however, we made our first magnificent stop of the trip - Dead Horse Point, just before sunset. This was the first place where I realized that we were in for a great trip. The kids did not take lightly the magnitude or the beauty of the place. They were all excited to be there, they all were amazed at what they were seeing, they were so happy. I will try to not repeat this sentiment a thousand times over this post because that was true for the whole trip and it really just filled my cup.

Our hotel was a slight fail but with a remedy - we specifically picked it out because of the pool. We wanted the kids to be able to swim at some point during the trip. It really would have been nice for us to be told that the pool was closed and under construction before we booked. But happily, the place had a sister-hotel down the road and were letting people swim there. We enjoyed getting out and swimming, mostly hanging out in the large hot tub actually. Lovely evening.

We were thrilled with our hike to delicate arch. We went pretty early in the morning - there were no lines to get into the park but even so the trail was pretty busy. It was so gratifying to see the kids' excitement and awe as we viewed the arch as well as some other sites in the park. Romney especially was loving it and is hoping for some additional trips to Moab to hike with her dad.

It was at Delicate Arch that we started a running joke - Chase spent a lot of his spring doing much exercise and stretching, becoming able to do the splits. He loves doing the splits, especially in random public places. We had him do the splits under the arch, and pretty much repeated that photo in every single place we went. We have  a lot of photos of Chase doing the splits.

After Delicate Arch, we visited a couple of other spots in the park like Balanced Rock and the visitors center.

After all the hiking, the kids were famished. The hotel's free breakfast did us right, but by the time we had spent all the hours in Arches we had some hungry kids. We headed over to the Moab Diner, a favorite spot of Troy's which seems to have stayed about the same, and fed the kids. They all ordered massive meals and we were a bit skeptical but as you can see, no one had any trouble cleaning their plates. Except the lettuce leaves.

By then it was time to head out of Moab. We hit the road and started to make our way south. Mike happened to have meetings that day in Blanding and we met with him there. We got to poke around a cool little museum displaying some art and history of the little town before Mike began his awesome three day tour guidance of this south-eastern corner of the state.  He and Troy rode together in his car while I tried to keep up in the Landcruiser, not always very successfully. I was so happy for Troy to have these hours to spend with such a wonderful friend.

Our first stop was at some ruins. Now I have to say that we saw many ruins over the weekend. I am not going to be able to remember the name of a single one of them. I'm so sorry. What an incredible feeling though, to be in the presence of such ancient history, right where it happened. Mike was such a wonderful guide - he has really taken advantage of the time he's spending there and getting to know it, visiting everything he can, and he knows a great deal and shared so much with us. Here was our Thursday afternoon visit:

I think at this point some of our destinations are going to start blurring together...this was like four months ago after all. (Blush.) I want to pause to make a little list of things that really made this trip stand out:

* Chase doing the splits every where
* Mike and Katrina being wonderful hosts - they cooked for us every night - Navajo Fry Bread, Cambodian food night (egg rolls and pho) were the most memorable
*Their pack of howling and very sweet beagles
*Going to the High School where Mike is vice principal and getting to meet many wonderful folks he works with and seeing the cool facilities there which include Hogans as well as all the regular buildings and things high schools have
*Having a heart-to-heart talk with the kids about deep spiritual things while standing inside a half-collapsed hogan
*Troy accidentally locking his keys in the cruiser and as he was trying to jimmy his way into the truck, having like four people jump to his aid to try to help. We ended up unlocking the door with a long broom handle shoved through one slightly open window
*Seeing the John Wayne cabin - a small cabin whose exterior was used in a John Wayne film. We also enjoyed the accompanying museum.
*Learning about "Hat Runs" - no alcohol is sold on the Navajo Reservation, so anyone wanting some drives to the tiny town of Mexican Hat to pick some up.
*Seeing Troy soak up time with his friend he's had the longest


One really fantastic adventure was taking the kids through a very scenic little slot canyon, I think called Corkscrew Canyon or something. It was so impressive how familiar Mike was with some very remote places. We had a magical time hiking through it.

 We spent one afternoon driving through Monument Valley itself. I didn't realize that this was a thing. There's a loop that you drive and it takes you past all these amazing sights. We divided up into two cars - if we had had the minivan we could have fit all of us, but there were several places we couldn't have visited without the cruiser so I was so glad Inigo was with us and not the van. What spectacular sights!!

Mike also took us to see many sights that were near his home - practically in his back yard. These sights were a collection of ruins, arches and awesome climbing rocks that the kids did not get sick of. We all had a great time clambering around the rocks and hills. We did notice that we should have brought warmer clothing - we all were thinking that we were headed to the desert so we'd be really hot. It was the desert, yes, but it's not like the south west corner of that state that drops in elevation so drastically. It's just as high as Salt Lake City, so it was plenty chilly. 

One ruin was accessed through a tiny little keyhole. That was fun to climb through. I was very graceful.

Of course we also had to stop at "Gump Hill" and race to catch photos of the splitting Chase during breaks in traffic:

We also spent an afternoon driving up to Muley Point - another spectacular vista. This spot is near and dear to us because Troy and I went camping there when I was about 7.5 months pregnant with Chase. He was born, early, very shortly thereafter and we have always felt grateful that he didn't arrive during that trip when we were so far away from medical care. We always tell Chase that he was very nearly born in the Mexican Hat instacare.

I'm on picture over-load, as I knew I would be. I can only say that we had a marvelous trip. We are so grateful to generous friends for hosting us, being cooks and tour guides and information booths. What a great opportunity. I think I probably could have told these stories better and picked better pictures - we have hundreds from Mike as well as these - but in the interest of getting the blog caught up, I'm making good enough better than perfect and just posting this monster. Monument Valley, we loved you. We hope to return.