Bryce Canyon, Utah

After visiting Arches National Park and then Bryce Canyon, we decided that Utah is quite possibly the prettiest state we have seen so far. There is just so much diversity and unusual things to see.

Some hoodoos in Bryce Canyon, Utah.

While Arches National Park has the stone arches, windows and stone formations, Bryce Canyon has hoodoos. That's not a typo, they are really called hoodoos. The strange looking eroded rock spires and towers look like huge stone warriors all lined up or chess pieces or a stone forest. You get the idea. Here are some cool pics although I don't think they do the pink rocks justice.

We hiked the Mossy Cave and Waterfall trail. It was hot and the altitude really affected me and the kids but when we made it up there it was worth it. It was so beautiful to see. We even pulled off our socks and shoes and soaked our feet in the icy cold mountain water. It was very cold and very refreshing.

Resting our feet in the cold water.

We saw a family of prairie dogs on the side of the road and pulled over to get these pics. They were so cute. Apparently they are very tasty too, at least to the other predators in the park. We learned just about everything eats these cute little prairie dogs so they are endangered. I bet they taste like chicken.

Prairie Dogs

All in all, we had a good stay in Bryce Canyon but at our campground, there was a huge family that acted like they were the only ones there and the rest of us were intruding on their vacation.

As a public service, I want to give you a few camping etiquette tips so the next time I'm ranting about another family at a campground, it's not yours!

First, if you wake up early, keep quiet until a reasonable hour. As an extra bonus to your neighbors, don't let your 4 year old daughter walk up beside an RV and scream for you as you walk away. Just because your kids are up doesn't mean that my kids aren't still sleeping.

Better yet, don't walk through campsites. When you walk through someones campsite, it is like walking through their living room. Walk around using the paths. I know it might actually be a few more steps but your camping. Didn't you come here to enjoy the great outdoors?

Next topic - the pool. I could write a book on this topic alone. Here are my top three pieces of advice.

1. Rocks are not pool toys. Seriously?! We had a kid throwing a 2 pound rock into the pool as a diving toy. Not cool.
2. When the pool is crowded with younger swimmers, don't do cannon balls into the pool. I saw one guy almost drown a little boy after he created his own little tsunami.
3. Don't let your entire herd use all of the shaded lounge chairs as clothes racks while you swim in the pool all day. The rest of us, who are there to watch our children while they are in the pool, might want to actually sit in the shade on one of those lounge chairs. I've spent more than my fair share of hot afternoons roasting in the sun while your clothes stay nice and cool on that premium piece of pool real estate.

OK, I feel better getting that off my chest. I'll get off my soapbox now.

Here are a few more random photos of Tom and the kids.

Andrew hiking the Mossy Cave trail.

Tom and Kaitlyn modeling their western wear.

Cannonville, Utah

After stopping at the Freemont Indian State Park, we felt like we had made the turn and everything was back to normal (whatever that means). We almost made it to Bryce Canyon before we heard alarms go off again.

This time it was our Buddy Brake system telling us to check the tow car. The Buddy Brake helps the car put on the brakes when Tom pushes the brakes in the RV. Basically, when you are travelling through the mountains, you want to make sure it is working.

We pulled over and found out the car's battery had completely died. Somehow this affects the Brake Buddy thus the alarms going off. We were able to make it to our campground at the KOA in Cannonville. They gave Tom a trickle charger and we charged the battery for a little while. Later we started the car and headed off to take a look at Bryce Canyon.

Everything was fine until we stopped for gas and turned the car off. Of course, it wouldn't start again. The battery needed to be replaced. we got a jump and headed back to the campground to wait for AAA. Tom called them and explained the problem and thought they were coming out with a new battery.

When they got there, they said, "We don't have a battery with us but we can give you a jump to go into Bryce and buy a new battery there but they're closed for the night so you will have to get it tomorrow."

So what do you want us to do, let the car run all night until the place opens in the morning?

OK, I'm the first to admit that I am no expert when it comes to fixing a car but even I figured out very quickly that this AAA driver was an idiot. It was after 5 p.m. when we called, he knew they were closed when we called. He couldn't just say, "The place you need to get a battery is closed for the night so why don't I come out and give you a jump in the morning?" Ugh.

The next day we got another jump drove to the place to get the battery. They didn't have one so we drove to the nearest city, picked up the battery they needed and drove back to have them install it. After all of that trouble, we aren't sure if the gave us the battery or just didn't charge us but the total bill came to only $23. Tom asked the guy about it and he said, "As far as I'm concerned the battery was free." Needless to say, Tom didn't argue with the guy or ask anymore questions.

Sevier, Utah

While we relaxed for the night in Richfield, Utah, I did a quick search on Betty (our GPS) to see if we were missing anything while we were in the area. I found the Freemont Indian State Park located twenty or so miles away and it looked interesting so we decided to make a stop there on the way to Bryce Canyon National Park.

This village was almost demolished when I-70 was being built. They were able to preserve the rock cliffs that still have petroglyphs from the Freemont Indians who lived in this area from 400-1300 A.D. We hiked the trails and took a look at the artwork.

Petroglyphs from the Freemont Indians.

More petroglyths.

While we were at the state park, Cub Scout Pack #605 was hosting their summer day camp. Kaitlyn and Andrew were really excited to be invited to try their hand at Native American dart throwing using an atlatl. It was harder than it looked but Kaitlyn was actually able to make contact with the deer target.

Andrew tries his hand at using an atlatl to spear the deer.

Kaitlyn was able to make contact with the deer target.

This was a very fun pit stop on the way to Bryce Canyon. I really like it when we can be spontaneous and find a place we didn't expect to go to and enjoy. Thanks Betty!

Full Moon Hijinks

The day we wanted to pull out of Moab, Utah started off on the wrong foot. I guess I should say it started out on a wet foot and things went downhill from there!

It was right around the first night of the full moon so we're giving it credit for everything that happens for the next two days.

First, the bathroom flooded. Tom was filling up the black tank with extra water so he could really flush it out. For all of you non-RV'ers, the black tank is the one that holds everything from the toilet. Yuck. Anyway, he let the water run and forgot he was suppose to be monitoring the fullness of the tank.

Kaitlyn got up and said, 'I think there is a little water on the bathroom floor. The next thing I know, Tom jumped up, yelled "Oh, shit!" (which is kind of funny looking back at the situation) and runs to the bathroom to turn off the water then he runs outside to dump the tank. Meanwhile, I begin the clean up. Luckily, it was only water and we had our pool towels sitting there so it was mopped up quickly.

For the record, I have never seen Tom move so fast first thing in the morning.

After that fun start to the day, we broke camp and were ready to pull out once the leveling jacks under the RV we retracted. Usually, just a touch of a button would do it but alas not this day. Unfortunately, in our routine for getting ready to leave, I am usually the one who pushes that button so when alarms started beeping and the jacks didn't move, I immediately felt like I had broken it. Great.

Long story short, the site we were on was very unlevel so the jacks were extended further than they should have been. After sitting in that hot, sandy environment and settling for a few days made the jacks not want to cooperate.

Again, lots of cursing and muttering ensued. The good thing about the whole situation was there were four other people from Ohio staying at the camp and they all came over to help Tom manually lower the jacks. That is one thing I have noticed about RV'ers, they are usually pretty friendly and are willing to help out if you need it.

With the jacks finally up, it was time to check the lights on our tow car and pull out. I bet you can guess what happened...the lights didn't work. Well, they worked a little. They were very dim so Tom went with it but he wasn't happy about it.

We finally pulled out and drove to a KOA in Richfield, Utah for the night. We didn't do anything but let the kids swim to burn off some extra energy while Tom fixed the tow lights. (I'm always amazed at how he can fix just about anything.)

Of course, I did laundry too. All of those wet towels from the morning were washed, dried, folded and put away in a jiffy. That is the good thing about laundry at the campground - with multiple washers and dryers everything gets done in less than an hour. I guess after a day like this one, it's the small things that make me happy.

What a day! We kept asking ourselves, "What else could go wrong?" On the way to Bryce Canyon, we'll find out...

Moab, Utah

Arches National Park is located in Moab, Utah. I had seen a few pictures of the rock formations there but I guess I didn't really know what to expect when we rolled into town. When we got there, I was simply blown away.

It's hard to explain what is so special about this place. Maybe if you have been there you know what I mean. It's not just the unusual rock formations or the vibrant colors. Arches NP is so unique - it is like looking at a living postcard or a scene from an old western movie but in HD.

This is a place everyone should see in their lifetime.

Tom and the kids climbing on the rocks.

This national park is so much fun because you can drive to the trails you want to hike or you can drive to viewpoints where you can just get out and look but still see what you came to see.

The first time we got out and I encouraged Andrew to climb up one of the rock faces, he looked at me like, "Is she serious? I hope she's serious!" I think he thought we were just going to drive around and look at the scenery but once he found out we could climb around and explore, he was totally into it.

The kids had so much fun hiking the trails, climbing up the slickrock and looking at the rocks to decide what they looked like. It was like looking at the clouds for shapes but using the rocks instead.

The Delicate Arch

The Double Arch

Andrew hiding in the rocks.

Sunset at Arches National Park.

I hope I didn't bore you with too many photos of the rocks. We have plenty more than I posted here and you can come over to the house for a special screening if you really want to see them all. LOL