Eaters of the Rocks, Drinkers of the Rain

Our first camping trip with Bailey didn't go as well as we'd hoped it would so this one seemed to have the same anticipation build up as that. I don't think we've ever gone 6 weeks between trips in the spring time. And as excited as I was, I was struggling with anxiety about everything, going somewhere new on a holiday weekend, getting any sleep, and being able to get some decent exercise and exploration in. So oddly, Tyler and I decided to change our plans in the hopes that at least a familiar place would relieve some of the pressure for things to go well on this trip. Though I would have loved to try a new place, I knew I would need to be flexible about hikes falling through and thought that might be a shame if it was something I'd never done before. Lucky for us, Tyler had some friends going to the San Rafael Swell this weekend that we'd been meaning to go camping with for a while We coordinated to meet them Thursday morning for a hike and take it from there.

After a long car ride, Bailey was eager to wiggle her little cinnabuns around so I put her down in the sand to play. I figured she was going to get dirty anyway, let it happen and clean her up afterward rather than fight it all day. Not surprisingly she began immediately popping rocks into her mouth. I condone this only because I watch her very closely and because she is so damn set to do it anyway.

We hiked Crack Canyon which for some reason I didn't remember being so awesome? Perhaps when I was there before we didn't hike as far back or my memory of it was drowned out by the memory of a camp chair falling in the fire with the car keys in the pocket and a dust storm in the middle of the night and getting lost when I came out of the canyon and also getting my car stuck on a huge shrub the night we arrived. Yes, that all happened on the same trip, August 2004.

So anyway, Crack was awesome and so were Tyler's friends.

And most incredibly--Bailey slept through the entire night that night! That was her first time in her life to do that, including any night at home. We borrowed Tyler's brother's tent (much larger and taller than ours) to try setting up Bailey's portable crib in it and it worked. I couldn't believe she slept so well. She even took a great nap in the pack-n-play the next day too, and she looked really snug in there.

Friday all of us hiked out to Wild Horse Window, or as we later learned is actually named Skylight Arch. I love the canyons, but this reminded me of how much I just hiking right on the rock. I mean, we usually pick a campsite that has rock to climb on right around us anyway, but this was just really nice and here and there would be a different colored wild flower for me to show Bailey and let her learn about it (mostly with her mouth) as we hiked to the next one.



Tyler and I and the kids took a quick drive to Hanksville to get some ice and because none of us had ever been there. There was a cool old church and it was good to know how close it was and what was there.

Then Bailey did not do that well that night (last night) and the rain never once let up either. A friend of mine met us at the campsite late and unfortunately had to set up in the rain and basically wait it out til morning. But this morning it was still raining and there didn't seem to be any sign of it letting up. We had all been up a lot in the night and up early with Bailey so like the schmuck friend that I am, I bailed and we decided to drive back home today.

We did first pay a visit to Goblin Valley despite the potential mud baths we could get there with it being so wet and rainy. It was cool to see all the streams formed in the park with the little bit of moisture.

Once we knew we were headed home later, I wanted to get Bailey as much outside time as possible before getting in the car. I also really hoped that I could play in the rain long enough and get my clothes wet enough to warrant Tyler stripping me down and wrapping me in a blanket for the ride home, but alas, he wouldn't have any of that in front of the children. So we headed back home in our dirty clothes and I will be folding them just as soon as I'm done here.

A few other favorite pictures from the trip:







Watch Tyler's blog as well as our family outdoor adventure blog for more detailed accounts of these hikes. Also, tons of pictures on our Flickr site in the San Rafael section.