We filled it with as much as we could:
August 7 - August 17, 2014
Coral Pink Sand Dunes
North Rim of the Grand Canyon
Zions National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park
Paiute UTV Jamboree
Friday August 8, 2014
To the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. Wow, the sand really is coral pink!! We set up camp in a beautiful spot shaded mostly by Junipers and then we hit the dunes. One thing about camp that was so funny. We had just arrived at camp and Kevin was still trying to figure out where to put the tent when Jadeyn discovered some flat leaf cactus that had all of its spines broken off. He was so excited to be able to touch it, he felt it all over; I’m surprised he didn’t rub it on his cheek! Well, five minutes later: Ouch! Ouch! His little fingers were covered in microscopic hair like spines. The cactus’s secret weapon!!
From a distance, there really is no way to tell just how massive they are until you get right up next to them and wow, are they steep and huge. I have to admit, I’m not the best dune person. I get nervous and I start expressing my apprehension and then Jadeyn latches on to my fears and he starts saying stuff too. Oh dear. I’m nervous about the feeling of being out of control. But away we went. Up and down, spraying sand in all directions. The sun was hot, the sand was flying and so were we.
Well, we came to a really steep hill and we were okay. I was
uncertain about going down it and told Kevin that Jadeyn and I wouldn’t be
doing it. Well, I guess I started a chain of events. We backed down from that
steep hill and chose another route. Kevin had scoped out the downhill and knew
that we could make it. Well, I guess he was hesitant on my account, but he
slowed down at the crest of the hill just enough to get us high centered right
a the peak of the dune! Crap. We were totally stuck! We tried to plow through
and sent up such a roster tail of sand that our tires dug in deep and were
halfway buried by the time we stopped. We got out to survey the damage and saw
that our entire belly was flat on the sand and our front tires were spinning in
the air. What to do? We had to dig ourselves out. We began scooping and
scooping. The texture of the sand is perfectly smooth and moist after about 6
inches of dry. But it was packed hard against the belly. We dug for about 15
minutes before giving it a try. We progressed about 6 inches and were dead
stuck again. Humm. Plan B. We rolled out the winch and Kevin started to dig a
trnch as an anchor while Jadeyn and I dug out some more. We worked for another
20 minutes because we figured we had a one time shot at this. Right before we
were ready to try again we finally saw three 4 wheelers come across a dune.
Yay! So while Kevin tried out the winch which didn’t end up being deep enough,
me and three other people braced ourselves behind the machine. The sand
sprayed, and we were just enough strength to pushover the crest and down Kevin
went! Success!! I was so happy, I gave one of the guys a great big hug which
made him all uncomfortable. We were out. We thanked them, they took off and
Jadeyn and I raced down the 50 feet of dune to join Kevin. Whew! Needless to
say, we took the easy trails out and straight to the visitor’s center to get
better maps. The lady took one look at Kevin and said he needed to buy a
specific shirt. It said: Got sand? I got it in my eyes, my face, my teeth, my
ears, my nose… His entire cheek was still coated in red sand! Jadeyn’s shoes
were FULL of about a half a cup of sand each! 
We got some info on some cool trails that we hope to do this week, then we checked out the 'overlook' and realized how beautiful the whole area is, but at the same time, how minuscule the dunes look from a distance. Back to camp for a nice dinner of tortilla pizzas and soda since we were famished. We took advantage of the luxury of having a shower and his the sleeping bags.
Saturday, August 9, 2014
What perfect weather. The evening last night was calm and cool and we were able to sleep just under a light fleece blanket and even wear shorts first thing in the morning! Hot chocolate and blueberry muffins for breakfast. We got everything ready and were one our way to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon by 8am.
We chose the north rim since we have been to the south, its much less busy and it ended up being totally amazing. Forested and aspen trees. We chose several overlooks and short hikes and weren’t disappointed. Each different angle of the canyon was picture perfect. On the way here we had tried to describe the canyon to Jadeyn and its hard to describe just how huge and massive it was. He was impressed.
One of our favorite areas was Cape Royal. We say angel’s window through which was the first time we were able to see the river and view it right through the hole in the rock. The Cape Royal lookout reached way out over the canyon. We described it as the perfect landing spot for massive birds or even dragons! We ate lunch near this spot. We said goodbye to the Grand Canyon and headed back toward the dunes.
We got back to camp at 7:15 and decided to take advantage of the last scrap of sunlight and set off to discover the dinosaur tracks. The guy at the info desk was very descriptive of the trails we would have to take, but since virtually none of the trails are marked (because the cows keep knocking the signs down) there was a high potential for getting lost. The first part of the trail dropped us into a winding sandy bottom mini canyon that wound back and forth and was totally awesome and fun! We found the right place: out of the sand rose amazing slickrock. The dinosaur prints were sweet. They weren’t marked, so using the map, we discovered them on our own and walked in their very steps. It was pretty cool and special. One set of tracks even looked as if the dinosaur was slipping down the hill and you could see where he dragged his feet. There were at least five different dinosaurs represented in this small space. The sun had set by the time we started to head back but there was still plenty of light to see. Fun trail back again.
A beautiful full moon had risen so we rode out on the dunes to watch it brighten. Wow. Back to camp, corn on the cob for dinner, a fire and a quick peak in a neighboring camper’s binoculars to see the moon up close. Wow.
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Up and at ‘em to head to Zions National Park. Jadeyn was dead to the world even when we shook him. Guess we wore him out! We finally got him to wake up by turning on Angry Birds Star Wars on the Kindle! One funny this morning Jadeyn and Kevin headed to the bathroom and saw a stink bug. “Don’t get close Jadeyn, that’s a stink bug!” What does he do? Picks it up and get blasted! We called him stinkbug all morning and he didn’t think it was funny!
On to Zion’s. So cool that when entering the park, the moment you pass the sign, the road changed to red to match the canyon walls. You forget just how towering the canyon walls are. Wow! Magnificent.
We decided to do the Emerald Pool trails first. The hike to the first lake was paved but still winding and inclining. Red rocks towering over our heads, desert lizards scampering across the trail, feeling the heat of the sun on us and then suddenly coming across an oasis among the rocks. A beautiful green pool of water and high above us coming from the cliff was a thin spattering of waterfall dropping probably 40 feet to us below. Green ferns and plants grew everywhere the water splashed. We walked behind the waterfall to continue the trail to the middle pool. The trail difficulty increased and stairs were carved into the rock. Our little mountain goat Jadeyn plowed ahead and we loved every second. It was amazing that temperature difference from the sunny path to the shady spots. Up and up this time to the 3rd pool. This part was a nice steep climb up the rocks and in the sun. This time the oasis was even more rewarding. We opened up into an alcove in the rock where the pool was nestled. Trees and green vines and shrubs were everywhere; it was lovely. A brief snack and then back down. Jadeyn had his second wind by now so we had to hold the reins on him a few times to remind him to slow down. We don’t want an injury at the beginning of several hiking days. Hiking on sand and rock takes getting used to.
Hiking was sweet! About every 50 feet we had to enter or cross the river. At the deepest point we went through it was above Jadeyn’s waist. Small steps were the key and making sure your first foot was secure before moving your second foot. Some areas were sandy bottom, or small rocks, the most precarious were the larger boulders which were slippery. Jadeyn only went down a couple times and there were several close calls with me and Kev. Watching Jadeyn tromping through the canyon with his little leather Indiana Jones hat, so excited every time he got to go back in the water was priceless. His favorite part was when the water would go up to his belly button. The deeper we got into the canyon, the narrower the walls because and the more magnificent! Parts were sheer straight up, others times the walls curved like the waves of water had carved them out. At one place, a 50 foot waterfall cascaded down a sheer wall in a narrow stream. Jadeyn and I waded over to it. He took his backpack off and leaned right up into the waterfall. He loved it!
We stopped for lunch at an area that seemed like a big play area for everyone. Here’s where there was a little incident. I’ll spare the details, but Jadeyn had to poop and he and I had to take care of it and get ready to pack it out. Ewe. That spot will always stay in our memories. We were at the point where we needed to decide to press on or start back. Since we got Jadeyn taken care of, we could go on! Yay! What a fun experience. We went on for about an hour and a half more until we came to the point where the canyon divides. We went to the narrower way and watched some people wade up to their waist, grab onto someone’s hand and have to be hoisted up over a huge boulder. We were tempted, but finally decided that it was 3pm and we had better turn back.
We were so proud of Jadeyn to have gotten so far. At this point in the canyon, there were only a very few kids this deep in. He is a trooper and got a lot of smiles and comments from fellow hikers. He was our trail blazer on the way back and remembered every route we took on the way up: wait guys, go this way, we went in the river around that rock, remember? My favorite comment from him: This is way way treacherous and so cool! We went fast on last because we thought that it would be a three hour hike out. Nope: 90 minutes and we were out! We couldn’t believe it. So much fun though, great accomplishment and so rewarding. Once away from the water crossings, when we were on the mile walk back along the river, Jadeyn started to drag. We did one more short hike to the Weeping Rock Gardens. Short, but very steep. I wasn’t even sure he was going to make it. Beautiful hanging garden and then back down where he practically ran the whole way. We hopped back onto the shuttle for the 45 minute ride to the Visitor’s Center and he fell completely asleep on my lap! When enjoyed Zion’s so much this trip!
Back at camp, we
were famished. Burrito dinner and then a shower. Tonight we were too exhausted
for a campfire so we crawled into our sleeping bags and read Harry Potter. Hot
night tonight. We were all so hot, we opened the tent windows and all slept on
top of our sleeping bags.
Monday, August 11, 2014
Its always good when it’s a Monday and Kevin is with us! We packed up camp so fast and were in the Jeep by 8am. Nice going. Off to Bryce Canyon National Park!! We set up camp and headed straight for Grande Escalante National Monument so we could do Spooky and Peek-a-Boo Gulch, the slot canyons we are so excited for. At the Vistor’s Center, we were told they strongly warn against it today. There will be rain this afternoon and a flash flood watch is in effect! Oh no! We were so disappointed. Jadeyn was devastated. So, instead we did a scenic loop on highway 12. The first part was gray desolate rocks on both sides stretching way out, so surreal. We stopped for lunch under some wild oak trees at a trail head and Jadeyn had a mighty battle between acorns! The next part of the trail was on dirt through a forest for about 30 miles. Pretty, but we would rather be doing the slots. There was an amazing bridge spanning a gap on The Devil’s Backbone that was built 130 years ago by dropping two pine tree logs across the chasm and a guy driving a bulldozer across with only a rope around his waist! Crazy.
Back to Bryce Canyon National Park and we finally got to show Jadeyn what a Hoodoo was. There is nothing on earth quite like Bryce. It is breathtaking. We hiked Navajo Trail. Wow. Switchbacks down and down into the beautiful depths of color. Blue sky above to highlight the red rocks and green pines. Formations everywhere (and people). We were surrounded by so many different languages that we counted only a handful of English speakers on the whole hike! Wall street was amazing again as well as the really intense switch backs to get out!
Tuesday, August
12, 2014
Well, it rained most of the night. Our alarm went off at 6am ready for us to head to the slot canyons. Last night we had decided that if the sky was blue, we would head to the canyon. Well, as we lay there, we could hear the drizzle start again. Dang. Jadeyn had rolled clear off his sleeping mat and was twisted up in the middle of the tent! We crawled out of the tent at 8am (no rush) and were finally able to enjoy a leisurely breakfast of pancakes and eggs instead of rushing off. Saddest thing is that it’s simply too dangerous to try the slot canyons and we were all looking so forward to doing them…but with the rain all night and morning, there’s no way we should attempt it.
As soon as we finish breakfast it
started to rain again, and rain hard! So what to do? We went to each of the
overlooks that we hadn’t been able to do yesterday cloaked in our rain gear.
Seeing Bryce in the rain: the colors were just as vibrant and beautiful! We
hopped back into the Jeep to determine the next plan of action. We seriously
contemplated driving to Cedar City to go to the movies. TMNT was playing, but
90 minutes of driving one way was a little much today, so we made the right
decision. We went to the Visitors Center, picked up a Junior Ranger workbook
and headed back to the trails! We are so glad we did. It was still raining
hard, but we ended up completing Queens Trail, Navajo Trail and a good portion
of Peek-a-Boo! Probably between 5-6 miles total. Not bad for a sloppy, muddy
mess. The trail was slippery in places when the rain saturated the red dirt and
a bit precarious footing but we all managed to stay on our feet. The rain just
kept coming down and by the time we were done we all had red dirt almost up to
our knees and our boots were caked in it! We had to strip Jadeyn down and change
him before letting him into the Jeep. 
Our favorite part of the hike were the beauty, solitude, crispness of the air, being together, and the candid pictures. I had Jadeyn bring a few of his Star Wars guys and we posed them and took pictures of them all over the place. Up on rocks, in front of the hoodoos, in the trees….it was a riot! Yeah, I had as much fun as Jadeyn doing it. Kevin kept Jadeyn entertained and climbing when we go to the steep parts by getting him going about Harry Potter!
We were famished by the time we finished at 3pm.
We decided to eat at the lodge, but found out that h soup and salad bar was
ending, headed over to the Pizza part and their buffet was ending too! So we
headed into town for a buffet at Ruby’s Restaurant. Not the best buffet, but it
was warm and tasty. At this point the rain had stopped, but it was still only
60 degrees! Back to the Visitors Center to get Jadeyn’s Jr Ranger badge. Part
of the badge was to hike three miles of trails and take pictures of the “I
Hiked the Hoodoos” medallion on the trail. Jadeyn was proud to show his three.
But, he did a pretty pathetic recitation of the oath: wiggling, licking his
lips, fidgeting and mumbling. Oh my. Back to camp to get all cleaned up and ready
for tomorrow, but Jadeyn discovered little chunks of charcoal and had a mighty
battle with his Star Wars guys. It went for at least another and a half and his
battle echoed all over the campground! Very pleasant evening without heavy
rain. Nice and chilly so we made a campfire and had yummy s’mores finally. To
bed.Paiute UTV Jamboree
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Well, it started raining hard again in the middle of the night and didn’t let up. Oh man, not much fun to have to pack up camp with a wet tent, let alone currently raining! We read Harry Potter for awhile (we are holding off reading at night since Harry is meeting the basilisk). At about 7:45, the rain lessened and we dashed to get as much done as we could. It became apparent pretty son that it was hopeless in the drizzle so we just kept going and wiping off the mud. Right at the front of the tent there was about an inch and a half of mucky clay that coated our feet. The tent was a muddy mess to stuff too. When we got everything in, we walked to the bathrooms and did our best to washing off the caked mud before getting into the Jeep. On the road again.
We reached Marysvale and found our Bed and Breakfast. It is the oldest functioning hotel in the state of Utah! It is adorable. Our room wasn’t ready since we were so early so we unloaded the RZR and headed to register for the jamboree. It’s strange going to a rally and knowing that you probably won’t know a soul there. We have gotten used to Taylor Park and Moab and this was a whole new crowd. I’m sure we’ll get to know some great people, but the majority are retired age and only a few kids. We signed up for our trails and then headed back for lunch. Funny side note: the B&B offered to let us stay in one of the cabins: less $$ and available now. We asked to see it. It was the Lonesome Dove/Miss Kitty’s House of Pleasure! The very room that Jadeyn and Kevin were freaking about before! We kindly declined and we love the Hitchin’ Post Suite. Very quaintly decorated.
We hit the trail at 2:30 since we weren’t sure how long it would take to get up the mountain. Tonight is the whole group gathering for the Dinner on the Mountain. We were hoping that the rain would hold off for tonight. 15 minutes up the trail and it started to drizzle. We went with our rule: if we put on our rain gear, it won’t rain. So we did jackets and rain pants and all. It only rained off and on the rest of the night! Bt tea in did interesting things: the clouds came in way low through the trees and valley and were beautiful.
And at one part, the road was so muddy, golf ball sized chunks of mud were flipping all over and on us. It felt like frogs jumping into the RZR. It was fun to have a mini mud fight! The mountain we went up was quite beautiful. We all met at 9,940 feet elevation. Dinner on the Mountain. Circling the 9 foot across bonfire, everyone chatted and enjoyed the evening. Dinner was a tri-tip roast (okay, but not the best, corn, rolls, potatoes (yummy), and peach cake for dessert. A very nice event. There was a raffle held at the end and Kevin won a coupon packet. When we got home, we got a good chuckle out of it. There were handwritten coupons from some of the local businesses, like a $10 off a little hair salon. We were her for a rally, am I real going to go have my hair done?
Thursday, August 14, 2014
First day of the Paiute UTV Jamboree. Well, we had signed up for Tip Top. At 7:30am we headed downstairs for some breakfast. With our B&B room came a breakfast of hard boiled eggs (Jadeyn’s favorite), bagels, muffins and cereal. While we were eating, we met a man from Texas. This was his first time coming anywhere close to the west. He had just visited Ourey, CO and Arches, UT and was amazed at how beautiful the mountains were. It’s hard to believe that there really was a grown person who had never really spent anytime in the mountains before. We are so lucky. After breakfast, we went to get in line for our ride. There are 30 machines exactly on our ride including a few 4 wheelers. They had a really nice system at this rally. There were six guides and every time we got to an intersection, one of the guides waited there to make sure every vehicle went the right way. We have to admit, the first half was pretty ho-hum. Flat gravel road. Then we finally made it across the highway to the beautiful country. Up the mountains we went. It was truly beautiful country. We stopped at a 10,000 peak with overlooks over all the surrounding mountains. While we stopped, we met a lady from Orem who was there all by herself on a 4 wheeler. She was quite nice and does rallys all over. Pretty brave. Jadeyn got to know all the dogs on the trail too. Each of which had a set of doggles; so cute. We stopped for lunch and got to know a few more people including the Red Dirt T-shirt guys who did all the T shirts for the ROT last year. The trail was quite nice, but not very technical. We got back about 4pm and by then I had a pretty intense headache from who knows what (glasses, hat, dehydration). I took some ibuprofen and covered my head while Kevin read and Jadeyn romped all over the room with his army guys and piled the cushions up and jumped around until he was out of breath. Whew! We headed down for dinner of tortilla pizzas before going to the evening’s raffle. We played on the playground with Jadeyn and on the swings. Fun. Then up to the B&B and read Harry Potter then to bed.
Friday, August 15, 2014
So today is all activities around camp; no scheduled rides. We woke up, had a nice breakfast and headed out to figure out where the parade was going to be. It took a bit to figure out where the parade route was going to be, but we finally fond a good spot right on Hwy 89 and soon about 30 machines headed our way. Some were decorated, others were carrying dogs and then there was a truck pulling the “crazy people” (as Jadeyn called them) wearing all pink. About every 3rd vehicle threw candy so Jadeyn made out great candy-wise! Kevin even caught two packets of zip ties! Fun. Next we browsed though the vehicles entered into the Show-N-Shine and we all decided that we should have entered ours covered in mud! We talked to several vendors about their stuff and then a couple who had a 2015 RZR 4 1000. Wow, pretty machine. Good to talk to them about it. I think Kevin is leaning about 75% towards selling our RZ and buying the 1000. His other 25% is leaning to selling and taking a year off. Jadeyn was all mopey and complaining while we talked so I whispered to him that this is how dad gets excited about a new RZR, otherwise we may not got one. All of the sudden, Jadeyn started asking Kev all these grown up questions: so dad, which of these new accessories would you like to buy if you got a new 1000? So cute.
Next event was the blind man’s drive which was pretty hilarious to watch. The driver was blindfolded and his partner would have to use a microphone and direct him around barrels and over ramps and finally to a giant tire that they would have to push. We got to hear all the directions and interactions between the blindfolded and the director so it was a riot. We came home for lunch d then back for the obstacle course. It was a pretty tricky looking one. A giant hill, giant puddle, huge pile of tires, 90 degree turn, another hill, moguls, log obstacles, and then some launch hills. It was great fun to watch them fly through the course and one guy wiped out and flipped. Men ran out there, rolled him back over and he took off and flew through the rest of the course! Pretty fun, but at the same time, I wouldn’t want to put my RZR through that kind of abuse! Next was the belly flop. They dug a huge hole and filled it with muddy water and made a big real out of recruiting kids and adults (floppers) to the belly flop challenge. It was hilarious. They stood on some bales of hay and basically launched into a swan dive belly flop right into the muddy water. The kids were adorable, the adults were a riot!
Jadeyn decided that he would do the mud run. It was a big 40 foot trench of muddy water that gradually got deeper. The kids would plunge into it, run across then climb a huge dirt pile and back again. I was so proud of Jadeyn for wanting to do it. He did great, fell once completely over his head, but finished right in the middle of the pack and was proud of it. After the race was over, he decided that he hadn’t had enough and plunged in again and again with other kids. We brought him home, muddy and soggy and got him cleaned up. Back for the drag races. The tractor pull was still going on, wasn’t too exciting and showed no end in site and it was so hot that we left and cooled off on the lawn at the inn. Jadeyn read to us and then we finished the 2nd Harry Potter book. We had chicken quesadillas for dinner on the grill and went back for the raffle at 7:30. No luck tonight. Back home again. We discovered the ice machine and got re-hydrated!
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Last day of the jamboree. The trails are leaving at 8:30 so we had to hurry a bit to get breakfast. Last night Jadeyn seemed to be coming down with a cold! Can you believe it!? He hasn’t even been around kids, let alone kids who have been sick! His nose is all plugged up and since it has been months since he has been sick, he is being all dramatic about it! Our trail today is Monroe Mountain. As we were leaving the inn, the inn keeper guy told us that this was his favorite trail, so we had high hopes about this one. We have the same trail guides as Thursday and they were great. Well, 48 minutes later of dusty gravel and asphalt and roads smooth enough for any vehicle, we finally made it to some trees and a bit of mountains. We were hoping that maybe now we would get off the road and be on trails. No such luck. The mountain was nice, but going through it on a wide dirt road wasn’t what we were expecting. The “peak” was at 11,227 feet and was a mountaintop with a bunch of radio towers on it. We stayed for a few minutes before driving 10 minutes to the next radio tower covered peak! But in that 10 minutes, we hit 4,000 miles on our RZR! Pretty col. We drove again on the same stuff until 1pm, stopped for lunch near a lake. Back on the trail and then the same thing on the way back. The best way to describe the jamboree is kind of disappointing. All the other rallys, we have had great trails, great events and great people. We just felt that the people were all of a different generation and they weren’t our crowd. Yes, we found people that we could relate to and talk with, but overall, it felt awkward. The trails were just not what we expected either. We had hear there were 1,000 miles of UTV trails, but they felt more like flat county roads that the UTVs can share with cars. The rumor we had hear was that this rally has been losing attendance and we can tell that any newcomers probably won’t be back, like us. Bummer. We decided that as soon as we got off the trail, we would get cleaned up, pack up, and start on the trip back. Might as ll split up the drive over two days so we don’t have to do it all in one day (the day before school starts too). Lightning fast showers and then pack up, said goodbye to the inn keepers and hit the road. Jadeyn wined the whole drive, claiming he can’t breathe and what would happen if he didn’t make it! The only time he wasn’t whimpering was when his army men were attacking the Star Wars guys! But, the second we made it to Jennifer’s house, he was bounding around happy as can be. We are so glad that we stopped so we could end this amazing trip on a good note!
