Our trip to Zion National Park this year was so much fun. Granny decided to come with us again. The trip started out with a trip to Chevron for their oh so delish do-nuts. The kids watched movies and Mom and I talked the whole 5 hours to Cedar! We stopped for lunch then finished the trip. We had a small problem with our original campsite. It was still under construction so we had to go to a different campground and find another. We located the best spot and put up our tent. Mom was very grateful that we brought hammers this year!! After a snack we hit the road again to go hike the Canyon Overlook trail. The kids did such a great job. Even Gage was ready to be a big boy and hike by himself! The wind was a little wild up on the top of the mountain but the view was spectacular as always. The tunnel was also a lot of fun. Back at camp we roasted hot dogs (Gage was a little upset that I hadn’t brought his special ones, oops!) and marshmallows. We went to bed early so that we could be prepared for all the hiking!
The next day we woke up, ate breakfast in the van because it was soooo cold. We caught the shuttle and headed up the canyon. We hiked Emerald Pools, Weeping Rock, stopped at Big Bend for a snack, and the Riverside walk. We had to find a different lunch spot this year because the water was so high but none of us were complaining because the squirrels weren’t quite as aggressive where we stopped as they are by the beach. We figured out that we could hike to our campsite if we got off at the last shuttle stop so all the kids agreed we could do one more hike. It was a great hike and I think it will be how we get back to camp from now on.
We made it back to camp, had a little rest, ate some food, then headed over the bridge into Springdale. We were so excited to get ice cream and were so bummed when we saw that it was closed! We found a treat for everyone at the grocery store. Then it was on to the movie theater where we saw Rango. Gage couldn’t believe how big the screen was!! After the movie we were all tired and ornery so we got right to bed and slept really well.
The next day we broke camp. Once again Mom was glad that we had hammers! We got the van loaded and decided we had enough time to take the shuttle back up the canyon and do one more thing. We stopped at the Court of the Patriarchs and took some pics. The kids enjoyed running up and down the trail since there were no other people on it! We went back to camp, got in the BatVan and headed home.
It was a great trip with many memories. It’s still hard to do camping things without Jer. I know he is so excited that his kids are learning to enjoy something that meant so much to him. Can’t wait til next year!!
