Spring Break, Part II

And the adventure began with some drama on Thursday which delayed departures. I was the first one to actually get out the door leaving about noon. We left with a prayer that the Suburban would function properly. About an hour into the trip, I got a call from our mechanic's wife telling me we needed a new starter. From the prayer, I felt pretty confident that we would have NO car trouble on the trip and we didn't. Others were not so fortunate.

Our friends, the Goins and the Nebekers, didn't leave until 3 pm. I told them I'd have dinner waiting for them - Dutch oven lasagna, tossed salad, and rolls. Only one hour into their trip, the Goins' trailer had a tire blowout delaying them for an additional 2 hours. They ended up dining at Arby's instead.

They made it to our campsite about 9:40 pm and set up camp in the dark. We camped just outside Capital Reef National Park. We mostly had the campsite to ourselves which was really nice - no worries about being too noisy!

Friday we spent the day on the 4-wheelers. I'd hauled down 2, Goins hauled down 1, and Nebekers rented 2. Unfortunately, Nebekers didn't think to ask if the rental place had a trailer and the rental place is used to people who 4-wheel right out of their site so after traveling 35 minutes, Todd and Jill found they couldn't get the 4-wheelers back to our campsite so they drove back, picked up my trailer, and headed back out to get those darn 4-wheelers. It just seemed like it was destined to be one of THOSE trips!

Everyone spent plenty of time on the 4-wheelers. I think Chandler was the happiest of my children since I let him drive it all by himself multiple times - he was in heaven! I managed to dump the 4-wheeler on my back (overestimated the amount of sage brush and underestimated the pile of dirt). My back was extremely sore for the next couple of days (still a bit sore but improving). Shanley also managed to land under a 4-wheeler at one point. That night we grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and roasted Starbursts over the fire.

Kevin, Brakston, Brakston's girlfriend Whitney, and our friend Jeff Pocock drove up Friday night and arrived about 11:45 pm. We were all glad to have them join us!

On Saturday we drove to Goblin Valley State Park and spent most of the day there. The rock formations are incredible!
Chandler sitting on a "goblin".
Me:
Alec playing hide-n-seek:
Alec and Katie Goins:
Alec:
Jared and Katie Goins and Shanley:
Kevin:
Nathan Goins and McKayla:
Abby and Zach Nebeker, McKayla, and Nathan Goins after they'd climbed the highest mountain they could find!

Then we returned to camp for an Easter egg hunt. Here's Cole Nebeker searching:

Alec with his finds:

We spent the remainder of the day on the 4-wheelers. We also dyed and decorated eggs (after boiling them on the Camp Chef). Some threw a football (2 jammed fingers), others threw a frisbee, and still others kicked a soccer ball. We ended the evening with S'mores made with fudge-striped cookies, traditional s'mores, and s'mores made with Reese's and Mounds. Yum!

For some better photos, head to Whitney's blog here.