For anyone who doesn't know, we bought a pop-up trailer a few months ago and have been itching to use it! We finally did last weekend in Capitol Reef National Park! We LOVED every second of it. It has been four, yep four whole years since I've been camping and I've been missing it terribly.
We packed up and headed out early Friday morning to beat the crowds and to make sure we got a camp site. Even though it's Capitol Reef, the campground still fills up every night. We got there about 12:30 and had no trouble getting a spot. You can probably get there until 4 or so and still get a spot but we got first picks.
After we set everything up and enjoyed a nice lunch we set out on a walk to the visitors center. We never made it because we got side-tracked at Ripple River (??) Nature Center. They've got little toys and dress-ups kids can do. Millie liked the little propeller toy quite a bit. We also joined in on the Junior Geology program. Pretty fun, a little too old for Millie but she endured and got her Jr. Geologist badge. When the ranger asked where everyone was from, Millie was a little upset that no one called on her. I told her to raise her hand really high and the ranger asked her where she was from. Millie replied, "Well, I'm from my house." Everyone got a laugh at that!
We walked back and the girls both took naps. Pat went into town to get some wood and some ice. We cooked hot dogs and toasted marshmallows. Millie was very proud of doing it all by herself. I guess that's a by-product of turning three, wanting to do everything herself. Daphne ate like a champ the whole camping trip. I've determined she likes store bought baby food MUCH better then my home-made stuff. She devours the food pouches.
The next morning we woke up nice and early (in real camping fashion right??). We ate breakfast and took off on an off-road adventure. We were goind to do a full 60 mile loop but I get anxious having the girls in the car that long so we cut it in half. I know we probably missed so cool stuff but we still saw some cool stuff too. We drove out to the Lower Desert Overlook (cutting out Cathedral Valley and the Temple of the Sun and Moon). On the way, we stopped by an abandoned truck (not sure if you call that abandoned anymore or what) and a spring.
We also drove through these A-Mazing hills called the Bentonite Hills. They were gorgeous and unfortunately pictures don't do it justice. You'll just have to drive out there to see it.
Our last stop was the overlook to Jailhouse Rock. Really cool and fun to see parts of Capitol Reef that VERY FEW people see. We only so 4 other cars total on this trip. Two cars were together. They were travellers from France who had retired and were spending one year driving from the tip of South America to Alaska. Pretty cool huh?
We got back, played in the Fremont River for a bit and then cooked some Dutch Oven stew and biscuits. YUM!
The next morning we just packed up to head out. Camping with a family is way different then camping just the two of us. We made simple plans and hung out doing nothing for lots of the day. It was great. Daphne sure loved it! She had the nap of her life in the back of the car while we all packed.
Such a fun trip with such a fun kids. We are so excited to start camping as a family again!
1 comment:
It looks like fun to be able to tour around instead of having to hike to see everything.
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