Our first stop was Bryce Canyon, one of my favorite National Parks. Paul and I had been there together 14 years ago and couldn't wait to go back. We got there early enough in the afternoon to get some hiking done before the bad weather caught up to us. There was a prediction of snow so we took a hike into the canyon among the hoodoos and orange rock formations. It was so beautiful! We didn't hike quite as much as we wanted to but thought we could get more in the next morning. We were able to take a hike the next day along a snowy trail on the rim of the canyon and we drove to the highest point in the park (9,000+ feet) and caught all the look-outs on the way down. We went back to the Inn to catch a late lunch (so we didn't have to pay dinner prices) to celebrate Paul's upcoming 40th birthday and it started to snow. Since it was near blizzard conditions we couldn't get back up into the park so we decided to run across the parking lot in our swimming suits in the freezing, driving, snow to the indoor pool instead. It was a fun adventure! The next morning we went back to Bryce to see it in all its snow-covered gorgeousness. It was 22 degrees and FREEZING but so, so beautiful! Still one of my favorite parks.
Later that day we drove Utah Highway 12 on our way to Capitol Reef National Park, which neither Paul nor I had been to yet. That highway was beautiful, long, time consuming, and scary. I highly recommend it! It takes you through the north side of Grande Staircase Escalante which was just as beautiful as the southern end that we experienced on our 2013 road trip. Utah is a beautiful place.
While on the drive we saw this cute old couple on the side of the road enjoying the scenery. I want to be this old couple.
Capitol Reef National Park turned out to be a great spot. You don't hear nearly as much about it as the other 4 Utah parks, but it deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence. We had a great time there that afternoon, taking some hikes, jumping on rocks, and getting dizzy looking down into huge ravines they graciously allow you to walk right to the very edge of if you are daring enough to trust the rusty little railings to keep you from falling to your death. We did, but it was iffy and I'm usually not afraid of heights. It was beautiful. We spent the afternoon in that park and then stayed at Green River for the night.
The next day we spent at Arches, another one of my favorite parks. We took Drew there when she was about 18 months old but the other kids hadn't been there before. We took a lot more hikes to various arches and it was all just so beautiful. Unfortunately we saved the hike to Delicate Arch, the most famous arch in the park, for last. It was another long hike up a sheer rock face so we voted on attempting it. Unfortunately when you have a family of 6 there is the potential for ties, and that's what we had. So we all compromised and took the wussy, half as long trail, which didn't put us right at the arch but I guess we were close enough. I guess. We still had a great time in the park, except for the fact they only had pit toilets, which were very well maintained I might add, but the girls refused to use them so maybe that played into their decision to vote down another long hike. We made a pit stop at the visitors center again as we left the park and headed to Orem for the night. Another great park!
Friday morning we drove around the area temple gazing and we came to find out that Alloa was in Orem visiting Megan and Korrin so we hooked up at Cafe Rio (YUM!) for lunch.
We also met up with Samantha in Salt Lake to visit Temple Square. She was on her own and in town for the memorial too. We then went to Matt's memorial service in Orem. Matt was a few years younger than me but one of my favorite cousins. Every summer either my family would drive to Utah or his would drive to Corvallis for a week long visit. We always had the best time, we had 6 kids, they had 6 kids, and we all matched up pretty well. Oh how the tears would flow the night before we had to part ways for another long year! Oh how we love our Johnson cousins! So when we heard Matt passed away it was a no-brainer to be at his service. He was a great guy, and judging by the many, many people in attendance, I'm not the only one who thought so. It is unfortunate that the last time I was in Utah visiting my cousins was in 2012 for Aunt Debbie's funeral. Samantha joined my family in staying at Andy's home (comparable in age to Sam) and getting to know his family better. They are great people too, of course! We had a lot of fun with them and no one was in a hurry to leave for home the next morning. We made it to Pendleton that night and made a stop at Mutnomah Falls on the way home. Another beautiful place in our own state. As that day happened to be Easter, we were hoping the Easter Bunny was able to figure out where to drop off the loot the kids hoped he had. They were pleasantly surprised to find full baskets waiting for them on the coffee table as they walked in the door at home. What a great bunny! We actually colored eggs a couple weeks before Easter so we could get them eaten before we left, and no one seemed too upset that there was no egg hunt. I have some great kids. It was a wonderful trip full of natural beauty and family togetherness, without any car troubles or stolen purses. We could hardly believe our luck! Unfortunately the driving factor was the death of Matt, and he will be greatly missed. I'm so glad we were able to be at his service and I'm grateful to Paul for making it happen. Once again we were able to see this amazing country we have been blessed to live in and I'm already anxious for the next adventure!
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