The First of Our Spring Break Adventures

I grew up with a fascination for American Indians, their culture, and their background. I also grew up spending time in southern Utah every summer and fall and loved being there among the red rocks and blue skies. For our last spring break together before Owen leaves on his mission, I planned a trip to the Four Corners area to see what we could see of both Native American culture and red rocks. It's been an amazing experience at every turn.

We began our trip with our Manti cousins. Aunt Lauri, Uncle Jay, and the twins Mark and Kyle make everything so fun!

I haven't been to Arches National Park in more than twenty years. Seeing the Three Gossips was the first familiar sight in the park.

Double Arch. I forgot how massive these arches and formations are. The kids had a fantastic time climbing up and around the rocks underneath the arches.

What trip to Arches is complete without a visit to Delicate Arch? Unfortunately, too many other people thought the same thing. The small parking lot at the trailhead to hike out to the arch was crammed with cars and people, with cars parked along either side of the road for a half mile in either direction to boot. We drove down the road to the from-a-distance viewpoint. Can you spot the famous arch in the background? It turned out to be a good choice to let the longer hike go in favor of this much shorter one. It's better to keep the troops feeling cheerful and positive so they'll want to come back another time rather than hike their legs off until they're crabby.

Anna Leigh, my niece, was not only a most gracious hostess, but an excellent tour guide! She took us into Canyonlands National Park to visit Newspaper Rock and Hamburger Rock. The kids thought Newspaper Rock was either a) a pile of rocks shaped like a newspaper, b) a place where old people sat down to read the newspaper, or c) a place where Indians had left pictures. One child got it right!

I fell in love with Anna's two cute children. I think I might have won Auri, her daughter, over. Her little boy Casen is a riot with the funny things that kept coming from his mouth. I think my boys might have taught him a few things I'm not sure Anna will be pleased to see popping up in the future. Sorry!

After Newspaper Rock we went to Hamburger Rock for our picnic lunch. I felt like we were on Mars or something. It's a good thing Anna was leading in her truck because there weren't signs marking this place. We climbed all over the rocks, ate our lunch, and caught lizards. At least, the boys caught lizards. Casen had a great time sneezing on the rocks ("I sneezed on Hamburger Rock Mom!!" He was so delighted with himself he did it again). Sadly, one of the lizards the boys caught didn't survive the encounter. Naturally there was a grand funeral.

This one managed to escape the boys' fingers

There's more to come. These just cover the first two days of awesomeness.