Zion's Trip day 5

In the morning we were up and going first thing. We had the kids get dressed and ready and once they were, we sent them down to go and play mini golf while Ben and I packed and loaded the truck. Once we were done and out of the cabin we drove down to the lodge to meet up with the kids. They were almost done with their last round of mini golf and once they were, we all went in to get breakfast.

We again were able to sit outside at the same table we have the entire time. It was in a nice shaded area and only room enough for a small family like ours. It was perfect. We felt safe in our own little bubble and the next closet table was at the other end of the patio. It truly was perfect, especially since the number of guests doubled if not tripled in the last two days. 

When we were done with our breakfast, we cleaned up our mess, had the kids go to the bathroom, and loaded in the truck. Once we were in and buckled up, we said goodbye and hit the road. The kids were quiet the whole time on their tablets while Ben and I both listened to our own things. Ben was listening to a book he had to read for his class while I got caught up on Netflix. Some time I hate the digital age, but for long car rides, its a life saver.

We were really lucky on the way home, we didn't hit any traffic. We were home in no time and now it was time to clean it all up. I was grateful that we were able to get out of the house, but at the same time I was glad to be home. I just hoped that we were safe enough while we were there to not catch the Coronavirus. Only time would tell.

Zion's Trip day 4

Finally a day with no classes and Ben could relax and actually enjoy being on vacation. We started our morning with breakfast. We all walked down together to grab it. We were even able to sit at the same table we have been at every morning so far. Our choices were pretty much the same, the only difference now was a croissant breakfast sandwich instead of biscuit. The kids again ate it up, no problem.

When we were done eating we decided to play some mini golf. Ben hadn't played yet and the kids wanted to show Ben how good they got at playing. I have to admit, they didn't do half bad. No hole's in one, but pretty dang close. We didn't keep score, but had we I wouldn't have been surprised if the kids beat me. 

When we were done with mini golf, we weren't sure what we wanted to do. We had pretty much all day to account for. So we walked down to the park. It was finally empty and I was okay with letting the kids play. While they played Ben and I talked about what we wanted to do next. We came up with a few ideas and finally settled on driving into Zion's and exploring for a little bit.

When we got into the park, I was surprised that we didn't have to pay. The booth was closed. However, some of the scenic drive routes were closed off too, so maybe they didn't want to charge their visitors since they wouldn't be able to access the whole park. Whatever the reason, I was grateful and ready to let the kids explore. 

As we drove we enjoyed the majestic views around us. We were able to pull over and stop when we wanted to to get out and walk around. We only stopped at designated parking areas or pull outs big enough to ensure the kids would be safe getting out of the truck. With these stops we got to let the kids wander pretty much where ever they wanted as long as they could still see us. They were really good to keep to that rule. 

It was so much fun exploring. We hadn't been there in over 13 years and it was still amazing as ever. We saw so many different things too. The kids had a blast searching for squirrels, lizards, and any other animals they could recognized. They tried to hard to catch a lizard, but they were a lot faster than the kids. They even found a tarantula, well Ben did and happily showed the kids. They of course freaked out and frantically ran away from it.

They also found some amazing colors and rock formations. They had pretty good eyes for this stuff and called us over each time they found something new and exciting. They found one that actually reminded me of the cliff dwellings in Colorado, just a smaller version of it. It was awesome. 

One of our last stops took us to what seemed like a small canyon. We climbed down into it and that is exactly what it was. I can only imagine what would have happened if a rain fall had hit while we were down there. It looked like a dried up riverbed with sand and rocks. When the kids saw that, all they wanted to do was play in the sand. They quickly realized that with no water, there wasn't much that they could do. So we continued to explore the small canyon. 

Half way through our walk we found a tunnel. The kids weren't sure about walking into it, especially Gabbi. She thought we would find some kind of scary animal in there despite the fact that we could see all the way down the tunnel. She finally agreed and we made our way through the tunnel. It was almost hard to walk through all that sand and when we were on  the other side, I'm pretty sure we had at least a pound of sand in our shoes. 

Once through the tunnel, there wasn't much to see or explore. At the end of the tunnel was a ton of rocks in the form of a wall. It would be too difficult to climb forward without the worry of being able to turn around and go back the way we came. So the kids played in the rocks and sand for a little bit before turning around. They were building their own rock and sand walls along with drawing in the sand with sticks. They were a little sad when we told them it was time to make our way back to the truck. 

Once we were back at the truck, we did our best to empty the sand out of our shoes before driving off. We continued our drive through the park and while doing so, I made our lunches. We had sandwiches and chips for lunch and it was easy enough to be made and eaten in the truck while we were driving. It was a perfect picnic lunch with some fantastic views. I will never get over the beauty of our national parks.

When we reached the end of the park, we turned around and went back the way we came. We checked all the views on last time before heading out the way we came in. When it came time for us to turn to go back to the resort, we decided to take a detour to see what the town had to offer for dinner. There wasn't much and what was there was crowded and busy. So instead of dinner in town, we decided to eat at the dinning hall.

Before heading back, we wanted to show the kids a pretty cool store we saw on the way to the grocery store the other day. It was completely full of rocks, gems, and precious stones. Owen was on cloud 9. He couldn't believe how many rocks and gems there were all in one place. To top it off, it was watched over and protected by Dinosaurs, which of course made William excited. The kids begged for a souvenir and that's exactly why we were there. Sadly they took forever to decide what they wanted. Truly the only pit fall of having so much in one little place. The did finally decide, we paid, and then headed back to the resort.

Once on the trail back to the resort, we both realized that we still had some time to kill before dinner. We decided to go for a drive to the radio tower above the resort. Ben pulled over to find the right trail and we went on our way. We had to take a few U turns before getting to the right trail, at least we hoped it was the right trail. We soon found out that it wasn't. We never found the right trail to take us to the radio tower and it eventually started to rain, so we decided to head back. 

In the process of trying to find the right trail, we did take one turn that ended up taking us to a house and a dead end. I was okay with the wrong turn, it had an incredible view of pretty much everything. On the way back down to the trail we were originally on, we came across a snake. Even though we were in the truck, it still freaked me out when Ben stopped the truck to show me. I, at first, wasn't sure why he stopped and then he flipped around again to show me what it was from my side of the truck. I still wasn't sure and then he told me to look out my window and then I saw it. The kids loved it, I just hoped that it would start to climb up the side of the truck. After our fill of the snake, we got back to the trail and on our way.

When we got back to the resort and the cabin, no one was hungry yet, so we decided to play some games to bide the time. We pulled out Golf. The kids had never played it before and we figured it would be a good time to learn a new game. They caught on really fast and had a blast with it. We played about 10 rounds before calling it quits. By that time, we decided hungry or not, it was getting late and we needed to get some dinner.

We walked down to the dinning hall. They asked if we were dinning in or taking it to go. We were sure what they had, so we decided to dine in. They gave us a menu to look over, we placed our order, and then went and found a table. When it was ready, they brought it to us and we dug in. It was pricey, I just hoped that it would be worth the cost. 

William got the chicken fingers, while Owen got the grilled cheese sandwich. Both of them got mac n'cheese as their side, which made me laugh. Such an odd side to go with a sandwich and chicken fingers. Gabbi got a cheeseburger. She wanted sweet potato fries as her side but sadly they mixed that up with regular ones. I told her she could share with me and then the boys could share her fries. I got the shredded pork BBQ sandwich with sweet potato fries and Ben the BBQ burger with sweet potato fries. Needless to say, I really don't think there was a problem with Gabbi not getting the fries she ordered. 

Once all was said and done, it was pretty good. Not sure if it was worth the higher costs, but seeing how there wasn't any other options close by and worth our time and money, this was great. 

When we were done eating we walked back to the cabin to relax till it was time for our star gazing walk. When we got back to the cabin we were given a speed bump. We had a flat tire. I guess we had too much fun on the trail today. That definitely wasn't what we wanted to see right now. We were leaving in the morning and now we had a flat to worry about fixing. 

We went about getting the tire switched out while the kids went and rode their bikes and even played some games. Switching it out was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Ben tried over and over to get the spare to come down from it's casing. It just would not budge. The locking mechanism holding the tire had rusted and just wouldn't release. Since we tried everything we could think of, we finally went to the internet to see if anyone else has had this same problem. We were glad to see that we weren't the only ones who had a problem with the lock rusting. After over an hour, we finally were able to get the spare down and released from its casing. Once that was done, switching it only took minutes. 

Sadly we came to another problem, the spare was a different size from the rest of the tires. It was larger. I asked if it would be a problem and Ben was so frustrated at that point, I really shouldn't have asked. He then asked me to look up some tire shops closest to where we were and to see if they would be open tomorrow since it was a Sunday. There wasn't much and what was, didn't open until later in the day and we had to be checked out by then. Ben then said that we should be fine as long as we got it checked out as soon as we could once we got home. I felt so bad, it was just another thing to worry about with the truck.

After Ben got cleaned up and the kids parked their bikes, we headed down to the Recreation Barn for our star gazing. When we got down there it was crazy crowded. There were people all over the place doing different activities. It was so uncomfortable. I was finally able to check in and they told us to wait outside for the tour guide. After a good 20 plus minutes she finally came out. Sadly it was a very cloudy night and she said that those who were still interested in going could join her and they would head out momentarily and those that wanted a refund could go inside and request one. With it already being 20 minutes later than we thought, Ben and I decided to get a refund and took the kids back to the cabin to get ready for bed.

We had them quickly take showers and get ready for bed. Once they were done and ready, we had family prayer and put them to bed. This time, Owen wanted to be on the bunk bed by himself, so Gabbi and William shared the pullout couch. I was just happy that they all fell asleep quickly. We really wore them out today.