Miles traveled: 94
Hours on Road: 1.5
States covered: 1 – Utah
Today was our day for exploring the area we’ve been camping in. I never want to leave this place. It’s relaxing, peaceful, safe, and beautiful. It was named Kodachrome Basin in 1949 by the National Geographic Society because of its coloring, which changes throughout the day depending on the lighting, but which is always amazing. The contrasts of white, orange, green, and everything in between make this a perfectly Kodachromatic place. Kodak Film Corp., which owns the rights to the name Kodachrome, had to give its consent in the naming. There are 70 monolithic spires that range in height from 6 to 170 feet. We have a boot right above our campsite. The kids call it a golf club, but I say it’s a boot.
There aren’t many camping sites here, which is also a great thing. Too many people means more noise and more filth. The bathrooms are cleaned twice a day, so they’re spotless.
This morning I simply melted into my chair I was so relaxed. The boys colored and read and threw rocks into the dry river bed. A hummingbird made several passes through our camp; I think it thought our red chairs were flowers. Its wings sounded like little jet engines. I always heard him before I saw him there.
We went on two hikes today. The first was Angel’s Palace Trail, a 1.5 mile trail that goes up 150 feet above the basin floor. We had some amazing views from up top, and the boys did their usual adaptation of Parcour along the trail. For those of you unfamiliar with Parcour, it’s a form of gymnastics done, generally, through a city, using rails, roof tops, statues – anything you can jump over or run along. The boys’ big thing is to run along the side of a wall.
The second trail was Shakespeare Arch, which was down a non-paved, stone-covered road. It was here that I let Parker drive the van. There didn’t seem to be anyone else for miles, there was nothing but field on either side of us, and because of the rocks, he couldn’t go over 15 mph. He had the time of his life!! Shakespeare Arch Trail is 1.7 miles and is “strenuous” after you reach the arch. The arch is the only large natural arch in the park. We had some beautiful views along this hike, as well, but we got really hot. There was no shade and it was the middle of the day, so we were very happy to hop back into the air-conditioned van. Plus, Parker got to drive again.
He drove us out to Chimney Rock, which is a giant rock sticking up in the middle of a cow pasture. He had to be careful because the cows were all around; some were even crossing the road.
After our hikes, all the boys took showers. I decided to wait until just before bed so I could go to sleep feeling that good clean feeling. I knew I’d be sweating more, anyway, because I wanted to start the packing tonight so we could get a really early start tomorrow.
My plan was to spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing, just reading my book. But the boys got bored. By 4:45, they couldn’t take the stillness any longer, so we hopped in the van for more road time. We took Scenic Byway 12 to Escalante, which travels along the Grand Staircase. I’m so glad we did this; the sights were beautiful. As red as the cliffs along Bryce Canyon are, these are just as white. They look like giant sand dunes, they roll so smoothly from one to the next, but you know they’re solid rock. The road was not steep at all, only windy, but I found myself, to some extent, in Trey’s flinching-from-hand-movements mode in that I expected every curve and every crest of a hill to end in a switchback with a precipitous drop-off; I was constantly stomping on the brakes. It’s become somewhat of a twitch.
I have found myself on this trip, more than any other time since motherhood began for me, repeating myself four to five times with everything I say. This is how it goes: I say something to one boy. By the end of the conversation, another boy has heard a little something he’s found interesting, so he asks what I just said. Once that happens, the third boy realizes he’s the only one now who doesn’t know what was just said, so he also asks me to repeat it. This happens with every comment I make. The fourth repeat comes in when the first boy I spoke to didn’t bother to listen at the beginning of my comment, so he requests that I repeat what I’ve said, and the next three requests follow from there.
Unsurprisingly, the skies became black again today. Surprisingly, the rain actually hit our campsite. We’ve lucked out every other day. The lightning was ominous, so we sat out the storm inside the van. The boys all wanted a soda and were very specific about which machine they wanted it from. Every bathroom here has a soda machine outside it. Cal and Parker wanted the Cherry Crush from the machine outside the Visitors Center, so we stopped there first. While waiting for Cal to get the sodas (Parker talked him into getting his), we realized that the front window of the tent had been left open and the rain was really coming down, so we had to rush Cal in order to get back to the site to close the window. Trey wanted the Orange Crush from the machine near our campsite, so that was no problem. While Parker ran to close the tent window, Trey went to the vending machine. Trey returned empty handed saying that the machine was not working and had eaten his money. He and Parker got back in the van, and we drove to the bathroom, where Parker was able to retrieve the money. We decided since we were stuck in the van, we’d drive to another vending machine to get Trey his soda. In the meantime, the lightning had gotten so fierce, I decided I needed a photo of it. So, while I drove, Parker worked on getting me a photo of lightning in action. At the next vending machine, Trey met with failure again. We decided we’d head back to the Visitors Center where the machine worked and the lightning looked like it was coming most frequently. To keep the Visitors Center skyline, which had the most lightning bolts, in the camera’s site line, Parker had to twist and turn within the van as the van twisted and turned along the windy road. Only, when we got to the Visitors Center, the machine did not work. It turns out, the campground had lost all electricity. Great! I still hadn’t showered, the electricity was off, I was not happy. Trey had no soda, so he was not happy. Parker was unsuccessful with his photo, so he was getting annoyed. Cal was hanging in there because he could rub in to Trey that his soda was delicious.
On the drive back to our site, I told Parker that if he got a photo of lightning for me, I’d buy him three sodas. He videotaped some lightning, from which I will be able to get a photo since we have the software for that. But I told him that a video of lightning does not get him the sodas. With determination, he took photo after photo, using the sports mode on the camera. At last he got one!!
Now Cal was unhappy. I knew it wouldn’t take too long. Parker was going to get three sodas, and it wasn’t fair because he and Trey didn’t get the chance to try for a shot of the lightning, and the storm was moving away, and there was no point in his even trying, and Trey still didn’t even have his first soda. Do you see how things go with them?
At the end of the storm, we got not a single, but a double rainbow. Still, things were not great because Trey had left his coloring book out in the rain and the “best picture he ever colored” was totally ruined and he still didn’t have his first soda.
They’re all in the tent right now playing hangman. I’m in the van making sure the lightning is done for the night. Any sign of trouble, and the boys are joining me out here. So far it’s looking OK.
Tomorrow we head for the Grand Canyon. It’s unbelievable that we’ll be at yet another famous landmark. I thank my stars every night for what a great husband I have and what fun, wonderful kids we have together, that we’d be able to make a trip like this without killing each other -- yet.
For corresponding photos, go to:
http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1925478027/a=2740108027_2740108027/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
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