And drove to this view in Zion’s National Park:
I had never been there and have tried to make it when we’ve been driving through Utah for years, to no avail.
So this time I was determined to make it happen.
And the girls were surprisingly pretty great about that determination (we were all pretty anxious to get home at this point).
We took the bus up through all that gorgeousness.
Thought of my sister Saren when we drove past “Angel’s Landing”…she’s hiked that thing with her family a few times and I wished we could do it with her.
(My original plan was to see if she could join us here after Lake Powell, but somehow that thought turned into a giant road trip….crazy how that happens sometimes.)
Here’s a zoomed in pic:
Hiking sounds fun, but that? That kind of scares my pants off to be honest!
This was a pre-me-flipping-out-at-Lucy moment…everyone’s fine and dandy:
We did the river walk following this beauty:
And then the match-up of Lucy and I, both a little tired and impatient, went wrong.
I was a “durable object” for a long time and then I kind of lost it and left her on the side of the path to stomp out my feelings a couple yards ahead for a little bit.
And I hung out with my two favs. for a minute right at the entrance to the “Narrows.”
HA! You know they’re ALL my favorites right? Sometimes I think people on here take me too seriously. But I gotta keep it real on here, and for sure that morning I was so grateful these two were enjoying all that beauty with me as much as they were. Cute Lucy did in the beginning as well, she took an active role in pointing out all the wonder. But I think we were both just tired. And hungry. Hangry may be a better description:).
So I went back to that poor dejected soul (it’s not like the park wasn’t crowded, i”m sure everyone passing by was wondering at that stomping-mad mother), and after a few lectures we hugged and made up and I apologized.
Then we drove up to the tunnel for the lookout spot…
…and a cute motorcycle guy took a pic of us that was a little blurry but it helps solidify the memory.
Next and final stop was Seven Magic Mountains.
This is the coolest stop right in the middle of the desert outside Las Vegas that we saw en route to California last summer and the girls have wanted to go back ever since.
It was put together by a Swiss artist and you can google all about it…the cool juxtaposition of those colorful boulders smack-dab in the middle of the desert landscape.
Lucy was in hog-heaven at this stop:
…as were we all, actually.
Look how cute this girl of mine is:
…and this one:
…and this one too.
We had a hard time pulling ourselves away from those suckers as the sun sank lower and lower, changing the light by the minute.
These next couple pics are ones some lady happened to capture as we were getting ready to smile and Lucy stepped on Grace’s beloved relatively new shoes with her dusty feet for the second time, after Grace had been frustrated with her the first time.
Oh man I like these guys.
We finally pulled ourselves away, and drove, drove, drove into the velvety night, bleary-eyed as we finally reached home well after midnight, but still HAD to get Bo up to hug and love on her a little bit. We let Dave sleep and loved snuggling him up the next day.
I am the first in line for any adventures that we can create, but they sure make me realize over and over again that HOME is a good place to be.
I am glad I am not the only Utahn who hasn't been to Zions. It's on my bucket list.
I was going to email but don't see that option. I know it's weird to comment bc you're a stranger to me (although I often see you with some of my awesome relatives so I know you must really be normal. ha!) Just wanted to say thanks for writing. It's fun because you write about the very things I'm going through or thinking about- Taylor Swift's new album (my boys and I were talking about it the same morning you were), Brene Brown (have listened to so many of her interviews while I work out – the Oprah one where she talks about parenting is really inspiring), charter school (I think my son's good friend just left Provo to attend the school you were talking about and I'm jealous!), learning a new mission farewell song (was just trying to get our ward to do this bc I've seen it done and love the impact), your worries (me too), TECHNOLOGY (I'm terrified and not sure if I'm handling it right!) etc. It's like your joining in my conversations sometimes. It has been especially good for me to watch you send your son on his mission bc I am getting close to sending my son in just a year and a half. Right now my boys (I only have boys – your girls ages I think?) are all planning to serve and the mission thing can keep me up at night. I'm struggling to let go and yet trying my hardest to make sure I help them be ready all at the same time. I had a close friend who was just a couple years ahead of me in all of this and she passed away unexpectedly. I so valued watching her navigate life just ahead of me – there are days when your blog fills that void in a little way bc I watch and learn from you. So anyway, THANKS!!