Arctic Pools and Easter Goblins

This weekend marked our first real vacation of 2009. We went “uncamping” in Goblin Valley. This means you pretend like you’re going camping to make your heart happy, but submit to the voices in your head who tell you you are crazy to make two small things who have no idea how to stay in a sleeping bag to save their lives sleep in a tent when it is 29 degrees outside…so you whimp out and get a motel room in Green River with a continental breakfast . That’s really long to say, hence we say, “uncamping.” Sadly, the only “roughing it” we did was when we tried to swim the first day and the pool had icebergs floating in it. We tried to find relief in the hot tub but it was completely filled to overflowing with all of Park City High School’s track team. The only wildlife viewing was of a few of these aforementioned teenage boys trying to pull off each other’s swimsuits. Jane was definitely a little traumitized.

Anyway, on to the story. So we have these awesome, super tough friends (the Jacksons) who came with us, and who did the real camping for us. They have two small kids who toughed it out with them and together we all had a great time. The first day we drove in from Green River and met them for a hike in Little Wildhorse Canyon. The weather was great and the kids did surprisingly well. All but Allie hiked the entire time. We collected lots of rocks, found lizards, climbed trees and bribed them to keep moving with LOTS of treats (our friends had a bag of candy for their kids aptly called their “energy pills.”) We finished the day with a swim in pool (which luckily got all of it’s heating problems worked out and the track team had gone home) and made a campfire in a little random State Park in Green River in which I fed my newly vegetarian friends some beef stew. Go me.

That night we thanked the voices in our heads that told us not to take Allie camping as we tried frantically to get her to sleep in a bed with the family. She would have none of it. My favorite part of the night was when she woke up at 3 am and started playing “Duck, Duck…Goose!” on the tops of our heads, yelling it out at the top of her lungs, and then body-slamming us as she tripped over our whimpering sleep-deprived bodies. Jane wanted Allie to sleep under the bed and Jevan voted for trapping her in the bathroom. Benedryl was the only salvation in the end.

The next day we spent in Goblin Valley, playing hide and go seek and searching for Easter eggs that the Easter Goblin had left for the kids (this was me playing out one of my favorite child hood memories of when my family spent Easter in Goblin Valley. I just had to do it for my kids). We had a great time until the Goblins figured they had had enough of us and conjured up a nasty wind storm that sent sand flying everywhere until you could barely see and had sand in every orifice of your body. No wonder camels have two sets of eyelashes. I would have liked my own second set. At that point, we ran for our lives.

All in all, a great trip. Thanks Jimarie and family!