At the end of the last post, we had just had lunch at Lake Powell and were continuing on our way north to Utah. Our car ride continued at a rather uneventful pace, the kids were fine and Joshua took a glorious nap for an hour which meant I got to take a little nap as well. :) Hannah (7) had a wooden license plate game which she and I played the entire trip (I've played the license plate game every time I've gotten into a car since March). It was so much fun recognizing the different states' license plates and finding the 2 Canadian plates which we counted as bonus plates for states we wouldn't normally see.
As we got closer and closer to Zion NP the terrain was changing more and more from desert to high cliffs and redder rocks. We arrived at Zion around 7 and proceeded to enjoy the winding road as it took us through tunnels in the rock and across the river to the visitor's center. After a mandatory bathroom stop, we caught the bus and rode it all the way to the end of the line.
Mercy loved the bus and spent her time dashing from side to side so she could see everything.
We were at the park during sunset which was great for photos, but which proved to be less great since the we hadn't eaten in a long time and were getting tired. We didn't get to do any hiking or really explore the park, but I saw enough to know that I want to go back before too long and spent a week camping and hiking through the park.
The Bryson family (Joshua is in the carrier).
Mercy had a dance party on the rock.
I love this picture. Mercy had so much fun with the sand and water, and Joshua was okay with her throwing it in his face (not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing).
Mercy (the pink blob in the background) was angry at her parents because they weren't letting her in the water, so she decided to get as far away from us as she could. Meanwhile, Joshua was having the time of his life as he climbed a giant rock/mountain.
As much as I would like to say that the day ended with us being happy as we explored Zion NP, it actually was the first night of everyone losing patience with everyone else. :( After getting Subway for dinner, Mercy had a total meltdown (it's after 9 at this point) about her house being sold in Texas and we weren't sure if we were going to press on to the next national park and spend the night there OR spend the night there at Zion and start the day with more driving. After an hour of deliberations, we found that the hotel behind us had a room sufficient for our group and we decamped there. However the night only got worse as 2 more children had meltdowns and the adults and less and less patience to deal with all of the drama because it was late at night. I ended up taking a shower to remove myself from the situation and then shared a bed with a very wiggly 9 year old which resulted in a less-than-stellar night's sleep.
The hotel had no breakfast so we loaded the car up again and set out for a 2 hour drive to Bryce Canyon NP.
Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. I wasn't super impressed by Bryce Canyon, but it was fun to get to check it off my list of national parks I've visited.
Mercy and Scott.
After Bryce Canyon we had a long day of driving to Salt Lake City, our destination for the night. One of the things about this trip that was so different from my childhood trips to Washington, was that the nightly destinations were very last minute and not planned ahead of time. I got to learn more flexibility as we prayed for hotels to have rooms which would fit us each night. We got to a southern suburb of SLC in time for dinner and found an amazing restaurant called Cafe Zupa's. The food there was unbelievably good and there was a huge playground right next door for the kids to get their energy out.
We had another 45 minutes or so before we got to the Best Western for the night and then we unloaded and got the kids up to the room (this hotel was exciting because there was an elevator for us to take + a hot breakfast in the morning). I took the kids up to the room and attempted to get the baby to sleep while the other 3 kids ran up and down the room, much to the joy of the people below us. After 25 minutes Joshua fell asleep and I got the kids ready for bed while their parents reset the luggage and car seats to new positions. Salt Lake City was the first night that I got the closest to being angry when a child woke up the baby who had had a very hard time getting to sleep and had taken every once of patience from me in that process. I slept on a sofa bed that night and had a delicious breakfast in the morning before we packed up (we were getting to be pros at it at this point) and headed to Starbucks so the adults could function.
The trip from Salt Lake City, Utah to La Grande, Oregon was the worst day of the trip. The older kids weren't allowed to have electronics that day and we didn't have any fun stops or parks to go to as we drove. We did, however, stop at Cafe Zupa's again in Boise and I was the farthest away from the Bryson's in a week (a whopping 4 feet while I sat at a different table). That night in La Grande was the hardest night of the trip and we didn't have enough beds to go around so I slept on the floor while Mercy slept on a chair. The kids were super rambunctious that night and it took a long time to get everyone settled and asleep. The best part of that hotel was the internet, it was so nice to get to communicate with people in Texas and not have to worry about whether the texts got sent and (most importantly) to get to listen to new music after listening to the same few songs for the whole trip.
