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At Badlands, we camped and made new friends. We set up camp, it was very fun. I like camping, because we’re not inside and there’s a lot more room outside to run around and not bump into things.

We went over to climb on the Badlands. They were very fun to climb on. Some were tall, some were small. Some of the ground felt like muddy, oozy clay, and some of it was hard. Climbing up, it was tall and slippery, like a rockslide. We drove through the park, and went hiking.

At the camp, we made friends with Willa and June.

We headed north with the intention of visiting Bryce Canyon National Park. We went to a small town called Panguitch, Utah and stayed in a cute B&B for a night. We planned to visit Bryce the next day and spend a few days camping. But sometimes things don’t go the way you plan. Just as we were headed that way, the infamous “Brian Head Wildfire” was getting out of control. It had gone from 2500 acres the night we arrived, to over 5000 acres by the next day. Still a good 30 miles away but the smoke covered half the sky and ashes littered the air around us. It seemed like a good time to leave town. So, Bryce will have to wait for us. We hope to make it back someday.

Instead we went to Lehi, Utah; a growing city just south of Salt Lake. We parked ourselves there for a few days and made the most of an unplanned stop. We happened to be there at the time of the “Lehi Round Up,” an annual week-long celebration with all sorts of activities. We enjoyed the family days in the park, especially, with lots of fun things to do for the little ones (face painting, laser tag, wave running, etc.) and lots of long lines in which Jake and I waited to make activities easier for the kids.

On Sunday, we visited Alpine Bible Church, a small Christian church in the area. We were happy to have some great conversations, and make friends especially with Stacy Wall, the pastor’s wife, and their 2 children, Levi and Grayson. The next day we headed to Lehi’s Museum of Curiosity (a great children’s museum) and spent the afternoon having fun together.

We spent a very nice, restorative week in beautiful Kanab, Utah. It’s a small town in Southern Utah close to several national parks including The Grand Canyon (North Rim), Zion, and Bryce as well as Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.

From Kanab, most notably, we visited Zion. With Jake needing to work some days, and the temperature climbing to an uncomfortable 100+ many afternoons, we were only able to manage one day at Zion. But in that one day, we gained a lifetime of beauty.

Going into Zion is like driving into a geological wonderland. The rock is mainly sedimentary: bits and pieces of other rock worn down by wind and water from their origins, then relaid together to form layers of deposited rock to where they are now. It’s been estimated that these layers formed between 100-300 million years ago, and then through shifts in the landscape by tectonic activity, thrust to their impressive heights. Then, they were further altered through wind and water erosion. The layers are numerous and consist of limestone, mudstone, siltstone, gypsum, shale, quartz, iron, copper sulfide, petrified wood, and volcanic rock; some of which are fossil-rich, both from plants and animals (including dinosaurs). The landscape varies in color, texture, pattern, height, and density resulting in a magnificently diverse and impressive array of rock formations.

In addition to all of that, there are plants and animals of all sorts including ~80 species of mammals, ~300 species of birds, ~50 species of reptiles and amphibians. We mostly saw birds, rabbits, deer, and salamanders. We were happy not to run across snakes, spiders, or other potential threats.

We spent our day winding through the gorgeous Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, hiking one of the more family-friendly trails and generally looking around at the amazing natural wonders. We gawked at the impressive rock walls. We pointed out the wildlife that we saw to each other. At one point, we had to drive a mile-long tunnel through a formidable rocky mountain, with which we were all very impressed. We ran out of superlatives. “Awesome,” “amazing” and “cool” were totally ill-equipped to describe our surroundings. We wound up mostly saying “look at that!” and “guys look on the left!” or “Oh my gosh – look over there!” Zion generally defies description and is best experienced in person. Please, get there.

On Saturday, we were fortunate to discover that the annual rodeo was happening in town. On our 2015 trip out west, we tried desperately to find a rodeo in Colorado, but it just didn’t come together. This time, we just stumbled upon it. It was a gift, and we were happy to accept it. The rodeo was fascinating: teams of cowboys competing to rope, drive, and brand cattle. There was an event called “mutton busting” in which cowboys / cowgirls in training “ride” (i.e. hold on as long as possible) to a fast running ewe or ram, and eventually get tossed off or more likely fall off. Finally, there was an open event in which all 3-8 year olds were welcome to get into the action by chasing a ram to grab one of the money or candy-filled baggies that had been taped to its body. This odd and amusing event was a huge hit with the little ones, including Eli and Lucy who couldn’t resist the invite. They didn’t catch him, but they had great fun trying.

For the rest of our week, we hiked in and around town (at one point – on a too long and hot hike, we were given water and ice from a very merciful couple), enjoyed the hotel and city pools, got ice cream, checked out the old western movie set and hung around the library. Oh, and yes, Jake worked at the hotel a good bit. Without that, none of the rest of this would be possible.

It’s been said that to experience the present moment purely is to be emptied and hollow; “you catch grace as a man fills his cup under a waterfall.” Maybe that gives you an idea of what being at the Grand Canyon is like. You go as you are, with whatever experiences you’ve had, whatever mood you’re in, whatever logistics you’re wrangling (in our case, 5 kids, 2800 miles, and all that that means). You go with your expectations; the pictures you’ve seen, the stories from others. You go and you have all this background noise that you’ve brought with you, and when you finally get to that edge and look out onto that majestic view, everything you’ve brought with you falls away, like scales dropping from your eyes. And you see something New. Something that is very old but at the same time is New. It’s like nothing else.

You are getting a glimpse of how all things were created through God and for God. You try to open your eyes wider so you can see more, to drink in all of your surroundings, but it’s never enough. You look at your loved ones and exchange knowing glances, that they can see as you are seeing, knowing no words are adequate for the moment. And you don’t want to leave. So you linger. And you breathe it in. And you wish you could be there for a few days, or a week, or eternity. You take pictures, but they’re a poor excuse for reality. They serve as proof of your visit but that’s all. And even seeing what you’ve seen you know there’s so much more. You’re at the tip of an iceberg. But that’s all you get on this visit.

So you stay as long as you can, and then, just as when you first came and it all changed, you leave. And it’s all behind you now. But you’re different. Because you were there.

We rented a house in northern Arizona. It was a big straw bale house in the middle of…well, nowhere. Sort of. It was a half hour from the nearest grocery store or any semblance of town.  It was an hour from our next big stop. It was  fairly secluded from any neighbors. The view from the porch included some far-off mountains and a lot of juniper trees. We spent four days there relaxing, playing ping-pong, and visiting with friends who made the track. Joshua Longbrake and his dog Jack came on the first day and then Auntie Angie, Holly and Claireanne from Friday night until Sunday morning.

It was a fun time to reconnect with folks we hadn’t seen in a long time. Once our visitors left, we went to Bearizona: a zoo of sorts. But not like the ones back home. The first section is a “drive through,” meaning that you drive through areas with free roaming animals – buffalo, wolves, bears…you drive by signs that say to keep your vehicle moving, your windows up and your doors closed. These are instructions that are easy to heed but for a brief pause for a photo here or there. It was fascinating. The kids were awed and only slightly intimidated. We thought it was pretty cool, too. The animals are obviously used to the cars…they don’t pay too much attention to the visitors (thankfully).

On our last day there, well…I’ll save that for the next post.