Kent proposed we got to Capitol Reef instead. We've been to Capitol Reef numerous times, but I suggested we throw in a detour to Goblin Valley, which we haven't been to, and it was agreed. We didn't consult with the children, we just told them what we were doing, and we left on Thursday morning.
The thing about a trip to Capitol Reef is that it involved hiking. There really isn't much else to do in that part of Utah. We had beautiful weather, nice a warm, perfect for being outside, but we had two people who were not interested in doing much hiking. Or really any hiking at all. Upon arrival, we headed to Hickman Bridge, a one-mile hike to a beautiful natural arch. The first part is fairly steep and we had a bit of complaining, but we went through a wash with interesting pockets to climb around, saw an Indian storage site above us on the face of the canyon wall, and found water in a pocket under the arch itself. On the way back, we also saw lots of antlion pits and threw ants into several to watch them be eaten by the predatory insects. We drove over to Fruita and looked at several old buildings, cabins and the old school. We also stopped and looked at some petroglyphs which are fairly prevalent in that part of the state.
The following pictures are from the petroglyph viewing section of the park.
Look at those beautiful fall colors!
Before heading back to the hotel, we stopped at the original Fruita school,
a one-room, log cabin, heated with a wood stove, school.
How would it be to go to school there?
Thursday evening, after dinner, the kids went and swam in the hotel pool. It was cold and dirty. The hot tub was hot and dirty and full of people. Blythe desperately wanted me to get in with her, and I did, but I had a shower as soon as we got back to the room and had the kids take one too.
Friday we spent the day hiking to Calf Creek Falls. It takes about an hour to get to the trail head from Torrey, but we were listening to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader on the way, so the time passed quickly. The hike, however, did not. It's a long hike--six miles round trip--and while it's not difficult as most of it is relatively flat as it follows the path of the river that comes down from the falls, it still is three miles in and three miles out. The children were unhappy hikers, I was unhappy with them, and for most of the hike I went on alone and left Kent to deal with the whining. That was probably unfair. We all did, eventually, make it to the falls, and we all made it back to the car, so I suppose we can say it was a success. I might never take the children hiking again. Ever. There are few pictures with people in them because I was mostly hiking without them.
The path we were hiking along.
There are petroglyphs in the middle of the picture, on the flat face of the rock wall.
Three figures.
Friday evening, while the kids stayed in the hotel room and watched TV and played on the laptop, happy with BLTs from Subway. Kent and I went to dinner at Cafe Diablo. It was delicious and very nice to be alone and talk.
Saturday morning we headed home a different direction than we had gone before, and made a stop in Goblin Valley. We'd never been. Blythe, discontent about the way the hiking had gone before and being stubborn and contrary, vowed she was going to stay in the car the whole time we were there. I was fine with that, but while Brandt and I went into the valley, Kent stayed behind and eventually coaxed Blythe out of the car, just to have a look. When she saw what Goblin Valley was like, she raced down from the observation area and two hours later had to be dragged back to the car because she didn't want to leave.
The valley really is fantastic. It is a wide space filled with hoodoos, or goblins, these funny rock formations you can crawl over and around. Both Brandt and Blythe had a marvelous time running and chasing each other, climbing up on rocks, and wandering off. Blythe took off all alone, hiked up a hill, and disappeared from view. I had to go after her. It is a perfect kid place, and pretty fantastic for adults too. I took lots and lots of pictures.
Here's Blythe, at a great distance, hiking up a hill . . .
and disappearing behind it.
Hiking up another hill. I was trying to catch up with her.
On our drive home, we listened to another book on CD, You're a Bad Man, Mr. Gum. It was read by Kate Winslet and was very, very funny. Some time later (I'm blogging about this late!), a friend of mine asked for some book recommendations for a road trip she was taking with her family, and when I asked the kids what books they might suggest, Brandt immediately said, "You're a Bad Man, Mr. Gum." That was the one I had recommended, too.
The rest of fall break we spent at home. The kids played with friends, which, along with watching TV, would have been the perfect way for them to spend a break from school, if we had bothered to ask them what they wanted to do.
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