Sabbatical Roadtrip Day 26

Bryce Canyon was stunningly beautiful. If I ever have a chance to come back I would definitely put Bryce on my list! We stopped at the Visitor Center for our Jr. Ranger Badge Booklets and then headed out to explore. The road into the park is only 18 miles long. So we made it to the far end first and then worked our way to the beginning in hopes of avoiding congestion. There were some fabulous views, and we took a few short hikes. Logan and I hiked part way into the Sunset Trail but it was late in the day. I would love to go back with 2 hours and hike the paths winding between the "hoodoo" rock formations. Wow! We went back to the hotel to rest and grab something to eat. Somehow we got a second wind and decided to drive back out to Bryce for a sunset view. We were able to catch a short ranger presentation at a campground and see the stars without all the city lights.

Sabbatical Roadtrip Day 25

On to Canyonlands National Park! The park was about 45 minutes away from our hotel. Even at 9am we could feel the temps rising quickly. The first turnout at Mesa Arch looked like a pretty easy .5 mile hike. The hike started out with stairs and so Nate and I just went in our flip flops. We also didn't take any water with us! The hike turned into going through a sandy path with slippery boulders underneath. When we got to the arch (which was amazing!) we were thirsty! We learned our lesson and were more prepared after that little hike! There were many stops throughout the park. Each had a unique viewpoint. We are glad we visited but it got too hot to stay, on to Southern Utah!

Sabbatical Roadtrip Day 22-23

Longest Driving day of the trip! 8 hours from Omaha to Denver! The drive went relatively smoothly and we made it in earlier than expected. We had dinner at the Aquarium and checked in to our hotel. Logan and Nate thought it was extra fancy since we were on the 12th floor. "Hey mom, do you think here they wash the sheets after each guest leaves?" I'm not sure what he thinks of the other places we've been staying! In the morning we decided to have Ken's toe looked at a little closer to make sure no infection has set in. After a good hour at the Urgent Care we decided to continue with our plans to go to the Wings over the Rockies Museum before heading to Grand Junction, CO. The museum was fascinating and free (with our OMSI card!). They even had an x-wing fighter and a pod racer!

Sabbatical Roadtrip Day 24

Arches National Park. I just looked at the temps for the week! We are in for 100+ days everyday, yikes! We arrived at Arches around 11am so the day was already pretty hot. We drove to each look out and snapped a few photos before getting back to the AC in the car. The goal was to hike to Delicate Arch which is a 3 mile hike, but with Ken's toe and it being so hot we opted for only hiking to the viewpoint. We never would have lasted the 3 hour hike in 100+ temps. Nate found the shady areas for a quick reprieve and was always checking his fitbit steps! There were some amazing rock formations to see in the park! We were thankful our hotel had a pool and spent all afternoon there. We went into town for dinner and found a great little ice cream shop but since it smelled to much like coffee (in the boys opinion!) we went to the grocery store for ice cream bars.

Sabbatical Roadtrip Day 20-21

It was a long drive to Omaha but we made good time. We were hit with at least 6 tolls on the way to Aunt Laurie's house! We were about an hour on the road and Logan's tummy started to hurt (although he didn't bother to tell us!). He vomited in the car so we had to make a pit stop at Target for some supplies. Thankfully it was only once and not much to clean up. We pulled into Omaha around 5pm and the girls had a little scavenger hunt for the boys. It was a perfect activity after a long drive. Laurie made an amazing dinner for us and we settled in for the evening. In the morning we headed to University of Nebraska stadium for a self guided tour. It was fun walking around on campus and seeing the HUSKER football field. We also stopped by the Ag buildings and got some ice cream from the Dairy store. Laurie also introduced us to a Runza a special sandwich with a side of Frings (fries & onion rings). It was quite tasty! We also visited the Space Aviation Center before heading to Mahoney State Park. The park had a great overlook of the Platte river and it had a water park which had almost all to ourselves. The boys enjoyed the water slides and the wave pool with Natalie and Rachel. Ken sliced his toe on the stairs up to the water slides so he had to sit out. Somehow I was nominated to get a whole bucket of water dumped on my head :-( After a very full day we came home for some pasta & salad and board games. After a good nights sleep we headed to the Omaha Zoo, which I think is far better than the San Diego Zoo! We saw lots of amazing animals, had a picnic, watched a "sharks" IMAX show and went on the skyfari lift ride over the park. Another very busy couple of days with family!