A quick camping trip

Most people would think we were crazy to drive 5 hours down and then 5 hours back the next day, but Chris really wanted to see Horseshoe bend and I did too.   Plus, we had some spare time and an easy-going road trip sounded nice.  We took our time going down.  Peter messed his diaper somewhere near Scipio so we pulled off and discovered a small, free petting zoo at the truck stop.  It was perfect.  We spent a while there and Jane loved feeding the animals grass (and trying to feed them rocks too).  There was a camel, a zebra, a few donkeys, a few zonkeys (yes, zebra-donkeys), a long-horned bull, ponies, lamas, goats, sheep, chickens, and peacocks.  The zebra just wanted to bite people, but the camel was really friendly.  That is until a woman came up and started getting a little aggressive in her petting and eventually put her arm in the camel’s mouth.  Somehow, she was surprised when the camel bit down and wouldn’t release her arm until Chris hit it in the head.   That wasn’t even the first time the camel had bit her.  I think she had it coming.  My favorite part was immediately after, she turned to pet the lamas and they spit on her… a lot.  It was like a preemptive strike after watching her molest the camel.  Jane was really cute; cautious, but very interested in feeding the animals.  I thought she was pretty brave to hold her little sprigs of grass right up to the their mouths.

We found a nice private little sandy patch on some BLM land near Paige, AZ and there we set up our tent.  The kids went down easily, so Chris and I had some free time to play with our flashlights in the dessert.

This is my self portrait.  I think I pretty much nailed it.

When I woke up in the morning, it was only a minute before this little camper woke up beside me.  He slept like a champ... better than I did.

 

 

 

It was a short drive and a short hike/walk to the edge of the canyon.  I had read that morning was the best time to go for photography, and although, I knew they were talking about sunrise, I didn’t realize it meant, if you can’t come at sunrise, don’t bother coming back until noon.   There was a huge dark shadow across half of it and I was very disappointed.  This was supposed to be the climax of our trip and although it was breathtaking, my photos would never show it.  

 

 

We ate breakfast at McDonalds.  Honestly, these are some of the things I love about road trips, especially trips where you can take your time.  I like eating out (even though I get very sick of road trip food quickly) and letting Jane toddle around the restaurant.  I like going on trips with just our little family.  It’s so fun.  Jane ate two-thirds of my breakfast leaving me with just one pancake and piece of bacon.  When did she get to the age where we have to order her a separate meal?

On our way back we dropped in on Bryce Canyon because Chris had never seen it.  It's a pretty spectacular view, but that's about it, so it was a pretty quick stop for us.