Spring break sun and fun beckons us every March. How do we decide where to go? Sitting in the van for hours is the biggest restraint, so after travelling to Baja, Mexico last year, we picked somewhere closer for this year. The next priority: it had to have sun and warmth. We started from Corvallis, drove south to California and stopped in Death Valley for a day, then on south to the Sedona, Arizona area. We spent four days there, viewed Grand Canyon on the way north through Utah and back home. Phew. As I look through the photos, it seems like it was a whirl wind trip.
First things first, we said goodbye to Zoe. Ugh, she makes it hard to leave her.
The first evening we spent near Carson City and managed to throw the tents up in between rainstorms. Warm sleeping bags and dry tents made it bearable for the first night, but coffee was still needed bright and early.
Ummm, not my first choice for breakfast, but hey, way to eat the leftovers! Funnily enough, Costco food beckoned the kids the entire way. Good thing they’re easy to please.
Between Carson City and Death Valley, mountain views and lakeside picnic areas made this day a long trip. We couldn’t resist stopping.
This path was a photographers dream.
All was peaceful with this lakeside exploration, until Judah decided to shake things up.
Convict Lake. It was only a few miles off the main road and how can anyone resist stopping by to see what it looks like?
We didn’t make Death Valley until 9PM, so I don’t have a glorious picture of the gravel lot we camped in. But the view in the morning totally caught us off guard, once we drove to the top of the ridge.
I wasn’t the only one with a camera this trip.
We didn’t plan on pulling the bikes off the rack until Arizona, but the long hill back down to the valley floor was an irresistible idea.
Six thousand feet below the first overlook, we walked on the lowest part of the US
Fast forward and we finally make it to our camp spot in Arizona.
Look closely, there are two people from our group perched on those rocks up above!
These kids were crazy. Freezing cold water and they still all jumped in.
In search of more swimming holes brought us up a long and bumpy dirt road and then down into a canyon.
The next day Cathedral Rock invited all of us to scramble to the top.
At the end of the day, waiting for sunset, a guy was entertaining the crowd by pounding on these bowls, making sounds kind of like a gong. As I look back through the photos, it’s these unexpected moments that round out the trip.
So cool that they still like hanging around Dad.
Everyone else was focused on the sunset. I couldn’t stop watching the people.
Early in the morning we started hiking to beat the crowds. But we didn’t beat the balloons.
The rocks are irresistible. We went for a little stroll and couldn’t help but climb.
Still higher.
Ok, good enough. Get away from the edge now.
The week sped by until we packed up and left to make a pit stop at the Grand Canyon. I had hoped we could hike more, but the snow on the trail made it no fun to hike. Another family passed us, and then the dad went back for crampons so they could continue.
The Grand Canyon is massive. We hopped out at a few places and then ended up near the Vermillion Cliffs for the night. I think I liked this place better since there weren’t any cliffs to fall off.
Instead, there were boulders to climb.
Last notable stop was a hot spring in the middle of cow fields in Utah. Not a bad view.
