Colorado Red Rock

So the first couple of days have been spent in the high plateau of Colorado National Monument just outside of Grand Junction. Never been here before and it is such a beautiful place. Always thought Utah had a great mix of high mountains and red rock but much to my surprise Colorado has it all as well. We spent a couple warm days in the sun enjoying the views from camp and some mild exploring. Every little adventure needs to start with a nutritious hot dog and some Doritos.

Just a short hike from camp was a very large drop off and an amazing view of the red rock at sunset. I always have a little daredevil willing to walk to the edge with me. She patiently waits to take my hand and follow me out.

Amber won't always venture so close to the edge but she loves to get out and walk when she feels like it. The weather and view were worth the walk. Her little dog Moxy even had to come along. Amber does so well and pushes through so much. This trip came on the heels of more health news that we are sorting through. We've canceled and rearranged some of our summer already but this trip was a must for several reasons. Their will be more on the health situation later. As for now, she can't resist being momma and giving the little one a piggy back ride.

Such a lovely young lady. Such a big heart for adventure.

Mason and I always try to take some time for the boys. We took our own trip and hiked down to a rock ledge that had a great valley view. Afterward we headed back for some man time chatting around the picnic table.

Hailyn was in true form on this trip. Excited, energetic, quick witted and such a joy. She makes us all laugh and her cuteness is unsurpassed. She dressed herself including the "boy socks, just like dad." To be clear, I don't have purple socks but I will wear some taller socks to the gym so I'm assuming that's where she gets it from. The best part was just moments after this picture was taken when she sprinted down the trail, lost her footing and did an amazing head first baseball slide into some native cactus. The next 45 minutes consisted of Amber and I with two tweezers and lots of tears and screaming as we attempted to remove all the "pokies" from her legs, arms and belly. The kids danced and tried to distract her while Amber and I prayed no one called the police and reported a child being tortured.

Ohh the joys of parenting. After two days in the warmth and desert sun we headed a little farther west in search of wolves. The climate made a huge adjustment and so did we as we climbed to over 11,000 feet.

That John Denver was not full of **** man!

Next up...Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center.

Disneyland and Capitalism

What a wonderful trip for the family. Disneyland is packed full of fun attractions, memories from our childhood, new memories for my children and just truly inspiring with what people can do alongside imagination and creativity. It's safe to say we had a great time. Another observation...damn those people know how to rake in the money. Tickets are expensive, the parks are packed with people, every ride drops you off into a related store full of gifts every child wants. Someone is always offering to take your picture and sell you copies, food is everywhere and way overpriced at $7.49 for a slice of pizza, $6.00 for an ice cream cone and $10.99 for a giant turkey leg (which I bought twice and would gladly do again and again..sooo good). This is not to be negative or to take away from the experience but I think of all the families that could have so much fun and build so many memories if it was only a bit more reasonable. With that said, it's their park, the way they do business and people will pay it for the experience they provide. Obviously the demand is high and business is flourishing so they are doing something right. This is our third trip, not bragging, just a point that we have now taken all of our children over the last 15 years. They all have now had a chance, and if I'm being honest there will probably be one more in our future after Star Wars Land opens in a couple years. But anyway, the point is I always think of my siblings and there families when I go. How much fun it would be to have us all there together, my sister has like twenty kids or something, my brother has like three or so, all of them at that age when Disney is truly magical. Maybe even throw my parents in there to be the cherry on top, as long as they can get their car unstuck from the Missouri mud. It would be a blast, and probably around 12-15k. SO this will probably just continue to be a pipe dream unless one of us wins the lotto or something. Who knows, there is always hope and they can't take that away.

This is one of my favorite Disney stories and rides. I mean who doesn't love Captain Jack Sparrow! I found out later we missed Johnny Depp by only a few hours. We rode the ride a couple times and later that night he made a surprise visit to the attraction acting as Jack Sparrow to promote the new movie. Bummer...so close

This is me teaching my son a lesson in shooting bad guys in outer space. Notice the scores. He said I cheated, nobody said I couldn't put him in a headlock halfway through the ride.

I hate water rides. However it looks like Amber loves them!

There goes about $200 in galactic cheeseburgers. A special thanks to Amber's sister and her family who came down to join us for a day at the park. Hopefully someday in the future more family can make it happen. It was very nice to have them with us and only added to the enjoyment of the trip.

I'm not sure how this picture got in here. I didn't even order a hot dog.

And no trip to SoCal is complete without some time at the beach. We took the RV to Huntington Beach for the day and unfortunately only spent about half the day before hurricane force winds kicked up and sand blasted us off the beach. Overall we had a great trip. Amber held up like a champ and pushed through a busy week. I'm so proud of her and what she was able to do. The next trip will be much slower and a littler more leisure in the mountains of Colorado.

Disappointed? Nah not really.

Well we have been searching for homes over the last several weeks and are unpleasantly surprised. House prices in Utah have suddenly spiked and the competition is fierce. People are routinely listing their homes and getting twenty showings in a day and multiple offers. Some offers are even coming in over asking price and there is no negotiating. This is a situation we have never been in before. Typically we had been blessed enough to buy low and sell high. We are now on the opposite side of the coin. We looked at several fixer uppers and couldn't even come to terms on a reasonable price and lost out to others who simply didn't care. In my opinion people are making bad choices. Over paying for over valued homes in a bubble that will sooner or later burst and bring us back to reality. I don't want to be brought back to reality in that fashion, I have enough reminders everyday. So, with that said we have decided to venture into uncharted waters for us and will be renting an apartment for the first time in our married lives. We bought our first home at 21 years old and have never looked back. Now we find ourselves looking at a 1000 square foot apartment with an 11 month lease. All of this is new to me. It's small but will prepare us for our overall goal. It is simple. It is affordable. So besides from being something totally different for us it should be exactly what we are looking for, right? I hope so. We will not overpay or make a bad financial decision in this market so it is currently our only option. Rent and wait to see what happens. Either way it will be yet another new adventure. We move in shortly and with that will come pictures. It has a playground and pool for the kids so I really can't complain. What better way to downsize yet again and continue to simplify and spread our wings. Even better, I am currently writing this post from an RV park across the street from Disneyland and the so called happiest place on earth. This is exactly how we want to live. We are so excited for our kiddos and the first trip for our youngest. Bring on the good times and many more memories! Who knows, maybe we will go from an apartment to permanent camper life once we have seen how little we can live with.

Turning the Page

So we arrived in Page Arizona for the last day of the trip. We set up shop in an area called Wahweap just off the shores of Lake Powell. We only had one day so we decided to do a couple hikes and stop by the Glen Canyon Dam. It's about the same size as the Hoover Dam and is almost as impressive. The highlight was our first little hike in a local slot canyon called Antelope Canyon. It's on Navajo Nation lands and by guided tour only. It's a bit pricey but worth the cost. There is a lower and upper section, we did the lower. It's longer and less crowded with similar beauty. This canyon has been photographed and published all over the world. There are many named areas in the canyon and if you look closely at the pictures you can see why. The title image is called "lady in the wind" and the picture below is called "the wolf head."

"Pirates Hat"

The "Mason, Izzy, and Hailyn pose for a picture."

"Sunrise over the Rockies"

The "Tall Dark and Handsome Guy"

The "Smiling Shark from Finding Nemo"

After this excursion we headed over to Horseshoe Bend for a hike to a river overlook. My lense isn't wide enough to get the best shot but it's a very dramatic bend in the river and a very long drop off the cliff edge.

We ended our last night in camp with a fire and some Smores for the kids. It was a nice way to end the trip and get ready for home. Our original plan was to stay in St George for a night but with Amber going home and weather coming in we called it a wrap.

After a beautiful week of new places and adventures we headed home. How does the road home decide to welcome us you might ask? In typical Utah fashion...7 hours of miserably windy, snowy, poor visibility slow going crap. Thank you.

Isn't Life Grand

So our journey continued. We headed south out of Moab towards the Grand Canyon. It was a beautiful drive even though it was a bit solemn and a small cloud hung over our trip. We decided to make the best of it and push on. The kids were great, they missed mom but were still excited about things ahead. We drove through a place I have always wanted to see, Monument Valley. It is well known for old western films and the place where Forrest Gump decided he was done running. It was a beautiful sight.

Then after a long day behind the wheel we arrived. Truly a grand place, like nothing I had ever seen before. It just goes and goes and seems to have no end to the vastness below. Hard to imagine a river was able to carve out such a large portion of the world and leave such a beautiful scar behind. I guess to a degree it's the same thing I hope for through our journey. This struggle for Amber will be the river cutting the scar that someday looking back has become some beautiful site to behold. A place we protect and recognize for it's value and never ending mark it's left on our past that will be ever present in our future.

Such a little doll

Never ending scenery

So we arrived to the end of the line at a place called Hermits Rest. It was a neat old place full of history surrounding the original development of the area. There on a column was this Bible verse.

Enjoying some fruit push ups.

So we hiked some of the Bright Angel Trail, went to multiple overlooks and museums, watched an IMAX film on the Grand Canyon and took in everything we could for the time we were there. Our last night we decided to stay late by the canyon and catch the sunset.

Not all of our party was as excited as the rest of us. Someone thought it was cold and she was tired and ready for her camper.

So our Grand Canyon time comes to a close with Page Arizona in our crosshairs. We will experience a couple more hikes including a world famous slot canyon who's pictures have graced the pages of books and internet galleries in abundance.

It All Starts in Moab

I had originally planned to give updates along the way but due to technical difficulties my computer was unable to charge so I will now be catching up. This was to be our first big trip together in the mobile living set up. Moab to Grand Canyon to Page Arizona to St George and then home. Like all things we plan they don't always go the way we had in our heads. This trip started out with a water leak that got us on our way two hours later then expected. No worries, we fixed it up with the rip off price of RV parts then got under way. Moab was gorgeous, 80 degrees and sunny with a larger than normal spring break crowd. Who cares...it's sunny and warm. Our first hike was to Mesa Arch in Canyonlands. It was everything I had hoped for and like all sites in the national parks included a very large amount of friendly Asian tourists. Brad and Rita decided to join us for the first leg of the trip which was nice. It later proved to be a life saver.

We continued to explore Canyonlands which was a lot of fun and such a unique place. So vast and wide open country. It proved to be a nice warm up to the Grand Canyon.

Next stop was Dead Horse Point State Park just outside of Canyonlands. I guess it was made famous back in the day as the site Thelma and Louis launched there car off the cliff in the end. Who knew?

Amber Lee a little close to the edge for comfort.

My Izzy B

Utah's iconic arch is located just outside Moab in Arches National Park. This is a nice little three mile hike up slick rock best done just before sunset. We felt up to the challenge except Hailyn, who was hot and decided it was best to remove her shirt and ride dad's shoulders.

The Delicate Arch

Trail on a cliff

Little Baby Rae

No trip is complete to Moab without a little off road action. We didn't have much time so we did a quick run through Fins and Things just outside Moab. It was a great way to break in the Jeep.

Nice place to enjoy the view

Well done son, well done...

All good things must come to an end. For Amber it was the end of the line on a vacation that was to be her break through after 18 days of hell. She was so excited for this trip and for time away and relaxing. Her body didn't agree. She got incredibly sick and was unable to continue. Through many tears and pain she had to say goodbye. Brad and Rita selflessly gave up the rest of their trip to run her home a day early. I am so grateful for them and there willingness to help her and all of us out. It broke my heart to continue without her. There were many tears. My partner, best friend and mother of our children had to submit to circumstances out of her control...yet again. I know there is a lesson in this for us. Someday I hope to understand. For now, I decided to continue and give it a go with only me and the kids. It's what she wanted and what we felt was best. It was incredibly hard but to be the right decision in the end. So our trip will continue, we started with seven and only four remain.

18 Days and Counting

Well it's finally over. She finished 18 days from hell and now we wait. She has been sick, miserable, suffering from insomnia and overall just feeling awful. So here is where the hoping starts, hoping she starts to feel better and hoping this made some sort of significant difference. Time will tell. For now the plan is to take a break, eat healthy, rest and start to recover. I'm not even going to go into a Plan B for now, hopefully there will not be a need. In the meantime thank you so much for all the prayers and support. For those reaching out from far away and for those right here in the thick of it spending time with her, supporting her, making her laugh and showing her the love. I appreciate all of you and thank you so much for everything. Maybe we will be hearing from her soon. Either way, it's the start of a new day.