Our 2009 Rockin' Awesome Vacation...Day 2

The room we slept in had two queen beds plus a couch with a hide-a-bed. Hubby and I got one queen, while the boys took the other, and the girls took the third. It was no surprise when M came tapping on my shoulder to tell me her little sister wouldn’t go to sleep. I’d been waiting for it (years of experience told me exactly what to suspect). So M and I switched places. Of course within five minutes baby was asleep.

Unfortunately she had a rough night. Round about two or so she began coughing horribly. When I cuddled with her I thought she felt a bit warm, but didn’t know if it might be a fever or just getting warm as she slept. Turns out it was a slight fever – it was still there in the morning. So we gave her a bit of Tylenol and hoped for the best.

We all woke up a little before eight – not too shabby if I do say so myself. Of course lights out occurred a little before 8:30 the night before, so not exactly shocking. I don’t think I've ever gone to bed that early without being feverish or, well, feverish :)

It was at this point I realized there would be no awards for Mother of the Year headed my way. I’d been so careful when packing. I made sure everyone had lots of shorts and underwear and socks and pants and swim stuff, toothbrushes and toothpaste were abounding, even a few cotton swabs…but I neglected to make sure the boys had more SHIRTS! My poor boys had to wear some of big sis’s shirts (fortunately they were just t-shirts).

All moms are required to heave a giant sigh for me right now.

I kept A with me while the others headed out to breakfast to began packing. It didn’t take too long before we were ready to head out. Now we really were in unfamiliar territory, not to mention having no idea what to do with ourselves. It’s not like Beaver is hours away from Hurricane.

It was so exciting to see the turning of the rock color from what we’re familiar with here up north to the bright reds and oranges of the south. I was saddened with the pictures I was coming out with, though. This next comment will make a lot of sense to those who know even a smidge about photography, but there was a lot of “atmosphere” in the air. It kept dulling what I was really seeing, but at least we all got to see it.

As we drove along there was a sign leading us to the Kolob Canyon scenic route, a part of Zion’s. At the ranger’s station we paid the $25 fee to enter anywhere in Zion’s Canyon for the next 7 days, so long as we kept the receipt.

Now, I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I sure got the impression from what we read and were told that Kolob Canyon would take us further down into the heart of Zion’s. It didn’t. It looped around near the top and we had to go back down! Okay so this isn’t exactly a tragedy, but it would have been nice to know beforehand.

So if any of you decide to take the Kolob Canyon scenic route…it loops ;)

That being said, it was beyond breathtaking! It would have been amazing to see how it changed throughout the entire day. We were in a lot of shadow that first morning, but we still got a bunch of pictures. One of the first scenic stops took us on a little hike. We didn’t make it very far but there were some really neat things to see along the way. We saw several lizards and giant bees (yikes!), and fun little patches of cacti mixed in with trees and bushes. All the kids filled their pockets with “way cool rocks.” And they were pretty fantastic. In the next post you’ll see a gorgeous rock that’s got both white and red swirled together.

Little A was so taken with the red sand, all her “rock-a-babies” (to her all rocks are rock-a-babies), and being carried across the small stream as we hopped over rocks and prayed we wouldn’t drop her. I didn’t realize it wasn’t her we needed to worry about, lol. For those who know my family it won’t come as much of a surprise to hear J was the one who took a nice cool dip in the water.

Fortunately no one got hurt on our little hike. Nope, instead M waited until we were trying to get back into the car. My poor girl got her fingers caught in the car door, fell to her knees because it hurt so bad, and then scraped up her knees really well. It was such a sad end to a lovely walk, but we bandaged her up and dipped her fingers in some cold water, and before she knew it life was good again.

The kids finished off their disposable cameras on the canyon. As it was nearing lunchtime and everyone was showing signs of tiredness and hunger, we headed back down and continued on our way to Hurricane. It didn’t take too long and we found ourselves at a local Super 8 Motel in connecting rooms. The boys took one while the girls took the other. Knowing we’d be there more than one night I went ahead and put our clothes in the drawers.

My hubby had been in considerable pain all this time (problems with his neck and shoulder), so I left him and A in the rooms to rest and took the others to the outdoor swimming pool. We only swam for about an hour, since I’m a redhead and burn far too easily. Besides that, the little one didn’t take too kindly to being left behind.

Fortunately the motel had a laundry room, so the boys were assured to have their shirts back, not to mention giving M's back to her, for the next day. That evening we just tried to rest up and enjoy ourselves. We let the younger three watch cartoons in one room while M, my hubby and I watched a movie in the other. All in all, a great second day!