All posts by mmrobins

Bryce, Red Canyon and Lake Powell

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The family overlooking the amphitheater at Bryce Canyon
The family overlooking the amphitheater at Bryce Canyon

Southern Utah seems to be about as interesting as central Utah is boring, which is to say very. The nicest part about central Utah was that you could drive fast, so from Salt Lake City we had our longest driving day in terms of miles.  We set up camp at the campground in Red Canyon, about 15 minutes from Bryce.  The campground had a view of the red rocks while still having enough tree cover for shade and hanging our hammock.  We initially planned to just spend time here and skip Bryce since national parks tend not to be very dog friendly, but it seemed a shame to miss out on Bryce when we were so close. Continue reading Bryce, Red Canyon and Lake Powell →

Salt Lake City

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Taken just as Geneveve started screaming because she was itchy
Taken just as Geneveve started screaming because she was itchy

Our first stop in Utah was the Great Salt Lake.  Unfortunately it was a bit of a disaster.  We went to antelope island since it was recommended as a good place to try swimming in the salty, smelly lake.  Geneveve was psyched to try swimming in water this salty since we told her she’d float better than anywhere else she’s ever been.  We drove to the coast and saw the beach was probably over 1/4 mile out since so much of the lake is evaporated at this point in the summer.  So we hiked through the sand and across the somewhat smelly dried up shore out to where the water was.  We got sunblock on and walked through the clouds of flies that line the beach and finally we got in the water…  And then Geneveve started screaming bloody murder that she was itchy all over.  It seems she has extra sensitive skin and the salt water irritated it.  So I carried her on my shoulders screaming most of the way the 1/4 mile back through the sand to where there were shower facilities and rinsed her off while she screamed about being cold.  Phew. Continue reading Salt Lake City →

Lava Hot Springs

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Xena eats ice cream
Xena gets her own cone because she eats more ice cream than Geneveve

We’re almost back on a more direct southern route, this time at more hot springs.  I saw Lava Hot Springs when looking for touristy stuff to do near our route, and I’m glad I did.  The hot springs water with a gigantic swimming pool and water slides are kinda cheesy, but it makes for a pretty fun day.

Again, having warm water to swim in has done wonders for Geneveve’s swimming abilities.  She’s going on small water slides by herself, something she wouldn’t even do after years of swimming at Mt Scott.  And she’s getting her head wet and attempting to swim in water deeper than she can touch.  Either the warm water has a magical effect on her progress, or something just clicked for her. Continue reading Lava Hot Springs →

Craters of the Moon

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Ubu holds down the camp while Kim and the kids hike
Ubu holds down the camp while Kim and the kids hike

We weren’t sure if we’d last two nights here because it’s so desolate, we were worried it might be cold and windy, and our dog Ubuntu can’t go on most of the trails. It was well worth the trip though.

The campground definitely is desolate compared to the trees and lakes we’ve been camping near, but it’s also not crowded which is a very nice thing not having to fight for a spot on a Friday night. It wasn’t even close to half full either night. We got one of the few spots in the place that had a tree large enough to provide some shade. During the day it got pretty hot in direct sun, which is almost everywhere, but it was pretty nice in the little shade we could find. At night it was actually a lot warmer than it had been in the mountains, although the elevation here is still close to 6000 ft.  The weather at night was interesting with really high winds the first night and a thunder and lightning rain storm the second. But our tent handled it all very well, and the warm sun during the day dried everything out very quickly. Continue reading Craters of the Moon →

Sawtooth Wilderness

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Ubu enjoys the scenery
Ubu enjoys the scenery

The landscape scenery is as impressive as we read it was. Jagged peaks surrounded by mountain rivers and lakes are one of my favorite environments in the world – at least during the summer. During the winter, they’re beautiful to look at, but living in that much isolation, darkness and snow for months on end isn’t something I’m entirely sure I would want to do again as a normal way of life.

We camped at Stanley Lake Inlet campground. The campground was nearly full on a Tuesday night, so I can only imagine how full it would be on a weekend. Continue reading Sawtooth Wilderness →

Missoula to Challis Hot Springs

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A Carousel for Missoula
A Carousel for Missoula

We had planned to just ride the carousel in Missoula and move on, but I discovered there was a convenient Holiday Inn downtown that had a pool for the kids, accepted dogs and I had points for a free night.  I signed up for an IHG credit card before we left on this trip and got enough points for 4 – 5 free hotel nights.  The challenge is to find places that both accept points for free nights and allow dogs.  Taking a shower and sleeping in a bed after camping and hiking always feels luxurious.  I’ll be curious to see what our ratio of tent nights to hotel nights will be for this trip. So far 3 nights camping to 1 night in a hotel. Continue reading Missoula to Challis Hot Springs →

Three Nights of Camping: To Sleep or not to Sleep

Mexico Here We Come,
The girls are up with the sun no matter how late they stay up. Ubu not so much
The girls are up with the sun no matter how late they stay up. Ubu not so much

So far camping is working out pretty well.  There is the possible exception of sleeping though.  We’re all still getting used to sleeping with 4 people and a dog in a tent when the kids have only ever really known having lots of space in quiet rooms for an extended period of time to sleep. I sleep pretty well anywhere, and Geneveve seems to have picked that up from me for the most part except the first night was so exciting and it stays light so late that she didn’t go to bed early.  However, Xena is adapting a lot more slowly, costing Kim more sleep than anyone.  Xena’s been waking up screaming every couple hours and has to sleep on top of Kim to keep her quiet for any period of time.  However, the 3rd night Xena slept without any screaming so that I actually woke up at 4 AM wondering why I hadn’t been awakened yet. Continue reading Three Nights of Camping: To Sleep or not to Sleep →

Country Living in Montana

Before the Trip,
IMG_6209
The construction crew for this particular weekend

We’ve spent most of the past week visiting our friends Laura and Eric near Whitefish Montana.  This will be the last week I’m working before my two months of time off begin and I don’t need Internet access all day.  In fact, as I type this I’ve just finished my last day of work before said time off, so this was my last week working for awhile.  Woot!  I still almost can’t believe that I’ve been able to work from so many places, but really more can’t believe that most people still go into offices everyday.  There’s things I miss about working in an office, but I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to go back to full time office work after working from home or wherever there’s Internet the last few years. Continue reading Country Living in Montana →

Out of Our House, Into the Next

Before the Trip, , ,
From our rental house the view of the fireworks over the lake
From our rental house the view of the fireworks over the lake

Our adventure is beginning gradually,  which is a very good thing.  Even though we packed up all our stuff and rented our house out, the time off,  road trip portion of the adventure hasn’t begun yet.  Instead we’re getting our home base established at my parents’ house in Eastern Washington:  storing stuff,  changing addresses,  updating insurance and all those other mundane things necessary to make sure life functions smoothly while we’re on the road and away from civilization. Continue reading Out of Our House, Into the Next →

The journey of 1000 miles begins with about 1000 steps

Before the Trip, ,
storage
Just beginning to fill this basement room with all our stuff

It’s begun!  The journey part that is.  For those that don’t know we’re currently living in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho for the month of July and starting in August I’ll be taking 2 months off work where we’ll be doing a road trip with the goal of reaching somewhere cool in Mexico.  The steps leading up to this journey started months ago and that’s really what this first post is about.  This journey began months ago, and there were so many things that had to happen to even begin. Continue reading The journey of 1000 miles begins with about 1000 steps →