April 2008

2008

April 11th

18 dollars a night electric hookups

Today we arrived at Zions National Park, Utah. We will be here for about 4 days. Paul and his family are with us, as well as Michelle and her 4 kids and Mick and Avril. We got here about 6 or so. We are in a campsite a few down from everyone else. Trina booked all of our sites and so we had to give her a hard time saying she didn’t like us as much which is why we are farther away. Tonight we had dinner and just hung out.

 

April 12th Today is Saturday and we have a big day of hiking planned. So all of us got on the shuttle to go up to where we had planned to hike. All of us include… Dave, Sabrina, Alexis, Trenton, Valerie, Ryan, Paul, Trina, Marisa, Tyler, Emma, Seth, Raquel, Keira, Michelle, Josh, Kaitlyn, Heidi, Jacob, Mick, Avril = 21 people.

The first thing we did was go to weeping rock. It was a short hike but fun and pretty. After we had came back down the kids were playing in the stream that was running under the bridge. The adults were sitting on the top part. I was with Ryan on the top part of the bridge and before I knew it he was across it and climbing onto the ledge. Some lady grabbed him before I could. Thank goodness! Then next place we went was to Zion’s Lodge to have a picnic on the large lawn they have there. We all ate lunch and Mick got pooped on by a bird. The kids had a fun time trying to run up the large tree that was shading us. Dave went and bought some fries and that started a fry frenzy. Everyone came and had 1 and then Paul went and bought his family some and they all sat around him and his fries like starving people gorging themselves, afterwards we hiked up to the Emerald Pools. The lower pools were a nice paved hike but going up to the middle pools was a bit more challenging. The hike to the higher pools was rocky, sandy and sometimes a bit steep. Since we couldn’t bring a stroller for Ryan we had him walk and when he couldn’t we held him. Dave carried him up and I carried him down, it was tiring… very pretty though. After we got back, Dave the kids and I went to a little deli and got some dinner for about $40 we got,

Ryan: Corndog.

Valerie: Burger and fries.

Trenton : Chicken strips and fries

Alexis: Burger and fries

Sabrina: Grilled chicken sandwich and fries

Dave: Fish and Chips.

It wasn’t the best for forty bucks but what can you do in a touristy place.

Paul had a fire that night and we all ate S'mores and enjoyed the fire. We are going to church tomorrow. 

April 13th

Church is at 9am there is no way we could have made it there in time. Paul and his family did as well as Mick and Avril with Michelle and her gang. We got there just before it was time for Sacrament. It was a small ward and Dave and I felt dirty since we didn’t have any water hook ups and we have to conserve our water. So all of the kids got to bathe in about an inch or two of water last night and there was very little left if any at all for Dave and I to shower.

Sacrament was nice the music was uplifting after church we came back to camp, changed and did the dishes with the last bit of water we had. We then hooked up our trailer to go to the dump station to dump the black and grey tanks and fill up with fresh water. While Dave and I wanted / needed showers very badly. So we came up with a plan, we would hookup to the water and while we were there I would take a fast shower and then Dave would. Then we would pull around to the other side to dump all the waste. Well, it was busy at the water dump station! People were lined up! We had people lined up behind us waiting! fastest showers we ever took! it was fun though. The kids and I rode in the trailer to and from the dump station so for a few moments, we all pretended we had a motorhome like Paul and Avril. The rest of the day we just hung out and took it easy. The kids played with their cousins, Dave and I took Ryan down to the river to put his feet in and Michelle, Avril and Mick all fought. I guess when Mick was pulling out of the water station, he hit a cement post and scraped his new motorhome. Well that brought on lots of yelling from the 3 of them and so the fighting started. Not sure what it was about, but it was pretty heated. Michelle has a friend in St. George who came up and so her and Jacob left today! Such Drama!

April 14th

At 10:30am or so we left to hike Riverside. A paved hike that leads to the opening of the Narrows - which is what I want to hike but its closed ( boo hoo ) This was a very pretty hike, Nice shade from the large mountains around us. The kids seemed to enjoy this hike and all the rocks there were to climb. One hiker even yelled at us that we were supposed to stay on the trail and not leave it. Afterwards we had lunch on the same lawn at Zions Lodge. Dave bought ice cream for our lunch. Yummy! We came back to our campsite and then went for a drive up to the tunnel that is a mile long through the sandstone. It was cool. We thought it was very dark. As we were cooking our dinner of hotdogs over the fire we saw our neighbors the Olsen's drive by with their trailer! They are staying 4 campsites down from us. Such a small world. Tomorrow we are talking about going to St. George. We shall see what we do……..

April 15th

Today we left Zions and drove to St.George. We went to the D.I. there and spend a fwe hours sorting through clothes and such. Everyone found something they liked. We had plans to stay in town, but the RV park was expensive! $38.95+ tax AND $3 per kid. So Paul said forget it and that we would just drive down to Mesquite, NV. and Stay at the Casablanca for $16 a night- full hook ups - no extra fee for kids. So after a quick trip to the Walmart, we were off to Nevada! We got there around 5pm or so, and after everyone was hooked up we set off to the pool at Casablanca but it was closed because someone had pooped in it. So we went to the Oasis pool to try and swim. It was a very long walk and it was very windy! So the pool was full of dirt and pine needles, and was very cold. But all of the kids didn’t seem to mind too much. We ended up going to Denny’s for dinner. Ryan and Valerie got cool rocket cups. The kids didn’t get to bed until late. It was a long day. Lots of laundry to do, yeah for me =\

April 16th

This morning was an early start to finishing laundry. After a breakfast of Mickey Mouse Waffles we just kind of hung out and cleaned the trailer while Dave made a bunch of work phone calls. We went unto the casino and took the kids to the arcade to spend some $$ Then we met up with Paul and his three oldest at the buffet. $6.50 each and it wasn’t worth it! After we got back some of the kids went swimming. Ryan fell asleep so I stayed back and took a small nap as well. About an hour later, I woke up Ryan and we went to the pool and swam a little in the freezing pool! It was cold! They have a water slide at the pool, so I sent Ryan down and Dave caught him. We didn’t stay too long. After dinner we went over to Dave’s Parents motor home to see what they were up too. Well, Paul was over there talking about how to spend the next few days. He was talking about going to California. To Knotts Berry Farm. Well this is news! Dave and I have yet to decide which way we are going……

North Home.

South - California.

We shall see!

April 17th

Well…. today we are camping in a place called Orangeland RV Park ( $67.00 with 10% good Sams full hookups ). So if that is any hint, we are in California. It took a good chunk of the day day to get here. Its a nice RV park with orange tree’s growing all around the park. You can pick them too! The kids did that right away. Yummy! After we unhooked the trailer, we were hot from driving all morning and afternoon, so the kids and I took a dip in the pool. It was a little cold, but it felt good. Paul and Avril arrived while we were in the pool. Needless to say there joined us shortly! After we showered, we went and ate dinner at Avrils. Afterwards we went to Target to get a bunch of things we needed. We drove around for awhile. It took us awhile to get it all done. Tomorrow we are going to Knotts berry farms.

April 18th

Today is my brothers Birthday. Happy Birthday Adam! So today we had a nice breakfast and set off to Knotts Berry Farm. It cost $20.00 for kids 3-11 and $30.00 for 11 and up. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Trenton was big enough this time to go on all the rides so he loved that. Valerie was able to go on some of the big ones too. She went on the sidewinder with me. Her faces were great! From being scared to loving it. Ryan enjoyed the car ride the best little cars that you sit in and they are all connected to the middle. They go around the middle and as they reach the edges - ( its oval shaped ) it whips you around really fast. He loved it. Alexis seemed to enjoy herself, but she was grumpy. So I’m not sure if she had the greatest time or what. We had lunch in our trailer and had some down time. Then back to the park for a few hours before it closed at 6pm. After it was closed we had to debate on what everyone was doing for the night. Go homewards or to the beach for the next day. My vote was to the beach! Why come all this way and not see the beach? Who’s crazy enough to go home? So off we went to the beach. We tried to go to a start park, so we could get a cheaper rate, but they were all full. So we headed down to Newport Beach where we are staying at Newport Dunes. Very Fancy place. It has a little bay that it sits around. We got here late so no beach day for us tonight. But in the morning though - I’m there! Poor mick has had a hard time with his driving. In Zions he hit a pole at the dump station, and then today as we were following him, he rode up on the curb, too close to a fire hydrant, changed lanes like a crazy man, then tried to do a u-turn in the middle of a no u-turn lane and had to backup because he didn’t make it ( stopped traffic to do it ) and then when Paul lead us into the start park only to find out it was closed and we had to do a u-turn he hit the cement divider ( thank goodness he had kids bikes back there to absorb the impact. ) poor guy is having a hard time. But hopefully he is enjoying the vacation. But I have one question - will I ever get home? With this vacation it seems as soon as the day comes that we are heading home. We go somewhere else. So that leaves this question?

Where will we go tomorrow???

April 19th-20th
All that fun... but it was time to go home!