Family
Conversation with Stranger on Airplane Leads to Love Story
NOTE: Sorry for the “bedhead” hair. I got into a rambunctious dog pile with my husband and three young sons at the start of the day. Or, this is just how my hair looks because I live in windy Wyoming. Both are correct.
I challenge you to ask yourself what may happen as a result of connecting with a stranger, or what may be lost as a result of choosing not to?
Coral Pink Sand Dunes–A Giant Sandbox
We have three young sons, ages 11, 9 and 4. As toddlers, they all loved playing in the custom-built corner sandbox their Pa-Grandpa built in our backyard for them. When we go on beach vacations, the boys relish playing in the sand.
So it was a highlight when we spent the final day of our recent weeklong camping adventure in southwestern Utah in Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. It was a hoot, not to mention spectacularly unique and beautiful.
For several hours, we ran, barefooted, knee deep at times, in the sand, up and down the giant dunes. We made “sand angels” and jumped full blast off the “cornices” that formed and quickly re-formed along the tops of the dunes. The kids marveled at how the breeze (gale force winds) “erased” our footprints and all evidence of our (high impact) presence within seconds.
Hayden, our 9-year-old son, with the help of his brothers, spelled his name out in huge letters, only to see it erased in a blink of an eye.
Even my husband and I felt like little kids again as we frolicked in the fine, red-orange sand with our sons and puppy.
Coral Pink Sand Dunes is the only major sand dune field on the Colorado Plateau, and is a unique geologic feature. The dunes are old — estimated to be 10,000-15,000 years old. They are formed from the erosion of coral pink-colored Navajo Sandstone surrounding the area. High winds passing through the notch between the Moquith and Moccasin Mountains pick up loose sand particles and then drop them onto the dunes because of the Venturi effect.
The state park is located between the towns of Mount Carmel Junction and Kanab, south and west of U.S. Highway 89, in southwestern Utah.
VIDEO:
Here are blog posts for other adventures we enjoyed during our southwestern Utah camping adventure:
Goblin Valley
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Kodachrome State Park
Kodachrome State Park is Great Base Camp
On our recent spring break camping trip in southwestern Utah, we spent two nights camping and one day hiking and exploring Utah’s Kodachrome State Park. We had been to the area before and loved it.
This state park gets its name, Kodachrome, from a 1948 National Geographic Society expedition that named the area after its popular color film. Kodachrome State Park is known for its tall and colorful spires.
Almost 70 monolithic stone spires — called sedimentary pipes — jut out of red and orange desert-like environs. The colorful sandstone formations reveal 180 million years of geologic time.
We enjoyed a couple of great hikes that started right near the campground. Our favorite was the Panorama trail, which is mostly level and takes you through a landscape that includes towering spires, Utah juniper and pinyon pine, signs of an earlier time in features like Indian Cave. Our boys’ favorites were Ballerina Spire and the Secret Passage.
Depending on how many spur trails you take, this could be a 6-mile hike. If you remain on the main trail without taking any of the side trips, I think it’s about a 3-mile hike. Either way, it’s level and fun and perfect for families, especially if you have young children and a puppy, like we do.
We spent a couple of hours having a picnic and just exploring and goofing off and relaxing near the trail to “Secret Passage.” Our three sons, ages 11, 9 and 4, could have played there all day long. There were interesting rocks to climb in and out of and to the top of, places to hide and caves to explore.
According to Wikipedia, geologists believe Kodachrome Basin State Park was once similar to Yellowstone National Park, home to several geysers and hot springs, which eventually solidified, full of sediment. Over, time, the Entrada sandstone surrounding the solidified geysers eroded, leaving large sand pipes — or, spires.
Kodachrome is perfectly situated for people looking to “base camp” in one awesome location with easy access to Zion National Park, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Capitol Reef National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and other great natural destinations in southwestern Utah.
The perfect day came to a perfect end when we had s’mores at our camp.
At the beginning of our trip, we enjoyed adventuring in Goblin Valley State Park, and en route to Kodachrome, we enjoyed a 6-mile hike to Calf Creek Falls in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument en route to Kodachrome. After our stay at Kodachrome, we headed south a short distance to Coral Pink Sand Dunes. (Stay tuned for the upcoming post about Coral Pink Sand Dunes, which was yet another awesome adventure.)
Here’s a short video of how our last night at camp went at Kodachrome State Park:
Have Workout, Will Travel
Normally I would take a reprieve from training during our family’s spring break. After all, I was getting some exercise. We hiked every day. But the hikes were fun and enjoyable — not “training” efforts.
The fact that in less than four weeks I will be hiking from North to South across Zion National Park — about 50+ miles including sidetrips — in a day — means I needed to get some training in during my trip.
No problem. Following our adventuring in Goblin Valley State Park, Jerry, and our 4-year-old son, Fin, took a nap. Wolf and Hayden, our older sons, explored a slot canyon while I did a core and kettlebell workout. In all, it took about 12 minutes to get pretty well worked over, with no sacrifice of family time.
Another day, after our hiking in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, I did some body weight exercises in our campsite while Jerry and the boys built a fire.
On the final day of our trip, at Coral Pink Sand Dunes, I raced my sons up and down a huge sand dune. We ran, all out, up and down, only a handful of times. It was fun, and a heck of a workout to boot. (I think I’m still sore from that fun, “little” effort.)
I share this to prove that you don’t have to go to a gym, or deprive yourself of family time on a vacation, to get some high quality training in. (Thanks to my trainer and friend, Steve Bechtel, of Elemental Training Center, for influencing me in this regard.)
