4 Wheels 4 Girls

When we got out of bed on Easter morning, we all ran to see what we got. We got jellybeans and malted milk balls, and we also got a chocolate bunny. We had no basket so the easter bunny put our candy in a bowl. It took me about three day to eat all of it.

Here we are with our easter candy

But the best thing was a knitted bunny that Stella made for me.

Here is the bunny that Stella knitted for me

We also got a hip pack. My hip pack is green. A hip pack is something that you put your stuff in while you are hiking. I like my hip pack because we go hiking a lot so we can use it a lot of the time.

After that we made french toast. Me and Ana made the french toast together. It was so good.

On April 23, we went to Goblin Valley State Park. It was a place where there were faces all over, and it was very cool because there were so many places for running and hiding and climbing. The faces were in the stones. There were a lot of nooks and crannies. There was no trail so we could do whatever we wanted. Me and Ellie were playing horses. There were nooks where you could hide when it was raining. I wish I could have spent the night in a goblin.

Standing in a group of goblins

On April 23rd, after Arches, Dead Horse Point, and Canyonlands, we checked out the coolest state park there is to see: Goblin Valley State Park in Utah. When they say goblins in the name, they mean it; it’s a big beautiful valley full of goblins! As we were driving there I wasn’t too excited; honestly I wasn’t optimistic at all because I was pretty park-ed out. But I had a boost of excitement when I saw the park. I thought it would just be a great view and that’s about it, but it was WAY more than that. The goblins were made of sandstone and they even had faces, so detailed with noses, mouths, eyes, and eyebrows. Some of them even took the shape of familiar people and cartoon characters; one looked EXACTLY like Donald Duck! The best thing was that we could climb on the goblins and the bunches of them formed paths and mazes. We took tons of great pictures! Here are a few of our favorites:

In the Valley of Goblins

The green mesa rising behind us looked like the Emerald City

The valley walls looked like they were made of goblin faces. Can you spot us in nooks of the walls?

Everyone was so enthusiastic the whole time that I was just laughing and actually enjoying myself for the first time in a while because for those of you who don’t know, this trip is really hard for me ’cause I miss my friends so much and it’s terrible to be away from home at this time. But anyway it was so great, Ellie and Ana running around and screaming joyfully while I did a little exploring myself. At one point I looked over this one big-headed goblin and I saw a whole ‘nother valley of goblins. I went to explore, climbing up a steep wall in the side of the mesa to sit in a little chair naturally formed by the earth. There I am with Stella!

In a cozy spot

Sadly, after a little while, it was time to head back to the camper and eat dinner. We walked back to the parking lot, still exploring the goblins on the way. We made it back just in time for delicious sandwiches. This goblin-filled park was definitely one of my favorites! 😀

We drove from Dead Horse Point to Canyonlands National Monument, a different part of Canyonlands from the other day. From the Canyonlands Visitor Center, it was 12 miles further up the mesa, also known as Island in the Sky, which is 2000 feet high from the bottom of the canyon, where the Colorado and Green rivers come together. We hiked a mile along the rim to get to the Grand View, a place where you could lookout over both sides of the Island in the Sky.

Along the rim trail of the Island in the Sky

Everywhere you look, canyons

Jean was really scared about the steep cliff drops along the hike, but she was brave and took pictures with us along the edge. I thought the cliffs were pretty cool, though. Along the hike we saw a bunch of nooks in the sandstone rocks that, if I were a mini-person, I would definitely live in them.

Nooks in the sandstone make a fairyland

At the Grand View, we climbed up a big boulder to the point of the mesa. On one side was the Colorado River canyon and the other was the Green River canyon. We sat up there for a while.

The Grand View of the Island in the Sky

The hike back was more exciting than the hike out. We talked more, and also I was more excited about getting back to the RV than getting to the “Grand View” because it sounded pretty boring to me before I got there. Once we got back to the RV I was happy but couldn’t think about anything but the bathroom. I headed towards it, used it, and then went back to the RV. There wasn’t much to the hike, but it was kinda fun anyway.

Chatting about boys at the Grand View

April 23rd, we went to Dead Horse Point. Once again we got our Junior Ranger packets and looked through it and then we started it. We worked for a while and then we started our hike. We actually went to a lookout first. When we got there you could look down and see the Colorado River 2000 feet below. It seemed like it was straight down below us.

Here is me and my family way up on the cliff

We stayed there for a short while and then we left to go on the real hike. Right when me and Ana got on the trail we loved it already. Why? Because my mom told us that we could climb on rocks.

Here is Stella looking over the edge. It goes straight down.

Dead Horse Point got its name because some ranchers herded wild horses into the natural corral at the top of the cliffs so they could pick out the ones they wanted. One time the ranchers forgot about the horses and they left. The horses starved to death.

We hiked for a while and got our pictures and then we headed back to the RV. When we got back we turned in our Junior Ranger packets and got our badges. We also turned in our Red Rock Ranger packet that we had worked on for a really long time. To get our Red Rock Ranger badge, we had to visit and become Junior Rangers at three national parks and one state park, all in the southeastern corner of Utah. We ended up doing even more: we visited four of the national parks and two of the state parks, and they were all great.

Then we left Dead Horse Point. I had great fun!

We went to Arches on April 22. I really wanted to see Bighorn Sheep, but we didn’t see any.

These statues are the closest we have come to seeing bighorn sheep

After the first hike, we went on another trail to Delicate Arch. I tripped and fell and I scraped my hands and knees. It hurt. We arrived where we could look and see the Delicate Arch. It looked very small because it was far away. I could see it pretty well, but it was getting dark. On the way back it got really dark, and there was a bird looking thing. My dad got to see it closer than us and told us it was a bat. Stella and Ellie were playing a game that looked really fun. I was anxious for the next day because it would almost be Easter. Now my story is all told.

April 22nd, we went to Arches National Park.

When we got there we watched a movie about how the arches were formed and got our junior ranger packet. The arches were formed when thin layers of sediment and rock were forced up through the ground many years ago. These thin layers are called fins. We also saw in the movie when a large, 70 foot long, piece of Landscape Arch fell and learned that now the thinnest part is only 6 feet thick.

Sandstone fins rise up into the sky

After the movie, we started a hike to the Landscape Arch. We saw lots of deer prints and think we saw mountain lion prints. Me and Stella also fooled my mom by making fake footprints. We could see lots of fins. They were lots of different sizes, from very tall to very small. They were skinny and lots of different colors, reds, yellows, whites and some were even purple. When we got to the Landscape Arch we could see where the chunk of rock fell.

Us at Landscape Arch

On the trail to Landscape Arch we hiked up one of the fins. At the top we could see another arch, called Partition Arch.

Hiking up one on the fins on the Devil's Garden Trail

On the way back, we had to climb down between two fins. It was hard and in one part you had to walk sideways because it was so skinny.

Climbing down between two fins

After that we went to Pine Tree Arch. I think they call it Pine Tree Arch is because it has a pine tree under it. After that we turned around and started our hike back.

Pine Tree Arch

The girls squealed with delight when we received an email from our friend, David, sharing the news that John’s goat, Cosmos, was the first to deliver her kids. David sent these photos of the new arrivals.

David and Kid

John, with a new addition to the family

Our burning question has been answered. Thanks, David!

Yeah, the singers were great! But Greta took my milkshake…

On April 21st, we went to Milt’s Eat and Go for dinner. We had a great time. I know I did, but I’m not sure if the rest of us did… I’ll ask them. [Guys, did you have fun at Milt’s?] Yup. They did. All of them. We ordered our food at a window and ate outside at a picnic table.

(Ellie wants me to tell you that she ordered a plain hamburger with just lettuce and tomatoes. She got it ordered correctly but it wasn’t enough for her. So she ordered another one. Lettuce and tomato were the “plain” ingredients on the normal hamburger, so again she ordered a burger. But she didn’t realize that when the orderer guy asked, “All?” and she said, “Yes, all, please.” , that “all” meant cheese, too. Whoops, that was a mistake. She really didn’t like the cheeseburger. I’m like, what the heck, she ordered a hamburger, not a cheeseburger! But whatever, she was hungry, so she ate it anyway.)

Well anyway, the first things we got were the milkshakes. I ordered chocolate, because I LOVE chocolate. So when I picked up my milkshake, (by the way, it was all heavy and cold and perfect…), I took a sip and realized it wasn’t my milkshake at all! I was so mad–and I mean, SOOO MAD–when I told Greta I had her milkshake, (reeses, by the way) and when she handed me back a stinky, dinky, light, warm, and very imperfect “barely-a-milkshake” milkshake that had WAY less than the reeses one that was actually good. UUGGHHH! I really was extremely mad. Right now, just WRITING about this makes me mad. I felt like stealing that milkshake back. Ohhh, it was so annoying…

I reluctantly (actually kind of gladly, because I hardly ever get milkshakes and it was still a tiny bit good) drank my milkshake but still pretended to hesitate before picking it up to drink, just to show I was still mad about it. It worked. And sometimes I even looked at it like it was disgusting and didn’t even touch it. I know I was kind of overreacting, but it was still kind of… fun. I guess.

It was kinda cold that night. But our milkshakes were really good anyway.

Milt's inspired this drawing

So anyway, we were eating our dinner and suddenly, three kids, a girl about 14, another girl about 12, and a boy about 10 or 11 appeared from the back of the building. I could tell they were all siblings and when they stood next to each other, held a tambourine, and put out a tip jar, I could also tell we were about to have a show. I watched them set up, which they barely did because all they had was a tambourine, and once they were ready, the oldest girl announced that they were going to sing for us. We weren’t the only ones at Milt’s, but there weren’t many others. The three kids still sang great, and I’m not joking. They seemed to love to sing as much as me, maybe even more. They all were really good, but the boy especially, he sang out so deep but so loud, I thought he was going to explode! He really was awesome though; you should’ve heard him sing!

We had an awesome time at Milt’s. If you ever go to Moab, Utah, definitely look out for Milt’s Eat and Go!

After the neat campground on the outskirts of Moab, we drove into town and parked in front of a sweet library.

Don't know why this panther is blue, but it was cool

You might think I’m a huge nerd, but I just love libraries, especially because they’re comfy and they have great wifi. (usually) We all found great places to hang out and started our schoolwork. On the first day I did a bunch then got to go on my email. Then the next day we worked all day, only stopping once. I got about 3 hours of email, which is really good because I got to catch up on all the emails that had piled up. It was great because I feel like I never have enough time to connect with my friends.

Now this is a cozy library

Anyway, the library was awesome. There was everything everyone needed- comfy seats, lots of space, a kid’s room for my sisters with a play kitchen area for Ana, and so many other great things that we need and want.

What a great kids' section in this library

This library even won an award- best small library in the country! I loved it, and to my fond surprise we worked there for 3 days. It was great! Read Stella’s post to find out what we did next! 😀