4 Wheels 4 Girls

After Ranger Karen’s great talk about bears, we decided to take a hike to see Vernal Falls, a great waterfall that roars the most in the spring, hence the name. It was a 4.2 mile hike, and we were prepared for it… at least I was. We started up the trail, which was unfortunately a steep uphill all the way, but hey, we had a long downhill to look forward to on the way back. After hiking about 0.8 miles, we could see the falls, but at about 1.2 was when it started to get really wet. I had brought an extra shirt and a sweatshirt, but Dad was the unlucky one; he told us all to bring an extra shirt and of course he forgot his own. Silly old bear/Dad, whichever one you like. So anyway the trail got super duper steep and slippery and cold and wet. Water from the falls was spraying on us at full force and it was all sloshy, so my feet got all wet despite my good hiking shoes. When we finally reached the top of the waterfall, we ate a big handfull of trail mix and enjoyed the fabulous view of the falls. Here’s a great picture of Vernal Falls:

It's absolutely gorgeous, am I right? The tiny dots next to the top of the falls are people.

We changed out of our wet shirts and then started on our way back. This time we would be taking a different route, the John Muir Trail, which went up over a ridge and back down to the valley floor. It added on almost another mile to the trip but no one cared since it was so beautiful. We got a great view of another waterfall, Nevada Falls, on the way:

Which one do you think is more amazing, Vernal or Nevada Falls? I can't decide!

You can see in the photo how much water comes down from the snowcaps in the spring; even our trail is a stream. The John Muir trail gave a great view of Yosemite Valley. The only quirk was that the path was still covered in snow! At some parts we had to climb down the wall and skip part of the trail ’cause it was too snowy.

Despite the snow, the trail was SO pretty. To think that only four days earlier we were sweating in Death Valley!

The rest of the hike back down was a breeze because of the downhill. We finished off the trail mix when we were almost done with the hike.

It was quite a long hike, but it was well worth it! We were sure hungry for dinner… 😉

After leaving Vegas and going to Trader Joe’s, we headed into my least favorite national park so far: Death Valley. I tell you, it was HOT. Grossly hot, disgustingly hot. By the time I could see the valley I was sweating by butt off and I was DYING. Now I don’t question why they call it Death Valley. When we reached sea level it was even worse. We took a picture of the “Sea Level” sign:

Ana doesn't actually look THAT hot. She did a lot better than me, that's for sure! You'd think living in Atlanta would teach me about hot weather extremes!

We finally got to the visitor center in Furnace Creek, at the bottom of the valley, and got out of the RV. I sprinted into the building, which to my fabulous luck was well air-conditioned. I’m not sure if I had ever appreciated air-conditioning as much as I had right then. After meeting the rangers and finding out more about the park, we went to do a walk in the lowest point in North America- Badwater Basin. I also believe it is a place where people can die of being overheated. We were 282 feet below sea level when we reached the salt flats where we would be walking. It was kinda cool ’cause there was a sign on the side of the cliff 282 feet above us saying “Sea Level”:

You see it way up there?! Directly above the RV, halfway up the cliff.

The ground was full of salt, (you could lean down and taste it!) and water that flows into the basin carries it there. The walk was excruciatingly hot, and Dad and Jean made me wear a ridiculous hat ’cause of the sun. Go ahead and laugh; I know I look SOOOOOOOO stupid. Here we are in Badwater Basin:

On the salt flats. Do we look as hot as I say we are?

We unfortunately had to go on another hike that night into the golden canyon. Luckily it wasn’t very long. It was really pretty and the heat was actually worth it for this one, except at the end. The sand fleas came out and bit Stella and me to pieces, so I guess that wasn’t so great. Those bites hurt!!!

We stayed at a campground very close to the visitor center. We had a small meal of sandwiches and salad ’cause Jean didn’t want to turn on the oven because of the heat. We went to bed sweating. I hated it. 🙁

Death Valley was awful!!! Go there only if you like extreme heat and sweating basically all the water out of your body.

On May 2nd, we took a day in Vegas and it was AWESOME. I love the city so so so much. We woke up and got ready; I got my camera because I knew I would be taking tons of pictures. Our campground was at an old casino called Circus Circus, and we went through it to get into the city. I would tell you every single thing about it, but the day was too long and there was just too much to even remember every detail. I was glad I took my camera- throughout the course of the day I took almost 400 pictures! I’m not even kidding.

If only I could shop there

We saw lots of cool casinos- Treasure Island, with two life-size pirate ships, Mirage, a fancy one with lots of fountains, and Venetian, a casino with a sky on the ceiling inside! There were lots more but those are some of the big ones. Then we went to one called Caesar’s Palace and I took over 100 pictures of all the glamorous shops.

There's Poseidon, Stella's hero in huge form

By this time we were very hungry, so we stopped back in at Treasure Island and found a buffet. It was DELICIOUS, except for one thing: I accidentally ate a SUPER hot pepper that left me in pain for hours afterward. I had sushi, sandwiches, pasta, salad…..and of course dessert; LOTS of it! Everything (except the pepper!) tasted so good.

The moat in front of Treasure Island. Doesn't it look like it is about to eat Stella?

After lunch we got a bus pass and rode around in an awesome double-decker bus and looked around at all the casinos we hadn’t seen yet: Luxor, a casino shaped like a giant pyramid, Excalibur, one shaped like a castle, and New York New York, with a Statue of Liberty made entirely out of jelly beans! Jelly beans are my absolute favorite candy, so it was a completely awesome surprise to see it! Here I am with it:

I wanted to eat this Statue of Liberty so badly!

We saw a super cool fountain show at Bellagio, another casino, and then we headed back to Circus Circus to take a little break. Our feet hurt and some of us had headaches. However, that little break never did happen. We got last-minute tickets to The Blue Man Group, this show starring these three crazy men painted completely blue that do hilarious bizarre things. I’m telling you, they are HYSTERICAL. You have GOT to see them. We rushed back to the RV to get our sweatshirts, picked up sandwiches at a Subway, then caught a shuttle to Venetian where the show was playing. We ran to the theater and watched the show, laughing our heads off and enjoying the show thoroughly. I won’t tell you any more about it ’cause you’ve gotta go see it for yourself.

Doesn't he look awesome?

For the rest of the night we rode around on the shuttle looking at all the casinos lit up. They were so pretty. We watched a pirate show at Treasure Island but it was a big disappointment because we could hardly see anything and nothing really that exciting happened. After the show we seemed to wait FOREVER for the bus to come, and then we finally rode back to the RV and went to bed. It was an exhausting, fun, and exciting day!

On April 28th, we entered Zion National Park- through a tunnel!

Zion is just gorgeous; there is every kind of beauty in the park. Mountains, canyons, wildlife, all the beautiful things you would find in a national park. Dad said it would be one of the most spectacular views on the entire trip, and he was so right. To enter the park, we had to drive through a super long tunnel that was carved through a mountain. It was awesome. With that I knew the actual park would be amazing.

We parked at the visitor center, and Ellie and I had our most terrifying experience there. There were caterpillars. Lots and lots of them. THOUSANDS of caterpillars. I absolutely HATE crawly things. Roaches, caterpillars, spiders… Ellie is scared of that kind of thing too. They were everywhere; I know I stepped on at least twenty, and I tried SO hard not to get their nasty guts all over my shoes. I took a picture of a pole covered in them to show you how many there were. Here it is: (EEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWW!!!)

Oh my gosh this has got to be one of the grossest things I have ever seen!

We took a shuttle around Zion Canyon to see all the great views, and then we rode to meet our ranger for a talk about how the canyon was formed. The ranger’s name was Adrienne and her talk was very interesting. She talked about the colors in the canyon walls, the Virgin River, (the river that carved the canyon) and the age of the rocks and the different layers in the canyon walls. Ana really liked the talk, or maybe she just really liked Adrienne. She followed her around during the entire walk. Jean joked that maybe Ana thought that the ranger was her mama and that she had lost her mama like a little duck in a story we know. Here she is, like a baby duck behind her mama duck:

Like a mama duck with her ducklings

After the ranger talk, we took the shuttle to The Grotto, a bus stop where our trailhead was. We were hiking the Angels’ Landing trail, but we weren’t going all the way to the top ’cause it was going to start getting dark and the last bit of the trail was steep and terrifying. The path was paved, but it was steep and tiring to walk up. When we reached the top we realized there was still quite a bit to go, but at least we were under the shade of the canyon walls. There was a cool little cave on the side of the trail, and we took our picture in it:

Isn't that a great little cave? Very cozy!

When we reached Walter’s Wiggles, I knew that we were almost to our destination, Scout’s Lookout. Walter’s Wiggles is an incredibly steep part of the trail with 21 switchbacks (I counted!) that is the last part before Scout’s Lookout. It’s also the toughest part before Scout’s Landing.

Stella is looking down at the wiggles (in her new hat!). You might be able to spot me near the very bottom.

We were all tired and hungry but we made it up anyway, huffing and puffing. We scarfed down our sandwiches at the top, grateful that we had packed dinner. After that Dad, Stella, and I decided to try a little bit of the rest of the trail leading to Angels’ Landing. We barely made it up at all because of the insane steepness of the “path” (there wasn’t really a path; there were just chains to grab on to) and we were basically hanging off the edge of the canyon. Dad was terrified that one of us would slip and fall so we turned around.

There we are on the trail to Angel's Landing!

The hike back was a breeze because the air was much cooler and the whole thing was downhill. We chatted, ate cookies, and had a good time. Ellie and Ana did a great dance show for us near the bottom.

Sunset on the cliffs in Zion Canyon

When we finished it wasn’t even dark. We hopped on the shuttle and rode back to the visitor center, where we were parked. Most of the caterpillars were up in the trees by then so it wasn’t as bad, but I swear at least one fell in my hair. It was horrifying.

I loved the first day in Zion; now read on to find out about our other days at the park! 😀

After checking out the visitor center and watching the park movie, we went to the Bryce Canyon Lodge. It was nice and cozy, and the family got our own little area with a coffee table, couches, and armchairs. We drank hot chocolate which tasted so good after being outside in the freezing cold. After hanging out for a bit, we ate dinner at the lodge restaurant. I had a burger and fries, something I haven’t had at a restaurant since I was probably six, but it still tasted good. We ordered two bowls of elk chili, and everyone thought it was delicious.

After dinner there was a ranger program in the lodge auditorium about astronomy. It was really interesting, and the ranger, Ranger Ron, was great, inviting people up to do hands-on experiments. It was a great way to get the crowd to enjoy the talk. I liked learning about the color spectrum, exoplanets, and lots of other great stuff.

We left the lodge pretty late, so we got in bed while Jean took us to our campground. It was a fun and exhausting day! 😉

On Tuesday, April 26th, we got up in the morning at a nice campground in Kodachrome Basin State Park in Utah. I wasn’t very excited about the day to begin with, but every bit of positive energy I had in me melted away like dripping ice cream cone when I heard that Dad was making us go on a bike ride. Normally I would be somewhat happy about biking, but there were many reasons why I didn’t want to go on this one. For one, we had just been on a tough six-mile hike the day before, and my legs were still aching from it. Second, it was COLD. I mean like I’m-in-a-ton-of-layers-but-it’s-still-freezing kind of cold. I loved my warm bed and I would be perfectly happy to stay in it all day long. But I dragged myself up anyway and got ready despite all my contradicting feelings.

Then a crazy thing happened. It started to snow! Actually, it was a mix of rain, sleet, snow, and hail, and I tell you, it was GROSS. I was very unhappy when our bike-riding plans were not cancelled. Dad would not give up and he went outside to get the bikes down from the RV. After a lot of complaining, we were ready to go on this horrific bike ride.

Preparing the bikes in an unexpected snowfall.

By the time we were all outside the strange snow had abruptly stopped and the sun was shining although it was still cold. We left the campground and biked a little ways down the road to get to our trailhead. When we biked just a few feet on the sandy 6-mile trail, every single one of us realized that it was going to be a very hard bike-ride. The trail was sandy and hilly and just terrible. Even though the trail was awful, Dad was determined and he wouldn’t turn around. He wanted to complete the full six miles. After biking a bit on the difficult sand, Stella and Ellie were incredibly discouraged. I was actually starting to like the ride ’cause we all hated it together. I even went with Dad on a little off-trail that led to a place called Panorama Point. It was so steep that we had to get off our bikes and walk the rest of the way to the point.

Exhausted at the top of Panorama Point

We had to bike really fast to catch up to our family, and I tell you, biking this trail was hard work. We were in our lowest gears and it was still so tough to pedal through the thick sand. We sometimes had to get off our bikes and walk them in the middle of a hill because it was too steep to bike up. When we caught up we had to stop for a bit because Ana’s chain had fallen off her bike. Also, we had multiple wipeouts so we had to stop for those too.

Stella, Dad and I went on another turnoff called Cool Cave. We had to leave our bikes along the trail for that one also. It was a little slot canyon with a big circular room in the middle. It was really neat.

This cave was really a small slot canyon. The white in the walls is calcium carbonate.

We caught up to Jean, Ellie, and Ana and we biked for quite a bit until we finally came to the end of the trail! Haha I wish. We came to the place where we split off for Panorama Point, and this was a huge letdown. Everyone thought that we were getting close to the end, and then we find out we’ve still got a ways to go. We eventually made it to the end of the trail, and we all cheered for each other as we passed the “finish line.” You’d think we’d be done, but we still had a little further on the road before we got to the campground. My sisters hated this because the long stretch was uphill and we were biking straight into the wind. But we did make it, (YAY!!! :D) exhausted and hungry. Lunch sure tasted good after that!

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! 😀

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! 😀

After Canyonlands, we headed to a very nice campground in Moab with lots of things we like-mini golf, a game room, good wifi, two playgrounds, nice showers, (that’s mostly what I like 😉 ) a general store, and lotsa other sweet stuff. We got a nice spot, right next to the showers. I took a nice hot one this morning.

Ellie and Ana are at the playground right now enjoying themselves, playing and watching some horses run. (another plus to this campground)

Here are some photos Ellie and Ana took of their favorite spots:

A good climbing tree

A playground with a view

That’s about it for this post folks. There’ll be more coming!

On Monday, April 19th, we visited Canyonlands National Monument, a really cool place. It’s a canyon, but that’s about the only thing it has in common with the Grand Canyon. It’s a massive hole, but the colors and the width and height and features of Canyonlands are so different. They’re just as cool, but not anything alike. We went to the Needles District of Canyonlands, which is the section southeast of the Colorado river.

So it was super early the morning we got there, (WAY too early for me, being someone who sleeps in in the morning) and Dad, Ellie, and Ana went in to the visitor center to check out the trails and learn about the park. A ranger inside taught them about cryptobiotic soil crust, a kind of dirt that lives in the park and that is very alive. It takes hundreds of years to grow back, so the ranger told them to be very careful not to step on the cryptobiotic crust. When they got back to the RV, the two girls were chanting “DON”T BUST THE CRUST!” and they had badges saying exactly that. We ate breakfast and then tackled the trail- we would be going on a “short” 2 1/2 mile hike through the canyon. At the beginning Stella took a whole bunch of pictures of crazy little things like flowers, rocks, and cacti. The hike was beautiful and the weather was perfect for a hike. We checked out four great lookouts and got to climb up lots of rocks. Here is Stella on one of the lookouts:

That is actually one of the smaller canyons behind Stella

It wasn’t until Lookout #4 that we were even halfway done with this so-called short hike. By then we were almost out of water and my sisters were getting pretty tired. But me.. I was leading the hike with strength, and had quite a bit of energy left. Here I am standing on a faraway rock: ;D

Walking along the Slickrock Trail in Canyonlands

It was a nice hike, one that I actually enjoyed. I’m not sure about everyone else, but I thought it was sweet. I was SOOO thirsty afterward!

Then we went back to the visitor center, filled up our water bottles, and ate lunch.Then we headed down the road to Moab, the city we would be staying in! 😀