With all of this "free" time on our hands, I thought what better time to organize and paint the garage floor, a chore we've been putting off for the past two years. But Charlie doesn't think that's a good idea to paint the garage floor, something about humidity, yada, yada, and where do we put all the stuff IN the garage? So while I update my blog about our epic camping trip this summer, he is baking cookies for our next door neighbor, who turns 14 today. It's a good compromise.
Once we left Rocky Mountain National Park, we drove to Dinosaur National Monument, which is just on the border of Colorado and Utah. We pulled in to our campsite - set up our tent - and braced ourselves for what appeared to be huge storm clouds rolling in.
While we readied ourselves - Henry chopped wood.
Carolyn washed her hair.
Charlie and William hung our sun shower.
And Elizabeth set up cocktail hour; because apparently - in our world - no situation is so dire that you should ever deprive yourself of sitting back, putting your feet up, and taking a moment to enjoy a snack and cold beverage. I love this mentality!
The storm never did hit, clouds miraculously dissipated, so Charlie pulled together a dinner of steak and garlic mashed potatoes. Which it would turn out, was one of the two finest dinners we would actually cook and eat on our trip.
As this was only our second night of camping, we had not yet perfected the right amount to cook during meals, or how to pace ourselves and make food more if needed. We also hadn't planned our meals very well beyond our IMMEDIATE meal, so our menu for breakfast the next day, was rather dismal. We wound up having an abundance of leftover steak and potatoes, and that is how we introduced garlic mashed potato pancakes to our breakfast culinary repertoire.
They were delicious!
We were so fortunate on this entire trip. The weather was highly cooperative, and we had no injuries or ailments that were so significant they couldn't be treated with the equipment I had packed in my first aid kit. Also, on this night in Utah, as everyone settled in to sleep (after a game of Dungeons and Dragons, a staple each night); I was able to do a Google search and find a whitewater rafting outfit, a short distance away.
And as luck would have it - I was able to book a Class III trip along the Green River for a family of six, the very next day. All from the comfort of our tent with my iPhone!
Our river guides from Adrift Adventures were amazing. On the way to the river, they made a brief stop and took us on a short hike up a canyon to show us Fremont petroglyphs that dated back one thousand years ago.
Mid-way on our trip, they beached our rafts and pulled together an incredible lunch for us.
While we dined on taco salad, and peanut butter and jelly rolls - we socialized with other rafters, who had traveled in far and wide to raft on the Green River. We met a family with three children, that was from Sonoma, California - in the same town where Charlie and I once lived. We exchanged tips on various places to visit on their way back to California, and they shared with us some of their favorite places in Wyoming - which was where we were headed, next.
Our guide, Abby, was a passionate Jane Austen fan, so we spent the majority of our trip discussing the nuances of various movies and how well they relate to the books. In fact, we almost missed our lunch pull-out because we were so engrossed in a conversation over whether Colin Firth or Matthew Macfadyen made a better Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice.
Our vote, Colin Firth. Her vote, Matthew Macfadyen. When we told her that was preposterous, she booted us from the boat and we floated down stream in 68 degree waters. It was phenomenal!
This was such a beautiful stretch of river. While I don't have the best pictures to capture the landscape, it reminded me so much of the Grand Canyon.
The massive sandstone cliffs and sharply dipping mudstone layers in contrast to the blue skies and rushing water, made me think about how awesome it must have been for John Wesley Powell - who made this trek with his crew, in wooden vessels.
This environment really does something to my spirit … being in the great outdoors, in the middle of such spectacular surroundings makes me swoon. Not even Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy can top this!
Although, my Charlie - who just put this in front of me…
Is pretty darn close!
Carolyn washed her hair.
Charlie and William hung our sun shower.
And Elizabeth set up cocktail hour; because apparently - in our world - no situation is so dire that you should ever deprive yourself of sitting back, putting your feet up, and taking a moment to enjoy a snack and cold beverage. I love this mentality!
The storm never did hit, clouds miraculously dissipated, so Charlie pulled together a dinner of steak and garlic mashed potatoes. Which it would turn out, was one of the two finest dinners we would actually cook and eat on our trip.
As this was only our second night of camping, we had not yet perfected the right amount to cook during meals, or how to pace ourselves and make food more if needed. We also hadn't planned our meals very well beyond our IMMEDIATE meal, so our menu for breakfast the next day, was rather dismal. We wound up having an abundance of leftover steak and potatoes, and that is how we introduced garlic mashed potato pancakes to our breakfast culinary repertoire.
They were delicious!
We were so fortunate on this entire trip. The weather was highly cooperative, and we had no injuries or ailments that were so significant they couldn't be treated with the equipment I had packed in my first aid kit. Also, on this night in Utah, as everyone settled in to sleep (after a game of Dungeons and Dragons, a staple each night); I was able to do a Google search and find a whitewater rafting outfit, a short distance away.
And as luck would have it - I was able to book a Class III trip along the Green River for a family of six, the very next day. All from the comfort of our tent with my iPhone!
Our river guides from Adrift Adventures were amazing. On the way to the river, they made a brief stop and took us on a short hike up a canyon to show us Fremont petroglyphs that dated back one thousand years ago.
Mid-way on our trip, they beached our rafts and pulled together an incredible lunch for us.
While we dined on taco salad, and peanut butter and jelly rolls - we socialized with other rafters, who had traveled in far and wide to raft on the Green River. We met a family with three children, that was from Sonoma, California - in the same town where Charlie and I once lived. We exchanged tips on various places to visit on their way back to California, and they shared with us some of their favorite places in Wyoming - which was where we were headed, next.
Our guide, Abby, was a passionate Jane Austen fan, so we spent the majority of our trip discussing the nuances of various movies and how well they relate to the books. In fact, we almost missed our lunch pull-out because we were so engrossed in a conversation over whether Colin Firth or Matthew Macfadyen made a better Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice.
Our vote, Colin Firth. Her vote, Matthew Macfadyen. When we told her that was preposterous, she booted us from the boat and we floated down stream in 68 degree waters. It was phenomenal!
This was such a beautiful stretch of river. While I don't have the best pictures to capture the landscape, it reminded me so much of the Grand Canyon.
The massive sandstone cliffs and sharply dipping mudstone layers in contrast to the blue skies and rushing water, made me think about how awesome it must have been for John Wesley Powell - who made this trek with his crew, in wooden vessels.
This environment really does something to my spirit … being in the great outdoors, in the middle of such spectacular surroundings makes me swoon. Not even Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy can top this!
Although, my Charlie - who just put this in front of me…
Is pretty darn close!
