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Zion National Park-Emerald Pools Hike
Zion is one of our most favorite parks. We have 10 days here and have each day mapped out. The shuttle service isn’t the best, but still thankful we didn’t have to walk to each trailhead. We met some wonderful shuttle operators and many that didn’t love their jobs. Apparently, the national parks system purchased shuttle busses that are electric for Zion National Park. The shuttle driver said each bus cost 1.8 million. Yikes! Take me back to the gas bus!
All but three were broken when we visited, so needless to say the lines were soooo long. We waited almost an hour each time we wanted to hike. We thought if we got to the park early(by 7 a.m.) then we’d get to be the first in line. Unfortunately everyone had the same idea. Thankfully, we didn’t have to pay for parking each day as that can be up to $40 in town. Zion needs more parking, but I don’t think they have the space.
This hike was incredible. God’s creation is just amazing and every couple turns on the trail we were constantly stopping for great views and pictures. Yes, I was that mom asking the family to stand together numerous times. These pictures don’t do this place justice. Some of these views don’t even look real in person. The Zion valley is breathtaking along with the Virgin River that runs through it.
This rainbow came out of nowhere. Thanks, God. What a precious moment for us.
There were squirrels everywhere and often times would follow us on the hike. There were many signs not to feed the wildlife. I placed my hat on the ground next to some snacks and within a minute the snacks were almost taken from the squirrels.
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Virgin, UT- Zion National Park Day 1
Our drive to Utah was 5.5 hours from Sedona. We couldn’t wait to arrive in Utah. We are visiting all 5 national parks in Utah on this trip. Zion is our favorite and was our most favorite park on our trip in 2022.
We made a quick stop at Walmart to grab groceries and then we were on our way.
This is our 4th stop since we left Ohio for groceries. This has been great for us. We store fresh fruit and veggies in glass jars in the fridge and that has helped. We have a large fridge and freezer in the bays of our bus which helps us to be able to store more food for longer. This is a huge bonus for us because we only go out for dinner a couple times at each stop. We’d love to enjoy the local food, but waiting on a table for 6 can take some time and we’d rather be hiking. The sunsets happen super late so having that time to hike is also an added bonus.
We enjoy our time on the bus together getting to our destinations. Here are a few pics of our trip to Utah. The temp was 111 degrees when we arrived in Utah. It was HOT!
When we arrived we were ready to get out of the bus. We were exhausted from the long trip.The town next to where we were staying had a massive fire so we had to run our generator when we first arrived. Luckily, no one was injured and we had power within two hours of arriving. We jumped in the pool that evening and walked around down in Springdale, Utah for a bit. This is such a fun town and is the entrance of Zion National Park. It’s beautiful and the views are breathtaking. Things are quite expensive though. A pack of Chips Ahoy cookies were 8.89 in a market and a gallon of milk was 6.50. Yikes! Thankful for our quick stop at the good ole Walmart prior to our arrival.
The views are spectacular. Please take some time and visit Zion National Park. You won’t be disappointed.
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Sliderock State Park
We were excited to visit Sliderock State Park. When you search activities in Sedona, this was one of the main attractions that we found. We figured we’d give it a try since it was to be 107 degrees on this day. We packed up our Yukon and heading towards Sliderock. We made sure to have our lunch packed, water shoes, and PLENTY of sunscreen. We wanted to bring Lucy, but no pets were allowed.
First stop…DONUTS. We have tried many different donut places on our trip. We have said that our bus(The Big Kahuna is what we call it) always takes us directly towards ice cream and donut shops. It has become our fun extra activity each stop. We decided to stop at Sedonuts and this place knocked it out of the park. We give this place a 10/10 and all bright stars. They had the best donuts and even better apple fritters. Yummy! We even talked about actually taking some back to the bus and freezing them. They are that great! Plus, for a dozen special donuts that were more than your normal glazed, it was less than $36.00. Everywhere we’ve been, donuts are crazy priced. Huge win for donut lovers here.
Love Cam’s face. He loves donuts just like his dad.
Our stomachs were full and we headed to the park. This was the perfect day! We loved Sliderock even though the water was FREEZING! It was worth the cheap $20 entry fee per vehicle. It was a benefit that we had a picnic lunch. This place was also some of the best people watching we’ve seen. People would just be walking in the water and then fall to the ground. We also had quite a few falls. It was hilarious and added to our day. The way that these waterslides were made due to erosion was incredible. They were so smooth and easy to get down due to the current.
You MUST visit this place if you are in Sedona.
This is the park entrance and below is the link to the park. https://azstateparks.com/slide-rock
This was our last full day in Arizona and we were so thankful that we were able to experience this fun as a family.
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Devil’s Bridge, Ice Cream and Sedona views…
We fell in love with Sedona. There are so many fun trails. The only yucky part was the heat. At one point, it reached 111 degrees. If we weren’t in the pool, we were in the air condition. We tried to complete most hikes early in the morning due to the extreme heat or late in the evening. We couldn’t even take Lucy for walks. Her paws were so hot on the pavement. She had to wear booties each time we went out quickly. We would definitely visit again though regardless of the heat. Sedona has so much to offer.
I lost sleep prior to completing the hike above. I was so afraid that I would miss an amazing photo opportunity with our family. I am the only one in our family of six who doesn’t prefer heights. Surprisingly, this was actually one of the easier hikes I completed. The arch looks very narrow, but it’s actually really wide. I didn’t want to let go of Eric’s hand, but I was surprised that it was wide. We arrived around 8 am that day and thankfully we went early. As we were leaving, the line to go on the arch bridge was almost 30 minutes long. We heard the day before it was close to 90 minutes. If you complete this hike, make sure you get there very early. A little thought….don’t ask to take someone’s picture or you may be stuck there for a while being a photographer for everyone. I believe I had 4 different phones at one point of strangers.
One of my favorite pictures of our family so far on this trip.
Watching the sun pop over the mountains.
There is a road that 4 wheel drive and ATV’s can take. We knew our Yukon wouldn’t make it over the first big rock. We decided it was best to walk. We decided to walk the same road they use to get to the trailhead instead of another trail. This worked best for us because it was much faster than the trail to get to the trailhead by a half hour. Take the road to the trailhead. It’s a steep hike at the end, but totally worth the view.
At the start of the trailhead by the parking lot. We were ready to roll!
We had ice cream at a sweet place in downtown Sedona called Black Cow Cafe. It was tasty and perfect for sweaty kids! It seems like our car always leads us to ice cream places. Homemade waffle cones and ice cream hit the spot.
We’ve loved all the plants and beautiful cacti. There are so many different varieties everywhere we go.
Take some time to visit Sedona, Arizona. You won’t be disappointed. We will definitely be back soon.
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Subway Cave Trail
The Subway Cave Trail is an amazing hike right outside Sedona. The Subway Trail is such a gorgeous hike, and not very strenuous. We had planned to hike two times this day, but we stayed too long and didn’t have time to attempt the other hike. I am not a huge fan of heights so I was very nervous about this hike. However, it was amazing! If you are ever in the Sedona area, MAKE SURE you take the time to visit this.
I was not a fan of walking out on this part. You can see that Annie was a bit nervous.
When getting to the very top, you have to climb this very steep and narrow rock. Yikes! It was not for me, but glad I did it.
Some of the most beautiful flowers.
We thought when in Arizona that we’d see these all over. Nope! Only a few here and there.
Every evening Ellie and Brady train for cross country. This girl is loving running in all these new places.
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Thank a firefighter..Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew…
We heard from a couple that we needed to make way to an area to see the Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew Memorial. Eric did a bit of research and we decided to make the two hour drive to Prescottt area to walk the trail.
If you haven’t heard of this group, go research them. We’ve always respected firefighters and all they do for our community. These 19 men lost their lives trying to protect a town from being engulfed in flames in the mountains. I had never heard of this group before, but Eric said that it has made National News. There is even a movie that was made after these firefighters lost their lives.
This was the hardest 7.5 miles I’ve ever hiked in my life. Parts of the trail were the same trails that the firefighters used, but they were carrying saws, wearing all of their gear, and HOT. Seeing the trek that these 19 men climbed up and over to save others brought us all to tears. It’s a beautiful memorial made for these men who left behind wives, kids, and so many families.
The movie is called Only the Brave. I believe that it is on Prime that you can rent. We are going to watch it tonight. https://youtu.be/mQj4BkYf-HM?si=0Dd1HT0enpVf40TZ
This was such a touching hike and reminded us how grateful we are to our firefighters that help us. If you know a firefighter, thank them for their service.
Annie was getting red, so we had to use a thin picnic blanket to cover her arms. She looked like a bat with wings.
This was right next to the final resting place where they found the firefighters.
Each firefighter had a memorial and people have placed many items there. It literally brought us all to tears.
This is near the top of the mountain. I can’t imagine these firefighters carrying all their gear up to this point.
This is down in the valley where the 19 firefighters were found huddled together. Each cross in this picture is where they found each body. My heart breaks for all their suffering to help others.
Go watch the movie and thank a firefighter.
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Kickoff in Sedona, Arizona
One of our bucket list places to visit was Sedona, Arizona. We knew we loved the red rocks and we thought we’d like to visit some of the special places and enjoy nature on these trails. There are some of the BEST trailheads here in this area.
We are staying at Verde Ranch RV Resort. We give it 5 stars! It has everything a large family would want. They even have covered wagons. http://verderanchrvresort.com
We brought all six bikes this time around. The last time we traveled out west, we rented bikes for an afternoon near the south rim of the Grand Canyon. It cost us nearly $600 for three hours. Yikes! We made sure that bikes were at the top of the list for this trip when packing. We were able to take our first evening bike ride watching the sunset. It was breathtaking! However, we couldn’t find the helmets packed underneath the bus.
This RV resort has many fabulous reviews. The pool and grounds are incredible. We feel like it’s almost a spa campground, with kids. There are a couple big dog parks, a river trail, pool, and lots to do. We are not camping people, but feel like this is the perfect place to spend the next 8 days together exploring all this area has to offer. We are a short drive from Sedona and Cottonwood. We have made many trips for ice cream and donuts already in Sedona. With the trail hiking, I’m thinking we can burn the calories, right?
While planning this trip, we want to make sure to do all the local things and stay away from tourist stuff as much as we can. We love the BIG things that everyone does in popular destinations, but we want to see what the secret things are around the area. We were quickly told by a guy at the resort that we needed to visit a town called Jerome. It’s up in the mountains tucked away. We made this our first stop.
It was a fun area with quite a vibe. Apparently, the town is known for being haunted. We walked around for a bit, snapped a few pictures, and headed back to the pool. We probably won’t be back, but it was unique. The scenery and houses in the area looking down from the town were beautiful.
This house was my favorite! What a view!
This girl looked like a ghost with her sunscreen! Blue Lizard for the win! We’ve gone through two bottles in a week but no sunburn.
We loved day 1 in Arizona. Cheers to a fun week and staying cool.
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Quick stop in New Mexico
We had a quick stop in New Mexico overnight before heading to Sedona, Arizona.
New Mexico was very hot. We didn’t do much when we were there. Basically a quick dinner before heading to bed. The time change was tough for the kids to fall asleep. We had to be up early the next morning for our 5 hour drive to Sedona.
This was a tree made from old hubcaps. It was a pretty cool concept, but it was blazing hot.
There were many different vintage cars and campers at the RV campground.
Not one blade of grass anywhere. It was no fun to deal with all of the dust everywhere. Ellie tried running that evening, but the dust was too thick. Have you been to New Mexico?
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We love TEXAS
We have heard that we would either love Texas or want to leave ASAP. We arrived in Amarillo, Texas around lunch after a 4.5 hour drive from Oklahoma City. The weather was unseasonably cool and we spent the morning swimming in the indoor pool. The kids LOVED this.
We loved the RV Park. It had all the amenities we felt were perfect for our family.
These wagons were so fun and added such a fun vibe to the place. I wanted to stay in one, but thankful we were in our RV because there was a terrible storm that night. I didn’t get to snap a picture of the adorable rocking chairs near the wagons, but I could’ve stayed there all day in the shade. If you decide to go to Amarillo, this place is for you.
When Eric looked to book the RV park online last minute, he was drawn to the restaurant that was owned by the RV park. Something about eating a 72 oz. steak for free if you can finish it in an hour. We didn’t want to take on the challenge, but we thought it would be fun to watch someone make the attempt. If you are ever in TX, GO SEE THIS PLACE! It was amazing! A bonus that if you booked a spot at the RV park, you would be able to catch a ride in this glorious old limo with horns. The kids thought it was amazing! I was glad we made it there in one piece.
Annie thought that this place was special because she got a cowboy hat with her kids meal.
We watched one guy attempt this, but when 10 minutes was left on the timer, he gave up! Disgusting!
All for now…heading to New Mexico. I’m a day late on my posts, but hoping to write two of them tomorrow.
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Boondocking in Oklahoma City and staying busy in the RV
We had a great drive to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It was about 9 hours in the RV. We made our first stop to get diesel and DEF and to walk around a bit. We stopped at our favorite gas station…Bucees! We have a tally of how many we see on the road. So far, we’ve seen two and one being built.
What do we do to kill time in the RV?
I’ve had so many ask what in the world we do to stay busy. I’ve planned many activities for the kids that I will share over our trip. I get out a few activities during each long drive. For this long 9 hour drive, we played with crafts, word puzzles, word finds, read our favorite Bible verses, and watched movies. We stopped to have leftovers. Larosa’s for the win! We love to look out the window and the kids really enjoy taking pictures. There is so much to take in with all the scenery. Lucy is also adjusting to all the sounds in the RV and the loud music. We love to jam to christian and country music to help the time pass. There is nothing more special to me than having this quality time together with our family. Thank you, Jesus!
This tackle box has been a life saver. We received this as a gift from a dear friend from our school. What a great idea! Every hour, the kids pick a few pieces of candy. All of our favorites are in the box.
These are everywhere in Texas.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
We enjoyed the short visit boondocking in this city. When you boondocks, you run your generator. Luckily, it was a bit cooler out when we were there. We ate at a place called Charelston’s and there was a beautiful river walk that we walked around.
There are numerous places that people can park in overnight. Most Walmarts, Cracker Barrels, Cabela’s, Bass Pro Shops, and schools allow people to park overnight for free. We decided to park at a Bass Pro Shop right off the interstate. It was spacious, but what we didn’t realize is that it’s also a place where hot rod cars rev up engines at night. Needless to say, we didn’t sleep well. We were thankful to leave Tuesday morning to head towards Amarillo, TX.
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