Road Trip: Day 3

"Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity..." John Muir

We started by exploring the campground a little and playing on the playground. L wanted a picture on the tractor. All ready and posed.

C did too, but I couldn't get him to look up long enough because he was too interested in how it worked. He realized it was once a real working tractor and he was trying to figure out what each petal went to. He would look up for a split second then down at the other petal, then up and, "But wait, mommy, what does this one do."

L loved this pretend car and insisted Craig drive with her.

There is this lovely river that runs by the campground. Although, I'm not sure it actually RUNS. It looks like stagnant water and I have the mesquite bites to attest to it. I was outside having a conversation with our Utahan camping neighbor and within 5 minutes I had 4 bites on my legs. I went in to change to pants and long sleeves and then got bit on my neck. I would love to let the kids play in it, but it doesn't look so healthy.

We went to Bridal Veil Falls a little later. One thing we are noticing about Utah is how clean it is! Craig said even the out houses smell good. We haven't seen any graffiti either. Craig loved the sign. In the campground bathroom was my favorite sign, but I didn't get a picture, when you close the door, it says, "Smile, you are loosing weight." Behind the toilet it says, "If at first you don't succeed, keep flushing."

Craig and L taking selfies before our little walk to the waterfall.

It's so pretty! Lately the only hikes we have been able to do have been in LA.

At the bottom of the falls is a little tiny pond off to the side with tons of trout. They were so used to people feeding them and so close to us that Craig wanted to catch one. He and little C both caught a first for about 1/2 a second. I had to take so many pictures just to get this shot.

Happily feeding fish!

This is just the little stream along the walk to the bottom of the falls.

Bridal Veil Falls is a 607 foot double cataract waterfall.

C wanted to climb up the front of the falls, so we did. The water was freezing, but it was pretty warm out so it felt nice. Actually the weather here is exactly like it is at home for the summer. There are just mountains surrounding all around us. L did great until it got a little hairy, Craig put her on his back, crossed the falls to the other side and they went the easier way. C wanted to continue scrambling up the rocks so I followed him. Two little girls were in front of us, probably 7 & 9 climbing the falls in flip flops by themselves. It has been interesting to see so many kids here, but also, it doesn't seem like there is as much hover parenting here. Kids are aloud to play without being attached to their parents. It's nice to see. I have been trying to hover less and less. They need to learn under my watchful eye and make mistakes, but I can't always be making choices for them and I have to let them learn how to make decisions on their own. (With in reason.) If I don't ever let them play in the street outside our house or climb trees and even waterfalls when they are 10 or 12 going over to friends houses by themselves or the park, how will I know they have the skills to cross on their own or able to climb a tree without falling out and breaking an arm.

It was pretty steep. A little further up, we had to walk right up the middle in the water.

We made it!

All of us. :-) 

We crossed to the other side for lunch, in the shade, just out of the mist. It is pretty amazing sitting at the bottom of water falling 607 feet from the sky. The sound and the mist was awesome.

It is interesting to hear the different perspectives from people that live somewhere else. That conversation I had with our camping neighbor, she mentioned to us that her kids acted like we were celebrities because we were from CA. The thought it would be so cool to live in CA because it doesn't get cold. Don't worry we let them know it gets cold, we sit at soccer games freezing with our blankets on when it's 60 out. :-) We have often toyed with the idea of moving, but we love where we are at, it's so close to everything. If my car breaks down, (cause it has lately) I can walk the kids to school and ride bikes to the grocery store. Honestly though, (back to weather) after this year with no rain or winter, we are sick of it never getting cold and not having seasons. But, this Utahan mom was talking about how all of January was in the single digits and trying to do anything is awful, it's so cold it hurts and you still have to go out to the grocery store and you still have to carry those groceries to the car and into the house. Then again, her kids can ski for $25 for 3 days. There is the good and bad of both, no place is perfect.

Today we are watching the World Cup and then heading further north on our way to Grand Teton National Park.