Day 3
Back to Arches we went. We started out at Devils’ Garden so we could see multiple arches along the way to our ultimate destination: Double O. We passed a man in shorts and sandals getting out of his car. No shirt. My two-year-old pointed and said, “Go bath huh Mom. Go bath.”
It was quite windy this day and a little cooler than the day before. There was so much wind that we had to stow all our hats in the backpack so they wouldn’t blow away. My two-year-old sat nestled inside a wind/rain screen on my husband’s shoulders. Lucky little guy. He even napped on the way back.
There we are in the lower arch.
And the two figures on the top? Yeah, those are my oldest two monkeys. I have no one to blame but myself. I told them how to get up there. Truth be told, I would have been up there with them if not pregnant. And I had to keep the other three entertained.
Which wasn’t hard. They enjoyed climbing in and out of the lower arch and scampering around on the surrounding rocks while I peeled oranges and handed out segments as they ran past.
On the way back we (I) stopped to rest. Nate’s eyes shined mischievious for a moment, and he hurried back up the path we had come. I came out of a stretch to see he had just snapped this photo. He was pretty proud of himself.
This pregnancy has been a little rough on my sciatic nerve. I can go uphill fine. Climb rocks? Never felt better. Climb down? I do okay. But walk downhill for a ways, or worse yet, walk on level ground and I’m in pain in 2-5 minutes. Don’t ask me to stand. Ever. PAIN. So we had been going downhill for quite some distance when I stopped to stretch and relieve the burn from my back to ankle. That’s when Nate decided to document this moment for posterity. Lucky me. And then I post it here. Truth in the telling. That’s what I’m all about.
We finished the hike at 3 PM. It should have been warmer than when we started but it was much cooler and the wind was blowing like crazy. My second daughter and I finished the last 50 yards walking backwards to avoid sand blowing in our eyes. We made it back to the car just as the first raindrops hit. Sad thing is we passed a ton of people on their way in as we hiked out.
Nate’s been reading Chickens in the Headlights aloud to the family at night so we took it along on our vacation. The first two nights we read about the Buckley family vacation. “No Say” is a game the Buckley children devised to entertain themselves on their drive from Utah to California. Thanks to Matthew Bucklely, my children began playing the “No Say” game during our trip.
This third night of our vacation we read the chapter about the Buckley family picking up their chickens and goats. In the family van. Now I’ve read this book before. My two oldest have read this book. Even though the three of us knew what was coming, we laughed hysterically. Like I couldn’t breathe I was laughing so hard. My poor husband was lucky to get out a sentence at a time through his laughter. Treat your family to this book. You won’t be sorry.
I interviewed Matthew Buckley on my blog about a month ago. At that time his Kickstarter project for his next book, Almost Super, was just beginning. Now he has 48 days left to raise $5,500 to print his next book. As of this morning $2,029 has been pledged. I’m going over there today to pledge my $15. What do I get for this pledge? A copy of his book, Almost Super, which incidentally will likely retail for $15. It’s a win-win situation. He gets money to help print his book and I get a copy. Any amount from $1 to $1000 is accepted as a donation. I’m putting a link to Matthew Buckley’s kickstarter project on my sidebar. Check it out.
