Traveln' Down That Road and Back Again

Well what's better to do when you have some spare time on your hands than make a last minute decision to go on a small road trip?We couldn't think of anything either so we stuck with the first idea. During our irregular family night of going to the library we decided that we'd go visit our moms for Mother's Day. This was not enticing to Boo as he was not looking forward to the eleven hour drive north. So to break it up a little we decided we'd stop around the half way mark and spend the night in Hurricane, UT. But before we got that far we decided we'd visit a few northern Arizona sites along the way.

Our first stop was at Sunset Crater National Monument. We walked through some of the lava flows and got a great view of the crater from the bottom. Given that we weren't prepared for the cooler temps and windy weather, we opted for the short hike. Noelle thought it was more fun to push the stroller than to ride in it.

Our next stop wasn't far from the first, at Wupatki National Monument, which was a collection of pueblos that we could walk around and see how people lived nearly 800 years ago.

We continued our drive, which took us through Zions National Park at night so there wasn't much to see, and then we arrived at our destination, the Travelodge of Hurricane (total dump, but a fine place to sleep.) Noelle fell asleep in the car with her blanket over her head.

During our time in Utah we met our newest cousin, Jacob, who was born just in time for us to visit. We played with cousins, got our first taste at Guitar Hero, checked out the beautiful flowers at Temple Square and spent time with all of our moms.

Noelle even had her first sleepover at her Auntie's house and participated in the Race for the Cure.

For our trip home we stopped in Kanab, UT.

While we were there we visited the Corral Pink Sand Dunes.

Boo dreaded the mess that would soon engulf our car, not to mention our clothes and all surfaces of our bodies.

It seemed like nothing but juniper trees in orange sand as we were driving and then we rounded a corner to find rolling hills of sand. Noelle and I thought it was great.

Staying in a hotel room with a toddler is another story however. We have to turn off all the lights and tv to make her think that we are all going to bed with her. Being the naive parents that we are, we thought it would only take a few minutes and she'd be out. Not the case at all.

Noelle sang in her loudest voice all the songs she's been learning lately. At one point Boo and I were laughing pretty hard and as quiet as possible from our different beds, as not to let her know we were still awake. At one point she tricked me with a few moments of silence and then jumped right back into her singing. Then finally a couple last songs and she was gone-zo. It was forty minutes of singing.

On our way out of Kanab we saw a funny site. Something that looked like a cop waiting to catch unsuspecting speedsters. Look closely.... even creeps me out a little bit.

We sure had a good time during our visit, but I'm also glad to be home in my own bed and to have Noelle in her own bed. Now its back to reality.