We decided to get one more summer adventure in AND take our camping trailer out for its maiden voyage. We gave the boys three choices: Willard Bay, Bryce Canyon, or Dinosaur National Monument. It was pretty unanimous – they wanted the Dinosaurs. So away we went to Vernal, Utah.
We decided to stay at Steinaker State Park. It was a campground at Steinaker Reservoir.
We arrived kind of late at the campsite. It was dark and we just set up the trailer and went right to bed. Since we weren’t familiar with the area, we may have driven past the entrance to the campground more than once in our efforts to find it in the dark!
The next morning we headed out to Vernal to visit Dinosaur National Monument!
We parked near a visitors center, got the boys Junior Ranger booklets, and then got aboard a shuttle to take us up to the quarry. As we sat down, the lady behind us commented, as if we couldn’t hear her, “That’s a LOT of boys!” to which the only child with her (her son I assumed) replied, “And they are ALL wearing hats!”
The quarry was pretty cool. There is a protected wall visible to visitors that is just full of actual dinosaur fossils.
It was inspiring to be so close to ancient history!
Rusty was in paleontologist-wanna-be heaven!
The boys read the signs and played on the interactive screens. They answered questions in their Junior Ranger booklets and enjoyed a seat on this fossil bench.
Bones, bones every where.
After we finished at the Quarry, we took a 1-2 mile hike back down to the other visitor center. Kevin and I tried to gross the boys out with some love at this beautiful viewpoint.
Then we impressed them with my amazing strength!
Basically, we tried to show them that their mom and dad still like each other!
The hike was pretty. It was also fun because we knew that there were rocks along the way full of fossils. They weren’t the big dinosaur bones, but small prehistoric water life and little creatures.
We were followed up a side trail by a group of adults who were more determined to find fossils than our group of active little boys! Because of their persistence, we were able to see several fun things!
It was August and it was quite warm, so by the time we made it back to the visitor center, a quick rest was in order. It was a perfect time for the boys to finish up their Junior Ranger booklets.
No more big hikes for my hot, tired crew, but we did take a couple of little roadside ones.
Pictographs and hieroglyphs are awesome!
I just wish I knew what they meant!
The boys were sworn in and earned their Junior Ranger badges. That made them Junior Rangers at both Yellowstone National Park and Dinosaur National Monument in the summer of ’16.
On our way back to the campsite, we passed a car dealership. With sheep statues. On the lawn. The name of the dealership had nothing to do with sheep. I still don’t understand.
We explored our campsite more, made a fire, roasted some ‘mellows, told some stories … good camping experiences!
We all fit nicely in our trailer. Rusty and Tommy shared the bed made from the table, Ricky and Billy shared the upper bunk, Kevin and I took one couch and Bobby had the other couch next to us. Kevin didn’t sleep quite as well as I did … he was too worried Billy or Ricky were going to roll off the bunk and land on us below! That didn’t happen, but at one point, one of the sleeping bags did slide off the bunk a little. Kevin probably wasn’t quite awake, but he started swatting at the bag and saying, “Get back up! Get back up!” I may have giggled.
Camping breakfast at its finest!
More campsite discovering while the parents cleaned up the trailer…
First camping trip was going smashingly! It will take a little while to get the trailer fully stocked with everything. This camping trip required starting new – dishes, towels, games – it was hard trying to think of everything we should have in there.
I was working on the first aid kit before we left home and Bobby noticed a small bump on my leg (wart? mole? I’m not sure what it is but its been there for years.) He kept calling it my “owie.” Bobby kept bugging me and wouldn’t stop until I’d put a bandaid on my owie. He then asked, “feel better?” Yes, little boy. I felt much better.
After we had the trailer packed and hitched, we went to the reservoir. It wasn’t as hot as it had been the day before and it was bit breezy, but it was still plenty warm for a day at the beach!
The boys had no hesitation entering the water. A ways out in the water, there was a swimming dock. Kevin and the two oldest, swam out there to check it out. Kevin came back in to help Rusty and Tommy swim out there and he toted Bobby out. I wasn’t really interested in the water but sitting in the sunshine on the beach and reading a book while watching my men out on a dock … that made me perfectly happy!
After sunning on the dock and resting, they discovered the fun of jumping off the dock. We were mostly by ourselves at the reservoir. There were a few boats that would go by and one other large-ish group a little way down the beach from us. Close enough to tell they were talking but far enough away that we couldn’t actually hear words.
On the dock, Kevin asked Bobby if he wanted to jump off. Bobby immediately responded in his low, gruff voice, “No!” and turned his back on Kevin. I guess jumping wasn’t his thing that day.
After the dock and eating lunch on the beach with me, Kevin and the boys swam out to a little island. The breeze was picking up, so they hid on the far side of the island from me, out of the wind. I just enjoyed more sun and more of my book!
After all the swimming and exploring, everyone needed some sunning time!
Why these guys chose not to be on the towels, I’m still not sure…
I loved that we went somewhere new. I love that Kevin totally went along with my wacky suggestion for one more quick trip before school started. I love that we had the camping trailer to make it easier to do. I love adventuring with my boys and with Kevin. I love my boys. I love Kevin.
A couple of things I did NOT love. As we were driving along the highway, almost to Duschesne, I looked in my side mirror and noticed that the awning on the trailer was out flapping in the wind. It isn’t supposed to do that. We found a place to pull over, found the owner’s manual (because we hadn’t actually tried using the awning yet – we hadn’t needed to), and tried to figure out how to open it up all the way so we could rewind it back up closed. We still aren’t sure how it come partially undone!
This wasn’t a super fast process and I was a little concerned when a highway patrolman pulled up behind us. He ended up being Officer Ashby. He was incredibly friendly and helpful. He seemed fairly young, but his family had a similar trailer, so he was able to help us open the awning, reroll it, and get on our way! With so much negativity about law enforcement officers in our media today, we made a point to emphasize with the boys how nice Officer Ashby was. That part I loved.
Another thing I did NOT love was just a few miles down the road. We had passed Duchesne and weren’t quite to Strawberry yet when Kevin started pumping the gas pedal and nothing was happening. We were coasting down a small decline and could see a larger shoulder up ahead. It ended up being a parking area for a local hike to a small cave – this was a huge blessing! Our suburban was dead. The fuel pump was toast. It was Saturday evening and we were stuck on the side of the road with 5 boys. Kevin’s cell phone had no service. Thankfully, mine did. We started sending texts and making phone calls.
While we were in this process of trying to find help, a family reunion group came to hike to the cave. Two of the men, took pity on us. They checked over the engine for a quick fix – there was none – then they offered to go back to their cabin down the road, get their big truck, and tow our trailer a couple miles down the highway to a gas station. Tender mercies all over the place!
While they got their truck, I took the boys along the small hike …
While Kevin tracked down a tow truck to come get our burb.
After these nice men hooked up the trailer, they loaded us all in their truck and towed us back to Big G’s gas station in Fruitland.
Part of the problem with this is the size of our family. The tow truck guy couldn’t carry us all, so I set about trying to find someone with a big enough car to come give us a ride. Then, how would we get the trailer home? And where was the burb going to go?
I got my brother in Lehi to borrow his in-law’s van and come get us. My friend Shelly had just moved to Clinton (5 minutes from our house) so she was going to meet us at Dan’s in Lehi and take us home. Her husband Josh was going to bring his truck to Fruitland and meet Kevin with the trailer and bring it home. Our suburban was going to hang out in the Heber Valley Walmart until our friend, a mobile mechanic, could get down to fix it later the next week. So many blessings and tender mercies, but the whole situation kind of stunk.
It all worked out. The boys were exhausted when we got to Dan’s, but we only had to wait a few minutes for Shelly to arrive. She dropped us off about midnight at our house. Kevin and Josh didn’t get to head for home until Sunday morning because Josh’s truck blew a spark plug. Luckily, they had a trailer to spend the night in! I felt bad that so many people had to help us, but also blessed that so many people were willing to help us!
There you go. We set out for an end of summer adventure and that’s exactly what we got!