Fall Break in the Valley of Fire

During fall break this year, the kids REALLY wanted to go camping.  Grandma Susie was hoping to join us, so we planned to make a pilgrimage to our favorite Pondersosa Grove campsite on the west side of Zion.  As fall break neared, we realized there was a huge hiccup in our plans: snow.

Now I love to camp, but I am admittedly a fair weather gal.  Freezing temps and I'm out.  We switched gears and kept on heading south to Valley of Fire in Nevada.  The extra distance made it a little too far for Grandma Susie and Jason had to work, so it was the just the kids and I.  I was a bit nervous about camping on our own, but in the end it worked out great.  We left early in the morning managed to snag one of the very last campsites at Atlatl camground just before noon. It may have been THE very last campsite--I'm not sure.  I think the only reason it wasn't taken was because it was a walk-in site where you had to lug your gear to the tent pad.  The walk wasn't that far and I had lots of help, so for our family it was perfect.

We loved the privacy and all the space to climb rocks, explore "hotels," and play frisbee.

If you look closely, you can see how our giant tent (only half set up) actually spread out over the tent pad, but we made it work.

Our campsite was so fun that the kids would have gladly played there all day, but I convinced them to join me for a picnic and saunter.  We headed to White Domes, a 1.5 mile hike through a slot canyon.  No snow here!  Even in late October, it was genuinely hot.  Even so, we thought this sign at the trailhead was pretty hilarious.  It discourages you from hiking the trail developed and advertised by the park itself.

We were quite glad we took the risk.  What a fun trail!

We thought we'd discovered some ancient ruins but nope.  Just the movie set for an old Western.

Coming in and out of the slot.  You'll notice that Talia conned me into letting her walk barefoot.  I'm not sure I should have acquiesced because the next day Annika insisted on doing the same.

Next stop: Elephant Rock.  Wonder why they named it that?

Back at the campsite, Talia was busy crocheting her next project.  

This dragon may be my favorite yet.

For dinner we enjoyed brats.  The kids think we should earn extra money for our J Dawgs product placement.  The meal was a win, as was the red tablecloth..  Growing up, NomiAnn always  brought a tablecloth for our picnics and camping trips.  There were moments when I admittedly found it a bit excessive (we were out in the middle of nature, did we need to be so fancy?), but here it was a lifesaver.  The table was worn and made of fiberglass, making it extremely itchy to touch.  We would have been miserable without it.  So thanks for the tablecloth, NomiAnn!

Also, I have to tell you about the cheeky fox.  I was on my own cleaning up dinner while the kids were at the restroom brushing teeth.  Speaking of which, Valley of Fire has flushing toilets and showers, but I digress.  Back to the story, it was quite dark as I saw these two green lights come trotting quickly towards me.  At first I thought they were Annika's light-up shoes, but then I saw the outline of giant ears and a bushy tail.  This cheeky fox had smelled the brats and wouldn't leave.  I stared it down with my headlamp, but it just stared right back, coming closer and closer.  If I turned my back, it would sneak nearer while I wasn't looking.  When I threw a rock, it just ran over to sniff it, hoping that I'd thrown food.  At one point, you could have found me standing on the picnic table hollering "Shoo!  Shoo!"  In the end, I just cleaned everything up as quickly as I could. When the kids made it back, we darted straight into the tent and called it a night.  Campfires weren't allowed anyway due to fire restrictions.

The next morning Talia and I went for a run through the scenic loop.

We enjoyed beautiful rock formations, wildlife, and even got to climb the Beehive.

Back at camp, Annika was awake and busy exploring all of the caves.  Papa Kay, you'd be proud to know that one of the first things she did was collect rock books to establish her library.  

Pancakes for breakfast.  I forgot syrup, but made up for it by adding hot cocoa mix to the batter.

Brooklyn, now a junior in high school, spent some of her time studying her ACT Prep book.

On our way out of camp, we climbed up nearby Atlatl Rock.  At first I thought the stairs were there to allow visitors to enjoy the view.

Nope!  Petroglyphs.

Our next adventure was an hour and a half drive to Red Rock Canyon, near Las Vegas.  It's amazing how much both Valley of Fire and Red Rock Canyon remind us of Snow Canyon.  Such great places to scramble!

We bribed Annika with a new stuffie from the Visitor Center in exchange for a great attitude hiking.  It was a worthwhile trade.  Here we are enjoying the Calico Tanks trail.

I may have gotten some looks by passersby for allowing Annie to hike without shoes, but she understood the risks and did great.  As a parent, I have to tell Annika "no" so often.  Sometimes it's nice to say "yes."

Looking out over Las Vegas.

While Annika's feet were fine, her knees unfortunately were not after she bumped into a cactus later in the day.  With that painful cue, we called it a day and made it back to the Visitors Center just in time to pick out her kangaroo rat stuffie.

On our way home, the kids really wanted to visit the M&M store in Las Vegas.  Walking the strip on a Friday night?  What could possibly go wrong.

The truth is that it was a gorgeous evening and we had a great time, even if we didn't stay for long.  (Parking was only free for an hour.)

So many tasty choices!  I think the mint were my favorite, with fudge brownie coming in at a close second.

Thanks, Vegas, for the fun introduction.  While we won't be visiting your casinos, it might be fun to catch a show some day.

For dinner, we got on Yelp and looked for recommendations.  This Hot Chicken LV was highly rated, but we got nervous after pulling up to this sketchy storefront in an equally sketchy neighborhood.  In the end, the chicken really was super tasty, albeit a bit too spicy for most of my kids' tastes.  Either way, it was memorable.

Our last morning in the tent.  

I enjoyed looking down at our campsite from up above, as well as looking out at the bighorn sheep wandering through the rest of camp.

I did NOT enjoy when Annika wandered off into the rocks after taking a trip to the restroom without telling anyone where she was going and I started driving around the campground frantically yelling her name, images of kidnappings in my head.  Most of my gray hairs are named Annie.  

But I did like the sheep.

All packed up and headed for one more hike on the way home.

We chose the short but intriguing Mouse's Tank Trailhead, named after an outlaw named Mouse who used to hide from the sheriff in these rocks.

More intriguing petroglyphs and more bare feet.

While we really missed our dad, camping with the kids was great.  They really stepped up and were brilliantly helpful with great attitudes.

I feel so blessed to be their mom.

Only downside is that Brooklyn started to feel sick while were camping, developing a runny nose and sore throat.  So, we stopped off in St. George on the way home for some rapid Covid testing.  Good news--all negative.

Bad news.  Our cute little home has been turned into a garbage dump.  If you want to remember what it used to look like, here's a link I created when we put our home up for sale eight years ago.

At least the new Switchpoint project that Jason designed is looking fantastic.

Plus, Viva Chicken with its aji amarillo makes me smile any day.