Memorial Day 2024--Ponderosa Grove

Hey world, here I am blogging at the Sweet Branch Library again.  This time Annika convinced her cousin Eila to come join the Dungeons and Dragons fun.  

So what's new in the world?  The kids finished school.  Jason is in Phoenix on a work trip with ZenniHomes.  NomiAnn came to visit.  I passed the NCLEX.  Today DOPL emailed me my nursing license.  A bazillion hours of school, a $200 exam, and $90 of licensing fees and they no longer mail you a hard copy.  Go fig.  Plus, I'm swamped with homework for my BSN program (Bachelors of Science in Nursing) through the University of Utah.

Too much homework?  Sounds like the right time to procrasti-blog.

Memorial Day Camping 2024 was a little different than usual.  NomiAnn kidnapped Brooklyn and Talia and whisked them a way to Mystic, Connecticut to visit her cousin Beth.  They had a delightful time!  The original plan was for NomiAnn to drive out to Salt Lake with Papa Kay so that he could camp with us while she and the eldest grand-daughters explored the East coast.  Unfortunately Papa Kay's lungs have not healed enough for him to travel yet.  (Sad day!  Patience is really hard, especially when you are tethered to oxygen.)

Wanting to honor the tradition of Memorial Day camping, the Wilhoits, Annika, Eli, and I all piled into our minivan for a trip to Southern Utah. 

We never would have fit without Papa Kay's gear platform.

Jason needed to be in church on Sunday, so he kindly cared for Pickles while we were away.  Not only is Pickles cute, but she's a great running partner around Liberty Park!

The drive to Ponderosa Grove was long, especially for Eila who got sick just a few miles shy of the campground.  I doubt Beaver Creamery ice cream tastes as good on the way up as on the way down.  I was a little nervous that all of the campsites might be full since it was Memorial Day weekend, but there were plenty available.  We found two connected "walk-in" sites that were perfect for our group.  Here are Eli and Anders setting up camp while Annika surveys from the tree.

All of the kids enjoyed the ever present sandbox.

With Jason gone, I had to tackle the dutch oven all by myself.  I was pretty proud of how well the chicken pot pie turned out.

With happy tummies and plenty of daylight left, we headed off for adventure.

Our destination?  The Belly of the Dragon.  Who knew that Orderville Junction hosted such an exotic species.

We were so tired that everyone slept quite well that evening.  Here's Eila reading in her comfy tent the next morning.

Eli made amazing eggs for our breakfast burritos.

Our next exploration, Zion National Park.  The park was CRAZY busy (apparently Memorial Day weekend is the busiest of the year), so we showed the Wilhoit's our secret spot.  It was completely empty.  Not a soul the entire way!

Except for tadpoles, of course.  We literally saw thousands nesting in the puzzles.

Plus, lizards.  There were some big ones that seemed quite intent on staying put instead of scurrying away.  You can't see it from the photo, but the underbellies were a beautiful blue.

As for me, I loved the flowering cacti.

Scrambling up.

Power models.  Anders has the best expressions.

He might also have the dirtiest hands.  Annika's matched his at first, but when I went to take a picture she said that she had rinsed them in the tadpole water.  Ewwww.

After our hike, we headed to the Visitor's Center to refill water since there is none at the campground.  We thought about hopping on one of the shuttle buses, but they were packed.  Instead we decided to cool off by wading in the Virgin River.  Great choice!

Eila toppled and went for a brief swim, but she handled it great.

Happy kids make for happy parents.

Back to the campsite for some more treetop time.

We also explored the nearby dunes, hitting the "golden hour" of light.

Sand yoga is more difficult than you'd expect as the ground keeps shifting beneath your feet.

Meanwhile, the big boys had a great time playing bocce ball.

And lighting fires.  'Cuz everybody loves a good fire.  Eli's tipi blazed so quickly that we had to knock it down for fear that the flames would escape the firepit.

On our last day, we broke camp and headed to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab.  The property is enormous!  4800 stunning acres.  I had no idea how immense the scale of their work, housing around 1500 animals on any given day.  Annika was DELIGHTED to visit the Adoption Hub, albeit disappointed to learn that we weren't taking any animals home.

I adore how they named these pups Lucky Charms, Fruit Loops, and Coco Crunch.

I stayed out of the cat enclosure, but the others had a fun time.

It turns out that all of the animals, whether cat, dog, goat, horse, or pig were being given away with no adoption fee.  Annika made a convincing case for a horse, but alas, I'm pretty sure the city wouldn't allow us to keep it in our backyard like she proposed.

So many thanks to the Wilhoits for joining us on our Memorial Day adventure to this colorful country.  I suspect the red sand stains on your socks will remind you of fun forever.  :)