CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK
MARCH 2015
Ever since our kids were young, we have come to this place. It probably started with my parents, or possibly even with Mom's parents. We have picked peaches in the orchards, We have hunted Easter eggs in the campground, we have weathered bitter cold, hot summer sun and suffered through intense sandstorms. After all of that, we keep coming back.
Oftentimes we hike the same old trails, showing off things we have discovered before to a new and older batch of children. Half of the fun has been watching as the new ones discover the same places their older siblings found years ago.
We hike with kids who just want to go back to camp and play in the grass, and others who want to see what lurks around the next boulder. We find polliwogs in desert cisterns, ants that can carry huge beetles over long distances, and watch as the bats come out at night.
Through it all, we share tender times with our little ones. We laugh and sometimes we cry a little.
This year some of the family explored the place where our daughters got stuck inside a dry "tank" the water had carved in a canyon above Hickman Bridge. As the older and wiser parents saw where the girls were trapped, they found out just how negligent we their parents really were. Heather said it scared her. I wondered which was scarier; looking at where they had gotten stuck, or realizing that we let them get to that place on their own.
Every time we go, the kids find places to hide in the rocks. And every year we take their pictures in their hidden places
Nathan was a little stressed out in the narrow canyons for some reason, but still enjoyed exploring.
We found a great place for the kids to play under a double natural bridge that I don't remember being there on other trips. Maybe we weren't observant enough then.
We got to watch some great sunsets and grand vistas, the best of all was the time we were able to spend together playing and goofing off.
But soon it was time to say good-bye and come back to the dreary world of work and school and all the other stuff we do.
But as we left, we had a new store of memories to cherish for years to come. Something we will remember for the rest of our lives.
