This month has been a month of just getting ready for and waiting for baby. But I won’t wait for baby laying down (at least not all the time :) ). I was able to go snowshoeing a few times in the week and a half before my due date.
More Snow
The day after Christmas also yielded some great snowmobiling in more untouched powdery fields only 3 miles from our house!
Snowmobiling Our Backyard
Bade purchased our house because it was surrounded by his favorite things, fishing, dirt bike trails, and snowmobiling fields. On Christmas Eve Bade and his brothers went out and enjoyed some untouched powdery snow up our canyon.
The Baby Bump Is Growing
The baby bump is growing bigger as we get closer to the holidays.
Happy Halloween
Happy Halloween! And yes, that is my baby bump under that dress poof :).
Muddy Motorcycle Riding
The boys went on a boys motorcycle riding trip after a few days of rain, so of course, all the boys got stuck at least once, and even flipped a bike. Here are some of their muddy highlights.
Pumpkins And Corn
There isn’t much that is better than a corn pit :).
And of course, we had to pick out pumpkins to carve with my nephew.
Crest Trail Mountain Biking
For those of you who like mountain biking, there are great places in Salt Lake to mountain bike, but with so many people in Salt Lake, the trails are often a bit busy. Bade, his friends and a few siblings were able to go mountain biking on the Crest Trail up Millcreek.
Great Basin National Park
Great Basin National Park is one of the least visited National Parks, one of the smallest National Parks, and the quietest National Park. This means that you get many of the lakes and hikes nearly to yourself. Bade and I were fortunate enough to also get the tail end of the fall foliage on our hikes.
Bade fit in some fishing at Cave Lake just outside Ely. They were smaller fish than what Bade normally catches, but it was fun to be there since there were ducks, geese, and even ospreys swooping down and catching fish right in front of us.
Gandy Warm Springs was the highlight to this trip. It is a bit (30 miles) of a drive up a dirt road, but so worth it. Don’t think of this as a hot spring…it is only slightly warm, meaning the water is around 80 degrees, but the cool part is that this oasis in the desert has its own cave complete with stalactites and even fish swimming through it. The cave goes back surprisingly far so you need to have flashlights. We brought goggles, and put our dollar store flash lights in Ziploc bags so we could look at the fish under water in the cave.
Uintah’s Backpacking
The first rule about Uintahs backpacking is you don’t tell people where in the Uintahs to backpack. The second rule about Uintahs backpacking is you DON’T TELL PEOPLE where in the Uintahs to backpack. The best part about Uintahs backpacking is being able to go out in the woods without crowds. You typically don’t even need to backpack very far in to find this restful seclusion and you don’t typically need to backpack very far to find your own personal lake. So all I can tell you about this backpacking trip is that it is near many lakes in the Uintah’s, and was awesome!
Sadly, we only ended up staying for one night even though we planned on 2 nights, we had to head back early to rush to the hospital for, what turned out to be, a false alarm. But we ate like kings for that 1 day.
Farewell Hawaii
Well, we started our last day in Hawaii by accidentally stepping on something sharp in the sand when we first got to the beach. Poor Bade, he wasn’t able to comfortably play in the water the rest of the day. But don’t worry, the day gets better…
After an unsuccessful last afternoon at the beach, we got ready for an evening at sea. We took a sunset fishing boat tour just off the coast of Waikiki and Honolulu. We caught a bunch of colorful, yet small fish that the boat captain cooked up for us.
There were around 20 people on the boat this evening, most of them were fishing, and Bade and I caught the most fish out of anyone! Go us!!
Best Oahu Hike – Koko Head
Fireworks, fire dancers, surfing and hiking, Oahu vacations are pretty awesome! The Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki launches fireworks every Friday night at 7:45, so we had dinner at the beach, watched the fireworks, then saw some street entertainment.
Surfing was great at the military beach, White Plains. The waves were long and consistent, the rentals were lax and affordable, and the boys wore themselves out catching waves for a few hours. Unfortunately they stayed so far out for the most part, that I wasn’t able to get a good shot of them on their boards.
Now, my favorite hike in Oahu was also the most tiring, Koko Head in Hawaii Kai. The hike is pretty much a straight shot up the side of the mountain following an old military supply train track. It starts with a mellow slope, but quickly steepens to the point where every step is going up 2 stair steps at once. Although this hike is tiring on your thighs and calves, the view is one of the best on the island. You can look down the coast almost to Waikiki, over the hill and see Hanuama Bay, then behind to see up the East coast towards China man’s Hat. This is definitely a hike you want to do in the morning or evening. Better yet, if you can catch sunrise or sunset, you will be in awe.
Mixing Work With Pleasure
In order to take this pseudo-spur-of-the-moment trip to Hawaii Bade and I had to bring some of our work with us. Over the last few days we have done half days of work and half days of play.
We saw how ukuleles are made at Kamaka Ukulele and where pineapples are grown at the Dole Plantation.
We were also able to hike in the crater of a volcano to Diamond Head lookout. This area was used by the military in WWII, but is now one of the most popular hikes on the island. I’m surprised I have never done it before, but then again, the whole hike was exposed, so you have to go really early (7am clearly wasn’t early enough) to hike without being too hot :).
We spent some time on the West coast of Oahu, snorkeling at Makaha Beach and Ko’Olina Resort beaches. Bade typically wears a rash guard while we snorkel so he only sunscreens his legs and neck, but he took if off for about 20 minutes to body board. I just wear my swimsuit, so I make sure to screen everywhere. Apparently I must have touched Bade’s back after I screened me, and before he went body boarding…he now has a cute little wife-y hand print tan line :). What’s a vacation to Hawaii without at least 1 sunburn?
Beaches, Hammocks and Chance Encounters
Over the last 2 days, Bade and I have chilled at five beaches, been to four viewpoints, kicked three corals and only skipped one hike (woke up too late :( ), oh…and we ran into one of Bade’s friends randomly when we were leaving the grocery store.
Sunday we spent the afternoon at Hanauma Bay and saw a cute but mangy baby mongoose, lots of big fish, and no turtles :(.
Monday morning Bade and I got up early to enjoy the sunrise at Lanikai beach (hard to find, but great view of the sun rising between/next to two islands), then worked from our car for an hour, before hunting down breakfast.
Bade’s friend we didn’t know was on the island, was walking into the grocery store we were leaving (needed to make a sudden pit stop for the pregnant lady). We decided to make a day out of our chance meeting, running into these legit beach bums… sleeping in a treehouse/shed in some guy’s yard, hitching rides around, no schedule or plans whatsoever. We spent all day Monday with these 2 guys, snorkeling and diving through caves, lounging and playing games at the beach, and swinging in the trees.
We snorkeled at Shark’s Cove and found some hidden caves and underwater arches that we could swim through and in to. The cave was really scary to go in because you just went into the darkness and hoped there was something on the other side. Going out of the cave was awesome because on the way out everything was blue with black rock silhouettes. We saw a bunch of very large turtles at Haleiwa Beach. We watched our two friends play spike ball at Turtle Bay Beach. Then we ended the day at Mokuauia Beach where we could see Goat Island, and the boys did tricks on a rope swing we knew about from our last visit to Oahu.
Day 1 – Wasting No Time
After 2 flight delays, we finally arrived in Honolulu, HI at 10:38pm last night (over 6 hours later than we were suppose to). The second flight delay wasn’t told to us until we were in the air; our flight was going to land nearly 40 minutes later than it was suppose to, which meant we were going to get to the airport AFTER our car rental service had closed. We downloaded Uber for a long expensive taxi ride, and made it to my cousins and crashed around 4am our time.
This morning, not able to sleep in, we got up, had breakfast, and hitched a ride with my cousin to pick up our car rental. Then we immediately headed to the mountains to start our morning with a hike. We took a 2 mile hike to Manoa Falls. The falls were at the perfect incline so there wasn’t actually a free-fall portion, but the trickle along the rocks was really pretty, and the hike to the falls was lush and gorgeous, and a bit slippery at times.
We ran our trip-starter errands, which included getting some lunch and dinner supplies for the next 2 weeks at Costco, and some beach essentials at the grocery store, then we met up with my cousin and her husband at their house, and had lunch while their 1-year-old finished napping.
In the afternoon we all headed to Bellow’s beach, which is a private beach for the military. It was a little windier than normal, so there was some concern over jellyfish. Sure enough, talking with the lifeguards we found out that the wave-breaks were full of little jellies. A few weeks ago my uncle was out here and he got stung. These tiny little jellyfish have tentacles that can stretch around 2 feet, enough to have wrapped around my uncle’s arm, then around his whole back to sting him on both sides of his body. So us girls stayed and played on the beach, while the boys braved the waves for some body boarding.
We saw a few kids who got stung, and Bade and my cousin’s husband saw a few of these tiny blue jellies next to them when there were in the waves, but they never got stung themselves.
For dinner we had steak, shrimp and some fish tacos from a little shack, which were great. And finished with some pineapple shave ice dessert. This was a great way to start our second Hawaiian vacation.
Hole In The Rock Road
Bade, his sister, brother-in-law, niece, and myself took an early summer road trip down Hole In The Rock Road near Escalante, UT. We had great weather and enjoyable, summer-style hikes. We even managed to have chocolate covered strawberries to celebrate Valentines Day while we were there.
We hiked to Zebra and Tunnel Canyon (about 5 miles), but weren’t able to go in them due to the amount of freezing cold water (Bade tested this for us). But we were able to enjoy Peek-a-boo and Spooky canyon (about 2 miles). We also drove all the way out to Broken Bow arch to enjoy that 5 mile hike in a stream bed and 94 foot arch.
I definitely recommend taking a road trip down Hole In The Rock Road if you get the chance.
Getting To Hole-In-The-Rock Road
If you are planning on making a trip out of hole in the rock road, here’s what you need to know. Hole-in-the-Rock road is 5 miles East of Escalante, UT on UT-12 (it’s hard to miss since there really aren’t any other roads). Getting to Escalante is really pretty, especially when you get to the ‘fin’ part of the freeway and you have to slow down to 20-35 miles per hour. Enjoy the view at that point. Make sure you travel in this area with a little bit of day light either going to, or coming from Escalante. Plan for 5-6 hours from Salt Lake City down to Escalante…it isn’t a short drive, but you drive through some really gorgeous country.
Points Of Interest
Hole-in-the-Rock Road is a long, long dirt road. The road goes for around 60 miles. Most people only go on the first 15 miles, so those miles of dirt road are well maintained (especially if you go early in the season, spring-ish, when the road is freshly graded). I would suggest that you go 26.5 miles in so that you can hit up Peek-A-Book and Spooky Canyons. Before I get ahead of myself, here are my suggested stops. Make sure you balance them out so that you hit some on the way out, and some on the way back (if you have time).
mile 0.0 Reset Odometer – you want to make sure you reset your odometer since most side roads aren’t labeled.
mile 8.0 Zebra & Tunnel Slots – Go 8 miles until just after a cattle guard. The trailhead is on the south side of the road. If you hit Halfway Hollow, you’ve gone about a 1/4 a mile too far. Zebra is a must see in the fall (too much water in the spring), but if you are pressed for time, you can skip Tunnel. The hike out takes a while since it is around 2.5 miles out, then 2.5 miles straight back. Zebra slot itself is really short but SO picturesque! There is almost always some water to wade through, but you can just go out and back, so wade as far as you’d like. If you want to go to Tunnel as well, it is about 1/4-1/2 a mile in a sandy wash away from Zebra. Tunnel slot also often has water, but again, much less water if you go in the fall. Here are the details you might want to print out, or at least look at the map since it gives you a much better sense of the route you will be taking. The trail is very exposed so sunscreen up and bring plenty of water and snacks.
http://www.roadtripryan.com/go/t/utah/escalante/zebratunnel#overview
mile 12.0 Devils Garden – this is a picnic-style spot with rock formations to play on, as well as picnic tables, and the turn off is labeled so it is easy to find, or just reset your odometer if you hadn’t reset it when you started up the road. It can get pretty windy here, but this is a great stop if you have kids. No hiking needed, just walk around through this giant rock garden. I like to hit this up for lunch, or hit it up on my way back from Peek-a-Book and Spooky since you can spend lots, or a little time here and be completely content.
mile 15-20 ish – this is where the dirt road starts getting less ‘nice’. Most cars are still fine up until this point.
mile 26.5 Peek-A-Boo & Spooky – These are the best slot canyons for families with young kids. They have enough technical aspects that they are fun, but they are short enough that they don’t tire kids out. I last hiked these canyons (they are done as a loop) with my 2 year old niece who loved them. Two things to be aware of… first, the road after turning off the main Hole-in-the-Rock Road and heading towards these slots is really bad. You ought to have a four-wheel drive vehicle and be comfortable in a really slant-y car in order to drive this. Second, the loop for Peek-A-Boo and Spooky is best if taken by starting at Peek-A-Boo even though the entrance to Pee-A-Boo looks daunting. You may have to just lift your kids up the first part. You will recognize the start of Peek-A-Boo by the ‘steps’ carved out in the rock for your feet and hands to scramble up. Here are the hiking details for Peek-A-Boo and Spooky. Again, these are two of my favorite canyons and are great for families, as long as you don’t mind the long dirt road to get here.
http://www.roadtripryan.com/go/t/utah/escalante/peekaboospookbrimeston#overview
Oh, one other thing to note, about halfway through Spooky you will come to, what seems like, a dead-end of rocks. Those rocks have been there a long time (at least a decade because they’ve been there ever time I’ve gone). Just go to the left. You will duck under/through the tiny gap (my pot-bellied dad fit through so it isn’t TOO bad) in the rocks, and you will be in a mini rock cave. Once in the cave you will be helping each other get down a 5-6 foot slanted rock, then you are back to smooth sailing. Kids think this part if fun, adults often think they won’t fit, but there is much more room than you think, and the ‘drop’ is much shorter than it looks. Don’t try to go up and over, stay low and go through the ‘cave’.
Also at mile 26.5 is Brimstone Canyon. You will only want to do this if you are an experienced canyoneer-er, and don’t mind freezing and being in a very tight slot.
After you hike Peek-A-Boo and Spooky, you can start heading back towards Escalante, and return down those 26.5 miles of dirt road.
If you haven’t had enough hiking and want some more, I would definitely recommend doing Lower Calf Creek Falls which is just on the South side of Escalante, UT. This hike is decently long, but is often shaded (especially if you go in the second half of the day), and is largely flat. Bring bug spray to the falls. The hike should be fine, but certain times of year there are bugs galore at the base of the falls. The coolest thing about the falls, other than the large height of the drop, is the color of the lichen behind the falls. It creates this almost rainbow effect. Checkout my blog post from last year when Bade and I did the Lower Calf Creek Falls hike.
Just as a time reference. This spring when I did this route with my husband, sister-in-law, brother-in-law and niece, we drove to Escalante at night, went about 8.3 miles up the dirt road to a road a little past the Zebra parking area, and camped. The next morning, we did Zebra (not Tunnel since Zebra had a lot of water, and Tunnel always has more water than Zebra), Devils Garden, Peek-A-Boo and Spooky all in 1 day. We did take our time at each stop, allowing even the little 2 year old to hike at her own pace a lot of the way. We finished Spooky as the sun was getting ready to set (this was spring, Feb, so the days were shorter). You can camp on Hole-in-the-Rock road, and we did, just a few miles beyond Peek-A-Boo & Spooky. You’ll want to save Lower Calf Creek for the day before or day after Hole-in-the-Rock road, since you likely won’t have time for both. If you have older kids with you or you want to make a long weekend out of the road and have a good four-wheel-drive vehicle, you can continue up the road to a bunch of hikes to arches. We ended up going up to Broken Bow arch, which is around 36 miles on Hole-in-the-Rock road. This guy’s website shows a map of the road, so you can see that there are lots of arches the further you get, but the road and hiking gets much more difficult.
Stewart Falls
This afternoon we hiked the 3-mile round-trip to Stewart Falls near Aspen Grove in Provo Canyon. This hike is a perfect hike for children (although we didn’t bring any with us), since it has a little bit of actual hiking at the beginning and end, then is comfortably flat throughout the entire middle section. Plus, you arrive at a great view and a fun play place for kids (in the summer).
Lava Hot Springs
Bade’s family LOVES to soak in hot springs and they make it a regular activity when traveling. In the winter when we don’t travel as much, we take day trips up to Lava Hot Springs in Idaho and spend a day soaking in hot pools. We always pick a rainy or snowy day because it makes soaking that much more cozy.
Snow Days
Finally, we have a little bit of snow. I think this is our second day of good snow this season (sadly the season is already mid-way)! We are making sure to take advantage of every bit of it!
Fall Dirt Bike Riding
The last two weekends have been great weather for fall dirt bike riding. The colors have been gorgeous, especially the aspens this year. Bade and I went riding up the left fork of Hobble Creek last weekend, and did the right fork of Hobble Creek this weekend.
Livin' Hard 
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