Friday night everyone (Rob, Mom, Shelbie, Scott, Chad and Colton) all got to our house. We only had time to shop for treats/lunch for Saturday and then we all went to bed. Saturday morning everyone except for Mom, Paul (he has a hernia--and has to have surgery!), and the kids all got up and hit the road at about 7:30 and made our way up to Zion National Park. We took the shuttle up to The Grotto, where we unloaded the bus and hit the trails to hike Angel's Landing! The sun hadn't hit the bottom of the canyon yet and so it was freezing! We knew we had to get moving if we wanted to warm up! We started at about 8:30. We took our time getting up--there were switchbacks, paved trail, sand/rock but overall the first 2/3 of the hike were pretty easy. It was so fun walking and talking with my brothers and sister--and Rob too! We laughed at people we passed and got out of the way of those who were on a mission to make it to the top first! We kept joking about a guy who was probably not cut out for the hike who kept stopping because "oh, ouch! Man it feels like someone is stabbing my calves with a knife!" He kept us entertained off and on--and he made it to the top! It took us about 3 hours to get up, and only 40 minutes to get down! We stopped and took lots of pictures on the way up but practically ran the whole way down. It was so fun--and so scary! We had looked at pictures on the internet a few days earlier and sort of thought we knew what to expect but it was so crazy watching people hike and climb and holding onto a dumb old chain for safety in real life! Shelbie didn't quite make it to the top but she did get to the chains. The rest of us put on our big girl panties and took off--literally holding onto the chain for dear life. Haha, it was so so so much fun and I am so glad that I actually did it. I kept telling my brothers and Rob that I had to do it for Paul, I had to show him I could do it because he was "medically" unable to do it--which I was super bummed about. The top looking down was breath taking and I actually had to sit down because it made me a little bit dizzy. Chad and Scott were like mountain goats up there, jumping off rocks, climbing up on little ledges for a picture, and standing way to close to the edge for my little heart to handle! Rob was awesome and let us do our thing and he took all the pictures on the way up--so sorry, for all the butt shots of myself and Scotty boy! It was honestly one of the funnest, hardest, and best hikes I have ever done! So glad we did it--but we'll have to go again so Paul can come.
After we did Angel's Landing we met up with Paul and my mom and the kids for lunch. Paul cooked us up a burger with all the fixings. While we hike Angel's Landing he took my mom and the kids through the tunnel and scared my mom a little! Yes!! After lunch we got back on the shuttle and went to Weeping Rock. It had been raining a little bit so there was a little more water running off the rocks than the last time we were there, so that was fun to see. We also did the river walk trail, but only for like half a mile--after that, we were pooped! We loaded the shuttle back to the car and headed to Golden Corral for dinner!
Oh, but I can't forget the wile turkeys we saw at our last stop--Paul had the male turkey so huffy puffy with his turkey calling skills. Paul would gaggle at the turkey and the turkey would do it back and then puff up his feathers and strut around for a bit. The little kids, and us big kids...couldn't quit laughing!
We also got to watch mountain climbers scale the cliffs...so cool!
It was such a fun day. I think everyone was so tired by the time we got home--I don't even think I said goodnight to anyone. I am so thankful my family was able to come and stay. We only saw about 10 minutes of conference but the time we got to spend together was worth it for me. Can't wait to do it all again!
