The Trip - Day 18

July 27, 2011

At least it was a beautiful place to wake up to. I got up early, and took Maya for a run on a trail by our campsite. I let her off leash once we got into the back country. She loved it. She dashed up and down the hillsides, leaping down into the dry-washs, and then scrambling back up after me as I went down the trail. It was fun to run with her.

We explored farther up the trail than the kids had gone. At the top was a partially excavated Hadrosaur. Sorry, I didn't run with my camera, so no pictures of it.



Later we went on another nature trail, deeper in the park. We spent a long time exploring the bluffs, and digging in the dirt.


Sylvia loved it. She held my hand tightly as we edged along some thin trails along steep slopes.

The boys had a good time digging chunks out of a vein of coal. Mattias took it back to the campsite, and tried to start a fire with it... but to no avail. We will have to figure out how to burn coal another time.



There were lots of neat rocks, chunks of iron, and fossils. Asher said this was his favorite part of the trip. He said playing in the coulie next to our campsite was like playing in a playground. Maybe we'll make a geologist out of him yet.



After a couple hours of exploration, we climbed in the van and headed home. People were traveling well, so I just kept on driving. We had planned to split this drive into 2 days, but I was ready to be done driving. After 17 hours, we pulled into Stoughton at 3AM and surprised a very sleepy Sean.

This trip was worth every cent, and every exhausted moment as a single parent. I loved seeing our families, and the beautiful areas we stayed in. It was basically the perfect trip. The kids were excellent, the dog traveled well. If Sean had been with us, it would have been like heaven. - Well...there is always next time.