So once upon a time there was a global pandemic that happened to send the state of Utah into lockdown 7 days before I was suppose to go home to Arizona and visit my parents - a place I hadn't been in over 18 months. I had dreams of hugs, family, warmth, a vacation with my family and burritos. All those dreams came crashing down along with many other crazy crazy closures like church, school, and basically every other aspect of life.
Let's just say it was hard. Really hard and scary and frustrating. I had a good thing going at home with my two youngest and suddenly Boone and Marae were home nonstop and suppose to be doing all their work at home. It was a crazy adjustment at first, I won't lie. It was hard on me. REALLY hard. I didn't know what to expect, my mother fell into the highest risk bracket (not to mention my dad isn't in good health either), society was clearing off the shelves at every grocery store in town and people were given the 'stay at home' order to not leave their houses except for necessities.
It was crazy. And it all happened so fast. Oh, and my legs were killing me (turns out I had two stress fractures) so I couldn't exercise anymore to clear my mind and actually do something for myself. Oh, and there was an earthquake too... so basically it was the end of the world.
So I decided that we could social distance somewhere other than home. We packed up for the first time all our camping things, all the food we'd need for 3 days, and we drove south to some slot canyons that my friend had told me about hoping they wouldn't be crowded (they weren't). It was warm during the days - upper 60's and into the 70's. Just what my soul needed. And there was a lot of dirt... just what the kids needed. Oh it was so fun.
We only ended up staying one night because it was FREEZING - like so cold we were all up all nigh - but the kids were champs the next day and hiked that 6.3 hike like rockstars - Wyatt too! We didn't bring the baby carrier but I'd say he hiked at least half of that himself. The rest of the way he rode on our shoulders. Then we drove back that night getting in really late. But it was worth it. So worth it when it felt like the world was crumbling and we needed to get away from the news.
Wyatt got to drive down the 14 mile long dirt road to our destination. He LOVED it.
It makes me laugh how puffy all our eyes are in these morning pictures after everyone woke up. I mean I shouldn't say after everyone woke up bc we were all up at 4:30 and got to watch the sunrise. It was so cold that we had to get around the fire. But the stars were amazing and honestly nobody was upset. Just cold.
I'd do it all again in a heartbeat.
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