Southwest Vacation - Utah Part 3, exploring Cedar Breaks
Our condo was part of a ski town, and there was a path and hiking trails that would take us to the tippy top of Brian Head Peak. Yes, please! We drove as far as we could, but the road was snowed in. We kept walking further and further up, but the air was getting thinner and the clouds were looking pretty ominous so we had to turn back.
Do not be fooled by these smiling faces. Everyone was fighting at this point. We tried to joke ourselves out of it, but we were just done with all the togetherness I think. The views were amazing though! We wanted the exercise and the experience of the park so we picked a trail to take further down the road.
Right around the corner from our condo was Cedar Breaks National Monument. It was the look of Bryce, but with 0 people, a higher elevation, and lots of snow. The overlook we stopped at boasted an elevation of 10,435ft. Brennan stopped about halfway and refused to go anywhere near the edge: "I can see it fine from over here where it's safer".
The kids were hugging every sign and tree, and stabbing every snow bank with sticks. We couldn't take the entire trail and we never made it to the pond thanks to huge snowbanks blocking our path. We tried to off-road it and make it down, but I freaked out about the possibility of getting lost. I could see the headline "Stupid Family from Maryland Thinks They Can Hike the Mountains, Miserably Lost for a Week in Cedar Breaks"... which would definitely have been true if it was just me leading! I have the absolute worst sense of direction. We laughed about it and were making up other gruesome headlines and decided to eat whoever dies first lol. #boymom
Our short hike ate up some time, appeased the nature babies (me and Brennan), got soccer-dude some exercise, and the bored engineers were able to occupy their brains by being silly or angry, depending on the minute. When we returned, we played more Jackbox games and packed up a little. I made the command decision to not do laundry. Mother needed a vacation too. Josh and I left the kids in the condo and went to a nearby shop to get us all touristy shirts... and a break. We usually get tons of breaks from each other. It helped our moods to get some space and time apart. I just realized the subtle "cedar break" and "take a break" on the same day... well played, universe. We penciled in a plan for the next day: Zion National Park was a definitely, Valley of Fire State Park was a maybe, and arriving at our hotel in Las Vegas was a must.
Our next chapter: Utah to Nevada
Do not be fooled by these smiling faces. Everyone was fighting at this point. We tried to joke ourselves out of it, but we were just done with all the togetherness I think. The views were amazing though! We wanted the exercise and the experience of the park so we picked a trail to take further down the road.
Right around the corner from our condo was Cedar Breaks National Monument. It was the look of Bryce, but with 0 people, a higher elevation, and lots of snow. The overlook we stopped at boasted an elevation of 10,435ft. Brennan stopped about halfway and refused to go anywhere near the edge: "I can see it fine from over here where it's safer".
The kids were hugging every sign and tree, and stabbing every snow bank with sticks. We couldn't take the entire trail and we never made it to the pond thanks to huge snowbanks blocking our path. We tried to off-road it and make it down, but I freaked out about the possibility of getting lost. I could see the headline "Stupid Family from Maryland Thinks They Can Hike the Mountains, Miserably Lost for a Week in Cedar Breaks"... which would definitely have been true if it was just me leading! I have the absolute worst sense of direction. We laughed about it and were making up other gruesome headlines and decided to eat whoever dies first lol. #boymom
Our short hike ate up some time, appeased the nature babies (me and Brennan), got soccer-dude some exercise, and the bored engineers were able to occupy their brains by being silly or angry, depending on the minute. When we returned, we played more Jackbox games and packed up a little. I made the command decision to not do laundry. Mother needed a vacation too. Josh and I left the kids in the condo and went to a nearby shop to get us all touristy shirts... and a break. We usually get tons of breaks from each other. It helped our moods to get some space and time apart. I just realized the subtle "cedar break" and "take a break" on the same day... well played, universe. We penciled in a plan for the next day: Zion National Park was a definitely, Valley of Fire State Park was a maybe, and arriving at our hotel in Las Vegas was a must.
Our next chapter: Utah to Nevada
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