I told my husband it was going to be the chillest, most laid back road trip he's ever been on. Begged him to take time off work and to forget about all our house projects for a few days. And then I planned it all. For two months I dreamed and planned, made lists, looked up points of interest, bought tons of Polaroid film, downloaded the book Gone Girl, mapped out the route, printed out the map, taped it in a notebook, and then wrote down all the directions so I wouldn't be reliant on my phone. I was actually wishing for both our phones to die along the journey and for the phone-chargers in the jeep to stop working, because I just totally needed to unplug.
Anyways, it ended up being one of the funnest weekends and I'm so grateful we made time for one last camping trip before winter and the baby come.
October is my favorite month, camping and little road trips are one of my favorite activities, Utah country is one of my top favorite destinations, and Mike is my favorite person... so it was a dream come true. My secret to executing a great trip is to over-plan with tons of options... then totally chill out and let whatever happens happen.
(Mike's finger made it into this one)
(click above photo to see rad pictographs)
We spent the first part of our trip at the Fremont Indian State Park... and we had the sweetest campground all to ourselves. We were backed down a little canyon with a small (perfect for Dozer) mountain creek that ran right past our trailer and picnic table, surrounded by tall trees with bright yellow leaves which made the campground glow all day long with Autumn! The weather had the right amount of chill, the sun was warm, and because there was no wind or breeze, when the leaves fell off the trees they would just flutter right down around us. I packed pumpkin spice bagels and pumpkin spice hot chocolate for breakfast options and felt like I was in a never-ending October paradise.
Love this guy for always setting up the trailer, making a fire, heating up water, and keeping me and Dozer alive all weekend. It's true, a proper mountain woman can do all those things... but she loves being taken care of by her man more than being a know it all.
After a couple nights at the Fremont State Indian Park we drove to the Goblin Valley State Park. Along the way we stopped and saw the mystic hot springs, big rock candy mountain, ate lunch at Cafe Daiblo, drove through a ton of small little country towns... Monroe, Joseph, Marysvale, Junction, Koosharem, Loa, Bicknell, Torrey, Fruita, Hanksville, etc. That part of Utah is fantastic, and the roads were mostly lined with Utah Sage which was in its' bright yellow phase and matched the road striping, road signs, and quackies.
Goblin Valley is always a trip to see, I had never camped there before (so many stars!), and it was Mike and Dozer's first visit... I loved seeing their reactions. Dozer barked from the window of the jeep at his first glimpse of a hoodoo.
After we wandered around the goblins and cheered Dozer every time he jumped from a small ledge or hoodoo, we slowly made our way home.
Once we had showered and were in our big comfy bed with fully charged phones and wifi, all we wanted to do was go through pictures on our phones and send them to each other - which I think is a good sign that it was a real good trip.
(me and my (3) boys at Goblin Valley, 22 weeks pregnant)
We've got to get out more, stuff like this is good for the soul!
Peace and hoodoos,
Joy
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