Zion

By Bronwyn

All of the driving the last couple of days was well-rewarded with a day at Zion National Park.  The girls have so much to say about it and I don’t want to steal their stories, so I’ll let them add their thoughts tomorrow.  Everyone crashed early tonight after walking over 7 miles in temps over 100 degrees.  What a day!

 

150 feet underground…

By Addie

Today we drove for 5 hours through Eastern Nevada (middle of nothing).  We finally made it to Great Basin National Park and headed to the visitor’s center for a tour.  We weren’t just doing a tour of the park, we were headed into a cave!  The cave was discovered by Absalom Lehman over a hundred years ago.  Even though it was 100 degrees outside, the cave was 50 degrees inside.  We were led by an amazing ranger named Hannah.  She lead us through many different “rooms” while teaching us about the cave.  We learned about the formations including stalagmites, stalactites, and even other cave formations known as cave bacon and popcorn!  It was an amazing experience that I will never forget.

The Road Less Traveled

By Emily

Today has been a day of driving in the middle of nowhere. Every single road has been straight, with not a car in sight. At one point we drove about a hundred miles without a sign of civilization. The single lane roads have had a speed limit of 70, just because there is literally nothing around! We saw about 400 cows and probably 10 people. There were miles and miles of just grass, and cows, and more grass. It is a huge victory when we find a little town, even if the population is like 50 people. (See photo below to see where we gassed up the car today) It has been a great trip so far, with many new adventures!

Day One Highlights

Nearly 600 miles traveled today.  Only 1 lost pen in the seat, a handful of snacks on the car floor, and one crabby moment at a rest stop in 100 degree heat.  I call that a big win.  Chris drove most of the time today with me jumping in for a mere 100 miles.  The kids were completely entertained with movies, writing in their travel journals, games, and trying to find a license plate from every state.  One of the highlights was our lunch in Pendleton, Oregon.  We pulled off the freeway into Hal’s Hamburgers.  Yelp told us it was a decent place to stop and we were all happy with the old fashioned burgers, fries, and milkshakes.  From there, it was a straight shot into Twin Falls and everyone has crashed.  Me too!  Good night!

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