We started off leaving Saturday morning and did some cool, small hikes on the way. After that, we found a fire pit on BLM land to cook and eat some foil packs. David played Viking Bowling with John and I while Brooke and Aaron preferred to play with the sand and rocks.
On Sunday, we did a hike to see the Wahweap Hoodoos.
We then did a short slot canyon that went under the highway. It looked super cool, but we didn't get too far since part of it was too far of a drop and required rope which wasn't a great option for our kids.
Later, we walked across the Lake Powell bridge and then cooked hot dogs at a picnic area. At this point, we hadn't seen too many other people around except for one couple that sat at the opposite end of the picnic area.
On Monday, we stopped to look at dinosaur tracks with a kind native american man that told John all about seeing UFO's and a Sasquatch family that lives in the nearby mountains. During all of this, I was still at the start off the tracks with Aaron who was more interested in throwing the pebbles on the ground.
At the end, the kind man gave Brooke a key chain, and we headed back off on our way to the next stop which was...
The Grand Canyon!
I had never been to the Grand Canyon, and I think I got a little spoiled for my first time there.
The park was still open but the fees were waived and there was hardly anyone there! We did the Watchtower hike which only had 6 other cars in the parking lot. We made sure to keep the 6 feet apart rule and for much of it, we were the only ones around. It was honestly so peaceful, quiet, and amazing! I wish everyone could experience the Grand Canyon that way!
P.S. We found out from my sister-in-law, Christina, that they completely closed the park a few days later so I'm glad we went at the start of our trip and not the end!
After checking into the hotel in Scottsdale, we got pizza at Yo Pauly's! We got the 24 inch Hawaiian Vacation pizza which was fun for for the kids since the slices were bigger than their heads!
On Tuesday, we went to go do the 2 hour sales meeting... Ironically, it was canceled.
So... we went to the Railroad park. Once again, not many people were there and all the rides and buildings were closed (no surprise). We still enjoyed looking at all the trains and having lunch in the grass. Honestly, I think we were just happy to be out of the cold for a while!
That morning, John was thinking to himself that the only thing that would make this trip even better was if they opened up the swimming pool...
And then, that afternoon, the hotel called us to say that the pool was now open! (probably because we were one of three rooms being occupied) Bonus!
On Wednesday, we did the Camelback Mountain hike. Brooke and I went half way while John, David and Aaron in the backpack went all the way to the top!
Afterwards, we spent the rest of the day swimming and chilling at the hotel.
Thursday morning started again with the railroad park before meeting up with my brother, Taylor, and his family for lunch "quarantine style".
And by that, I mean, we sat in our cars with fast food and talked to each other through our windows.
It was Tay's brilliant idea and I'm glad he had it so we could at least see them before heading all the way back to Utah!
We did a car scavenger hunt on the way back against their family and they killed us! It didn't help that we decided to head down "middle of nowhere" roads to Lake Pleasant instead of to our hotel... But honestly, I think they would've still won anyway. :)
That night we enjoyed one more day of swimming before heading back home on Friday morning.
Overall, it was a great vacation that almost didn't happen. In all honesty, we wouldn't have gone if the company had waived the fees, but since they didn't, we ended up heading out of town. Luckily, we were able to go to places that didn't have too many people around and still used lots of soap and hand sanitizer! In the end, John said this has been his favorite family trip so far! Hopefully next time, we won't be dodging a virus everywhere we go!
Here's to one more week down of self quarantining and who knows how many more to go!
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