- This was not yet a normal day-we haven't had a regular day at home since dropping Anderson off at school. Even if we had been home, this wouldn't have been too regular of a day because it is a holiday.
- We didn't really celebrate any because Robby, Campbell, and I headed to Ouachita for Tiger Preview Day for Campbell. This was her first official college visit, and I think that she really enjoyed it even though she thought it was too early for a college visit.
- We went to the education department. Right now Campbell is thinking about Occupational Therapy which falls under education. The dean was excellent and she made teaching and all the other things sound so good.
- Campbell won the trivia game which included a bag of Ouachita swag. While she was at that meeting, we made the rounds and saw Anderson and Graham. Robby had already seen Reagan during a meeting before.
- We then went to the lunch where Graham and Reagan snuck in and ate with us. It was fine, and then we went on a campus tour. The tour was great-it so helps to have a good guide. Then we were about to leave when Campbell remembered that we hadn't stopped at the bookstore.
- She quickly found herself a shirt in te bookstore. Then we headed to Sonic for a pre-drive home drink. The drive home was quick, but I was sleepy. When we made it home, I laid down for a few minutes.
- Then Jason came over to drop off a shirt. When he left, I went to town trying to do a few things from my list. We had just sat down on the couch when the Wilsons wrote mentioning that they had cookies so we ran over there for a few minutes!
September 7, 2026
Ultimate Utah Adventure By the Numbers
Here is a rundown of some important and non-important numbers from our trip:
Days: 16
Nights: 15
Miles Driven: 3,433
Miles Biked: 28
Miles Hiked: 40.4
Longest Hiking Day: 7 miles (Capitol Reef)
Time Zones: 3
States Visited (counting Arkansas): 8
National Parks Sites Visited: 10
Tire Change: 1
Time to Change Tire: 24
Pictures Taken: 2,372
Favorites:
Star Ranger Program, Narrows Hike (Whitman)
Ebikes at Zion, Bryce Sunrise Hike (Keaton)
Bryce Sunrise Hike, Rustler's Restaurant (Campbell)
Bryce Sunrise Hike, Zion Narrows, Hot Chocolate at Rustler's Restaurant (Tara)
Narrows Hike, Ebikes at Zion, Bryce Sunrise Hike (Robby)
September 6, 2026-Ultimate Utah Adventure Day 16
We woke to our alarms at 6 this morning. I don't like hearing alarms ringing in the morning. Robby stirred first, while I tried to decide if I could just lay in the back while he drove us on towards home. I didn't do that though and instead got ready and took the dogs out.
We then started on our way. The day went incredibly smoothly. Actually, all of our travel days have gone smoothly. We never once said anything to each other about tires this whole trip because we did not want to jinx anything. Robby's tire pressure monitoring system never went off, and I wanted to ask him the whole time if he had just turned it off (I could see that it was on!)
Even though we had no tire problems at all this trip, we still changed a tire today. Robby had to stop to potty at a rest stop when we were already in Arkansas (we had stopped before too). When he was walking to the camper, he noticed that the trailer tire was a little bare and was showing some of the cords. We pressed on though towards home.
After a while though, he said that maybe he would change the tire to be on the safe side. Changing a tire in a gas station parking lot under a tree is a lot easier than changing it on the side of the interstate. He took a exit in a few miles, and I started the timer (I didn't tell him about my timer.)
I got the jack, and Robby had to remember how to put the jack together which seemed to take the longest of all the parts. Then he unscrewed the thing a ma bobs and picked a tire from the trunk (yes, we carry two spare tires for the trailer.) In no time, he had the new tire on, and I put the jack up while he aired up the tire. We were back on the interstate within 24 minutes which I think is pretty impressive.
Soon we were rolling onto Jacqueline. We had the kids help unload the camper, and with their help we were finished with in an hour for sure. They did a lot of bringing it in the house so when I came in, I had a lot of things to put up. That was fine though because I just steadily worked on that all afternoon.
I am also steadily working on the laundry! Usually, we use both washing machines, but the second one is up the stairs so I'm not sure it is really worth all of that! It will all get done when it gets done! Campbell headed out to play volleyball and to Sonic tonight while Robby and I went to the Wilson's house for supper. Keaton and Whitman stayed here and vegged out for a bit.
I will try to do a trip by the numbers post tomorrow. However, I will tell you now that we hiked almost 40.5 miles on our little trip!
September 5, 2026-Ultimate Utah Adventure Day 15
Robby went to the bathroom around 2 this morning. I woke up and thought about going to the bathroom too. I knew that if I didn't go then, I would wake up another time during the night. I did wake up to go to the bathroom, but it was at 6! Ugh, that was the worst time ever since we were going to get out of bed at 6:30. Of course, me going to the bathroom woke up Robby and Marley so no one got anymore sleep this morning.
It is always surprising when you can sleep so well in a gas station parking lot. We had about a 10 minute drive until we would need the kids to be up for a visitor's center. Robby knew exactly what to do-he ran in the gas station before leaving and came out with drinks for everyone.
This definitely helped make our morning a little easier and happier. We were soon pulling into the Petrified Forest National Park. I'm sure that I knew that the Petrified Forest was a national park since I have been there before, but I sure did forget it. We have been to 7 of the 63 national parks on this trip. We have been to over 11 percent of the National Parks on this trip which isn't too bad at all. (Plus we also stopped at a few other National Park sites including Colorado National Monument which is still super high on my list.)
We stopped at a few places on the drive through the Petrified Forest. All I could think about when we were there was the Brady Bunch when they took a shell (or something) from Hawaii and had bad luck until they sent it back. I was careful to make sure that no one took any petrified wood home!
After the forest, we didn't really stop much again until this evening. The roads were horrible-they were crazy bumpy or the wind was again bad. Plus since we have been on 40 there have been plenty of trucks for Robby to deal with. I can tell that today's drive hasn't been as bumpy as yesterday because the yogurt lid only came over twice today.
We have stopped at a few times to get gas, once for Robby to potty, and once to adjust the generator (the altitude can mess with it.) Our big stop tonight we were afraid that we might not be able to do it. You can't drive through Amarillo without stopping at the Big Texan. (I probably can next time though.)
I jumped out and put our name on the list. They said that it would be an hour, and since Robby couldn't find a parking spot we went to get gas. While we were getting gas, we got the text saying it was ready. We hurried back to the restaurant and still no parking spots.
I went in with the kids, and Robby stayed in the camper looking for a spot. It took us about 10 minutes to get to our table, and then within 10 more minutes Robby had arrived. Thankfully, he didn't have to wait too long for a spot to clear.
We were right near a man trying to finish his 72 ounce steak so that gave us plenty to watch. Plus the guitar man came around and snd to us. Campbell loved that part (kidding, she really did not love that part at all.)
Robby read on the blog that we had chicken fingers last time, and we weren't impressed. This time I ordered him a burger and me cheese dip. I was going to just share his burger, but I will not pay 5 dollars for an extra plate-so I ordered 12 dollar cheese dip instead. That math works, don't worry.
After eating, we took some pictures and looked through the gift shop. Then we hurried back to the camper so we could hit the road! We still have about 2 hours to drive tonight. I had Whitman bring me my computer so I could get a head start on the blog!
September 4, 2026-Ultimate Utah Adventure Day 14
I think that I wrote last night that we were leaving Zion a day early because we had seen all there was to see and had done all there was to do. We still don't plan on getting home any earlier, but this will give us a little bit of breathing room when we do get home.
Coming home from trips early isn't new to us. 26 plus years ago I walked out of the bathroom on our honeymoon, and Robby was trying to book an earlier flight home for us. Then we had done all there was to do, just like we did in Zion.
However, since we got an early start on the drive home, there are a few side trips that we took today. Our first stop this morning was at the North Rim at the Grand Canyon. The kids were pretty confused when we woke them this morning saying that we were at the Grand Canyon.
There isn't a whole lot happening at the North Rim since their lodge burned a year ago. We walked around the sad lodge area remembering when we were last there. We stayed in the lodge, and it was Reagan's birthday possibly in 2013. Our cabin was so close to the rim of the Grand Canyon that Robby put set of drawers in front of the door just in case. We had never had anyone get out of bed and sleepwalk or wander in the middle of the night, but we were close enough to the edge that it did kind of bother us.
Most of those cabins are gone now plus the lodge with it's beautiful back porch overlooking the canyon is gone. Because the blocked off lodge set where the view was best, we had to park in that parking lot and unhook the car. Then we had to drive about 15 miles to really get a good look at the canyon.
We then stopped at a very small camper store at the Grand Canyon campground. I needed a sticker for this camper, a post card, and a pin (that's a new collection for my bulletin board by my bed in the camper because I got tired of looking at what I had on there this trip.) Anyway, the only 2 choices of postcards they had were of the burnt down lodge. Seriously, I had to buy a 5 dollar postcard book so I could send one postcard.
We had a great view of the Grand Canyon on our drive and even on the way back to the main road. However, we have seen so many beautiful things on this trip, that the Grand Canyon is really not that impressive. There, I said it. It is grand, and it is beautiful, but wow, there is just beautiful scenery everywhere. Bryce and Capitol Reef are my current favorite National Parks but Zion is at least third on the list. Maybe the Petrified Forest will move up closer to the top tomorrow (It won't!)
Our next stop was a Navajo Bridge which was part of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. We walked across it, but it was warm so we didn't stay too long. The kids have grown up traveling plus now they have every modern convenience with them-phones, ipads, gaming systems, tvs along with a full kitchen and bathroom. We rarely here anything from them.
However, today, I did hear a crash in the back. I turned to see Campbell standing by the fridge. She asked if I could help, so I jumped up and headed back there. I was expecting things to be splattered everywhere, but things had just fallen to the floor and not spilled. This was a miracle, because the roads today were either curving going up or down a mountain or incredibly bumpy. Nothing is where it started in this camper. For example, there is a container of yogurt in the fridge, that I have put the lid on 3 different times today because it keeps bouncing off.
We have always heard of Horseshoe Bend but have never stopped there. Today we changed that and took the long cut to get there. There were a lot of people walking the trail down the see the river. It was a completely different experience to something very similar at Dead Horse Point State Park. However, Horseshoe Bend was prettier, and we could have enjoyed it more without all of the people and without all of the heat.
Then we were back on the road until we got to Winslow, Arizona. We also don't think that we had ever stood on the corner there like the song says. I looked on the blog, and we have stopped in Winslow and done some grocery shopping, but I didn't mention the corner. Tonight we fixed that too by taking a few pictures on the corner of that famous spot on Route 66.
Then it was a quick run into McDonalds as we drove our last 30 or so minutes. Robby had two spots picked to spend the night. This first one didn't really have any parking for us plus a sign said "no parking" where we wanted to park. We drove on to the next spot, and they had the perfect spot to park, but that sign said "no overnight parking." Robby went in and asked and was given the green light so we are all bedded down in a gas station parking lot.
Tomorrow we have to drive quite a few miles so we will be getting an early stop because we have a few stops too.
September 3, 2026-Ultimate Utah Adventure Day 13
We woke up super early today because this was Zion all day long! It was the best day so far on the trip. We have had a few wonderful days, but this day has topped them all.
Robby splurged and not only rented boots, socks, and walking sticks for our hike today, he also rented electric bikes for the rest of the day. This way didn't have to ride the shuttle at all. They were all lined up for the shuttle when we passed them in the car to pick up our bikes.
The bike shop people were super friendly and helpful. They told us about the bikes and gave us directions on how to get into the park. Keaton and Campbell took off on their bikes, but it took Whitman a second to figure it out. Those bikes were heavy, and I struggled too getting started each time. After a bit Whitman figured it out, but I was always in the back of the pack. I didn't feel super confident going super fast like everyone else. At times Keaton would circle around to check on me!
From the bike shop, we biked about a mile and a half to the park entrance. Then we had to bike 9 miles through Zion Canyon. We had get to stop 9, and thankfully stops 1-3 were on a bike path. Then we did have to get on the main road. Thankfully, only buses could go on that road, and when they came on our side, we had to stop and get off the bikes for them to pass. We were able to make it all the way to the end of the road with only 1 bus passing us so that was a relief.
We were already wearing our neoprene socks and water boots. These were weird, but they were necessary for the hike. The guys said that the socks regulated our body temperature which was absolutely necessary because it was cold riding our bikes. We all even started our hike with jackets on, and I kept mine on but rolled up some most of the hike.
The boots were necessary because they helped you not slip on the rocks plus they gave you ankle support. And the sticks were essential because without them you couldn't feel the rocks or the water depth in front of you.
Once we parked our bikes, took us a bit to get situated. Robby had a water proof bag with charges, waters, and snacks for us. Then we had to walk a mile down a paved trail to get to where the narrows trail started. I had been freezing on the bike ride since it was before 8, but by the time that we had walked down the trail, we were starting to warm up even though the sun was never shining on us until we walked back, but then it was just on us some because of the deep canyon we were in.
Our first steps into the water were not as icy as I had expected, but it didn't take long for water to get to our toes. I guess the socks did their jobs because our feet were never really cold. We walked and walked over rocks and through the water. There were some spots where it was sandy which was easier to walk through the water in, but for the most part, we were stepping over rocks. There were some times that we were able to walk over dry land, but of course this was just rocks that we were walking over.
There were a lot of people on the way down the Narrows, but it wasn't horrible but walking back was a different story. There were people everywhere-barefoot people, crying kids, old people, babies in backpacks-we reminded the kids to always come early and come prepared.
We stopped once for snacks, and then we pressed on trying to make it to Wall Street. This is the section of the canyon where the walls narrow to about 30 feet they said. We thought that some areas were less than this. We have been in the narrow section of Canyonlands, but the canyon walls were not so, so tall. These walls were so high and so impressive! According to our watches, phones, and apps, we hiked past Orderville Canyon, through Wall Street and as far as the Elephant Temple before turning around.)
Really words can't describe how neat the hike was. It was beautiful. Now, on the way back, the water seemed higher and again I was way behind everyone else. It was more challenging going back because we had to navigate around all of the people, but I was pretty happy to see where we could get out of the water.
Of course this meant that we had to walk a mile back to the bikes. Robby pretty much sprinted the mile because he needed a stop at the restroom. Keaton and Campbell walked as fast as they could because they didn't want anyone to pass them. Whitman, who had felt pretty sickly yesterday, must have felt so much better today. He did great, and we enjoyed our leisurely walk back to the bikes. Of course, our boots were already heavy, but now they are water logged plus the socks are as well, so it was a tough mile hike.
Back at the bikes, we split up. The kids rode the 9 or so miles back to the camper while Robby and I rode to a short hike, Weeping Rock. It was basically a cliff that had water dripping off of it. It was neat, but I almost died walking up the incline even though it was just a quarter of a mile long.
It was worth it because our next stop was at the Zion Lodge. We had a picnic with the kids on the front lawn last time we were here, but this time Robby and I ate in the restaurant. We split a burger, and I was probably starving, but I have never had anything so good.
The kids were back at the camper taking the dogs out, eating their own lunches, and resting. We rode back to them-even with electric bikes, it still took about 25 minutes for us to ride the 5 miles back to the kids. We then stayed in the camper for 45 minutes. I tried to not sit down because I knew that I would have a hard time getting up because we were already tired.
We all left and went back up to stop 6 where we could at least look at the Angel's Landing Trail. I had originally wanted to walk some of that trail, but I did wise up, We then rode our bikes to the next stop and walked the Lower Emerald Pools trail. It was another rock with water dripping off of it, but it wasn't so steep so it was enjoyed much more.
By now, we had realized that we had done all there was to do today in Zion, so we have changed our plans and will head home tomorrow. We still may get home on Sunday, but we really didn't know what we would do tomorrow in Zion. The only other trail on my list was the Watchman but it is closed due to the flooding that happened here the other day. We might could take it easy tomorrow, but you know that isn't our style.
We took the kids to the Lodge for a few minutes, and then we zoomed on back to return our bikes. We had them out for almost 12 hours, and we put some miles on those babies. Then we all went to the visitor's center where we turned in our Jr. Ranger booklet. We had some postcards, stickers, and even a pin to buy. I know I have mentioned it before, but I just love gift shops even though I don't really buy anything.
The next stop was back to the camper to pick up the dogs and our boots, socks, and sticks to return. We mailed my postcards, returned the shoes, took a picture at the sign, and picked up Subway before coming back to the camper.
At the camper we all ate on the picnic table-Campbell wasn't going to eat at the table until we found a tablecloth. The other day at another campground when Marley needed a bath due to a potty accident, we washed her on the table, and I told the kids to always make sure you use a table cloth at a campground. I'm glad she was listening.
We ate in the shadow of the Watchman and soaked in the scenery. Then we went to work-Keaton helped me inside, Whitman helped Robby outside, and Campbell managed the dogs. It took about 30 minutes, but the camper is pretty much clean(er) and organized again.
The kids started showering and working on a little bit of school while I worked on this blog. I'm pretty tired so I apologize where it doesn't make sense. Also, this is too much information, but did you know that after riding a bike all day long, your rear end can feel pretty bruised! Truth.
September 2, 2026-Ultimate Utah Adventure Day 12
Even though we were sleeping in this morning, Robby and I both woke up at 7. We did lay in bed for a little bit before getting up. It didn't take for us to pack up and leave Bryce Canyon.
Since we are in the camper, we have to take the long way to Zion. The long way, however, was much more fun to Keaton. Our first stop was in Cedar City at a Swig. Swig sells dirty sodas, and even though there is one in Conway. we have never been. Since they are based out of Utah, we had to stop.
We all got a drink plus Robby bought some cookies and pretzel bites. Not only did we stop once at Swig, at the next city that had one we stopped there as well. We had to mail off a care package to OBU so we were already stopping in that town. This time Campbell and Whitman didn't get anything, but the rest of us did plus Robby bought parmesan garlic pretzel bites with marinara. They were delicious.
We ran into Walmart and picked up a few things while we were in the Swig parking lot. We should have taken better stock though of what we needed. I'll get to that in a minute though. We did buy some more waters, cokes, gatorades, and a few snacks.
From that town, it was just a bit of a drive to Zion. Robby did comment that since we have seen so much beauty on this trip, maybe that makes a bit less impressed with this gorgeous park. It is a park that Robby has always wanted to come back to visit for a few days, and for a bit this afternoon I was beginning to think that we weren't even going to make it a night here.
We are staying at the National Park campground which is right next to the visitor's center. When we checked in, the man told Robby that there was some mud on the site, and there's nothing he can do about it. Zion had some extreme flooding here a few days ago. We are right next to the river so we aren't sure if the mud came from the river or from the mountain beside us.
About 10 sites have mud on them-not just some, but mud covering the site. We are probably parked on a few inches of mud. Thankfully, our mud is dry-at other sites the mud is not dry, and we would have worried about getting stuck. We were relieved that we were in the site we were in because the mud was manageable, but things continued to decline.
We had said that tonight we were going to have rice bowls for supper. Well, we could have had rice bowls, but we sure could not find the chicken. I guess that I didn't load it in the camper or possibly it is sitting in the garage. Then we shifted to pancakes and sausage for supper.
That was fine except I also forgot chocolate chips. We all like chocolate chips on our pancakes, but since we have syrup, everyone agreed that was fine. Robby fired up the griddle and was done cooking the sausage when he blew a breaker.
We do that often enough, so he went to the plug on our campsite, but he couldn't get it to reset. Of course, the first thought is that it is the camper and not the plus. However, he was able to try the empty neighbor's site to double check that it was the campsite plug. He then went to the check in gate and found a not so friendly ranger.
She eventually came and was able to fix it. I guess she had to flip a switch somewhere else for it to work again, but it did and all was well. So after mud, no chicken or chocolate, a blown breaker, and a rude ranger, our day could only go up.
And it did! We have a fun day now booked for tomorrow-more on that tomorrow. But Robby is at the point in the trip, that he is willing to spend all the money to make the fun memories. We ate our chocolate chip less pancakes and then went into town.
We tried on shoes for tomorrow's hike, and then we drove back to Zion and through the tunnel. Right after the tunnel, we parked and hiked up Canyon Overlook. It was a fun hike-though I'm not sure why people think that it is ok to have trails on the side of mountains. We made it to the top just in time to see the sun set behind the mountains.
Campbell is all better now I think. I have had a few days when I felt back, but now I feel fine but just have a never ending cough, and my lungs where on fire during tonight's hike. Whitman now also has our cold, so I'm just hoping that we can get home before Robby gets it or maybe he will have built up immunity to it.
We hiked down the trail and back to the car. Then we headed back to our campsite and got the dogs. We walked down to the amphitheater for a ranger program. It was excellent! The ranger talked about the stars for 45 minutes and even shined her laser pointer at stars. We can clearly see the Milky Way because the stars are amazing.
We then walked back to the camper and tried our best to pack our bags for tomorrow. It is hard because we really don't know what all we will need on our day of exploring.
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