It was Thursday night and we'd have to leave early the next morning to (hopefully) find a camping spot. I told the group we should leave at 4 am since it's only a 3 hour drive but they said no . . . this will play into the story later ;). so anyway, we had SO much to prepare for. we were going to go to BWW that night but instead we went to the Mauldins and packed up all the camping stuff we always borrow . . . camping chairs, pots and pans and utensils, mats to go under our sleeping bags, a cooler for water, etc.
we prepared food for the weekend including tuna for sandwiches, snacks for hikes, organizing beef and chicken wings, organizing all the condiments, etc. . . we figured out who was going to be driving, who was going to pick up the ice, what the plan was... and then tyler texted us asking if we needed anything for camping since he was taking care of the chickens and i said yes, a COOLER! and he had one! he also let us borrow his dutch oven (which is terrible to clean by the way. thanks, Jake and Amanda hahaha).
IT WAS FINALLY THE MORNING! our first alarm went off at like 5:15 because we had to pack up the truck and still do a ton of stuff in the morning. jake wanted to take a shower, and usually we're pretty lazy in the mornings so.. we have to set our alarms early! when we finally got everything together, it was SNOWING IN PROVO, and we were headed south about 8:30 am... SO LATE. if you want to go to zions and get a camping spot, you need to get there AT 7 AM!!! no later. seriously.
it was a fun car ride. we listened to the rest of the first harry potter book and fortunately Cameron loves that so Jackie and I got to sleep while we knew the boys were awake.
Jake and I went on a bike ride when we first got to Zion... and it was basically all uphill. my bike was being dumb and I also didn't know how to shift correctly I'm guessing, so we turned around a couple miles in and we didn't even have to pedal because the hill made us go so fast. it was super fun. i was grumpy and then got un-grumpy because of the downhill ride. hahaha.
AFTER the bike ride... we went to angels landing. and jackie and i were freaking out. and i was probably freaking out the most because i don't do heights.. roller coasters.. rock climbing.. nada. so we started up and the first part isn't that bad. and then you get to the switchbacks. and I was all I NEED A BREAK and Jake was like YOU'RE DOING GREAT, KEEP GOING. and I was all NO WE NEED TO STOP I THINK I'M DYING. and then eventually you make it through the switchbacks somehow and you get to scout's point or lookout or something. and it's a cool view. and you think you've made it to the top. and then you see that there's half a mile left to the top, and that's where the chains are they everyone's been talking about.
i told Jake, "umm. I don't think I can do this." hahaha. and he said that was fine and we didn't have to. and I said, "no we're doing it." and then we did. and it wasn't that bad, if you don't look on either side of you..... when we got to the top we found cameron and jackie who BOOKED it up there. we told them IT'S ABOUT THE JOURNEY NOT ABOUT THE DESTINATION and then we ate snacks and made our way back down. the way back down on the chains is probably worse but it's fine.
now we can say we did it and WE NEVER HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN! YAY YAY YAY.
after that, we were all worn out and we went to La Verkin Overlook to camp out. we got one of the lower spots hoping it wouldn't be too windy and it wasn't too bad. we set up camp, ate wings, tilapia, grilled sweet peppers with barbecue sauce, and HOT DOGS!! it was a feast. and then Jackie and I made peach cobbler in the dutch oven for dessert and it was heaaaavennnlyyyyyy. seriously, so good.
the next morning it was slow going. we made a bunch of eggs and then played like 7 games of mexican trains! and then packed up and started the drive home. we stopped at another part of Zions though a little further south where there's a nice scenic drive and did a short mile hike. it was a pretty cool one, actually, and a lot of cool families were up there. it was a nice little ending to the trip.
when we got home, we got in the shower and we smelled SO BAD. oh my gosh it was almost unbearable honestly. hahahaha. we were scrubbing our bodies with soap so fast because we. smelled. so. so. so. bad. and then i conditioned my hair about 4-5 times because i hadn't brushed or showered in days...
well worth it. we're glad Jackie and Cameron invited us!
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