This is the beginning of the trip - on the car ride there. The driving was great. The boys did fantastic, so much better than when they were little. We had fun on our little road trip!
Here, Grandpa is just finishing up the packing before we head down to the river. We had an awful lot of gear to put in those little canoes to paddle down the river!
This is the Hoover Dam. It is almost finished. The pictures do not do justice. It was stunning.
Here we go! So little bit of info on our first day. At the beginning, this is where they are letting out water from Lake Mead so the current clipped along at a decent pace. I missed the first stop, tried to turn the canoe around and paddle up stream with our very heavy, gear filled, canoe. When you are giving it your all and not moving an inch, you have to know when to quit. The boys and I tried to stay along the banks and wait for everyone to go in the very cool sauna caves, which we missed, but again, the current was a little too swift to stay still. I had no idea where I was going but went along anyway. A little further down the river, I spotted our group, so I did get to make that spot, thankfully, the hike was gorgeous!!
Cutest kids ever (minus one, little Addie had to stay home, so she had a daddy/daughter weekend).
The water was thermal hot springs and wonderfully warm, much better than the ice cold river!
The fam. This was the very beginning of our hike before we were scraped, battered and bruised :)
The kids were in one of the many "hot tubs" With this water, you should not put your head under water. The bugs in the water can get in through your eyes, ears, nose or mouth and kill you, so yes of course we swam in them, nothin' to worry about, just keep your head above water
This is why you should keep your head above water. It was very pretty and very disgusting!
Ahhh - so warm and relaxing
The group we went with call my dad "The Elevator" This is why. He would go up the scarry rocks first, and then lift everyone else up. It is much easier with the kids than us adults. Grandma Kathy is working her way up in this one. It was actually a very slick rock and I had a heck of a time getting up it, but since I am taking the pictures I can say, I jumped right up, I don't know why Grandma couldn't (just kidding Kathy :))
After we were all done with this hike, we got back in the canoes and headed for camp. By this time in the day, we had a pretty nasty head wind and still had 3 miles of paddling. It does not sound very far, but with a wind wanting to push you backwards and very large waves, it made me a little nervous, and for good reason, Grandpa sank. I was going along and looked behind me to check on my dad and I could see Chloe and Jasmine, but no Grandpa, hmmm, strange, so I kept watching and noticed, their boat was getting lower and lower in the water. At first I thought, geeze those waves are getting big, then I thought no - THEY ARE SINKING!!! I yelled at Kathy and Olivia ahead of me because they were in the kayak to they could manuver a little easier up stream. I tried to trun around, but remember, he sunk, big waves, strong current, I missed the first stop and could not get anywhere and was afraid I was going to tip the canoe. So instead I turned back around, and paddled like crazy praying I would find our group. Again alone with my boys, hoping for the best and not having a clue where we were going. I did know our camp was about 4 miles down stream and they did have mile markers, although a couple were missing. With every canoe off to the side, I would paddle accross the windy river and see if I recognized anyone. Finally I saw mile marker 60 and figured I have gotta be close and sure enough, just around the bend I found our group. I pull up and yell "MY DAD SUNK!!" about a mile up river. The rescue squad grabbed empty canoes and went up stream. A few minutes later here they all come, smiles and all. He was able to bail out all of the water and carry on his way. So in the end, everyone arrived perfectly safe, although I was a nervous wreck!
This was another hike we did. This canyon was very beautiful!!
The kids taking a break. We actually never finished the hike because little Ty got too tired and made everyone quit. What a turkey
Cute Grandpa
This next picture was the kids all weekend long. They had so much fun climbing up all of the rock. I was a little nervous at first but they did great. Only a couple little falls and scrapes
Now notice how dirty the kids are. It makes for a cute picture but they were filthy. In fact so dirty, if you touched them, a cloud of dust would rise, like pig pen from Charlie Brown. When they would walk across camp and the wind blew, another cloud of dust
So I make them wash it all off before they could have dinner or get in a tent, let alone a sleeping bag for crying out loud.
Then the next morning, we woke up to a beautifully windless morning and packed up, paddled eight miles down stream and went home.
It was a great trip. Now I have a lot of laundry to do :(
