Cedar City Day 2

Cedar Breaks was beautiful!

We got up early this morning and had eggs and bacon with fresh peaches. Then we made the short drive to Cedar Breaks National Monument. None of us had ever been there, so we were excited to check it out. We drove straight to a hike called Alpine Pond, mostly because we thought we might see a few animals. We did see a marmot, a squirrel, and a chipmunk, but there wasn't much else. Still, the hike was nice through the thick trees along the rim of the canyon, though we needed jackets at that elevation.

Mom and Seth are buddy hikers (in the back).

The trail was beautiful.  

The boys really wanted to see a salamander in the pond. 

The pond was pretty small, but still picturesque.

I wonder what Mark is pondering. 

This is the marmot we saw.

After checking a few viewpoints, we took a second hike called Sunset Trail. The boys and Mom walked all the way to the Visitor Center, but Dad went halfway and then headed back for the car. We picked up our Junior Ranger badges and then had lunch in the parking lot.

It was cold and windy!  

Cedar Breaks is pretty high up! 

We loved the views in Cedar Breaks! 

We usually wear Seth out on our adventures.  

One of the reasons Mom loves hiking in the back is because she loves seeing her boys have fun together.  

Mom LOVED the beautiful wildflowers along the trail. 

A family pic by the big Cedar Breaks overlook.

There were a lot of things we wanted to check out in the Duck Creek area of Highway 14. The first were a few small lakes. We walked over to Aspen Mirror Pond, and the boys did some exploring. The managed to spy a small snake and a few leopard frogs in the shallows. Dax wished we were fishing, but we hadn't brought the poles. The second lake was called Duck Creek, and we walked along the shore and watched the ducks and geese dabbling in the shallow water.

Can you see the snake on the rock?

The boys would spend all day exploring around these little ponds.

There was a little deep pool that had a beautiful color.

After a short stop at the Visitor Center for Duck Creek, we drove down a bumpy road to an ice cave. It was like a massive freezer, and it was very cold inside, though there was no ice that we could see. We used the flashlights a little, but since it was one big cavern, we didn't really need the light.

The Ice Cave didn't have any ice, but it was cold!

Mom and Dad got one picture together this day!

Next we drove down to a third hike called Cascade Falls. This one ran along the edge of the canyon, and it had gotten much hotter. We didn't have any shade, and the hike had a lot of up and down. But the boys were great running from ponderosa to ponderosa sniffing the bark. They pushed each other along until we reached the tiny waterfall. They were all smiles on the way back, too. It really made the hike nice.

The waterfall was small, but cool since it came out of a crack in the rock.  

They climbed up to check out a drip. Then they let it drip on their heads!

We had one more stop in the area, and that was another cave called Bower Cave. It is very near Mammoth Cave, which we explored last summer. Bower required a climb down a crooked ladder, but that just added to the adventure. We were surprised how big the caverns were. We walked along underground in two different directions totaling nearly a thousand feet. We definitely needed the flashlights for Bower Cave. It was very muddy, too. We tried to light the floor so we could avoid puddles, but we climbed out pretty dirty.

Going down the ladder made this cave super fun! 

We had a great time exploring Bower Cave.  

We had to pick some serious mud out of our shoes. 

There was a new restaurant that we wanted to try in Cedar City, so we drove back and arrived around five o'clock. The diner was amazing and we enjoyed the good burgers, thick gravy, and all-day breakfast. It was such a nice day with so many unexpected adventures!

Cedar City Day 1

We enjoy watching Mark play baseball!

Mark had a baseball tournament over Friday and Saturday in Cedar City. This meant coming home a day early from Maple Dell, but Mark stilled earned 5 merit badges. It also meant that Mom scheduled a mini-vacation so that Dad wouldn't be mad about a baseball weekend.

Mark's team won the first two games on Friday but lost the second two on Saturday to close out the season. Mark had several hits and made a great play in the outfield. He was error-free (as usual) all weekend. We all had a great time watching!

After the games, we spent the rest of Saturday vacationing. Our first stop was one of those city ponds in Cedar City called Lake at the Hills. The boys splashed around in the water with Dad while Mom took pictures from the safety of the shore. It was a great way to cool off after those hot games.

The boys love when Dad throws them into the water.

Swimming makes every day better for the boys. 

All those smiles made Mom happy!

The Lake at the Hills proved to be a great adventure.

Since we are staying in an apartment with three bedrooms and a kitchen, we headed back so Mom could make us tacos. We've been having some trouble with the sink leaking, which has been annoying, but it is nice to cook rather than eat out.

The end of our day was a trip out west to a place called Iron Town. There are some old ruins of an iron mine that you can explore. The highlight was a huge beehive oven that was used to smelt the iron, but there were some other things to see, too. We did a short hike and Seth declared the day "Sunset Day" because it was so beautiful. He said we have to celebrate it by drawing a picture of the beautiful sunset every year.

We saw a beautiful Golden Eagle on the way out to Old Iron Town.

The Beehive Oven was cool, especially because you could walk inside.

There is a window cut into the back of the oven. 

There were other ruins like this old home.

We all liked the chimney. 

The boys thought this chunk of iron was amazing.  

There are two bunnies in this picture. A cottontail and a Jack Rabbit. Can you find them?

Here is the beautiful sunset that Seth wants to remember always.

Glacier Day 8

We stayed in a hot cabin with hard beds at Lewis and Clark State Park in Montana. It was a pretty little park, but the mosquitoes were bad, and we got in late and left early. 

The real reason we stayed was for the cave tour. They have a nice cavern with one of the longest tours we’ve ever taken at over two hours. We were worried that Seth would struggle with his ankle, but he did great and it has healed quickly. There was a steep three-quarter mile hike to the mouth of the cave and it was hot with no shade. Luckily, we had the 9 o’clock tour, so at least it was a little cooler.

The cave tour was far more adventurous than any we’ve done. There was ducking, squeezing, and even one place to sit and slide on your behind. The cave had a lot of formations, but most of it seemed dead and a lot of things were broken away. Still, the trip through was as interesting as any cave tour we’ve done.

After the boys turned in their Junior Ranger booklets we hit the road. It was over six hours back home, and we only made stops for dinner and bathrooms. Still, it was eight o’clock by the time we rolled up to the house. The temperature inside was a balmy 86 degrees. But somehow we managed to sleep. 

One of the best parts of the cave was the bats. They were easy to see right by the entrance.

Dad loves exploring caves. 

This cave was fun because we had to squeeze and even slide in some areas. 

This picture turned out funny. Mark looks super tall!

The boys were good sports on our last day of a long trip! 

The last room had some cool lighting.  

Mark makes a tough outlaw. 

Dax would have been a great cowboy!

Glacier Day 7

Waterton is set up right in the National Park, so we saw lots of deer.

We woke up sad to have left our Canadian friends, but ready to be on our way home. It had been a wonderful vacation, but we’d begun to grow road-weary. Worst of all, Seth must have injured himself at the playground the night before, because he was limping and when we checked his ankle, it was visibly swollen. He never complained or told us what happened, but it was clearly injured, so we were glad to spend most of the day sitting rather than hiking.

After breakfast of bacon and eggs, we drove down to a small waterfall called Cameron Falls, which is right in the town of Waterton. It is one of the few things left to see in the park. We took a few short scenic drives as we left the park, too. We managed to spot a black bear and a few deer, but there wasn’t much else to see. Then we started the long road home.

Cameron Falls is right in town.

The hotel is called the Prince of Wales, and it is a beautiful sight up on the hill. 

Mom takes pictures of all the beautiful wildflower fields.  

The bear stayed mostly in the trees, but we saw him stand up at one point.

The boys were really good in the car as we crossed the border and continued south. Occasionally we’d see deer or pronghorn, but mostly we saw rolling hills and narrow highways. We wanted to get six of the twelve hours of driving out of the way, and we did manage that. The highlight was stopping for a picnic at a rest stop just after one o’clock.

Crossing the border was an adventure. 

We found a nice shady place for a picnic.

The end of our drive took us to Lewis and Clark Caverns in Montana. We checked into a rustic cabin with shared bathrooms and only one room, but the boys were excited for bunkbeds. We checked in and then headed back up the road to Three Forks for dinner. We found a great little café with excellent food, and the boys ate really well. Then we drove twenty miles back to the cabin. It was getting late, but we let them work on the Junior Ranger program before putting them to bed. Seth seemed to be doing better on his ankle, too. 

We are excited to stay in this little cabin. 

Dax had to see how fast he could run for one of the Junior Ranger pages.

It wouldn't be camping without pinecone baseball.