This morning we awoke at 4:30am in order to be
on the road by 5am. The kids were hard to wake up, Especially Andrew who likes
his bed. We made it out by 5:30am.
On the way the way up Spanish Fork Canyon, we
encountered a deer in the middle of the road. Todd had to break fast to avoid
hitting it. Everyone who had dozed off in the car was suddenly awakened by the
jolting stop.
We also encountered thick fog in Wellington and
then again as we approached Green River. In the thick areas our visibility was
30 ft. - 50 ft.
The 3.5 hour car ride was pretty quiet.
The older kids just slept the entire time.
When we arrived near the state park we visited
Temple Mountain Campground. It is BLM land, with one pit toilet available and a
few picnic table grouped near the bathroom. There was no running water.
In spite of the limited amenities, the area was
full of RVs and a few tents.
It had been raining all week so the ground was
damp and the humidity high. A blanket of dew covered everything.
We opted to drive into Goblin Valley State Park.
They have a limited number of walk in sites. The ranger informed us that we had
to wait until 10 am to request a site. Since it was nearly 9:30 am, Carson and
Todd drove into the park to check out sites while Claudia and I stayed at the
visitor center to wait for the sites.
We were fortunate enough to receive an RV site
to share with the Whitney's.
After unhooking the trailer at our site, we
drove to the Goblin Valley parking lot to view the sites.
On our way there Andrew threw up in the car.
Todd and I left the older kids with Claudia and Jordan so we could take care of
Andrew.
Our tent and trailer were still packed up so we
had to scramble to find a change of clothes and soap to wash him and his soiled
shirt and pants.
The weather was cold. The high temperature for
the day 65F. We hurried to get Andrew dressed. His breathing labored from
congestion and asthma on top of everything else.
Andrew's upset stomach lasted through the day.
He threw up six more times before going to bed for the evening.
The older kids spent the afternoon climbing the
hills surrounding our campsite.
Since we were staying at camp, we started the
briquettes for dutch oven cobbler. After a yummy dinner and dessert, the kids
went to bed for an early evening.
Once the kids were asleep in bed, the adults
spent some time visiting around the fire. After a while we decided to explore
goblin valley at night. The full moon illuminated to rocks so well that we
didn't even need our headlamps.
Jordan took his nice digital camera and tripod
so we spent out time experimenting with settings, and lights.
The moon was so bright it looked like the sun in the pictures. The photos appeared as if they had been taken
during daytime.
