canyonlands in a day

this was our 3rd attempt at a vacation. we were planning to drive down on monday (memorial day), play all day tuesday, and drive home on wednesday. we'd booked a hotel room and rented a jeep for exploring/driving to hikes. pace did really well on the drive down thanks to my mom entertaining him in the back seat. we made good time on the drive, and decided to stop in and hike around canyonlands before heading to moab, as it was too early to check in to our hotel.

we drove around the park, had a picnic lunch, and did a little hour-long hike. we inaugurated the hiking backpack, and pace loved it! he was so happy being above everything and able to look around. it was actually very windy, and sort of chilly and overcast on monday. the park ranger said there had just been a snow storm in the la salles on saturday. the green and colorado rivers are already flooding, and the run-off from the snow pack hasn't even hit yet!

happy little camper!

the white rim trail is down there--daivd was eyeing it.

more happy campers!

that night david and i went on a jet boat tour up the colorado river. it was a fun date! we had a dinner and then loaded the boat when it was just getting dark...and a little cold! we rode up river, with the guide pointing out faces in the rocks, and fun features. on the way back down river, it was completely dark, and they had music choreographed to go along with a light show, showcasing the cliffs and rocks. they had a driver on the road next to the river, with lights in the back of the truck. it was really very pretty.

we got back from the show around 1030, and pace had just woken up crying, and my mom was uncomfortable in the hotel. i'll admit, it wasn't a 5-star place, and it was definitely a lower quality than i was expecting. there had apparently been a scuffle with a cockroach while we were out; you could hear the other hotelers on the other side of the walls/walking around above us; my mom wasn't interested in the jeeping excursions; once pace started crying, it just escalated into a full out meltdown (screaming from 1030pm until 1am--i was sure we'd woken up every other resident within a 3-mile radius); i'd had probably a total of 6-7 hours of sleep the past two nights (pace was up a lot for some reason); in the middle of pace melting down, he threw up 3 times (i'm pretty sure he can't tolerate apples, and that had been on the dinner menu for him)...there were a lot of frustrating factors that night.

so at 1am when david said, "michal, we can go home if you want to, but we'd have to leave now, i can't do it later," i jumped at the chance and said, "yes--let's bag this whole thing and just go home." pace screamed while we were loading up the car, driving down moab main street, and for probably a good 30-45 minutes more in the car before he finally fell asleep. we got home at 4am, and pace woke up screaming. he finally went down and i think i was in bed by 5am. we all slept until 10. except for pace, who was up and ready to go around 630/7. crazy kid.