Maybe it was because my expectations were not that high, but the Furnace Creek Campground wins for “Most Pleasant Surprise”.  We reserved campsite #108.  This whole row of campsites had plenty of shady trees; it felt like each campsite had its own mini forest!

Checking out the campsite.

Taking a break while Daddy set up the tent.

Our tent was also the perfect distance from the restroom—approx. 100 ft.–score!

Inside shot, for those who may be curious.  After setting up camp, we did some exploring.

Our first stop was Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America.

The white sign says “Sea Level”.  Our camera was not powerful enough to take a non-blurry shot.

D really wanted to taste the salt, but thankfully, he resisted.

We witnessed a boy scout leader yell at his troop for going off of the marked path despite this sign:

Our next destination was Artist’s Palette, which is a one-way scenic drive.  It was a bit longer than I thought.  At one point I actually wondered if we had taken a wrong turn.  Being that it was one-way, there was no turning back.

Note the green color—I believe that is why the Artist’s Palette received its name.

Our final stop was to hike Golden Canyon.  It was a 2.0 mile hike, which we began at 3:50 and finished at 4:45.  The mountains blocked the sun earlier than I thought, but we could still see fine.  The diminishing light actually made everything more picturesque and “golden”, if you will.

Love how you can see the moon in this picture!

By the time we arrived at the turnaround point, the kids (especially n), were done.  We decided against the additional .25 mi to see Red Cathedral, but we could see it in the distance.

The kids thought this rock looked like a frog/turtle.

Heading back.

We ended up cooking dinner in the dark and ate dinner in the dark.  Hence, no pictures of our hot dogs and chili.

Today we returned from a two-night trip to Death Valley National Park over Veteran’s Day weekend.  I know Death Valley may not top most people’s “must-see” list.  Neither D nor I had ever been before, so we thought, why not?  The weather was actually quite nice and there were plenty of sights to see.  It took us about 4.5 hours, with stops in Barstow, Baker, and Shoshone.

We continued our tradition of taking a picture of the welcome sign.  (This picture was actually taken today, on our way out of the park, since we missed it coming in).

We picked a good weekend to go!

Our first (unplanned) stop was Zabriskie Point.  I am not sure why I overlooked this stop in my initial plan.  We saw a bunch of cars on a turnoff not too far from the main road and decided to stop.

I believe this is the “point”, noted for its various colors.

At first, I thought this was the “point”.

We really appreciated the cloud cover.

Do the kids look different?  n recently had his first professional haircut and k lost one of her upper front teeth and has a big gap.

Our next stop was the Furnace Creek Visitor Center.  As you can see, the temperature was quite moderate, although by the time we left, the temperature had risen to 82 degrees.

The visitor center had informative displays, along with an impressive movie theater and short film about the park.  (n fell asleep again-ha!)

The kids earned their junior ranger badge, as shown here.  It took some coaxing for k to ask the ranger some questions, which was one of the requirements.  However, I knew she would be sad if only n earned the badge, so I am glad she overcame her shyness.  n was pleasantly surprised with the plastic badge, and commented, “I thought I was only going to get a sticker!”  Now they can add the pin to their Zion junior ranger pin on their Christmas stocking.

We packed some sandwiches/carrots/chips for lunch and ate on the picnic tables outside of the Visitors Center.  Our campsite awaited us!

Monday morning we ate breakfast at the hotel and it was actually quite good: scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes, waffles, pancakes, biscuits, gravy, and mini danishes. The kids liked the hot chocolate machine and pretended it was their “coffee”. We drove back into the park, but D had to take a picture by the sign first: We hiked from Sunrise Point to Sunset Point and back which is one mile round trip. The path was nice and paved. This is the part of Bryce I remember most from my own childhood family vacation. Doesn’t that hoodoo look like it could break off at any moment? Thor’s Hammer Our last night was spent in St. George. On the way there we stopped at Kolob Canyon, which is a less-visited part of Zion National Park. We made it to St. George in time for lunch. We ended up at Honolulu Grill. It seemed to be quite popular with the locals. Who knew St. Georgians like Hawaiian food so much? The food tasted very “homey”. For example, the teriyaki sauce tasted like it was from scratch, not a bottle. D liked how there was an option to have cucumber salad instead of mac salad and thinks that all plate lunch restaurants should have this option. **Please excuse the formatting of this post. Blogger was “updated” and I’m not sure what is going on.

During our drive from Zion to Bryce we confirmed that k is prone to carsickness, and that we should always have her take Dramamine as a precautionary measure on road trips. She was not doing too well, so we stopped at a small cafe in Hatch. I gave her some Sierra Mist and it worked like magic!

We entered Bryce Canyon National Park and drove on the scenic drive all the way to the end to Rainbow Point.

There we ate our sandwiches on some picnic tables (caprese and roast beef). Next we hiked the Bristlecone Loop Trail. There were a few patches of snow in the beginning, but we did not let that deter us. We kept going, and there was even more snow. I wanted to turn back at that point, but D was determined. We made the 1 mile roundtrip with many stops to carry the kids over snow patches/ice. If the Riverside Walk in Zion was the longest 2 miles I have ever hiked, this was definitely the longest mile I have hiked.

It wasn’t until I looked at this picture later that I realized how far n is leaning over the edge!

We drove back along the scenic route, stopping at the Natural Bridge and Bryce Point.

Then we went back to the Visitor’s Center where I stamped by National Park passport and we watched a short film about Bryce.

Although it was past 3 p.m. by this time, when we tried to check into our hotel, we were told that that the room was not ready (check-in was officially 4 p.m.). We killed some time by going across the street to fill up on gas and go to Ruby’s General Store. D noted that the town just outside of Bryce is much more hokey/kitschy than Zion. D stayed in the car while n took a nap. Meanwhile, k and I filled a bag with polished stones as a souvenir from the general store. After some more hassle, we finally checked into our hotel room. Since we hadn’t showered in a couple of days, this is just what we needed.

Waiting in the lobby…

Watching Netflix on Kindle Fire.

“Clean Remote” with a disposable cover. I think there was some sort of study that determined that the remote control is one of the dirtiest things in a hotel room–ew.

After washing up/relaxing we went to Bryce Canyon Pines restaurant.

I ordered the hot turkey sandwich (Thanksgiving on Easter!)

D ordered a chicken sandwich with ham and cheese (yes, there is chicken underneath all of that cheese)

The kids shared our entrees with us and then we all shared a slice of blueberry banana cream pie.

Although there is not much choice in Bryce, restaurant-wise, we enjoyed this meal.

We went back to the hotel and enjoyed sleeping in beds. After camping in such cold temperatures, the hotel room actually felt too warm!