Homeschool

Journey to Capitol Reef National Park

by

16 July 2024 Trip day 107

As we get ready to head out from Bryce Canyon, the kids help me check the torque on the lug nuts. A few years back, we had an incident with broken lug nuts when moving the trailer. Ever since then, I’ve made it part of my habit pattern to check them each time before we move the trailer.

While I proceeded to the next campground, Meagan and the kids went to the Escalante Petrified Forest State Park.

Jarek and Arya stand amongst the petrified logs.

They earned their Junior Ranger badges at the Interagency Visitor Center. Then it was off to the ‘Hole in the Rock.’

Hole in the Rock is the place where Mormon pioneers carved a passage through rock to a very steep descent.

 Painting of the wagons going down through “the hole in the rock.”

“The Last Wagon”

 

 Jarek and Evan pose for a picture with the Escalante Valley behind them.

A view of the Escalante Valley. You can see the road on the right.

Another view of the Escalante Valley.

 Meanwhile, I arrived at our campsite outside of Capitol Reef National Park and set up. The views were not disappointing.

 It was a little interesting getting situated, but I managed to get tucked in. The site was a bit narrower than I would have liked, but it was a quiet campground and the kids were happy to have lots of gravel to dig and play in. They are big on making roads and other vast construction projects at our sites!

 Thanks for reading!

Sign up on Patreon as a free member to get notified of updates on our Journey! You can read about other stops on our adventure here on Patreon, or at our blog at https://www.wolfandraven.blog

You can also buy us a coffee!

Glen Canyon National Rec Area and Rainbow Bridge National Monument

by

23 June 2024 – Trip Day 84

 We did the long drive out to the Glen Canyon Visitor Center. It was a bit of a hike from the campground, but it was about as close as we were going to get to it on our trip.

We had a nice lunch picnic on the grass outside the visitor center.

 A view of the dam from the visitor center.

 The kids were very interested in the dam and the bridge construction.

 Garrett examines a relief terrain model of the area.

 

This was as close to the Rainbow Bridge. It was only accessible via boat, and while we looked into a tour, we were not keen on paying the redonculous sums required to get the family out there. The Rainbow Bridge NM Visitor Center is co-located with the Glen Canyon Dam Vvisitor Center.

 In the Junior Ranger area, they had a mock up of a speed boat. Garrett and the other kids had a great time playing with it.

One of the other displays was an area where the kids could build with foam blocks. Randal was very interested in the foam blocks.

 Evan joins some other kids at the area to see how tall of a tower they could build.

 After they finished their Junior Ranger books, we drove out to Horseshoe Bend. This was a short hike from the parking area, about a mile or so. It was very hot and we took our time. It was a nice view of the river and the Bend. We were able to see some kayakers or rafters setting up camp on the beach below us.

 Jarek and Evan came with me, and we swapped out with Meagan and Arya so the littles could stay in the car and the air conditioning.

 

A view of the trail. It was quite busy with a steady stream of people making the journey to check it out.  

 After Horseshoe Bend, we drove over to the Lake Powell Rec Area and found the swimming area. It was late by the time we got there, but the kids did enjoy putting their toes in the water and playing in the sand a little bit before a storm came in and we headed back for the 2 hour drive back to our campground.

Thanks for reading!

Sign up on Patreon as a free member to get notified of updates on our Journey! You can read about other stops on our adventure here on Patreon, or at our blog at https://www.wolfandraven.blog

You can also buy us a coffee!

Kiddo update

by

We did one of Jarek’s Cub Scout adventures, cast iron cooking. The requirement for him was to cook a meal over a fire. We started the fire using a flint and steel. Jarek learned a lot about building a fire and having the fuel ready to go. It was a good introduction to fire basics.

We made an impromptu stove with a couple bricks.

While waiting for the wood to burn down, Garrett came over and, being super cute, asked “Can I join?”

Arya got in on the cooking as well.

Burger cooking underway.

Randal got the first part of his third tooth out! We will be very happy when it’s all the way out, as the teething process has been a bit frustrating for all involved. Randal has been sitting up and crawling about now. He’s working on pulling himself up to a standing position. He’s done that once or twice so far.

A happy Garrett at Fox Meadow park during a home school meet up play session.

Garrett went with Meagan and Arya to dance class. While waiting for Arya to finish her dance lesson, he picked up a book and said, “This is my book” and took it inside to read.