Day Two - Great American Road Trip - Utah

The plan for today was to go to Bryce Canyon.  Plans change - we didn't make it there today.  Instead, we took a little detour to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park.  We weren't disappointed.

I've seen some sand dunes in Indiana and Arizona before, but these were the most beautiful color and the finest sand I've ever felt.  Southern Utah is so interesting.  The colors change rapidly with little warning.  In the morning we were driving in red cliffs sliced sideways by some tremendous water force millions of years ago.  The next minute we are in pines and bleach white cliffs appear.  Finally, we ended up here, where erosion of sandstone created the most gorgeous beach without water.

If you see two tiny little specks near the top of the giant sand dune, that's Kent and Mackenzie.  They made it to the top in 90 degree weather.  It was quite an accomplishment, especially when you consider how deep the sand is.

I loved the yellow flowers that popped up out of the sand.

We did make the drive to Bryce Canyon today, but didn't visit.  We checked into a cool camping ground, Ruby's RV Camping and Lodge near Bryce, but the weather turned a little in the afternoon.  First deviation off schedule - we decided to stay one more day at Ruby's and see Bryce tomorrow.

We also had our first RV mishap - a little problem flushing the "black water."  We'll see how that works out tomorrow.

cindy

Girl Scout Camp

Last weekend my daughter and I joined some other Brownies in a Fall Encampment at Willow Springs in Prescott, Arizona.  It's a beautiful camp with mountains, pines and gorgeous weather.  We had about 12 moms and daughters in our troop, and even though it was only 24 hours, we had the best time.

This was only our troop's second camping experience, the first being at the Phoenix Zoo where we slept on a concrete slab and listened to lions roaring all night :(  This time we had dorms with real bunk beds (a real hit with the girls) and mattresses (a real hit with the moms).  The theme was "Mind and Body" and the activities included making your own lip gloss, soap, lotion and glitter lotion.

The girls also enjoyed yoga!  Ladies, this ain't your old Girl Scouts!

All the girls had hats with "swaps" on them.  I'm going to write another blog on swaps, but the idea is like pin trading with different little items made by the girls.  This was definitely a new concept to me, and   the girls' first experience.  One of our girls proved to be a shrewd businesswoman!

Mostly it was a wonderful bonding experience for moms and daughters.

On Saturday night the moms had a glimpse into the future when the rumor around the dorm was that "somebody" was having a party. All the girls wanted to rush out to find the "party" without knowing where or who was having a party.  (Doesn't that remind you of some 15 year olds?)  One little girl and her mom were bunking next to me and I overheard this exchange:

Mom: Why are you wanting to go to a party when you don't even know if there is a party?  Would you jump off a bridge just because someone told you to?

Girl: But Mama, it's not a bridge, it's a party!

I thought I was going to fall off the bunk laughing!  When it was over we couldn't believe we were there just 24 hours.  We packed so much into one day and we were beat!

Too bad they won't be this age forever {sigh}

cindy