I never imagined taking our 17 month old on a 12 day rockclimbing, hiking and outdoor adventuring trip. We booked out plane tickets and a Cruise America 25 foot RV and started planning out the trip. As always, we needed to pick destination that would be suitable for everyone. This means no burly approaches, flat cliff bases and shade. We asked Joanna to join us on the first half of the trip to thank her for all of her time, love and teaching with Lucy (really, all of us). This also meant we had a third person to rock climb with us (or to nap in the RV with our adventure girl
Airplane Travel
We ended up getting an empty row of seating on both flights,
which were direct and only 1.5 hours in each direction. Some of activities that
worked well on the plane were:
- · Never before seen snacks out of crinkly bags in a four week medicine holder
- · Play-doh for the Dollar Tree
- · A notebook with stickers, markers and stamps
- · Books!!!!
- · Plastic, Dollar Tree Bracelets
- · Beaded necklaces
- · Hand held fan
- · Flip top container of insect erasers
- · Walking up and down the aisles
- · Mini Magnadoodle
We also bought a magnetic farm book, which was really cute
and a great idea in theory. The dumb magnets didn’t stick, so that got lugged
around Utah and sent back to Amazon. I also bought Lucy a foam peg board with
stacking pegs, but when you buy the cheapest option you get the cheapest
product. The holes didn’t fit the pegs…so it got lugged around Utah and sent
back to Amazon.
We are taking another plane trip to Rapid City, South Dakota
at the end of July. This is my list of plane activities to take along after two
flights and 12 days traveling 1,200 miles by RV.
- · Window gel clings
- · Animal themed stacking doll
- · Never before seen snacks out of crinkly bags in a four week medicine holder
- · Play-doh for the Dollar Tree
- · A notebook with stickers, markers, triangular crayons and stamps
- · Books!!!!
- · Magnadoodle
- · Plastic peg board with shaped stacking pegs
- · Books with buttons that make noise
- · Never before seen snacks out of crinkly bags in a four week medicine holder
I am still going to pack snacks, but far fewer, including
snacks for the grown-ups. Hangry parents=grumpy toddler=unpleasant trip. The
only thing I can’t figure out is how to bring books, books and more books. I
have been wanting an e-reader for my school work, so we bought the kids edition
of the Kindle Fire. I haven’t played with it yet, but I am going to download
every possible children’s book I can find. Then we can save the books we bring
for bedtime and use the Kindle for reading on the plane and in the car. I will
probably put some simple, fun games on it and hope to load it up with all
things Spanish I can find that are age appropriate.
Cruise America
Renting an RV was a moderately expensive option for a
vacation. And it was awesome. I am talking about one of the best decisions we
have made since Lulabee was born. We bought all of our food and linens for the
entire trip at Wal-Mart in Salt Lake. I made a list for both categories before
we left and Joanna and I flew through that still like bats out of hell.
Shopping for that many days and meals and adventures all at once in a store
that was new to us was a bit overwhelming, but it ended up being worth it. We
also bought 10 board books. We may or may not have returned the linens and
board books when we arrived back in Salt Lake. The best part about the RV was
that we could stop whenever we wanted, make a meal, stretch out legs and relax.
This was absolutely perfect with a young toddler. Lucy moved in to the RV like
it was our new home. We paid for campsites for two nights, but we quickly realized
we could just dump and fill for less than $15 and sleep just about anywhere.
Zion, as the most popular park in Utah, is not a good place to just pull over.
We got asked to move the RV by a (very kind) officer at about 10:30 at night.
It was our last night and we figured we were bound to get busted at some point.
Luckily, as platinum IHG members, Holiday Inn was happy to let us park in their
lot for the night. Needless to say, it was a bit tenuous for about half an hour
until we got resettled.
We got rained out of a 5 mile hike to a waterfall in between
Capitol Reef National Park and Bryce, so we decided to relax in Escalante for a
little while. It was completely unplanned, but we dumped, filled, picked up a
few grocery items, did some laundry, saw llamas, and played at a playground for
a while. Then we realized Escalante is known for, in addition to other outdoor
landmarks, a number of fairly easy to navigate slot canyons. Since we had the
roaming, temporary home, we decided to change gears and check out Peek-a-boo
and Spooky Gulch Canyons. We drove 20 long, bumpy, loud, long, slow,
frustrating, long miles down a washboard dirt road meant for four wheel drive
vehicles for THREE HOURS. We made it to a dirt lot with our brains jiggled
loose and at our wits end to see the most amazing big sky exploding with so
many stars it was impossible to see them all. We took a deep breath, hoped the
next day’s adventure was worth the headache, and fell asleep listening to free
range cattle shuffle around outside of our lonely RV in the middle of nowhere. 
We slept with the heat on and in the morning got up, made a
nice, hot breakfast, and packed up for an unknown adventure. A number of people
made sure to tell us we wouldn’t make it through the canyons with the babe, but
they underestimated our darling girl. Thanks to the flexibility the RV provided
us for this trip, we made it through both canyons and had a blast while doing
it. Lucy was actually the perfect size and had an easier time navigating the
canyons than we did. It was a bit precarious to get into Peek-a-boo, but we
ended up meeting two other families. There were 8 children under the age of 10
between all of us and we made a line of grown-ups to pass the babes through
where they couldn’t hike. Our resident expert climber, Jim, gave everyone tips
on the best way to use your body to climb up and down. One of the other dads
stood knee deep in muddy water to be a mid-point to get the littles through. Weirdly,
Lucy liked them immediately and let them hold her to get her around obstacles. 
This ended up being our favorite event on the trip. It was
obvious that Jim and I had more experience exploring than outdoors than most
people in the canyon and the people who told us we couldn’t, can eat my shorts.
We would never put our baby in danger. We can read rock and hiking routes
better than most of the morons in Zion on Memorial Day. The most helpful people
were the people who stated fact. “There is a large boulder that we had trouble
climbing coming up.” “The canyon is less than shoulder wide up ahead.” This helped
us make good decisions on what to do next. At some points in the trip it deterred
us and we turned around. No one, NO ONE, should discourage a mom from trying.
They have no idea how much it can shake a mom’s confidence. I don’t know one
mama who is suffering from a lack of anxiety and worry about their small
human(s). Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t need help finding things to worry
about it.
Now that I have that out of my belly…back to the RV with a
completely exhausted and sleeping in the front carrier baby, we get back on the
road to hell. When Lucy woke up with could make a nice lunch play outside a
bit. I can’t say enough good things about this system. We loved it so much we
came home and recently bought a mini-van, which we are in the process of
turning into a small, but simple camper-van/adventure mobile. Setting up and
tearing down for outdoor play takes a lot of time and energy. It takes more
than twice as long with a little one. It is always fun and worth the work, but
we when we are going our every weekend, we decided it was worth the investment
to make things a little more permanent. Now my goal is to work my butt off and
graduate with a sweet job so we can get a real camper-van.
Activities that made the driving go smoothly
·
Lucy’s favorite music, mostly her cd from music
class.
· Having Joanna along with us
· Finger puppets I picked up from Ikea for $0.50-$1.50 each
· Markers and a notebook
· Stickers and a notebook
· Books!!!
· Playing ball
· Having Joanna along with us
· Finger puppets I picked up from Ikea for $0.50-$1.50 each
· Markers and a notebook
· Stickers and a notebook
· Books!!!
· Playing ball
The Grand Tour
Our itinerary was ambitious and the weather was
unpredictable, but this trip was outstanding. We have so many memories with LucyLou
and she loves looking at the pictures. We started in Salt Lake and met up with
a long lost friend from Virginia to climb in Maple Canyon. The rock was weird
and two snow storms blew through in an hour time span. It snowed dip n’ dots
size snowballs before passing through. None of us hiked in with enough clothing
to keep us warm for snow. When we had gotten enough of a taste for the type of climbing
there, we hiked the short distance back to the mobile home and had hot chili
for lunch. Nana and Lucy took a nap in the warmth and the three of us ventured
back out. I ended up leading my first 10.a sport climb, we were cold and
grumpy, and decided to push on for Moab that night. 
Moab was great. We stayed at a campsite two nights here and
took long, hot showers. The RV shower was sufficient for a quick rinse after a
sweaty day in the desert, but we all decided it took up a lot of room and wasn’t
necessary. We visited Arches National Park (and so did every other tourist in
Utah). Jim and Lucy napped in the RV. I am telling you. The RV made this a
different trip. Every had different needs and they could all be met at the same
time. Joanna and I went out to explore double arch and take in the vastness of
this incredible state. Then we climbing Owl Tower, the most popular route in
Utah. It is a 5.8, one pitch tower, making it incredibly desirable for lots of
climbers. We were lucky to only have to wait for one person to finish climbing
and then the three of us each took a turn to climb to the top of the tower. It
was the first tower any of us had every climbed. Lucy played in the sand, did
VB boulder problems and hiked through the trails seeking lizards to chase and rocks to womanhandle.
You can spend days in that huge park, but we decided to move
on to some excellent roadside climbing at Wall Street. We literally parked the
RV at the bottom of the base of climbs, which made shade for Lucy to dig in the
dirt. Joanna did her first slab climbing on scary sandstone and Jim and I got
to crush some harder sport routes. Lucy took a three hour nap while we ran the
generator for air conditioning. We rotated in and out of the napping mobile so
everyone could climb. Once we had rubbed the prints completely off of our
fingers, we headed back to camp for dinner on the fire and Lucy’s first roasted
marshmallow. Yes, I let my baby eat corn syrup. She has Nana to thank for this.
To be honest, roasted marshmallows are a top five favorite food for me. Not
only am I am expert roaster, but I can eat at least ten of them in one sitting.
The next day was Nana’s last day with us. We did two short,
but magnificent hikes in Canyonlands National Park. We marveled at the power of
water and Jim meticulously described the ways in which you could see water flow
billions of years ago. In another life, he is a waterworks engineer. Lucy slept
in blue backpack for most of our time in Canyonlands. This would be a theme for
much of the hiking on the remainder of the trip. Then we gave our daughter
PTSD. After spending five beautiful, amazing days together, we suddenly put
Nana on an airplane and sent her back to Berkeley. Lucy was undoubtedly scarred
by this experience. It was the first time in her life she had someone close and
special to her literally fly out of sight. For the rest of the trip she told us
the story about 20 times a day, no exaggeration. It goes something like this: 
Lucy: Nrooooowwww (hand motion of flying airplane). Nana.
Me/Jim: Yes, Nana went in her airplane.
Lucy: (Blows a kiss)
Me/Jim: That’s right. We blew Nana a kiss!
Lucy: Up. Bye.
Me/Jim: Nan’s plane went up, up, up in the sky. Muy altas! And
then we waved and said, Bye Nana! And what did Nana say to you?
Lucy: Signs “I love you”
Me/Jim: Nana says, Te quiero, Lucy! And will we see Nana
again?
Lucy: Nods head.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
After traumatizing our daughter and sending Nana into the
sky, we traveled further south to Capitol Reef National Park. This was brief visit
to a park that is long and skinny and a bit difficult to explore. We went on a
lovely hike and played in the sand along the way. Knowingly, we made a stupid
tourist decision to continue to the summit, even though the sky was black and
threatening. We ended up doing just fine and decided to get out of the canyon
rather quickly. Lucy fell asleep in blue backpack and we had a delicious, warm
lunch courtesy of our trusty Cruise America tank.
When we saw a sign for Goblin State Park, Jim remembered visiting there as a kid and we decided to take another quick detour. This ended up being the weirdest place we stopped and some of the most fun we had playing together. These weird sand structures jut up from all over the place and create the ideal place to play hide and seek. Lucy finds endless joy and satisfaction in this simple and thrilling game. One of us would hide with her and the other would do the seeking. Every time we popped out from a goblin, she would fall over laughing. This is also where we saw a major change in her balance and confidence. She navigating the bumpy and unpredictable terrain for about an hour, gallivanting about, scooting down dirt hills and summiting (very small) peaks of sand. It was so fun to watch all of this happen in front of our eyes. She brings us so much happiness. Watching the world through her eyes has a privilege and I am grateful she picked us to be her Mami (yes, she changed my name recently) and Dah.
The next part of the tour brought blazing heat, sun, clouds,
white out snow at the peak of the scenic byway at about 9,000 in elevation,
back down to mild, cool Berkeley type weather. We stopped for a night in
Escalante to do the slot canyons and then headed the short distance we had left
to Bryce National Park. This was a magnificent place. Again, it was packed with
everyone else who was visiting Utah and must have been doing our same route,
but if you could ignore them long enough, it was easy to enjoy. This was the
only point in the trip where Jim and I were feeling a bit tired out (and so was
Lucy, as she slept through another hike the back pack) and got a little testy
with each other. We decided not to talk for a little, then kissed and made up.
We are so fortunate to be willing to take each wherever we are in the moment. I
have to admit that usually I am the one that gets grumpy and he is endlessly
patient and loving with me. In this case, he was pretty grumpy and I realized I
am not always as loving with him. It is in travel that we learn the most about
each other and ourselves. And it is hard to remain grumpy when the scenery
looks like this.
Inadvertently, we ended in Zion National Park, the last part
of our journey, on Memorial Day weekend. What a cluster. We opted for some less
popular hiking and had the chance to meet up with Jim’s cousin, Kyler, and his fiancée,
Laura, along with their friend (from San Fran!), Becca. I carried Louise P.
Clark up, up and more up a short, but stiff hike to the mouth of wide, sand
covered slot canyon. At the entrance to the canyon we came across a small pond
abounding with mating frogs. It was nature at its finest. They were loud and
tiny and full of life. Literally. It was really fun to share this Lucy, on the
way back down, because, of course, she slept the whole way to the top J. When she finally work
up we stopped in a lovely sandy spot covered by the shade of a sheer, tall
cliff up against a bring green, moss covered wall. Another dad who had just
gotten to the top with his family say Lucy playing in the sand, looked at blue
backpack and then commented on how amazed he was the JIM had carried her the
whole way up. Except it was me that had carried her. The entire way. By myself.
Jim took one look at the guy and said, “thank you! Pretty tough hike!” I was
sure I had passed out for at least ten minutes and dreamt that up in my head. When
I realized it was reality I lost my mind and cleared up the facts for everyone
around. I could have knocked him out. His punishment is having to hear that
story every time we talk to someone about our trip….for the rest of his life.
What a punk.
Lucy loved hiking around in all of these parks. She walked
on logs, threw rocks into water, and fell in love with being on a trail. If
there was a paved path, she walked in the dirt beside it. If there was water,
she was going to drop sand and stones in it. If there were bugs, she was going
to pick them up. I never got tired of watching her explore and experience the
outdoors. She is amazing flexible and content. We watched her confidence and
vocabulary grow and expand every day on the trip. We had such an incredible
time that we are headed to Devil’s Tower, the Black Hills and the Badlands in
Wyoming and South Dakota in a couple of weeks. Every time we go on an adventure
we get a little better at it. I have decreased the amount of stuff we hike in
with us when we go climb, now, too. Lucicita is happy with books, snacks and
some company. 
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