Southern Utah Campout - Goblin Valley

This week we were able to introduce three beloved family members to the wonders of Goblin Valley State Park and Arches National Park and it was fabulous! Sasha, Gramma, and Poppop each had a fantastic long weekend in Southern Utah, although admittedly some (Sasha) did cope with the dirt and scrambling and climbing with more energy than others (the elders). But a good time was had by all!

We have enough photos to fill weeks of blog posts, but since you would probably eventually like to see something besides red rocks on our blog, we'll try to contain ourselves.

We spent our first night in Green River and after checking into the campground and pumping up the air mattress, we headed to Goblin Valley State Park. We ended up taking the "scenic" route to Goblin Valley, which involved 30 miles of dirt roads where we passed more cows than vehicles and more four-wheelers than cars. It was quite the adventure, but Rainy handled it all with aplomb and we arrived in Goblin Valley in one piece, after mere 30 minutes detour, and with a heck of a story to tell!
Sasha really enjoyed the ride - hands in the air like a roller coaster!
Moo!
The red sand sets off her blue nicely, no?

Goblin Valley is a great spot for kids who like to climb, slide, and generally roll around in the dirt - it was Morningstar Child Paradise.
Ben climbs his first of the hundreds of hoodoos he scaled during the afternoon
Victory!
That is one happy "cheese" face!
Those boys sure do love a good climb
Sam was prepared for anything between his safety whistle, first aid kit (which only left his wrist during sleeping hours), and backpack loaded with water and essential provisions (granola bars)
Good thing Sam was so prepared, we ended up using a lot of Band-Aids on this trip, but thankfully didn't require any more serious medical intervention
Gramma and Poppop enjoyed Goblin Valley, too (especially the photo-ops for Poppop the shutterbug)
Here's a shot from farther away to give you some perspective on how big some of the goblins were in proportion to my little goblins!
The girl wasn't happy unless she was climbing, sliding, or running to the next hoodoo!
After dinner Steve took out his new kite for a lovely maiden flight
It was sure a great start for our Southern Utah Adventure!