Team Robison: Camping at Bryce Canyon

This weekend, we went camping with the Shimaneks, friends from our ward. We had originally wanted to go to Goblin Valley State Park, but they were fully reserved for the whole summer. Instead with decided to go to Bryce Canyon National Park since the Shimaneks had never been. We left Friday as soon as their son Quinten hopped off the bus from his last day of 1st grade. The drive down went well, but when we arrived at the park, all the campgrounds were full. So we walked the rim trail for a bit and then headed to a campground just outside the park. The kids had such a fun time running around and cooking s'mores.

We learned a few lessons from our Grand Canyon trip which made this camping trip go much smoother. We borrowed Aaron's 6-man tent, which gave us so much more space with the kids. Hannah went down without too much crying. Last time, Matthew was the problem child and just screamed when it was time to go to bed. This time, we got him all ready for bed, and then Mark drove him around in the car for 30 minutes until he was asleep. Then it was an easy transfer to the tent, where he slept perfectly all night. So the kids did great. I, on the other hand, was the problem child of the trip. The temperature at Bryce was 10 degrees warmer than our Grand Canyon; however, our tent was so much bigger that it was much colder in our tent. Unfortunately, the sleeping bag I was using did not do well in the cold. I was freezing! Luckily, Mark heard me whimpering and switched sleeping bags with me in the middle of the night.

In the morning, we did about a 3 mile hike through the canyon. After the first .7 miles, we had a split in the road and could either go right back up or take the long way around. The kids were doing great, and we decided on the long way round. Of course, immediately afterwards, Kailyn and Matthew both decided that they couldn't walk anymore. We toughed it out, and with some convincing, we got them to alternate portions of walking and being carried. The kids had a grand time, and I think we might have to do it again.