It’s really starting to feel like spring around here and I am very excited. I am all about more time outside, more walking to school and more meals outside!

Cannon was a bit confused about why he needed his winter jacket and a hat this morning when it is supposed to be 70 today but it was below freezing at school drop off.

The weather the next week is beyond nice, I wonder if we will get any more snow this year.

New month new goals! I didn’t quite make all of my goals last month so many are the same….try, try again!

April Goals

• At least 84 hours outside, more would be better to get caught up on our 1000 hours outside goal.
• At least 4 Hikes this month to work towards our 52 hikes a year goal. If we get to do our Utah trip we will easily exceed this goal.
• 5k a day, every day for April
• Run on a trail at least once a week
• Work on my creation skills by publishing 3 videos this month
• Run/walk at least 100 miles this month

What are some of your goals for April?

I can’t believe March is over! Usually March goes by very slowly as I am so ready for spring but we are still dealing with lots of snow. This year being out of town for the last part of March made it speed by. I think April might scream by as well since we have lots to celebrate and do.

Currently Loving – Spending so much time in our trailer, we spent 11 days out of this month traveling and visiting new places. We are figuring out how to live in the trailer and loving more time outside. We won’t always get to spend this much time away on adventures so we very much enjoyed it while we could.

Currently Going –  We started visiting our local swimming pool again and the kids love it so much! I can’t wait to get them back in swimming lessons.

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Currently Researching – Our next trip! We have many trips planned for the summer but want to get something planned for April and May.

Currently Shopping For – Emmy’s upcoming third birthday. I can’t believe she is going to be three and this will be her second birthday during Covid. Her only normal birthday was her first birthday, honestly that makes me a little sad.

Luckily she rolls with it and finds happiness everyday.

Currently Dreaming About- The world getting better and starting whatever our “new normal” will be. Cory and I were able to start the vaccination process and feel so grateful and hopeful.

Currently Running – On the treadmill on dark mornings, but I am so excited to start gettin back outside. It’s getting lighter, warmer and less icy out!

Currently Working On – We are happily working on our 1000 hours outside and 52 hikes challenges. We have enjoyed approximately 100 hours outside and 12 hikes. This month was easy to rack up the hours because of our trip, hopefully as the weather gets warmer we will be spending more afternoons/evenings in the backyard.

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What’s current with you?

Let’s just start with the best part, I got my first vaccination shot today and it was so so good. It feels like the begining of the end and I like feeling like I am doing my part. Big thanks so science, scientists and the medical professionals who made this all possible.

Today was the last day of Cannon’s spring break. While I am happy that he gets to go to school, I love having him around and spending family time together. Cannon is really a joy to be around and I am so so profoundly grateful to be his mom.

We are currently riding the spring Colorado weather roller coaster. It was in the mid 70s today with 25 MPH winds but we should expect up to an inch of snow tonight. Also a high of 35 tomorrow….and 80s this weekend?!?

I listened to Billing Yang’s podcast with Brendan Leonard and it was so good. Brendan’s Semi Rad is so funny.

Also his film about running Run Rabbit Run is amazing!

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How was your day?

Today was a very boring, get things done kind of day. It was so nice to wake up in our comfy bed and work through the mountain of laundry we brought home. Since today was not that exciting I though I would share some of our favorites from our trip.

Top marks goes out to our tiny trailer! We love “Kermit” and without our tiny trailer we wouldn’t have been able to camp on this trip. Some people may be happy to camp in low 20s (F) but we aren’t that brave with a 2 and 4 year old!

We love that Kermit is tiny because we like to take it off road and get away from traditional RV parks. We also like that it’s small because the idea is to be outside as much as possible anyway. Some may like a little more luxury in a travel trailer and there is no shame in that, it’s just not what we want. The kids love it, but also would love to have bunks someday soon.

Checking out the view on a cold morning.

Our particular model is a R-Pod by Forrest River RP 171. There is a tiny kitchen, shower, toilet, queen bed and a dinette that converts into a full size bed. One of my favorite parts of towing the trailer is always having a bathroom with us, with Covid it has been very nice not having to use public restrooms, also there is water to wash our hands which is so nice!

Before leaving for our trip I bought two national parks passports for the kids. They loved going into the Visitors Centers and getting stamps as we traveled.

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These lunch boxes have been useful than I ever would have guessed:

I grabbed these boxes from Amazon a couple years ago for Cannon’s school snacks, but ended up using something else. I started using them for road trips and now they are a staple of our travels. Most days we are out exploring for lunch so it’s nice to have something to hold our lunches but these little bento boxes really shine when we want the kids to eat in the car. These work well to help the kids keep their food from spilling and they love them and look forward to eating from them.

Our Kelty child carrier backpack was a must have for our trip. Emmy can’t quite hike as far as Cannon can and we did many hikes that were 3+ miles long and often rated difficult.

Emmy loved riding in the pack when the hike gets a little too long for her. Cannon happily road in this pack when he was little too.

Cannon hiked every single step of the hikes we did, sometimes upwards of six miles a day.

We bought him shoes specifically for hiking from Merrell, he loved them and they really did help him keep his footing on the rocky paths and especially on the slick rock. We are going to get Emmy a pair as well for the summer since they worked so well for Cannon.

Lastly our drone was a fun addition to our trip:

Just a few quick shots from our Mavic Mini.

What are some of your road trip favorites?

One more fun stop before our trip leads up home in Fruita Colorado.

This has quickly become one of favorite places to camp because it is so beautiful and it is right off I-70 on our way west.

Cory and I agreed that we would like to come back for a running/cycling weekend sometime soon before it gets too hot. The kids loved it here and didn’t want to leave!

We spent the morning packing up the trailer for the drive home. Then hiked the Trail Through Time, which was just below our campsite.

The Trail Through Time was a really fun 1.75 mile loop that had lots of interpretive signs describing what things were like in the Jurassic period.

There were also Dinosaur Fossils along the trail. It was so fun to learn and explore with the kids who both really love dinosaurs.

There is a cute little dinosaur museum in Fruita that we would love to go to in the future as well.

After our hike it was time to head home and while we all were a little sad that our adventure was over we were also excited to get home and enjoy some comforts!

While we were disappointed in not getting to see Bryce Canyon we had the best time exploring Goblin Valley State Park.

The goblins or hoodoos are so interesting and the exploring them was lots of fun.

It was like a big playground for the kids, they could have stayed there all day!

If you are ever in the Moab area this is a great stop if you have time. There is lots of camping in the area!

Today is another new park for us, we have never visited Capitol Reef before.

We were told that it was not the best of Utah’s Might 5. We actually loved Capitol Reef. There were fantastic views and the rock formations were amazing. 

We went to the visitors center to stamp our passports and get a map.

We stopped at the Gifford house where we had to pick up one of their famous pies. It’s really neat that you can go in and pick fruit in the orchards when they are in season but obviously March is a little early for that. 

We also made time to say hello to the horses, Emmy has a deep love of horses, she can’t wait for the day she gets to ride one. 

We drove out the scenic drive then down to Capitol Gorge Trail.

This was an easy  2 mile hike along a wash with lots of interesting things to see.

The kids loved seeing being in the gorge and did well on the easy trail. 

We really liked checking out the petroglyphs.

We were sad that it was too cold out for a picnic but we enjoyed the views from the car and ate lunch while we drove out.
After lunch we decided to tacked the Hickman Bridge Trail. Emmy had it made in the backpack but Cannon did amazing hiking on this 2.2 mile moderate hike. 

We were so glad we decided to do this trail, it was a highlight to get to hike through the natural bridge!

The hike was really fun with lots of cool features along the way, it is a bit steep so Emmy was in the pack but Cannon did really well.

It was really cool getting to walk through the arch.

Our last stop was at the Petroglyphs, the kids loved running along the board walk and the images of people and big horn sheet were amazing. 

There might not be as many epic hikes here as other national parks but we found it majestic and very kid friendly!

After our hike we went to pick up our trailer and head east to Bryce Canyon. We drove straight into a storm, with low clouds and blowing snow.

We made the difficult decision that we would likely not enjoy camping or visiting Bryce Canyon in that weather. We cut our loses and turned back east. If we could wait it out a couple days the weather would be lovely but we have work and school to return to. 
We are sad that we won’t make all 5 of Utah’s National Parks but I guess it’s just an excuse to have to come back. 

Before leaving the Moab area we wanted to get one more hike in. We traveled back into Canyonlands National Park to hike the Whale Rock Trail. It was recommended for the views and kids tend to love it as you get to climb up a bunch of slick rock.

It was a very beautiful hike.

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There were some steep sections and if you are afraid of heights this one might not be for you. The views were amazing and the hike was fun! It was also so nice to get moving and some energy out before our dive.

Luckily it’s only a little over two hours between Moab and Torrey where we are staying for the evening and the drive was very pretty.

We took time to go grocery shopping and do a little laundry.

The view from our site was pretty great!

Just one night here before moving on. This was our only night in an RV park with water, electric and hookups. While the views were good we very much prefer camping off grid! We are still learning what we need and don’t need for traveling with the trailer.

Of all the times we have been to Moab over the years we have never visited Canyonlands National Park.

We are looking forward to some kid friendly hikes and beautiful views.

Arches is one of my favorite places in the world! I have such good memories of visiting Arches and it’s so fun to share it with Cannon and Emerald.