Camping Capitol Reef/Goblin Valley June 2014

It didn't take us long to jump into summer this year.  Just two days after school let out, we drove down to Capitol Reef and camped for the weekend with the Cundicks.  From the looks of my photo collection, it seems that we were much too busy having fun hiking and playing with cousins to bother with many pictures?  Here are a few that TEC took on an early hike with TLC, Scott and Steve.

I'm grateful for those camping trips; my kids love the time with cousins and it is so nice to get away from daily distractions.  We seem to treat each other better, get less annoyed with each other when the time we spend together is out in nature.  Capitol Reef has so many beautiful hikes right near the spot where we camp.  I even enjoyed some early morning runs along the road through the park (TEC later pointed out the signs warning visitors to avoid hiking or running alone in the early hours because of mountain lions...oops.)

We also made a stop in Goblin Valley on that trip.

Just long enough to pose for some fun pictures, toss a frisbee, and play a version of hide and seek that works especially well in a valley of rock formations: One person finds a place to hide that we can all spot from up high, and then everyone climbs down to ground level and sees who can reach the person first.  Great fun, with only a couple minor cases of heat exhaustion along the way.