Navajo Lake and Bryce

When Big Sister was a baby, my parents invited us (and my sister and nephew) along on their annual motorcycle trip.  We flew out to meet them, and then rented a van to follow along on their adventure.  We saw so many great places in 2 weeks, and on that trip is when we started thinking about how fun it would be to have an RV to travel around in.  One of the quick stops we made on the road between Zion and Bryce (Utah 14 and Utah 12 both have amazing, ever changing scenery) was at Navajo Lake.  It is the most picturesque mountain lake, and when we stopped to check it out, we decided that if we ever did have an RV someday, we would definitely come back to camp.  

When we were planning out our trip this summer, we decided to include it on our list of stops.  A lot of places we've camped this summer have been crowded, and we have opted to stay mostly in commercial campgrounds with pools and good places to ride bikes, to keep the kids happy, so this was a welcome change of pace!  There were no hook ups and absolutely no cell service, but the view of the lake from our campsite was spectacular, and the kids could ride their bikes and splash in the lake, while I watched from my chair. And at over 8,000 feet, the cool mountain air was so refreshing after so many days in the desert!  The kids and John went fishing in the lake a few times and caught some rainbow trout (the kids were so proud and excited!).  It was everything that camping should be!  

There's a lava flow in the area that we went to check out (when we have cell service again we plan to research it - Big Sister had lots of questions - Where is the volcano?  When did it erupt?  How big it the lava flow (we couldn't see the end of it)?).  Little Bud fell down in between some of the pieces of lava and bumped his head, but the next day after he was feeling better, he decided it was pretty cool to fall into the lava - just like Annikan Skywalker.  He's thinking he might turn into Darth Vader any time now ;)  

Yesterday we drove over to Bryce Canyon Natuonal Park; it's such a cool place!  After checking out the overlook areas, Big Sister begged to hike the Navajo Loop Trail (it's basically .6 miles down into the canyon, .1 miles across the canyon, and then .6 miles back up the canyon).  It was a beautiful and interesting hike, but Little Bud had a bit of a bathroom emergency on the way back up, so that combined with the trek up with 2 littles and no guardrails blocking the edge of the trail, made the experience a little stressful.  We all survived though :)

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

A small part of the lava flow

 

Bryce Canyon NP