Post-Christmas Surprise Adventures (#3 & 4): Dinosaur Bones and Red Canyon Cabin

After we had such a successful first (and second) surprise adventure during the Christmas to New Year's week, we were extra excited for the next batch starting Wednesday, December 30th. (Good thing, too, since it was booked! ;) Today's destinations? (And still a surprise!) Dinosaur National Monument in Vernal! We got up and dressed on the road at about 7:30. We packed snow clothes and overnight things (secretly, of course) since after Vernal, our next stop was to stay overnight at a cabin at Red Canyon Lodge.

The day went perfectly: we got to Dinosaur around 11:30, checked in at the visitor's center, got a stamp for our passport and junior ranger workbooks, and then hopped back in the car for some lunch. After we ate we drove up to the quarry where we spent a good long while admiring the bones, reading the signs, and working on the workbooks. The kids finished their required number of activities and each were sworn in (Sam was nervous about the repeating the oath part) as Dinosaur Junior Rangers and got their own wooden badge pins! That was pretty fun!

After the quarry, we drove down the road a bit to spot a few pictographs and petroglyphs. And then we headed out of town and up into the mountains of Ashley National Forest.

Lunch and a workbook - she's set!

The touching section of the quarry wall was a highlight
for all of us!

I was so happy with how into things
they were here - they loved answering
questions and looking around and didn't
get bored!

Taking the oath of the junior rangers!

Offical!

A peek at some petroglyphs (and even cooler pictographs!).

Here's that crazy camera action again!

A few miles before the turn off to Red Canyon, Callie complained about needing to go to the bathroom, so we told her we could stop by Red Canyon Lodge to see if the bathrooms were open. (Sneaky, sneaky . . . worked out perfectly!) Gregg got out "to check the doors" and came back with an envelope with "instructions on how to use the bathroom down the road a bit". Really, it had the map to our cabin and our keys. When we pulled up in front of Ponderosa Unit K, Cal said, "these look nice!" and Gregg said, "we're staying overnight right here!" They were so excited! 

We hauled in our stuff and made ourselves at home for a few minutes before heading back out to play in the snow and slip on the ice on the frozen Greens Lake outside our door. We trekked all over the lake, to the dock where we played and caught tiny fish this summer (and Callie was freaked about by the crawdads), to our campsite that we stayed in with Paul and Kim, and back to the scraped off rectangle on the edge of the lake that someone had made for a hockey rink.

We drove down to the overlook for a few minutes to check out the views (our favorite) and then came back to the cabin where we warmed up some leftover soup and started a fire in the wood burning stove. The rest of the evening was spent reading (unfortunately I only packed like four books, so we read them over and over) and playing games.

Cozy in the cabin!

Cal had to pose this shoot and post it
on the 'shed and 'herd.

I think it may be time for new boots
(after 15+ years)? (But actually, miraculously,
my feet stayed dry!)

The "ice rink" portion of the frozen lake was a fun
place to practice skidding.

Gregg is getting good at tromping out names in the snow.

Lots of snow angels were made on the ice.

There's our campsite from this summer!

Look how black the water looks!

While I warmed the soup, these guys just spontaneously
started playing UNO Flip together. Totes adorbs!

Finished this after everyone else went to bed.
I’ve been hearing a lot about this one for a few months from Anne Bogel on What Should I Read Next podcast and I finally had a chance to give it a shot. I loved it! So timely with the election this year, but also with all the Black Lives Matter issues going on too. Super well done and fun to read, too. (Heads up for quite a bit of language... but it’s skimmable and the story is worth it, I think.)

Sleep wasn't the best for any of us, but we didn't let that dampen our fun. The next morning Gregg went searching for a lost ski area that he has been wanting to find for years. He found it! It's called Grizzly Ridge. He had to hike in 0.9 miles to the base, and then he hiked about a fifth of the way up and snowboarded down. But he got some pics and can check that one off his list! The kids and I stayed at the cabin, playing and reading (and whining) until the sun popped out again and we bundled up to go play outside.

 

He sent this text to me saying,
"Not exactly hiding :)"

Here comes the sun, do do do do!
(That's the lake beyond the bushes. What a view!)

Blue skies, smiling at me!

Aren't those clouds cool?

Gregg and I walked across the lake to "poop rock"
and back before the kids even missed us. The lake
seems so much smaller when you can walk across in
just a few minutes!

After we played, we packed up and headed back home. Another successful surprise adventure. I could get used to this idea!