There was a lot happening fast. Our house was selling for sure in a month. That meant that we were going to have to find a new house in Oregon where we could live. This was a challenging situation as the housing market was very competitive. With Covid, rural properties were becoming more popular. Jacqueline really wanted a house along the river, so we were looking at paying a premium price for a place to live. We decided to go see for ourselves, so we beelined it up to Oregon. It was really just a lot of driving. We stayed in Winnemucca along the way, camping in a RV park that was not the greatest place on Earth. We made it to the McKenzie area in just a few days. We stopped at Clear Lake along the way. To make a long story short, we did not find a place to live. We had difficulties with our real estate agent and caused some controversy when we had someone else show us a property. It got a little messy, but we did not find a house.
We made it back to Utah and there was still life to be had there. Conrad was playing baseball and soccer as all the spring sports that had been delayed were now happening right now. We went swimming in the pool and the kids hung out with some friends by the creek in Springdale. We began packing our stuff and selling off furniture that we did not want to take. I had a little bit of time for a short trip out to Pine Valley, but most of our focus was on getting all of our stuff ready to be moved. Our plan B was to put everything into a moving truck while we looked for a place to live and stay with my dad in Port Angeles until we found it. 2020 was a weird year for everyone, but probably even weirder for us trying to move during a pandemic.
We decided to take one more big trip which was a weekend drive out to the Grand Canyon. This was where I went to high school and my dad's wife Laura was working out there. We drove out to visit while my dad was out visiting. We figured this was one of our last chances to pay a visit. The drive was only about 5 hours from us. Here house was not really big enough to house us, but we made it work. We took a walk out on the rim trail and the kids got to see the Grand Canyon for the first time. I got to show off the trail that I worked on during high school. It was a beautiful place and I did miss the Grand Canyon. It felt like home coming back and I was able to show Jacqueline the house that I lived in during high school.
The next day we decided to take a hike. Having small children and a wife that is a little bit overprotective meant that hiking into the Grand Canyon was off the table. Instead, we choose to drive out into the National Forest area and hike the Arizona Trail. The Arizona Trail is a 700 mile trail that runs north to south in Arizona. Obviously, June would not be the ideal month to hike it as it was hot and dry, but we could at least put a few miles in while we were here. We drove out to the Grandview Trailhead which is different than the Grandview Trailhead that goes into the Grand Canyon. This one had a large lookout tower and was quite a ways away from the Grand Canyon.
We hiked south through the woods. It was the pinon pine and ponderosa pine forest that was sparse. There were some views but mostly it was a time to talk to family and catch up on what was going on in all of our lives. It made me want to hike the Arizona Trail. While it would be rather repetitive and the water sources would be few and far between, it was obscure enough to be interesting to me. If everyone hiked it, I would probably be less interested. The fact that we saw no one out there and we were only a few miles from Grand Canyon National Park, made me more desirous of hiking it. It would have to be a retirement project, though as the best time to hike it was likely March and April.
On this day, we barely made a dent in it hiking for a few miles one way before turning around. The trip was definitely worth it as we got a chance to spend some time with family and get the kids a chance to see the Grand Canyon. In the evening, Jacqueline and I were able to have some alone time and we took the opportunity to walk out to the rim on our own. It was definitely a special place. I would have to come back and hike the Arizona Trail in the future, but for now, it was time to head back to St. George to continue packing.
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