Dead Horse State Park

Well, we made the long drive back down to Norwood in time for school to get going once again. Time for the summer tan and the days of spending time with wife and baby to diminish to instead spend the time drilling mathematics into the minds of those who would rather talk about the Hangover. But we were lucky enough to have my mom and Carl come down to visit us during that first week. They were able to hang out with Jacqueline and Zyla during the day and then me in the evening. We got the fine idea to take a trip to Moab on the weekend. Carl wanted to go check out Dead Horse State Park. They drove their trailer out to our house and this would cut off part of their drive. 

It was a 2-3 hour drive for us, which was not much of a big deal after the long trip we had just been through. Mom and Carl left early, but they only beat us by just a bit. Once we had settled into our campsite, we decided to go for a walk. Carl drove out to Dead Horse Point, while Mom, Jacqueline, Zyla and I decided to take the trail that would take us past Shafer Overlook and Meander Overlook. The trail took off right from the campground which made it easy. The trail bounced back and forth from viewpoints, to desert, to slickrock. It was not too bad of a trail being mostly flat since it was on the edge of a huge abyss. 

We skipped over going out to Big Horn Overlook because the ladies were not feeling it. Zyla was doing great and was awake for much of the hike looking around. She was really fitting into the Bjorn a lot better now so that she could look around and drool all over it. The best view of the whole hike was Meander Overlook where we could see the Colorado down below taking a big trip around a butte with a nice fin of rock on top of it. We continued the rest of the hike which took us out to the point. The view there was awesome with cliffs and you could see the entire La Sal Range. We hung out there for a bit, but honestly it was rather windy out there and we headed back to camp. We had some good food and played some games together. Mainly we looked at the cute baby and enjoyed the time together. Once the sun was getting ready to go down, we decided to drive to the point and see the sunset.

 Unfortunately, Jacqueline and Zyla were not able to go with us because it was getting too close to the little ones bedtime. This was going to be a brand new experience for Zyla as it was the first time camping out. We figured this would be a good place because the temperature would be warm at night. We decided to put her in her changing box with pillows around it in the front seat of the Xterra and see how it goes. The sunset by the way was great. It was almost like we got there a little late because it was tough to get a good picture. We left there and Mom and I walked back to hang out with Jacqueline. Carl went to the interpretive program which was less then exciting. We slept great that night and Zyla did better than even at home. It left us with promise that we would have a hiker/camper/backpacker on our hands. We ate breakfast with everyone, then went our seperate ways preparing for the long school year ahead in Norwood.

Zyla's First Mountain

We were feeling a bit tired and the goal of going for a good hike did not come to fruition. Instead we chose a casual drive up to Deer Park, which was right up the road that my dad lived on. I wanted to take a drive up there for a while and it was the first time I had been up there since my cousin Ian and I camped up there when I moved back to Washington state in 2000. I remembered the drive as being narrow and scary. I remembered correctly as Jacqueline was a bit nervous of us driving the Subaru up there. We made it fine and it was a beautiful day. The afternoon clouds were slowly lifting and we were able to enjoy the view. We drove all the way up to the Blue Mountain trailhead. We went on a short 1/2 mile walk that took us to the top of the mountain. It was Zyla's first mountain ascent so I made sure to let her stand on the summit even if she was held tightly in the Baby Bjorn. The hike was short but packed a lot of vistas in a short walk. We even got a bonus with some jeweled dew collected on the plants that were near the mountain top. A good survival weapon in the summertime when Washington does actually dry out quite a bit.

 I wished we had gotten up the energy to do a descently long hike on this day, but as a consolation prize, it was still nice to take the easy way out and get the benefits without the cause for too hard of work.

Hole in the Wall

Back in Port Angeles, we took a day to relax and play some pickleball, then it was out again the next day. We drove the hour and a half out to Rialto Beach to take Zyla to the Pacific Ocean. Dad came with us and got to deal with all the fun of having a little baby. As soon as we got there, Jacqueline had to feed Zyla so we went out to the beach. This was not one of the nicer days in Washington, but we were going to make due. It was in the mid-60s and a little bit breezy. We walked some driftwood logs to get that out of our system since I wouldn't be doing it with the baby. We got the ladies when they were done feeding and once again I got to carry the little one. I enjoyed doing this, though, it was definitely more of a workout then normal. She seemed pretty happy in her Bjorn and we were off to hike down the beach. We had no itinerary, but knew that Hole in the Wall was only a mile and a half away. This was a new experience for Jacqueline also as she had never been to a Northwest beach as far as I knew. I always think back to the Henry Weinhard's commercial where a bunch of guys are sitting by a big driftwood log. They see a lady walking far away very bundled up. They throw a beach ball her way as the wind takes it for a ride. Then the announcer says, "Nothing like a Northwest beach to keep the Henry's cold." It is a perfect example of what it was like. We had fun walking around near the driftwood, through the sand, avoiding the waves and sometime getting hit by them when my oblivious wife was not paying attention and I would run into her. There was quite a large number of people out from various different recreation interests. There were campers, backpackers, casual hikers like us, and people who looked like they had not hiked in many years. It was cool for Jacqueline to see all the durable rock that stood out in the ocean waters. I am still impressed that years of the waves pounding on these rocks still have not taken them down. Well we made it to Hole in the Wall. We could not go farther because the tide was in making it only possible to go farther if we went up and around. That was not going to happen with the little baby attached to me. The way back was much cooler. We were now walking into the wind and it seemed the temperature dropped about ten degrees. Jacqueline forgot to bring much of Zyla's gear with us, so she was hungry and probably in need of a diaper change. By the end of the hike back she got fussy which made her parents concern. But back in the warm car and a good feeding put her in a better mood for the long ride home. We were happy that we got to bring Zyla to the Pacific Ocean even if it was a little bit too cold for her to take a dip in the water on this day. There would be plenty of time for her in the future, though.