Turning 20 in the Promised Land

The very next morning—Gabby’s 20^th birthday arrived! Twenty. Wow! Chase and Graysen woke up super early and took their mountain bikes to a place called Gooseberry Mesa to try the trails. I had mentioned this place when they were all over for dinner one night; the next day Chase and Gabby’s (they don’t like Chabby, so I need something different) favorite youtuber released a video on biking Gooseberry Mesa—what great timing! While they were riding, the birthday girl joined Caeloah to do some dinner prep shopping, and I attempted to decorate the VRBO with the banner and streamers I’d packed . . . but I forgot the blue tape. When they returned Caelan said, “Is that stuck on with Band-Aids?” Yup! And banana tape, lol—we homeschoolers are creative!

Caelan prepped the big hunk of pork she was making for dinner, while I worked on washing eggs (we brought a few dozen with us, because they are the tastiest :) and the other big-breakfast preparations. The VRBO didn’t exactly have chef’s amenities, so we did some more creative thinking. Buck made pancakes on a warped pan over an electric stovetop, and I attempted to make bacon in an equally warped pan in the oven. There were no hot pads, except for the one Gabby’s requested pineapple upside-down cake was cooling on, so I used a dishcloth from the drawer to set the hot bacon pans upon. 

Graysen and Chase arrived home just in time for the meal to begin. Graysen walked into the kitchen to get some water and asked, “Is there supposed to be fire in there?” A seven-inch flame danced behind the oven window glass, gah! When I put the bacon in for more crispy time, the dishcloth went with it and landed on the heating element . . . and then burst into flame. As I’m going through the mental list of salt, baking soda, fire extinguisher, Buck just reached in and grabbed the flaming cloth and dropped it in the sink. The smoke alarms, which amazingly hadn’t gone off yet with the bacon and pancake haze, decidedly did for the flames, but we already had the place open and fans going, so it was not for long. And that is the story of how we almost burned down the rental property on Gabby’s birthday. Lol!

Amazingly, we still managed to have all our backpacks packed, hiking shoes tied, and water bottles stowed at exactly the time we planned to depart! The trip to Zion was cozy with all eight of us, but minivans rock, so that’s okay :) The park was much busier than our previous exploratory visit, so Buck drove us in and dropped us off at the visitor center while he went outside the park to park (for $40, yikes!) We waited for him while browsing the gift shop and making trips to the bathrooms. In no time, we were in line for a big old bus which we rode all the way to the bottom of the park.

Although we couldn’t hike the Narrows due to the rushing spring waters, we did take the little hike down to the end of the paved trail where it would have begun. It was fun to have everyone on the same path . . . which wasn’t very adventurous, but that time was coming. The views were more beautiful on the way out than the way into the canyon. We did our best to keep up with our fast walkers and quick climbers, but knew the next hike would be best to split. So, the young guys and Gabby headed to the steep, switchback trail (you can see it in both pictures below--Gabby's and Brennen's) to Angels Landing—it’s basically a mile straight up a mountain. Buck, Caelan, and I headed to the Emerald Pools . . . which was less strenuous, but not as “easy” as the guidebook said, given the usual trailhead access was closed for repairs.

We later found out Gabby had backtracked, hoping to catch us, but we’d gone out of order, so we didn’t bump into each other. She said having some alone time on the trail (with the other bazillion hikers) was nice, too. Actually, one of those hikers saved us some muscle burn by suggesting we go to the middle and upper pools first, catching the lower on the way back. This turned out to be a good plan—especially since the middle pool was not very impressive. One sweating man, likely from overseas (most guests in the park seemed to be from France or Germany; we were in the minority as English-speaking Americans FOR SURE!), said, “Is this the Middle Puddle? I think the marketing was better than the product.” Lol! He was 100 percent correct! We, too, were expecting lush green pools with a mossy backdrop to flowers blooming, like a tropical paradise. What we got was a weak trickle of water across a rock and tourists with bare feet trying to cool off on the steps leading to the harder hike. But his comical attitude made us laugh, and we continued on to the upper pool which was way cooler—both in experience and temperature! 

It was a sort of pretty puddle . . . I guess

We saw both a very near mule deer in the bushes and very distant climbers on a towering rock face above. 

Where's the deer?

Do you see the climbers?

How about now?

There they are! Those crazy humans!

The furry lizards (squirrels) were not afraid of human visitors, and, in fact, sometimes pursued them in hopes of treats. One lady was terrified of the curious critters and they seemed to know it, because they kept popping up and inching closer while she clung to her (laughing) husband in good-natured terror. All around us were the views—the beautiful, sweeping views that are beyond description. Even photos can’t capture the heights and depths, the colors and shapes, the contrasts and highlights . . . God is glorious!

Caelan got lots of camera time, because Buck and I were not quite as photogenic while hiking up mountainscapes, lol!

Behind the waterfall--oooo!

And shade is wonderful—we hiked back down the steep, sandy terrain with a natural cooling from the sun dipping behind the rock wall. We made it all the way down, including some twisty stairs, to the lower pool to walk behind the waterfall . . . it was more of a mist, but still fun to experience :) We ate some snacks, drank some water (not from the waterfall—it has cynobacteria), and then wondered if the other hikers in our Crew had made it back down their trail. Silly us, of course they had! They said they basically ran down, because it was so steep there was no other choice! After trying to keep up with Caelan on the way back (which was moderately steep and rocky, and we are moderately old and wear out easily ;) we discovered the rest of the younger crowd sitting at picnic tables near the rest area. Chase repeatedly made convincing gobble sounds to the interest of a wild turkey, who puffed his feathers and gobbled right back! We watched them do this for a fairly long time, lol :)

We collectively decided to hop on the bus and head back to the visitor center to make our souvenir purchases—just in time, too, because the gift shop was on the verge of closing! As Graysen and Caeloah didn’t bring money, we did some purchasing for them (there are cool things in NP gift shops!) before walking out of the park to find the promised pressed penny machine nearby. A few of the chalk art drawings remained, so I was glad Gabby got to see them! 

By this time, we were all hungry and I cannot tell you how many times during the day someone said, “I can’t wait for dinner tonight!” Caelan's earlier prepped pork roast stewed in the crockpot all day long. Back at the VRBO we (creatively) transferred the liquid to a simmering pot so she could make the Cuban-inspired rice (recipe from Noah's family file) to go with it. It was delicious!!

Soon it was double cake time—pineapple by request and chocolate with a pretty rainbow scroll for a second option! I dispersed the candles I stowed away in the suitcases to represent Gabby’s 20 years . . . I didn’t realize grouping more than half of them together would create a plume of flame six inches tall (so many plumes of flame in one day)! But Gabby took care of the flickering cake fire following our song, and we enjoyed celebrating her with the sweet treats 😊

A lot has happened since then, but my camera roll indicates that we finished up the murrrr-derrr puzzle I brought along, that evening. Caelan and Brennen powered through it while I worked on planning our next day’s activities. Caelan solved the mystery! There were a lot of loose ends in the storyline, which might also be the case with this blog post now that it is five fun-filled days later (make that 14)! However, I will conclude by saying—I am SO beyond thankful that the newlyweds joined us for these special days of vacation and celebration! Getting to spend Gabby’s last day as a teenager with her, and then being together as she officially entered her twenties, super special! I love the people they are 💗