Last year we visited Death Valley on our way to visit my parents in AZ. We were only supposed to stay 1 day, and ended up staying 3 (and getting in trouble because we didn't have any cell signal, and couldn't tell anyone... oops). We LOVED it there. It was beautiful, warm, and sunny! So, this year, we decided to take a vacation, ONLY to Death Valley! We had 9 days there, and it was fabulous! We brought all the bikes, and it was an adventure we'll never forget. Some of our favorite experiences were:

1. Biking with the family

Most of the time it was James and I on the tandem, and Todd hauling the train with Glenn on back of the tandem, Alex following on the trail-a-bike, and Princess Ellie following behind with the whole trailer to herself! Todd got a great workout, needless to say, and I am indebted to his legs! I had a hard enough time with only one child! But, both of us LOVED having the one-on-one time with the kids. One day we switched, and Todd took James 27 miles through Titus Canyon. They had a blast, and James couldn't stop talking about it! For me... well, let's just say that I gained a MUCH greater appreciation for Todd, as I took the Train on my own bike ride, and it was very hard work! But, there is nothing better than just being able to talk about whatever comes to your mind, notice the little flowers on the side of the road, and hear Alex sing the Star Wars theme song OVER and OVER and OVER again, with shots of a laser-blaster in between. It was priceless. And Alex couldn't get enough biking in! Every day, he was ready to go on another bike ride! He even lasted one time with me for 27 miles on the back of the tandem, which means he can't coast! He did awesome!

2. NOT getting blown into a crater

We huddled behind a wall as the winds grew stronger and stronger and stronger still! We saw the Ubehebe crater from here, and didn't venture any closer, for fear of being blown in! By the time we left, it was 50 mph gusts, and we feared that Ellie's trailer would flip, and not even sure if we would not flip!!!! We said a few silent prayers, and thankfully, we got out of the wind blast soon enough, while our bikes were literally at an angle, as we leaned heavily into the cross-wind so we wouldn't blow over! Whew! We got a few nasty looks, like they couldn't believe we would actually take our children up in this weather! (I wanted to run over to them and tell them it didn't start like this!) But, we only had to go about a 1/2 mile, and we turned, and the wind went behind us, and it was a very fast ride back to the car! What a whirlwind! Todd rode more, and he got about 30 some miles in with a 50 mph gust at his back! Talk about fun! I, in the meantime, was scared to death if our tent was still up! But, I should have been more confident in the engineer in the family, who had our tent staked down for a hurricane! But, I was still very relieved when I came back, and our tent was still standing. HUGE sigh of relief!

3. Hiking

If we weren't biking, we were hiking. The kids loved running around, and sliding down some marble-like canyons. It was gorgeous to see all the different formations, all the different rock colors, and the many different canyons that were all so unique!
4. Salt Flats

The salt flats were amazing! It tastes like salt, everyone! Even though Death Valley only gets 0.2 inches of rain a year, the salt flats are very moist underneath from the Panamint Mountain Range. You would expect it to be dryer than dry, but it's not! It was fascinating, and the kids loved all the different patterns that formed!

5. Building Relationships

The relationship that Alex and Ellie established was priceless. I don't know what clicked on this trip, but suddenly these two were inseparable. They held hands together, played together, and watched out for one another when the other was in trouble. They have not acted like this at home. So, it was wonderful for them to really enjoy one another! And to see Ellie actually put someone else's needs before her own... she's used to being the princess in the family, and demanding her way! But, on this trip, she worried about Alex first. It was a wonderful change of attitude. The vacation was worth it, just for those moments!

Glenn also got along great with Alex! They played in the dirt with some cars, built forts together, and enjoyed quality playing time! It was wonderful to have them thoroughly enjoying one another's company.

James, was definitely older on this trip. He was more responsible, and didn't want to make much noise, and bother other campers around us. He let the others play, helped them when they needed help, but otherwise, was climbing or reading on his own. He's growing up! It was sad to see that he wasn't always his boyish self... I started to see a young man in him... SCARY!
6. Learning about our Alex

We learned that Alex interprets things different than we do! Alex wanted to go on a family hike, and asked Papa if he could go on a family hike with him. Papa said no, because he was getting bikes ready, but maybe afterwards. Alex asked me if I would go on a family hike with him. I said no because I was getting lunches ready for the day, but maybe afterwards. Next thing we know, Alex is climbing up this mini mountain that is very steep!!!! And he gets stuck about 9/10 of the the way up, and is starting to whimper because he's stuck, and can't go up or down!!! As he's starting to panic more and more, Todd and I notice where he is at (as well as the other campers nearby), and Todd runs up the slope to get him. He helps him to the top, and Todd says, "Alex, you can't go up here by yourself! Why did you do that?" Alex tells me, "Well, I wanted to go on a family hike, but you guys wouldn't come with me!" So, Todd took him on a family hike, SAFELY up a mountain, and life was good. Alex was happy, and we all realized we needed to stop once in a while for Alex.
7. Learning about our James

James is born with mountain goat feet. Our boys loved to climb, climb, climb. And thankfully, our campsite was right by many mountains to climb around, so they were off every morning. James was always the first up everything, and the higher he was, the bigger his smile got. He loved the cliffs, loved walking to the edge of them, and loved being the only boy able to do it! It certainly gave him some self-confidence that he was actually quite good at something! Glenn wanted to follow in his footsteps, but definitely was more cautious, which certainly isn't a bad thing! It was nice to know Glenn had limits! James, we had to keep our eye on :-) And Alex was happy, as long as we were biking or hiking. That's all he wanted to do... other than play star wars in the dirt!
8. Learning how to describe Toilet Paper

Alex doesn't like thin toilet paper! When we felt the thin toilet paper at the campground, he instantly said, "Owwww.... what is that?" I explained to him that it was just really thin toilet paper, and they couldn't afford to use soft toilet paper, because it's more expensive. He looks at me with his big brown eyes, "Is this Toilet Paper made out of Cardstock??"

9. Learning about our Glenn

Glenn worries about our family. We learned from many of the rangers scorpions are not good! The smaller the scorpion, the more poisonous. Death Valley has the smallest scorpions :-) Oh yay. Glenn's ears perked up at this knowledge, and always made sure that everyone's shoes were shook out in the morning, and investigated the bathrooms every morning for the rest of us! He came back from his morning duties, announcing to all that there were no scorpions in the bathrooms! It didn'thelp that Todd found one eating a spider at the campground in the bathrooms, and Ellie found a dead one hiding in the toilet paper tube! Yikes! Alex, of course, thought it was very cool!!!! It gave Glenn a greater determination to make sure our family is SAFE!

10. Last but not least, our favorite experience was spending time together as a family.

We LOVE to bike together! The harder our route, the more we worked together, the more fun we had, the more enjoyable the reward was at the end of our journey. We don't get good cell signal at Death Valley, so it's a great place to just be together, with no distractions, and enjoy each other. We loved it, and hope to go again next year!

To all those up North, consider a trip to Death Valley! Of course, we had a few friends go this past week, and it was only in the 70's with gust winds and rain... but most of the time it is beautiful! So, if you can be flexible with your trip a little to get the good weather, it is a nice reprieve from winter, and from every day life!

Have a wonderful day, and hopefully I'll write again soon! Thanks for all of you who have egged me on to start the blog again! I'm grateful for your patience!