Peanut Butter & Jelly: Valley of the Goblins

On Labor Day, we went to a barbecue with my mom's extended family and had a conversation that went something like this:

Rachel: When are we going to Goblin Valley? Jase has never been there before.
Me: Tim's never been there either! Can we come?
Mom: When can you guys go? Let's pick a weekend right now.
Everyone else: That sounds like fun! Let's all go!

Twenty seconds later, everyone had their phone/iPod/iPhone/etc. out and were checking their calendars. We went back and forth trying to decide which weekend would work best, finally deciding to just go two weekends later. We reserved the group site that night and that was that!

When I was growing up, my family went camping with my mom's extended family every year, usually over Spring Break and sometimes during the summer, too. Together we explored many of the National Parks within driving distance in Southern Utah, Wyoming, and Nevada (if I remember correctly). We went to Goblin Valley two, maybe three times and we always had so much fun. I remember exploring the cliffs behind the campground with my cousins Mike and Quinn and being completely enthralled by the actual Valley of the Goblins with their strange shapes and features. And I remember learning to play Kick the Can in one particular corner and thinking it was the best game ever.

So last weekend was our semi-impromtu (throwback to the good ol' days) camping trip to Goblin Valley. Tim and I had to leave a little early so I could make it back for our ward's Primary Presentation on Sunday, but it was super fun while we were there! It rain for the first eighteen hours we were there, but luckily the group site came with a huge pavilion so we just pitched out tents on the cement and stayed dry. Once the sun came out on Saturday, it was beautiful! We had a corner of the campgrounds to ourselves so we played kickball, dodge ball, four square, and of course, we played Kick the Can in the Valley of the Goblins! Everything was still muddy from the rain so we all got pretty dirty but that was definitely part of the fun. And then we took our flashlights to the Valley of the Goblins when it got dark and played flashlight tag (aka sardines but in the dark), which was fun but a little freaky, I'm not going to lie. It was a fun-filled, action-packed, very short vacation but I loved it.

Camping under the pavilion