Dinosaur National Monument - Part 2

So, what else did we do Dinosaur National Monument besides see dinosaurs?  Lots of stuff.  We camped, cooked, cleaned up, and made new friends.  We hiked, explored, and enjoyed the scenery.  We drove, spotted cool things, and photographed.  Three of us also Junior Rangered.  And on the way home, those same three slept.

We stayed at the Green River Campground, right on the river.

This was our little campsite.

Our first dinner was grilled marinated chicken, corn, and broccoli.
I used my favorite marinade recipe and had the chicken pieces marinating
in a Food Saver bag so it would be ready to go as soon as we opened up the pouch.

S'Mores for the kids the first night.
I tried a campfire apple crisp that was pretty yummy.

We made tin foil dinners the second night. We brought kielbasa, bell peppers,
and onions already cut.  All we had to do was place the food in cabbage and
wrap the bundle up with tin foil.  It was so yummy!  After dinner we made s'mores
again, and I tried two new snacks: campfire bananas - very good - and
campfire popcorn.  The popcorn popped well, but it was hard to tell when it
started to burn...  I'll need to work on that one. 

Jack brought a couple of his outside trucks with him to play with,
and he certainly kept those trucks busy.  

Eliza joined him a few times too.

Exploring The Campground,
aka Helping Luke Stay Out of Trouble

When Luke was getting out of hand with eating rocks, walking into the road,
getting too close to the fire, or climbing on things he would inevitably fall off of,
we would put him in the backpack carrier or strap him into his feeding chair.
He didn't think the feeding chair was too bad, when he was being fed.

The kids also had fun down at the Green River on the edge of the campground.

One of the things that made this trip fun for the kids was that there was a family
camped nearby who had 3 kids ages 6-2 and they loved playing with them.
The oldest daughter played at the river too.

We weren't supposed to go swimming because the current was too strong,
but mud pies were not prohibited, as far as we knew.

Jack was eager to climb the big hill that provided the
western border of our campground.  Eliza definitely
enjoyed hiking more when she had her special walking
stick with her.  Our neighbors at the campground brought
duct tape to help their kids make walking sticks, and they
shared with our kids, much to The Bigs' delight.

Cat was the first to complete the required activities in her Junior Ranger booklet
and she did them all independently.  I told the kids a year ago when we went to
Golden Spike National Monument that if they earned 5 Junior Ranger badges and
kept track of them, I would buy each child the cool Ranger vest they saw in the gift shop.
Well, that promise has not been forgotten, and I think Cat was further inspired by a girl
we met this weekend who said she has 30+ badges.  National Parks, here we come!

Jack and Eliza took the pledge too, once they earned their badges.

 

We went on a self-guided driving tour of part of the park, stopping here and there
when something caught our eye.  Such as this cool view.  How interesting are
all of the colors of the rocks, with the mountains being so bare and the area bordering
the river so lush?  And that sky!

Turtle Rock

Elephant Toes Butte

At the end of the driving tour was the Josie Morris Homestead.

Josie Morris built, ranched, and maintained a large tract of land on her own,

in the style of pioneers, until the 1960's when she was hospitalized at the age of 89.

This is the log cabin Josie built.

The kids loved playing house in there.

WILDLIFE:

Some of the animals we saw: lots of rabbits (just one in the picture); a 4-foot gopher (?) snake,
who lived in a hole on our campsite; a frog Cat caught on the campground; a coyote ready to grab a snack;
deer by the river; and deer in our campground.  Not pictured: the many squirrels, chipmunks, and prairie dogs
we spotted (unless you count the rodent the coyote is about to pick up off the road?).

PETROGLYPHS:

These images, etched into the rock, are 800-1000 years old and
courtesy of the Fremont Indians.

I attempted to get a family picture in front of our tent when we were packing up.
We'd already begun pulling stakes out, so the tent is beginning to collapse in the picture.
Also, I couldn't get the timer function to work on my camera, so I'm not in the picture.
Lastly, the kids were done.  So, the picture isn't as good as this one (below) from 2011,
which is still one of my favorite family photos.

First Utah Camping Trip
I love that in this picture Cat is wearing the same FSU sweatshirt Jack had on at DNM.

After we got everything cleaned up and loaded at the campsite,
Ben took The Bigs on a short hike to Box Canyon.  I hung out with Luke
in the car while he took a much needed nap.  I was told that the best part
about the hike was that the canyon provided awesome echoes.  Cool!

Since Luke managed to get a morning nap in the car,
it was The Bigs' turn to sleep during the drive home.
It would seem we did a pretty good job of wearing them out.

Note to self: There are several things we'd like to do in this area if we come back in a few years.  When the kids are 6 and older, we can go on family rafting trips down the river.  We'd also like to check out Moonshine Arch and Fantasy Canyon.