Week 4: Death Valley, Lake Mead and Coral Pink Sand Dunes

The drive from San Diego to Death Valley felt long, but I think we just had to get used to being in the car again. We arrived to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center around 4:30pm, just before closing time. We were able to grab our junior ranger packets and ask about camping options. The Sunset Campground, closest to the visitor center and at an elevation below sea level (that sounds unique, right?!), was open that night so we headed over. We were immediately unimpressed with our choice of camping locations.

The campground was a barren, gravel parking lot with no shade or structures other than the bathroom buildings in each corner of the space. The wind was whipping through the space and the temperature at 6pm was still in the upper eighties. We contemplated our options - Spencer even wandered the space until he found enough of an internet connection to check the availability at the nearby privately-maintained golf resort in the middle of the hottest desert on the continent (eye roll)... those rooms were out of our price range. We decided to stick it out - we weren't alone; in the parking lot of 200+ spaces there were at least 3 or 4 other parties that looked like they would be in this with us.

With the wind so fierce, we ended up preparing sandwiches for dinner in the car (after having the same sandwiches for lunch... luckily the kids didn't complain at all) instead of cooking on our camp stove. We also opted to move boxes around in the car to clear space for a sleeping pad so that we wouldn't have to set up the tent alongside the camper. We were glad to have a full charge on our solar-powered car battery to run our cooler. We opened the windows and vent in the camper, and ran the fan during the night once the wind died down. We ended up running out of power around 5 in the morning, but all in all, we were decently rested the next morning. We ate a quick, no-cooking breakfast of muffins from the gluten free bakery before heading out to explore more of the park.

We started off the morning at the visitor center again where Emmett and Josie became junior rangers for the 5th time on our trip. Then we headed to the lowest elevation in North America - the Badwater Basin - to lick some fresh salt crystals from the ground. The geology of the park is fascinating - it boasts some of the biggest extremes in North America. It has the greatest elevation change from lowest to highest elevation points; it is the lowest, driest and hottest location; and although the highs while we were there were around 105 degrees F, there was still snow on the mountain peaks. The landscape reminded me a lot of the desert in Oman due to how rocky and plant-less it was, though Oman didn't have snow-covered mountains.

After seeing the Badwaters, we headed toward the park's exit with a quick stop at the Zabriskie Point viewpoint. As they were not recommending outdoor activities between 10am and 5pm, we called it a day around 11:30am and moved on to the next location.

In our original plans, we were actually going to head to Sequoia National Park before Death Valley, but due to extremely cold and snowy weather forecasts, we decided to forego the Redwoods until another time. And because we had already seen parts of the Mojave Desert during our time in Joshua Tree, we decided to make our way to Lake Mead National Recreation Area next. We made an excellent decision. On the way to the lake, we drove through Las Vegas, and as Spencer had never been there before, we extended Josie's nap time by driving along The Strip. It all seemed very glamorous. We were glad to be driving through.


We camped at the Boulder Beach Campground, where there were trees, a breeze and a gorgeous view of the lake (which was within walking distance). While there for 3 nights, we swam in the cool lake waters each day, rested around the campground, rented a boat and saw the Hoover Dam from the lake side, did the Junior Ranger work, and on our way out, saw the Hoover Dam from the bridge above it. It was restful and pleasant.

Our next stop was the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Southwest Utah. We arrived there on Thursday night and were excited to have cool enough temperatures to have to pull out our sleeping bags and mittens again. It even rained on us three or four times while we were there! It was so refreshing!

The next day, Friday, was Emmett's 5th birthday and we were glad to be with our friends who helped us to celebrate. That morning, Emmett requested pancakes for breakfast, ate in our friends' camper, and then opened his presents from us: a hydration backpack, a science experiments activity book and a bat-copter toy (Emmett had picked that one for himself a couple months before his birthday and knew it was coming). The kids headed out after breakfast into the sand dunes on their own - what a fun place to have some kids-only adventures! Josie lasted the shortest amount of time, so Chris headed out to bring her and Sierra back. While the two boys were exploring on their own, I was putting together a birthday scavenger hunt. It was fun to be able to explore the park by finding places to hide goodies and clues, and to be able to bury the treasure deep in the sand.

The kids returned from their exploration and were tired, but excited to complete the scavenger hunt. They figured out all of the 5 clues and dug up the buried treasure, only to immediately ask for more clues and another scavenger hunt! After some cheese and bean quesadillas for lunch, we tried to get the kids to nap. Rio and Sierra napped without a problem, but neither Emmett nor Josie were interested in letting each other sleep - they were too wound up. So we skipped making the birthday "cake" (cherry crumble) for that afternoon and instead started in on making dinner so that the kids could get to bed early.

The following day, Saturday, we woke the kids up by 7:30 so that we could eat some breakfast and head over toward Kanab, Utah, to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. Best Friends is the largest no-kill animal sanctuary in the country. It is over 3700 acres in a gorgeous valley, and is home to thousands of animals who otherwise would be homeless. It specializes in taking in animals with physical or behavioral needs (it is most famous for taking in dozens of fighting dogs that were to be sent to be euthanized because they were too behaviorally dangerous - many of those dogs were rehabilitated and now live with adoptive families). The tour was interesting, especially for the adults, but the kids were ready to get out of their car seats by the time we were done.

At that point we headed to a playground in Kanab, Utah, and had a picnic lunch before heading back to the Coral Pink Sand Dunes campground and napping. Since both Emmett and Josie napped (finally!!), Spencer and I made the cherry crumble over the fire, prepared the food for dinner, and were ready when the kids awoke to have a birthday cake snack and to explore the dunes together. Emmett, Rio and Josie all tried sledding down the dunes until it started raining on us again, so we headed back to camp for dinner and bedtime.

The following day, Sunday, was our last morning in the dunes before heading to Zion National Park area, where we were scheduled to meet up with Spencer's parents, Roger and Mary. 

Our Route

Our route to our "San Diego House":

Our route home:

A Week of Fun in San Diego

We arrived in San Diego on Sunday, April 28 and were allowed to check in to our AirBnB early, so took advantage of that time to clear and clean out our car and camper and do lots of laundry. The kids both took naps while Spencer and I cleaned so we were able to be very productive. We had our gear cleaned up and airing out all over the house by the time Spencer's brother, Austin, and his family joined us around dinner time. The four kids, between 1 and almost-5, were excited to see each other and get a week of cousin-time together. Spencer and Austin, who both work for the same consulting company (but with different customers), were planning to work from our AirBnB house throughout the week.

On Monday, we decided to hit up the Fleet Science Center for the morning. After a fun time playing mostly in the "Kid Zone," we made it home for lunch and Hatcher and Emmett got to spend their quiet time playing together while Josie and Darwin napped. We didn't take on anything else that afternoon, in hopes of having well-rested kids for the next day.

On Tuesday, we took advantage of the rainy forecast to hit up the San Diego Zoo. It was wonderful! We got there pretty close to opening time (9am), met up with our friends Chris, Rio & Sierra, and made it all the way until 4pm, when all of the kids basically asked to leave because they were so tired and done. We started the journey with a bus tour, then headed out with our wagons and stroller. The highlights were seeing "elephants eating food" (Josie), walking through the "bird cage"/aviary and the seeing the cheetah who lived with the golden retriever (Emmett). All of the kids loved riding a sky tram/gondola as well. Josie still asks for the story of the day we went to see the elephants eating food. She was impressed! And the kids slept hard that night.

Wednesday was scheduled to be a bit warmer, so we headed to Chris, Jen, Rio and Sierra's AirBnB on the beach. They were right on La Joya, near a playground and public beach. The kids were pretty tired from the zoo adventure, so we took it easy by playing with sand toys at the playground and on the beach, then heading home for a nap after a picnic lunch. That afternoon, we had the chance to meet with my cousin, Mike, who has lived in San Diego for a long time, and who I hadn't seen since I was a kid. We met at Mission Beach and had a picnic dinner while the kids played in the sand. We got to watch the sunset while eating ice cream - the kids decided they really liked Mike and asked to see him again (and asked for the visit to include ice cream again, too.)

The next day we headed back to the coast, but this time to a place called The Children's Beach, near La Joya, where a bunch of seals live and play. We watched the seals, played in the sand and climbed lots of rocks before picnicking and heading home for nap. That afternoon we headed to another playground in downtown San Diego. My kids had a hard time dealing with their exhaustion that afternoon, so we took it easy on Friday again.

Friday morning we sampled some baked goods at a gluten free bakery near our house, then headed to Balboa Park to check out the Model Train Museum. The kids all LOVED it. We ended early that morning to try to get home for lunch and nap. Emmett loved all the quiet time he got to spend with his cousin, Hatcher. Their favorite activity turned out to be building forts out of the couch cushions, and they loved calling Darwin random words, followed by "head" ("Darwin is a cereal-head! Hahahaaa!"). They got to have lots of time to be silly together.

Austin, Summer, Hatcher and Darwin headed out Saturday morning to head back north to Oregon. After saying goodbye to them, we met with our friends, Del and Ali, who used to be our next door neighbors in Fort Collins. They invited us to meet at Liberty Station - an old military base converted to park and shopping/food area. Then after lunch and a lost nap time, we purchased a new car top carrier (our old one we sold earlier in the week because it rubbed the paint on the door of our car every time we opened the back hatch - the new one is shorter and wider), then met up with Cousin Mike again, this time at a little beach in front of a club where he likes to do some ballroom dancing, and where he would be dancing later that evening. We brought along some popsicles and the kids were content. We ended up staying at the little bar and hearing the band's first few songs and dancing with Mike a little. The kids only loved him more after that experience.

Sunday marked the end of our time in San Diego. We headed north out of town toward Death Valley National Park. We were sad to say goodbye to the city in which we had just spent such a lovely week. But we hope to head back that way sometime in the future - it is such a nice place to travel with kids.

Mesa Verde, Grand Canyon & Joshua Tree

I finished the first blog post and folded the laundry on our first full day in Mesa Verde. During that time, Spencer took Emmett and Josie to the visitor center to get the materials for becoming Junior Rangers again. The kids were both very enthusiastic about the program after their experience at Great Sand Dunes.

After the boring morning of laundry and cleaning up, we skipped nap and took the kids to the park's museum so that E & J could start on their Junior Ranger work. The museum and visitor center at this park were great - there was so much to learn about our location and the kids really got into it. We saw our first glimpse of the ruins built by the Ancestral Pueblo people. Without a nap, though, we cut our visit short and headed back to camp for a quick dinner and bed. Emmett was excited to meet a friend, Atlas, whose family is from Albuquerque, NM and who was around camp at dinner time as well as other meal times throughout the Easter weekend. They threw snow balls, built forts and climbed trees together. Having other kids around certainly makes for a more pleasant experience for our kids and for us.

Our second full day in Mesa Verde was Easter Sunday. The kids didn't realize it was Easter since we had celebrated the holiday the Sunday before our departure, but there was something special about celebrating the equinox and spring and new life that day. We played in the snow, chased down bugs with nets, and thought about trying to do a tour of some of the ruins, though Josie's and Emmett's sleeplessness put a damper on any major or strenuous exploring we might've thought we would do. Instead of a tour, we headed back to the museum in hopes of completing a driving loop that would allow us several opportunities to see ruins. The kids were enthusiastic until about the third time we had to re-buckle their seat belts. But we saw some ruins, got to have some fresh air, and had a little picnic lunch at a viewpoint of the most famous Mesa Verde village ruins - Cliff Palace. We tried to have the kids nap in the car on our way back to camp (the park is huge and the drive is long), but since neither of them have ever been good sleepers in the car, that didn't happen. So that meant for another early dinner and bedtime.

While driving around Mesa Verde, Josie had her first experience with a pit toilet. She was terrified of sitting on one (who can blame her?) and has since then regressed to using diapers throughout the day again. I guess potty training can wait until we get back.

On Monday the 22nd of April, we packed up our gear and continued our journey west. Our next stop was the Grand Canyon, and the most exciting part for Emmett was that we would be meeting up with his friends from school, Rio and Sierra, and their family.
We had to stop at the visitor center on our way out to pledge to be great junior rangers then headed out over the mountains. We listened to LOTS of Disney's Frozen soundtrack and we stopped at the Four Corners monument and ate our picnic lunch after the obligatory photos of us standing on four states at one time. Then we met up with Rio and Sierra's family just before the turnoff into the national forest just outside the Grand Canyon - they had driven from Moab that day. We found a place to camp on a forest road just outside the park. Since we weren't in a campground and therefore didn't have toilets, we had to dig holes for our toilet. Emmett loves this - Josie did not.

As usual at this point, we were lacking sleep for our first full day at the Grand Canyon so we had a rough morning. We had hoped to hike the rim walk with the kids, but Emmett had several major meltdowns so instead we saw the visitor center and completed the Junior Ranger packets there. We got to see some elk, a couple of awesome views of the canyon, a great movie about the canyon and its history and formation, and then we headed back to the camper for naps. The kids napped hard and we had a delicious dinner then headed back to one of the visitor centers to catch a ranger talk and complete our Junior Ranger requirements. Due to the long line at the entrance into the park, we just missed the talk, but luckily the ranger worked with us to complete our badges anyway. We spent some time exploring the Watch Tower at the Desert View visitor center and headed back to camp for dinner and bed.


On Wednesday, we said "so long," to Rio and Sierra's family for a day (we would be meeting them the following day at Joshua Tree National Park) and we headed further west to see if we could get a campsite inside the park. Joshua Tree was in bloom this year, due to the flooding earlier in the season, so the campsites have been booked for months. We were hoping for a first-come first-served site on a Wednesday.

We stopped at the Grand Canyon campground for a quick shower, then stopped again for some groceries before the long drive. Unfortunately for us, showers and groceries took until after lunch time and so we still had a long drive ahead of us before camping out for the night. We called the visitor center at Joshua Tree and they thought we wouldn't be able to find a spot so late in the day and recommended we find a place at a private campground outside the park. We ended up staying overnight north of the town of Joshua Tree and though it was appealing to have showers and toilets in the desert heat, we really wanted to spend time inside of Joshua Tree and knew that driving in and out each day would be hard with young kids. So we packed up as quickly as we could on Thursday morning to head into the park to see if we could get a couple of sites inside.

After a bit of time exploring our options, we ended up finding 2 sites next to each other at the White Tank campground - what luck for us and for our friends! We set up camp and then took the kids for a drive in hopes they would fall asleep with the air conditioner running hard. They did - YES! We decided that at nearly $4 a gallon, that nap probably cost us over $20. But hey, at least the kids were better people afterwards. Emmett and Josie worked on their Junior Ranger booklets, climbed all over the boulders and chased down lizards. Right around bedtime, our friends arrived and we hung out with them for the following two days.

On Friday we packed some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for breakfast and plenty of snacks and took the kids right over to hike after getting dressed. With 4 adults and 4 kids between 2 and 5 years old, we managed a less-than-2 mile hike and it took us over 2 hours. Every time we stopped Emmett made sure we understood how hot and exhausted he was and we reminded him that the longer we wait, the hotter the sun will be for the rest of our journey.
We made our goal: Skull Rock. Josie decided to be scared of "Skuw Wock" and wouldn't stand with the group for a photo. But a few "cuddews" (cuddles) helped her feel well enough to get back to the car. We had pancakes for lunch and tried to get Josie to nap in Spencer's tent under a shade canopy, but she wasn't able to. Luckily, Emmett got to nap in his friends' camper and he was the only one who slept that afternoon (crazy). We let him stay up to see the stars with Josie's Christmas present - a kid  telescope. He felt really good about himself for earning such a tremendous reward for sleeping. Josie got to look at the morning moon the next day - she was asleep before 7pm; long before the stars were visible.

We had been planning to stay a full day in Joshua Tree again on Saturday and head to San Diego on Sunday, but with the heat  in the mid to upper nineties and lack of napping options, we decided to find a campground for Saturday night that would be closer to our next destination. We found a place just north of San Diego where we showered and slept, then we headed to our AirBnB for an early check-in on Sunday. Stay tuned for another post (hopefully soon!) that tells the tales of our San Diego adventures. Until then, tata!

Starting again: Our month camping around the Southwest

The Colorado Kathol adventures continue…

Hello Family and Friends,

Our month-long adventure around the Southwest has begun! We are writing this post from the southern corner of Colorado in the Mesa Verde National Park where we are taking a slow morning to visit with campground neighbors, and take advantage of the showers and laundry facilities at this park. As this is our first post, I’ll start from the beginning!

Although we have been planning this trip for months, we ended up getting a later start than expected. We were scheduled to head out on Monday, April 15 with our camper, kids and gear, but due to an unforeseen structural problem with our little camper trailer, we ended up using an extra day to fix it up and get on the road. Not bad for a delay, really, and we’re glad our camper is safe and functional. So on Tuesday the 16^th, we left our dog Bodie to watch over the house (with a friend), and we headed south.

Our first stop was the Great Sand Dunes National Park where we spent 3 cold nights. So far, Emmett, Josie and I have been sharing the camper and Spencer has had the luxury of sleeping by himself in the tent. Spencer says he’ll absolutely try to sleep in the camper with the kids, but the kids haven’t allowed that yet – once we’re all more comfortable with the camping life, we’ll deal with that battle so that I can sleep more soundly. Both kids woke up disoriented the first 2 nights, but Emmett seems to have adjusted at this point. Josie woke up crying inconsolably for about 45 minutes to an hour the first two nights so for night number three, I broke down and gave her the forbidden pacifier and told her she’ll only get to use it for the trip while she’s sleeping in the camper (we took it away over a month ago and it has been a hard transition for Josie, and therefore all of us, but seriously – everyone in the campground is sleeping better now). She has not woken up screaming since (4 nights in, so 2 nights of no screaming!!), though she wakes me up plenty so that she can “cuddle” (which means she lays on my head while I’m sound asleep).

Emmett has taken to getting cozy in his sleeping bag each night but usually once or twice finds himself out of it and needs to get back in (with help); Josie wriggles free of any sort of blanket and refuses to wear the multiple sleep sacks I brought (basically blankets that zip onto the kid), so I’m sure part of the waking up at night is because she’s uncomfortable. Luckily, Mesa Verde is warmer than Sand Dunes so we’re hoping things get better from here.

Our camper is now equipped with solar panels so that we can run fans, the cooler, lights, and charge phones and other equipment – it has been so cool! Spencer never ceases to impress me with his do-it-himself abilities. We brought a space heater, but realized that it uses too much energy for our little solar panels and car battery to handle – luckily, the sleeping bags, fleece, down and wool blankets have been keeping us cozy. My homemade mesh shelf and kitchen organizer have also been put to good use – we’re glad for all the improvements on our little camper trailer.

Due to construction at the dunes, we arrived on Tuesday and stayed in the half of the campground that was open but then were told on Wednesday morning that we had to switch to the other campground. Due to the change, we were fortunate to get a spectacular campsite. We were right next to the dunes and got to watch them glow a velvety softness while the sun was setting each day.

On Wednesday, we hiked from the campground to the little creek where the kids played in the sand and water for a while, but the clouds were blocking the sun and the snow-melt creek was frigid, so we didn’t last too long. The kids, of course, refused to nap and therefore had a crabby afternoon. We decided to spend the rest of the cold and crabby afternoon at the visitor center where Emmett did the work to earn a Junior Ranger badge. Josie, as expected, saw the badge and wanted one too. So she then filled out a workbook (with help) and pledged to take care of the earth and learn more about the national parks so that she could earn one too. The ranger who swore her in was so happy that she finally agreed to answer “yes” to her pledge and that she got to swear in her youngest junior ranger yet. Dinner tasted excellent that night and the early bedtime felt good for everyone.

With such a gorgeous site and not wanting to make the kids sit in the car for another long day too soon, we decided to stay another full day at the dunes. We spent more time playing in the sand and the kids were a little better rested. We are so glad we stayed – the sun shined all day and we packed a lunch, so we got to spend several hours playing in the water and sand. Spencer and Emmett hiked up one of the bigger dunes and Josie played happily in the sand and water. The water was so shallow that the sun warmed it to bath temperature. Then, Josie even napped that day! We’re looking forward to more visits to the Sand Dunes in the future.

We packed up camp by about 10am and Emmett said good bye to his new campground friends. We stopped for lunch in between the dunes and Pagosa Springs and stopped once more in Durango to stock up on some fresh groceries. We arrived to Mesa Verde around dinner time and made some pita pizzas over our little camp stove. The kids played in the woods and in the snow a little while we finished setting up camp, then we tried to go to bed early (which didn’t happen…). We are all feeling a little tired today, but were glad to just hang out this morning and are even more glad to have showered. Josie’s pink clothes (she refuses to put on any of the clothes I brought for her that are not pink) – and the rest of ours – are almost done in the washing machine. Spencer brought the kids to the visitor center so that they can earn more junior ranger badges and I am typing this. We will likely take a drive to see some ruins this afternoon before making another early dinner and bedtime.

We’ll be here two more nights and hope to see some more of the Ancient Pueblo ruins tomorrow. Given Josie’s lack of sleep, we’re thinking we won’t be doing the guided tours to the ruins that include climbing ladders, so we will look into stopping at Hovenweep where we can see some ruins up close without the climb. On Monday or Tuesday, we will head toward the Grand Canyon and hope to find a first-come first-served site there. Wish us luck!

Our last month here!! Including a week in Ireland.

Well, we haven't slowed down! July was full of visitors, playdates and adventures. The culminating adventure on this post, and for our time here in England, was our longest trip since arriving - a week in Ireland.

The "ice creams" were COLD!

Emmett & Oscar
Before Ireland, Emmett and I spent nearly every weekday that we didn't have visitors with Emmett's friend Oscar. They played on various playgrounds, picnicked, ran through fountains, sang and danced, and scooted all over Windsor together. Saying goodbye before our trip to Ireland was bittersweet - we truly hope Oscar's family and his au pair, Beatriz, have a chance to visit us sometime in Colorado and that we can visit them in their homes either here in England or in Barcelona, Spain. Oscar and his family left while we were in Ireland to spend their month-long summer break in Spain with their families.


The Ascot Races with Emmy & Sam

The horses passed by quickly!

Our first visitors of the month were our friends Sam and Emmy, who spent about 10 days touring England while their 2 year old daughter was with grandparents back in Minnesota. Emmett absolutely adored them both from the moment he met them (he had met them and their daughter about a year ago but I'm not sure he remembered). We spent a Friday evening with them in London enjoying some street food, then the following day they joined us in Windsor for a trip to the castle and then a bus ride to the Ascot Race Course for an afternoon at the horse races. The horse race was exciting. Sam and Spencer placed bets but decided they would need to be more knowledgeable about the contestants before being more serious about gambling. Emmett loved watching the horses and wished they wouldn't run so fast then just disappear. Emmy and I both enjoyed people watching - people really dress up for the races!

More Visitors, A Race & A Musical
The next visitor was my friend Samantha who I know from UW-Madison. Sam stayed with us for 2 nights and introduced us to a couple of her British friends whom she works/worked with at a British international school in Vietnam. It was fun to be with such energetic and thoughtful people! Again, Emmett loved Samantha and her friends because they allowed him to take center-stage for a lot of the time we were together. I wish we had taken a photo of all of us together!

Team J2 competing in the Great Relay Race at the Queen's Olympic Stadium

The day Samantha left on the train was the same day my mom arrived to the Heathrow airport!! We hired a taxi to bring her to our place and Emmett managed to stay awake long enough to say hello to Grandma before his afternoon nap. My mom has been here since mid-July and will be staying with us until we depart! Even with jet lag on her second day here, my mom volunteered to watch Emmett so that Spencer and I could attend his race on the east side of London and have dinner with his fellow runners and coworkers afterward. Spencer met his goal of running a (nearly) 7-minute mile 5K and was the fastest of his team of 4 J2ers (J2 is the name of the consulting company for which he works).  It was a late but fun date night for us. :)

On our way to see Book of Mormon!

The first weekend my mom was here, we asked Beatriz to watch Emmett for an afternoon and Spencer and I took my mom to the Picadilly Circus area where we saw our first live musical since being in England. We saw the Book of Mormon and thought it was hilarious and so well performed! At first I was hesitant to see such a "racy" show with my mom sitting next to me, but after the initial shock, we both really enjoyed ourselves. It has spurred some good talk about her experiences touring the mormon church in Salt Lake City and I encouraged her to read Under the Banner of Heaven, by John Krakauer, which has furthered our conversations.

IRELAND!
On Tuesday the 19th of July, the four of us headed to Heathrow airport with a carry-on each for our bucket-list trip to Ireland! We arrived in Dublin a few hours later, rented a car, and spent the night there before starting our first full-day journey on Wednesday morning. We spent 6 full days in Ireland, all of which provided glimpses at gorgeous landscapes and allowed us to delight in tasty food (and for Spencer and my Mom - beer). I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to eat gluten free - not like my experiences in England and in other parts of Europe. And we are grateful to Spencer's colleague, Daragh, a native Irishman, who gave us a list of recommended highlights to visit along the journey - we wouldn't have seen nearly the same sites if it weren't for his input!

Here is a map that marks all of the highlights we visited for each of the 6 full days (I had fun putting that together!). And I encourage you to look at the July photo album, too, though the camera couldn't capture Ireland's beauty.

Day 1 in Ireland: 
We left Dublin a little later than planned due to a late breakfast and a lost Spencer (he ran out of phone battery on his way back from the grocery store so it took him an hour to find our flat... but he found it!!). We headed from Dublin via the Wicklow Mountains National Park to an area called Glenndalough. The visitor centre there was a perfect place for a quick picnic lunch and a chance to stretch our legs as we explored the monastery and river walk. Apparently it is the site of many pilgrimages (buddhists especially) due to the energy released from the surroundings. We wished we had more time to explore.

From Glenndalough we headed south/southwest through Waterford until we found an unnamed turn-off that would lead us to Knockanore - the original home of my great-great-great grandmother. My mom had a visit to this town on her life bucket list and it was fun to be able to take her there along our journey. Knockanore is home to its own brand of cheese, though we got there at 5:15pm, once everything - even the pub - was closed. As far as we could tell, there was a pub, a church and a school in the town itself, and the surrounding farmlands were stunning.

After Knockanore we headed through Cork (where we stopped at a grocery store for a late makeshift dinner) and found our lodging for the next 4 nights - an AirBnB cottage located just outside the town of Bantry. We had a view of the Bantry Bay and on clear days we could see across the bay to the peninsula. The cottage was beautiful; spacious, with toys for Emmett, and very private and cozy. We felt at home for the four nights we stayed there.

Day 2 in Ireland:
The forecast for our second day in Ireland looked slightly gloomy - rain and fog all morning. So we had a much-needed lazy, relaxing morning at the cottage (Mom, Emmett and Spencer ate fresh scones that had been left by the hosts!) then packed into our car midmorning and headed to our neighboring Beara Peninsula for a self-led driving tour along the coast to the tip and back. Emmett slept quite a bit of the drive, as he was sick and not sleeping enough due to the travel. We didn't have quite the vistas we probably would have given less fog, but we certainly enjoyed the green, peaceful, magical surroundings and the colorful small towns that we drove through.

We got to the tip of the peninsula which is home to Ireland's only cable car. The cable car carries its passengers to the island across the way called Dursey, which according to our sources has cool hiking paths and a village but not much else. We didn't cross over to the island but we enjoyed climbing the rocks, watching for dolphins, and feeling the wind in our hair at the site of the cable car. The rain had cleared by then and we started back east on the northern side of the peninsula. The views were spectacular, especially when the sun peaked out from behind the clouds.

Our favorite part of the day was crossing over the Healy Pass that led us back to the southern side of the peninsula. The narrow, windy road led up and over green mountains, speckled with sheep. We drove through trees and forests, then around grass covered rocks, along streams and waterfalls and finally had glimpses of the sparkling ocean again. The drive took longer than we had budgeted for time wise, so we hurried home and had a quick spaghetti dinner before crashing and sleeping hard.



Day 3 in Ireland:
We had promised Emmett that he could throw rocks in the ocean (his favorite thing to do while traveling these days) all the way back on Tuesday en route to Dublin. Friday morning - our third full day in Ireland - we finally fulfilled that promise. After breakfast we drove toward Glengarriff, a town just northwest of Bantry, searching out a cove with a rocky beach. Spencer spotted a good stopping point and we piled out of the car down a small slope, to a manmade sand beach with rocks along the beach and ocean floor for as far as one could see. We arrived at low tide so we had even more access to rocks. Emmett was in heaven. He found a broken sand pail that had been left behind by someone else, Grandma helped him find a good flat rock that he could use as a shovel, and he went to work digging in the sand. In the meantime, Spencer found some excellent skipping rocks and commenced to show off his exceptional rock-skipping skills. Emmett was intrigued and soon joined in at rock throwing. We had only planned on staying for 20 or 30 minutes, but ended up spending the whole morning at the cove. Another little girl and her mother joined at the beach with a proper shovel and bucket, and Emmett was excited to have someone to build towers with. Kelly (who was around 6) was very patient with Emmett, even when he destroyed the towers that she had decorated with seashells. Overall, this was probably Emmett's favorite morning of the entire trip.

We went back to the cottage for nap time, hoping that Emmett would catch up a bit on his missing sleep (and be in a better mood that evening). I stayed with him while Spencer and my mom explored a market and pub in Bantry. After Emmett awoke, we headed back to Glengarriff where we boarded the last ferry taking people to Garnish Island, a small island converted into a giant garden. From the windows of the boat we saw seals, eagles & nests, castles and large homes. The gardens were spectacular and we loved letting Emmett run (mostly) free. We only had an hour on the island before the last ferry back, so we were quick about our self-guided tour, but thoroughly enjoyed everything we did see. We had dinner in Bantry - delicious locally caught fish with mashed potatoes and veggies. Yum.

Day 4 in Ireland:

For our last full day in the Cork/Kerry counties area, we decided to head north to see a glimpse of Kilarney National Park. We had a delicious, traditional lunch in the town of Kilarney (meat and potatoes and veggies), then headed to a carpark where we had hoped to find a short loop to hike before Emmett's nap. We found a parking spot and ended up starting our hike late enough that we decided on bringing Emmett's stroller, hoping he'd sleep on our walk to a waterfall just a "2Km loop" away. The walk took much longer than we thought (I think it was 2Km just to get to the waterfall) and Emmett barely slept (again... ugh). But we still opted to drive the long way back to Bantry through the Gap of Dunloe - a drive that came highly recommended by Spencer's friend Daragh - and we were not disappointed by our decision. Again, the road was narrow and precarious, but Spencer navigated without a stitch and the views were breathtaking. It made me want to bike across Ireland and spend more time exploring the less-traveled areas.

Day 5 in Ireland:

On Sunday the 24th of July, we left our temporary home in Bantry with a final destination of Dublin, but with a few planned sightseeing stops along the way. Our first stop was in a small area along a lake called Gougane Barra. Daragh had told Spencer that many films set in Ireland are filmed in this region as the landscape is very stereotypically Irish. Again, we appreciated having the suggestion that we stop - the lake and the views were beautiful and we spent time stretching our legs by throwing rocks in the lake and walking around a charming little church in the area. From there we headed north along small country roads toward Limerick, where we changed course and headed more west (instead of straight east to Dublin) so that we could see the Cliffs of Moher.

The Cliffs of Moher are one of Ireland's biggest natural attractions so we were not surprised to see a full parking lot and people everywhere. We didn't have a lot of time if we were going to still get dinner and make it to Dublin at a reasonable time, so we quickly perused the gift shop and visitor centre, then headed up the walkway to the cliffs. It was amazing what a difference it made to see the cliffs under the shade of clouds compared to 15 minutes later when the sun made an appearance. They were certainly impressive and we wished we could have had more time to walk along the top ledge, but we'll have to add that to our list of things to explore when we go back someday. :)

Day 6 in Ireland:

We spent two nights in Dublin so that we could have at least one full day there. We found an AirBnB apartment across the street from the Phoenix Park which is home to the Dublin Zoo, so we decided to spend the morning there. We later learned that Phoenix Park is the biggest metropolitan park in all of Europe and later in the day we drove through part of it in search of a playground only to discover that it is several miles long and is not meant as a shortcut to get across town. Oh, and we didn't find the playground. But Monday morning we only got a glimpse of the park before heading into the zoo. We got there right at opening time and got to see the zoo keepers feed several of the animals their breakfasts. The lions were making lots of noise in anticipation for food, and the orangutans, having just been let out of their nighttime enclosures, quickly made their way up the tree structures and played above our heads on the ropes over the pedestrian path.  Overall, we were quite impressed by the space and enclosures provided the animals and by the variety of animals we were exposed to. And of course, Emmett loved it all.

After a lunch at the zoo, I hurried back to our apartment to nap with Emmett - both of us had been lacking sleep all week - and I wasn't super interested in paying to tour the Guinness Storehouse (one of the biggest Dublin attractions, apparently) with Spencer and my mom when I couldn't even try the beer (when will all beer be gluten free??). So Spencer and my mom came back with stories about the dramatic tour they went on and about the lessons that were provided on how to properly pour a Guinness. It seemed they had a good time.

For dinner, Spencer googled what turned out to be an exceptional choice of restaurants. We ate at the Brazen Head pub, which also happens to be Ireland's oldest pub. For an appetizer, we shared an order of mussels cooked in a white wine sauce. For entrees, I had a delicious chowder, my mom had some traditional bacon (it looked like ham to me) with potatoes and cabbage and veggies, and Spencer had an Irish beef stew. The food was phenomenal - Emmett ate everyone's and couldn't get enough. We made it home for another late bedtime and prepared for an early departure back into Heathrow.

I would highly encourage anyone to visit Ireland. We loved it.


So this concludes our time in England. We have been packing, entertaining Emmett, saying goodbye to a few people and trying to use up the food in our cupboards for the past week and we head out of here on Sunday the 7th (happy 6th anniversary, Spencer!!). Spencer will be back for a few more weeks during August and September, but Emmett and I will be back in Colorado preparing for his baby sister's arrival. We have no regrets about coming here and are already talking about potential future adventures.

Things we are looking forward to in Colorado:
- seeing Bodie (our dog)
- friends & family
- a normal sized refrigerator
- our beds!!
- having a large yard and garden space for Emmett to play
- a separate washing machine and dryer
- easy access to Mexican & Vietnamese food
- our camping equipment & our bikes
- the mountains

Things we will miss in Windsor:
- friends
- the playgrounds (there are real see-saws & merry-go-rounds here!)
- all the daily toddler-friendly activities we could attend
- having a super small apartment to clean (& minimalistic living in general)
- daily runs up to and around a 1000 year old castle
- feeding swans (& geese & ducks) on the Thames River
- taking the trains to get around
- being able to walk EVERYwhere we needed to go

We feel inspired and grateful to be have had this life changing adventure. Thanks for keeping up with us!

Cheers!