part two.

did you miss part one of my camping extravaganza recap? see it here.

i left off with peanut butter pretzels, which, ironically, i am munching on now as i type this post.

i decided to skip out on monday’s details all together. they’re rather typical and i don’t think you want to see another bowl of oatmeal, a plate of egg beaters, a turkey sandwich, a chocolate peanut butter protein shake, a cranbran vitatop, a cereal bar, an apple, a slice of bread with apricot jam and mighty maple, a mound of steamed veggies or a whole lot of cottage cheese. but, for the record, that is what i’ve eaten today.

also, for the record, my workout today consisted of my go to 20 minute HIIT. go to workouts are there for days i have to get back into the swing of working out.. since i didn’t go to the gym for FOUR days. you heard me. four. meh.

moving on to more camping details!

word of advice: if you decide to listen to music through your car stereo while camping, don’t be a doofus and leave the car off but the stereo on for more than 30 minutes. your car battery WILL die. and if you decide to be a doofus, make sure your friends have jumper cables. and a car to give you a jump.

by the way.. the doofus in the situation here was marshall, not me. 

after a quick jump, we were off to the valley of the goblins!

it was a beautiful 7 mile drive from our camp site.

in case you were wondering, here is a little history on how goblin valley came to be and also how it was discovered:

The unusual stone shapes in Goblin Valley result from the weathering of Entrada Sandstone. They consist of debris eroded from former highlands and redeposited on a former tidal flat of alternating layers of sandstone, siltstone and shale. The rocks show evidence of being near an ancient sea with 1) the ebb and flow of tides, 2) tidal channels that directed currents back to the sea and 3) coastal sand dunes.

Joint or fracture patterns within the Entrada’s sandstone beds created initial zones of weakness. The unweathered joints intersected to form sharp edges and corners with greater surface-area-to-volume ratios than the faces. As a result, the edges weathered more quickly, producing the spherical-shaped ‘goblins’.

Goblin valley is noted for several rock art panels as well as the rock formations. The secluded Goblin Valley was then found by cowboys searching for cattle. Then in the late 1920s, Arthur Chaffin, owner/operator of the Hite Ferry, and two companions were searching for an alternate route between Green River and Caineville. They came to a vantage point about one mile (1.6 km) west of Goblin Valley and were awed by what they saw – five buttes and a valley of strange-shaped rock formations surrounded by a wall of eroded cliffs. In 1949 Chaffin returned to the area he called ‘Mushroom Valley’. He spent several days exploring the mysterious valley and photographing its scores of intricately eroded rocks.

Publicity attracted visitors to the valley despite its remoteness. In 1954 it was proposed that Goblin Valley be protected from vandalism. The state of Utah later acquired the property and established Goblin Valley State Reserve. It was officially designated a state park on August 24, 1964.

[source.]

i have been going to goblin valley since i was a kid, but i still remember the first time i laid eyes on the valley full of crazy rock formations. it really is a sight to behold.

we threw on our packs and set out to explore the valley.

“helllllooo little penny bean!”

get ready for photo overkill.  ;)

the dogs sure were thirsty! we took along a hiking water bowl so they could wet their whistles every so often.

so many cool things to photograph!

“heyyyy yooouuu guyyyyys!”

 

climbing on goblins is a good time!

penny agrees. she was having SO much fun!!

 

cool caves and crevices.

check out randy! penelope is half swiss mountain dog, so she was made for this, but randy the basset hound really showed his true talent when scaling the rocks. i was a proud momma.

cute friends :)

 

sometimes randy needed a boost ;)

this cliff was gnarly! we couldn’t let the pups near it in fear they’d jump.

marshall got some photos with the ol’ point and shoot. you can totally tell a difference in the photo quality. once you go DSLR, you never go back!

 

however, a point and shoot is handy when YOU HAVE A BUG STUCK SMACK IN BETWEEN YOUR TEETH and your boyfriend fiance wants to take a photo!

yes. that is a bug. luckily i carry floss with me 97% of the time..

EW. bugs in teeth? not cool.

that bug didn’t fill me up, so eventually we found a nice lookout spot and broke for lunch!

bag-o-veggies.

 

turkey + laughing cow + mustard on sprouted wheat.

i don’t mind eating a sandwich that has been displayed directly on dirt for a photograph. really, i don’t care.

not a bad view for a picnic, aye?

 

thirsty pups!

notice penny’s WHOLE HEAD goes into the bowl.

i caught randy mid shake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CLASSIC

 

after lunch we worked out way back to the car.. where the dogs were VERY happy to take a load off :)

 

next up we took a short drive to check out little wild horse canyon..

 

cool tree! 

i find the layers of rock on this butte so fascinating. and i love my telephoto lens.

 

the color contrast on the rocks is so beautiful!   

we went back to camp and just relaxed! i laid out in the sunshine with the pups.

marshall played in the fire.

the guys actually expanded the fire pit so we could have a blazing fire on the left and a separate pt with coals for cooking on the right! so innovative!

there was a GLORIOUS cloud with the sun behind it, WOW aren’t these shots epic?!

  

utah is pretty dang beautiful.

i decided to get to work on putting together dinner.. on the menu? tin foil dinners!

tons of veggies, sweet potatoes and ground turkey. plus plenty of spices:

check out this handy 6-section spice jar i picked up in the camping section!

 

i just wish it had cumin! i could swap out the paprika for cumin pretty easily, though.

into the fire they went!

 

we cooked up the extra ground turkey and gave it to the pups.

campers!

the sun went away and it started to get suuuuper gllllooooomy..

  

it started to rain so we bundled up!

 

and then it started to POUR!

we ended up hopping into the car and eating our tin foil dinners in the car.. bummer!

i also only had my point and shoot handy.. no way i was going to have the new camera in the rain.

 

oh well, they were still SUPER delicious!
 

once there was a break in the rain, we grabbed the pooches and made a run for the tent!

i think we made the best of the situation, despite the rain.

luckily we had just enough time to cook our dinners before the torrential downpour.. and then we went to bed with the rain pouring, our bellies full and the dogs hogging the bed. as usual.

i am afraid to say that i am too beat to finish my recap. i will be back next time with sunday’s details! and i will probably throw in some meals & moves for good measure, as i am sure many of you are bored with the camping recaps.  no sorrys here, though, i love camping and recapping the trip!

hope your mondays were great.  be back tomorrow!

Qs~

1. is your city and/or state known for anything? what? utah is known for the great outdoors. we have awesome scenery (the rocky mountains, the arches, goblin valley) and we are also known for our snow! our license plate even says “greatest snow on earth!”

2. what items do you carry with you 97% of the time? for me? chapstick and floss. i also try to have gum but i don’t at the moment and am feeling a bit lost without it! my old answer would include my cell phone, but i am finding that i leave it behind more and more. i view this as a good thing. people become waaaay to attached to their cell phones.

xo. janetha b.