Arches National Park

President's Day Weekend Recipe for Success:

1. Ready to leave Provo for a few days.

I was ready to spend a few days out of Provo. I really hadn't left since Christmas...and a month and a half is a long time be in Provo the entire time. This brings up another question....what happens in three months and I have a full time job? I can't just get sick of whatever city I'm in and leave, right? Especially when I have a family....is there something in particular about Provo that makes me so excited to leave every once in awhile?

2. Destination

Having a good destination is key. No one is going to be excited about going to Price. It needs to be someplace close enough to drive to, not too expensive, and have fun things to do. For President's Day, and especially due to the above average snowfall, it needed to be someplace warm. Our thoughts were:

Las Vegas - too expensive. Plus we're going for the Mountain West Basketball Tournament.

California - too far. Plus...again...we're going later this semester.

Idaho - just kidding. Why would anyone go to Idaho.

Colorado - I just went there. We could have gotten Deanna's truck, but she decided not to come. Plus it was still cold there.

Arches National Park - Bingo! It had everything we wanted. It's a cool fun place, lots to do and see, a little bit warmer, only three hours away, and what is cheaper than camping??

3. People

You have to have the right people. I cannot stress this enough. If you go on a roadtrip with a whiner, or with someone who doesn't fit with the group, or too many people, or someone not willing to pay anything...it is not going to be fun. Having the right people is essential. Some inquiries and opportunities left us with myself, Torrie, Andrea, and Chris. I don't think you could find a better group. Everyone was on the same page, and we all brought our own unique skills/resources to the experience. Torrie came up huge with getting a stove, providing the car, and spearheading the food (bread on a stick? pure genius.) Andrea got us a tent, Chris was great with the fire, and I, well, I didn't really do anything. I supervised :)

4. Food

You have to have good food. Hungry roadtrips are sad roadtrips. We ate like kings, however. Tin Foil Dinner kings, that is. We also had the necessary hot dog roasting dinner, which we surrounded with dough to make our own buns, which was fun. Breakfast we had Toad in the Hole, which is basically an egg cooked in a hole made in a slice of bread. I don't really like that name, but it was pretty good. We had plenty of chips and doughnuts and good roadtrip food for in the car as well. The food was great.

How was it? Great. Seriously. So much fun. We arrived late at night, found a free campsite, and cooked hot dogs. We then went to bed, and after a cold night woke up to find the Colorado River right next to us.

After breakfast, we drove quickly to Arches National Park and began to explore. It was so much fun.

After all that, we came back to the campsite, cooked our tin foil dinners, and then drove home. Perfect.