Day 8

I have to begin today with a horror story of sorts.  As we have made our way out west, it seems the insects and spiders keep getting bigger!  We are able to see all kinds of new insects and spiders at the campgrounds, especially in their favorite hiding spots - the bathrooms!  It has become part of the kids' routine to survey the bathroom as well as each stall to see which one is the least threatening.

Upon arrival to Roper Lake State Park, we find a tarantula the size of Ryan's head in the bathroom.  And I'm not even close to exaggerating here.  The kids immediately turned around and made their way out.  We had a discussion about how spiders weren't out to eat us and they were probably more afraid of us than we are of them.  Just then a park staff person who was listening to our conversation offered to scoop up the spider and relocate him.  The kids were all for it but not for actually watching the process.  Later that evening we went back in to find the scooped-out spider's somewhat smaller sister although I was the only one who saw it.  I stood in front of it as the girls finished and we were out with no mention of the creature.

Fast forward to the middle of the night with us sleeping in the tent.  I had Ryan sleeping next to me this night who is known for having to touch someone all night long, i.e. me.  In the middle of the night I had switched positions where my feet were near her head.  For those who know me, of course I was dreaming about very large tarantulas.  Coincidentally during that dream, Ryan decides to reach out to me with her hand.  On my foot.  As I'm dreaming about tarantulas.  I was almost climbing out of the tent window somehow before I realized it was her hand.  Yeah, that's me abandoning my children inside a tent with a tarantula.  A tarantula that that isn't out to eat me and is more afraid of me.  No wonder my kids are such chickens - they got it from me!!

The actual day began with smiling faces after a good night sleep for all.  At least it was 4:30am when I was about to jump out of the tent, so I was well rested too. After a quick breakfast, we decided to head down to swim before leaving Roper Lake.  The water was very chilly after a cool night and a little rain, but after a reminder of how hot it was going to be this day where we were going, the kids happily jumped in and swam.

Brayden especially loved perfecting his rock skipping.  I always love photos of boys being boys.  And check out that beautiful backdrop to our morning!

We had a relatively short drive this day so we decided to listen to a few more chapters of Harry Potter.  The drive was as beautiful as ever with no way for me to do it justice with photographs.  One of the things I love about scenic drives is going over interesting bridges.  Brayden even took a break from his DS to watch as we went over!

And this is the view directly behind me:

I almost stopped the car at a recreation area so the kids could have a break and put their feet in the water, but I looked down and saw the temperature was 102 and changed my mind.  The kids agreed and we kept going toward camp.  

The amount of time it is taking me to set up and break down camp is drastically changing lately.  The kids have seen with all of them pitching in how little time it takes as well as what a happy mom they have after!  After setting up in a beautiful location in the forest, we headed out to explore the Tonto Natural Bridge.

The kids were shockingly amazing on this hike.  We walked over the actual bridge where you could look through openings in the path and see the 200ft down to the water:

Ryan thought this was the coolest part, but this view made Laney and Bray a little nervous. We then hiked the 200ft all the way down to the water.  It was hot, bu we'd soaked their Frog Togg chilly towels which helps immensely.  These photos in no way do the monument justice, but at least you can see we were there!

To illustrate just how big this place is, check out the person hiking on the rocks just down to the right of the opening.  The kids wanted to hike all the way through, but with their choice of footwear I just knew we'd have multiple injuries, so we opted for another short trail hike instead.  They were glad once we were on our way back up as it was a tough climb.  They were happy to find resting spots along the way.

And Brayden wanted to take a sleeping picture for everyone as well:

We ended the evening with a cheap authentic Mexican dinner and a stock up trip to Walmart for our next week.  We're headed north to the Grand Canyon where we'll stay for 4 days!  The kids have no idea just what that means exactly except that it's a big hole and more importantly, they get to see their Grammie!

Day 8.  Beautiful drive and hike!

Updates might take a break for awhile as I'm not sure what kind of coverage we'll have while at the Grand Canyon.  I'll still be writing and we'll have updates as soon as we're at our next stop if it's not possible to do so there.  See you soon!!