Then it was off to a soccer game for Sam. His team "Orange Thunder" did great. I was so proud of Sam for wearing the entire jersey, shorts, ect., and for staying out on the field. He is a very coordinated little athlete, and he is slowly coming out of his shell to show us what he can do. I am very proud of him.
Before the game, we took our Pathfinder to the shop for a little repair.
After the game, we picked up the Pathfinder, and I dropped Ben and the kids off at the gym. I then drove back to the car shop, got the other car, and then went back to get Ben and the kids at the gym.
As soon as we got home, something wasn't right with the Pathfinder, so I dropped Ben and the kids off at the car shop while I rushed home and packed for our hike to Timpanogas Cave.
I picked up Ben and the kids, we ran to the store for some munchies for the hike, and then finally made it to the canyon to begin the hike.
And yes, I literally had no time to shower, get changed, or eat breakfast up to this point. Rock on.
The hike up to Timpanogas cave is a mile and 1/2 long. Not so bad, except for the 1000+ elevation gain!!!! Pretty much, it is like stomping straight up the side of a mountain.
The hike up was steep, but so pretty! There were some tunnels to go under, and the cliffs and mountain sides were so majestic.
I was SO proud of our kids! Mary and Sam hiked the entire way up to the cave! Ben and I were very shocked and so proud of them. We stopped a lot to give them breaks, and to give them snacks, but they were troopers. Really. They did awesome!
We made it to the mouth of the cave, right on time...literally. We had an assigned tour time (the tours were sold out three days in advance), and we had to be there by that time. We reached the top within seconds of our tour starting. Go us!
The tour through the cave was so neat. Sam was wide-eyed the whole time, and he kept saying things like, "hey Mary, we are inside of a big mountain right now!" or "I can't wait to tell Landon (his best friend) all about this." He was so intrigued with the whole thing.
William was very squirmy through the whole tour, but there were parts where we could let him roam, and roam he did. When we were done with the tour, William's face was completely black. He must have taken a few bites of out the cave at some point. Our tour guide thought it was hilarious.
Mary freaked out at the beginning, because it was so dark, and they shut the door behind you. But, she got used to the idea, and soon she was just as interested as Sam. She like making pictures out of the different formations.
(um, yeah, the pictures are dark..but so was the cave)
Ben and I loved looking at all of the different formations and learning about how the cave was found, and all of that good stuff.
The hike back down wasn't as bad as the hike up, but it put a lot of pressure on our knees because it was so steep. I ended up carrying Sam down a lot of it, and Ben had William on his back. Mary stomped back down the whole thing by herself. Again, we were amazed.
We thought the kids would crash in the car on the trip home, but they were still bouncing around and hyper, as if they hadn't just hiked 3 miles and done a 45 minute tour through a cave.
We came home, ate pizza, watched a move, and zonked. It was a great day.
All in all, we would totally do it again. It was a great family outing for us, and the kids, as well as the adultes, loved the cave. We love finding these little things here in Utah that we can experience and make into memories.
1 comment:
I LOVE the Timp Cave 'experience'. :) I just decided that's our next family vacation spot...along with Kennicot.
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