The Great West Coast Tour – Day Five – Gem-Fest Begins

After waving goodbye to Carla and Kurt, and stopping for another morning coffee, we headed off on the drive to St. George, Utah, where we would be staying in two houses with the other 14 members of Buds’ immediate family.

Friend Lou had suggested we make a stop at Goblin Valley State Park, saying it had been one of her family’s favorite side-trips, and she was right. It was a great place to get out and hike around.

Not knowing what to expect, we pulled over as soon as we passed through the entrance and wandered around.

We hadn’t realized there was another huge area of the park that we had to explore after we had driven further in.

This section had Yessa and me laughing because it reminded us of her adventure to get to the end of the rainbow in Ireland. I don’t talk about it in the post, but she was so frustrated with me that I wouldn’t run to get to the end of the rainbow with her. She was furiously sure that if I had just been a little faster we could have gotten to the rainbow’s end.

So, at Goblin Valley, she looked at me with a glint in her eye, pointed to a rock in the far distance that looked Shiny Tamatoa the crab from Moana, and said, “I’m going to touch that and nothing will stop me.”

A few more shots for Henry and Hero, and back in the van.

After our hiking around amongst the goblins, it was back in the van for the rest of the drive to St. George, Utah.

This next picture is stunning for multiple reasons.

It’s a rest stop on the side of the interstate on our way to Zion from Palisades, CO. The toilet was a port-a-potty, essentially. No running water because…mountains, but dang…that view.

10/10 would potty here again.

Next post: Settled near Zion and the adventures to come.