Parks and Recreation

It's been such a fun and exciting few weeks!  After the Noah love fest that was May, we headed off to Boston to celebrate Uncle Brian and all things Flatley.  Incredible weekend of love and faith and reconnecting to my amazing family roots.  Here, read about it in Ellie and Jacquie's blogs, won't you?

Then, last week, the Holt family headed west and spent a spectacular week in Moab, Utah.  Wow.  I'm so sad not be immersed in staggering beauty anymore.  I/we kept saying, I can't believe this is what people here get to look at every day.    Moab, and what we saw of Utah,  is achingly, astonishingly, breathtakingly beautiful. 

Let me backtrack.  

Inspired by our friends the Kings, about a dozen years ago we decided we were going to be a family that took adventurous vacations and visited our national parks.   We started small:  took a  road trip to Mammoth Caves when the kids were wee.

look at these cute little nuggets!

But when Dylan turned 7 we decided we were ready to roll and took our first big trip, to Yellowstone National Park.

Yellowstone National Park - geyser basin

Two years later we drove out to Colorado and enjoyed the beauty of Breckenridge in the summer season.  During that trip we hit Rocky Mountain, Mt Rushmore and Badlands National Parks.

Badlands National Park

Mt Rushmore National Park

The next big trip was Maine, where we spent the better part of a week in Bar Harbour, visiting that amazing gem called Acadia National Park.

Acadia National Park - after a rainy hike

Next was Glacier with the whole Holt crew, with its geologic majesty.

Two years ago we went to Puerto Rico, which has its own national forest:  El Yunque!

  And last fall, while visiting NAU, Doug, Noah, Dylan and I visited the Grand Canyon.

Each park we've visited has been so unique and so striking.  Yellowstone has so many 'wows'  - bubbling, sulphuric cauldrons, erupting geysers, salt flats and rolling valleys with grizzlies and buffalo.   Acadia is small and manageable but full of dramatic contrasts:  oceans and mountains and harbor seals and whales.   Glacier has to be seen to be believed - the geology of the place is fascinating and you really get a sense of Earth time vs human time.  Plus, it's just so majestic and beautiful.  Mt Rushmore was surprisingly moving and the Badlands were like Yellowstone in their utter other-worldliness.  El Yunque is a rain forest nestled in a the Carribean tropics - you literally hike into another climate.  The Grand Canyon we expected to be underwhelmed and were stunned at its depth and majesty and grandeur.  I've loved them all, I really have.  Each park is so different and so well maintained and they truly are a national treasure.  And, without a doubt, they have been our most treasured family times. 

This week we had the pleasure of hitting two more parks,  in Utah:  Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.  We've had a long and pretty difficult year so were all pumped to get away and go somewhere beautiful.    Moab did not disappoint.  I was moved to tears more than once - just overcome by the beauty of the place.  It is  SO.  DAMN.  BEAUTIFUL.

We arrived late - Moab is far far away and after a three hour plane ride we had a four hour drive and arrived at night, so didn't know what we'd wake up to.  The answer - the roaring colorado river in front of us and on either side, 1,000 foot cliffs made of striated, iron-rich, oxidized and therefore red rocks and soil.  Ahhhhhh. 

The view from our cabin's deck

Red Cliffs Lodge

The next five days were spent hiking, biking, swimming, climbing, reading, drinking and eating in the splendor of Utah's scenery.

Arches National Park

Arches National Park - Balanced Rock

Delicate Arch - Arches National Park

Canyonlands National Park

Dead Horse State Park - Moab

Dead Horse State Park

Arches National Park - Windows

Rock Climbing at the "ice cream parlor" canyon

Arches at sunset - Windows section

Now I realize this is a food blog so here's an outtake from our first night back.  We got into our house at 5pm on Sunday and I could not deal with going to the grocery store.  I poured an icy cold glass of sauvignon blanc and set to work, trying to make a meal from what I found in the fridge.  Corey described the finished product as "good but weird" and I think that's fair.  And about as much as I could muster up upon reentry.

first things first

 steam up all veggies you have, in this case cauliflower and green beans

 sautee onion and garlic in olive oil and add a huge can of crushed tomatoes and basil, let simmer with salt & pepper

 

add veggies to sauce when they've softened up a bit

throw in some yummy artichoke hearts

 

throw it all together with lots of hot pepper flakes and parmesan and voila, dinner. Weird but good.

I miss Utah.