This title is for you, Rob 😉

Our ward did a family pioneer trek at Martin’s Cove. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea. Madeleine hates walking. Caroline is a handful and had never been camping before. It was in July and hot and I had decided there were enough strikes against going. I was staying home with the two girls while Rob took Nate.

Then I went to a Relief Society activity and the beginning of it was an overview of what Trek was going to be like. Many women in our ward had already been on Trek at least once before and they all had many positive things to say. But what they said isn’t what changed my mind, it was what I felt. I knew that supporting the ward and dragging my daughters on an adventure a state away in the heat was what I needed to do.

Now, I can’t say that the feeling I had changed my attitude much. Unfortunately, I still wasn’t very happy to be doing this. As the weeks went by and the Trek got closer I thought about changing my mind back to not going, but I never got very far before halting that train.

Rob was called as one of the ward photographers for the trip so we have many fun photos from the weekend.

The drive up was pretty easy. We stopped in Green River, Wyoming and got a pizza and played at a splash pad.

By the time we made it to Martin’s Cove the group was leaving on the walk to Devil’s Gate, about a mile roundtrip. We were slow. I mean really slow. Madeleine goes about as fast as a desert tortoise. But that’s ok. Sister Reihart kept us company.

 

I think one of the other ward photographers took this picture.

It is a beautiful area and it was neat seeing some kind of deer/antelope animal roaming close to us on the prairie.

By the time we got to Devil’s Gate, we had about 10 minutes before turning around and heading right back. We would have liked to stay longer and explore and play in the water but we needed to be off. Again, we were dead last getting back. By a long haul.

Then we were all off to set up camp, enjoy some wonderful dinner, and visit with fellow ward members and friends.

We went to bed that night not knowing how Cara would fare in a tent. She did wonderfully, though! After I let her play off some excitement, I rocked her in my arms and sang to her. Off to sleep she went in just a couple of minutes. I, however, didn’t sleep at all. The ground was so hard! My hip bones and back were killing me. I piled diapers underneath me for cushioning but it didn’t help at all. I felt like I was sleeping on concrete. Not a great way to start a day long handcart pull. Oh, well. I’m buying air mattresses for our next camping trip.

That’s it for this portion of the Trek. There’s just too much to say for one post!