I have been waiting a lifetime for this opportunity. Finding my own geode has been a dream of mine since I was a kid.
Our trip started with a full truck load of kids and camping equipment and a quick lunch stop at Horseshoe Springs. This spring is truly an oasis in the middle of the desert, And it's beautiful to boot! The water is this dark turquoise blue with bass and carp swimming in it. It looked like a magical pond--even the fish were magical and pretty looking. The was white and salty, so all the kids bent down and swiped a lick of dirt to make sure it really was salty.
Then we made it to Simpson Springs where we camped for the next two nights. We got there and realized that despite the website saying that they turn on the potable water heads, they were still locked, so we didn't bring enough water for both families for two days. (We invited my friend's family to join us) So Jared had to make a 45 minute drive back to the nearest town to get more water on a dirt road and ended up getting two flat tires on the way back. So it took him four hours to drive back to camp.
The first night Grayson woke up and cried for about an hour. Nothing I or Stephen did helped, which is what I was afraid of happening. And then Lucas woke up two hours later to go to the bathroom. I told him to get his shoes, but apparently he had to go so badly that he didn't have time to get them on and walk all the way to the bathroom. I heard him crying a ways away, so I shot out of bed because I envisioned him stuck in the toilet. I didn't have time to grab a flashlight so I stumbled out into the dark. His cries got louder and louder until I found him in someone else's campsite sitting on the ground. I ran to him and noticed he didn't have shoes and his feet hurt him walking on the rocks, so I picked him up and took his flashlight in one hand to shine it ahead of me (not where my feet currently were), took one step forward and ended up falling in a hole in the ground with Lucas and twisted my ankle. I really didn't think I could get up and walk on it. It took me a long time to get up. Lucas was scared for me and scratched up from falling, but he tried to get me up on my feet so I could hobble back to the tent and try to sleep it off. I didn't. I didn't sleep at all that night.
Instead of going to the geode beds Saturday morning as we planned, Allyn and I had to stay at camp with the kids all morning while the dads went back to town to get two new tires. It was super windy that day which made it really cold and miserable. We had to stay in the tents all morning. The men made it back and we left for the geode beds after lunch. I only got to dig for an hour though because my ankle was killing me and Grayson was not happy, and Lucas got dirt in his eye, so I had to doctor him up until it was time to go. We did find some really cool geodes though! The kids had a blast.
Jared got a third flat tire on the way back to camp that night, so we had to spend Sunday morning holed up in our tents again while they got another tire before we could pack up and go home. It was literally freezing that morning, but us moms got up and fixed a hot breakfast of sausage and pancakes for the kids until we couldn't feel our hand anymore. The kids made a fire and played in it for a while until the men returned.
It was not the camping trip I had envisioned, but I did find some neat rocks and all the kids a great time, so that's all that matters. It was really dusty driving on all the dirt roads, so everything in the back of the truck was coated in dust. I had all our camping clothes plus all the laundry from the previous week to wash, so there were loads upon loads of laundry for me to do Monday morning. I got two loads in and then the washer started leaking. Called a repairman and $270 later I finished all the laundry.
On the way to Horseshoe Springs we played the ABC game with the kids in the car. We just happened to drive by this billboard that’s been around forever and Lucas shouted, “G! Girls, Girls, Girls” in his “I’m-learning-to-read voice. A few minutes later he shouts, “Is it just me or is there a zebra in the water?!”…in the Great Salt Lake, lol! That boy cracks me up.
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