Another Wet Memorial Day

Last year we planned to go camping on Memorial Day, but we got rained out. This year, when the weather man said "chance of rain" I blew him off, thinking it couldn't possibly rain on the first great outdoor holiday of the year twice in a row. When the forecast changed to "40% chance of rain" and dark clouds loomed as far as the eye could see the day before our trip it didn't faze me. When we left the house Friday morning, in the rain, and drove north, through the rain, for ten hours, in the rain, I was still optimistic (although by this point Ryan was practically begging me to stop at a hotel). Even when we pulled into camp amidst a light drizzle, I was excited. We met up with my parents, Sam (who was sick, and accompanied us begrudgingly), Lanee, and her boyfriend, Christian, who had done two canyons that day and were cold and soaked.


Lanee looking cold and soaked, Christian looking freakishly happy about being on a cold, wet camping trip with the Ahos.


Layla in her rain gear.


Weston ecstatic about being out of his car seat.

We set up the super-awesome Coleman GeoSport canopy I purchased specifically for the trip and cooked and ate dinner under the super-awesome canopy, which kept us all remarkably dry.


Super-Awesome GeoSport Canopy

That night went surprisingly smooth. Weston slept great in my sleeping bag and Layla shared a tent with Grandma and Auntie Nee. Weston and I turned in early, and after a few hours of uncontrollable giggling, the girls managed to fall asleep as well.

The next morning the rain showed no signs of stopping, and after checking the local forecast with some campers down the road, we discovered that there was a gigantic storm swirling around our exact location and it planned on staying awhile. After hearing this, I reluctantly decided that it would probably be better to head up to Salt Lake for the rest of the weekend. Ryan was exuberant, my mom, Lanee and Sam were on board, and Christian wasn't about to take sides on the issue, so that left my dad. My mom brought the mutiny to his attention, to which he promptly responded that if she were willing to break down all four tents and the giant canopy and pack up all of the wet camping gear, he was fine with leaving. As soon as Ryan and Sam heard this there was a flurry of nylon and guy lines, and nine seconds later the entire campsite was broken down and packed neatly into the three cars.

I had bought a harness for Layla hoping to take her down some short canyons, and she had been talking about using it for weeks. The rain did nothing to assuage her excitement for canyoneering, so Mom, Dad, Layla, Christian and I decided to head out for a short hike before leaving.


Layla and Grandma, hiking in raincoats.


After about a quarter mile Layla decided she would rather ride.


Layla and Grandpa at the entrance to Belfast Boulevard.


Layla and me, not dry.


Since splashing in puddles is one of Layla's favorite activities, she was in heaven.


Layla in her harness, being lifted up by Grandpa.

We didn't make it far into the canyon before the rain picked up, and we turned around because of the possibility of flash floods. Layla got to use her harness twice, and after the hike she said her favorite part was "When I went down the rock on the rope."

So, we hopped in the car, soggy and smelly, and drove to Hanksville, where we enjoyed a gourmet meal of fish sandwiches, grilled cheese and burgers at Stan's and changed into dry clothes for the trip home.


My totally adorable parents.


Stan's Burger Shack food coma.

We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out at my parent's house, and although it wasn't what we had planned, it was nice to spend some time with whatever members of my family we could scrape together. Ryan went back to Phoenix on Monday evening, and the kids and I are up here for a month or two, or whenever they get sick of us and send us back. We'll miss all of our friends in Phoenix, but we will also not die of heat exhaustion, which will be nice.