Camping in Bryce Canyon

I have wanted to camp in Bryce Canyon the last few years and we were finally able to make it a reality last week. We spent a few days camping at Ruby's Inn outside Bryce Canyon and had a lot of fun! Sof loved spending time in the tent and chasing the squirrels (chipmunks).

We arrived Wednesday in time to set up camp and make dinner. Sooo yummy! We also found a fun train shuttle and I'm pretty sure that was the highlight of the trip for Sofi.

She found a walking stick.

She loved hanging out in this tent. We joked about setting it up in the front room and maybe she would play by herself back home ...

On the train. Greg has crazy eyes ...

She slept good the first night. She rolled off in the middle of the night and her head sounded like a huge rock being dropped on the ground. Luckily she was so out of it, it didn't wake her up and she slept through me shoving her back in her sleeping bag while trying not to die of laughter. 

Sof if getting the hang of taking pictures

Sexiest raccoon hat wearer I've ever seen.

Thursday dawned bright with Sofi waking up at 6:30 am, but it gave us plenty of time to make breakfast and get ready to hike before the crowds. We parked at the Visitor's Center and were bused up to Sunset Point where our hike the Navajo Loop started.

These little guys were everywhere! Including our campsite where they chewed a hole in our tent.

My happy place!

Spritzing her Daddy. 

It's not easy hiking while 30 weeks pregnant.

It was so hot in our tent, but she took a short nap anyway.

Lucky Greg was able to go on a super awesome mountain bike ride all by himself. Sof and I were 40 min late picking him up, but based on his pics he rode through some beautiful country and even had a run-in with Smokey.

True to rainstorms in Southern Utah, when it rains it floods fast. We had just barely finished cooking dinner and loading our plates when the heavens opened. We ate inside the tent while we watched the tarp outside fill up with water. Luckily, our tent really is waterproof. 

Sof was happy to listen to music while her daddy stripped in the background. I had no idea I got him in the shot! 

Friday morning Sofi amazed us by sleeping in until 8:30 am When this little girl wants to, she can sleep! Greg and I were pretty must laying there staring at the ceiling waiting for her. We spent the morning in the park driving around to the different view points. 

Where is Sofi?

This is the town of Tropic. I spent many summers there growing up. it's where my Grandpa Jolley is from and such a fun little town. Just like Cedar City, I'm related to 1/2 of the people there.

Greg had the brilliant idea of taking the bikes into Bryce Canyon and riding the mostly downhill trail back to the Visitor's Center. It was so fun! Sof got her thrill on the bus and we got to cruise past the Europeans stopped in the middle of the road taking pictures of deer. I'm convinced there is no wildlife left in Europe, with how enthralled those people were by the deer and chipmunks.

Greg was tricky and managed to get us all in one shot. Let me just say, that it is not easy to bike uphill 30 weeks pregnant.

Halfway through, we stopped at one of the campgrounds in the Park. 

The original plan was to eat dinner Friday night at one of the restaurants, but due to the fact that they were way too expensive, we ate dinner back at camp and it turned out to be really good! Why does food always taste better while camping? Insead, we went to Old Town and splurged on ice cream. It was worth it.

Saturday was our day to leave. After waking up around 8:00 am, our morning was spent making breaking and packing up our muddy gear as quickly as possible. We then decided to take the bikes back into the park one more time to ride the trail before heading out. We also stopped to get some more ice cream. Sofi was not happy to leave and kept asking to go back and stay "in the tent" (Apparently the french group across the way hadn't bothered her as much as Greg and I). Sof was a trooper and eventually succumbed to a nap, which allowed her to sleep until we got home. 

We had so much fun and I'm so glad we were able to take this little family trip before we become a family of 4 in 10 short weeks.