We took a Spring Break roadtrip to New Mexico to visit Stan and Kevin and their families over conference weekend. We broke up the trip by making several stops along the way. The first stop was in Helper, Utah.

We visited the Helper Museum. This really was a well-put-together place with a lot of really interesting exhibits and history to look at.

The girls particularly enjoyed this display on Girl Scouts.

Back on the road again.

Next stop was Stan’s Burger Shack in Hanksville, Utah. While there, Kathryn saw this sign and felt like it was a good life motto.

Kids conquering the rock (in the parking lot).

We went back up the road a bit and visited the Hollow Mountain gas station for some fuel and treats for the road.

Next stop, Leprechaun Canyon, a simple and easy slot canyon that packed in some cool views.

We really liked this tunnel section.

Back on the road again, crossing the Colorado river on the upstream end of Lake Powell.

This girl has a great imagination and enjoyed playing with her stuffies for hours. Piggy got hungry every now and again but somehow kept accidentally feeding everything to Zoey.

We had intended to camp originally, but the weather was supposed to be around freezing and that sounded no bueno, so we stayed the night in Blanding. We woke up to several inches of snow on the car. Luckily the roads were fine and we carried on to our next stop at Four Corners. I guess this was a great day to come. Not hot, and no crowds.

Shiprock New Mexico.

And, several hours later, including surfing potholes in the van on some super sketch side roads due to a big wreck on the freeway…we made it! Let the cousin time begin.

Kevin took me out flying. I got all bundled up in my clothes plus Stan’s. This cold weather kept chasing us. It was a great flight and fun to hang out with Kevin.

Meanwhile, the rest of the gang went to one of Stan and Melanies friends’ places for some fun with their horses and goats.

Afterwards, we ventured into Albuquerque  and visited the Balloon Museum.

This was a really interesting place! We learned about the origins of ballooning all the way up to the modern age.

We picked up pizza on the way home, and the cousins had a kid evening while the adults went out to dinner.

Woot woot, party bus.

And the cold continued to follow us! We woke up to this, and the power was out! It kept snowing and snowing until there was well over a foot of snow!

Thanks to an inspired prayer by Melanie, the power company got things figured out just in the nick of time to start watching conference.

Stan harvesting home grown bok choy for dinner. Good thing these plants were in a warm grow room! Stan and Melanie prepared a delicious walnut shrimp dinner. Absolutely incredible.

Sunday morning we were treated to the best scones of our lives at Kevin and Bethany’s house.

What an incredible breakfast. These New Mexicans sure know how to put on some good meals for visitors.

With that, we were off. Thanks to the wonder of satellite radio, we had a nice listen to conference on our drive to Moab. We were thrilled to hear about the new temple in Spanish Fork. Either of the two most likely spots are just a few minutes away. It will be exciting to see what unfolds over the next couple of years.

We stopped at Wilson arch and gave it a quick climb.

Then we dropped our gear off at the Expedition Lodge in this cool room with 3 queen beds. Nice!

Then we headed to the sand hill. It was a perfect evening to play.

Well hello, Tim and Suzanne! We visited their hotel for an amazing dinner and chat by this sweet fire table. Then it was off to bed.

We rented a 4 seater side-by-side, and Tim and Suzanne brought theirs down. We loaded up, and headed for the trails. We did Hells Revenge, Fins and Things, and a good portion of Chicken Corners. I would consider Chicken Corners in a jeep, but definitely stick to the slick rock trails on the side by sides.

Happy trails! What a great road trip.