Sheffer Family Blog: WEEK FORTY FOUR - October 26 to November 1

This week was crazy. By the time it was over we were all wiped out.

Sunday morning we went to church at the earliest ward we could find (9:00 a.m.) and then after Sacrament meeting we changed clothes and headed out of town.

We figured since it was the week of Halloween, this was a perfect time to visit GOBLIN Valley (HA HA).

We took our time winding up the mountain. To get to Goblin Valley you get to also drive through Capitol Reef National Park. We stopped at a few viewpoints as well as the Visitor Center. We decided to go visit the Pioneer store there on site. When we walked into the tiny room, we smelled the most glorious smell.... fresh made fruit pies. We ended up buying three mini pies, mini cups of icecream, and a cinnamon roll for my weird child that doesn't like fruit pie.

We drove to the apple orchard and spread out our blanket under the trees. You can pick and eat as many apples as you want, but if you take any with you then you pay a price per pound. While I made sandwiches the kids climbed the ladders into the trees and used the picking poles provided to get some apples down. The apples were obviously as fresh as they come and were delicious.

We hadn't even planned to stop at the apple orchard but this ended up being our favorite part of the day. It was so BEAUTIFUL sitting under the golden trees. The air was warm. It was quiet and peaceful. It smelled like apples and trees and grass (and pie!) We ate fresh apple, peach, and berry pies made from fruit grown right on site. We were joined by a herd of deer who came right by us to eat apples. It was like time had frozen and for just a moment we were happy under trees.

It was so magical that the kids didn't even want to keep going. But of course I made them (see the previous posts about Bryce Canyon ha ha).

We got to Goblin Valley about an hour before dark which was PERFECT. I love the hoodoos and the dips and valleys. We climbed a mountain or two, found some crazy formations, and watched the sun go down in a glorious sunset that you can only find in the desert.

It was a good thing that we were so rested after our day touring the National Park and Goblin Valley as the rest of the week was mayhem. We had Halloween parties and Halloween performances and our annual Spooky dinner. Our friends daughter was staying with us for the week so we had the extra fun of one of our favorite people living with us. We hosted the drill team dinner. We carved pumpkins and went trick or treating and ate lots of candy.

It was a good week.

REGULAR LAYOUT