The Ultimate Playground

Our campsite was at Jumbo Rocks, aptly named being as the campground was nestled amongst big rocks.

 

As with any desert park, the key to hiking is to go early or late.  Right after breakfast we set off to hike the Skull Rocks trail. The trailhead was within walking distance of our campsite. Since we were hiking in the early morning, we came across a few animal friends along our way.

Our favorite was this jack rabbit. 

He stayed frozen in place for quite awhile.  The kids were excited about how close he was.

 

The kids had a blast scampering amongst the rocks on our trail.  Then we arrived at Skull Rock, which is where the kids would say the fun went to a new level (see what I did there?). 

 

 

 

 

I’ll just be honest and say I started to freak out a little here.  I’d like to say that I did ok for awhile, and maybe my family would agree.

But, eventually my nerves had all they could take and I was eager to have my family down on flat ground.  Scott sympathized with my frayed nerves and we headed back to the trail.  But the kids still climbed and jumped from every rock they came across.

 

 

By the time we got back to our site, the weather was warming up… we decided to head off for the Visitors Center where the kids worked on and received their Junior Ranger badges in the comfort of some Air Conditioning.  We then headed to WalMart to stock up on more food for the next few days and then took a siesta of sorts under a carport of an abandoned and run down gas station with the van running.  I worked on my blog and the kids watched a movie on the tablet.  It was a welcome break during the hottest portion of the day.  Afterwards we headed back into the park for some more fun amongst the big towering rocks.