Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
November 20-28, 2024

It was Thanksgiving break and we wanted to take Hazel to the beach with Granny again. We did some research and ultimately decided on Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. We could get there in a single day of travel, with no overnight layovers, and it was extremely affordable.

Hazel was excited

We stayed at a beachfront resort with several pools, nice gardens, and palm trees scattered along the beach. Each morning, we would get dressed in our swimsuits and find either a cabana by one of the pools or head straight to the beach and find some shade under a palm tree.

Hazel playing on the slides in the little kids pool

Our favorite section of the beach right next to the wedding venue

Hazel loved playing in the sand

We had just settled in when a local lady offered to braid our hair. Hazel really wanted hers done and I love the simplicity of not having to deal with constant tangles from the wind and water. While Angie braided our hair, we chatted about the area and learned that she had moved to the Dominican Republic from Haiti for safety reasons.

Angie braided our hair on the beach

Hazel was proud of her braids

Hazel really loves playing in the sand and we built several huge and fun sand castles on the beach. Each day it seemed we had to add something more extravagant. We started with a basic piles of sand dumped out of buckets, then progressed to pyramids and multitiered designs with shapes and animals, water features, tunnels, moats, and patterns in the surrounding sand.

Hazel would work all day on the sandcastles and never get tired of it

Once they got too tall for Hazel to reach, Dad would have to shape the top part

Granny would come down to the beach and enjoy the water

Hazel always took the lead and encouraged us to build with her once she got started

Hazel wasn't tired after building one castle, so she built another baby castle next to the first one

Hazel got to be good using the sand shapers by the end of the week

Of course, part of the fun of building sandcastles is stomping on them at the end of the day

Justin enjoyed playing in the shallow waves and invented a game called "huge" that Hazel loved. Basically, they would wade into the water and wait for a big wave and then she would yell huge and Justin would fly her up into the air over the giant wave and crash into the water on the backside. She laughed and laughed and wanted to play far more than our backs could handle.

Justin and Hazel headed into the water

Hazel is ready to fly over the wave

"HUGE"

So much fun enjoying the ocean

Justin and I went on a diving excursion to a nearby reef named Coral Gardens. We took a small boat out and a gentleman from Germany joined us. Having just been in Curaçao earlier in the year, neither of us was super impressed, but we did see some interesting fish including a sting ray, a turtle, a lionfish and a bunch of other fish and corals. There was a lot of surge and the ocean was rough making the visibility poor. Justin got sick and decided not to do the second dive with us. Later that afternoon, one of the boats that was moored along the beach started taking on water from the rough waves and a dozen tourists along with a few guys from the dive shop ran out there and pulled it into shore to keep it from totally sinking.

There were cool statues at the ranch where we went horseback riding

Horseback riding was one of the highlights of the trip. Hazel had first shown interest in horseback riding earlier in the summer when we were visiting Glacier National Park in the US. When I had inquired about it at that time, Hazel was well below their age limit and the cost was far more than I thought was reasonable. This time, in the DR, there was no age restriction, and the cost was extremely fair. A driver picked us up at our resort and drove us north to Rancho Macao. It wasn't clear what all was done at this ranch, but there were lots of horses, some of which were working by carrying wood around or doing other things. A ranch hand saddled up a couple of horses and took us on a trail through the rainforest that eventually led to the beach. Once on the beach, he let us go. Justin, who was riding a horse named Pedro tried to pass Hazel and I, on Principe. Principe wasn't going to let that happen and took off in a full gallop. We were bouncing out of the saddle and Hazel started laughing so hard that our guide stopped us just to make sure she was okay. We laughed some more and assured him that she was definitely enjoying herself and he let us continue on as fast as we wished. When we came to the edge of a resort, we turned around and explored some more in the other direction before returning to the ranch.

Hazel loved riding Principe and even managed the reins herself part of the time

We had a private ride. It was just the three of us with a guide. He wasn't a traditional guide, he mostly trailed behind and was just there if we needed help or directions.

Enjoying the horseback riding on the beach

We enjoyed time around the resort. Although we didn't participate in many of the things they had going on, we did go to archery one morning where I won a bottle of rum.

Justin at the archery range

Laura won the contest by getting closest to the bullseye out of maybe 20-25 other participants. We got three arrows each.

One afternoon while we were lounging by the pool, they brought out these inflatable jet skis. Hazel had a lot of fun riding them around the pool. It was a little like bumper boats with all the little kids on jet skis. She also invented another game to entertain herself and help her practice swimming; she would throw her beach toys into the pool and she would have to swim to them. Sometimes there are 12 or 13 out there at once and she would keep swimming continuously until she retrieved them all and brought them over to the side.

Hazel riding the inflatable jet skis

Hazel got much more comfortable in the water and spent many hours in the pools

We tried to play mini golf, but the course was partially flooded from the rain the previous night

Hazel was intrigued by the lawn chess and checkerboard games

Hazel's favorite restaurant was the Japanese place. Although the food truck French fries were probably a close second. She really enjoyed the hibachi and even started practicing hibachi moves herself by flipping a sand shovel around.

Overall, we had a relaxing trip, thoroughly enjoyed the beach and Hazel improved her swimming.

Hazel with another interesting statue

Hazel grabbing a bite to eat at the beach grill

Hazel trying to understand how to play chess

Hazel and Laura with one of the statues at the resort

The grounds were beautiful and this bird was enjoying the fountain.

More sandcastles

And even more sandcastles

Beach relaxation

The zebra sandcastle

Enjoying a walk on the beach

Lots of clouds as we were flying home

Sunset from the plane window

Lomatium Canyon, Arches National Park

Arches National Park and The Fiery Furnace

Lomatium Canyon, U Turn Canyon, Landscape Arch, Delicate Arch
November 8, 9, 10, 2024

I had been wanting to explore some little known canyons that lay within the Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park and suggested to Laura that we should head for Moab and see if we could find the obscure canyon, Lomatium. We figured that while we were there, we would make a long weekend of it and do a few other canyons and some hiking as well.

Hiking toward Granary Canyon. We started seeing puddles with ice right away.

Friday morning, we started early and drove to the trailhead for Granary canyon. We had read that this was a relatively dry canyon with the exception of following recent rains. While we were not aware of the previous weeks weather in the area, we made the assumption that the canyon would be dry. We parked the car early in the morning and all bundled up as the sun was yet to warm the cold winter desert. Hiking to the head of the canyon and the first rappel, we peered down to see water holding in a few pools. The three of us opted not to rappel into the canyon but rather walk along the rim to peer in further down into the canyon. We confirmed that it was holding too much water and backtracked our hike, returning to the car around 9:30 am.

Hazel and Justin on the approach to U-turn

Plans change and so we opted to head to Arches and run U-Turn canyon. Laura and I had done the approach in the past and knew Hazel would not have any trouble with it or the canyon. It took the three of us about 2.5 hours from the car. Hazel was very excited because this is the first canyon she was able to "rappel" on her own - I lowered her from above while Laura was below coaching her on pushing off with her feet. When we were done with the canyon, Hazel was proud of her accomplishment and was ready for more.

Hazel learning some rappelling techniques

We chose to add the hike out to Landscape Arch as well as a few other arches along the loop hiking trail that leads away from the road. The 3 mile hike wore Hazel out for the day and we headed for a Mexican dinner and hot tub at the hotel.

Laura and Hazel at Landscape Arch

Hazel at Pinetree Arch

The following morning Hazel, Laura and I hiked into the fiery furnace after obtaining our permits. We generally knew where to go to find Lomatium canyon, but there is zero beta out there for it, so with maps and notes from previous research, we hiked into the wild maze of sandstone fins.

Hazel climbing in the Firey Furnace

After following the ranger lead trail for a while, we continued off the beaten path climbing up and over fins, finally reaching a high point at where we knew we had found the entrance to the canyon. We downclimbed some slabs and a long, low angle crack in a fin and quickly came to a rappel sling. In an attempt to protect the sandstone as much as possible, I lowered Hazel and Laura and then downclimbed, so I did not have to pull a rope and cause any abrasion.

Hazel couldn't resist playing in the sand while waiting for Dad to downclimb

There were arches hidden everywhere in the Firey Furnace; we enjoyed searching them out.

Continuing down canyon, we reached a set of bolts that protected the longest rappel of the canyon. I went first and Laura and Hazel tandem rappelled behind me. Safely off rappel, we made our way down the canyon as it deepened into towering walls above. It was clear that Hazel was having fun when she broke out in song and dance while walking down the canyon. We eventually came to another rappel and upon completing the last challenge of Lomatium, hiked down to Skull Arch. Hazel doesn't like skeletons or skulls, so she renamed Skull Arch to Sunglasses Arch, which it was referred to for the rest of the trip.

Justin heading into the unknown

Laura and Hazel at Skull Arch AKA Sunglasses Arch

After some wandering around, we realized that we had missed our turn for Krill canyon. We ended up climbing up to, rather than rappelling into the belly of the whale in Krill. The feature in the sandstone was big and spectacular and missing out on the rappel was not a big deal to me. Laura, on the other hand, wanted to return to the canyon to rappel down into what we were just at so the canyon could be complete! We decided instead to hike out and give Hazel some rest. She had been a trooper for the last two days and was showing us just how determined and strong she is hiking and canyoneering.

Justin climbing into the Belly of the Whale

Hazel in the Belly of the Whale

On our final day in Moab, we hiked to Delicate Arch. Hazel liked going out and taking pictures and even made Laura and I go under the arch so she could take one of us together.

We headed home after hiking Delicate Arch and were happy with our adventurous weekend and our 4 year old adventure warrior!

Laura and Hazel at Delicate Arch

Laura, Hazel and Justin at Tunnel Arch

Hazel ready for an exciting day in the Firey Furnace

Hazel loves exploring

Justin checking out the amazing views in the Firey Furnace

Hazel exploring in the Firey Furnace

Hazel at Turtle Rock/Arch

Sliver Arch

Justin setting up the rope to protect Hazel

Hazel pretending to sleep while Dad checks out the route

Hazel at another hidden arch in the Firey Furnace

Hazel having fun out in the desert

Practice rappelling

Having fun in the sand while Dad sets up the rappel

Hazel leading the way down Lomatium

More rappels in a very scenic canyon

Hazel near Skull Arch in the Firey Furnace

Hazel loved the narrow passages and thought it was funny that she was faster than us

Hazel wanted to crawl through all of the tunnels we found

Hazel climbing up to the Belly of the Whale in the Firey Furnace

Justin looking out from the Belly of the Whale

Hazel in one of the tunnels we went through in the Firey Furnace

Relaxing after a fun day in the Firey Furnace

Justin and Hazel on the hike to Delicate Arch

Hazel cruising along the narrow stretch on the way to Delicate Arch. Other people were scared of this section and commented how impressed they were with her hiking ability.