When on vacation, it helps to stay somewhere with a full kitchen to make your own food rather than eating out for every meal. For our vacation in food part 2, we had a kitchen available and made use of that.
The second quarter of our vacation was spent in a gorgeous cabin to explore the rest of Utah. The free breakfast there was delicious, and everything was so fresh. I read in their information binder that 95% of their food is organic and/or locally sourced food. And let me tell you, it was obvious in the abundance of flavor in everything we ate! We never got a chance to have dinner at the restaurant. But based on the breakfast, I would bet it is amazing.
We were at the Boulder Mountain Guest Ranch for four nights of the vacation. We explored everything in that area including Escalante and the Famous Burr’s Trail. Then we moved on to Green River, Utah, for one night to go to Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park.
My Vacation in Food: Part 2 is part of a series about our summer vacation in food. To see more read My Vacation in Food: Part 1 here, My Vacation in Food: Part 3 here and My Vacation in Food: Part 4 here.
Originally Published On: June 21, 2018
Last Updated On: April 7, 2020
June 5
Breakfast
In the morning, we again had breakfast at the main lodge of the cabins. They had run out of yogurt, so we switched to having the granola with milk and it was even better. We all enjoyed it so much we asked them what kind it was. He didn’t give us a brand but said it is called “hemp granola” so we are going to try to find something similar.
Lunch
For lunch, we packed sandwiches in a cooler bag that my parents brought and had a picnic lunch at the Devil’s Garden in Escalante. It was a gorgeous area and perfect for a picnic. When we went grocery shopping the day before we got bread and lunch meats to be able to pack lunches rather than buying out all the time.
Dinner
At dinnertime, my dad made a pork loin in the oven. Since the cabin had a full kitchen, we took advantage of it to make some food. With 6 people on the trip, eating out gets expensive. We bought a few things we could make easily without many ingredients to save money. We bought a full, pre-marinated pork loin and a rice side to make on the stovetop. I forgot to get a photo of our pork and rice before I started eating it.
June 6
Breakfast
Breakfast was again eaten at the Sweetwater Kitchen at our hotel.
Lunch
We packed sandwiches for lunch, but never found a good picnic area along the Burr’s Trail that wasn’t swarming with mosquitos. So we ended up driving back to the cabin to eat the sandwiches there.
Dinner
For dinner, my dad found charcoal in the storage closet and we were (barely) able to get the charcoal grill lit to grill some chicken. There wasn’t a lighter in the cabin, so we were lighting some sticks on fire from the gas stovetop and placing those in the bottom of the grill to get it lit. Finally, it lit and we had delicious grilled chicken with a rice side for dinner. Tyler had been asking to eat out on the deck so we did, although the wind made our food cold very quickly.
June 7
Breakfast
We were supposed to stay at the cabin for one more night, but we also wanted to see Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. So the day before, my mom and I decided to suck up the cost and we would leave the cabin a day early and booked a cheap hotel in Green River, Utah, which was only about 30-45 minutes from the parks. We got up and had breakfast at the cabin lodge, then packed up and headed out.
Lunch
We got to the next hotel at about 1:30 in the afternoon and checked in. Then we went to the diner next door for a late lunch/early dinner before heading to the parks. I got another grilled chicken salad, and this one was the best I’d had. It came with a huge bowl of dressing, which was nice because I put just a little bit on at a time as I needed it. My mom got one also and asked for no eggs so I asked for hers and got twice as many hard-boiled eggs. I love eggs on my salad!
Dinner/Desert
I got dehydrated while we were out there, so we mostly drove through the two parks. We also didn’t realize that Canyonlands has multiple entrances that don’t all connect, so we only drove through the area near the entrance we went in. When we got back, everyone else went to the diner to get some dessert, but I still wasn’t feeling well so I stayed at the hotel for the evening.
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A few photos from the places we visited during these days:
Devil’s Garden in Escalante National Monumnet
Burr’s Trail
Arches National Park
Canyonlands National Park
I always find camping food super unique because well, you just don’t have as much as you do in a typical kitchen!! My sister goes camping a lot and I always see her cooking up these elaborate gourmet meals – it impresses the crap outta me!
Sounds like you had a fantastic vacation with lots of amazing food! Great photos too…
Your pictures are so beautiful! I am sure you all had a blast!
Here in the UK we have lots of lovely parks that are ideal for foodie picnics – outdoors can be so much fun x
What fun! Utah is gorgeous and your food looks great!
I have made it my goal to go camping in a big national park next year. It is going to happen!
Wow! those photos are stunning! Can I be invited to your next picnic? It looks like a blast
Looks like you had a blast! I love vacation food. I find I always end up eating things I wouldn’t normally pick.
What an amazing trip you had. I love camping and I love how there are so many different ways to camp. The pictures look beautiful and the food looks yummy.
This seems like so much fun! Not a real vacation if you don’t get to eat lots of amazing food!
It sounds like you had a great time in the Desert Southwest! There are so many amazing sights to see there. And the food looks delicious too!
This looks like such a fun vacation! Loving all the great views!
You must have had a whale of time. All the dishes look yummy indeed. I would love to go on such a trip as well!
The Grand Canyon looks so good! that food looks yummy ::)
sounds like you had a great vacation!love those images..Thanks for sharing with us.
The main thing I focus on when we go on vacation is food! It’s the highlight of every trip.
Wow look at those stone formations! It looks like the whole family had a lot of fun! Your kids seem to really be enjoying the trip! And love that you shared through food (I also love eggs on my salad!)
I’m so sorry to hear that you got dehydrated. When we go on an active vacation it’s easy to get distracted from your drinking and then you were active and don’t even always realize.
Yes to the food …it’s the granola that wins it for me
Everything looks delicious and fresh. Thanks for sharing your journey with us
Those stone formations look amazing. My kids would love to visit this too.
Looks like an amazing vacation. We love going out West.
It is fun to enjoy good food on vacation. Sounds like you had a lot of great meals.
Wow! i am so jealous right now. What is a vacation if you are not eating great food. Anyways, Happy vacation to you.
Oh this makes me really hungry now. What a great vacation you had. I love all the food
I hope I can visit the Grand Canyon someday with my family and experience the same.
Great pictures here. Grand Canyon has been on my list for a while now. this makes me wanna visit it more
Those pictures are awesome!!! What a nice time spent with family 😊
What a great vacation. Filled with great memories with the family and food. It is always fun to have someone else cook for you.
That certainly looks like a fun trip! It also looks like you guys are having some great food!
What a great vacation post! Our family has always wanted to visit the Arches National Park! Saving this as a pin to help us plan our own family vacation!
Wow….the Devil’s Trail is quite something. And I would love to cook for myself while I am there. It must be exhilarating! Thanks for sharing about it.
What a great post on your vacation food. Pinned this. Thanks for sharing
Oh my! I haven’t been in this kind of place. It looks so much fun. I hope I can experience this too someday.