Win a Nights Stay at Pinkie's Place

Have you wanted to visit Bryce Canyon, Zion or Grand Canyon National Parks as part of your homeschool learning?  Well now is your chance! Pinkie's Place is hosting a giveaway on their FaceBook Page for a 1 free night stay.  Pinkie's Place is located in Glendale Utah between  Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks making it the perfect location for your stay.  Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Cedar Breaks and Coral Pink Sand Dunes are just a days drive away.



Pinkie's Place is a sweet little cottage that has been newly updated and turned into a vacation rental. I love this little home as it was my grandparents home.  This is where my dad grew up so it holds a special place in our family.  I have many wonderful memories of visiting Grandma and Grandpa there especially on Christmas day.  All the cousins gathered for a lunch of grandma's potato salad and honey ham. The food was great, but the best part was digging under the tree for a present.  Clear up until Grandma's last Christmas she bought presents for all the grand kids and great grand kids so even my kids loved the tradition of meeting at grandma's for a present and lunch.  How I miss those days.

My parents were fortunate enough to be able to buy my fathers boyhood home after my grandparents passed away.  Pinkie's Place is named after my Grandmother Arlene who signed all of her love letters to my grandpa with the name Pinkie. So it was only fitting that my parents name the place after grandma.

We want to share this wonderful home with others so we are offering a 1 night free stay to one lucky family so hop on over to the Facebook Page, like the page and leave a comment. One lucky winner will be chosen randomly on Aug 1st.


Just for an extra I have added some information about Zion National Park below since it so close to Pinkie's Place and a must see if you are visiting Southern Utah. 

Photo Credit Joe Desliva

Are you studying geology in your homeschool this year? Zion National Park is such an amazing place to see and to study about.  Zion National Park is located in Southern Utah and hosts a great number of things to do with your family such as playing in the stream, hiking, picnicking and photo taking.  The views are breath taking and you can't help but wonder how this amazing place was formed.  Being there first hand is so much more engaging than looking and learning from a picture. 

Growing up just outside of Zion, I had many opportunities to drive through as it was the quickest way for my family to reach St. George Utah.  As kids we looked forward to driving through the mile long tunnel and got excited when my dad would honk the horn as we drove through. We loved to hear the sound of the honking echo through the tunnel. We liked it even more when other cars responded back with a honk.  It became a game to see how many other people would honk.

 Angels Landing is one of my favorite hikes in Zion, it is also one of the most popular hikes in the canyon.  The trial is 5 miles of steep up hill switchbacks.  This is a hike best done in the cool hours of morning as Zion can be pretty warm in the afternoon.  Be sure and bring plenty of water and comfortable hiking shoes. Plan on this hike taking 5 hours round trip.  The views up top are well worth the effort.  I wouldn't recommend this hike for young kids as there are some steep drop offs and little legs will get worn out fast from the steep climb.

Weeping Rock is 1/2 mile round trip trail making it the shortest trail in Zion, but with its uphill climb it is a steep push for a stroller, so if taking little ones you may want to consider a baby carrier backpack.   The short hike takes you to a fern and moss covered overhang where dozens of little cascades of water drizzle down out of the rock.

The History of Zion according to The National Park Service

"Almost 12,000 years ago Zion's first peoples, who are now almost invisible, tracked mammoth, giant sloth, and camel across southern Utah. Due to climate change and overhunting these animals died out about 8,000 years ago. Humans adapted by focusing on mid-sized animals and gathered foods. As resources dwindled 2,600 years ago, people tuned lifeways to the specifics of place. Such a culture, centered on Zion, differentiated over the next 1,500 years into a farming tradition archeologists call Virgin Anasazi.

Zion's geology provided these and later pioneer farmers a combination rare in the desert: a wide, level place to grow food, a river to water it, and an adequate growing season. On the Colorado Plateau crops grow best between 5,000 and 7,000 feet, making Zion's elevations -- 3,666 to 8,726 feet -- almost ideal. Differences in elevation also encourage diverse plants and animals; mule deer and turkey wander forested plateaus; bighorn sheep and juniper prosper in canyons.
The Anasazi moved southeast 800 years ago, due probably to drought and overuse. Soon after, Paiute peoples brought a lifeway fine-tuned to desert seasons and thrived. In the 1860s, just after settlement by Mormon pioneers, John Wesley Powell visited Zion on the first scientific exploration of southern Utah. By hard work and faith pioneers endured in a landscape that hardly warranted such persistence. Flash floods destroyed towns and drought burned the crops. Only the will to survive saw Paiute, Anasazi, and European descendants through great difficulties. Perhaps today Zion is again a sanctuary, a place of life and hope."