When the kids were out of school, we took a trip to Utah. We left after Tyler had his 5th grade graduation ceremony and even picked Allison up a little early from her last day of school party. We took the scenic route on I-70 and stopped for lunch at a shopping area with a food court. My caprese crepe was delicious!
We arrived at Mike's a little before 9:00pm and spent the night there. I drove down to American Fork to visit my friend Rachael, and later we went to Gardener Village for a Harry Potter Escape room. We thought we'd solved it, but then another room opened with even more clues with only 10 minutes left. Tyler still had plenty of fun, though. Back at Mike's we had a little birthday party for Tyler before heading up to Layton to stay with Oscar's parents. Mike made the tasty Tri-Tip steakTyler had requested, and mom got donuts and cookies.
This is the view we've been seeing for the past several years and the main reason we wanted to make the trip. After 6+ years since it was announced, the Layton temple was finally ready to open. The open house went from mid-April to the end of May, so we knew we'd have to drive there right after school was out for summer vacation. I wanted to give the kids the experience of being inside a temple to help them understand why it's such a special place to us.
On Sunday we went to church with Melissa and family then played at a playground right next to their chapel. Oscar found a few old school friends in their ward.
Here are some photos from Oscar's run.
Julia and Melissa's families came over for dinner that evening, and the cousins had fun playing outside together.
Later that evening Tyler played Chess with grandpa, and granny appreciated Tyler helping to clean the table.
Here we are after the Layton Temple open house. After the walk through Tyler sat in the waiting room saying "this place is just so spiritual."
I'm happy that next time we go to Utah, we'll be able to take a short jaunt down from Marcus and Martha's house to go to the temple.
Later that day Grandpa took Allison on a ride on the Green Wagon Dragon. I like that she loves intense roller coasters yet can still enjoy a wagon ride.
Oscar and I went for a hike up Waterfall Canyon. When they say waterfall canyon, they mean it. You don't just see a waterfall at the end of the hike. You're literally climbing up a waterfall for half of it.
Though, of course, there is still a beautiful waterfall at the top. This was a much more strenuous hike than I'd expected, and my shoes were completely soaked through, but it was worth it.
On the drive back we saw this other Ogden waterfall right next to the interstate.
Along the drive to Utah, we found discount beanie boos at a gas station. The kids asked for one and I said they could choose that instead of a treat since it would have been about the same cost. Tyler got this sloth named Dangler. The first night at granny's he took a bunch of tissue to make a pillow for Dangler and used a hand towel for a blanket. Over time he made Dangler a whole house. It included a bed, a window, a bathroom with a toilet and a clock, a roof, a table with various vegetables, and my favorite, a self portrait on the wall.
I wanted to do some music coaching with my friend Judith in Montrose, CO. On Tuesday I spent the day driving to her while Oscar and the kids stayed with Marcus and Martha until Friday. I planned several stops on my drive so that my next destination was never too far away. My first stop was Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon.
My second stop was for lunch. I ate yummy Greek food in Price, Utah at a place called Greek Streak. I normally wouldn't pick fries as a side but they had fry sauce. A gyro sandwich with fries and fry sauce made for an excellent meal. Back at Martha's the kids had a water play day with Melissa's girls, and Tyler played card games with granny.
My next stop was in Sego Canyon to see the Petroglyphs. I saw some which unfortunately have had modern letters graffitied on them. Google tells me there are more, but it was around 100 degrees with no cell service on a poor dirt road. I worried I'd get a flat tire if I continued on that road and decided to drive back.
For my final stop before Judith's house I stopped at the Trail Thru Time near the Utah/Colorado border. There are fossils embedded into several of the rocks there.
There are bits of a Camarasaurus skeleton here. If the fossils can be taken out safely, they do. But if they'll stay more intact by being left in the rock, then they leave them be.
Here's the beautiful Rabbit Valley Overlook
Examples of Desert Varnish
Diplodocus skeleton bits in these rocks
A Camptosauraus skeleton was recovered from this area.
Here's the La Sal Mountain Range behind the Rabbit Valley.
A dinosaur pelvis lodged into this rock above and Balanced Rock here on the left. I then continued on and made it to Judith's house where I stayed for the next 3 nights and had several hours of coachings.
After our coaching the next morning I drove down to Ouray to see Box Canon Falls. The flow was much more intense than I was expecting.
You can't see the upper portion very well from the main lookout, but there is another lookout where you can get a nice, up close view. It was absolutely pounding.
I went down the stairs to see it from the base.
After seeing the waterfall I took a nice hike along the perimeter trail.
There were some beautiful views of the town from the bridge crossing the canyon.
I would have loved to do the hot springs too, but I didn't think I'd be up for the drive back after a good long soak.
Such a pretty town!
I stopped in town for lunch - a grilled cheese wrapped in cheese!
I also walked along the river about halfway back to Montrose. I ran into some LDS missionaries along the way. I also passed a snake and saw a fox.
The next day after my final coaching, I explored the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. I'd come before in March when the snow still had much of the road and trails blocked off. That was not a problem this time.
I went to all the main lookouts and did several small hikes.
I hiked over to the next lookout along the Rim Trail. Normally you can drive to it, but there was road construction in the parking lot, so the only way to get there was hiking the rim trail from the visitor center.
After stopping at all the other lookouts, I took the hike Judith had recommended - the Warner Point Trail. You get 360 degrees views of the whole park and the surrounding valley.
That evening Judith and I enjoyed seeing the local community's production of "Something Rotten." The next morning she drove down to see her granddaughter's graduation while I drove to Fruita to meet up with the family. Martha had driven Oscar and the kids there, and we stopped for lunch at a tasty Indian restaurant. While we waited for our food I took pictures of the kids with this dinosaur riding a bicycle. After a yummy lunch we drove home and were happy to cuddle with our sweet Nibbler.
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