My Trip...all the days...
Seems like forever ago that we are on vacation and yet I know it was not that long ago.
Day One:
We flew out to Utah on a 6:45am flight. Yes early start for the day. We got a van to take us to the airport this time rather than driving and parking. It works out pretty good. It was an early morning for all. We arrive after a very long 5 ½ hour flight.
My parents picked us up and we headed out. We did a stop at Cabela's to look around. My first time in one. They had lots of fish and some to feed as well. We got to Fillmore after stopping for lunch and headed out. It is always the same drive, but always seems new after being away for a while. I loved seeing the mountains again. We got to Fillmore and saw Susan and her dog Daisy. They both seemed happy to see us. The girls took a while to settle down for the night.
Day Two:
After working on sleeping in a little bit in Utah time, it ended up being a good morning. It was hard to get the girls adjusted to a different schedule in a different time. But they did okay. I started on my project that was part of the reason I came home other than a nice get away vacation. I was cleaning out a lot of what I had. I was surprised at how much I just threw away. I think it made my parents happy to see the stuff gone. Mom helped me sort through it. I was glad to see so much of it go. I did find stuff that I wanted to keep. I had a lot of books that I wanted to keep.
There were a lot of memories in the items and it brought tears and warm memories for me. It was nice to just hang around the house and have no where that I had to go. Paul and I did walk to Cluffs for lunch. It was nice to get out. There were 5 roosters that followed us for a ways. They charge and then back off. It was odd but thought nothing of it. I saw Allen at lunch it was unexpected. He has changed some and yet not at all. He gave an update on people and things. It was the normal Allen. In some ways he has not changed at all. His wife works there and was jealous of him talking to us and not to her. The girls got to play with Susan and the neighbor girls that were visiting their grandmother there. Dinner was something fun. I think we ate outside for every meal but breakfast and some time breakfast as well.
Day Three:
Went pretty much like day two other than on the walk to lunch we got attacked by the Attach Squadron of Roosters. They formed up and attached each of them. They had their own ideas that is for sure. But we did not do anything but asked about it later. It seems the people that have them used to have 21 of them and killed them off because of problems and now just have the 5. We had lunch at Cluffs again and this time we saw Kenny. Yet another shock of things. He was down to help his parents get the house ready to live in again. We chatted for a while and he gave me a copy of his book. That was interesting. The walk back was interesting. I ran into two old friends that I had not expect to see at all on the visit. Both have changed and not always sure if the changes are for the better or not. In some ways yes and some ways not.
Day Four:
This was an earlier morning for all. We did family pictures. It was a fun time and yet frustrating. You can see a sneak peak of pictures here. I think they turned out great. All we were missing was my brother for a complete family picture, but he was off working away for the summer as always. After we got through with pictures my sister was going over to see my cousin and my Aunt Lynn called and invited us over to lunch to see everyone. I got to see my Aunt Lynn and Douglas and Uncle Gary. It was an unexpected side trip but fun none the same. We got the see closer up the fire that was burning in Scipio. Yes smaller than some other but stuff interesting to watch. It is a managed burn or was at that time. After a wonderful drive over, I rode with Susan and my mom and Grandpa and Paul took the girls. They did okay I think. We had a fun lunch and them some shopping at Walmart for mom and Susan. I helped mom get a few things for organizing her kitchen. I wish I could find more of the items that I help mom get, but can't any more. We headed back and then Paul and I went out to Delta for dinner. It was an okay dinner that ended with the power going out. A power line had burned out by Scipio., 40 miles away. So that made things interesting for finishing dinner. We headed back to Fillmore to see what would happen. The power came back on later. We got to see the huge amount of smoke from the fire while driving. It was an odd drive: fire to the east, rain ahead of us and dust storm to the west. Power came back on before it got to late.
Day Five:
This was Sunday and it was just relaxing. I went to a special church meeting and then just relaxed the rest of the day. The bbq and lots of resting. We did talk about what we would do the rest of the week.
Day Six:
Today is the day that Paul and I got away. It was a great day. We headed to Bryce Canyon National Park. It was a great visit. The original idea was a nice 2 ½ mile hike. It ended up being much longer. We drove to Bryce and got breakfast and had a fun time chatting the way there. It was fun to be out of the house and away from the girls. Certainly wish that I could carry that feeling more than a few days. We parked at Sunrise point and headed to Sunset point. We were doing a hike from one to the other. Part of Navajo loop to Queen garden and Fair loop. Paul wanted to see something on the start of the Peekaboo look.
So we went to see it. I knew it was not far and well I just kept going. Was it the wisest of things for me to do. Well no, but hey it happened. We had a ton of fun and enjoyed it. We did the 3 mile loop and ended up just finishing the Navajo loop and enjoyed it. The clouds were great for the day. I could not have asked for a better day to take pictures. We finished off the day with dinner, that I could not really eat to well. I at least had a good amount of salad. Then drove back to my parents house.
Day Seven:
This was to be the fishing day. We got an invite to a private Ranch that has a few ponds on it. We headed to do some fishing. It was going to be bass fishing and a fun drive there. Almost half of the drive would end up on dirt roads. I at least know when my dad says he is going to do work there, where he is going. We got there and took lunch with. Susan did not come with us. She went to visit with my Aunt for a few days. We headed up with my parents and enjoyed the whole trip. I got to see Sand Mountain from a distance and hear stories about when my dad was working for the highway patrol. I always forget just how much of the area he knows. We caught a few fish while there.
I think really I caught most of them. Rose almost caught one all on her own with a small amount of help. It was a fun trip and everyone had fun. I think that Paul even enjoyed it. He got to play catch the big fish with a smaller fish. The drive back we took a slightly different route than we came and it was smoother and nice to see different things. We got pointed out a few of the volcano in the area. You could see the ones that were there before Lake Bonneville and how much the lake washed it away. Plus a few that were there during the lake.
Day Eight:
This was the day I think I slept about 60% of it. I did make it through a few more boxes and figured out more of what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to send home now. But most of the day was really sleeping.
Day Nine:
This was a day I had looked forward to. I have been to Dinosaur National Monument when I was younger, but it had been a while. The Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry is something very different from that. I was shocked at what I learned there. The amount of bones they pulled from such a small area was amazing. The quarry is now under the BLM and something that is a site to see. It is out of the way and the staff was nice. They were volunteers for the summer. One was from Lowell, I got a kick out of that. I guess she is looking into the field or something else. They had one building open to look at where they have been doing work. There were some hikes in the area as well. It was something to see. They did have a spot where a bone was sticking out of the rock else where for you to see. We did a 1.3 mile hike in the area. They showed some of the area and just how well much nothing there is really. The museum had a lot to see as well. Plus full of information, I had been told once they did not have much. I guess that has changed. The drive to and from was very long but we all managed to survive it.
Day Ten:
This was an different day. We were doing something my dad suggested that we do. We went to look at one of the volcano's in the area that is no longer active at all and look in the lava tubes. This is something I had not done since I was very little. It was odd to put long pants on and head out into the heat. It is not something you want to do during the colder hours because of the rattle snakes. We got to drive over the rough area and got shaken up a little bit.
It in some ways would be faster to walk the 2 miles than drive. We drove in and started looking for the lava tubes. There were certainly lots to look at. Some collapsed and others just fine. We did look in one and crawl in just a little bit and then headed for the center of the volcano. It gives you a good idea just how big the center was and just what is left of it. It was fun to see it again. The sky was not moving so you could see the jet trails in the air as well. After the volcano I headed back and slept some and went through the final boxes. It was good to see how much stuff went and how little I was really keeping. I'm sure that Paul is upset that I was keeping so much.
Day Eleven:
This was a relaxing and yet stressful day. It was the start of the packing and also packing of stuff to ship home. I found out the local post office was open from 10 to noon. What?!?!? So little house was well upsetting. I had to rush there get boxes and then run home and pack them and then return to ship them. I did manage to do it, somehow and plus I also made it to a local place that makes jerky. Yummy! The old place I got it from is closed now but this is just as good and cheaper as well. Plus know the people really well that make it. The afternoon was relaxing and Paul and I did go out to lunch at Cluffs again. I saw Allen again, plus Heidi as well. It was nice to see people and just get out. That night Paul and I went to the movie theater. Yes I know it is old not up to date or anything close to that. They at least have replaced the seats from the 40s, with seats that someone else was getting rid of. At least they are newer. The floor was sticky as always. The people the in the theater I really did not know anyone. I did know there was a twin there and his last night but not sure what one it was Cody or Brandon. I did learn later who it was from my mom. We saw GI Joe. It was an okay movie. I did forget how noisy people there can be. Headed back for sleep.
Day Twelve:
I went to church and saw a few people I know. It was mostly packing up after that. It was a busy day that went in a blur, but I did not try and over do it to much. The girls got to rest up and spend their last day playing outside. We said bye to a few people since we were leaving really early in the morning. Everything got packed up as much as I could see and then we went forward from there. We had a nice dinner and just relaxed.
Day Thirteen:
We got up around 2:15am and showered and got ready to leave. Susan was also leaving this day, so we said bye to her as well this morning. We got everyone up and drove to SLC and had breakfast and the waiter was really nice and did great service as well. We got to the airport and let the girls run around and everyone was drained and we headed to check in. I am happy to see that some airports have a family check in now instead of waiting in line with everyone else and have the girls be a pain. We got there took care of a few things and then finally boarded the plane. Right before take off Rose had to go potty. That was a disaster. UGH. But we made it without to many problems. The flight went okay. I watched Star Trek and enjoyed it again even if I had to stop and rewind several times. Took me almost the whole flight to watch it, but at least I had some enjoyment during part of the flight. We arrived and got off the plane (we had to wait for the stroller) and headed to baggage. We got on our van and headed home. It was nice to arrive home and took a deep breath to find out things were not great. The cats had left a present on the couch. (see post before about this).
That pretty much sums up the trip. We had fresh veggies out of the garden every day. I ate rhubarb every day and loved it. I found that I really do miss having a garden. We also saw the wild turkeys and deer every day. We even saw a few decent sized bucks. It was nice to just relax and enjoy it. The turkeys kept the grasshoppers from over running my parents yard. I did see lots of them else where. It was amazing to watch the turkeys run after them. We also got to watch a preying mantis eat a grasshopper. It was fun to see the sun rise and set over the mountains. The colors were great as California and New Harmony were burning.. Susan did some gluten free cooking for us. This was my first trip that I did no go to the pool. I did get to tell a few people that we were expecting.
Over all it was a good trip. Some parts were up and down but it was a good trip.
Day One:
We flew out to Utah on a 6:45am flight. Yes early start for the day. We got a van to take us to the airport this time rather than driving and parking. It works out pretty good. It was an early morning for all. We arrive after a very long 5 ½ hour flight.
My parents picked us up and we headed out. We did a stop at Cabela's to look around. My first time in one. They had lots of fish and some to feed as well. We got to Fillmore after stopping for lunch and headed out. It is always the same drive, but always seems new after being away for a while. I loved seeing the mountains again. We got to Fillmore and saw Susan and her dog Daisy. They both seemed happy to see us. The girls took a while to settle down for the night.
Day Two:
After working on sleeping in a little bit in Utah time, it ended up being a good morning. It was hard to get the girls adjusted to a different schedule in a different time. But they did okay. I started on my project that was part of the reason I came home other than a nice get away vacation. I was cleaning out a lot of what I had. I was surprised at how much I just threw away. I think it made my parents happy to see the stuff gone. Mom helped me sort through it. I was glad to see so much of it go. I did find stuff that I wanted to keep. I had a lot of books that I wanted to keep.
There were a lot of memories in the items and it brought tears and warm memories for me. It was nice to just hang around the house and have no where that I had to go. Paul and I did walk to Cluffs for lunch. It was nice to get out. There were 5 roosters that followed us for a ways. They charge and then back off. It was odd but thought nothing of it. I saw Allen at lunch it was unexpected. He has changed some and yet not at all. He gave an update on people and things. It was the normal Allen. In some ways he has not changed at all. His wife works there and was jealous of him talking to us and not to her. The girls got to play with Susan and the neighbor girls that were visiting their grandmother there. Dinner was something fun. I think we ate outside for every meal but breakfast and some time breakfast as well.
Day Three:
Went pretty much like day two other than on the walk to lunch we got attacked by the Attach Squadron of Roosters. They formed up and attached each of them. They had their own ideas that is for sure. But we did not do anything but asked about it later. It seems the people that have them used to have 21 of them and killed them off because of problems and now just have the 5. We had lunch at Cluffs again and this time we saw Kenny. Yet another shock of things. He was down to help his parents get the house ready to live in again. We chatted for a while and he gave me a copy of his book. That was interesting. The walk back was interesting. I ran into two old friends that I had not expect to see at all on the visit. Both have changed and not always sure if the changes are for the better or not. In some ways yes and some ways not.
Day Four:
This was an earlier morning for all. We did family pictures. It was a fun time and yet frustrating. You can see a sneak peak of pictures here. I think they turned out great. All we were missing was my brother for a complete family picture, but he was off working away for the summer as always. After we got through with pictures my sister was going over to see my cousin and my Aunt Lynn called and invited us over to lunch to see everyone. I got to see my Aunt Lynn and Douglas and Uncle Gary. It was an unexpected side trip but fun none the same. We got the see closer up the fire that was burning in Scipio. Yes smaller than some other but stuff interesting to watch. It is a managed burn or was at that time. After a wonderful drive over, I rode with Susan and my mom and Grandpa and Paul took the girls. They did okay I think. We had a fun lunch and them some shopping at Walmart for mom and Susan. I helped mom get a few things for organizing her kitchen. I wish I could find more of the items that I help mom get, but can't any more. We headed back and then Paul and I went out to Delta for dinner. It was an okay dinner that ended with the power going out. A power line had burned out by Scipio., 40 miles away. So that made things interesting for finishing dinner. We headed back to Fillmore to see what would happen. The power came back on later. We got to see the huge amount of smoke from the fire while driving. It was an odd drive: fire to the east, rain ahead of us and dust storm to the west. Power came back on before it got to late.
Day Five:
This was Sunday and it was just relaxing. I went to a special church meeting and then just relaxed the rest of the day. The bbq and lots of resting. We did talk about what we would do the rest of the week.
Day Six:
Today is the day that Paul and I got away. It was a great day. We headed to Bryce Canyon National Park. It was a great visit. The original idea was a nice 2 ½ mile hike. It ended up being much longer. We drove to Bryce and got breakfast and had a fun time chatting the way there. It was fun to be out of the house and away from the girls. Certainly wish that I could carry that feeling more than a few days. We parked at Sunrise point and headed to Sunset point. We were doing a hike from one to the other. Part of Navajo loop to Queen garden and Fair loop. Paul wanted to see something on the start of the Peekaboo look.
So we went to see it. I knew it was not far and well I just kept going. Was it the wisest of things for me to do. Well no, but hey it happened. We had a ton of fun and enjoyed it. We did the 3 mile loop and ended up just finishing the Navajo loop and enjoyed it. The clouds were great for the day. I could not have asked for a better day to take pictures. We finished off the day with dinner, that I could not really eat to well. I at least had a good amount of salad. Then drove back to my parents house.
Day Seven:
This was to be the fishing day. We got an invite to a private Ranch that has a few ponds on it. We headed to do some fishing. It was going to be bass fishing and a fun drive there. Almost half of the drive would end up on dirt roads. I at least know when my dad says he is going to do work there, where he is going. We got there and took lunch with. Susan did not come with us. She went to visit with my Aunt for a few days. We headed up with my parents and enjoyed the whole trip. I got to see Sand Mountain from a distance and hear stories about when my dad was working for the highway patrol. I always forget just how much of the area he knows. We caught a few fish while there.
I think really I caught most of them. Rose almost caught one all on her own with a small amount of help. It was a fun trip and everyone had fun. I think that Paul even enjoyed it. He got to play catch the big fish with a smaller fish. The drive back we took a slightly different route than we came and it was smoother and nice to see different things. We got pointed out a few of the volcano in the area. You could see the ones that were there before Lake Bonneville and how much the lake washed it away. Plus a few that were there during the lake.
Day Eight:
This was the day I think I slept about 60% of it. I did make it through a few more boxes and figured out more of what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to send home now. But most of the day was really sleeping.
Day Nine:
This was a day I had looked forward to. I have been to Dinosaur National Monument when I was younger, but it had been a while. The Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry is something very different from that. I was shocked at what I learned there. The amount of bones they pulled from such a small area was amazing. The quarry is now under the BLM and something that is a site to see. It is out of the way and the staff was nice. They were volunteers for the summer. One was from Lowell, I got a kick out of that. I guess she is looking into the field or something else. They had one building open to look at where they have been doing work. There were some hikes in the area as well. It was something to see. They did have a spot where a bone was sticking out of the rock else where for you to see. We did a 1.3 mile hike in the area. They showed some of the area and just how well much nothing there is really. The museum had a lot to see as well. Plus full of information, I had been told once they did not have much. I guess that has changed. The drive to and from was very long but we all managed to survive it.
Day Ten:
This was an different day. We were doing something my dad suggested that we do. We went to look at one of the volcano's in the area that is no longer active at all and look in the lava tubes. This is something I had not done since I was very little. It was odd to put long pants on and head out into the heat. It is not something you want to do during the colder hours because of the rattle snakes. We got to drive over the rough area and got shaken up a little bit.
It in some ways would be faster to walk the 2 miles than drive. We drove in and started looking for the lava tubes. There were certainly lots to look at. Some collapsed and others just fine. We did look in one and crawl in just a little bit and then headed for the center of the volcano. It gives you a good idea just how big the center was and just what is left of it. It was fun to see it again. The sky was not moving so you could see the jet trails in the air as well. After the volcano I headed back and slept some and went through the final boxes. It was good to see how much stuff went and how little I was really keeping. I'm sure that Paul is upset that I was keeping so much.
Day Eleven:
This was a relaxing and yet stressful day. It was the start of the packing and also packing of stuff to ship home. I found out the local post office was open from 10 to noon. What?!?!? So little house was well upsetting. I had to rush there get boxes and then run home and pack them and then return to ship them. I did manage to do it, somehow and plus I also made it to a local place that makes jerky. Yummy! The old place I got it from is closed now but this is just as good and cheaper as well. Plus know the people really well that make it. The afternoon was relaxing and Paul and I did go out to lunch at Cluffs again. I saw Allen again, plus Heidi as well. It was nice to see people and just get out. That night Paul and I went to the movie theater. Yes I know it is old not up to date or anything close to that. They at least have replaced the seats from the 40s, with seats that someone else was getting rid of. At least they are newer. The floor was sticky as always. The people the in the theater I really did not know anyone. I did know there was a twin there and his last night but not sure what one it was Cody or Brandon. I did learn later who it was from my mom. We saw GI Joe. It was an okay movie. I did forget how noisy people there can be. Headed back for sleep.
Day Twelve:
I went to church and saw a few people I know. It was mostly packing up after that. It was a busy day that went in a blur, but I did not try and over do it to much. The girls got to rest up and spend their last day playing outside. We said bye to a few people since we were leaving really early in the morning. Everything got packed up as much as I could see and then we went forward from there. We had a nice dinner and just relaxed.
Day Thirteen:
We got up around 2:15am and showered and got ready to leave. Susan was also leaving this day, so we said bye to her as well this morning. We got everyone up and drove to SLC and had breakfast and the waiter was really nice and did great service as well. We got to the airport and let the girls run around and everyone was drained and we headed to check in. I am happy to see that some airports have a family check in now instead of waiting in line with everyone else and have the girls be a pain. We got there took care of a few things and then finally boarded the plane. Right before take off Rose had to go potty. That was a disaster. UGH. But we made it without to many problems. The flight went okay. I watched Star Trek and enjoyed it again even if I had to stop and rewind several times. Took me almost the whole flight to watch it, but at least I had some enjoyment during part of the flight. We arrived and got off the plane (we had to wait for the stroller) and headed to baggage. We got on our van and headed home. It was nice to arrive home and took a deep breath to find out things were not great. The cats had left a present on the couch. (see post before about this).
That pretty much sums up the trip. We had fresh veggies out of the garden every day. I ate rhubarb every day and loved it. I found that I really do miss having a garden. We also saw the wild turkeys and deer every day. We even saw a few decent sized bucks. It was nice to just relax and enjoy it. The turkeys kept the grasshoppers from over running my parents yard. I did see lots of them else where. It was amazing to watch the turkeys run after them. We also got to watch a preying mantis eat a grasshopper. It was fun to see the sun rise and set over the mountains. The colors were great as California and New Harmony were burning.. Susan did some gluten free cooking for us. This was my first trip that I did no go to the pool. I did get to tell a few people that we were expecting.
Over all it was a good trip. Some parts were up and down but it was a good trip.