(I'm actually writing this three years after this trip took place, but I'm catching up and figured it would fit better in its chronological spot :))
I've lived in Utah for much of my life and feel like I've seen very little of it. Matt and I had a long weekend that we decided to take advantage of. We called Elder Kay Hales in Redmond, Utah to see if we could stop by for a visit. I used to go see him a few times a year, but I haven't been able to get down there much the last few years. He was delighted to have us come and so we began one of our favorite weekend trips we've taken. We've taken a few more weekend trips to different parts of the state, but none quite like this one - heading in a direction but not necessarily knowing where we would end up but finding things to do along the way. Having more little people makes it harder to just wander, but we refer back to this trip enough to know that it's a type of travel we look forward to doing more in the future. As the Littles get bigger we hope to do a lot more wandering.
The following are the pictures I uploaded to this blog after the trip. I'll add a few notes but will mostly just let the pictures speak for themselves.
(5 July 2013) We drove to Redmond and had a fun reunion with Elder Hales in his home. He took us on a tour of his home and garden and fed us a nice lunch. I love eating at his home. I feel like I've gone back in time. He gave us an update on Vanuatu and those he had heard from or seen in one of his 5 trips back to Vanuatu or New Zealand to go to the temple with different members. It was wonderful to see my dear friend. I am grateful for Matt who accepts my friends as his own and cares for there well being as much as I do.
After leaving Redmond we just started driving. I remember stopping at a gas station in the Redmond (I think) and just looking at a map and finding a town in the direction we wanted to go. We settled on Loa, Utah. It was a great choice. It was only an hour away but in a beautiful little valley. We looked up Loa on Wikipedia once we got into our hotel, Road Creek Inn, and learned that it had been named by an early Mormon settler who had served his mission in Hawaii. Loa means Mountain in Hawaiian (I remembered that once I read it). We drove back to the Fish Lake to eat at their lodge for dinner. It was a lovely view and a place we came back to a few years later when we were coming home from Lake Powell with Amy and Tyler.
(6 July 2013) Capital Reef National Park. It was beautiful. I remember wishing I had Amy or Emily with us to take pictures because they have such a good eye for capturing the world. Matt carried Kate on his back for most of our stops. How cute are is that little pink person on her Daddy's back?! I love them so!!
She still makes this face :)
The Petroglyphs from the Fremont Peoples that lived throughout Utah and surrounding states 2000 years ago. It's so interesting to me that we can still see these drawings now.
There is this darling, original, school house in Fruita. We couldn't go inside but read the plaque. The desks inside were just like the one I have at home that (someday) I plan to refinish and display. I love little things like reading the history of a little school house in the middle of nowhere, whose first teacher was 12.
After Capital Reef National Park we headed to Boulder, Utah, which is southwest of Fruita. We saw on the map that there were Anasazi State Park that had ancient ruins there and decided that sounded interesting. It is a small state park (I just looked it up - 6 acres is all) and was interesting, though hot and had limited information to read. Still, I've always loved archaeological finds.
As we talked with the woman in the museum we asked about places to eat. She said there were two, but at the end of the street (and the end of world, so it looked). We drove down the street and decided to head into the one called the Burr Trail Grill (I just looked that up, too). Matt saw fried green tomatoes on the menu and his eyes lit up. I'm not sure I would have tried it, but we were both wide-eyed when they brought out a plate that looked something like this:
We both dug in and my oh my, it was a-maze-zing! We decided to take a picture to remember it by before we ate the last few bites.
I can't remember what sandwich we ordered but it was equally deeee-lish!! Look at Matt's face. He is a happy camper!
After Boulder we took the scenic route home. It was such a pleasant drive and trip. We've talked about it many times since (admittedly it was often to tell people about the food) but we really enjoyed pretty much every part of this little romp. This last picture is of our Kate that was an excellent travel companion. We are so blessed.
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