Category Archives: Adventures
Adventures with the Toads
I took some days off this week, so I thought I’d spend a day with each of the older children. When I asked them what they wanted to do, Isaac wanted to go to a mountain far away, and Charlotte wanted to look at fish.
So Thursday morning, Isaac and I set out for Arches National Park. It’s not the best for mountains, but it’s accessible in this cold spring. When we set out, we had a solid foot of new snow; I had to put Grandpa’s truck in four wheel drive to get out of our driveway. Things were sloppy on US 6 through Spanish Fork Canyon and on into Price as well.
That little Toyota is probably the finest piece of 20th-century automotive technology. While it’s a little underpowered and noisy at any kind of speed, it’s pretty near indestructible. With 275,000+ miles on it, it’s still sporting the original clutch, transmission, and motor. On top of that, any trail I’ve thrown it at (and I confess I haven’t gone too nuts) has been no problem. There are some quirks; as we hit Soldier Summit, the right side wiper popped off. A helpful clerk at Checker Auto in Price got us the right part (these pick-ups don’t have j-hooks for the wipers, so you need an adapter) and got us on the road again.
When we got to Arches, Isaac and I headed up to Delicate Arch. Isaac is a chatty kid when he wants to be, and he had questions and thoughts about everything. I use a pair of trekking poles when I hike, and when they’re not extended, they’re just the right size for him to use. He calls them “hikersâ€, and talks about how the help us not to fall over. Any time we’d go up a hill or along a ledge, he’d talk about how we were helping each other not fall. We would look for the cairns of stones
Isaac is a good hiker. Delicate Arch is 1.5 miles each way, and he did just fine.
After we hiked to Delicate Arch, we went down and roamed around in the Double Arch area. He was a pretty fearless climber there, and scrambled all over the rocks.
The GPS recommended the Willow Springs road to get out of the park, and I figured since we had the truck, we could give it a try. It was very bouncy, and by this time, the boy was very tired. Even going slow there were a few obstacles that tilted the truck a lot or bounced it. Once we hit pavement again, though, he got a nap in. Then it was off for home.
Charlotte wanted to see some fish, so we went to the aquarium in Sandy. It was very crowded, and while they had a few nice displays, it was just a little underwhelming. Charlotte still liked it, though. She especially liked one of the Amazon displays, where they had little caiman, turtles, and fish swimming together. I showed her an octopus; it made her very nervous, though. When we were done with the aquarium, I took her to Cabella’s so she could look at a lot of fish without a crowd. She fell asleep on the way up and on the way back, so I didn’t push it; we’ll have lots of times together if I have my way. Unfortunately, it was really dark in the aquarium, so my pictures didn’t work out well. Here’s one of Charlotte helping me admire a spider.
Isaac and Charlotte Meet Some Animals
Omniture gave us some passes to Thanksgiving Point as part of the company party we had last week, so we took the toads up. Isaac was a little scared of the dinosaurs (I probably shouldn’t have told him they eat children), but Charlotte had no fear. Isaac kept reminding us that the dinosaurs were dead, so they were not hungry. I was pretty impressed at the displays; lots of good specimens. We were a little rushed going through; on the one hand, the kids got a little bored, and on the other, Isaac would get a little scared sometimes.
After the dinosaurs, we went over to Farm Country. This gave the kids a chance to see some goats, horses, llamas, cows, and chickens. No pigs, though? Some farm! A cow licked Charlotte, and they both got to ride ponies. Isaac cut a fine figure on his steed; maybe instead of building him a computer I should buy him some cows to herd. Speaking of cows, Charlotte managed to get licked by one.
Our last stop was the children’s garden, which was just ok. They did have a couple of little fountains that the kids played in. They’re the kind that sort of pop up from the ground randomly; Charlotte was looking at the hole for one, and got the whole thing right in the face. She’s a trooper, though; she shook it right off.
Anyway, pictures below:
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
Southwest Adventures
I guess that’s actually more due south than southwest, and even a little east. Grandpa Bird and I took some time to go see some sights, and had a pretty good time doing it. We were able to see Mesa Verde, which I’ve always felt is under-appreciated as a National Park. On the flip side, it’s nice because it’s a little further out of the way, and the crowds aren’t too bad. The crowds at the Grand Canyon were awful; traffic wasn’t as bad as Yellowstone, but the crowds were as thick. It makes me hope some of my favorite remote spots stay relatively obscure.
Anyway, it was a good chance to spend time with my father-in-law, and we saw some great stuff. Pictures below.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
Adventures with Aunt Heidi in the Desert
We went out to dig for topaz, but it was hard. One had to hammer things. Still, we did some nice driving around out there in the Great Basin.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
Children and Airplanes
I took the kids to the museum at Hill Air Force Base a couple of weeks ago. It was an attempt to buy Kathleen some time to nap or do chores. They behaved pretty well on the drive to Ogden, and then we had fun looking at all the planes. This picture shows Isaac and Charlotte next to the wheel of a C-124 Globemaster, a decent-sized cargo plane. Isaac liked the B-1 as well; he was fascinated by its bomb doors (of course). The planes outside were getting a little weathered, and some of them were unique enough to justify a little more attention, if the budget could be spared. The kids also enjoyed a nice F-89 Scorpion, a 
fairly unusual plane and one of my favorites.
We went inside to look at some of the excellent display aircraft, but the kids were getting a little restless by that point. If you get a chance, there is a very rare P-38, recovered at great effort from the Alaska. It’s been carefully restored and lovingly displayed. When they’re a little older, I think they’ll have a little better sense for what these machines really represent. Each plane is a lesson, and each plane has a story. Take the P-47s and P-51s on New Year’s Day 1945, or the amazing and gutsy Doolittle Raid.
We have a lot to be grateful for in this country, not least of which is a history to be proud of. I’m glad we live close to a place we can go remember these things.
Hiking with Isaac
Isaac and I took a little hike together today up above Alta, to Cecret Lake. He was a great hiker, going up the whole way and about a third of the way back before he was worn out. The trip up and back is under two miles, but the kid is only three, so he can get worn out if he wants too. He used one of my trekking poles at its shortest length while we walked over snow and mud, and climbed over rocks. He kept talking about everything he saw, trees, mountains, but mostly the dirt and rocks and ice on the trail. It’s hard to look around much when you’re thinking about where your feet are going. By the time we got back to the car, we’d worn him out pretty good, and he was nearly asleep on my shoulders.
One funny thing I wanted to mention: Isaac calls all my friends Rawlyn. I guess he knows Rawlyn best. Today we were hiking with my friend Zac Cook, and Isaac kept having to be reminded of the right name. He does the same thing with my friend Mike.
One more picture of a tired boy after the jump.
Deseret Peak
Well, here’s a snap I took of [tag]Deseret Peak[/tag]. It’s a very nice mountain out in the Stansbury range west of Salt Lake City. For those who are interested, it’s one of the ultra prominence peaks in the US, which makes it an interesting mountain for peak baggers. The area is excellent for camping. Click on the image to go to my Flickr stream and see some other pictures of the area.