Journal--Family Road Trips

One writing assignment given by the family history coordinator in my old ward was to write about family road trips.  So, here goes!

One of the things I love about my Mom is that she is really good at utilizing what she has.  We didn't always have a lot of money, but that didn't stop us from going on trips.  When I was little, I remember going to Disneyland a handful of times with our whole family.  But after my parents got divorced, the trips didn't end...though the locations changed a little.

We didn't have the money to go to Disneyland anymore (though she splurged and probably incurred a little debt too to take us to Florida to see Disneyworld shortly before my brother, Clayton, went on his mission...I'll have to blog about that sometime too), but my Mom recognized the value of family trips and the bonding they brought and the memories that they created for our family.  So, we visited places in Utah.  We went on a family trips to Ogden, Logan, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, etc.

I loved those trips.  I loved that we got to see places in our very own home state that many people who have lived here all their lives have never taken the opportunity to see.  It showed me the value of exploring the world that we live in and not just pining for places that we can't currently afford to see.

I remember looking out on the beauty of Bryce Canyon.  Bryce Canyon really is a breathtaking place. Standing there with visitors from all across the world, I remember hearing a French woman whisper in awe: "C'est magnifique."

I remember hiking through Capitol Reef and being amazed by the beauty of the arches that can be found there.

I remember swimming in the hotel pool up in Ogden.  I was a teenager (and whoa was I a teenager).  I was too embarrassed (and moody) to go swimming in the pool because I needed to shave my armpits and I forgot to bring my razor.  My Mom very patiently and lovingly stopped somewhere and bought a razor for me so that I could join with everyone else in the fun of swimming together as a family.  We got to see all sorts of fun places in Ogden (such as the Train Museum and the Eccles Dinosaur Park that we took our own boys to last year).

On our trip to Logan, we visited Utah State University's campus.  I loved how old it looked and how big the trees were.  It made you feel like you were somewhere in New England.  We drove by the Logan temple and visited the grounds.  We visited the two candy/chocolate shops owned originally by two brothers who couldn't make the business work together, so they ended up competing against each other as businessmen for the rest of their lives.  We drove out to Promontory Point to the Golden Spike National Historic Site (to see where the railway lines of the Union and Central Pacific finally met together on May 10, 1869--joining the entire nation from east to west).

After visiting Promontory Point, we drove out in the hopes of seeing an old ghost town that my Mom had read about.  We drove on a dirt/gravel road for what seemed like forever.  When we finally reached the "ghost town" all that was left of that was an old foundation and maybe a beam or two sticking out of the ground.  It could have been a huge let down for us.  But instead, what I remember was that we spent the drive playing trivia games and having good times together.

On our drive back (away from the "ghost town"), we stumbled upon a section of the Great Salt Lake and we decided to get out to stretch our legs.  It was beautiful.  It seriously felt like something out of a book...it always reminded me a little bit of what I thought Narnia must be like in places.  The rocks near the shore were covered with a layer of salt that made them look pearlescent--like Mother of Pearl.  I don't know what was going on with the water that day...but it was purple.  I don't know if there was some kind of creature (such as plankton, algae, brine shrimp, etc.) in the water that was playing with the refraction of the sun's light to make it that shade of purple.  But I have never seen the Great Salt Lake look like that before or since.  It was beautiful.

Nephi (always a brave one) was the only one to wade into the water.  I don't remember if he was wearing shorts or if he just rolled up his pants, but he waded in and splashed us.

I remember feeling the breeze whipping around the rocks that surrounded the lake and just feeling happy and content.  I felt such comradery with my brothers and sisters.  It really was the perfect day.

It is one of my most vivid memories from any of our road trips.  I'm grateful to my Mom for budgeting in the money and making the time to take us to all of the nooks and crannies of Utah so that we could have those experiences together.