Our Big Utah Adventure: Installment 1

Ahhhh, Utah. It's been over 4 years since we have been back to visit our old home. So, a few months ago when Paul saw a soccer camp available at BYU that Sam was old enough to participate in, it seemed like the perfect excuse for a trip back. You might say it was a recruiting trip, of sorts. Two weeks ago, had you asked Sam where he wanted to go to college, he would tell you Clemson. Ask him now and he'll say BYU!
So, early last Sunday morning, our trip began. We were all up before the sun, but some of us rose earlier than others. For me, 3:30 AM. Let me tell you, that felt REALLY great by the end of our very long day. But our flight was at 7:00, so we had to pull the little boys from their beds while the moon was still up. They were so excited that they handled it very well. We got to our terminal just in time, as they were already beginning to board the plane. The boys were giddy with anticipation of the flight...until it actually took off, at which point Nathanael turned to me and said, "I'm not so sure about this."

Nevertheless, he enjoyed watching out the window, eating the snacks I'd packed for the ride, and the beverages served by the wonderful Southwest stewardesses. After a connection in Chicago, we made it to Salt Lake City at right about lunchtime. After we ate, we jump-started our vacation with a trip out to Antelope Island. We spotted several buffalo on our tour of the island, as well as seagulls, antelope, and deer. We took the long, long drive out to Garr Ranch on Antelope Island, which was continually inhabited from 1848 until 1981. There are several little buildings to look through as well as horses and old farm equipment. I think this was the boys' favorite part of the trip out to the island. As we were looking around inside a little house on the property, Nathanael proclaimed, "we are like House Hunters!"

After looking around at everything there was to see at the ranch, we drove to another spot that had a better vantage point of Great Salt Lake. We took a very short hike, one little boy whining all the way, and then headed back to the car. In his defense, it was a particularly hot day, and there's no shade on Antelope Island. And we had been on the go, at that point, for 12+ hours. So, we headed over to visit some friends, the Andersons, where we had dinner and our kids played with their kids for a couple hours. It was a wonderful end of our first day in Utah.