Hiemstra Family Summer Vacation #6

Canyonlands National Park is huge.  It is actually made up of three different sections, each with their own entrance and visitor's center.  We visited Island in the Sky this day.  We went to The Needles District the next day.  The Maze section has no road going through it.  It is very remote and used mostly by serious backcountry hikers and backpackers (aka crazy people). 

It is definitley one of the lesser visited parks and we about had the whole place to ourselves.

Our first stop was this huge crator.  There are different theories on how this was formed.  One theory says it was a salt dome.  Another theory is that a large meteor fell here.  The Hiemstra Family theory is that the dinosaurs had a dance party here. 

We hiked to Mesa Arch.  We had heard that people actually walk across this one.  As you can see, it has quite the drop-off on the one side.  John really, really, really wanted to do it.  I forbid it.  He pouted a little but respected my wishes. 

I love this picture!

We celebrated another successful day (no whiny kids and no one died) with shaved ice.  Someone really needs to open one of these in Lynden.   

Next up...needles, indians, and a dam.

Hiemstra Family Summer Vacation #5

In my humble opinion, the National Parks in Utah really require two days of exploring so here is day number two in Arches. 

We tried to get up early to hike to Delicate Arch but between staying up way too late watching "Chopped" (love that show and we don't have cable at home) and the delicious sausages the hotel served for breakfast (John just kept going back for more and more claiming he needed the protien), we didn't make it to the trailhead until about 9:30.  It was already hot and we knew this hike was completely in the sun but we were determined.  Delicate Arch is probably the most famous of the arches  (if an arch can actually be famous); it's the one they feature if you see any touristy stuff on the state of Utah. 

Here we go!  See those little orange things?  Those are my children.  They hiked faster than me.  Even the little one.  I think all those sausages were dragging me down.

The hike was three miles round trip and a lot of it was on this open slickrock.  It was like walking on a different planet; a very hot planet.

But when we finally turned the last corner and saw this, the hike was well worth it!

Isn't it cool?  What isn't so cool is that my husband let my two oldest children walk underneath it.  Those are like 1,000,000,000 foot drop-offs around the arch! I stayed at a safe distance with the little one.  I was yelling at them to come back but they didn't hear me.  Either that or they were embarassed of the crazy woman yelling at the top of her lungs and ignored me.

On the way back, we discovered this little arch that had a nice view of Delicate Arch.  We climbed up to attempt a Hiemstra Family Christmas photo.

We saw petroglyphs...

Lots and lots and lots of lizards...

And one of these nasty things...

Our next hike was to Landscape Arch.  According to the ranger, this was a must see since a big old chunk of the arch had collapsed in the early 1990's and the rest could go at any time. 

This little princess was an awesome hiker...

but sometimes she preferred to ride.

Our last hike in Arches was to Skyline Arch.  I know what you are thinking...I cannot believe they made those children hike all day in that heat.  Yes, we are those kind of parents.

As usual, John had to get as close as possible.

We were back to our hotel by 4:00 (which BTW is the hottest time of the day) and in the refreshing, cool swimming pool by 4:05!  

Next stop....CANYONLANDS!

Interruption

I interrupt the Hiemstra Family Vacation blog posts to bring you this very special announcement...

GRAMMA'S HERE!!!

Hiemstra Family Summer Vacation #4

Yeah!  We made it to Arches National Park!

Our first destination was Sand Dune Arch.  I had read (and promptly made a note in my vacation binder) that the trail was great for kids but to be prepared to take a lot of sand home with you.  Yep.  We did.  I'm pretty sure Katie Kat had sand in places she didn't even realize she had. 

 The kids LOVED it!

 Yes, that's my husband on top of the arch.  Yes, he was the "kid" I had to worry about the most.

Our next hike was out to Broken Arch.  It was hot and completely in the sun.  I loved it.  I think I may live in the wrong state.

We had this arch all to ourselves.  You can barely see my little family in this one.  By the way, you can click on any of these pictures to make them bigger.   

This is Balanced Rock.  I think it's pretty self explanatory.

 I like this one!

Very cool huh?

Tomorrow...Day 2 at Arches!

Hiemstra Family Summer Vacation #3

We figured no trip to Utah would be complete without a stop in Salt Lake City.  Very interesting city.  The Mormon faith obviously has a huge presence there.  Temple Square, which is the world headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is right in the heart of downtown and takes up 35 acres.  The city was very clean and very family friendly. 

Our first stop was the capitol.  Salt Lake City's capitol building was modeled after the national capitol.  It was very beautiful and we were nearly the only ones there.  There were lots of paintings and sculptures all around and no security guards which I found kind of odd until I noticed lots and lots of security cameras.  Some one was watching us.

I loved the birds painted on the rotunda ceiling!

Holly showing a little love to Brigham Young.  Did you know he was Utah's first govenor?

After the capitol, we headed to Temple Square.  It was Sunday and if I would have been thinking, I would have packed church clothes so we could have checked out a Mormon church service.  That would have been interesting.
Here we are outside of the temple.  We couldn't go inside.  This is what their website has to say about those who can enter the temple, "Since the temple is the house of the Lord, dedicated to Him, those who enter must hold a current temple recommend, which certifies that they are living by the standards He has set." Yeah.

Another view of the temple.

This is the tabernacle.  Anyone is allowed inside of the tabernacle.  This is where we could have gone to church if I would have remembered proper clothes.  This is also where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings.  You can go to hear them rehearse on Thursdays.   

Salt Lake City has an amazing public library.  It's won tons of awards for it's architecture.  You could actually walk around on the "green" roof.  We took a glass elevator up to get an awesome view of the city and then took the outdoor stairs back down.

Here we are drinking slushies.  We started this tradition vacationing with the Beltman family.  Sure wish you guys were here!  Ninety nine cents...any size!

Next stop....ARCHES NATIONAL PARK!

Hiemstra Family Summer Vacation #2

Did you know that more kinds of dinosaur fossils have been discovered in the United States than in any other country in the world?  Since lots and lots of dinosaurs remains have been found in Utah (and since we have one serious dinosaur lover in our family) we just had to stop at the George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park in Ogden, Utah.

The first thing we saw when we went into the museum were these moving, roaring, life-like animatronic dinosaurs.

Some little girl was not too sure about them and stayed pretty close to her Daddy for protection.

The museum also had lots of dinosaur fossils and bones, and a working paleontology lab.  I watched the paleontologist for awhile and quickly discovered that I would probably go completely crazy if I had to do his job.  Patience is not one of my strong suits and I have trouble with puzzles if they are over 40 pieces.

Yes, I will do nearly anything my husband asks me to.

Outside the museum was eight acres of life-sized dinosaurs.  Although slightly cheesy, this was everyones favorite part.  Sam took about 1,000 pictures. 

The girls being chased by a Utahraptor which, by the way, is considered the most ferocious dinosaur that ever roamed the earth.

The George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park is one of those places you only go to if you have kids (kind of like Chucky Cheese or McDonalds) but it was a fun, low key way to spend the day.  Next up...MORMONVILLE!