Road Trip!!!

Kent and I just returned from an awesome 2-day road trip. We like to go on roads we've never been on before - adventures! :) I was the designated driver.

We headed north to Brigham City and then turned West towards the Great Salt Lake. Our first stop was at ATK {where the rockets are}. Wow - I was amazed at the size.

 

 

The long one in the back is ONE of the solid rocket motors that helped to launch Space Shuttles!!!

Our next destination was the Spiral Jetty:
This is a piece of land art created by Robert Smithson in April 1970. When the water was high enough, it was underwater. It is 1500' long and 15' wide.

It looks pretty hard and solid but there were a few soft spots where I sunk in a bit:

It was hot! Thank heavens for a nice air-conditioned car and lots of water. :) Our next stop was at the Golden Spike National Historic Site. It was interesting and we were able to have lunch there. SUBWAY!!! 

We didn't stay for the "show" at 1:00. We still had miles to go in even more heat and isolation.
We went to the Great Basin Desert - out in the middle of nowhere - to see the Sun Tunnels. These were built by Nancy Holt in 1976. Ha, ha - she married Robert Smithson [see Spiral Jetty]!

I missed the 4th tunnel. But there ARE 4 concrete tunnels in the form of an X. Each one is 18' long and 9' in diameter.

Supposedly, during the Winter solstice you could see the sun rise and set directly through these two tunnels. That is why I'M standing there - December 21 is my birthday. The other two work the same way for the Summer Solstice. 

Kent WISHES he were born on the Winter Solstice!

The artist also drilled holes in each of the tunnels to match some of the constellations. I can't imagine wanting to wait around for nightfall in order to see them, however!

Here we are zeroing in on the mountain in the background.

Our final stop before Wendover {where we spent the night} was to see the Bonneville Raceway. Actually, not much to see before the racing starts later this summer. :) But, we can say we've been there.

We spent most of the day in very barren, desolate country:

 

 

But, even the desert is beautiful this time of year!:

 

Kent thinks its about time we stopped for the night!!!

 

 

2 playdates - but not at the same time :)

I finally had my play date with Max. He actually wanted to go to Disneyland and cried when I said "that ain't happen'n". I didn't realize he wasn't aware of what Disneyland IS. Mean Grandma!!! Anyway, Mom smoothed things over for me and we went bowling instead. He was most excited about the cool shoes he got to wear.

 

So, we began by having him push the ball from the floor.

 

Here he is encouraging the ball:

 

It's still moving down the center - slowly:

But, in the end - gutter ball. Grandma threw a LOT of those!!!

 


So then I got smart and we used a ramp. He felt much better about it if he got a good run and then pushed it as hard as he could, down the ramp.

One small problem with the running - sometimes the ball left without him. :)

After one game of bowling we moved on to the arcade games.

Yea - it wasn't really this fast - I'm just not a good motion picture taker.

 

 A lot of crashing going on here - but fun crashing!

 

He came so close, so many times - I'm sure that is the point. Close but no reward.

Very intent on what he is doing!

 

 
I finally convinced him we needed to go to lunch - I was STARVING!! We went to In-n-Out. We had to sit on the stools up at the counter.

 Isn't he SO cute!!! I love my Max.

 

We actually tried to go miniature golfing after lunch, but winter hours start at 3:00 pm. He was disappointed. Maybe next time, Max!

Second playdate - Skylar. About a month after Max. Skylar started the day off by losing a tooth!

Then we played games and ate creamies.

Farm Country at Thanksgiving point was her choice for the day.

She wasn't really sure she wanted to stand too close to the horse. But, doesn't she look cute in her Sheriff hat?

I wasn't fast enough on this one. There was a big fat sheep standing up over the top of the fence when I started taking the picture. Ah, well!!!

 

 She was a little nervous at first but loved riding the horse.

 

 

This was a new attraction since I was there last. They took us on a wagon ride - pulled by a tractor. I think that was the favorite part for both of us. We did it twice. :)

 



I  had to send her to jail for a time-out! See how upset she is:

NOW she's getting into it. :) I think it occurred to her that the Sheriff shouldn't be BEHIND the bars. 

She would have stayed in this part for hours. Again, my stomach said "It's past time for lunch!"

Her goal before we could leave: Gather up every plant card in the room, put them on the conveyor belt and let them gather in the bin at the end. I think she did it!

Lunch at Taco Bell - she ate it all!!

Love you tons, Skylar!!!!