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Another Day, Another Adventure

Another day, another adventure. Such has been our trip here in Utah. I love it here. Every day we spend time exploring the surrounding national forests, canyons, and mountains. Each trail gives us a special gift. Whether its a realization about life, a pretty view, or shared memories. Regardless of the adventure, everyone has taught me something or given me something in return. For example, our first hike here taught me that you should save the hard hikes for after your body acclimates to the altitude. Meanwhile, the hike to Donut Falls showed me the beauty and vastness of God’s creation.

Yesterday was no exception. We got a late start to the morning, which was fine because the temperatures have cooled down a bit since the 100s over the weekend. Also I knew the trial we were headed to had a lot of shaded areas. Lastly, we all needed to get some rest as Tuesday was a very busy day. My day started with an early trip into Salt Lake City to drop Melody at the airport. Fortunately, the drive was super easy and I got another hour of sleep once back to our AirBnB. Yesterday’s adventures included the Green Pond Trail near Snow Basin and the Hill Aerospace Museum. Both of these stops on our adventure tour were well worth the time and effort.

The Green Pond Trail is an easy to moderate trail near at the base of Mount Ogden. You do gain about 400 ft in altitude throughout the path, but it is a gradual ascent. The trail itself starts at an elevation near 6,000 feet. Honestly, this probably would have been the best trail for our first hike. Indeed, it is an excellent trail for mountain biking and for kids just starting to hike. Throughout the trek, the meadows and forest surround you. You can see the mountains through the canopy of the trees throughout, which makes for a beautiful vista. Overall, the hike took about an hour and burned nearly 600 calories.

Afterward we headed to the Hug-Hes Cafe in north Ogden. Since we’ve been here, I’ve been trying to take them to local spots. This one reminded me of Perkins as it had a bakery and a simliar lunch and dinner menu. Overall, the food was very tasty and inexpensive. This restaurant is also famous for its giant sugar cookies, so naturally I picked up three for the boys. Post lunch, we headed to Target to pick up some more snacks and a lot of water. We’ve already gone through more than 40 bottles of water throughout our hikes. Thankfully, they recycle here. I wish they had refill stations at or near the hikes as that would be much more efficient.

Once we had our supplies in hand, we headed to the Hill Aerospace Museum. It was awesome! We got there later in the day, so we didn’t have enough time to take in all of the exhibits. Consequently, I’m hoping to go back there today or tomorrow. Also the fighter wing was closed and the boys really want to peruse that exhibit. One thing that I loved about the museum is that it is staffed by retirees, who served in the Air Force and really have a passion for the history of aviation. Naturally, we also stopped in to the gift shop where I bought a rosewood model B-24 that will be displayed in our family room. They did have some wonderful sketches of the planes, but none featuring the B-24 on which my grandfather was a flight engineer.

As for our evening, we went back to the dealership to finish up the paperwork for Jake’s new car. That took way longer than it needed to, but this is always the case. For dinner, we headed back to In-N-Out burger so Jake could try it at last. After enjoying their burgers two nights in a row, we have all decided they need to come to Florida. Their burgers are phenomenal! We spent the rest of the night chilling at the AirBnB and were all in bed early. Today promises to bring more great adventures in the great outdoors.

Places we visited yesterday:

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read North & South by Elisabeth Gaskells.

*We are going back to visit the Hill Aerospace Museum.

*Another day, another adventure is in the cards.

*We are off to hike more magical places.

*There are some homeless folks here, but they seem to have shelters and programs in place for them. You see very little panhandling here.

*We’ll be grabbing dinner with Jake.

*The Mayor continues to be this trips Jester.

*Today my hubby sent me the best picture of my sweet Anakin.

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Snow Basin Resort

Yesterday our adventures took us to the Snow Basin Resort, which is on Mt. Ogden. After a busy day Saturday, we all overslept. Consequently, we got a reasonably late start to our day. I was a bit worried that the heat and altitude would again be too much for us. Fortunately, I was wrong. We took the gondola up to the ski lodge, where the hiking trail to the summit of Mt. Ogden begins. Technically, you could hike up the entire mountain, but we were not about that life yesterday.

The scenery on the way up Mount Ogden was beautiful with mountains, valleys, and even a lake in the distance. It was a bit hot on the way up as the gondolas are fully enclosed. Once we reached the top of the ride, however, the temperature was significantly cooler, and there was a gentle breeze. The ski lodge was beautiful, with beautiful amenities and A/C. We took a brief respite in the lodge before heading up to the summit. Admittedly, I was quite nervous that this hike would be as challenging as Saturday’s. I think we were all pretty nervous.

Thankfully, this hike got off to a much better and more leisurely start. It wasn’t until the mid-point of our ascent to the summit that it became challenging. First of all, there were a lot of loose rocks on the trail, which makes it hard to find your footing sometimes. This was particularly true on the fringes of the path. Second of all, we were at an elevation of about 8,000 feet, which is a challenging environment for people not accustomed to the altitude. Nevertheless, I still felt much better throughout this hike than our first hike Saturday. The scenery throughout the entire hike was impressive. Moreover, while there were plenty of people and dogs on the hike, it remained quiet and serene. There was an incredible sense of peace on the mountain.

This time we all made it to the end of the hike. The summit of Mount Ogden did not disappoint. As you looked east, you saw the Great Salt Lake and Ogden. We even saw where we had hiked the day before. As we looked to the West, we saw the lake, national forest and several mountains. A top the summit, it was breezy and comfortable. Goalielocks found the perfect place to soak in the majesty of the mountain, while we finished the hike. Naturally, we all felt a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in completing the hike. While this hike had some difficult points, it was well worth the views afforded at the top of the summit. We will be going back.

Afterward we headed back to the AirBnB to change, so we could head to the mall and grab some lunch. Comparatively speaking, the mall was rather lackluster to our malls in South Florida. Nonetheless, it provided a good indoor activity when the heat of the day was at its peak. We also explored several cool stores and boutiques that we’ve never seen before, which was fun. For dinner, we headed East to Taggerts, which has been an institution in the Morgan Canyon for over a century. The service was quick, my soup was delicious and the burger didn’t disappoint.

We ended our day by dropping Jake back off at base, so he could be ready for work today. Our night ended comparatively early last night because we were all utterly exhausted. In fact, two of the three kids traveling with me are still sleeping. It’s almost 11:00 am here, so I’ll probably wake them up in a few minutes. However, after all of our activities over the last two days, I’m glad they’re sleeping in and catching up on some rest.

Places we visited yesterday

*Snow Basin Resort

*Taggart’s Grill

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I finished The Song of the Lark, by Willa Cather last night. Tonight I’m starting North & South by Elisabeth Gaskells.

*We are headed to Pineview Reservoir for some new adventures

*I’m going with Jake to buy a car tonight.

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*The truth is I’m looking forward to another day of adventure.

*We’re heading back to 25th Street for dinner at a cool burger place.

*Today my hubby sent me the best picture of my sweet Anakin.

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Day of Adventure

Yesterday was a day of adventure from the very beginning to the end. We started the day visiting Jake’s dorm and getting his laundry out of the dryer. As he finished his washing, we watched the fighter jets in complete awe of their magnificence. The mighty roar of their engines reverberating off of the mountains never gets old. Honestly, we could have sat and watched them all day. We also stopped by the BX to get some Air Force merch and supplies. As a mom, it gave me great satisfaction to see that where he is living is beautiful, neat, and safe.

Afterward, we headed back to the Airbnb to get ready for hiking. We decided to hike Waterfall Canyon. Unfortunately, our GPS couldn’t find it without taking us the wrong way. Consequently, we started our hike to the waterfall from the 29th Street trailhead. Admittedly, it was a grueling hike between the heat and the altitude. Goalielocks and Jake had no problem making it to the top, but the rest of us struggled. The weather was oppressive, but thankfully there was a mountain brook with cold water. We used the stones from the creek bottom to cool us off. This little hiking hack worked remarkably well, and we felt better, almost instantaneously.

We were on the trail for nearly two hours over the course of which I burned 800 calories. Hiking here is a great workout with an added bonus of incredible scenery. The rest of the afternoon took us back to the AirBnB to eat leftover and get ready for dinner. Our plan was to eat on 25th Street, which the Ogden equivalent to Delray Beach’s Atlantic Avenue. For dinner, we opted to try a highly rated Italian place called Rovalis. It did not disappoint! Everyone that worked there from the owner to our server was so nice and professional. Importantly, the food was even better than the service. I was so excited to see that they had several gluten free pasta options. Our meal at Rovalis definitely hit the mark after a day of arduous hiking

After dinner, we headed to Antelope Island State Park to watch the sunset and see some bison. What an incredible place! If you are ever in Utah, this is a must-see. It is incredibly beautiful and serene. Excitedly, we did see several wild bison on our drive up to the Buffalo Point trailhead. We hiked the trailhead to get the best views of the sunset. It was much more comfortable than our daytime hike, although we were still in our dinner attire.

Nevertheless, it was well worth the walk and the views did not disappoint. Honestly, they left us utterly breathless. Consequently, this place is an absolute must on any trip to Utah. It is well worth the $15 price of admission for the day. Hopefully, we can go back and rent bicycles so that we can explore the island more in-depth.

We ended our evening with a beautiful treat. Our friends, the Seefeldts, happen to be driving through Utah on their way back home from Vegas. We were able to meet up for a while and get caught up, which was an absolute treat. Truly, yesterday was an action pack day with so much beauty, happiness, and love. I’m looking forward to where our adventures will take us today. Naturally, we all slept in this morning after a hectic day. This morning, we’ll be heading to Snow Basin Mountain to ride gondola and hike to the top. It should be another fantastic day!

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read The Song of the Lark, by Willa Cather

*We are having scrambled eggs and toast in our AirBnB for breakfast

*We are headed to Snow Basin Mountain for a hike and gondola ride

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*I’m looking forward to another day of adventure.

*We’re heading back to 25th Street for lunch at a cool burger place.

*We’re going to stop at the mall and do some shopping.

*Today I wonder if anyone ever watched the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

*Today my hubby sent me the best picture of my sweet Anakin.

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