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Antelope Island

Yesterday we were able to get back out to Antelope Island, which is one of my favorite places here. Albeit that’s not what we had planned for the day. We had planned to eat breakfast at Scrambled, but they’re now closed on Mondays. Consequently, we ended up eating at Chris’ Cafe. The diner was super cute and they had a nice tribute to our fallen soldiers.

Pretty much the entire table had pancakes for breakfast. I enjoyed my pancakes although my dad’s were a bit hard. The hash browns and eggs were really good, but the bacon was a bit suspect. Nevertheless, it was a super filling breakfast that held all of us over to dinner. Since we were so far west on Antelope Dr. already, I bought passes to Antelope Island state park as we finished breakfast.

The park costs $15/day per car, which is reasonable. The island is normally surrounded by the Great Salt Lake on all sides with a causeway connecting it to the mainland. This year, however, there was no water on either side of of the causeway until we got super close to the island. It’s incredible to see just how low the lake levels are this year. Last year, the water was much higher and functioned like a mirror when you took picture. It was so beautiful.

The water level was low and there was a great haze over the lake. Consequently, we could hear the F-35s overhead, but couldn’t see them. Our first stop on the island was the visitors center. One thing I loved in the visitor center was a map they update daily showing where on the island you can find the resident wildlife. They also had maps showing the historically low lake levels and historically high lake levels.

My hope this year was that we’d see both bison and antelope. Thankfully, we saw plenty of bison on our drive around the island. One of my favorite places on the island is Buffalos Point. This is where we took the incredible sunset photos last year. We also saw several bison. Afterwards we started our drive back to the mainland. Fortunately, we found a small herd of bison on our way out. The Hubby pulled over so we could take some pictures of the bison. As we drove off the island, we saw there were two bison and Antelope!! Woohoo! Again he pulled over, so I could get pictures of the animals. They’re so beautiful.

We spent most the day relaxing at home. Although we did take the Mayor to stick and puck at the ice rink on the Weber State Campus. While he skated, the Hubby and I walked the trail at Beus Park. This was a short half a mile trail around a pond. After our brief walk, we headed back to the rink to watch the Mayor skate.

Since the park trail was super easy, I was craving a hike. The Hubby and I decided to hike the mountain behind the house. He’s been hiking the many paths on the mountain each morning. The hardest part of the hike was the scramble up to the Bonneville Shore trail. Once we got up to the main trail, it was a pretty easy hike. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous as you could see all of the valley and the setting sun. For dinner we had leftover tacos and nachos. Today we’re headed to the aerospace museum.

If you go:

Antelope Island State Park

Chris’ Cafe

Ice Sheet at Weber State

Photography:

The wildlife photos were taken with my Canon T6i and a Canon 70-200 f/2.8 lens. We were never closer than a half a mile to any of the animals photographed, which is smart because bison can be mean.

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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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