Trip to Utah with Ian

On August 25 we journeyed down to Sacramento and met Laura, Ian, and Fiona at Dennis' and Rita's (Laura's parents) home. The next morning, we set off for the airport with Ian to catch a flight to Salt Lake City. With Amelia making good use of her cane, we were allowed to board the aircraft early, and the pilot invited Ian to take command in the cockpit. It was a largely uneventful flight, with Ian spending much time with his ears on. We got a little look at Lake Tahoe as we passed over the Sierras. Finally we were coming in over the Great Salt Lake. After picking up a rental car, we had lunch and drove out to the Great Salt Lake, stopping briefly at the "high and dry" Saltair Resort, then proceeding on to the Salt Lake Marina. I took a picture of Ian with Antelope Island in the background, and he reciprocated in taking this one of his Grandad. Ian did his best to dip his toes in the Great Salt Lake. A bit later, back at the car, Ian's mother Laura, was on the phone. After an ice cream stop (Mormons love ice cream!), we stopped by Temple Square to show Ian the Sea Gull Monument, and I got my picture taken with (most of) Moroni. We also stopped to look at the Handcart Pioneer Monument. Then it was off to see other sights in Salt Lake City, such as LDS Hospital, where Ian's father, Evan, was born while I was a struggling PhD student at the U. Then a quick drive by the University to show Evan the Mathematics Buildings (boy was he impressed. Not!). Then down East 13th to see the house where we lived in the lower level (entrance behind Ian) at 1047 South. After a brief shopping stop for Grammy, we headed for Orem. For dinner that night we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory, where Ian pronounced the spaghetti sauce the best he ever tasted. But that may have been since we were seated in the trolley.

The real reason for the trip was to attend the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. It kicked off at 9:30am Friday morning, and I took this picture before they announced "no cameras". There were lots of attentive folks in our tent. Being in Mormon territory, they know how to entertain kids, and during the lunch break, Ian got prepared to do some fencing. Scroll down though this sequence to see the fencer at work (or play, as the case may be). If your browser automatically resizes pictures to fit, you won't see much; sorry about that. At another break, Ian pounded clay. That evening we went to P.F. Chang's, where we were attacked by a walrus. Back at the motel, Ian put on his ears and watched TV for awhile.

The next morning it was up early and off to Vernal, with a stop for breakfast in Heber City. Along the way we stopped at an overlook for Starvation Reservoir where this marker commemorates the Dominguez-Escalante expedition in 1776. Finally to Vernal, where we found the old Natural History Museum was closed, but still had these dinosaurs in front of the old building. The "old building" implies a new one, and a very nice one it is, the Utah Field House of Natural History. Among their many exhibits they have hands on exhibits. Ian found some interesting dinosaur skeletons. This big fellow is in the entrance hall and makes Ian look like a little kid. Outside are full-size versions of triceratops, the velociraptor from the movie Jurassic Park (made up for the movie before Utahraptor was discovered), and woolly grandparents in front of a Woolly Mamoth, and many more. After lunch it was off for Dinosaur National Monument. Ian and Grammy looked down on the stegosaurus at the entrance. Inside is a wall of dinosaur bones, only a small part shown here. Ian poses beside a big bone and a diorama. On the "bus" back to the parking lot, Grammy and Ian make faces (or at least it looks that way). Looking back the rock ridge almost looks like the back of a craggy dinosaur. Going down out of the mountains toward Heber City we see the first hint of fall color. We spent the night at Kimball Junction, near Park City. During the night Ian tossed and turned, no doubt battling dinosaurs.

The next day it was on to Salt Lake City and the airplane ride back to Sacramento. After taking off, we got this view of the Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island. Later, over Nevada, we saw these graphical lines and symbols, no doubt left by an advanced civilization. Also interesting were these natural (I presume) landforms. Finally, we came across south of Pyramid Lake northeast of Reno, and then to Sacramento.

That trip was a lot of fun. Thanks, Ian.