California Redwoods

Leaving Mendon, we continued our westward journey by heading over the border into California to the Redwood Forest.  Our kids were delighted to experience these magnificent trees for the first time!  Annika in particular was thrilled to visit California.  She kept telling us how being in California made it the best day ever.

We hiked the Simpson-Reed Discovery Trail in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.  We had reservations to camp there earlier in the summer but had to cancel the trip, so it was exciting to see the place in person at last.

The trees really are incredible.  Interesting fact: since water is readily available, their root systems are only six feet deep but spread out extremely wide.  Like the firs that fell in our neighborhood, this makes them susceptible to strong winds.

Talia and Eli, swallowed by a tree stump.

Look at Talia to put this root ball into proportion.

Annika's very favorite discovery was this banana slug.  She was delighted when it slimed her hand.

This arched tree branch was fantastic.  I can't explain how, but it was rooted on both sides with branches growing like trees.

Our youngsters also had some epic battles with their imaginary bows and arrows.

Only one complaint about our visit to the Redwoods: it was far too short!  In the end Annika only got a few perfect Californian hours.

Not to worry: we'll be back.

West Coast Road Trip: Crater Lake

Since Salt Lake City School District postponed the start of school until after Labor Day, our family embarked on one final road trip at the end of August.  Ever since discovering Cannon Beach on the way home from the West coast a couple years ago, I've longed to explore the Oregon coast a bit more.  We headed West on I-80 and discovered this strange concrete sculpture just about 25 miles before the Utah/Nevada border.

Wikipedia tells me it is called Metaphor: The Tree of Life and was created by a Swedish artist Karl Momen in the 1980s.  If nothing else, it definitely breaks up the monotony of the Bonneville Salt Flats.  

Visibility on our trip West was definitely hindered by smoke from wildfires (and smashed bugs on the windshield.)  At the time we had no idea how serious the fires would become.  I do remember Jason and I talking about how dry everything seemed and how easily fire could spread.

We spent our first two nights at a Springhill Suites in Medford, Oregon, a city with about 80,000 residents.  While our stay was lovely, I feel sad and worried as I think about this beautiful Rogue Valley today.  A couple weeks after our stay, much of the town was evacuated due to encroaching fires.  Here's a current image showing just how close the fires are burning.

The poor air quality in the West has been unprecedented, setting new records for pollutants with multiple days of the worst air in the world.  Rumor has it that the smoke has reached all the way to Europe.  My asthma certainly knows that it's affecting Utah.  There is no doubt that the fires are getting worse. So can we elect a president that takes climate change seriously?  For the love of our land, please.

Back to happier memories, we enjoyed some tasty burritos and horchata from this taco truck in Medford.

This was the store next door.  You know you're in Oregon when...

The following day, the kids and I explored Crater Lake while Jason stayed back in the hotel to take care of work.  We really appreciated his making the trip with us at all since he was super swamped with projects.

Brooklyn drove us up beautiful highway 62 where we pulled off just outside of the park to explore Rogue Gorge.

What a delightful gem to stumble upon!

The Rogue River rushes and falls through this narrow gorge before opening up to the expanse below.

Inside Crater Lake National Park, the air was a bit hazy from smoke, but you could still see the lake so we considered it a win.  A couple days prior, it was obscured completely.

We found the Oregonians to be very careful about masking up, even on the trails, so we tried to return the favor.

Oh, I adore this crew!

At a ranger's recommendation, we hiked Garfield Peak.  Beautiful overlooks!

A glimpse of the Phantom Ship.

I love the reflection of the clouds in the water.  

At the summit.

I may be partial, but I think these munchkins are the best.

I have such poignant memories of visiting Crater Lake with my own family as child.  The water was the most vivid blue I'd ever seen!  

Being unaccustomed to volcanoes, my kids were astonished to read about the history of Crater Lake.  Prior to its eruption, Mount Mazama stretched to more than 12,000 feet, the highest peak in Oregon.  Just 7700 years ago, it spewed out 12 square miles of magma, leaving a crater five miles wide.  This crater is so deep that the lake holds almost the same amount of cubic water as our shallow Great Salt Lake.  Mind blown.  

I hope my own children remember this visit fondly, coming back with their kids someday.

If nothing else, they are sure to remember stopping at Annie Creek for some ice cream on our way out.

Ice cream may not solve all the world's problems, but it certainly helps.

August Trails and More

I'm bummed right now.  I'm supposed to be in Europe (COVID-cancelled), or at least on a plane to see Lance in Chicago (also COVID-cancelled.)  Utah is back on Chicago's mandatory quarantine list, thanks to our rising case counts, plus Talia has a minor sore throat so we are playing it careful.  Jason and I both ended up cancelling our trip just a few hours before takeoff.  Ugh.  Careful may be responsible, but it's certainly no fun.

On a positive note, at least we have our internet restored.  Yay!  Nine days without was pretty rough, especially with online school.

You know what isn't rough?  Spending time in the mountains.  Connecting with nature puts life's little hiccups into perspective.  I haven't been up into the canyons since the storm, so I think it's time to make a trip and mend my soul.  

Here are some photos of a lovely hike Brooklyn and I took up Sunrise peak.  The trail begins up by Alta at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon.

Gorgeous wildflowers!

Somehow I blinked and my beautiful gal grew up.

At Catherine Pass you can see down into Lakes Mary and Martha.

A selfie with my girl at the peak.

From the very top you can see Silver Lake and Lake Catherine as well.  So pretty!

Other adventures: kayaking!  We met up with Talia's cute friend Clara and her mom for a fun afternoon at Causey Reservoir.

Talia lived the good life as Clara towed her around in a tube from her paddleboard.  Sometimes you have to be creative when social distancing!

Here's Clara's Mom, Lisa.

Talia takes a turn as she preps for paddleboard yoga.  Hilarious!

Back at home, here's Annika with a pile of books.  I think this kid is going to absolutely adore reading as she discovers how it unlocks so many imaginary worlds.  She already loves reading Harry Potter at night with Jason.  They recently finished Book 3 and are onto Book 4.

When it comes to Harry Potter, Eli outpaced us all this summer, reading all seven books over the course of five weeks.  Way to go!  We'd originally planned to host a Harry Potter party for Eli's birthday, but decided to hold off a bit to give us more time to plan.  As he turned eleven yesterday, may I just say, Yer a wizard, Harry!

This summer Eli got to spend a bit of time with Grandma Susie and Grandpa Charles in Hyde Park.  So fun!  We joined up with Charles and Susie in Ogden for a short but steep hike up to Waterfall Canyon.

Annika joined us for the adventure.

While Eli was in Hyde Park, we amused ourselves by making a paper maché hedgehog piñata in honor of Aunt Callie's birthday.

The fate of a piñata is hard.

Talia stayed busy by crocheting some cute bunnies...

...while Annie crafted some bunny beds for them.

Between practicing musical instruments and their online coding courses, the bigger kids stayed pretty busy even over the summer.  Occasionally Annie and I would slip away just the two of us.  Here we are at This is the Place.

And here we are at Cecret lake.  As soon as I heard that the lake was full of salamanders, I knew we needed to make a trip.

Brooklyn joined us for this adventure.

Fortunately we really could see dozens of tiger salamanders.

The frill at the base of their neck definitely surprised me.,

The perfect way to spend an afternoon.

Continuing on with our random photo collection, here's Jason trimming the ivy.

I trimmed Talia's hair.

Goodbye Goldilocks!

Beautiful as ever, just a little more grown up.

An evening stroll at Liberty Park...

...and a morning hike up Grandeur Peak.

Coach Kim hiked with us.  

Kim, Sean, Talia, and I with views out both sides of the valley.

While I still wish we could have gone to Europe or Chicago, may I remember that life's great here too.