Summer Trip Part 3: Utah

On to the next stop. The drive from Glenwood Springs to Lehi wasn't quite as nice as the drive from Colorado Springs to Glenwood Springs had been. Still, the boys were so easy. My parents have a dvd player in their van, and we stopped at Walmart in Glenwood Springs and picked up a few more movies. The boys have never been so entertained on a road trip before. We stopped in Green River at a park that my family stopped at many times before. We didn't linger too long because it was crazy hot, however. We also stopped at a rest stop near Tucker, Utah that had a train theme. Fitting.

So, I didn't take as many pictures in Utah as I did in Colorado. We still saw tons of people there and were super busy.

On Sunday we had lunch at Chuck-a-Rama with Gramma and Aunt Sharon. I was surprised how well the boys did there. They found lots of things they liked to eat. Beckett even ate peas. We also got some nice photos of Gramma Great with the grands.

Then we got my parents into the shot. I picked a great shot of my mom and the kids at the expense of my dad. Sorry dad. You're welcome mom?

That evening we went to Toby's house and played in his yard with its fabulous tree house, but we were too busy visiting, and I didn't take any pictures.

Back at Kristen's, Utah put on a light show of its own for us. Kristen and Corey kindly let us stay in their house while they were out of town. It was so nice to have a whole house to ourselves. Now we owe Kristen and Corey an empty house.

The next morning I went over to my friend Jen's house. Jen and I were pals in Kansas. Then I left for Maryland, and, earlier this year, she moved to Utah. She lives like 4 minutes from Kristen and 10 minutes from my sister so I see more reunions in our future.

That afternoon we went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity. Beckett has not stopped talking about it since. He wishes it was closer. And I think I do too.

That evening we had a big Burt Family Reunion at Jenny's house, and I was too busy chatting with people to take pictures. I hope someone did take pictures and that they will post them somewhere where I can see them.

The next day we did a Gillespie Family excursion to the train museum in Ogden. Remember that Denver & Rio Grande train we saw in Colorado Springs? Well, we made it to the other end of the line. I love nerdy tourist stuff like that.

This gigantic beast is the Union Pacific Super Turbine Locomotive #26. It's one of the biggest engines ever built and can pull 735 fully loaded freight cars. That's seven miles worth of train! And yeah, like the name implies it uses a turbine engine like a jet plane. This is one of only two turbine locomotives on display in museums. The other is in Illinois, so I'm glad we took the time to see this one.

The inside of the museum was pretty fun too. I really liked how all the model train sets were designed to look like the landscape between California and Utah.

So, I had this idea that I could get a shot of all the cousins on this caboose, but no one really complied. Not surprising, I guess.

After our trip to the train museum we ate lunch in the park and got some ice cream. We battled the horrific construction on I-15 on the way home. (I can't believe we voluntarily drove through that mess so many times.)

The next day Nate had plans with Toby, and I met up with some old teammates at the park. Kristen was home from Hawaii (hooray!) and Liz and Nan both just recently moved back to Utah. It was so much fun to see them. I hadn't seen Liz in ages, and we enjoyed hearing all about living abroad. Beckett had a really great time at the park too. He got along really well with Walker, and he especially liked Simon, Liz's kindergartner. When we left Beckett asked if Simon could come over to our house. Anytime, kiddo. Anytime.

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with Paige. We got Cafe Rio again (third time of the trip), and I have to say, it was really nice to go to a Cafe Rio where they really know what they are doing. The cousins played all afternoon, and I think it was their favorite day of the trip.

That evening we battled the construction again to go to Hire's with Brandon and Stephanie. I didn't really get to talk to them at all because I was dealing with kids in a restaurant. Grr. And then I had to say goodbye to everyone in the Hire's parking lot, which was a real bummer. The silver lining was that Kristen and Corey were home, and we all sat around chatting late into the night after the kids were in bed. The next day it was back to Maryland to prepare for a new school year.

All in all, it was a great trip. I would definitely do the Colorado to Utah plan again. We are already thinking about other cool places we could stop and see along the way. On the top of the list is a train museum in Cheyenne.