View from the Road: Mega Trip Part Two

It's funny how time gets compressed once you are finished with something.  While on this road trip it seemed like time was passing quickly and before we knew it we were home and back to our normal routines.  Now that I recount the things we did, it seems more substantial.

The fourth day had us driving out of the Painted Desert and up into Utah.  Our first stop was Bryce Canyon National Park.  Bryce is probably one of my favorite parks.  It is simply stunning with the red rocks and the hoodoos.  I was really pumped to have the kids see it and I kept building it up so that they would be as awestruck as I was.  Their reaction wasn't what I had hoped for, but to each his own.

Annie was pretty scared of the canyon edge

I can chalk it up to a couple of possible reasons.  One, we were pretty tired from long days and early mornings.  Two, it was pretty dang hot out there and we decided to go for a hike.  But there is a third reason for sure that I know was keeping their attention elsewhere.  And that was the promise of a dinosaur museum visit once we got into Utah. 

Isaac had no trouble making the connection between Utah and the Utahraptor.  So for the entire length of our drive up Utah, we heard all about the Utahraptor being discovered in Utah.  We couldn't get to that museum fast enough.  No, literally.  We made it with about 1.5 hours to spare before they closed.  But it turns out that we plenty of time to get a good feel of the Museum of Ancient Life.   

If you ever find yourself in Lehi, UT (and I chuckle a bit when I say that), be sure to stop in.  This museum is an awesome place to learn about prehistoric life and it was made with kids in mind.  Lots of things to touch and interact with.  

Mannequins pretending to be paleontologists

Oh, crap.

Build your own dinosaur

Magnetic puzzles

I'm not sure how much time we would have had to spend here for it to be "enough time", but 1.5 hours was not enough for the kiddos.  But closing time is closing time, so we scooted on out of there and hit the road.  We were finally headed for the Becker parent's house!  We didn't arrive until pretty late, but like gracious hosts (and loving grandparent/parents) they stayed up, waiting for our arrival.  It was a sweet reunion.  One that I wish I had captured on my camera.  I did get one good shot on my phone that sort of sums it up:

We spent the next day (day five) washing clothes and getting more supplies for our next leg of the journey, which would start on day six.  I'm getting tired just thinking about it.  So I'll leave it here for now and recharge.  Stay tuned!