Wyoming Day 2

We woke up really early on Sunday morning because of our fisherman. He wanted to get an early start at Flaming Gorge, even though he’d had a chance to fish Little Hole on the Green River already. We got breakfast of cereal, loaded up, gassed up, and checked out of the hotel. 

Even though it was mid-September, we shivered into our jackets as it was in the mid-forties when we pulled out. We drove out to Lucerne Valley, which is the main area for Flaming Gorge. We spotted more antelope on the way in, and right in the town of Rock Springs we saw 4 massive bucks munching grass in the morning light. As we left town, Mom spotted 3 big horn sheep, which was even more exciting. 

The bucks were right by the road.

The big horn sheep were a great spot.

Dax and Seth fished for quite a while right around the corner from the marina where the ledge drops off to a considerable depth immediately. Though Seth got a rainbow right up to the bank, they weren’t able to land anything, unfortunately. 

Dax wanted to fish in all the spots.

Seth and Dax both fished in this spot.

There were pronghorn everywhere.

Next, we drove all the way down to try some hikes in the Red Canyon Area. The visitor center was closed, but we hiked along the rim and there are some beautiful views. We also stopped at one of the lakes and took a short walk while Dax fished for a few minutes.

This view at Red Canyon was amazing.

There was a random guy taking pictures of this sign for cards. He was a huge Cardinals fan, so we had quite the baseball conversation with him.

Flaming Gorge is gorgeous.

Our first time visiting here.

It looks scarier than it is!

Seth's poses are always fun.

Dax will pull out his fishing pole at any water.

We spotted a woodpecker, too.

Back up the road we found a much better fishing hole. This little Eden was called Moose Ponds, just like our favorite hike in the Tetons. We didn't see a moose, but the boys really enjoyed the rainbow trout bouncing their bubbles on pretty much every cast. They were tricky to get on shore, but they landed a few, and Mom and Dad enjoyed an easy hike around the lake.

Moose ponds was a pretty little pond.

Mom spotted a butterfly.

We walked around the pond.

Dax caught a few fish.

This was our best fishing.

After we dragged the boys away from fishing, we had a beautiful drive to do as we headed out of town. We drove through some beautiful canyons and also made one stop at a fire tower. We had fun walking around the tower. Fall is just starting to crop up around Flaming Gorge.

People used to live out here, so this was the garden.

The tower is in a pretty place and the clouds were awesome.

Seth doesn't want to know what is in here.

Oh, it's Dad!!

The drive was so pretty.

Look at those mountains!

And some tall cliff walls along the drive, too!

We only made one stop on the way home, and that was for dinner in Manila. Though it was Sunday, we found a nice place that served good food. Dad liked his chicken burger, and Mom enjoyed her Philly cheesesteak. The drive was three hours home, and we didn't arrive until 8:30. We were so tired we needed a weekend to recover from our weekend!

Dinner was yummy.

Mom loved these hills. They reminded her of the Badlands and the Bentonite Fields.

Wyoming Day 1

Flaming Gorge Dam

Mom made a deal with Little America that gave us a weekend to explore north eastern Utah. Since we haven't really been around the Flaming Gorge part of the state, we thought this was the perfect opportunity to visit. So after Seth's tennis match on Friday, we loaded our stuff into the van (well, Dax loaded his fishing stuff), and drove to Little America, Wyoming. We didn't get in until late, and we found the town was little more than a truck stop along I-80. But we got checked into our room and went to bed by 10pm. 

We didn't get out of bed too early, and we ate breakfast at the little restaurant right on the premises. Mom enjoyed her avocado toast, and Seth liked his French toast. Then we drove down the east side of Flaming Gorge. Honestly, there wasn't a whole lot to see other than burn scars, but we did spot a few antelope along the way. 

Finally, we got to Little Hole. There was a gorgeous hike right along the Green River. Mom, Dad, and Seth enjoyed the trail, while Dax had fun fishing in the river. No one was really catching anything, and Dax didn't either, but he still had a nice time. 

Little Hole was a beautiful area.

Dax tried fishing in a bunch of places.

Mom found a few signs of fall. 

Mom hiked a little further than everyone else.

Dad and Seth came to find her though!

Dax loves fishing.

Waiting for Dax to be done...

The water was so clear you could see the fish really easily.

After that trail, we drove up to the dam. We wanted to do a tour, but all the tours are shut down. So Mom made sandwiches in the parking lot, and we walked around where we could. This took us to a nice overlook of the dam and the gorge behind it.

Walked out to the dam with a lot of dam jokes. 

There was another trail that we wanted to try called Bear Canyon. We saw neither a bear, nor a canyon on this hike, but there was a really pretty overlook of the reservoir. The water was really clear and green, and we stood on the cliff high above and enjoyed the vista. 

There was a random bridge along the trail over nothing.

Dax has to take over the job of selfies with Mom now that Mark is gone.

The view at the end of this hike was really nice. 

Down the road we tried to spot a few salmon in the creek. They are supposed to be there, swimming to spawn, but unfortunately, they were not. 

We had an hour drive back into Wyoming, and when we arrived, we went to dinner. Dax liked the stuffed mushrooms, and Dad enjoyed his steak, but mostly, we liked the cheap ice cream cones. 

There are some beautiful overlooks at Flaming Gorge.

No salmon, but it was a pretty spot.

Then, the rest of the day was spent attempting to take promotional photos, which we owe the property as part of our deal. There were some pretty hilarious moments, and the kids hate these things, but we did our best, and laughed a lot in the meantime! Here are some outtakes. 

Oh boy!

Dad interrupting Mom's picture 

Seth's hair!

This one actually turned out pretty good!

End of Summer: August Adventures!

 We miss Mark! But we still had some fun adventures happen in August. 

Dax caught this fish when he and Seth went camping with Laurie, Glen, Gary, and Shelly.

He was so excited to cook them at the BBQ.

Gary helped Dax prepare the fish.

Another day of cooking fish with Dax.

We had one day where Dad had to work and we didn't, so we went to the NHMU.

The earthquake demo is always the favorite.

We took Dad to a Beatles tribute band.

It was a super fun show!

Baptisms at the Layton temple. 

Seth babysat a little frog for the neighbors.

We love talking to Mark on P-day. He is usually doing something when we talk with him!

Seth and Mom went to the Chalk the Block event and loved it!

Saying goodbye to Nathan! He is off to the Mexico MTC to hang with Mark.

We always love a day at the temple.

Seth is always taking pictures!

It is so close. Who do you think?

Another fish dinner.

Mom agreed to play Seth in monopoly! 

Our chickens are crazy. We have four nesting boxes, but they will only lay in this one!

Dad and Dax went to fish at Little Dell Reservoir.

Dax caught this huge fish!

And they saw this snake!

We took one Saturday to go up to the Mirror Lake Highway. Dax wanted to fish at one lake, so we dropped him off and then went for a hike to two neighboring lakes. The hikes were lovely and Dax caught about a dozen fish. Then we had a nice picnic before heading home.

The first little lake we visited.

We tried out some new towels for the website.

Mom and Dad love the Uintas.

A nice place to rest!

We hiked to Cliff Lake next.

Then we hiked all the way around.

It turned out to be quite an adventure.

But we did spot a muskrat.

Dax had a great time fishing without us.

This was the last fish he caught when we came to pick him up.

Picnics in the woods are so fun!

We also stopped to pick up our rocks from the Fairy Forest. And we spotted this Argentina rock!

Mom made a peach pie! Mmmmm!