We saw some truly incredible country on our drive today as we drove from Salt Lake City to Lafayette and have enjoyed a wonderful night with Jill's cousin Kerry and her two children, Michael and Emily (unfortunately Paul was out of town for the evening so we missed him). A lot of driving, but all-in-all a great day.
Thoughts on Utah
It all started last night with a wonderful stay at the Marriott in downtown Salt Lake City. The hotel is right across the street from Temple Square and had all of the amenities you would want or need for a family. There was a terrific pool and workout facility -- in fact, the stationary bikes overlooked the pool so I could ride while the kids swam. Some of the weights were also outside by the pool, and the all of the treadmills had TVs and headphones to use while running. The kids were in heaven! Nick and Natalie ran on the treadmill while the boys swam -- then we all swam together. Another fun part was staying on the 15th floor -- we were treated to a beautiful view of the city and of the Mormon temple. Below is a picture of the kids on our balcony:
Sorry that the picture is a little blurry -- I had to set the camera on a really slow shutter speed to get enough light for their faces and to still get the temple in the background.
For dinner Jill got some healthy burritos from Rubios and we all had a picnic in the room before crashing for the evening, totally happy and totally exhausted.
The Lillie Family members all agree that our stay in Salt Lake City was two thumbs up...way up!
The next day we were on the road by 8:30 am and headed through the unbelievable beauty of Park City. This truly was one of the prettiest drives I have taken and that is saying a lot, given I spent nearly 5 years in Montana and have seen the Gallatin Valley, Paradise Valley, the Bitteroots and even the "Going-to-the-Sun" road in Glacier National Park. The hills of the Park City valley along Interstate 80 (I-80) were green, the homes beautiful and the landscape clean and fresh. We actually stopped at Echo reservoir to take a picture because it was so beautiful. Fortunately, someone volunteered to take one of the whole family so we are all in it:
The red rock, the green hills and the blue water and sky made this a simply breathtakingly beautiful spot.The whole Utah experience was a good one and I highly recommend that other families spend some time there...I know we'll be back!
Thoughts on Wyoming
As much as we enjoyed our drive through, and brief stay in Utah, we were excited to catch our first glimpse of Wyoming. Fortunately the Lillies are a bunch of gamers, and I got to snap this photo of them before we entered Wyoming:
Pretty cool, huh? I love the bucking bronco and cowboy that is the symbol of the state...Wyoming was beautiful in a very different way than Utah. Wyoming's broad and sweeping plains and its mesas peppered throughout the land gave me a feeling that we were part of a huge country, still a bit wild. I definitely got the feeling that this state is where the REAL cowboys come from (sorry, Montana) and that life in Wyoming was not easy. But mostly I was proud to be an American with the kind of heritage we have in the state. In fact, Jill has been clicking pictures every time she sees an American flag in a city we are travelling through. She is doing this in honor of her brother's safe return from Iraq & Afghanistan, for the 4th of July, and for helping others (like me!) in need. -- below is an example of the flag being flown in Rawlins, Wyoming:
The other thing I noticed about Wyoming were the snow fences in many of the fields along the interstate. I guess they have a horrible problem with blowing snow and huge snow drifts in Wyoming and these fences help. There did not seem to be any rhyme or reason as to how or where they were placed in the open country...but I am guessing someone knew when they placed them there. 
Unfortunately, we didn't get to spend any time in Cheyenne, Wyoming ... the time was getting late and we needed to Lafayette for dinner with the Matherns. Oh, well, something to shoot for next time!
Thoughts on Colorado
We left Cheyenne and turned south on Interstate-25 toward Denver and by this time we were getting hungry and a little tired of being in the car. Colorado felt similar in landscape to Wyoming but was a lot busier -- cars were everywhere on this heavily travelled highway. I will say that the clouds and sky reminded me of when Jill and I lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico so many years ago (pre-kids). We used to drive to Santa Fe and sometimes up into Colorado Springs and we saw this beautiful sky -- blue with some clouds and with the sun's rays shining through. Take a look at these shots taken close to Kerry's house and you will see what I mean.
We arrived at cousin Kerry's house around 6:15 pm -- here are Kerry and Jill moments after we arrived:
The evening was a total blast as we cooked dinner together, ate it together, went for a walk around the neighborhood (very nice), and then had smore around the backyard round fire pit. We ended the evening with Michael playing both acoustic and electric guitar for us, entertaining us with "Stairway to Heaven," "Hey There Delilah", and even "Sweet Home Alabama"! The kids went to sleep happy and exhausted, their minds full of what they saw and experienced today. I am sure they are thinking, "What comes next?" I know I am...Peace and goodnight,
Brian
1 comment:
I miss that sky. Great picutures. Very cool blog Lillie family!
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