Hello Friends and Family! We have finally made it to our winter stomping grounds in Springville, Utah. We are so excited to spend the winter with our family and friends here in Utah and are looking forward to a happy ending to this crazy year.
Our adventures continued on our journey here in Craig, CO. After our Sunday with Steve, the kids and I continued exploring the area around Craig after finishing our school work in the mornings. We tried going to the Wyman Living History Museum on Monday. Although their website claimed they were open they weren’t. Luckily they had a handful of fun things to look at outside on their grounds. The kids and I found antique cars, fire engines, tanks, and we even got to see Junior the Elk, their mascot, who was bugling for a mate while we were there. It is elk mating season here in the rockies and there are a lot of them out and about looking for partners.
We had better luck at the History Museum of Northwest Colorado and learned about the stage coaches and railroads coming to Craig as well as some famous cowboys and wranglers that lived in and around the area. We also were able to drive over to Steamboat Springs, CO. to hike Fish Creek Falls. It ended up being a beautiful day and the kids and I loved the drive and hike. Steve was able to take the day off on Friday and we all ventured out to Juniper Hot Springs outside of Lay, CO. This was quite the experience as we found it down a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. It was originally established as a health spa in the early 1900s but the only thing remaining are the pools. Although they were somewhat run down, we enjoyed getting in anyway and it was kind of fun finding it.
Our next stop on our journey was Vernal, UT. We were able to take family hikes in Fantasy Canyon, about an hour outside of Vernal, and along the canyon wall at the McConkie Ranch Petroglyphs. The kids had been begging to climb rocks and these two hikes definitely fit the bill. One of my best friend’s had taken me to Fantasy Canyon several years ago and I remembered it being really neat. The rock formations their look like the sandcastle dribble towers we used to make as kids. It really is like stepping into another world.
The kids and I were able to visit the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum in Vernal during the week. It isn’t very big but they had some great information about the dinosaur bones and animals that used to live in the area. We thought the movie they showed helped explain a lot about why the area around Vernal was particularly good for finding fossils.
On Thursday, we met up with my friend, Sheila, and her kids and family. We were so happy that our visit coincided with their trip out to see Sheila’s family for their fall break. We met at Dinosaur National Monument and were able to see the famous wall of bones quarry site as well as explore the area around an old homestead in the park called Josie’s cabin. They had some more awesome petroglyphs that the kids had fun spotting.
We arrived in Springville Saturday and are looking forward to exploring the area and spending lots of time with family. We hope you are all doing well and are sending our love to you all from Utah!
Beautiful adventure!!