A Short Trip to Moab and Richfield

Since spring break for our children usually comes while Scott is still finishing up the semester at BYU and has classes to teach, our travel is limited. This year, we decided to leave on Friday morning and go to Arches in the afternoon. It had been some years since we last went and we wanted to hike the Delicate Arch. The weather was not very warm that week unfortunately but we were able to hike like we wanted to. Arches was prettier than we remembered and has some very impressive stone structures.

The iconic Arch:

On the way there, we saw the results of the snowstorm the day before which we don't often see in this dry area.

We were worried it would rain on us but thankfully it didn't.

After Arches, we went into Moab and checked into our hotel and then ate at a Mexican restaurant for dinner. The next day, we did a couple of other little hikes. The first one was called Mill Canyon or something like that. We went about half a mile until we got to a place where we were going to have to get our feet wet which we felt too cold to do so we turned around.

The second short hike was called Moonflower Canyon. The trailhead was by the Colorado River and it was about a quarter mile one way.

After Moonflower, we decided to head out so we could listen to General Conference as we drove. We decided to drive to Richfield and visit the graves of my great-grandparents, which we had never seen before. The graves have a new marker erected by their grandchildren in 2022.

We also stopped by the house they moved into after their 9th child was born in 1916. This house gave them more space than they had before and also had a bathroom. My grandmother, the youngest of the family of 10 children, was born there in 1919. I'm guessing it looked a little better cared for in those days.

We drove home via Salina so we could have some lunch from the Hot Spot which is a really good roadside hamburger stand with decadent deep-fried tater tots. Pretty tasty!

Comments

Visiting Susquehanna: The Priesthood Restoration Site

On our way home from Palmyra, we decided to go a couple of hours out of our way to visit the recently opened Priesthood Restoration Site along the Susquehanna River. This is where we believe that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood from John the Baptist which gave them the authority to baptize. This site also has the restored Isaac and Elizabeth Hale home where Joseph and Emma lived for a year as well as the home where Joseph and Emma lived on their own. We spent a couple of hours there and I wouldn't have minded a few more minutes but we had a long way to go that night. It's a beautiful setting, very much in rural Pennsylvania. However, on the day we were there, cars at a racetrack nearby were detracting from the peace and quiet. I'm guessing that's not as big of a problem on weekdays. The Hale Family was quite well-off for their day so their home was probably nicely decorated with wallpaper and carpet. ...

Book Review: Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

This is a juvenile fiction book about a young girl named Melody with severe cerebral palsy. Her body doesn't allow her to feed herself, speak, or do much at all. She's very intelligent with a photographic memory but she can't really communicate. Finally, in 5th grade, she gets a "Medi-Talker" which is a computer that speaks what she types in. Finally she has a voice. This book explores what it is like to be severely physically disabled but not mentally disabled. It seems like one of the most frustrating of all scenarios. She is completely aware of all the cruelty (subtle and otherwise) that her classmates inflict on her because they don't really want to include her in their activities. One of the saddest moments in the book comes when she realizes that every one of her special ed classmates is kind, where the "normal" ones are not. Who really has the worse disability? The book was a quick read and fairly enjoyable. Wha...

Hansen Family Plot in the Provo Cemetery

On Memorial Day this year, our family went to the Provo Cemetery, as we do almost every year. We spent some time at the Hansen Family plot which contains the grave of my 2nd great-grandparents, Peter and Mary Hansen. They both emigrated from Denmark with their spouses to Utah. My grandfather lost his first wife Ane to cholera on the plains outside of St. Joseph, Missouri, along with three of his little boys within a very short time--about one month. It's a sad story but it's also one of admirable resilience. He brought his one surviving son, Jorgen, to Utah. He married his second wife Maren (Anglicized to Mary) some 9 years later in Utah She had been married before but lost her first husband at an unknown date. I wish I knew more about her but she left very few records, although I could do more research! Peter and Maren had 6 more children together. The youngest two were twins, Enoch and Ephraim. Ephraim is my great-grandfather and is buried in California. He is the father of ...

Search This Blog