My dad was supposed to come out from Portland for the weekend so Dave & I had blocked off the whole weekend to spend with him. However, Friday morning I got a phone call from my dad saying that he'd hurt his back/ribs and would be unable to come down. We had the whole weekend ahead of us and nothing to do.... so inspiration struck me... We've talked all summer about taking a short weekend trip and about going to Vernal... so it was time! I called up Dave and asked what he thought. I called a hotel in Vernal and there were vacancies and really, I just felt good about it. So we decided to do it.
Why Vernal, Utah you ask? Well, Vernal is dinosaur territory- there's an awesome dinosaur museum and there's the official "dinosaur monument." And it's about 3 hours away (3 1/2 if you travel with kids) so it was within range of doable. Ethan is a huge fan of dinosaurs right now (technically robot dinosaurs, but those are harder to come by) and I am a huge fan of road trips- so Vernal was sounding ideal. We also found out when we were out there that Vernal is one of the darkest place in the United States (no city light pollution) so we want to go back in the future to check out the stars (sans children).
Friday I rushed around getting us all ready to go (packing, laundry & a trip to the store for road trip snacks). I also stopped to get the oil changed in the van- that was a complete fiasco and it's own story. I have to say that I was feeling pretty frustrated before we even left for Vernal, but I was trying to keep my enthusiasm up. Dave was able to get off of work an hour early and we were on the road before rush hour traffic even started!
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| Road Trip Ready Boys (watching a movie) |
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| The official driver of the trip |
So like I mentioned earlier- I love road trips. I love just sitting in the car and seeing the different landscapes, and if I've never been through the area before, how different the towns can be. If I can get away with it, I love being able to sit back and read my book uninterrupted for a few hours (I haven't been able to do that since my parents were the ones driving though). The drive to Vernal was fascinating to me. I've never been out to that part of Utah- when I've gone East, it's been on I-80 straight into Wyoming. I also have to admit that I used to have this romanticized fantasy about small towns and owning a ranch or farm. Well, this trip helped to dispel some of those fantasies. I quickly realized that my ideal version of a small town is like Heber City- smallish, but still growing, and frankly not that far from a big city. I loved Heber City- it was super cute! I loved driving down Main Street and seeing all of the cute little shops and some of the homes off in the distance. I also loved driving through the mountains and the trees and seeing the rivers and creeks and sun setting through the trees and mountains. It was a wonderful time of day to drive through that area- the sun was at just the right angle to hit the trees and the clearings and really light them up. The trees were a whole spectrum of color- green, yellow, orange, brown and red all in the same group of trees. It was an amazing fall drive. We saw a really cute lodge at
Daniels Summit that looked promising for a future romantic getaway.
There was also this awesome moment when the landscape just changed drastically. We were driving up through this canyon and as we neared the top, the trees cleared and we could see that the shape of the mountains changed radically (more like mesas and plateaus than the peaks we had been seeing) and there were rocks and boulders everywhere. The forest-y feel gave way drastically to a high desert/plains look. You could just tell it was significantly dryer up there as well.
The drive to Vernal also introduced me to two other things I have never seen before. Oil Rigs- they were dotted all over the landscape and the strange and somewhat scary restaurant combination of Chinese, Mexican, and American Food (no offense to the owner, but that combination just screams "Give me food poisoning!"). Dave and I made plenty of jokes about ordering Kung Pao Burritos, etc. But seriously, I saw more of the chinese/mexican/american restaurants than I saw McDonalds, so apparently it works.
We pulled into Vernal at about 8 PM- right at the outer limits of the boys' ability to sit in the car (we'd already watched Kung Fu Panda and were halfway through Despicable Me). Ethan was begging to get out and walk and Emery, we found out when we got into the hotel room, had a poopy diaper- oops. The boys absolutely loved the hotel room. We let them run around and explore for a little bit before we got them tucked into bed. Emery had only had a 20 minute nap earlier in the day (how he made a 3 hour ride without falling asleep astounded me) and Ethan was pretty tired as well. We promised Ethan that the sooner he went to bed, the sooner we'd wake up and go see dinosaurs. That was some real motivation to Ethan because he was ready to set out for the museum right then.
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| Ethan passed out in his little next of pillows and blankets |
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| Emery passed out on his bed. |
Our hotel included a breakfast buffet,so we wandered over to the restaurant next door and got breakfast- which was also a bit of an adventure for the boys. Emery and Ethan didn't know what to think about being able to choose their own breakfast and having someone else bring them their drinks and take their plates.
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| Ethan's Super Smile |
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| Emery was pretty excited about the french toast |
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| The boys are ready for Dinosaur Fossils |
After we were done with the dino museum, we loaded up the boys again and headed off to
Dinosaur Monument. That was an interesting drive. Thankfully it was very close to Vernal. But really it was such a random drive. You go about 15 miles to Jensen, Utah (we saw a school, a few houses, and a gas station) and then you take this random left turn (at the before mentioned gas station) and you're on the road to Dinosaur Monument. Dave and I agreed that if you're ever a fugitive from the law, this is where you want to go. Who would ever look for you out there (or who would want to)? The landscape out here was also amazing- prime landscape for an active imagination. Suddenly there were spines of rock jutting up from the ground, there were smooth surfaces that would be awesome for scrabbling up and there were overhangs and holes and caves aplenty. Totally awesome if it weren't for the idea that a snake or some other critter could be hiding in them. There was also this one mountain off in the distance that could totally look like "Dinosaur Mountain" from the old cartoons- totally in the shape of a Sharp Tooth (again, Ethan's term) Head. It was great. The visitor center was okay, but the real gem is the Dinosaur Quarry. You take a little open air bus over to the Quarry (again, more fun for the boys), and the new building is awesome. The overlook is also a great scenic view.
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| That crazy looking mountain in the background kind of looked like a dinosaur from a distance. |
The Dinosaur Quarry was amazing! There was a map showing that the portion of the quarry that was protected now was only roughly about quarter of the size of the original surface (wow!). And the sheer number of bones was mind blowing. I can only imagine what it would have been like to discover it, and discover that the bones kept going... There was also a section of the wall that was open for people to touch a real dinosaur fossil. I think I was about as excited as the boys about the dinosaur quarry. I have wanted to go the Dinosaur Monument ever since Jurassic Park came out and I wanted to be a paleontologist. I can now check that off of my bucket list.
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| The New Quarry- with awesome bus in front |
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| So Many Fossils! |
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| Ethan touching a fossil |
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| Emery was more interested in holes... |
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| A comparison of the Quarry that was enclose versus the original size. Amazing huh!? |
We had managed to wear out the boys that morning. We left the monument at Noon and both boys fell asleep pretty much immediately (so much for my plan to have them sleep on the way back home). By the time we got back to Vernal, had gassed up, and picked up some food for Dave & I, the boys were awake. Oh boy. That meant the boys were going to be awake for the whole 3 hour drive back. Joy! Realistically though, the drive back wasn't that bad (the drive home always feels so much faster). We saw a lot of cool things that we hadn't seen the night before when it was too dark, like gigantic houses, antelope wandering along the side of the highway, and reservoirs filled with sail boats. We also stopped at the Daniels Summit Lodge to stretch and explore. We got home about 24 hours after we left the night before. It was an action packed trip.
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| Asleep pretty much instantly |
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| Em's new thing is that he likes to hold hands in the car (if he close enough to someone) |
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| Yeah, we're good parents. |
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| Daniels Summit Lodge |
So what did I learn from our first real road trip with the boys? I learned even though we spent a good three hours sitting, road trips are exhausting. I wish I had looked around at things to do a little bit better. There were some pretty cool hikes that it would have been fun to go on (we'll do those when the boys are older), and at the dinosaur monument on Saturday nights they offered a star gazing opportunity (darkest skies in the US). I guess we could chalk that up to just needing more time out there. I also learned to leave the slip shoes at home and pack the ones that actually tie (the boys kept losing their shoes as they ran around). I wish I had brought more toys in the car (I was relying on the computer & iPad to entertain the boys, which they did). But really, I feel pretty good about this road trip. The boys were great, Dave was an awesome driver, and I finally remembered to keep the camera charged. It also made wonder, can I get paid to write a blog about traveling with kids "Have Kids, Will Travel" type thing? Hmmmm.... :)
