As a kid, one of the highlights of each summer was heading to Southern Utah for my mom’s family reunion.
I’m not sure why it was a highlight – camping for two nights in the Utah desert with a bunch of people you don’t know; constantly waiting in line to share one of two public toilets with all those people; and it either being too hot and windy to be outside and play, or too hot and stuffy to stay in the family building to play – there are really no selling points when you’re trying to talk your husband into turning it into a family tradition for your own family.
He and Josie came with me last year, but this year Tommy got sick so Josie and I went with Grandma, Aunt Steph and Aunt Heather.
And again, against all probability, we had a fabulous time.
We all slept in Grandma’s tent trailer. Josie had her own little bed and loved getting herself dressed in the mornings.
Josie and Grandma made some crafts together during the children’s activities – this one was a wooden top. Grandma is wearing one of the pioneer bonnets the family in charge this year brought. There is usually a theme that the activities center around, and this year it was our pioneer heritage. Josie had a bonnet, too, but preferred her Old Navy cap.
Josie enjoyed using her little camp chair and creating chalk art on the sidewalk with some extended family members.
She made and decorated some popsicle stick picture frames that she said were for her Daddy.
Rather than go to Veo for swimming this year, which is a little resort spot near St. George, we drove with Aunt Steph and Aunt Heather to the New Castle Reservoir. The water levels had receded leaving a lot of sand and water plants uncovered; then the wind had blown the sand over the mossy sticks and left some really cool sand sculptures we enjoyed.
The water was nice, but there were lots of little gnats on the surface, which Josie didn’t like too much. So, while Steph and Heather swam to the other shore, Josie and I watched and called to them, and explored the beach we were on.
If you look super close you can see them as little spots in the water in this picture:
After swimming for a while we drove out to Old Iron Town. It was a settlement of LDS pioneers back in the 1800’s in which they tried their hand at mining and working the iron out of the surrounding hills. It lasted for several years, but was eventually abandoned. Now it’s another “ghost town.”
We had a nice time checking out the remaining structures, reading the placards about the town, catching glimpses of the local fauna, and avoiding rattle snakes. I don’t think we saw or heard any, but ever since one year when I was probably about nine in which a couple were spotted and killed in camp, I’m a little wary of the critters.
Then we took the long dirt roads back to Pinto.
We spent the rest of our time visiting with family and listening to them swap stories about our ancestors.
Still no real selling points, but hope to make it an annual trip with the family just the same.
No comments:
Post a Comment