Been There, Done That

This time of year is usually when we like to make a big family trip up to Yellowstone. But, not being able to accommodate everyone's schedules and such, we had to plan a bit of a different adventure. We ended up spending the weekend in good ol' Delta, Utah, AKA, the middle of nowhere! The drive out was quick and painless, but I kept thinking to myself "what the heck is there to do out here?" We were able to find stuff to do, among all the sand, wind, and mosquitoes. 

The guys and I spent most of Saturday morning pretending we were stranded in the Sahara desert, hiking up and down the never-ending sand dunes. Towards mile 2, I was starting to feel some heat exhaustion headaches and fatigue, and I didn't want to risk my health, so, while the guys finished the hike (about another 30 minutes or so), I found a nice, sandy dune peak to plop down on, and zoned out. Even though Lilly was with Kevin and Jan, I still brought the baby backpack, and was glad that I did when it made an extremely comfortable headrest. Believe it or not, laying in the sand, waiting for the guys, was quite relaxing. And I'm glad I did it, because the hike back was hard enough. We made it, but just barely. I think I poured a good cup or two of sand out of my socks and shoes when we finally stopped. The rest of the day was spent mostly driving around more nowhere. We stopped at the Topaz Mountain internment camp, well, what was left of it. Then we settled down at a little watering hole for dinner, before heading back to the hotel for a quick dip in the pool. Boy was I beat!

Sunday started bright and early, just like every other day, when Lilly got up at 6 on the dot. We enjoyed the continental breakfast, packed up the car, and then set off for a morning at a bird reservation. Mostly we spent all of the hike trying to convince Lilly to stay in the backpack (we lost), and then Kevin, Lilly, and I broke off and headed back to the car, since we were having trouble with Lilly, and being eaten alive by mosquitoes. About twenty feet from the car, with Lilly strolling along behind me, I glanced down at my foot to find a GIANT water snake coiled, as I was inches from stepping right on its head. I didn't know water snakes got to be that thick, and quite honestly, I thought it was a rattlesnake because of the diamond pattern and cream color of its skin. As I gasped and jumped back, the movement frightened it and caused it to strike at me. All I could think about was how Lilly was walking up on it, so I yelled to Kevin to grab her. Once he had her and could assess the situation, he calmed me down by telling me it was only a water snake. My heart was still beating out of my chest. And, despite covering myself with bug spray and thinking I'd gotten away with no bites, I woke up Monday morning, COVERED with them. Even both of my butt cheeks each had a bite! How the heck does that even happen? Poor mosquito must have gotten trapped and fought to the death. I'm miserable. Dang my lack of self control!

We enjoyed a very quiet car ride home on Sunday, since the sun and fun took it out of Lilly. I fell asleep that night at 6, and Ryan let me sleep on through til morning. We were all pooped! Now I just have to finish all the laundry, and repack for our trip to Seattle on Saturday. Despite how boring and low-key Delta seems to be, at least we can say we went and saw. 

If I didn't know any better, I'd think we were in Egypt

I asked her to smile. 

Ryan took this picture of me, lounging on the dune. 

I tried to slide down the dune on my butt...didn't work so well

It was so windy, we had to eat lunch in the trunk

Got in about 3 licks of this popsicle before dropping it in the sand

Joel was unsure about the water, so Lilly gave him a kiss to make him feel better

Retreating to the car

It was a very slow walk back. Lilly wanted to stop and look at all the fire ants, pick up rocks, and walk in grandpa's shadow.

This was a snake that Ryan saw. The one that I almost stepped on was about twice as thick.

Lilly will ALWAYS ruin family pictures. Glad we were able to ruin this one with her smacking me.