Memorial Day Weekend 2010!

A number of years ago my parents decided to buy their first motor home. They used their starter motor home for a couple of years. . . but then they moved on to a bigger motor home. Generously, they kept the first motor home and allow all of us kids to use it whenever we want. Well, we decided to take a short trip for Memorial Day Weekend to Dinosaur National Monument. Sadly, the really cool parts of the visitor center are closed right now and many of the roads around the area are closed as well, so we didn't see much in the way of Dinosaur National Monument. However, we managed to have an absolutely terrific time anyway. This is the story of our trip to Vernal, Utah. Let's Ride.

Travel in the motor home is different. Seatbelts are not required (perhaps they are but we didn't use them). It takes a bit to learn how to walk around while the motor home is moving. I made sandwiches on the road. . . going up Provo Canyon, in fact. . . I was very sick afterward and will never attempt that again. Word to the wise, large vehicle+canyon=lots of swaying and car sickness. The kids had quite the good time though, as seen below.






We stayed at a KOA in Vernal. This is not considered camping. No campfires are allowed and you are packed in like sardines. . .but it had electricity and water hookups for the motor home. I guess if we consider the motor home, then it is not really camping anyway. I have no pictures of the KOA. Sorry to disappoint

Our first order of business was to visit the Dinosaur National Monument. We thought we were going to get to see Dino tracks. . .unfortunately we only got to see fossilized fish scales. Not the easiest things to see. But this little hike was beautiful with some fun rock formations to boot. A shuttle bus takes you to this hike and it is practically the only thing you can actually reach at Dinosaur National Monument right now.


This is the beautiful flower that was growing all alone in the desert. . . that we stepped on trying to take pictures in the strange rock formation. I hope it grows back next year. I felt very bad.


Construction will be finished in about another year. . .so two years from now we will probably try again. However, do not fear, we found other great things to do in Vernal.

After our somewhat disappointing visit to Dinosaur National Monument during which we saw no Dinosaurs we headed back to Vernal. They have a very new Natural History Museum. This was great, with hands on displays for the kids and real Dinosaur bones. Yea!



This museum comes very highly recommended by our family. Our next task was swimming. The KOA had a pool. . . but it was a bit cold to swim outside. So, on we went to the brand new rec. center in Vernal. Another great spot. Emily got herself ready for the pool. Something seems to be amiss.



Now, after our huge day, we thought we would treat the kids to a big meal at Golden Corral. We got in line and paid for our meal. . . and promptly after Emily fell asleep and Ben and Nathan became ill. I won't specify the symptoms, except to say we had to leave the restaurant without eating. I convinced them to give me take out instead. I don't know if it was the pool. I hope not, because the pool was awesome. Anyway, we all slept it off and by the next day we were ready to go again.

What's that? What's that you say? You say you are getting bored and could I end this post already. . . well, just remember this is for posterity. You don't have to like it. :)
Ok, so on with the show.
If you head East of Vernal and get into the back country their is this great place to go called Josie's Cabin.

Josie lived off the land and built this cabin. She raised pigs, cattle, chickens and probably some other farm animals. She used the box canyons to create natural corrals for her animals. She was friends with many outlaws who roamed these parts back in the day. She lived here until the 1960's when she died. No running water or electricity, but beauty all around. We explored and hiked around Josie's cabin for most of the day. This was, by far, my favorite part of the trip.








Yikes, I almost forgot to include a pic of the Indian graffiti, of which there was quite a bit. That's it. That was our vacation to Vernal, Utah. I would say it gets an A+ for beauty and places of interest. It was a super fab weekend. My bum now hurts from sitting here so long. Gladly, I can now resume with my regularly scheduled life. THE END.