Odgen, UT and the Great Salt Lake

This post is a month behind schedule, so I can safely say that Ogden was our rough patch, some sort of ancient test of will to see if we could push through on this adventure. (Spoiler, we make it.)

First, we pull into our reserved spot with a flat tire.

Good times. Got to use that roadside assistance package, though!

Speaking of reserved spots, the place was a bit of a dump to say the least. There was a mound of dirt next to our spot with a RIP sign on it. I would not have been surprised if that wasn't a joke. On the other side we looked out the window at a the nightly show of shirtless guy beer party around the hood of a truck. We tried to look around to see where the photos for the web page were taken, but didn't have any luck. We stuck with it though, as Kevin was flying out for an interview and we needed to stay put while he was away. He offered to find a new place, but of course I was all, "No, I got this, we're tough." (ha . . . I am SO not tough.)

Then, Kevin got the flu, which I thought was the same as what I had in the Tetons, and so of course I thought his moaning and groaning over it was a bit on the dramatic side. Oh, that unkind thought was paid back in spades. The night after he flew out I was taken down. I was so glad that I've taught my kids to cook and generally be responsible, as it took me about 12 hours to be a human again. On the plus side, once we left Ogden we've all been super healthy. (Hooray, and knock on wood!)

While we were there we checked out downtown Salt Lake City, and Temple Square. This was an impressive building.

We LOVED the University of Utah Natural History Museum.

All the cool kids were lounging on the roof deck.

Checking out the Triops, which are shrimp-like creatures that have remain unchanged for 200 million years. They pre-date the dinosaurs, and the eggs can lie dormant for 25 years. Also, they seem kind of dumb and bump into each other and get stuck on their backs, so they were fun to watch. 

Checking out the fantastic dinosaur bone collection. They were really artsy in how they displayed the fossils and laid out the exhibits.

Once Kevin was back from his interview, we spent the day at Antelope Island State Park. Before we went, when we were asking people about swimming in the Great Salt Lake (because doesn't that sound cool, and something you wanted to do as a kid?) we were met with confused looks, as if it didn't occur to anyone that this would be a thing. 

We thought that these would be antelope, but they were pronghorns.

 

Checking out the salty crusty sand and rocks.

 

What you can't see here are the sand flies and other assorted bugs. Tons of brine shrimp, too, lend to the smell. So, yeah, just us and a few Germans were braving the ick. Our strategy was to not look down, and just run for it. We were determined to float in the lake! I can report that it was really fun to pop up amongst the shrimp and float around effortlessly. We lasted about five minutes, then ran the mile back up to the showers. (OK, I just stumbled and visualized buzzards over my head as motivation.)

There are tons of birds, bison, pronghorns, and deer on the island.

Afterwards we stopped at a local diner for burgers, which we all said we were craving. Funnily enough, once we saw the menu none of us had burgers. It looked to be run by a Greek family, and those menu offerings seemed to be the specialties--we can recommend their gyros and salads!