End of the Road

After a slow start to the day yesterday, I finally convinced Clare and Di to do some online research for things to do in Ogden, this wonderful city that Di has lived in for a mere 10 years.  After some searching it was decided to take the Ogden River Canyon scenic drive, especially considering that the canyon is where you end up if you miss Di's street, as we accidentally discovered on our first trip here. 

It was at least another hour before we actually left the house, as Nate (Di's husband) decided to join us and a picnic dinner was created for the adventure.  There was even a brief moment when I heard someone say that we could pack the picnic and then eat on the living room floor, and I feared that we weren't really going anywhere, but they came through for me, and we were soon driving through a gorgeous canyon, past the reservoir and dam, and up higher into the mountains.  Di had heard that the dam had been opened due to flooding above the reservoir, and as we followed the river higher, we were stunned at the speed and volume of muddy water as it rushed over its own banks, flooding out houses, bridges, and at one point even up over part of the road we were on.  I really wanted to stop and get photos to share with everyone, but the road didn't exactly lead itself to just stopping anywhere, so we traveled on.

Eventually we hit the end of the road, literally; there was a gate that prevented us from going any further.  At this point the humans in my presence had all commented on their ears popping and were curious as to just how high we had climbed.   Later, during the instant-replay on Google Earth (because no good trip is complete without technology involved somehow), it was discovered we'd gone about twice as far as the scenic route described, and had gone up about 3,000 ft in elevation, to approximately 7,200 ft.  We weren't exactly above the tree line like the 12,000 ft of Cusco, Peru, but somehow it still felt like we were on top of the world, or perhaps had landed on a different world altogether.  At that height there was still snow on the ground!  When we'd left Ogden, it had been hot, shorts & t-shirt weather, and so it seemed necessary to bath in the warm sun on the snow (well, that and it had been one of Clare's goals to stand in snow on a hot day)!


On the drive back we stopped in Huntsville (Utah, not Ontario) which is a small town on the reservoir, and drove out to the point to have our picnic.  Who knew that at 6:30pm they would still charge us $11 for the day pass to enter the small park and beach area, although it was quite fun to sunbath for the second time in about an hour, only this time on sand!  As we sat at the picnic table, I listened to the three of them talk about Second Life and couldn't help but be amused by the idea of three people actually out in nature, but all they can talk about is their computer lives.  However, I do suppose that it is much better than being in a computer world talking about nature.


Out of curiosity, we decided to toss some of their gluten-free bread out to the state birds (go look it up if you don't know), who had accumulated rather rapidly after we sat down, even though (or perhaps because) we were the only ones there.  It seems that these birds enjoyed the stuff more than our two humans who don't eat it by choice.  Then again, I suppose the birds weren't really eating it by choice either.  It was all they were being offered as Nate seemed quite content to eat all of his glutenous sandwiches.

After I sat around watching them eat, we went into the small town just to get a picture of the Shooting Star Saloon, which is Utah's oldest continually operated saloon, built in 1879 (aren't you proud of me Rissa? I made Clare and my other friends go see some weird piece of local trivia).  Apparently the inside brags the head of the largest St. Bernard in the world, as well as a ceiling covered in one dollar bills, and some other unique items.  Sadly, we did not go inside as it was Sunday and apparently the only food you'll find in there is beer and hamburgers, none of which they can eat or drink.  *sigh*

As the sun was setting over the mountains, we headed out of Huntsville and back around the reservoir to the canyon that would lead us back to Ogden.  What my little bear brain had not thought about was the fact that the sun would reappear and reset as we winded our way back through the mountains.  It was kind of fun to enjoy a sunset over and over again, especially as Di had kindly let me look out the window the entire drive, and took pictures that included me (it is all about me after all).

That was yesterday, and now its late because we did have another adventure today, but I will leave that to share with you tomorrow.   After all, I wouldn't want to give you too much reading for one day.  You might get jealous or something.