We planned and planned to go to Goblin Valley over spring break. I went for a day when I was little and loved climbing over all the rocks. We invited some of our family and the kids were excited. But it didn't all work out. So we moved on to make up a Plan B. We would like to be able to say that we've been to all the state parks, and decided on either Fremont State Park (Anasazi ruins) or Antelope Island State Park. Antelope Island was a little closer so we packed up the trailer and took off on Wednesday. I hadn't been to the Salt Lake since I was a kid (I think my mom and Aunt Ellen took us all over the place when we were little, some of my best memories are our two families piled into a car or two and giggling with my cousin Amy), so I was excited. And it didn't disappoint, it was beautiful! The sky goes on and on until it blends with the water and then raises up into mountains. Because it was spring everything was still green and lovely. I did not realize the Salt Lake was so big. I'm not sure how I missed that fact, since it's called the GREAT Salt Lake. I learned that it's the biggest body of water in the west, in the middle of a desert, but hah, it's undrinkable. We love Bear Lake too, but the Salt Lake is just huge.
And then there's the animals! The first question everyone asked us when we got back was, "did you see any buffalo?" Odd, since the island is Antelope Island. We most definitely did! Within a few minutes of getting to the Island we saw them all over. We had to look a little more to find the antelope, coyotes, jack rabbits, and there were different kinds of birds everywhere. In the mornings I could hear killdeer mama birds, which always brings memories of growing up, I love that sound. We used to try to find the nests with their tiny speckled eggs that the killdeer would hide in gravely areas around our farm.
The first morning, Farris went for a run and came back with an idea for a good hike with the kids. We went up to Buffalo Point, not a very long hike but you end up at one of the higher peaks on the island. At the top there are huge boulders that the kids went crazy on jumping and running and climbing. I love the look of the lake in the background. The whole island was kind of like how I picture Ireland (I could be wrong), with the short green, green grass and hills peppered with rocks and craggy mountains over it all with the water, in Irelands case it would be the ocean, in the background. I'm sure by the time the summer heat hits it won't be green and Ireland-y any more, but it was a wild kind of beautiful while we were there.
It's hard to gather the kids into one spot when there's so much to do and climb!
After the hike we went to the visitor's center, and then Abby fell asleep so we went back to the trailer where I stayed to take a nap, too (by that time I was starting to feel sick, never fun on a campout). Farris and the kids ran into town to get a few supplies we had left behind at home. When they came back, they told me about how they had seen a buffalo and an antelope close to the road. We hadn't seen the antelope on the island before, so we grabbed the camera and jumped in. After we had taken pictures of those they had seen we decided to go out to the ranch that's on the island. We drove along for about twenty minutes and then I handed back some snacks. Felicity turned around to hand them to the boys and said, "Where's Seth?" Yes, panic overtook the van and Farris turned around and drove much faster on the way back. We hadn't stopped anywhere, so we knew he was back at the camp. When we pulled up, Seth was sitting in one of the camp chairs around the fire pit. He smiled and waved, nothing was bothering him. We asked him what he had been doing, and he just said "I fell asleep and when you came back I woke up." Then we asked him why he didn't get into the van, he said "I didn't want to go." He had been saying that he didn't want to see the buffalo, I think their enormousness scared him, so when we said we were going to go see one, he must have decided he didn't want any of that. Oh, that panic when we realized he wasn't there, it was awful. But he didn't seem to think anything was wrong, so I guess no scarring or therapist visits in the future. Unless it's for me and Farris.
After that scare we decided not to drive to the ranch, but instead to play on the beach. The water is fairly low this year so there was a lot of beach and the water is very shallow for a long way out. The kids loved splashing in the water.
There were a lot of people out on the beach for spring break, and the .buffalo decided to come out to play, too. How many of you have been on a beach with buffalo?
Joseph set out to dig a deep hole, which eventually turned into a sand castle. And no moat, just an outdoor swimming pool. Do kids think differently than when I was young?
Caleb and Felicity ended up helping him. Caleb spent a long time throwing and catching the Frisbee with Farris, too.
Abby loves water, she wasn't quite sure about the mud, but she hated the sand. She even sat down at one point and tried to scrape the sand off her feet with a piece of the shale rock that's all over the beach.
Felicity was such a big help with Seth. She had been plenty worried about him when he was missing and then with me not feeling so good she volunteered to follow him around. We didn't want any more disappearing.
I made our usual pizza dough instead of buying some from the store. We also lined the dutch oven with two big pieces of aluminum foil so we could lift the pizza out when it was done.
We had talked about staying over Friday night, too. And then Thursday night happened. The kids went to sleep pretty fast after a long fun day. Then I was sick. Then the wind storm came up. Then Seth was sick. Then the wind came back, this time with rain. Our trailer was rocking back and forth and the rain was pelting from all sides. We didn't get a lot of sleep that night. The wind and rain settled down around dawn. When we came out, the rain had filled up the beaches and the birds were so happy with the rain. One of Abigail's favorite new words is "birdie!" She was mesmerized by a seagull that kept flying really low above our campground, waiting for a handout. Even though it had been a crazy night, we had so much fun. The kids were begging to come back to Antelope Island again. We've been warned not to go in the middle of the summer when the bugs are crazy there, but maybe next spring.
As we were leaving, a big bull buffalo was at a stop sign saying goodbye to everyone. We paused about five feet from him, opened the window to the van, and took a picture quickly and quietly and then took off. We don't want to get these guys mad!
All together we loved camping at Antelope Island and would recommend it to anyone! There's lots of hikes, in different levels and lengths and even bike trails. Farris wants to bring his bike next time. So now we have to decide where our next camping adventure will be. Goblin Valley? Fremont? the Dinosaur National Park over in Vernal? Too many choices!
