This day is why Utahns love the month of July. Pioneer Day is a state holiday, meaning that all of us get the day off to celebrate our ancestors and heritage. The history of Utah being settled has deep roots in the pioneers crossing the plains from the settled East to the desert of the West. Indian country and the wild west didn't look like paradise to the early Latter Day Saints, but neither did cutthroat mobs and persecution. It was a good thing those Mormons left when they did, because soon thereafter the Civil War began between the confederates and the union. So in the mid 1800s hundreds of pioneers traveled across the plains, the mountains, and the desert to settle in Utah. What a wonderful heritage to have, to be descended from those courageous men, women, and children. Why not have a day in July to celebrate the wonderful valley they settled for us, to give us this beautiful life we have. I get to live in the shadow of a mountain! I don't go anywhere without seeing those monstrous earth-forms watching over me, protecting me, reminding me that God made the Earth for us to come here. And God also helped those saints reach Utah safely so they could live here. This is the essence of Pioneer Day. Gratitude and our ancestor's Legacy.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Monday, July 1, 2013
Yellowstone the Beautiful
Old Faithful, mud pots, Bison, Lodgepole pines, hot springs, Grand Prismatic Lake, Mammoth Hot Springs and Minerva Terrace, Elk, Bighorn Sheep.
Let me tell you, great family reunion location!
The sights inside Yellowstone National Park are absolutely amazing, and definitely worth the trip. I wish I could go back and spend days and days inside, seeing all there is to see and learning all the plants that grow there, and especially being able to photograph everything. The things you see as you drive through Yellowstone are not exactly the normal sights you see when you drive through any forest.
Old Faithful was the only geyser I saw, but I want to go back and see the tallest one, Steamboat geyser.
On our way to Yellowstone we drove through and saw Mesa Falls, a gorgeous waterfall with an upper and lower falls area. Being large, as most natural phenomena are, we could only see the lower falls from a scenic point. To make up for that the upper falls had a boardwalk that took you right up next to the edge of the falls. Reaching really far wouldn't get your hand to the water, but it might have gotten it wet.
My film camera was clicking away like mad, well, as mad as you can get when you realize how much it costs to develop the film, as well as to buy new film. Perhaps I'll scan some pictures and put them up later, when they are developed.
Let me tell you, great family reunion location!
The sights inside Yellowstone National Park are absolutely amazing, and definitely worth the trip. I wish I could go back and spend days and days inside, seeing all there is to see and learning all the plants that grow there, and especially being able to photograph everything. The things you see as you drive through Yellowstone are not exactly the normal sights you see when you drive through any forest.
Old Faithful was the only geyser I saw, but I want to go back and see the tallest one, Steamboat geyser.
On our way to Yellowstone we drove through and saw Mesa Falls, a gorgeous waterfall with an upper and lower falls area. Being large, as most natural phenomena are, we could only see the lower falls from a scenic point. To make up for that the upper falls had a boardwalk that took you right up next to the edge of the falls. Reaching really far wouldn't get your hand to the water, but it might have gotten it wet.
My film camera was clicking away like mad, well, as mad as you can get when you realize how much it costs to develop the film, as well as to buy new film. Perhaps I'll scan some pictures and put them up later, when they are developed.
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| Grand Prismatic Lake, aerial view from online. See that boardwalk along the bottom edge? That's where I was! There was so much steam coming from the lake that it was hard to get all the colors in any of my pictures, especially that deep blue in the middle. We learned that microbes living in different temperatures of water are what causes the colors, and blue is the hottest. |
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