Conkey Chronicles: Visit to Vernal for Garnet's Baby Blessing

I'm finally starting in to posting about all of our amazing summer adventures. We were so busy having fun (and working) I haven't taken the time to blog. So, now, things are winding down and my blogging will ramp up. Get ready for about a billion pictures and tons of posts...

Our first summer adventure started on Friday, June 3rd. Don, Sam, and I drove to Vernal, UT to visit Don's sister, Christine, her husband Josh, and their new baby girl, Garnet.

There are several ways to get to Vernal and instead of the old I-70 to Rifle route that we've done in the past, we decided to go through Steamboat Springs, CO. Everything was so green and lush and Steamboat itself is such a neat town.

We stopped at a park near the river and watched kayakers surf huge rapids. And when I say "surf", I really mean it. They would paddle back to this crest and attempt to surf on the edge of the wave for as long as they could. Sammy loved watching them and so did we.

Don had always told me that Steamboat was home to many past and current Olympians. It is a ski town with a beautiful resort and as we were watching the kayakers, we saw a girl with an Olympic ski jump shirt carry a kayak down to the water. I can't blame these athletes for wanting to settle in Steamboat; I'd jump at the chance to live there.

A kayaker surfing the wave.

Sam and Don watching the kayakers.

We played at the playground and I caught this adorable smile from Sammy. He sure loves his daddy.

There were several chunky statues of people playing instruments scattered around the park. Sam ran up to this one and said "nana!" The saxophone totally looks like a banana. Funny kid.

Another kayaker riding the wave.

We got to Vernal late Friday night (about 11 pm). Sam didn't fall asleep until about 10 minutes before we got there. He is so good in the car when we travel but won't go to sleep, so long trips are difficult. He gets so off schedule.

Luckily, he got some good rest and so did we. Don's parents got in to town in the middle of the night, too, and in the morning, Christine and Don's parents watched Sammy and Garnet so Josh, Don, and I could go mountain biking.

Vernal has some awesome mountain biking. We rode for a couple hours and barely scratched the surface of the trails in the area.

The mosquitoes were unreal! It surprised me, seeing as the area is so barren, but with the prolific snow and rain fall, the mosquito population had blossomed. There was so little in the area for the mosquitoes to feed on (a few cows here and there, but that's it) so they were voracious and we were eaten alive. I had put on 100% DEET and was still getting bit to pieces every time we stopped moving. I forgot to spray my spandex and I got bit about 20 times through my shorts. It looked like I had some kind of contagious disease. I was so itchy! The ride was well worth the blood loss, though. It was a great ride.

Don and Josh with two of Josh's friends (Dwight and someone else - can't remember his name).

Don crashed on a rocky section and ripped open his arm. He's pretty hardcore.

Sam loved Josh's guitar and at one point, was over by it strumming it singing "Fish...water..." He had been playing with the cat's fish toy and Don's mom said "Fish live in the water", so he proceeded to throw the fish toy into the dogs water bowl. He is such a funny kid.

We drove to Dinosaur National Monument and this was a beautiful view of the striking landscape as we entered the park.

We got out to see some petroglyphs on the rock.

They were neat - probably about 1,000 years old from the Fremont Indians. They chipped away at the darker areas on the rock to expose the light rock below.

We saw a few more fantastic views...

The dome of Split Mountain is cut in half by the Green River. Geologists are still debating why the water didn't deviate around the rock rather than cutting straight through it. The current thinking is that the dome, along with most of the Uintah Mountains, were buried deep beneath a softer layer of ash from nearby volcanoes and by the time the river had eroded down into the denser strata, it was trapped in it's path.

We went to Josie's Homestead to learn about the strong, independent woman who homesteaded this area in early 1900s. Josie chose to live without many of conveniences of the time; she used oil lamps, raised cattle and pigs, and lived in log cabin similar to the one below 'til she died in 1964.

Sammy loved running through the cabin and peeking through the windows.

We walked out into the fields near Josie's homestead and there were thousands of wild irises in bloom. They were beautiful, particularly contrasting against the red dirt and green grass.

This is a classic picture of Sammy - running as fast as he can and avoiding making eye contact with the camera.

Sam had so much fun putting sticks and rocks and twigs down this gutter. This was the biggest stick he attempted to sail down the roaring river.

And here are a couple pictures of sweet baby Garnet. She is the most content little girl! She never cries and is such a good sleeper! It was so wonderful to get some snuggle time with her.

We hiked up one of the box canyons that Josie used as a natural corral for her animals. Sam loved the hike and kept finding sticks and reeds to play with along the way. He was either at a dead stop looking at something or running full tilt away from us. Hiking with him is always an adventure. He's at a dead stop in the picture above...

And running away from me as fast as he can in this picture.

A typical mom/Sam moment. Me wanting a picture and him wanting to play...

We found a little alcove filled with soft sand. Sammy loved it.

Don climbed up here while Sammy was distracted and playing with the sand. He hadn't even noticed Don was gone...

So when Grandpa picked Sam and showed him daddy hiding in the hole in the rock, he thought it was the best thing ever and laughed and laughed. I love this picture of Sam and Curtis. Such happiness!

Another beautiful view!

Christine, Don, Curtis (Don's dad), and I went on a bike ride that evening through Vernal. We found a couple fields full of dirt hills and had so much fun riding up and down them. Well, I'm kind of a ninny about riding down really steep things, but I did a little and Don and Christine had a blast. Christine is far braver than me.

I just liked these next few pictures with Don and Christine's silhouettes.

Sammy pretty much ignored Garnet the whole time we were there but ocassionally would go over and pat her on the belly or give her a stuffed animal.

This is one of my favorite Sammy faces...

He eventually held her with a little help from Don and then gave her some random things he found on the ground.

One funny story about things you should never say to your child: I was putting Sammy down for his nap and he was looking at Garnet's stuffed animals (most of them Dr. Seuss characters). He found one he liked (I think it was a star bellied sneech - a girl) and I said "Do you want to take her to bed?". Don just looked at me and laughed and I realized what a terrible thing I'd said to my son!

Another time, I was giving Sam some ibuprofen and had forgotten the medicine syringe on the counter. I said "Bring mommy the syringe" to Sammy and then realized that could be seriously misconstrued, too. Funny.

Ok, back to Garnet...

Sunday was Garnet's baby blessing. She wore the same dress the Christine had worn for her blessing and the same slip that Don and Christine's mom had worn for her blessing (and that Garnet's great grandma Garnet had made).