a utah 4th of july

The way things ended up this year it happened to be that Utah was the destination for the 4th of July festivities. It was a quick trip but I managed to get a lot of visiting in as well as a few fun activities. I drove to Utah, leaving after work on Friday. I went about halfway and stayed a hotel in Mountain Home, ID. (Weeehooo) But I was able to drive the rest of the way to Utah Saturday morning and be there to do some things during the day.

First up, I visited my Grandma Carr in Layton. I hadn't seen her in awhile and she just turned 88 years old that week! I realized that I am not really any taller than my Grandma Carr which was a little weird to me because I always felt like I was taller. Read: I am so going to need a cushion when I am old and driving around.

Next I drove to Provo to hang with my Washington peeps who currently live in Utah. I went to Kira and Austin's place (Austin was flying home from a conference so we didn't see him until late Saturday night), where I played with Kira, Jace, Ryken and Megan McShane. Kameron and his lady friend Stephanie came over for a visit and we had a good time just chatting it up. It was hard for the kids because they wanted to play while the grown ups (what?!) were chatting so Kameron spent a good 20 minutes wrestling the boys. They liked it. We decided to do a picnic dinner and wanted to go up Provo Canyon. After a hectic trip to Macey's (did you know they have Dole whip now?) we managed to piece together a pretty decent picnic and headed up the canyon. Unfortunately, it was the night of the Stadium of Fire concert in Provo and I had forgotten how crazy and bonkers Provo gets around all their 4th of July activities. We drove up to Vivian Park in Provo Canyon and it was so packed there literally wasn't room to turn the car around. So we cut our losses and went back to Provo and had our picnic dinner in Kiwanis park instead. Which turned out to be pretty swell anyway. We had fried chicken, fruit, potato salad, chips and these scrumptious brownies that were topped with cream cheese frosting. The sun was barely setting and it made the mountains look all magical with that pink light glow they get in the summer. I do miss that about Utah-those mountains. People were setting off fireworks and we showed Jace and Ryken how to throw Pop-its. I also brought candles to celebrate Kira's birthday/Kira, Kameron and I being friends for 25 YEARS. TWENTY FIVE PEOPLE!! holler.

After our picnic got cleaned up we walked over to BYU campus to find a spot to watch fireworks. It was going to be Jace and Ryken's first year to watch fireworks, we were a little nervous because Ryken was saying the fireworks were loud already. We walked to this area in front of the Marriott Center and just put our blanket on the sidewalk, it was as good a place as any and we were able to get most of the show from our vantage point. Jace and Ryken loved the fireworks and I did too. Stadium of Fire has a pretty good fireworks show and Austin was able to find us and caught the last half of the show. And since he drove he was able to give us a ride home, doing some fancy driving moves to get us out of the parking lot by circumventing the line. The boys fell asleep on the way back home, they were such troopers.

I stayed at the Miller's that night and spent Sunday morning with them. Played with the boys, chatted with Kira, it was GOOD. Then we all went to Kameron's YSA ward because he was going to be teaching Sunday school for the first time. It was funny to me to drive down University Avenue because everyone had their chairs and pop-up shelters saving their spots for the parade the next day. It reminded me of the summers I spent in Provo hating all the people who were camped outside my apartment complex all night long and especially the year they stuck 2 port-o-potties on our front lawn. It's just a parade people! And then I passed about 16 chapels on the way to the actual chapel that was what we wanted and then the building we went to had TWO chapels. Oh, Utah. It was funny though because we traipsed in a wee bit late and had two kiddos in a YSA ward. It was fun. Ryken would not whisper for the life of him. And then he got taken out to go to the bathroom and then when he came back into the chapel he announced loudly "I didn't have to pee!" and everyone cracked up. It's very noticeable when you have the only kiddos in a YSA ward. We went to Kameron's Sunday school lesson and it was funny when in the middle of the lesson the boys were like "Hiiiiiii Kameron!"

Then I raced over to the MTC where Julianne, my freshman and sophomore roommate from BYU, was. We chatted for awhile under a tree and got caught up. It was good to see her. Then I raced back to the Millers who had yet another great picnic packed up for dinner. We went to try Vivian Park again and this time it was successful! It was spectacular being up in the mountains and I loved the nature. The picnic was fun and we had a great time. I really enjoyed seeing my old friends.

Rain started as we ended our picnic and I actually headed up to West Jordan to hang with Bonnie and Stacey (friends from the TC) for the night. We had some chats and drove around to a place where Bonnie may buy a house someday.

The Salt Flats were the plan for the 4th of July-we wanted to ride our bikes out there. We woke up and Bonnie had made us a delicious breakfast of pancakes with fruit, scrambled eggs and bacon. Nice and hearty! Stacey was able to get all three bikes on her bike rack and we drove out to the Bonneville Salt Flats. It was a bit of a ways out, the salt flats are all the way on the other side of the Salt Lake and you can actually see Wendover, NV from the parking area. It was kind of cool to see the salt flats. It looks like a huge desert but instead of sand it's actually all salt. They test drive cars and airplanes there because it's this huge space with nothing in it. Our goal was to get on our bikes and toodle around for a bit. It was actually harder than we thought to ride our bikes on the salt. There were some areas where there was still a lot of moisture under the salt and it was kind of like trying to ride through slushy snow. It was hard! Then we finally got out to an area that wasn't as wet so it was easier to ride bikes on. We Cranked it Slow on the salt flats. Did some photography. It was hot and it was a little hazy, so the pictures weren't as cool as I wanted but they were still good. When we were done we biked back to the car and had our picnic lunch as we tried to cool off a little. For some reason, we weren't able to get the bikes back on the rack in quite the same way so the set up was a little sketchier. And there was salt encrusted on everything, the bikes, our shoes, I even tasted salt a little on my lips when I licked them. Then we drove all the way back to Bonnie's place. We ran a few errands, picked up some bikes the other two had bought, got some Tillamook ice cream for later and then washed the salt off the bikes. Bonnie's neighbor generously gave us an extra garden hose he had. We got In N Out for dinner. Festivities for the night included the West Jordan rodeo, G came with me, Bonnie's friend Ian came, and Stacey's sister Shelly came as well. The rodeo was fun. I think the mutton bustin' is my favorite. Those kids are awesome. Some stay on those sheep for a really long time! After the rodeo the city of West Jordan had a pretty nice firework show that we watched. It was cool too, a ton of people were shooting off their own fireworks all night long and they were the big ones. Fireworks are legal pretty much the whole month of July in Utah and all those mormons get pretty patriotic so = tons of fireworks. After the rodeo I drove over to G's house to spend the night with her.

The next day, most people had to go back to work. G had to work until noon. So I got up and went down to Provo to do a temple session at the Provo City Center Temple. It was so beautiful!! I loved how they stayed true to the time period of the original Provo Tabernacle with all the decoration, textiles, and colors. It very much looked like the "pioneers" designed it but it still was new and modern. They used a lot of green in the carpets and the upholstery. The artwork on the walls was amazing, they used a lot of scenery from the Utah county area, think Utah lake or the mountains or canyons. Such pretty artwork. It was also weird for me to be in a temple that big, I felt like I was getting lost all the time! The Columbia River Temple is too small to get lost in...It is a very special building and I have my own memory of attending Stake Conference there one year while I was at BYU. I got to shake President Uchtdorf's hand right outside the Provo Tabernacle. I felt the spirit as I did my session and I was grateful that I was able to make it down there. Afterward I walked around the grounds to check out the building as well. If I had to get married in Utah, I think I'd pick the Provo City Center Temple to get married in.

My next goal was to get me some Graham Canyon ice cream from the BYU creamery. I drove to campus and went to the BYU bookstore (which was bonkers) and then tried to get some ice cream from the Cougareat but they were OUT of Graham Canyon. Whaaaattt???? That was not acceptable. So I cut through a huge mob of EFYers and walked myself over to the creamery on 9th so I could get my Graham Canyon. Oh it was soooooo good! Then I drove back up to G's house in Murray.

We decided to go on a hike that was up the canyon near G's house. The hike is called "Dog Lake" and it was just what I needed. Not super long, but long enough and hard enough for the out of shape Meagan, (I blame the altitude). The views and nature were gorgous, I felt like Maria Von Trapp, only it was the Wasatch mountains instead of the Alps. And we even came across a moose! The hike ends at a small lake. I also saw some pretty wildflowers. It was beautiful and I was satisfied that I had gotten my nature fill. It always amazes me how close all that is in Utah. I'd have to drive a couple of hours to get something like that here in WA.

After our hike we cooled off with shave ice, yum! Then we watched a movie and had cafe Rio for dinner.

It was a fun trip! I got to see a lot of peeps and do a lot of fun Utah things in my favorite season in Utah, summer. I love the 4th of July holiday!!