About a week after getting home from our vacation to the mid-west, I took a road trip to Utah to spend some time with my sister. During this trip, I also planned to take a couple of days and drive out to Vernal, where my Grandpa Merrell grew up. Early in the morning, I got in the car and headed to Salt Lake City, where Diane lives. I stopped in Lehi on the way so that I could visit my Grandparents' graves and then got back on the road.
After driving for like eight and a half to nine hours, I got to my sister's condo, took my stuff in, and then went to the grocery store to get some food for the week. When I got back to Diane's, I stuck the key in the door and...nothing. It got stuck. So, I knocked on the door and Diane tried to open it, but because the key was stuck in the lock, she couldn't unlock it from her end either! Therefore, she was locked inside and I was locked outside. At first, we thought that the lock was just stuck, so I headed to Lowe's to get every kind of lock lubricant that I could find, hoping that something would work. When I got back, I discovered that there was no hope for the lock. Then, Diane removed the doorknob, hoping that we could work with it a little better if it was free. No such luck!
A locksmith was called and arrived about 45 minutes later and opened the door in a minute. He said that this is something that happens to locks after a while, which makes sense because it was a decade old. I was just "lucky" to be there when it happened! Oh well! What would life be without a little adventure!?!
The next morning I slept in and did absolutely nothing, but laze around for several hours. When I finally decided to start my day, I went to a doughnut shop in Sugarhouse, called "Beyond Glaze". Scott had gone to a different shop in this chain with his brothers and highly recommended it. Their doughnuts were not only beautiful, but delicious too!
After breakfast, I took the rest of the doughnuts back to Diane's and then spent the rest of the day walking around the city. I stopped by the Church History Museum, where I discovered that it had been completely redone for the first time in my life. Up until this visit, it had been almost exactly the same since I was little. It is way cooler now, though, so even though I felt a bit nostalgic, this was a change for the better. I also visited Gateway Mall and toured the Beehive House. I was a bit disappointed because they only take you around the first floor during the summer because it get really busy and they offer shorter tours. It was still worth the visit, nonetheless.
The next day (Saturday), I had set aside to spend with my sister. Diane and I woke up to rain and decided to not let it detour us from having a good day. Diane's good umbrella was still in her office, so she used an old, broken one as we walked to her building to get her nice one. We had a good day together and saw Alice Through the Looking Glass and then had lunch at Costa Vida. We went home early that evening and just had sister time at home. The next day, we went to church and then I decided to head to Vernal a night early. I just wanted to get the long drive over with and not have to wake up at 4 am to get to Vernal in time to do some site-seeing. I ended up calling my hotel and extending my stay for an extra day. The first thing I did, after checking into my hotel, was go see the temple. My grandpa attended church meetings in this building when he was a child, since it was a tabernacle prior to becoming a temple. Consequently, it had extra special meaning to me. I know that he would've been so happy that I was there and it was such a gorgeous building!
As I drove back to the hotel, I saw this guy:
Since Vernal is where they discovered tons of dinosaur bones, they ply up the dinosaur theme bug time! Therefore, they have tons of cool dinosaurs all over the city. This one is decorated differently for every holiday and since it was near the 4th of July, he was given a patriotic theme. Very cool!
The next morning, I got up pretty early and headed to Dinosaur National Monument. On the way out of town, I made sure to stop by Dinah, the super cute roadside dinosaur! There wasn't really anyone around, so I didn't get to be in a picture with it as I had hoped, but at least I got to see her!
As I drove to Dinosaur National Monument, my GPS did a good job for a while and then led me to the middle of nowhere and said, "Your destination is on the left." I was like, ummmmm...there is NOTHING on my left. Then, I was so far out of civilization that directions wouldn't load on my phone, either. So, in 2016, I busted out a compass (thank goodness the iPhone has a compass) and decided that I should head east, From there, I was able to get my bearings and was able to get good enough signal for my phone to load directions. I made it! I decide to pull over by the sign so that I could take a picture of it, but was a little bummed that I wouldn't get to be in any pictures of things that I had wanted to see for so long. Just then, a tour bus pulled off the road and parked right behind me! Someone on the bus was kind enough to snap a couple of pictures for me. The scenery around there was beautiful!
After browsing around the quarry for a bit, I moved on to the next part of the monument, which is a long trail that you drive along, stopping at certain places as you go. The things I was really excited to see were the petroglyphs. Some of them required a short hike to see, but they were all worth it. There was one that was a giant lizard, some that look like spacemen, and other random drawings as well.
The view from one of the lookouts was gorgeous!
So cool!
The last stop on the trail was a cabin built and formerly inhabited by a woman named Josie Basset Morris. She was a mountain woman who just wanted to live on her own and take care of herself. She lived there until she died at age 90. Crazy!
It was quite the cabin! Lots of rooms and pretty good-sized!
Next, I got lunch at a local diner on my way back into town and then went to the Utah Field House Museum, where they had a bunch of bones of various types of animals (including dinosaurs, of course), minerals, rocks, etc. After seeing all of the cool stuff at Dinosaur National Monument, this place wasn't such a big deal but it was still worth visiting! I think the thing I was liked the most was seeing how different natural minerals react to black lights.
It was way more awesome in person, so go see it!
The last place I went was to Ashley Valley Park to see the dome that was on the original Vernal Tabernacle building. I was surprised to read who had helped build it!
The rest of the evening was just spent driving around, trying to find a good place to look at the stars and just get a feel for the town that I know my grandpa loved so much. I really miss my grandparents and it was humbling to be in a place that meant so much to one of them and where he learned the foundational principles that would shape and govern his life and make him the man I knew him to be. I really did hit the grandparent jackpot!
The next day was both really exciting and really daunting at first. When I decided to go to Vernal, I asked my mom to ask around and see if she could find out the location of the family farm and any other places that would be important to see. She ended up contacting a cousin on Facebook, who said that she would be happy to meet up with me and go to a temple session and show me around a bit. This both excited me and terrified me! I'm so shy! What if she thought I was a big weirdo? Fortunately, I was brave and met up with her and it turned out that I had absolutely nothing to be nervous about. She is awesome and we had the best day! Not only did she show me cool stuff, but she was just so friendly. It really was like hanging out with someone I'd known my whole life. I will definitely be going back whenever I have a chance.
First thing in the morning, I picked Kris (my cousin) up at her house and we drove to the Vernal Temple to do a session. It was amazing to have the opportunity to get to do some work here because the temple was originally the old Vernal Tabernacle in which my grandpa attended meetings in his youth. It meant a lot to him when they converted the tabernacle into the temple, so I've always wanted to come here. Afterwards, we took some pictures.
It was an awesome experience!
After the session, Kris took me to the DUP Museum, which was right across the street from the temple. This cradle, that my great grandpa Merrell likely slept in was on display there! So cool!
My grandpa's mom's family were the Anguses, so it was cool to see this picture hanging in there as well!
Our next stop was the Vernal Cemetery where lots of family members are buried. Kris took me right to the spot where our family is and told me who the people were and also some stories about them. It really helped me to connect to them. After the cemetery, we went back to Kris' house to change clothes and meet up with her husband and son. On the way out to lunch, Kris showed me where the old family farm used to be. A hotel and a store are now built on the site, but this is where my grandpa grew up.
This picture is where the farmhouse stood. If you're standing with your back against the front of the hotel, facing the street, this picture would be to your right.
Here's where some of the land was:
And then they had more land on the other side of the hotel.
After enjoying a delicious lunch and great company, Kris showed me the old Uintah High School where my grandpa attended school. She told me that the present-day middle school used to be the high school. Most of this building is original and the bell would have been here when grandpa went here. So awesome!
After this, I headed back to Salt Lake City to Diane's house. On the way, I stopped in Park City, where David, Melissa, and the boys were staying for a few days. We hung out for a bit and then I got back on the road to Diane's.
That evening I took a walk to see the temple all lit up, a bit of Temple Square, and I even got a glimpse of the Capitol building with a pretty night sky.
The next day was pretty cool because I got to hang out with David and family, and Diane! It was fun to be together on vacation for a day. I hung out with them during the day and Diane joined us at the visitor center with the Christus statue. The Church History Museum has been pretty much exactly the same since I was a little girl, but they just redid it and it's awesome! There were all sorts of fun things to see and do!
The Beehive House
The top of the Church Office Building
Temple Square
The boys were so excited to see Auntie Di!
The next day I pretty much just hung out at Diane's condo and lounged around for a while, before deciding I should at least do something. So, I drove out to This is the Place Monument.
The last day of the trip I met up with Scott's sister-in-law, Ali, and her two little guys. We saw Finding Dory and it was adorable, as were the kiddos! Ali has always been so kind to me and she's a lot of fun to be around and Scott's nephews are so cute! It was a fun way to spend the afternoon.
The next morning I headed home and was glad to sleep in my own bed, but I was definitely a little sad to go back to real life! I'm so grateful to be able to travel during the summer and the opportunity I had to hang out with my sister! It was a great trip!
