Olsons Four

Wooooooooh! Well Ryan and I and the kids went on a HUGE driving vacation. We drove a total of 3500 miles... The best thing about it, was that we connected with our family. First stop was Flagstaff, AZ then Moab, UT. Then we drove around Arches National Park. That night we stayed in Grand Juction, CO. The next morning we drove to Ryan's Aunt Kristy and Uncle Dan's house in Lafayette, CO. The following day we went hiking up in the rockies with Dan, Ryan's cousin Nicole, Uncles Mike and Jim, and our friend Joanna. Then it was on to Glendive, MT where we spent time looking at the Olson's old hometown, driving Makoshika state park, and staying in a cool old bed and breakfast. The Dickey cousins planned a large family reunion on saturday, so on friday, our family drove to Bozeman, MT. The reunion was great fun, and we met cousins from every corner of the US. On Sunday, we drove to Yellowstone. That was a phenominal place. I can't even begin to describe the beauty. The Grand Tetons bade us good night as we slept in Jackson, WY. Monday lead us through LDS country to Ogden and Salt Lake City. For three nights, we stayed in a wonderful mountain resort thanks to Kari and Mark. Tuesday, Ryan and I, the kids, Gramma Laurie, Papa Mark, Kari and Ian explored the Hoggle Zoo in Salt Lake City, and checked out the Mormon temple. It was a beautiful building, and the Tabernacle was quite a place with "near perfect acoustics". Wednesday our family picnicked on Antelope Island, waded in the Great Salt Lake which is home to about a billion brine flies and brine shrimp. We checked out the Kennecott Copper Mine, which is visible in space, due to its huge size. On thursday, we said our good-byes to Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Kari and Ian and headed to Zion national park. We stayed in a really nice hotel in St. George, thanks again to Kari and Mark. We drove through Zion again the following morning and then hit the Grand Canyon by lunch time. By friday night, we were tucked safely in our own beds.