~~I WANNA GO HOME~~

I've been feeling really homesick lately. Missing my beloved Utah so much it hurts. I've been living in New England for 7 years. But as lovely as it is here....it still doesn't feel like home. So if you will...I'd like to take you on a tour of my BEAUTIFUL Utah. I hope you enjoy the journey!

******UTAH********
The Beehive State...The name Utah comes from the Ute Indian tribe and means "People of the Mountains"
Utah covers 84,900 square miles and is the 11th largest state. The federal government owns 65% of the land.

We'll start the tour in the northern most part of Utah. Cache Valley is mostly argricultural..lots of cattle farms. And the home of Utah State University

As we head southwest we welcome you to The Great Salt Lake


The Great Salt Lake is 75 miles long 35 miles wide and covers one million acres. It's average depth is only 13 feet and 34 feet at it's deepest.

The Bonneville Salt Flats A place so barren not even the simpilest life forms can exist it covers 30,000 acres of Western Utah.

Out in this barren wasteland is a sculpture created by Karl Momen. It was constructed in the 1980's and stands 87 feet high. It is commonly referred to as "The Tree of Life" and the plaque at it's base says "A hymn to our universe whose glory and dimension is beyond all myth and imagination" It is a very odd site, as it stands all alone in the middle of nowhere.

Next stop Salt Lake City it's the Capital of Utah, and headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons)


Utah's mountain peaks on average are the tallest in the country. The average elevation of the tallest peaks in each of Utah's counties is 11,222 feet.

And Salt Lake City is also the home of my FAVORITE team in the world.

GOOOOO JAZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As we continue our trip we arrive in Park City Utah. The 2002 Winter Olympics was held here, and it's the home of the Greatest Snow on Earth!


From Park city we travel down Provo Canyon and make a pit stop at "Bridal Veil Falls" there was a tram that takes you to the top where there was a Restaurant. It is a VERY scarey trip

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We now arrive in Provo, once voted the "most livable city in America". And home of Brigham Young University....GOOOOO COUGARS! (the lake in the distance is Utah Lake)

THIS IS THE BEST PART...our next stop is my birth place and home for 40 years! The great City of PAYSON!!! (~~~~confetti flutters from ceiling~~~~~)
Beautiful Mount Nebo. The view I saw every day growing up

Payson is a small rural community. We have a town celebration every year called..."Golden Onion Days" where everyone in town comes out for the parade, fireworks, and a band concert in the park.
This is the Peteetneet School. It originally was a grade school but is now a museum and cultural hall.
A twenty minute drive from town and you'll be at one of 3 Payson lakes. YUM YUM fresh rainbow trout for dinner!

Uh oh somewhere along the way we forgot to go to Vernal. It is home of Dinosaur national park which is the largest quarry of Jurassic era dinosaur bones ever discovered. (a side note...most of the dinosaurs weren't pink)


You've heard of the Sahara Desert I'm sure....but did you know that Utah has it's own version called "Little Sahara" It's where everyone heads on a sunny weekend with their dune buggies, motorcycles and 4 wheelers.


Okay tighten your seatbelts because here is where the trip gets even MORE beautiful. We are heading into just some of Utah's National Parks...you're not gonna believe this!
Bryce Canyon


Angel arch...can you find the angel....she has her back turned to the arch


Goblin Valley and you can see where it got it's name.


Zions National Park



Over 2.7 million people a year visit Zion's National park and the surrounding areas.


Lake Powell



And the last stop...we've reached the Southernmost part of the state...St. George. Because of it's mild climate in the winter you can actually grow palm trees here.
That's the end of the line....but hey...if we keep going south for a few more hours we'll be in LAS VEGAS!!!!!!!! WOO HOO LETS KEEP GOING...........