Weekend getaway...

My cute husband had a whole 24 hours off of work this weekend and we decided to be a spontaneous and go on a little weekend getaway. Poor husband has been working so much lately, and poor wife and son have been missing him, so we packed an overnight bag and headed east of here. We literally only had about 24 hours before we needed to be back so it was a quick trip. We went to Flaming Gorge with three things in mind that we hoped to see on our trip.

 

1- Fall leaves changing color.

2- Kokanee Salmon spawning in the river.

3- Big horned sheep (I've always wanted to see one of those!) 

 

I tried to sneak a fourth one in there which was to see real dinosaur bones in Vernal, but we got there just at closing time and had a very disappointed little boy (why does everything close so early in Utah? It wasn't even 5 pm yet!). So we will have to go back there sometime when we have more time to do it.

 

However, our disappointment in missing out on the dinosaurs was soon forgotten when we pulled into Ashley National Forest. We saw wild turkeys, deer, raccoons, more deer... and the thick trees were breathtaking!

 

We pulled off the road to explore the trees a bit and then headed into Manila which is surely the smallest town I've ever slept in before.

We found one little diner that was open and had our dinner. We then ordered a banana split for this little guy who had never had one before.

It was a hit to say the least... even though it didn't have sprinkles (the boy really wanted sprinkles).

We found our hotel thankfully by the bright yellow sign blaring in the trees... otherwise we may have missed it all together!

We were one of two people staying at the hotel that night. I guess mid September for Flaming Gorge isn't a very popular time to be there. Even with it being Kokanee Salmon Day!?!? Are we the only people in the world who would drive hundreds of miles to see salmon spawning in the river? Yep... we pretty much were. At least for the first ten minutes, then a few other cars trickled in (phew... I was starting to feel a little silly being the only ones there).

And here they are in all their red glory...

 
We stood on a bridge and watched the salmon spawn in the river bed. Here is what I gathered from listening to the DNR guy who knows a whole lot about salmon. These salmon are land locked salmon who live in Flaming Gorge. When they are about 3-4 years old they start to swim upstream and their bodies change from a greenish gray to this vibrant red color. They find a place in the river where there are lots of rocks and gravel and there they hover for a few weeks and get fertilized and lay their eggs (both male and female fish are involved in this process... obviously... don't know why I felt the need to point that out). Once the eggs are laid the fish die... and thus the circle of life for the salmon goes on. New salmon are born and flow downstream and live in the lake for the next 3-4 years until they swim upstream and do it all over again.

This little monkey was awfully friendly up there on the bridge. Two older men pulled up and got out and he said, "Hey guys, there are three fish on this side! Come on over and see!" And sure enough they followed my four year old to the other side of the bridge to see the three fish. My own little fish is growing up... and surprising me every day with his ingrained traits and habits. I love how outgoing and polite he is.

So there you have it. We went to see fish "spawn" aka make fish babies and then die in the river... moving right along.

I still wish I could wake up every morning, look out the window and see beautiful trees like this. And look at that blue sky! I was in heaven.

And we did manage to see many beautiful colors of trees up there. Yellow, orange, red... they were so lovely.

We did not, however, see any big horned sheep. We drove around for a long time hoping to spot them but we were unsuccessful. I guess they are all making their way back down from the high Uintah's to the gorge right now and will all be back in November for their "rutting" season. However, I don't really want to be around for that one, so I think I will pass. I'm fine going on trips to see the beauties of nature, I do not want to base all of our trips on animal mating season though... aren't you glad you read my blog today?

After that our time was almost up and we headed back home via Wyoming. We pulled off in Evanston for some lunch but the variety of fast food did not look good to any of us, so we held off until we got to Morgan and went to Taggart's.

Trust me. It is worth the drive to Morgan from wherever you live (in Utah... or Wyoming) to eat at Taggart's. That place is so yummy!!!! Just to tempt you here is my lemon poppy seed cheese cake.

The boy loved his extra large frosted cookie as well.

There you have it! Our quick yet eventful weekend getaway. Is it just me, or would you go on a trip with your hubby because he wants to see fish... oh never mind! I don't want to say the "s" word again! I hope you have a lovely Monday!