Tuesday, June 30, 2009

The Rain, the Golf, the Park, the Pageant and Other Things

We just returned from a three-day excursion to Palisade State Park and environs. After Trish spent two days packing for the trip we hopped in Dad's motor home last Wednesday June 24 and with his ATVs in tow traveled the 150 miles south to Palisade, about 6 miles south of Manti, Utah. Carl Paulsen, Trish's Dad, came with us and so did her sister Melanie's family: husband Ryszard Cholodowski and children Britta and Marek.

It is a nice little state park, complete with campsites and a lake -



and a golf course.


Carl and Hans and I played nine holes on the first day. Hole #4 is fun - it is a shot over a spectacular canyon. (I shot par on that hole.) We rented a canoe the first and last day and a paddle boat in the middle. The water was cold but very good for swimming. We put a lot of miles on the ATVs in nearby Six Mile Canyon.

All was not rosy with the ATVs, however. We got a citation from a park ranger for the expired registration on the smaller of the ATVs. And we got a warning from another park ranger for Ellie not wearing the proper head gear on our last day of riding.

On Thursday night the 25th we went to the Mormon Miracle Pageant on the grounds of the Manti Temple.



It depicted the history of the LDS Church -

and performers enacted scenes from the Book of Mormon.

It was all wonderful, except for the rain. It drizzled on us through most of the performance, forcing us all to improvise with what blankets, umbrellas, and other coverings we could find. Halfway through the performance we asked the kids if they wanted to leave and they resolutely said "No." By that time I think they were pretty cozy in their makeshift shelters.

Manti is a fun little town filled with the pioneers spirit mingled with all the usual tourist accoutrements. The wind whipped up pretty good on our last night there and we had to temporarily take down one of the tents. But the food was good, the water was clear, the stars were numberless, and when the sun was out the sky was blue. It was a great trip. And Annie and Ruby learned a lot about water and mud.

2 comments:

Cam said...

Sounds like a fun family trip (except for those expen$ive ATV lessons) packed with memories!

The Hodges Family said...

Glad it was a good trip! Sounds fun! Enjoy those trips with the kids while theyre young...they grow up so fast...=)