Utah!

We live in an incredible state. Seriously, there is so much to do and so many amazing things to see. Recently this article came out in the DNews describing ALL there is to do in Utah. It is entitled "Utah's top 10: For little or no cost, Utahns can enjoy wealth of recreation." There are some links at the end to find out more specifics about locations. Here are a few highlights:

• More than 400 miles of raftable rivers.
• About 23 percent of the state is high-elevation country, roughly 9 million acres, featuring some of the most majestic mountains anywhere, and probably twice that amount of country in rugged, rocky desertlike areas, along with 17 designated wilderness areas.
• Areas designated as scenic byways and backways, all spotlighting some of the best landscapes the state has to offer.
• More than 30 museums, showcasing everything from the state's pioneer history to its earliest residents — dinosaurs.
• Forty-three state parks, five national parks, seven national monuments, two national recreation areas, one national historical site and one of the most spectacular lakes found anywhere in the world — Lake Powell.
• More than 400 public and private campgrounds.
• More than 1,000 fishable lakes and a similar number of streams and rivers.
• A spider web of trails covering the state for biking and hiking, ranging from the very easiest to the extreme.

The best part? Most of these places can be visited for a small fee and, in some cases, no cost.

The 10 ten things the article highlights are biking, hiking, history, animals, swimming and boating, fishing, city parks, state parks, drives, national forests and national parks. Check it out! My sister Lee and her family have been in our area the past few days enjoying some of the local activities and they have been having a great time.

Over the years we've taken our family to explore the great state of Utah. We've had an amazing time seeing all sorts of natural beauty and enjoying all the state has to offer. The National parks are fabulous including Zion, Bryce, Arches, Capitol Reef, & Canyonlands and we've enjoyed seeing each of them. Timpanogos Cave and Cedar Breaks are spectacular national monuments and we've hiked to/around both. We've been to dinosaur land in Vernal and visited the dinosaur national monument. We've enjoyed Dead Horse Point state park, camped and gone 4-wheeling in Goblin Valley state park with our friends the Philipps, and some of us have enjoyed the sand dunes of Little Sahara recreation area. We've been to the Bingham Copper Mines and Andy and I went deep into the earth in Park City with a school field trip to explore mining in our state when he was in grade school. We've been canoeing/camping (again with the Philipps) on Payson lakes. We've been to Bear Lake countless times with Rick's family and enjoyed all there is to do at that beautiful lake. We've floated down the Colorado river with a group of friends and their families near Moab and had the time of our lives. We've hiked and camped in the area near Fairview canyon countless times with church groups of Young Women. Rick has gone on river runs down the Green river with scout groups and he has climbed the tallest peak in Utah (King's Peak) at least two times. He and the boys have climbed Mt. Timpanogos about a half dozen times. Hoogle Zoo is a fun place to visit and we've been there many times, including school field trips. We went camping/fishing with my extended family in the Wasatch-Cache National forest area a couple of times. Four corners area was a dreary place, but it was cool for the kids to stand in four states all at one time. Between us all we've skied or snowboarded almost all of the major resorts in the state. We've gone snowmobiling (again with the Philipps!) through some beautiful country near their cabin and behind Mt. Timpanogos. We've been out on Pineview reservoir on jet skis and enjoyed that adventure. Rick and I went to the Golden Spike National historic site last summer and learned more about the important events that transpired there. We've been to lots of museums in Cedar City, Salt Lake City, Hill Air Force Base, the Beehive House, and all the sites of church history including the Salt Lake City cemetery. Rick and I went to see the Mountain Meadows massacre site in the spring (more on that later) and we've enjoyed seeing all the church history sites near St. George.

There are a few places I've never visited that are left on my list:

Lake Powell. I've driven by the lake on the way to AZ, but I've never been out on a house boat and I really want to go spend a week on the lake!

Antelope Island. I want to see the buffalo and tour the island.

Flaming Gorge. I've driven past it but never explored it.

Havasupai. I'd love to see it. Major hiking is involved, however. I might be too _ _ _.

This is the Place State Park. Yeah, I know, I haven't been there since it was renovated. Hopefully this summer!

Are there other places you've visited that you would recommend?