The Colors of Fall

Who said we needed to go camping this weekend to have fun? We found plenty of things to do to keep us busy...and all of them were equally, if not more fun than camping would have been! Even though I kept telling myself that, I couldn’t help but think that it would have been a wonderful weekend to be camping down south because the weather was perfect!

After going to The Living Planet Aquarium yesterday with Jan and her kids, Rod decided that we were having too much fun without him, so he took today off and we went 4 wheeling. Rod gave us the choice of going to Temple Fork in Logan Canyon or Tibble Fork in American Fork Canyon and since I had never been to Tibble Fork, that’s where I chose to go...and it was the perfect choice!

It took us nearly an hour to get there but as soon as we got off the freeway and started up the canyon, it was all worth it because the trees were changing colors and everything was so beautiful! We rode the 4 wheelers up to Tibble Fork Reservoir and to Silver Lake and although the ride was a little rocky at times, it wasn’t a hard ride and it was gorgeous! We had to contend with a few vehicles and other 4 wheelers but most of the time we felt like we were all alone.

About an hour into our ride, we got up to a point where we could go no further because it was gated off so we turned around and headed back down just far enough to find a place to eat the lunch that we had packed and we stopped and had a picnic. We were up so high on the mountain at that point that it was actually a little cool and most of the trees surrounding us had already lost their leaves, but the mixture of the green pine trees and the yellow leaves on the alpine trees that we could see below us was absolutely breathtaking!

When we reached Silver Lake on our way back down the mountain, we decided to take another break so we stopped to let the boys play for a while. Almost immediately, they found a great big flat rock that they could easily climb up on from one side of the rock, but on the other side it was a big drop off to the ground and luckily they were wise enough not to get too close to that edge. It was the perfect backdrop for pictures though, and since I had my camera with me I just had to take some pictures.

After we got done with our ride, I talked Rod into going home via the Alpine Loop because I knew it would be absolutely gorgeous. I was a little worried about how narrow the road was and that we were pulling 4 wheelers behind us, but he didn’t seem to think it would be a problem. And he was right…it wasn’t a problem as long as we pulled off or stopped everytime a car wanted to pass us going the other direction...and that happened to be about every few minutes. It was a beautiful ride just like I had thought it would be, but I don’t think Rod was able to enjoy it for even a minute and I soon regretted even asking him to take us that way. I guess we’ll know better next time won’t we?

We went back home through Heber and by that time it was getting close to dinnertime so Rod suggested that we stop at Taggart’s Grill since we were going to be driving right by it. My first thought was that we were all a dirty mess and I had helmet head, but on the other hand, did that really matter? I decided that since it’s not often that we get up that way and it was still a little early for the dinner crowd, so just maybe we wouldn’t see too many people. It’s always worth it to eat there because the food is so good...and of course, they have an amazing Chocolate Mousse Cake, which is really the reason I like to eat there anyway!

Overall it was a wonderful day and I’m glad that Rod thought of it, but best of all…I’m glad he took the day off just to be with us!