The Larsen's Do Utah!

Day 1 - Getting There

We left the house at 4:45 AM, and we ended up driving by Reno around breakfast time. I suggested we stop off at Circus Circus for a breakfast buffet. That turned out to be a good idea...Karina and Amber got to eat for free! The kids wanted to stay there longer to look around, but we told them we needed to continue our journey.

Maybe we will stop by on the way back!

The drive wasn't really bad, but it was very, very, VERY long. The kids rented some movies for the trip, and spent most of the time watching them.

The rest stop in the middle of no where!

Finally! We got to our hotel around dinner time.

First stop, Michael's favorite place for dinner, Cafe Rio.

Afterwards, we scoped out our hotel. This is where we had a very good (and free!) breakfast every morning...Belgium waffles, fruit salad, eggs, biscuits and gravy, bagels, yogurts, cereal...you name it!

The most important thing to the kids was the pool, of course!

Day 2 Friends and

Temple Square

The next day, we drove to Sandy, Utah, to visit a nice family we know. It was cool meeting Julie - whom I have only known via Face Book!

Afterwards, we thought it would be fun to visit a Utah tire store.

Well, actually, we ran over a screw and needed to get the tire fixed.

On the way to the tire place, we saw this...and decided to have lunch there...
Here is our lunch!

This picture was supposed to be cuter, but unfortunately, our spoons were dripping ice cream on us right in the middle of it.

Wow.

We finally made it to Temple Square!

In the older tabernacle building - We will see the new one in a couple of days, which is much bigger!

The beautiful Salt Lake temple.

Karina is at the reflection pool.

We took this picture of the temple on the tenth floor of the Hotel Utah/Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

Amber is checking out a display at Visitor Center.

Walking back to the car. There was so much to see...we will have to come back in a couple of days!

Later that evening, we met up with some old friends, Jamie and Jamie, and their kids, at the Gateway Shopping Center. We really enjoyed that, but sadly, I didn't bring my camera...

Day 2 - Driving Around

Our first stop today was to visit Michael's Grandparent's grave. Grandma Kathleen was a very special lady to all of us.

We drove to Provo to see BYU and the temple there.

We drove through Prove Canyon.

We stopped at this water fall, where the kids did some climbing. There used to be a tram that took you up the mountain. (Scary!) Michael and I did that before several years back, and were sad to see it was torn down.

We stopped at this old cemetery, where prairie dogs were running around and laughing at us. I thought this place was so rural and peaceful. It was one of my favorite places. The graves were pretty old, and there were so many children buried there.

We stopped in a very small town, because they were having a street fair.
The street fair was only a block long! We bet that everyone there knew each other.

Karina was happy to fit in.

Our last stop was the This Is The Place park. I really liked this park and wished we could have packed a picnic, and really taken time to explore. But, it was getting late...maybe next time!

The monument showing the pioneers heading to the Salt Lake Valley.

Amber bought herself a cute cowboy hat at the gift shop.

After our day, we ate at a all-you-can-eat buffet, Chuck-O-Rama. Then, it was off to the pool!


Last Day in Salt Lake City - Conference Center and Museum


Before we knew it, it was time to leave Utah. But first, we took a tour of the Conference Center. It is pretty awesome!

Awww, we just missed hearing the Tabernacle choir sing...

The kids are standing in front of a picture of their Great-Great Grandpa, Charles Albert Callis, who was a Apostle during the time of President Grant and G.A. Smith.

Next, we went up on the roof of the building. It was one of my favorite places.

There were some great views from the roof!


Next up, we went to the Mormon History museum for a couple of hours.

There were lots of things to look at and to do there...

Nice looking temple, Nick!

Soon it was time to head back home. We drove for about 6 hours, and spent the night in Winnemucca, Nevada. We had Chinese food for dinner, and then walked around a Walmart for an hour. It passed some time!

Our Last Day

Karina on the streets of Winnemucca

The next morning, we had a very good breakfast at a place called the Griddle. Amber's pancakes tasted like donuts!

(Oooops! These are pictures from before we arrived in Winnemucca.) We noticed the Salt Flats on the way there. It was so cool and very bright. Worth the stop, even though there was a lot of salt in my car afterwards!

Karina brought some salt home in a bottle.

As promised, on the way back home, we spent some time in Reno, Nevada, at the hotel/casinos. Here are the kids at Circus Circus.

Karina won a stuffed animal for Amber. She also won a stuffed animal for Nick. Poor Karina, though, each time she played a game with her own money, she didn't win a thing!

We saw a short show at Circus Circus.

We had a nice time wandering the hotels. It was a nice diversion from our long trip home.

I realized that I love a pretty ceiling!

Our last meal out together, for this vacation. Time to go back to reality, which means cooking and cleaning again...sigh!