The Great Salt Lake

A few weeks ago we decided to take Sara to "the beach", aka the Great Salt Lake.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the Great Salt Lake, it's not exactly a swimming destination (although it used to be!) -- the water is super salty, hence how the lake got its name, and is really shallow in most parts. But Sara said she wanted to go to the beach, so we did!

Sara was really excited about going, and before we left our house she collected some leaves, sticks, and sunflowers to take with her to the beach.

The sand was really crunchy from all the salt.

Sara was really excited to see the Saltair building and kept calling it "my castle". She really wanted to go inside! We had to keep telling her it wasn't open, which almost broke her little heart.

Walking with Daddy to the water.

This is what Sara did with her flowers, sticks and leaves when we reached the lake: 

She threw the flowers in the water...

...and stuck the leaves and sticks into the mud.

Then we just walked around in the shallow water for a while until the sun set and it started to get cold. I was glad Sara was wearing her rain boots, because the mud was pretty slimy in parts. I know because I walked around barefoot in there.

It was a fun little adventure. Sara loved it! Too bad I only had my phone's camera with me--the quality of these photos is pretty bad. We'll have to go again one more time before the weather gets too cold.


p.s. It's too bad Saltair burned down so many times. The original structure looks amazing! (see below.) Plus, roller coasters, merry-go-rounds, ferris wheels, games, bicycle races, rodeos, bullfights, boat rides on the lake, fireworks displays, and hot-air balloons sounds like a lot of fun!

Saltair Pavilion, circa 1900

Success!

After eight years of marriage, I finally took a turn planning the anniversary celebrations! Way to go me. :)

So since we have been living out in Erda (near Tooele) in my Grandma's house for the past several months, I figured it would be fitting to find something local to do. I thought about what is unique to the Tooele valley. The Great Salt Lake came to mind, and instantly I had a plan!

I remembered my Grandma telling me about how she used to take trips with friends to the Black Rock while growing up. Back then the water in the lake was higher and Black Rock was a popular swimming and beach destination. Now the water has receded and nobody swims there anymore, but the rock is easy to climb and offers a great panoramic view of the Great Salt Lake.

So that's where we went!

First we stopped for some takeout from a local pizza parlor.

Then we had a little trouble actually getting to Black Rock. You can see it easily from the freeway, but it is not easy to see how to actually get there! But as we drove by we could see cars right by the rock, so we knew there must be a way!

{at the "View Area" we stopped at during our search for Black Rock}

Then we figured out how to get there and drove over to Black Rock to have a little picnic on the beach.

We shared a chicken alfredo calzone, ceasar salad, Italian sodas, and cheesecake with strawberry topping. Yum!

The weather was threatening to rain, and it did start to sprinkle a little while we were eating.

{rainbow over Black Rock}

But it cleared up just in time for the sunset!

Rob is leaning his head so far forward because we took a photo before this one but his head was too far back, so in this photo he is overcompensating and leaning too far forward! We did get a third photo after this one with his head at a normal angle, but I like the playfulness of this photo better. :)

We are on top of Black Rock in this photo, but it is kind of hard to tell.

So there you have it! I finally planned an anniversary! Ok, so it was really simple and not anywhere as elaborate or thought out as some of the anniversary adventures Rob has planned, but it was still a great evening. Now I'm off the hook for another eight years, right Rob?!

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p.s. ... If anybody feels the desire to duplicate this evening, it might be helpful to know how to get to Black Rock so you don't have to waste a half-hour searching like we did! It's really easy. You just take the Saltair exit from I-80 W, then follow the signs toward the Great Salt Lake Marina, but before making the final right turn to go into the marina, continue onto a gravel road that goes straight ahead toward Black Rock. There are no signs, so it's kinda tricky. Just follow the gravel path for a little ways until you reach Black Rock. Off-road vehicle not required. We made the drive in our little two-door coupe. Happy Sunsetting!

...gently down the stream...

Yesterday was (that's right, you guessed it) National Learn To Row Day!

Rob and I joined the festivities by going out to the Great Salt Lake marina to learn to row from the Salt Lake Rowing team. This is actually our second time attending this event. We went two years ago as well. For anybody who ever wanted to learn to row, they have this event every year around this time, and it's available all over the country (so long as there is some water nearby and a rowing team in the area!). We had a great time learning to row (again). We just might take lessons to learn even more, but they're kind of pricey, and membership to join the team is expensive too. But the people we talked to who are already on the team love it! And once you take the 3 training courses, you can come to the lake at any time and use the boats. You can even go out by yourself if you like the solitude. I'll bet it's pretty cool to be on the lake while the sun rises or sets and see the mountains and city in the distance.

So anyway, nothing too exciting. Just reporting on yesterday's activities.