Last day of vacation

On March 24, 2022December 27, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn Vacation5 Comments

After leaving Park City in January, we headed over to Salt Lake City to do some tourist stuff. This was our 2nd visit here with the 1st being in October of 2019.

We drove up to the capital, got out and walked around.

There’s a cool church across the street from the capital. The White Memorial Chapel was built in 1883. It’s a non-denominational chapel and you can get married here.

We found a park farther north of the capital, Ensign Peak. We got out and walked about half way up the trail to the lookout area. It was a shame it was so hazy looking into the city.

Later we drove by the University of Utah on the way to the zoo.

On the way to the airport we saw a frozen pond that had ducks walking around on the ice. Something I’ve never seen in person, I had to get out and get pictures. It’s amazing their feet don’t freeze.

I noticed some goldeneye ducks swimming around near the unfrozen part of the pond. I’ve only seen one goldeneye here in the Tampa Bay area and that was years ago.

Heading home. Now it’s late March, warm and humid. I’m really missing that snow.

Thanks for sitting in on my “What I did on my winter vacation” pictures.

Surrounded by snow covered mountains

On March 15, 2022March 6, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn Vacation2 Comments

Across from Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City is Heritage Park. We stopped by for a quick walk around the park but did not go into the historic village (there was a fee to get in and we didn’t have enough time since we would have to leave for the airport soon).

It was beautiful here and you can go horseback riding in the summer. It’s amazing it’s only 15 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City.

I found a frozen pond and thought that was cool. Wasn’t sure how far down it was frozen so I wasn’t risking walking across although it was tempting.

The monument tells the story of how the Mormons settled in the area. The view from it was amazing, surrounded by snow covered mountains. Back home we have been in the 80’s since the beginning of March so the cold is only a distant memory.

Not too cold for a quick walk at the zoo

On March 14, 2022March 20, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals1 Comment

On our last day in Utah in January, we checked out of our rental and headed over to Salt Lake City. We had half a day to kill before our flight so we stopped at the Hogle Zoo. It wasn’t too crowded because you know, who goes to the zoo in Utah in the middle of winter? But, there were a few other people there and it was sunny and mild, around the high 40’s. The animals were all out running around.

The meerkats were staying warm in the sun.

Lots of red pops from the plants. The berries looked interesting and I found out the red bulb was some sort of sumac. I haven’t seen these in Florida.

A few of the wild critters roaming around. Yes, another magpie and a Canadian goose high up on a building.

A cool statue.

Some house sparrows all puffed up trying to stay warm.

The zoo had amazing views of the mountains from every spot. There was an interesting park across the way from the zoo. What is that statue? After walking around we headed over to find out.

Antelope Island critters

On February 12, 2022February 7, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn Vacation3 Comments

As soon as we drove into Antelope Island in Salt Lake City we saw a northern harrier sitting on the fence. I had only brought my shorter lens with me since I hadn’t really planned on doing a lot of birding. I got out of the jeep and walked over to the edge and he still sat there. I was thinking “I really wish I at least had my 300mm lens”.

Farther down the road I made Brett pull over again. There were tons of ducks napping on the bank of the lake. I think they were northern shovelers but maybe there was some other ducks mixed in.

I crept down the side of the bank and it looked like they were all northern shovelers. We get a few in central Florida during the winter but I had never seen this many in one place. There had to have been over a thousand. Every once in a while a group of them would fly off and circle around, landing back on the bank.

Winding our way around the island I was hoping we’d see some buffalo. We saw several when we were here several years ago.

Here was one, feeding down a hill. We waiting for a while for him to look up but he just kept on eating.

We saw another one out in a field and he was walking towards the road. We stopped and the car coming towards us stopped and watched. He crossed the road and walked close by our jeep as he headed the other way. Brett was ready to take off if he turned and headed towards our jeep.

It was a sunny mild day and hardly anyone at the park. Probably only tourist like us visit the park in the winter. After an afternoon driving around and a little hiking, it was time to head to Park City to see some snow.

Antelope Island

On February 3, 2022January 29, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn Vacation6 Comments

My view from the plane as we headed to Salt Lake City and then Park City for a week of snow. I knew we were getting close as we passed over the mountains covered in snow. As we headed into Salt Lake City, I could see the sheets of ice over the Great Salt Lake. It’s not the salt water that is freezing but rain that has frozen on top as it’s falling over the lake.

A must stop before heading to Park City is Antelope Island. We were there in October of 2018 and it was a lot browner than our last trip. There wasn’t any snow in the area but you could see it far away on the mountains.

Looking back after driving over the long causeway into the park, everything looked brown and dead. It’s a weird thing to see since I’ve been living in central Florida for so long now. Many trees lose their leaves but most of the grass stays green.

The views from anywhere in the park were spectacular.

We did a short hike up to Buffalo Point where you can see all around the island.

Pano from my phone on the causeway as we headed out. We did see some ducks and buffalo on our drive through. More on those later.

Winter vacation sneak peak

On January 20, 2022January 18, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn Vacation4 Comments

After 2 years of not going anywhere, we booked a trip to Park City, Utah so Brett could snowboard and ski. I’m not a skier but was planning to do a lot of walking around in the snow and just seeing the sights. Luckily our flights last week were uneventful and on time. We also spent some time doing some tourist things in Salt Lake City. I took a gazilion pictures (okay maybe not that many but almost 1,000) and I’m started to edit them now so I’ll have a lot of vacation posts coming but here’s a sneak peak.

Our first stop was Park City Mountain so Brett could snowboard. After dropping him off here, I headed over to the old historic Park City area to walk around.

The old strip is full of restaurants, shops and artist galleries. It was quiet the morning I was there so I was able to walk around without bumping into too many people. It’s usually packed at night.

We made several road trips outside of Park City including one morning to go snowmobiling.

We spent some time at Antalope Island in Salt Lake City. This buffalo decided to cross the road right in front of us. He was not fazed by cars. Everyone was going slow and stopped to let him cross.

There wasn’t any snow in Salt Lake City but you could still see it on the top of the mountains all around the city. We found a spot to hike around there not to far from the University of Utah. The views are amazing almost anywhere you are in that city.

Needless to say, more to come on our trip.

Coming home from Utah

On January 10, 2019January 5, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn Vacation4 Comments

As we were heading to the airport in Salt Lake City, we noticed there was snow on the top of the mountain. It must have snowed up there the last night we were there. I was snapping these with my phone as Brett was driving.

On the way home I had a window seat. It was cool to fly over the snow. Bye, bye Salt City. I’ll definitely be back again.

Heading back in to Tampa late that night.

SkyWatch Friday

Another stop at Antelope Island.

On January 3, 2019December 17, 2018 By dinajohnstonIn Vacation4 Comments

I’m not sure if these are horned grebes or western grebes. Can anyone confirm?

Tons of northern shovelers along the causeway into Antelope Island on our second trip.

We saw a lot more bison and longhorns on our second trip that week.

After leaving Bear River Refuge, we decided to stop by Antelope Island again before heading back to Salt Lake City. We drove around to the other side of the island this time and hiked up to Buffalo Point. From this view, you can see around most of the island. We could see a storm heading our way and just made it back to our car before the bottom fell out.

SkyWatch Friday

Rainy morning at Bear River Refuge.

On December 31, 2018January 1, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn Vacation3 Comments

The only new thing I saw at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, just north of Salt Lake City, was a ring necked pheasant (the blurry photo above). We saw several from far away but they were very skittish and would dart under the bushes when they saw us drive nearby.

The scenery was beautiful with the mountains in the background. The refuge is a one-way 12 mile drive where the fresh water Bear River meets the northeast section of the Great Salt Lake. It should have been full of ducks and birds but two things were not in our favor. The long drought and a recent prescribed burn. We saw very few animals. Actually a third thing since this was the only day we say rain, it drizzled the entire time we were there. The sun peaked out quickly right before we were leaving.

The rental jeep was filthy due to the mud on the gravel drive. We stopped at a car wash before heading back to the hotel.

A big statue of an avocet in the nature center.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing: weekly photo linkup

Sightseeing in Salt Lake City.

On December 20, 2018November 30, 2018 By dinajohnstonIn Vacation4 Comments

The main attraction in downtown Salt Lake City is the Temple Square, Three city blocks make up this group of buildings owned by the Mormons and is the most popular tourist destination in the area. Brett and I spent some time there before heading to the airport to fly home. The morning we were there, 3 weddings were taking place so there was a lot of foot traffic around the main temple. Visitors cannot go inside but can see a model of it at the visitor’s center.