2020-2021 Salt Lake City
The students left after school and drove to Dillon, Montana, and picked up some food to go from a couple of fast food places. We took the food to Clark Canyon Reservoir. They ate, then enjoyed throwing rocks in the water, and learning history about Lewis and Clark. We then drove to our first night's stay at the Arco High School in Idaho. The Superintendent met us and shared information about the Lost Rivers in the area. We stayed in a classroom but could play games in the gym. They left out a cornhole game for us.
We went to Craters of the Moon the next day and took two of the hikes available to the Big Cinder Butte and the Tree Mold Trail but couldn't tour the ice caves because of seismic activity. We stopped and read all of the signs and got to experience some of the flowers blooming. The Visitor Center was closed. We then drove to Fort Hall driving past the World's First Nuclear Plant Museum without realizing it was there. We will likely go there the next time students plan this trip. At Fort Hall the students did a self-guided tour of the Shoshone Bannock Tribal Museum and Casino Hotel. The hotel has been decorated with many things that are symbolic in the Shoshone Bannock culture. We ate at In-n-Out Burger in Riverdale, Utah. That was a treat because most of the people in the group had never eaten at one, but then because we were near an Air Base, we got to watch fighter jets going through some of the drills through the windows of the restaurant! We checked into the Salt Lake Plaza Hotel and then went exploring around the area and saw the city at night with everything lit up and the city sounds, especially people drifting cars! We worked on packets and called it a night.
Early the next morning we self-toured the State Capitol because of Covid-19. We had to wear masks still in many places in Utah. The Capitol is such a beautiful building and because of that there are a lot of photo shoots and weddings there. They were setting up the rotunda for a wedding reception later in the afternoon. We had some time to kill before our next stop, so we toured around the outside of the building. The cherry trees were starting to bloom so it was very pretty. Then it was time to drive to the Loveland Zoo and Aquarium. We planned to eat lunch on the way back to the downtown area, but we ran out of time with traffic and the chaperones had to buy jackets. Miss Abbey had about 12 minutes to pack before leaving home and Mrs. Nesbit got her jacket dirty and there was no way to wash it. So we had to hurry into our next stop which was kind of an uncomfortable experience. At the Leonardo Museum, we got free entrance, but we had to complete the sociology experience first. It was about racism and how it shows up in unexpected places. The boys didn't really agree with some of the points of views, but it was also very eye opening for them to see how other people think and feel. They got to let their hair down a bit with the Physics, History and STEM activities after that. They got to sit in the cockpit of a plane and press all the buttons and levers, build aerodynamic planes, do a flight simulator, work with a green screen and others. We finally got our lunch in a park on the way to the Hogle Zoo. Every year some kind of disaster happens with the food. This year was no different as the tea bags in a sealed Ziploc bag got wet and stained everything that was open in the cooler, including the lunch meat, brown! It tasted fine, as long as you didn't look at it! We spent almost two hours at the Zoo. We spent about 10 minutes at the Gilgal Sculpture Park before going back to the hotel and freshening up. We then decided to walk the distance to Moochie's from the Guy Fieri show Diners, Drive ins and Dives. Clear back in 2011, we coined the term "The Death March to Moochie's" and it held up on this day also. We walked from the hotel through the Trolley Square to Moochie's then back approximately 5 miles! As part of our walk, we explored some of the Temple Square. Most everything was closed because of Covid, but we did get to visit with two young ladies and have some of our questions answered.
Our last morning in Utah was spent at the Lagoon Amusement Park. It was the most people we had ever seen at Lagoon this time of year. The reopening of the state of Utah from Covid restrictions had people wanting to be out and about. We often had to wait in lines and it started to rain, so we left ahead of schedule. By this time they were hungry so they decided to eat and spend some time at a shopping mall for about 45 minutes. Our next stops were to check into our hotel at Soda Springs and rest. Some people were hungry by this time so we split into two groups and one stayed at the hotel while the other headed to the bowling alley and had pizza. We then drove back to Lava Hot Springs to explore the town and soak at the hot springs. Students worked on packets before bed.
Our final day was spent driving around Soda Springs checking out the geyser, learning about Father DeSmet and his travels, and learning about and seeing the tracks of the Oregon Trail. We found some geocaches along the way. One of our final stops was at Hell's Half Acre at the rest stop before Idaho Falls. It was cold and rainy and the students struggled to pay attention to what they were learning. It turned out to be our last stop because when we got to Island Park there was so much snow that we could not get to Big Springs. We attempted to drive to the dam at Island Park Reservoir but couldn't get to that either so we got home a little earlier than our projected arrival of 6 PM.
The five boys and two chaperons spent $1744 on this trip.
We went to Craters of the Moon the next day and took two of the hikes available to the Big Cinder Butte and the Tree Mold Trail but couldn't tour the ice caves because of seismic activity. We stopped and read all of the signs and got to experience some of the flowers blooming. The Visitor Center was closed. We then drove to Fort Hall driving past the World's First Nuclear Plant Museum without realizing it was there. We will likely go there the next time students plan this trip. At Fort Hall the students did a self-guided tour of the Shoshone Bannock Tribal Museum and Casino Hotel. The hotel has been decorated with many things that are symbolic in the Shoshone Bannock culture. We ate at In-n-Out Burger in Riverdale, Utah. That was a treat because most of the people in the group had never eaten at one, but then because we were near an Air Base, we got to watch fighter jets going through some of the drills through the windows of the restaurant! We checked into the Salt Lake Plaza Hotel and then went exploring around the area and saw the city at night with everything lit up and the city sounds, especially people drifting cars! We worked on packets and called it a night.
Early the next morning we self-toured the State Capitol because of Covid-19. We had to wear masks still in many places in Utah. The Capitol is such a beautiful building and because of that there are a lot of photo shoots and weddings there. They were setting up the rotunda for a wedding reception later in the afternoon. We had some time to kill before our next stop, so we toured around the outside of the building. The cherry trees were starting to bloom so it was very pretty. Then it was time to drive to the Loveland Zoo and Aquarium. We planned to eat lunch on the way back to the downtown area, but we ran out of time with traffic and the chaperones had to buy jackets. Miss Abbey had about 12 minutes to pack before leaving home and Mrs. Nesbit got her jacket dirty and there was no way to wash it. So we had to hurry into our next stop which was kind of an uncomfortable experience. At the Leonardo Museum, we got free entrance, but we had to complete the sociology experience first. It was about racism and how it shows up in unexpected places. The boys didn't really agree with some of the points of views, but it was also very eye opening for them to see how other people think and feel. They got to let their hair down a bit with the Physics, History and STEM activities after that. They got to sit in the cockpit of a plane and press all the buttons and levers, build aerodynamic planes, do a flight simulator, work with a green screen and others. We finally got our lunch in a park on the way to the Hogle Zoo. Every year some kind of disaster happens with the food. This year was no different as the tea bags in a sealed Ziploc bag got wet and stained everything that was open in the cooler, including the lunch meat, brown! It tasted fine, as long as you didn't look at it! We spent almost two hours at the Zoo. We spent about 10 minutes at the Gilgal Sculpture Park before going back to the hotel and freshening up. We then decided to walk the distance to Moochie's from the Guy Fieri show Diners, Drive ins and Dives. Clear back in 2011, we coined the term "The Death March to Moochie's" and it held up on this day also. We walked from the hotel through the Trolley Square to Moochie's then back approximately 5 miles! As part of our walk, we explored some of the Temple Square. Most everything was closed because of Covid, but we did get to visit with two young ladies and have some of our questions answered.
Our last morning in Utah was spent at the Lagoon Amusement Park. It was the most people we had ever seen at Lagoon this time of year. The reopening of the state of Utah from Covid restrictions had people wanting to be out and about. We often had to wait in lines and it started to rain, so we left ahead of schedule. By this time they were hungry so they decided to eat and spend some time at a shopping mall for about 45 minutes. Our next stops were to check into our hotel at Soda Springs and rest. Some people were hungry by this time so we split into two groups and one stayed at the hotel while the other headed to the bowling alley and had pizza. We then drove back to Lava Hot Springs to explore the town and soak at the hot springs. Students worked on packets before bed.
Our final day was spent driving around Soda Springs checking out the geyser, learning about Father DeSmet and his travels, and learning about and seeing the tracks of the Oregon Trail. We found some geocaches along the way. One of our final stops was at Hell's Half Acre at the rest stop before Idaho Falls. It was cold and rainy and the students struggled to pay attention to what they were learning. It turned out to be our last stop because when we got to Island Park there was so much snow that we could not get to Big Springs. We attempted to drive to the dam at Island Park Reservoir but couldn't get to that either so we got home a little earlier than our projected arrival of 6 PM.
The five boys and two chaperons spent $1744 on this trip.