Summer Fun

Today we took our Utah guests to our favorite summer destination. My kids love to hang out at Writing on Stone Provincial park. We hike through the hoodoos and play in the river and come home sandy, sweaty, and sleepy.

Last night we had a major rainstorm come through the area. Several funnel clouds touched down in the area and I listened to the rain pelt the roof all night long. I didn't sleep well, worried that we wouldn't be able to go to the park in the morning. We've been looking forward to this all week as we waited for the two oldest girls to get home from camp. I got up early and drove my son on his paper route since it was raining. The whole time we drove around I tried to think of other options for the day and prayed for the sky to clear.

Another hour passed and when everyone started to stir for the day, we could actually see some blue sky. After everyone finished their breakfast the day was actually becoming quite pleasant, so we decided to go anyway. The rest of the day remained cool which was okay since the hoodoos tend to be quite hot usually.

Once we got there we started our traditional game of hide-and-seek. It was so much fun and worth the week long wait. Even the brief hailstorm early in the afternoon didn't dampen our spirits much although we were all running for cover in whatever cave or sheltered area we could find. It was especially fun to see the area through new eyes. Our Utah family was enchanted with the area and had a great time.

The book I'm working on right now has some of the final scenes taking place at Writing on Stone so it was good to see the area again and find my mind racing over what should happen and how. I noticed things about the area and made notes about how sound travels differently in the rocks and how hard it is to keep track of where people are. It should add some good detail to my next chapters. I can't wait to get to them.