Offroading in a Minivan

We got all ready for Church this morning with Sunday best and a diaper bag packed with all sorts of toys, books, coloring, and snacks and then got everyone packed in the van and realized that today's Church (a two hour general meeting held once a year) was not going to work for our kids who were showing extra signs of moodiness and irritability today. So instead, Alicia and I decided to listen to talks in the car and take the kids for a drive.

We began our journey thinking that we'd go to Grandma's gravesite and then visit Grandpa but plans changed as I we approached the mountains around Orem and I thought it might be nice to take the kids instead to a valley overlook on the east mountains.

The road to that point is all paved and I've been there several times so no one had any concerns. But as I approached that point, I thought about how there's a road that leads deeper into the woods that I have a faint recollection of traveling only once when I was a kid. Whenever I've attempted previously, it's always been closed off because of snow but now, it is the end of Summer. Surely it would be open now! So, I talked to Alicia about it and told her about a lookout point I remembered and that I'd like to take the kids there. She agreed and we went. The pavement road turned into a dirt one. But it was well kept and very traversable in our van.

We drove for about 30 minutes enjoying the wildflowers and trees and meadows. It was really quite beautiful. Then we reached the lookout point I remembered (the pictures of the family show that in background). We had enjoyed the trip so far so we thought we'd go on. A few minutes later, we reached a point where a sign instructed us that from this point on, passenger vehicle travel is not recommended. We had been on that road for over an hour and the thought of traversing the same path back was not appealing. Besides, I knew that this road eventually lead out another canyon on the south side of Utah Valley and I was curious to see it. So on the condition that if the road got too bad we'd turn around, we went forward.

At first it was very doable. We were deep in the forest and tall pine trees surrounded us. The kids seemed to be enjoying it at this point. We opened the windows at one point to let the mountain air in and I commented that it smelled good. Jason, from the back seat stated, "Yes. It smells like peanuts." We stopped a few times to stretch our legs and pick some wildflowers and then drove some more talking happily from the safety of our van about bears, poisonous flowers, rough roads and other hazards of the forest.

Then we excited a heavily wooded area and the road started to get rougher. We were another hour down the road by now so there was no cashing in on the offer to turn around if the road got rough so we just continued. The car jostled around and we hit a few rocks with the undercarriage of the car. Alicia and I were no longer relaxed into our seats, we were leaning forward straining to see details of the road before us. Alicia would speak out directions on which rocks to avoid as we crawled along the road at less than 5 mph trying simply to get through this ordeal. We continued this way for another hour.

We didn't see many people on that road but those we did see (all of them in trucks or ATVs) looked at us like we were crazy. Finally, the road dropped in elevation and the road conditions improved until we at last met back up with pavement. Alicia and I gave each other five for having survived it and Ethan spoke up from the mid-row that this was the "Worst Sunday Ever." But we're alive.

I don't think my kids will trust me anymore when I suggest that we go for a drive. They've had the "Getting Lost" experience and now this.