Your visits to the state of Utah

At a wayside along I-15 in southern Utah.

Another state you've been to a couple of times is Utah. You were there twice, in September and October 2008. Both times we traveled on I-70 between the Colorado border and Cove Fort and then on I-15 between the Arizona border and Cove Fort.

The first time, we drove west in the early evening from the Colorado border. We stayed overnight in Green River, and I bought you a cool dinosaur shirt that was a little too big, but when older you wore it lots of times.

The second time, we drove east from the Arizona border. The day grew very cold as night approached and climbed into the mountains. We stopped at an Arby's near Cedar City for dinner then drove through the night into Colorado.

Our hike of Red Rock Canyon State Park

I bet you don't remember this hike - you were barely two years old at the time! It's the first big hike we took after moving to Lancaster, Calif., and we did it four years ago today.

It was to Red Rock Canyon State Park, north of Mojave, Calif. We walked through some areas where the canyon walls were made of pure black lava rock - it was quite a sight!

During a rest stop, I let you out of the child carrier that I had on my back, and you sat on a boulder of lava that is about 13 million years old. That's what the photo at left is of. The cool dinosaur T-shirt I bought for you in Green River, Utah, a few months before. I still have your hiking hat shown in the picture!

Here's a whole bunch of pictures from our expedition!