We started our day at Red Butte Gardens, a place to which I had never ventured. Stunning! The picture above is that of apple service berries. All manner of birds seemed to be enjoying those! What a haven for birds, bees, butterflies, and of course, flowers and plants. Following is a Pat Austin Rose. How I love orange!
Grandpa used to hike with us, but now he needs a little help. He still gets up, walks, looks at everything, climbs up steps, and stuff like that, but for the flower gardens, we asked for a chair. I got to push him around for the last half and picked up on the fact that whenever there were little children around, Grandpa would light right up! Therefore, we stopped at the fountains as two or three little ones were running, screaming, and splashing in the water. Speaking of screaming, we got to know a little girl named Astrid who earlier charged repeatedly at one specific magpie who kept hiding under the bushes. I believe Astrid's parents spoke French, so that was fun, listening to them try to get their daughter under control. She was wearing a cute little sundress with sandals, but at the fountain, she was wearing nothing but her diaper. We recognized her from that scream! Anyway, we were parked at the fountain and no little kids were playing in it at the moment, so I teased Grandpa, "Should I run you through it?" Another time, we were headed downhill and I asked, "Grandpa, are there any brakes on this thing?" He said, "No, just let 'er go!"
My husband has a huge soft spot in his heart for flowers.
After the gardens, we headed up Mill Creek Canyon to find a hiking trail. We started out on the Pipeline Trail, heading up canyon until really it was nothing but bushwacking through scrubby stuff and extremely prolific and copious amounts of snake grass. Then we headed on the same trail down canyon until the MIL decided we should find something on the other side of the canyon that would be cooler, more forested, and headed away from the road.
Next we tried the Porter Fork Trail which gave us an hour and a half of good hiking. K and I are not so familiar with the SLC canyons, so we have more exploring to do. When we got home, I made a big pot of chicken noodle soup from scratch (with no recipe...it's the way I cook best). Well, no, I did not roll out the noodle myself, but I can do that too when given time enough). Did I mention we all have colds? K brought one home to me from the Spike and the others brought theirs from across the plains. Cough drops, Airborne, decongestants, humidifiers, you name it...we've been trying it! Chicken soup hit the spot and Grandpa said, "This tastes good once!" He asked for more. We finished the evening by poring over maps from the San Rafael Swell. They're still intrigued by that area and wanted to learn more!
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