Visiting the Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island

The last day of July was the day that we got to go pick up Auntie Em from the Salt Lake City airport. The boys were so excited! Since we were headed that far north, we figured we should take Emily with us to see the Great Salt Lake. We have never been there, so we figured it was about time!

Of course when you go with kids, there are the inevitable potty breaks. We stopped at the entrance to Antelope Island State Park, which conveniently had a restroom. It also had this fun bison statue that Ephraim was determined to ride.

Pretty funny, huh? From the park entrance we drove across the causeway and headed for the public beach area. As soon as we hit the causeway, you could definitely smell the salt in the air! The boys said it was STINKY. I didn't think it was too bad.

It didn't take too long to get to the day use beach area. We got out our lunch and sat down at a picnic table and had our sandwiches. Then we got our swimming suits on and headed for the beach.

It was a beautiful day out on the lake. The smell actually decreased once you were at the edge of the water. The kids had a fun time playing in the salty sand and wading in the water.

The boys thought it was pretty cool that the water made it so easy to float.

Even Aunt Emily's sandals easily floated on top of the water (not that they weigh very much).

I actually did not go too far out into the water because I was watching Amelia. She somehow managed to face-plant in the water and even though I was right next to her and pulled her back up, it made her very upset! Apparently getting salt water up your nose it not fun. She calmed down after a little while though.

Amelia was not the only one who was not so sure about the salt water.

Jacob did not like the feel of the salt water on his skin! He said it made certain tender parts of his anatomy hurt, which was strange because it did not bother Ephraim at all. Here is Auntie Em, helping Jacob "walk on water" so he didn't have to get the salt water on his skin.

I did not mind the salt water, but I was disappointed that the shore was so rocky. We brought down and umbrella and sand shovels to play with, but there were pebbles everywhere. But since we brought the umbrella, we set it up anyway!

I thought it made for a really nice picture! Before long the kids were done playing at the Great Salt Lake, so we headed back to the picnic tables and showers. We brought our little wagon to carry our stuff in, which was great until we got to the softer sand! The sand was hot too! But we managed to get back up there, shower and clean off.

It was nice that there were showers to rinse off, so we rinsed off and changed our clothes. That was heavenly after having so much salt on your skin! We came prepared and put our salty swim clothes in ziploc baggies so we didn't have to smell them the whole way home.

Then we decided to drive around the island for a little while. We drove up to Bison point to take in the view.

Amelia fell asleep in the van, so I stayed nearby while Emily and the boys checked out the binoculars and looked at bison on the plain below.

The view from Bison Point was really pretty!

But don't ask Ephraim about the view because I have a feeling he didn't really get a good look at it! What a silly boy!

We did get to see some bison on Antelope island! This big guy was sleeping not too far from the road, so I stopped and opened the window to take his picture.

We only drove around for a little while and then headed home. On our way out we even saw an antelope! We had a fun day at the Great Salt Lake. Next time I think I will come in the evening when it is a bit cooler and see if I can't catch a sunset on the lake. I think that would be beautiful

I can see how the Great Salt Lake might not be everyone's cup of tea. The water is very salty and it is a bit smelly. We did see some brine flies at the water's edge and tiny brine shrimp in the water, but they didn't really bother us. My kids had a good time playing in the water and I definitely think it was worth the visit. It is a fun place to wade and play in the shallows.

On an unrelated note, on the way home on the freeway we actually saw the Google car! You know the one that has all the cameras to take the "street view" pictures of various roads? If you have never seen it, it looks like this:

We have actually seen it a couple of times lately. They must be doing the streets in our neighborhood of Utah lately. Bison, antelope and the Google car all in one day... what a fun day!