Our Utah Visit: Thanksgiving Point & Salt Lake City Temple

I received complimentary admission for my family to visit the Museum of Ancient Life in exchange for this post. No other complimentary services or other compensation was received. Opinions expressed are my own.

As we began heading home from our long summer road trip, we stopped for a week in Utah. My youngest brother and my sister both live in Utah as well as a bunch of friends so it was really nice to stop by and visit with family and friends for a week. My birthson also lives in Utah, so we got to see him and his family as well. We had a great time in Utah, here are some of the things we did during our visit!

Lakeside RV Campground

We stayed in Provo for the week at Lakeside RV Campground. I was really happy with the accommodations they offer. The lots here are set up differently then I have seen before. You won’t find a huge side yard outside your RV but you are parked facing opposite directions so it feels more private than it may be with more room out your front steps and limited space behind you. Still, the park was really quite and we were comfortable in our space even without a huge area to roam in.

What I really liked about this RV park, and one of the reasons why we decided to stay here, was their on-site amenities for families. They have a really unique playground for kids with big tires they can climb on, a tractor, swings and a slide. There is also a walking trail right off the park to explore around the lake. You can enjoy a dip in the pool, as well. They also have a really fun shaved ice shop that opens in the evenings. We ordered a large for the boys and they shared it an it made for a really fun evening for us as a family!

 

 Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point

One of the days from our trip we headed to Thanksgiving Point. We arrived right as a local farmer’s market was ending with all the vendors packing up their shop. We were sad to miss the farmer’s market, it was really neat to see that they hold one here! We started our visit at the cafe with yummy burgers and really big, and yummy, lemon bars! When everyone was fed and happy, we headed over to the Museum of Ancient Life.

When you start your tour at the museum, they have a hands-on area to learn about science through play. They had a ton of different features like origami, building a ball path, arcade game with a path you create your self and many others. There was a ton to do in this area, but it was also very busy, so we didn’t stay too long and moved on to see the dinos! We all loved learning about and seeing all the dinosaur bones in each exhibit. They had dinosaurs ranging from smaller than my two year old to the length of an entire room! The little dinosaurs were so intricate and you could really get a sense for their bodies as you could see them much closer while the big dinosaurs were really impressive! The T-rex exhibit was my favorite as they posed the dinosaurs facing each other in a duel and you could walk right beneath them and see them from all different angles.

The museum had a lot of ways for the kids to interact like a blackout tunnel you could walk through that made you feel like you were alone in space with nothing below your feet, a dinosaur weight scale to compare your body mass with a range of dinosaurs, and even a dig for dino bones activity. We all had a really great time! They enjoyed seeing the dinosaurs and learning more about them.

Thanksgiving Point is a really fun location to shop, visit, and explore. They have things for all ages including a nice movie theater located on site.

 

Salt Lake City LDS Temple

If there’s one sight you don’t want to miss while in Utah it is the Latter-day Saint, or Mormon, Temple in Salt Lake City. When you visit a town and want to learn about the people and the culture of those who live there, it’s important to understand at least a little bit about who they are and why. When the pioneers trekked across the country and ended up in Salt Lake City they sacrificed all they could and spent 40 years building the temple. It was completed in 1893, 120 years ago!

I am LDS, so for me visit Temple Square is a bit of a refuge from the world we live in, but I believe that anyone who visits the grounds will also feel the peace and calm around the temple. It just feels different then the busy rush of our daily life’s we live as you slow down to ponder on why we are here on this earth and what’s really important. The temple grounds are free and open to the public.

 

Have you ever traveled to Utah before? What are your favorite attractions?