We made our annual visit home to Utah for Spring Break. The days were filled with a mix of memories of growing up here and experiencing it now with my own family. It was returning to the place that quietly shaped most of my life. The people, the food, the culture, and especially the mountains became part of me. Small, ordinary moments that influenced me and changed me that I didn’t fully realize until later.
Now coming back with my family, it feels different but in the best way. The places were familiar, but the experience of them has changed. I found myself over and over seeing it all again through both memory and the present moment.
This trip wasn’t about checking off a list of things to do. Instead, it became a collection of moments- some planned, some unexpected- that together told a story of returning, remembering, and sharing a place that has meant so much to me with the people I love most.
- Hiking the Big Springs Hollow Trail
- Simple Moments that Mean the Most
- Spring Skiing at Brighton, Alta, & Snowbird
- Dinosaur Jim- Stories that Stayed with Me
- Puzzles & Doughnuts- Unexpected Highlights
- Memories of Places In Bewteen
- Looking Ahead to 2034 Olympics
Hiking the Big Springs Hollow Trail
One of the places I knew I wanted to return to was a hiking trail up Provo Canyon. At least once a week when I lived here, I would make the drive up the Canyon to Big Springs Hollow Trail.
At the time, it was just part of my routine. A place to get outside, to clear my head, to move through whatever season my life happened to be in. I walked that trail in the heat of summer, through the changing colors of fall, in the quiet stillness of winter, and into the first signs of spring. It was there through so many different moments in my life- some joyful, some uncertain, some that I didn’t fully understand until later.
The trail was still there, just as I remembered it. Early spring hadn’t fully taken hold yet. The trees were mostly bare, the ground still held traces of winter, and only the highest peaks in the distance carried a dusting of snow. It felt quiet and peaceful, and I couldn’t help but think that me and the landscape were in between seasons.
As I walked that familiar path, it felt like returning to an old friend. There was something grounding about being back in that space, seeing it again with new perspective, and realizing how much had changed while it had simply remained.
It isn’t the longest hike or the most dramatic landscape, but it was one of the most meaningful moments of our trip.
Simple Moments that Mean the Most
Not every meaningful moment from the trip was tied to a place. Some of them were much simpler- small pauses in the middle of everything else that ended up being the heart of the trip.
One of those moments was stopping to feed a few local horses. We had brought along apples and carrots and my daughter was especially excited for this part. She has been talking for awhile now about wanting a horse of her own someday, and this felt like a small step into that dream. We loved how the horses came up and gently took the offered treats with a little rub of their nose on our hands.
There were other simple moments too- returning to favorite foods we don’t have back home, revisiting places that once felt like everyday stops, and reconnecting with family members that we don’t see as often as we would like to. We even stopped by the place where we got married and where our story as a family began.
These small moments were the most meaningful- they didn’t require a plan or a destination, just a willingness to pause and enjoy them. These are the moments I’ll put in my pocket for later.
Spring Skiing at Brighton, Alta, & Snowbird
Not everything about the trip went the way we expected—and in some ways, that became part of the story.
My husband and daughter had been looking forward to skiing, but this season had been unusually warm across much of the West. Many resorts had already closed earlier than usual, and the conditions weren’t what they typically would be this time of year.
For the first couple of days, the snow wasn’t great. It was a little disappointing, especially knowing how much they had been looking forward to it. But then, just enough snow came through to give them a couple of better days on the slopes—just enough to make it worth it.
It wasn’t the ideal ski trip they may have imagined, but they still had fun. And in a way, it was a reminder of something that feels true for most trips: things don’t always go according to plan, but that doesn’t mean the experience is any less meaningful.
If anything, it shifts your focus. It makes room for different moments to stand out—the unexpected ones, the quieter ones, the ones that might have been overlooked if everything had gone perfectly.
And this trip had plenty of those.
Dinosaur Jim- Stories that Stayed with Me
One of the stops that meant the most to me on this trip was visiting the BYU Museum of Paleontology.
On its own, it’s an interesting place—filled with dinosaur fossils, exhibits, and the kind of discoveries that tell the story of a much older world. But for me, it held a much more personal connection.
Growing up, one of our neighbors was the man who discovered many of the fossils displayed there. We knew him simply as “Dinosaur Jim.” As kids, we loved going to his house, where the upstairs was filled with bones, tools, and paintings from his work. It felt like stepping into another world—one shaped by curiosity, discovery, and a deep passion for what he did.
At the time, I don’t think we fully understood just how significant his work was. It was just part of our childhood—something fascinating, a little unusual, and entirely normal all at once.
Walking through the museum now, seeing his name and his contributions displayed and remembered, felt different. It brought those memories back in a way I hadn’t expected. What once felt like a small, personal connection was now part of something much larger, something that continues to be shared and experienced by others.
It was a reminder that the people we encounter in our lives—sometimes in the most ordinary ways—can leave lasting impressions. And sometimes, years later, we get the chance to see those stories again from a new perspective.
Puzzles & Doughnuts- Unexpected Highlights
Not every memorable part of the trip was something we had planned ahead of time. Some of the best moments came from places we decided to stop along the way.
One of those was a visit to the Eric Dowdle Studio. We’ve long been fans of his puzzles—working our way through dozens of them over the years—so stepping into his studio felt a little surreal. The space itself was full of color and detail, including a wall-sized puzzle of the world that immediately caught our attention.
What made the experience even more memorable was that he was there.
We had the chance to talk with him for a while as he worked on a new piece for the upcoming America 250. He was kind, engaging, and generous with his time, sharing stories about his work and creative process. At one point, his assistant even brought us into a back area to show us how everything comes together behind the scenes, along with a preview of artwork that hasn’t been released yet.
We stayed much longer than we expected, completely caught up in the experience. It felt a little like being let in on a secret, and we definitely had a moment of fan-girling over getting to be there.
Another stop that stood out in a completely different way was trying Pinkbox Doughnuts, a colorful shop that recently made its way from Las Vegas. The space itself was impossible to miss—bright pink, energetic, and a little over-the-top in the best way.
The doughnuts were just as creative as the setting, with unique flavors that made it worth the stop. It was a fun contrast to the quieter, more reflective parts of the trip—something lighthearted and a little unexpected.
These weren’t the moments we built the trip around, but they ended up being some of the most memorable. Sometimes it’s the unplanned stops that leave the biggest impression.
Memories of Places In Bewteen
After spending a few days in central Utah, we made our way north into Idaho.
Along the drive, we passed through a small community just over the border—the place where my grandpa was born and lived his entire life. It’s the kind of place that might be easy to miss if you didn’t know its story, but for me, it holds so many memories. He had bought an old church and turned it into his home, and when we were younger, we spent hours there—playing basketball in the gym and singing on the stage. Passing through again brought all of that back in quiet, familiar ways.
We continued on to Idaho Falls, where we spent time with family. One of the sweetest moments was getting to hold my cousin’s five-week-old baby—a reminder of how families continue to grow and change, even as so much stays the same.
From there, we drove back down through Cache Valley, where I spent my college years. It’s a place that still lingers in our conversations as somewhere we could see ourselves one day, if life ever led us back in that direction.
We spent our final day there at my uncle’s house for a family Easter egg hunt, much like the ones we used to have at my grandpa’s house when I was growing up. There was something quietly meaningful about that—different place, different generation, but the same traditions continuing on.
It was a tender couple of days, filled with small moments that didn’t need much explanation. The kind that remind you how places and people stay connected over time, even as everything else moves forward.
Looking Ahead to 2034 Olympics
One of the first things we saw when we arrived at the airport in Salt Lake City was a large sign announcing the upcoming 2034 Winter Olympics.
It was a small moment, but it stood out to us. The last time the Olympics were held in Utah was in 2002, when I was in college—living here, going about daily life, and experiencing the energy of the Games from within the city itself.
Seeing the new sign brought that memory back, while also looking ahead to something still to come. It sparked conversations about returning someday to experience the Olympics again, this time with our family, and seeing it from a completely different perspective.
It felt like a fitting reminder that places continue to evolve, just as we do. What was once part of one season of life can become part of another, revisited in new ways, with new people, and new meaning.
In many ways, this trip wasn’t just about the places we visited across Utah and Idaho, but about the layers of meaning we found within them. Familiar roads and landscapes became something different when experienced alongside my husband and daughter, while at the same time reconnecting me to the seasons of my own life that began in these same places.
There was a quiet comfort in returning to spaces that once felt like everyday life, and a different kind of joy in sharing them with my family now. From meaningful stops and unexpected highlights to simple, in-between moments, the trip felt less like a checklist and more like a collection of memories—old and new—woven together.
Some places stay with you long after you leave them. And sometimes, if you return, you find that they have been waiting for you all along—ready to be experienced again, in a new season, with a new perspective, and in the company of the people who matter most.
If you are planning a trip to Utah, here are some other places you might want to explore:
Thanks for coming along with me on this visit down memory lane in Utah and Idaho. May mountain trails remember your steps and always bring you home.
Coming Up Next:
Craters of the Moon National Monument
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