If you were to ask us what our ideal camping spot would be, it be in a secluded, wooded spot, most likely in a National park. But life is all about tradeoffs and compromises. When you camp in or around a major metropolitan area, such as Salt Lake city, ideal campsites are like unicorns, so you take what you can get and follow the golden rule of real estate, “location, location, location.”

Our campsite was next door to Lagoon amusement park, and  if I had to describe it, it’s like Kentucky Kingdom and Holiday World got married and had an amusement park baby. It was also about a mile from the Utah Jazz basketball camp we signed Wyatt up for. So despite the setting, the location couldn’t have been more ideal.

In the morning we’d run Wyatt to camp, then explore greater Salt Lake with just Maya. It was really nice being able to focus on just her for several hours each day. 

On our first full day we drove into Salt Lake to see Utah’s state capital building. One of the first things we noticed is how the state is obsessed with beehives. They were scattered around like Easter eggs throughout and around their capital. The state road signs even have beehives on them. Of course if we had fully done our homework we would have known that Utah is the “beehive state”, but like many of our stops, we’re learning on the fly. The symbol is inspired by the state’s early settlers and the industrious nature of those early pioneers. So now you know too. You can thank us later if it’s ever on Jeopardy.

Speaking of those early settlers, we left the capital and toured one of the Mormon museums  followed by Temple Square. It left us with an appreciation for the journey those pioneers made, especially those who made the trek on foot. In the square we listened to a noon organ performance at the Tabernacle. Surprisingly to me the Tabernacle looked more like a basketball arena from the outside, but I have to admit the acoustics on the inside were outstanding.

The following day, the three of us headed to the Great Lake Shorelands Preserve. It’s as close as we came to the Great Salt Lake. The mile long loop on the boardwalk  through the tall marsh-like grasses taught us how the lake is a haven for countless migratory birds. The indigenous brine shrimp help fuel many of those birds’ 1,000+ mile journeys. I’ll take the Western Hemisphere’s most important stopovers for 1,000 Alex. 

Meanwhile, Wyatt was having a blast at basketball camp. One of the cooler things that happened was when they pulled him out for an instructional video for one of their dribbling drills, which you can see here. He’s going to share his thoughts on the camp experience in his upcoming post.

In the afternoon after we picked him up from camp, he, Maya and I took the short walk through the campsite to Lagoon. It’s a far cry from Kings Island, but we still had a blast. The lines were short and even though most of their coasters were on the small-ish side, they did a great job with maximizing their smaller footprints.

Fun fact, Lagoon is home to the 5th oldest coaster in the US. Sad fact, its name is “Roller Coaster”, seriously.

But, we were all in agreement the biggest standout was Cannibal. It was on par with many of the big coasters we’ve ridden in the past. At 200+feet tall with a unique 116º vertical drop and a top speed of 70 mph, it more than fed our need for thrills. Plus when the park closed, we walked less than 5 minutes back to our Airstream. Not a bad trade-off.