Utah Vacation - Part 2

It was time to leave Utah. We knew we were going to miss everyone, but we still had a couple of adventures left for our vacation. During the time that we were visiting, Valora gave birth to their newest baby girl, Audry. On our way out of town, we stopped to see them, hold the new baby, and visit with Amber for awhile. We also got to see Marilla and her kids before we had to leave. It was great to see them and Sierra was especially excited to see and hold her newest cousin.

After spending the night in Idaho, we got to visit the Minidoka Internment National Monument. There isn't a lot to see here, but it was cool to be able to say we'vce been there. This area was one of 11 internment camps for Japanese Americans during World War II. The area used to have many buildings to house the detainees, but all that is left at this point are these ruins for the waiting and registration area. After the war ended, the land that this camp stood on was divided up into a number of farms and raffled off to former detainees who had served in the American military. Many of those farms are still privately owned today.

As we looked through this little area, it struck me what a sad time in American history this was. In the United States we are all the decendents of some sort of refugee and these people, many of whom were 2nd or 3rd generation Americans, had that American dream stripped from them for a time. Americans let fear and prejudice dictate their lives and they forced these innocent people to leave their homes and businesses and relocate to these camps. I wondered how the conditions of these camps compared to the camps of the Holocaust. Obviously these Japanese Americans were not exterminated, but they were the victims of the same type of prejudice and mistrust. I hope that I never cave into that fear - where I mistrust an entire people based on their skin-color, their ethnicity or their relgion. It really made me stop and think about myself and what I teach my children. There wasn't much to see at this stop, but it made me do a lot of thinking.

We got to visit the Hagermann Fossil Bed National Monument. This area was very similar to Dinosaur National Monument, however, these fossils come from a different era. This area is known for the discovery of the ancient Hagermann Horse. It was interesting and Sierra got to see what it was like to dig for fossils in their hands-on exhibits.

These pictures are of the area in which the fossils are found.

I know it doesn't look like much, but these are some ruts from the Oregon Trail. Look carefully, I know you can see them.

Here is Sierra being sworn in as a junior ranger for the Hagermann Fossil Beds.

We saw this political sign in Walla Walla. For those of you that don't understand it's significance, Dino Rossi ran against our current governor in 2004. In that election, Rossi won the election, but after the 3rd recount and a court challenge, Rossi lost by only 133 votes. He'd only lost the last recount and the majority of the votes cast for Gregoire came from King County (Seattle). So, I thought this sign was pretty funny to see.

We got to visit the Whitman Mission in Walla Walla. Marcus and Narcissa Whitman settled a mission along the Oregon trail, where they began a school. After an epidemic swept through the area and wiped out many of the local indian tribe, some of the natives became angry. A few of the remaining tribe members came to the home of the Whitmans and killed them along with 11 others. This park and monument is dedicated to them and their place in history.

A display inside the museum.

Overlooking the mission from the monument.

This is the monument erected in memory of those that died during the massacre.

Sierra and Sophie at the top of the hill, overlooking the Whitman Mission.

And to top of our vacation, we got to see the Columbia River Temple. What a beautiful day to see such a beautiful place.