Category Archives: FIELD TRIPS

Utah Trip | The Living Planet Aquarium

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The first Friday we were in Utah, my Dad had the afternoon off and asked us if we wanted to do something together. He told us to let Titan choose where he wanted to go for lunch and an activity. I knew if I let Titan choose the restaurant for lunch he would select Panda Express…again! πŸ™‚ So I choose Guadalahonkey’s for lunch (I LOVE and crave their smothered bean burrito) and then Titan selected The Living Planet Aquarium for our activity. He had heard they had moved into a new location and wanted to check it out.

The last time I had visited aquarium was about 10 years ago when they were brand new to the Utah valley and located downtown in Gateway in a teeny tiny end part of the mall! At the time I thought, “They are never going to last!” Boy was I wrong! πŸ™‚ Over the years they have definitely gotten bigger and A LOT better!

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Museum Day Live! | Our Visit to the Railroaders Memorial Museum

 

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Last year in September, we took advantage of The Museum Day Live! day that is hosted by the Smithsonian magazine in which participating museums across the country open their doors for FREE to anyone with a Museum Day Live! ticket.

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I had thought that to take advantage of this event we would probably need to drive to Pittsburgh, but after doing a quick search, I found a museum participating fairly close to us (well, at least a lot closer than Pittsburgh) called the Railroaders Memorial MuseumΒ (America’s only interactive railroaders museum). Β Admission to this museum is normally $10 per adult and $8 per child, so on a normal day we would pay $28 for our little family. I debated going because I figured it would probably be really crowded since it was a free day, but I am definitely glad we still went because there were no crowds at all and free is definitely better than almost $30!

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For those of our who aren’t familiar with Pennsylvania and it’s history, the railroad industry at one time was HUGE in various parts of Pennsylvania. One area in particular, Altoona, was key to the railroad industry. Over 6,000 steam locomotives were built in Altoona and the area is also home to the Horseshoe Curve “an engineering marvel”. The railroad industry is of course still present in the area, but it is not nearly what it was 150 years ago. So it was awesome to be able to go to the museum, watch the historical videos, do the interactive exhibits, read all the historical facts and learn more about this area that we’ve been living in for the past year! An area I hadn’t ever even heard of until a few months before we moved to Pennsylvania. πŸ™‚

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Inside the museum there were three floors of various exhibits that talked about everything from what working on the railroad was like and how the community grew in the area due to the railroad to how a train wreck once left tons of circus animal wandering the town.Β 

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Of course, one of my favorite parts was watching all of the short video presentations they had. We were able to watch one about the birth of the Horseshoe Curve and another about how the Era of Steam in Altoona began and grew to what is was at it’s peak. It was fascinating to me to learn how transportation changed in the state from horse drawn wagons, to boats in the canals and finally to the fastest method (at the time) the train!

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The movies weren’t Titan’s favorite, but he humored us in them and actually ended up learning quite a bit from them.

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His favorite parts of the museum were all the interactive displays and seeing how people used to live. He especially liked checking out how different kinds of candy used to be packaged years ago. πŸ˜‰

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At this station you got to see what it takes to run a train yard and to move around the tracks so that each train gets to where it needs to go each time. Titan (after finishing it), “Ok, whoever has that job has to be really organized!” LOL Of course, then we talked about how today most of it is run by computers, but yes, 100-150 years ago, it would have taken a lot of organization and man power to keep things operating smoothly.

Another fact Titan found interesting was that when the Horseshoe Curve was built, the workers were only paid $0.25 per day! And they worked 12 hour days!

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Once we finished with everything inside of the museum we moved outside to where they had a few train cars that you could walk through and look at up close.

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Last but not least, a quick treat we grabbed on the way home from the outing. At the museum Titan kept asking for a treat in the Gift Shop because he was apparently “starving”. Like most gift shops though everything was way overpriced so we promised Titan we would grab some frozen custard at The Meadows. On this visit I tried the Turtle custard and it was REALLY good! Some of the best custard I’ve ever head.

And that was our afternoon. Overall, it was a really fun and interesting museum and we all learned a lot about trains, railroads, and the history of Pennsylvania.

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Don’t live in the area (or not planning a vacation to Pennsylvania anytime soon ;))? The Railroaders Museum has an awesome website where you can look at photos and do some quick virtual tours of the museum. I know it’s not as fun as doing something in person but if you’re kids are learning about trains at school or have an interest in trains, it’s a great resource filled with lots of facts and information in an easy to read and understand format! πŸ™‚

 

Lakemont Park in Pennsylvania | Home to the World’s Oldest Known Operating Roller Coaster

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Over the summer we had the chance to visit Lakemont Park here in Pennsylvania. We had driven past it a few times and Titan kept requesting to go but we kept putting it off because of Broc’s work schedule and me needing time to recuperate after having Chayse.

As the summer was coming to an end though, we knew that if we didn’t go, we would miss our window as they close after Labor Day.

One of the cool things about Lakemont Park is that they currently own and operate the WORLD’S oldest known operating roller coaster. Kind of cool, right?! 
| Source: CoasterForce |
We didn’t pay to go on the roller coaster (it’s extra) since Titan wasn’t too sure about it, and truthfully neither were we. πŸ™‚ It was cool to see though. I had no idea the world’s oldest roller coaster was here in the United States, and in Pennsylvania of all places! 
Speaking of park fees and all that, if you are military and can show a Military ID, your passes are FREE! So since both Broc and I both have an ID, the only pass we had to pay for was Titan’s. And his pass was only $5.00 since we went during the week on one of their Dollar Days. So the entire day only cost us $5.00! (We also packed our own snack and drinks since they do allow outside food into the park)
Titan having fun on the train right inside the entrance. 

Once we were in the park we did a quick assessment and noticed a carnival ride type area where there were a lot of spinning and “throw you around” type rides, as Titan liked to call them. 
In that area Broc and I took turns going on the rides with Titan. There were bumper cars. swings, a Tilt a Whirl, a Toboggan type ride and more. 
This was probably our least favorite part of the park since it was all the rides that generally make you feel sick or give you a headache. We did really like the swings though and I think Titan really enjoyed the bumper cars with Broc! 

After that area we headed over to the kids area. Titan had fun going on the mini roller coaster, the carousel and a few other rides. These area was definitely a better fit for our family and for Titan. It was nice to be able to send him on a bunch of rides by himself. 

Titan riding the carousel! (I know I am biased, but seriously, cutest boy around!) πŸ™‚

After we got done with the rides (they only took us about 2 hours) we changed into our swimsuits and headed over to the water park area (it’s included in your pass if you purchase the Ride & Slide pass which is normally $9.95 or $5.00 on the Dollar Days). 
Here they had a pretty fun Pirate themed play pool that was perfect for Titan to run around and play in. In fact, I told Broc that if we were going to be here another summer, I would probably consider season passes just so we could take advantage of this pool and occasionally the kids rides! I really liked that pool was shallow all the way around so there was less of a chance of something happening if I had to help Chayse with something or turn away for a second.

There was also a set of big water slides that Broc and Titan went down a few times and a regular swimming pool that was fenced off so kids couldn’t run from the shallow pool into the swimming pool, but we spent most of our time at the Pirate Pool.

…and this is what Chayse spent the entire time doing! πŸ™‚ 
Overall, I think the park was fun enough, but I definitely would make sure to go on one of their $5 days if you aren’t military. I don’t know that I’d want to pay a whole lot more than $15-$20 for the day there. 
And the only reason I would get the season pass would be for the Pirate Pool as there aren’t a lot of outdoor pool options here. That to me as the gem of the entire park!