Hatch.... The Center of the Universe.

Every year, our family has made is a fun tradition to head down south to a small city who's motto to travelers passing through might as well be "blink, and you'll miss it." Hatch, Utah, near Bryce Canyon and Panguitch is where my father's side of the family are from and every year we head down around the 24th of July for a family reunion and to enjoy the pleasure of our families company.

PIONEER DAY

This year was a memorable year for the Munn family. For the first time, Ellie got to participate in the Hatch local parade. Ellie looked like Miss Hatch USA riding on a ATV with her Great Grandpa Burrows that I decorated in red, white, and blue. Ellie was smiling and waving at all the people as she rode past. After the parade (which lasted about 2 minutes!), we went with Grandma Tubbs and played games at the town square, and later enjoyed a delicious town meal and amazing fireworks. I even found sparklers at a little store to make the night even more magical.

LOTS OF FINE FISHIN'


One thing we particularly looked forward to in Hatch was to enjoy all the "easy fishing" in their streams. Grandpa Tubbs made it sound so easy when he said, "we caught our limit in only a couple hours." One person went out once in the morning and caught their limit, and when out again later and caught their limit again. I knew it had to be true when a group of young children carried home a string of fish they had just caught that morning.

We set out early that morning, and Grandpa Burrows helped us pick the right spinners for the job. We found a place at a river, and started to cast out. Two of three times Grandpa B cast out, he caught a fish. Well.... he must be doing something different because we must have cast out 200 times each and didn't catch anything. Evan and Monyka caught small anchovy type fish being only about four inches long, which was the highlight of our fishing... Ellie even got to hold the fish up, and hold it for a while before they threw it back into the water. So, despite what they say, the fishing down in Hatch isn't as easy as it sounded. I hope next year to figure out what we did wrong!

ATV RIDIN'

One of the main attractions in Hatch is all the ATV riding we do. We love to ride up into the beautiful Proctor Canyon every year and really enjoy learning about the land and history of Hatch as told by Grandpa B. He seems to show us new routes every year, but we always hit the usual sights and stops along the way as well.

One of our stops, is to a group of very large ant hills. Grandpa likes to poke the ant hills with sticks because "they looked bored, and that'll keep 'em busy." We also ride past some very neat perfectly round stones made from sand. We call them Indian marbles. This year we went a little further on our trail than I remember in years past when we went a place you can hike and see an arch in the beautiful orange and red rock. It was a really breathtaking sight looking down at the land below us. Before heading home, we cool down at a fresh water spring, and shoot Grandpa's 22.

A few of us found horneytoads along the way, and Ellie loved the chance to hold them and pet their spikey backs. Uncle Brett even found a little frog. Ellie was hilarious to ride with too. Shayne said that the whole time she would say "WOO HOO!!!" as they rode fast along the trail.

FAMILY

Even with all these fun activities, the main reason we come to Hatch is to spend time with all the family that still gather there. My Grandma Tubbs grew up in the small town and some of our family, the Evans, still live there. Many of my relatives played big roles in the town history, and donated items to the local DUP museaum. Walking through the Museam makes me feel like I'm learning pieces of my family history. I even found a chair this year with my maiden name on it - the chair that belonged to my Great Grandmother Laura Burrows.

We also have a small family reunion while we are down there every year. This year they asked each family present to mention something that happened over the past year, and it was neat to learn about their lives on a more personal level. We have to laugh because the reunion is during the rain every year, but even still we have a great time just being together.

SEE YA NEXT TIME

Leaving Hatch is always bitter-sweet. Usually we are ready to leave but sad to go and excited for next year at the same time. The drive home is one usually filled with talk about our trip, and the fun that we had. Until next time, we have some awesome memeories and beautiful fun pictures to look at and enjoy. We love Hatch.