Creation
Road Trip
Explore God’s
Creation as a Family Vacation!
by Dave and Mary Jo Nutting
Grand
Tetons (Wyoming): These mountains
show the effects of a single
Ice Age on this uplifted area.
The earth's uplifting and
the Ice Age are both the results
of the Flood.
This summer, the beauty of
national parks and tourist
attractions throughout the
United States will awe millions.
Unfortunately, millions will
also be taken in by evolutionary
teaching—unless they are prepared
to stand against it. We can
discover evidence of God’s
character—His perfection,
His power, His care, His judgment—as
we explore and enjoy the wonders
of the world that He has made.
Regardless of where you start
or how many destinations you
plot on your memory-making
tour, these are a few spots
we’re sure you won’t want
to miss.
Yellowstone
Yellowstone
is the world’s first national
park. It is famous for beautiful
hot springs, “Old Faithful”
and other geysers and abundant
wildlife. As you tour this
enormous park, which covers
over two million acres in
three states (Montana, Wyoming
and Idaho), look for evidence
of a young earth in the thermal
basins and jagged formations
around Yellowstone Falls.
In some places in the park,
erosion of hillsides reveals
layers of upright petrified
trees, which are interpreted
by evolutionists as multiple
forests spanning long ages.
But compare that with what
was learned at Spirit Lake
at Mount St. Helens—trees
buried in different layers
of soil were in position to
be petrified in just a few
years after the volcano’s
1980 eruption. While at Yellowstone,
gather your family and praise
God for the marvelous beauty,
the fantastic colors of the
thermal basins and the intricacies
of design in the animals He
has created.
Grand
Tetons
Majestic
mountains and glacial features
abound in the Tetons less
than 100 miles (161 km) from
Yellowstone. Here you see,
and you can share with your
children, the truth of Psalm
104:8 (“The mountains rose;
the valleys sank down,” NASB).
It has been calculated that
the Tetons underwent 25,000
feet (7,620m) of vertical
lifting. Discover evidence
of glacial moraines, outwash
plains, circular lakes, hanging
valleys, etc. Many creationists
believe that one major Ice
Age occurred within only a
few hundred years after the
Flood and that there were
smaller regional advances
and retreats within this one
major event. Secular geologists
usually talk about three or
four major ice ages spanning
vast ages, but most now date
the last major ice advance
to have been within 10,000
years. Discuss the significance
of that number, and make sure
you use your binoculars to
observe the layer of sandstone
on top of Mt. Moran; it is
part of the same Tapeats Sandstone
layer found near the bottom
of the Grand Canyon!
Dinosaur
National Monument
This
210,000 acre (850 km2) park
in Utah is a fantastic display
of a dinosaur graveyard. One
explanation holds that these
dinosaurs died, were carried
downstream by a river, collected
on a sand bar and were later
buried. Interesting! But what
kind of current would it take
to wash a 70-ton (71 m. ton)
dinosaur downstream? And how
long could it lie there before
burial without decomposing?
Explain to your children that
this park shows excellent
evidence of rapid burial,
catastrophic flooding and
massive currents—just what
we would expect from the global
Flood of Noah’s day.
Grand
Canyon
Get
ready for the awe-inspiring
vistas, colors and beauty
of this most-studied national
park. Each year millions visit
this monument to catastrophe.
But they are met by antibiblical
explanations stating that
the rock layers contain the
record of the development
of life over millions of years.
Canyon formation supposedly
took about 15 million years
of slow, gradual erosion by
the Colorado River (the “little
water, lot of time” model).
But from a Biblical worldview,
rock layers may be interpreted
in terms of catastrophic deposition:
the lower layers of the Inner
Gorge being “Creation Week”
rock and the horizontal layers
representing various episodes
during “The Flood.” Help your
children understand that canyon
carving could be accomplished
in a relatively short time
by catastrophic emptying of
a great inland lake to the
northeast of the canyon shortly
after “The Flood” (the “lot
of water, little time” model).
Grand Canyon is a monument
to remind us about God’s judgment
of a sinful world at the time
of Noah. Take time to meditate
on the awfulness of sin, but
also take time to marvel at
God’s gift of grace in salvation
through the Lord Jesus Christ,
our “Ark” of safety in the
coming judgment. Consider,
too, how God can make something
beautiful out of destruction,
even in our own lives.
Mount
St. Helens
On May 18, 1980, Mount St.
Helens erupted (triggering
an earthquake that measured
5.1 on the Richter scale).
The eruption buried 230 square
miles (596 km2) of forest
and simultaneously demolished
a number of secular geologic
theories. The world saw how
rapidly 200–600 feet (61–183
m) of sorted layers were deposited
by catastrophic mud and ash
flows. The resulting landslide
caused over 1,300 feet (396
m) of Mount St. Helens’ summit
and northern slope to be ripped
away. When you visit this
awesome reminder of God’s
power in nature, remember
that the Creator controls
it all. “He touches the hills
and they smoke” (Psalm 104:32).
God’s power, love, creativity
and sovereignty are seen in
all of His works of creation.
But the greatest display of
His character was seen when
He overcame our sin on the
Cross.
Mammoth
Cave & Carlsbad Caverns
As
you arrive at either of these
underground passageways, an
awesome world awaits below
your feet. Standard explanations
of cave formation and stalactite/stalagmite
growth assume long periods
of time. How then do you explain
the bat preserved in a stalagmite
at Carlsbad? Either it was
a mighty slow bat, or it doesn’t
take so long for cave formations
to develop! Time is not the
hero of this plot. If conditions
are right (plenty of water
and minerals), caves can form
rapidly. A newly formed cave
near Chihuahua, Mexico, has
crystals as large as telephone
poles. The Smithsonian reports
that these may have formed
in only 30–100 years (not
millions of years) because
of the extreme temperatures
and humidity! Read Genesis
7:11 to your family and think
about the awesome power of
“The Flood” of Noah’s day.
Niagara
Falls
What
a place! It is hard to grasp
the volume of water thundering
over the Falls—more than 600,000
gallons (2,271 kl) per second
at its greatest flow. With
this amount of water pounding
against the shale and limestone
on the river’s bottom, Niagara
Falls has actually eroded
over 7 miles (11 km) backward
from its original location
downstream. Some say the Falls
are being cut back in places
up to 5 feet (1.5 m) per year
at today’s erosion rate. But
what if there was even more
water flowing over the Falls
in the past? This would have
been possible soon after the
post-Flood Ice Age as glaciers,
thousands of feet thick, liquified.
This great amount of melted
ice would have cut the Falls
much more quickly. The scenery
of Niagara Falls is picturesque,
but even more astounding is
the evidence for a global
Flood and its after-effects.
There are many tourist “dis”-tractions
that will compete for your
vacation dollars at Niagara
Falls. But we highly recommend
the simple and wet boat tours
departing from the Canada
side of the border. It’s an
unforgettable experience!
Dave and Mary Jo Nutting
operate Alpha Omega Institute.
AOI encourages people of all
ages to grow in their relationship
with God as they discover
the truths of creation. AOI
offers Creation Vacations,
Discover Creation seminars,
camps, children’s ministry,
creation teaching curriculum
and training.
This article is modified
from an article which originally
appeared in Think & Believe,
Vol. 10(3), a publication
of Alpha Omega Institute.
For more information contact:
Alpha Omega Institute, P.O.
Box 4343, Grand Junction,
CO 81502, or visit www.DiscoverCreation.org.
