Birthday and Ashfork - double the fun!

It was a busy week with moving Bean and Supe's stuff, visiting teaching, visiting a pack meeting and lots of cleaning.  On my actual birthday Paul and I went to dinner at Olive Garden and that very day they had started a 2 for $25 special which was great since we had a gift card for that much.  We had such good food.  After that we splurged with some of my birthday money and went to see Man of Steel.  It was such a fun evening.  Later in the week we got to take a rock trip over to Ashfork.  As always we stopped in at Jacob's Lake on the way there and back.  I love that place!  We didn't take off until almost 5 pm, so we didn't get to our favorite camp spot just this side of Williams until around midnight. In the morning we took a beautiful walk in the Ponderosa forest, breakfasted in Williams and went on to Ashfork and picked up our load. I love the scenery every time I go.  Rock trips are such a nice get away.  Once again we were able to combine business and fun stuff!  So glad Paul likes to have me along even when I do an awful lot of snoozing!  

If anyone wants to buy it, the DeSoto's Salon in Ashfork is for sale!  

Father's Day, June Birthdays, etc.

With so many father's and birthdays to celebrate in June, we decided to combine and conquer.  Last Monday evening we met in the shade beneath the Mulberry trees in front of Woodward school to celebrate Paul (Father's Day), Derek, Moss and me (birthdays).  We all brought a desert of some kind to share.  After presents and dessert, we headed over to play in the water at the Town Square.  It wasn't crowded and we all had a good time visiting and playing in the water.  My camera battery died, so I don't have many pictures of the fun...too bad.  

Weed crafted the little bike top center.  It was Paul's Father's Day present and had money that the kids had put in toward him buying a new bike clipped all over it.  

Wednesday/Thursday we headed up north to do many things - pick up Bean's stuff, visit the Weavers and Lillywhites and go to Paul's doctor appointment where he was finally able to pick up his leg brace, and pick up and drop off a dishwasher to the Randalls. It was a very productive trip!

It was cool to see the Payson and old Provo Tabernacle temples in progress, Eden and our Lego Tower, Noah riding his bike without training wheels and Sarai being silly.  Should have taken pictures at Lillywhites and Randalls - my bad.  

Saturday Paul and I took a hike up Forsythe Trail to the junction of the Blake and Gubler Trail.  We think it was about 9 miles round trip.  He was anxious to try out his leg brace.  It worked very well for him.  It was a beautiful day! 

The little be was determined to get into my pack while we were eating lunch.  Don't know what he hoped to find in there!  

Columbines in 3 colors were blooming.  The white ones looked like a fish when they were just about to open up.  Lots of other beautiful flowers were out too.  I have decided that Columbines are my favorite flower (any color) and Aspens are my favorite tree.

Silver Arrow, bike Zion, camp Brian Head - Week #3

It's been another busy week of various cleaning projects; also worked some in the community garden spot we are lucky enough to have access to.  Added fun by doing another business plus fun outing for a date.  We drove over to deliver/pick up some stone at Silver Arrow Stone in Fredonia.  It is a fascinating stone yard where they do lots of specialty cutting for us.  The owners, Roger and Larry are really cool.  I just love looking around at all the beautiful stone work they do. After that we drove on over to Zion Park and came in the East Entrance.  Love that drive through the park.  We went clear down to the Visitor's Center and then unloaded the bikes from the back of the truck and road the Pa'rus Trail to the Junction and then on up the road to the Temple of Sinawava. We ate a dinner snack by the river and then road back down.  It was about 19.4 miles and there were almost no people there.  The trail and road were cool because of cloud cover and being in the shadow of the canyon walls.  We stopped here and there to take pictures, explore and cool off some in the river.  

They have some cool equipment that they use to work the stone.  

Snapped pictures out the window on the way down the canyon.  Tunnel sequence - going in, picture out a window and coming out.  

The wall that I am leaning on is one the we replaced twice - each time they were knocked out by landslides blocking the river and causing it to get way out of its' normal channel.  

Friday afternoon we put the gear in the truck and headed up to Brian Head and went camping in one of our favorite spots up by High Mountain.  It was spectacular!  Green, flowers and magnificent scenery everywhere you looked. There were still snow patches here and there too.  Only saw a couple of four-wheelers and a Jeep pass by the whole evening after we set up camp.  Had the mountain to ourselves.  Paul cooked up a delectable dinner of chicken and vegetable BBQ stew and cornbread.  We added applesauce and had hot chocolate for dessert.  Took a beautiful walk, watched a movie and hit the sack.  It was perfect weather and no bugs.  In the morning we drove up to enjoy the view at High Mountain and then came back and had a great breakfast of hot Muesli/Greek yogurt/fruit/toast and more hot chocolate. Then we cleaned up camp and enjoyed more beautiful views driving home via Cedar Canyon and then took the road past Kolob Resevoir home.  It was what Paul wanted to do for Father's Day, and I lucked out because its what I wanted to do too...and he likes to do the cooking when we camp! 

Loved the bearded, grass growing tree and so many other flowers!

Views at High Mountain - too much early morning sun for very good pictures.

A tree with many eyes, ahh...that was good food, mountain meadow and Kolob Reservoir

Campsite and nearby views

Red Cliffs, Sand Hollow, water fun, Kolob Fingers, Crawdad Canyon - Week #2

Having another good week - got the strawberry jam made, outside windows and screens washed, silk plants cleaned, made it to the temple.  Got to have a sleep over with Kennis, Gaige and Koen while Ferf and Ryan celebrated their anniversary.  We got all of the fun we could out of our time together...they were pretty well worn out when they went home I think.  First off while we waited for Paul to get done at work we played Candy Land and they learned why their mother hates the game.  I got sent back to Mr. Mint about 3 times.  When Gaige and Kennis had won twice (they started over and caught up and passed Koen and I) we decided we had had enough already!  Then it was off to Red Cliffs for a picnic, crawdad fishing, a hike and playing in what water was left.  It was lots of fun and so pretty!  On the way home we stopped at Quail Lake and skipped rocks in the lake.  We also stopped of to go up on top of the newly refurbished tank on Skyline.  Too dark for pictures.  In the morning we made it up to feed the ducks and were excited to see some turtles and fish.  They were hungrier for our bread than the ducks.  After that we made a visit to the Town Square to cool off.  It was a lot of fun cram packed into a short time!  

Paul had to go up to New Harmony on Thursday afternoon to bid a job.  I tagged along and convinced him (it was pretty easy) to drive up the road at Kolob Fingers to see the sights.  It was a perfect evening and we found a little trail at the top - Timber Creek Overlook - and walked it.  There were such awesome views and there was no one else on the trail.  It was great!  I love it when we can combine business and fun stuff!

Saturday morning - we did more work at the stone yard.  Got another load of junk pallets - about a ton - hauled to the dump.  We got lots of other stuff done too.  I had a first.  Paul left me there to work while he was hauling a load to the recycling center.  He had me loading junk rock into the bucket on the forklift and gave me a very quick lesson in forklift driving before he left.  I got it all started and in gear, but when I pushed on the gas it just wouldn't move either forward or backward, just sat a revved.  My phone was in the truck so I couldn't call him....so I just turned it off.  When I reported my failure he showed me this button with a "P" on it - "P" is for parking break...duh. So after that I did haul my load of junk over to the junk pile and was able to follow instructions to be able to successfully dump it.  Yea!


(zip line pictures coming soon!)


Saturday afternoon we got to go up and do the zip lines at Crawdad Canyon.  Supe was there working and he and his co-worker helped us have a great ride!  It was a little scary, but so fast you didn't really have time to stress about it.  After that we went down and walked in the stream in the canyon and even met Fio and his wife where they were setting up one of their fancy dinners.  It would be fun to participate sometime...when I'm feeling very well to do.

June Family Feast of the Fast Over

Last Sunday's gathering at Moss and Christie's for a dinner of Kahlua Pork with rice, veggie tray, fruit salad and more ice cream novelties than we needed, was great!  I handed off my camera to Kaebri and Kennis and they took some fine shots.  We missed a few people who were out of town or at work.  Love getting together and catching up.  Thanks for hosting Moss and Christie.  (At the end Brenden was so proud to show us that he could ride his bike without training wheels.  Good job Brenden! Noah and Eden have made that transition this year too.)

Week #1 - Bike Snow Canyon, Camp Browse

Decided I would try to balance my adventuring desires with getting some projects done around the house too.  No one else may notice that the freezer got defrosted or that the blinds, curtains and inside windows are cleaner, but I will know it and it will make me feel good.  Paul and I also loaded up the truck and trailer with 1.7 tons of old, broken up pallets and hauled them to the dump as part of getting his yard cleaned up and moved to a new location.  I feel good about getting these things done.  I also feel good about taking some rides and walks over the Red Hill, taking a date ride with Paul up the canyon (gravel road) in Snow Canyon.  It was a beautiful evening and the pretty hard uphill getting there was worth it for the views and for the half the time downhill coming back down with the shadow of the cliffs making it very nice and cool.  After delivering some stone out in Dammeron Valley on Friday evening we wanted to take a picnic out that way, but every place we checked out was really hot and gnatty, so we came home, threw our gear in the Toyota and went out toward Browse to go camping.  Our chosen spot by the Sequoia tree was taken, so we came back down and found a great place by the confluence of Harmon and Mill Creeks.  It was cool, quiet and very beautiful. We did have a little problem with our air bed.  It just kept losing air really fast and we found it had a pretty big hole.  We patched it, but it held about long enough for us to fall asleep and then went flat.  We woke up sleeping on the ground...but I slept well anyway.  We took a little walk and then headed home to work in the stone yard.  It has been a good week and I have thought of several other chores that will be good to do next week.  I know I will be able to think of some adventures too.  

Only had my phone camera - lots of flowers and greenery - so pretty.

Skyrocket, Wild Rose and White Lupine, Oak and Maple, Purple?, Palmer's Penstemon

Lots of water, green and blossoming going on made for a very beautiful camp out.  

Equestrian Trail with Borrowfolks

We are such last minute people, but we have fun even so.  We called up the Borrowfolks bright and early to see if they wanted to hang out today and they were available, so we came up with a plan.  We decided Pine Valley was a good option - not too far away, but quite a bit cooler.  We were happy to be able to share the Equestrian Trail with them.  We did the car shuttle thing so we would only hike it one way.  It ended up being about 4.5 miles.  We just moseyed along enjoying the sites and frequent Lemonhead stops to keep us going strong. When we finished we ate lunch by the stream and then headed back to the house for Sneaky Pete's to celebrate a good hike.  Grandpa and Grandma were then ready for a nap, so the fun had to end.  Thanks for sharing the day with us Borrowfolks.  Happy Memorial Day!  Love this country where we can enjoy the freedom to spend time with family as we choose.

Stops along the trail for pictures and to sniff the vanilla smell in Pondorosa trees

It's pretty hard to see, but there are some little chicks following the momma turkey.  Koen really liked the empty Paper Wasp nests that he found laying along the trail.

Relaxing by the stream for lunch 

School's out celebration camp out at Pine Valley

We had planned to take that grand kids on a camp out for the end of school, but things didn't work out, so at the last minute we just went ourselves.  It ended up being a really great camp at such a beautiful place.  We went up Whipple Trail and then took off on an unnamed spur that we love.  I call it the Waterfall Trail.  This time of year the water is really flowing and the plants are coming out in all of their green and blossoms and just getting started.  We ate dinner at the stream before we headed up the trail.  We set up camp, walked around some to enjoy the sites, watched our movie and then hit the sack.  It was a full moon, but I didn't see it because it was cool enough that I kept even my head under cover all night.  In the morning we finally got out of the sleeping bag and cooked hot Muesli and added yogurt and fruit, cinnamon chip toast and hot chocolate.  It was really yummy and warmed us right up.  After cleaning up camp we hiked down a little trail enjoying all the scenery.  Then we decided to start from the other end of this trail which we have never done before going to the point that we usually stop which is at the Lion's Lodge. We finally found out this trail's name - its called the Equestrian Trail and starts at Whipple trail head and goes to the Forsythe trail head and is about 4.5 miles long.  All told we probably ended up doing about 9 or 10 miles.  It was pretty level so Paul didn't have problema with his knees or just kept quiet about it.   We got done about 2 pm and then stopped at the little Pine Valley Visitor's Center and ate lunch on one of their picnic tables.  On the way home we stopped in at Veyo Pies and got our free pie to have after Sunday dinner.  We had a really good time and enjoyed doing a bit of a refresher course on flower and tree identification while we hiked.  We just think we know them and the season is over and we forget them and have to refresh our brains yet again.  Is that Douglas Fir or Sub Alpine Fir, Rocky Mountain or Utah Juniper, Mountain Birch or Mountain Alder, Lupine or Larkspur, Engleman or Blue Spruce?  We are sure about Ponderosa and Limber Pine.  Whatever they are, we love them all!

Waterfall after waterfall

And more water

Found a Robin's nest, termites, Marcell Annie Schmuts of 1939 and flowers popping up all over the place.

Our camp site and what looks like a scout shelter built for the Wilderness Survival merit badge.

Found old CCC project parts from August 4, 1933.

Beautiful trail and trees of interest.  Found this funny old sign stashed away in a Pinyon tree.

Sat beneath the flag in this beautiful setting to eat our lunch.
So grateful for a free land where the Gospel could be restored.
Thankful for those people who have given their time and even their lives to keep it free.
We need to do our part to keep it that way.

Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written.  Ether 2:12

Zion - Hidden Canyon's arch

Last year I hiked this trail with Lynne and somehow totally missed this arch along the way.  Felt like a real dumb-head. I wasn't going to be satisfied until I did see it.  I tried to go up there earlier this year, but there was so much ice on the trail that it was totally out of the question.  Walking up was bad and walking down was even worse.  So, I decided this would be my get out of school celebration hike.  I just have to keep celebrating and celebrating even though I love school.  Anyway, today after getting a bunch of other stuff done I got a late start to go up there.  I got behind a very timid driver who wanted to go 15 under the speed limit.  I was not too polite and pretty much rode his tail.  There was a long line of cars behind me that I know were feeling the same way and that double yellow line kept me from getting around him.  Finally he got annoyed enough with me that he pulled over and let us all past!  I'm not usually so awful...I hope.   Then the park was so full of cars that you had to park outside.  Luckily I did find a space just outside the entrance and did the walk in thing and caught the shuttle up to Weeping Rocks where the trail begins.  I finally got on the trail at 1:10 pm.  Even though the park was crowded, there really weren't all that many people up where I was going, so it was just fine.  I got to the arch at about 1:50.  It is really a neat little thing.  I got someone going by to take a pic of me there so I can prove that I finally found it!  I could only go a little bit further because they had the trail blocked of due to some species or another.  If there hadn't been a load of people at the end to see me do it, I probably would have kept on until I couldn't go any further.  It does turn technical later from what I have read.  I headed back down and on the way ate lunch up on a rock above the trail.  It was only about 82 and shady in the canyon and there was a breeze blowing, so it was very nice.  On the way down I went over to Weeping Rocks since I was right by it.  It was very pretty with all the water "weeping" down and lots of plants green and blooming.  Then it was back to the shuttle and heading for home.  Got behind another slow poke - I guess all these out-of-staters are here to enjoy the scenery and I should be more patient.  I was able to go around them eventually and made it home close to 5 pm.  It was such a nice day.  Not as nice as if Paul had been there of course.  If anyone wants to do this with me, I would be happy to take them. It has a few places where there are chains to hang onto, but it is not scary.  The info I found says this:  "2.2 miles round-trip to the canyon entrance.  Another half-mile to the arch and then most people continue through the canyon about .6 more miles."  The elevation gain is 1000 feet.  I breathe pretty hard on the way up, but it is lovely on the way down!

The little white spots on the upper right pic are actually water drops falling down.  The yellow flowers are Golden Columbine.  

  

Another year of school is over!

Today another year of school ended.  It's always bittersweet.  Some days you think you will pull out your hair if you hear that, "Teacher, he butted me" just one more time.  Today they all looked so cute all dressed up (except for a couple that forgot and they were cute too) and giving you hugs and telling you that they love you.  What could be so sweet as these cute little kids?  So much growth...so eager and excited and a little scared to go off to 1st grade.  It is so cute how they come back for years to get a stamp on their hand and say how much they loved kindergarten.  I also feel that familiar "school is out - yea it's summer" feeling so that I feel like I just have to do something to celebrate and can't even sleep being so excited for a whole summer off!  Lynne was sweet to give me a gift card to Olive Garden so Paul and I did go out to dinner!  She is great to work with, is patient when I mess up, and is a great friend that listens and understands when I just need that.  Between her and the kids I don't know how I could have a better place to work and I even get paid for being there.  Mrs. Tousa retired and I will miss her kind ways and wonderful example.  I hope she will find something to fill the void I know she will feel when school starts up again.  So until August - let the adventures, and house cleaning begin!