Hostages

Memorial Day weekend Wilbur and Jose took Sophia and I hostage. After a 2.5 hour trip, they held us captive at East Fork Reservoir near Phillipsburg.

These were the conditions at the reservoir (6100 elevation) and at other locations nearby. These conditions were why Wilbur and Jose had to take Sophia and I hostage in order for us to come. Only a person a half a bubble out of level would willingly go camping in the snow!!! (Jose and Wilbur, this means YOU.)

Thank heaven the snow melted off later, the weather cleared, and the fish started biting.


Wilbur caught breakfast: two large rainbow trout. Finally, we were able to enjoy the spectacular view of the Pintlars that provide the backdrop for Wilbur's catch.

Jose had some bites, but threw his fish back. Jose has a personal vendetta against a fish called Walter that resides in the reservoir. According to Jose, Walter's dimensions are similar to the Loch Ness Monster. For him, it's Walter or nothing.



When they weren't blasting through snow drifts on their fourwheelers or terrorizing Wilbur and his relatives, Wilbur and Jose found time for a game of horseshoes.
Saturday afternoon, the rain invaded our camp and kept us all in side until the next morning. We had time for talk and a movie.

Sunday, all four of us drove across Skalkaho Pass. We saw magnificent scenery such as four feet of snow on the pass, Skalkaho Falls, and swollen creeks. Looping back toward camp on Rock Creek Road, we saw: a herd of 15 or so mountain goats, two bald eagles, a cow moose who stood by the rode and posed for about ten minutes, wild turkeys who also posed (one of which fully displayed in tail plumage for several minutes). And guess who didn't bring her camera. Yep. Me.

This trip highlighted the fact that Wilbur and Jose patronize the same fashion designer. I have it on good authority that this outfit, modeled by both Wilbur and Jose, made its fashion debut in Paris this spring. In an effort to cover his chagrine about wearing the same outfit as Wilbur, Jose tries to disgues himself as en elk. We stopped him and lured him back to his fourwheeler with cookies before he disappeared into the forest.

And so ends another fun weekend. Sorry there were no pictures of me as Eglantine requested. I told Wilbur to take one, but it was not on the camera when I downloaded. Hopefully, the old joke about breaking the camera isn't true.....

Scary Things

Here are some scary things that have happened to me and other things that scare me:

1) While fishing with my Dad and brother, I was left by alone by the waters of Trout Creek to dry after I fell into the creek. My Dad went down stream to fish, my brother went upstream to fish. A rattlesnake made its den under the Boulder where I was drying off. It came out and circled the rock, rattling at me.

2) Being chased into the trees by a bull when hiking.

3) Being stranded in hip deep snow. Gail and I were mislead by a sign when cross country skiing. After skiing for nine hours or so, I was so exhausted we had to stop. It was dark, and we were wet and cold. We didn't know if we could get out alive until we got a fire started.

4) Four Wheeling trails that tilt to left or right side and drop steeply down a boulder filled slope. Sorry Wilbur, but I am not an engine kind of person and can't figure out when the darn thing will tip over and when I'm O.K.

5) Hospitals. For any reason.

6) As a kid, needing to call my parents to come and pick me up from the Marlowe Theater and having the pay phone eat my dime.

7) Seeing the bone in my knee cap after I skinned my knee badly while riding a bike.

8) Having two guys try to separate me from the people I was with while shopping in Tiajuana.

9) Having my brother who was nine years older than me scream like a maniac when my mother told him to get up in the morning. And then having Mom tell me to go upstairs and wake him up.

10) Having the car slide backwards down an icy slope when I was pregnant with Orville.

Twice

Measure twice, cut once.
Think twice, speak once.

They Call It Boulder for a Reason

Last weekend we went camping near Boulder. Up in the mountains near the town, we found piles of huge, smooth, granite boulders everywhere. Now we know why they call it Boulder. While four wheeling, we also stumbled upon the aliens from the planet Xartac as you see in the above picture.

We made the discovery that cow manure, while associated with green house gases, can have some positive effects on planet earth.

Wilbur and José participated in ancient rituals, including trial by fire. Whenever we light a fire, we remember Boris, the Warlock, and Flash. Those guys know how to enjoy a fire!

This is Sophia, José's wife. She is every hunter's dream wife because she is blessed with binocular eyes. Before anyone else could see them, Sophia spotted six bull elk grazing in a field. They were so beautiful to watch running, jumping a fence, and disappearing into the trees a few miles away. One of the elk still had his rack.

José educated us on the scientific principles of fire. Scientists insist that fire is invisible; we are just observing burning gases. We cooked hot dogs and cake batter with fruit over the burning gases and the invisible fire. Then we made our hot dogs and cake invisible. We are talented.

This is our boulderish campsite.

This is a picture of José preparing his discourse on fire. The slide presentation came later in the afternoon.

Wilbur works hard and plays hard.

Some of the roughest riding of our trip happens when Wilbur unloads the four wheelers. We had a fun weekend!