Vacation 09

A week ago we got back from vacation. The greatest thing happened before vacation. Wilbur got a nice bike! The first day we went for a eight mile loop on our bikes. It was a tough eight miles because of uneven roads and uphill. It was beautiful and fun, though. Wednesday we went looking for the old Chinese mines where they have ladder up the side of a cliff and waterfalls. We got really close, but the actual site might be on private property. When Jose and Sophia, and Linus and Lucy showed up we went treasure hunting at an old mine dump. There is no shortage of mines where we camped. There is one above our camp that is still operating. There were sign saying "No mineral entry" all over our campsite. I left my gold pan at home, so the sign posters didn't need to worry.

Lucy particularly liked prospecting. I think she has gold and sapphire fever. Later ,we rode to a lake where the big fish are rumored to be, but got rained out. Well, we were at 7300 feet, and it rains a lot up there. This summer it seems to rain a lot anywhere. I also posted a picture I took last night of a beautiful cloud. It was much more interesting in person from my vantage point in my rocker on my deck.

I might have to borrow some one's cute little kids, so I have something really fun to post about like the Silly Witch and Eglantine. I've seen lots of exhausted parents at church who would love to oblige I'm sure.

Forgetfulness can be Dangerous

Memory, or lack of it, can be a dangerous thing. For several years I have wanted to ride my bike from Cottonwood Lake to Blackfoot Meadows. A couple weeks ago Eloise, Hermione, and I decided to put this plan into execution. However, Wilbur had a repair job to do on the Blackfoot Meadows end, so we changed plans to ride the opposite way. No big deal I thought.

I had ridden to Blackfoot Meadows. I had ridden to Cottonwood Lake. They are both nice rides. Between Blackfoot meadows and Cottonwood Lake was the unknown. It took us 30 minutes to ride to Black foot Meadows. It took us 45 minutes to ride down from Cottonwood Lake. It took us three hours to ride, or should I say push our bikes, in between the two. We had a sweltering, mosquito infested, uphill, and difficult ride in between. Hermione reminded me that the reason I had always wanted to ride the opposite way was that Cottonwood Lake is a thousand feet higher than Blackfoot Meadows. We noticed this as we pushed our bikes up switchbacks and on top of a mountain. Being on top of the mountain made us a little more nervous when were heard thunder. And, we did not ride down a mountain to the lake. The lake was just about on top of the mountain.

After the ride, I talked to Colin Jenkins who had told me he had ridden this route. “Oh,” he said, “I’ve never ridden between B.F. meadows and Cottonwood Lake. I hiked it with the Boy Scouts.” Inattentiveness and memory loss can be a dangerous thing.

Guided Fishing Trip

I was going to tell you about our two floats on the Blackfoot river last weekend (eat your heart out), but I forgot my camera. A post is so much more fun with pictures. Instead this post is about my guided fishing trip. This trip was a birthday present from Wilbur, so it was originally supposed to be on my birthday. But since it snowed on my birthday, we rescheduled to July 14. Thank heaven! My friend Eloise came since Wilbur had to work. I got the idea he didn't want to come anyway.

Wilbur contracted with really nice man from church who is a professional guide and outfitter. I was pessimistic about catching anything because I usually don't. Well, Eloise and I caught at least 6 or so fish each. While we didn't get to keep the fish (code of the guides, I guess), we did get to keep the pictures we took of them. Most of the fish we caught were 17 inches long. I caught two 20 inchers. This was so cool. I learned so much: how to land a fish, improve my casting, feel when I have a bite, and "mend" the line. I also learned I have a tendency to daydream and miss that I have bite which would account for me not catching anything. I had a completely wonderful time.

The first fish I caught.

Eloise caught the first fish of the day.

This was a 22 incher I caught. I didn't like to only have a picture of a fish, so my compadres are in the picture.

The Fourth

We came down from the mountains and crossed the prairie to visit Eglantine, Boris, and Peanut for the fourth of July.

Grandpa and peanut found a game they both loved to play.

Eglantine, Hermione, and Peanut all love music. Eglantine has a beautiful piano we had not seen yet.

Boris had to work, so we only were able to see him for an hour. We were glad to see him, though. When it came time to go, some old lady that hung around with us on the fourth accidentally locked the truck where Wilbur habitually keeps his keys. Fortunately, Wilbur has Onstar. After climbing through the phone tree, remembering his password, divulging his truck color, and promising never to run over a gopher in the road on purpose or litter, Wilbur persuaded Onstar to unlock our truck for us. Thanks goodness we have that service!

We got home around 9:30 just before people starting setting off fireworks. I was worried Max would react badly to the fireworks by hitching a ride down the interstate with strangers. He did that last year. Fortunately, one of our new neighbors decided to emulate us by having a campfire outside. Also fortunately, they like Max and allowed him to hang out with them until we got home. We arrived just in time for the professional fireworks display and for our neighbors' who must have sent a wad up in smoke. Hope your fourth was happy too!

She Speaks Dog

One of the delights of our having our visiting foreigners was getting to know Flash and Prudence's daughter Sparkle at age 6. I would have posted a better picture, but Sparkle has decided she doesn't want her picture taken. This was the best picture I get get without her knowledge and with the use of a zoom lens.

Sparkle loves our chocolate lab Max. Max must realize she is a sympathetic spirit because he confides in her. We would hear the things Max was saying often during the day:

Max is sad because we are leaving

Max says he wants in

Max says he likes sleeping in a tent

Max would like a hot dog

After listening to Sparkle, I realized that I am ignorant of a lot of aspects of Max's life. For instance, I know nothing about Max's spiritual life when Sparkle asked, "Does Max fast?"

It dawned on me that Max has never indicated one way or another about his artistic preferences when sparkle wanted to know, "What is Max's favorite color?"

And I saw that I have been pretty cavalier about remembering special occasions when Sparkle asked, "When is Max's birthday?"

Although she loves Max, Sparkle disapproved strongly of his eating habits when she found out he doesn't like vegetables. I loved getting to know Sparkle at age 6 and Max is suffering AWS (attention withdrawal syndrome from LOTS of attention).

Blessings

It is a great blessing to visit with our foreign family. The only thing that could be better is if the Texans and Boris were here. However, I am glad the Texans put their baby first and stayed home to take good care of her.

We were rained out camping, so we cooked our hotdogs in the fireplace at home.

Outing

We saw this headstone near an old cow camp.

Looking into the Madison Range

Ruby Reservoir

This week we went to Ruby Reservoir. The fishing was lousy, but the four wheeling and flowers in the mountains were wonderful. The Ruby Valley is really, really green. Although I am getting an idea about the Ruby Valley and Ruby Range. Since we have been four wheeling, we have seen two rattlesnakes - both times near Sheridan. On Friday was saw a four foot rattler in the road. Fortunately, we were in the truck. We stopped while it rattled at us and disappeared toward the creek. I wish I could have zipped out my camera out fast enough to get a picture.

We enjoyed visiting with Jose and Sophia and then zipped home for a restful Sabbath. While our trip was fun, it sure doesn't approach all the cute kid stories my kids have to tell. Pretty soon you will have time to camp on the weekends , but no cute stories. ENJOY!

Wet & Wild

This weekend Eglantine, Eglantine's friend, Ariel, and Hermione ran the 5 K in a local race. June 6 arrived with rain that eventually turned to snow, for the coldest Governor's Cup ever. I baby-sat Peanut because I was afraid he would freeze sitting for a long time in his stroller. It was 36 degrees and he wouldn't be warm from exercise like the runners. Poor Peanut he had a few hard moments being away from his Mom and Dad. I found out he likes Sponge Bob. I also found out Sponge Bob is kind of a crude cartoon. I wonder why producers of children's shows want to have their characters talk about boogers etc.? This teaches children great social behavior, I suppose?

After the race, we ate at the Real Food Store and took Ariel to the Pan Handler. Next time she comes, we will go to some of the other stores.

Today arrived kind of cloudy and wet, so our new neighbor took this opportunity to burn some of the trees he knocked down to build his house.

Mischievous Max

The other day I just caught myself before I said, "Would you pick those matches up off the floor, so Max doesn't get them and start lighting fires?" I have decided that there is no reason an 80 pound chocolate lab needs to spend all day inside the house during nice weather. I have been demanding he spend the better part of the day outside. The result is that Mischievous Max is often up to no good.

He swiped the neighbor's deer head off his porch. Twice. (Don't ask me why our neighbor still has the head of the deer he got last hunting season. Maybe he wants the antlers. Maybe his wife finally demanded he get it out of the freezer?) He adorns our yard with all kinds of gross stuff. You'll feel better if I don't describe it. Suffice it to say that I had to have him wormed. I really don't want to know where he got the unfamiliar yogurt containers, but I hope none of the neighbors saw him do it. They might welcome his next foray with a shotgun.

When not in search of food, he is digging spots in the lawn to lay in or rototilling my flower beds in search of bones he buried last fall. The only mischief I acquit him of is the peach pit I found buried in the raspberries when we moved them Saturday. Orville probably did that.

The Expert Hike

My hiking buddies and I found a new book with more hikes withing 20 miles of where we live. I chose one near a Lake where we used to take our boat. Most of the hikes are not trailheads, or even trails, so we end up bushwacking a lot. The book stated that even book authors could get lost on this week's hike. The author recommened this hike for experts. So, I set a waypoint on my GPS and off we went

We enjoyed beautiful views.

We found a siphon from the gold mining days. My Greatgrandfather mined near here used a siphon for hydraulic mining. Do think...?
When we were confused about which way to go, we ran into Sacajewa to point out the correct way.

We enjoyed good company. Max is the most interesting conversationalist of our group. He is a very well read dog and can converse on a number of subjects. Max keeps us updated on the best new authors publishing. Additionally, he knows a lot of then history of the area and tells us stories about early-day pioneers as we hike.

We followed the siphon to this canyon. When the book directed us to climb up the canyon to continue the hike, we grasped the full meaning of an "expert" hike. We decided we are not experts.

As we tried to find a way out of the canyon, we ended up down by the river. There's never a boat around when you need one. We ended up having a VERY steep climb back up to the trail. Maybe that was where the six wood ticks Max, Hermione, and Eloise had came from.

We only hiked 3.29 miles, but we were exhausted at the end of the day.

The Ugly Apple Tree

Many moons ago, one of my precious children was eating an apple in the back yard. This child (Orville, I have information that YOU were the culprit) had the bright idea of planting a seed from the apple in my flower bed. Lo and behold, a little apple tree began grow. I let it grow because when something other than a weed starts to grow here, I don't have the heart to kill it. Besides, I was sure it would winter kill. Instead over the next several years it developed into a VERY ugly apple tree that I could not dig out. Wilbur assured me that he and his equipment were more than capable of dealing with a small apple tree. Yesterday, he removed it for me.

This is the punishment reserved for any other unauthorized seed planting in my flower beds. Orville, this means YOU.

Mother's Day Talks

I am so GLAD Mother’s Day has changed since the 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s. My mother used to detest Mother’s Day with a passion, and I don’t blame her. In those days, our Mother’s Day Sacrament Meeting would include at least one talk about someone’s “angel mother.” This woman slaved away her entire thankless life until she evaporated into a pile of dust that disappeared in a nasty thunderstorm. She never: rested, had one of her needs fulfilled, got anything she wanted, had a decent meal, had a dress that wasn’t a rag, or participated in one activity that was pleasant enough to warrant a smile on her face during her entire life. Oh, and she never complained. She sacrificed all so her kids would have a bag of marbles to play with. And this is what truly worthy mothers should aspire to.

Usually, the second speaker would weave a tale about a mother who: never raised her voice, always wore a dress and make up, kept an immaculate house, even though she had ten boisterous children, was adored as the President of the Community Garden Club, was a fabulous cook, and on, and on…. After one such talk, Gail Blodgett looked at me and said, “Just once I wish a speaker would say, ‘My mother yelled at me, but I loved her anyway.’”

My Mom and I would leave church in a depression so deep the Grand Canyon seemed like a shallow little furrow. Whew! Truth is always better than a lie. To have your kids know you have faults but love you anyway is so much better than to have someone cast you as a paragon.

She Mastered It

While waiting for the graduation ceremony to begin, Wilbur contemplates becoming a vegetarian.

Hooding Ceremony.

Hermione waiting in line to get her degree.

Grandma and Hermione.

The rest of the family.

Proof of mastery.



Ready to take the bull by the horns.