Instead of rainy and wet and windy, my ride turned out pretty nice. It was windy, but I didn't get rained on. The sun had come out over the lake, most of the heavy rush-hour traffic was already gone and it was pretty fun riding through the puddles left behind. By the time I got home, the dark heavy clouds were moving on and I could see the green, green mountains. Spring is so short in the desert.
Rainbow - June 8, 2009
As I prepared to ride home from work on a blustery Monday evening, just certain that there would be tons of traffic, tons of rain and tons of wind, the first thing I saw was this rainbow! A cell phone picture just can't do it justice, it was beautiful. And the tiny white glow beyond the end of the street ahead is the state capital.
Instead of rainy and wet and windy, my ride turned out pretty nice. It was windy, but I didn't get rained on. The sun had come out over the lake, most of the heavy rush-hour traffic was already gone and it was pretty fun riding through the puddles left behind. By the time I got home, the dark heavy clouds were moving on and I could see the green, green mountains. Spring is so short in the desert.
Instead of rainy and wet and windy, my ride turned out pretty nice. It was windy, but I didn't get rained on. The sun had come out over the lake, most of the heavy rush-hour traffic was already gone and it was pretty fun riding through the puddles left behind. By the time I got home, the dark heavy clouds were moving on and I could see the green, green mountains. Spring is so short in the desert.
Hill AFB Air Show - June 6, 2009
My husband, the pilot, is a sucker for anything aviation. This week was Air Force Week and Hill AFB put on a FREE air show starring the Thunderbirds. We had gone to the Mountain Home AFB air show to see the Thunderbirds last September and to Twin Falls for the Navy's Blue Angels last July. I was suprised to see this semi-trailer showing demonstration aircraft. It shows the Tunderbirds, Snowbirds, and Blue Angels. I'd never heard of the Snowbirds - they're from the CANADIAN Air Force. And they're going to be at a show in San Diego in October.... Wouldn't that be fun!
RC aircraft on display - there were SO MANY of these little aircraft.
Thunderbirds in formation.
Beautiful Day for an Air Show. The news says there were about 300,000 people at the show on Saturday, and another 200,000 on Sunday. So we were there for the more crowded, less rainy day and it was beautiful!
Air Sickness Bag from McCall Smoke Jumper Aircraft. The Red Bag says "Sick Sacks" It has several individually labelled yellow "Motion Sickness Bag" envelopes, each of those containing a single air sickness bag.
The yellow envelope says, "MOTION SICKNESS BAG (For use during moments of stomach upset) If an upset stomach is anticipated, remove bag from this container and keep ready for use. Do not be embarrassed by this precaution as even veteran travelers are subject to occasional motion sickness."
RC aircraft on display - there were SO MANY of these little aircraft.
Thunderbirds in formation.
Beautiful Day for an Air Show. The news says there were about 300,000 people at the show on Saturday, and another 200,000 on Sunday. So we were there for the more crowded, less rainy day and it was beautiful!
Air Sickness Bag from McCall Smoke Jumper Aircraft. The Red Bag says "Sick Sacks" It has several individually labelled yellow "Motion Sickness Bag" envelopes, each of those containing a single air sickness bag.
The yellow envelope says, "MOTION SICKNESS BAG (For use during moments of stomach upset) If an upset stomach is anticipated, remove bag from this container and keep ready for use. Do not be embarrassed by this precaution as even veteran travelers are subject to occasional motion sickness." We spent some time at the Smoke Jumper plane and visited with the pilot and smoke jumpers. I asked a few of them to sing me the "Smokey the Bear" song, NO LUCK!
Chinese Dragon plane - one of my favorite paint jobs!
Chinese Dragon plane - one of my favorite paint jobs!
Perfect date - except that by the time we were ready for a cinnamon churro, all the booths had sold out. Next time!
Alaska Garden - June 2, 2009
During our last visit to Alaska (May-June 2008), I picked up this pattern and fabric as a souvenir. It is called "Alaska Garden" by Mt. Redoubt Designs. I LOVE the different flowers - in the left panel are lupine. In the center are fireweed. In the right panel are arctic poppies, sitka roses, chocolate lilies and Alaska's state flower the forget-me-not. I think the mountain in the background is Mt. Redoubt (the pattern didn't say) - which is the volcano that has been erupting this year.
It has taken me a complete year (on and off) to piece, applique, and quilt these wall hangings and I still need to decide how to make them display-ready. Right now they're on foam board frames, but I want James to help me make permanent wood frames. So I guess I can't say FINISHED IN A YEAR! But, close enough.
It has taken me a complete year (on and off) to piece, applique, and quilt these wall hangings and I still need to decide how to make them display-ready. Right now they're on foam board frames, but I want James to help me make permanent wood frames. So I guess I can't say FINISHED IN A YEAR! But, close enough.Willard Peak - May 30, 2009
This week, our Sunday drive happened on Saturday again. We'd gone to Ogden for a quick visit and ended up in Brigham City at Chad & Kelley's place. Uncle Glen and Craig were helping with the Honey Do's and gave us directions to a nearby road that would take us up Willard Peak. We stopped by Subway for some picnic supplies and headed out. There was still some snow on the mountains, but we thought the road might not be too bad.
Plenty of flowers. And tiny caterpillars coming out of their coccoons, I didn't take a picture, but you can see a picture at Sarah's blog that looks exactly like the caterpillars we saw.
And it was a fairly gray, threatening rain kind of day.
The Outlaw could use a rain-bath.
We didn't make it all the way to the top this time, a few switchbacks up the road there was a very large snowdrift blocking our way. Too big for 4-wheel drive, but the dirt bikers were walking their motorcycles across the snow! Lots of OHV traffic to watch out for, but still a perfect exploration.
On our way back home, we drove by the Ogden Temple.
Plenty of flowers. And tiny caterpillars coming out of their coccoons, I didn't take a picture, but you can see a picture at Sarah's blog that looks exactly like the caterpillars we saw.
And it was a fairly gray, threatening rain kind of day.
The Outlaw could use a rain-bath.
We didn't make it all the way to the top this time, a few switchbacks up the road there was a very large snowdrift blocking our way. Too big for 4-wheel drive, but the dirt bikers were walking their motorcycles across the snow! Lots of OHV traffic to watch out for, but still a perfect exploration.
On our way back home, we drove by the Ogden Temple.
Turkey - May 26, 2009
This handsome fellow was across the street from me as I rode the bike to work today. His buddy was down the street, safely inside a fenced-in field, making a gorgeous gobbling racket. I had stopped to watch him for awhile, but he was too far away to photograph. Then, just up the street was this turkey.
I wasn't gutsy enough (even though he seemed fairly used to people) to get closer to him. He kept fluffing out his feathers - and every time he fluffed he made a deep 'phhht' noise like when you put air into a tire. I think he must belong to one of the farms that I ride near, because I've heard and seen the turkeys from a distance before. But this was the first time I'd seen him on this other side of the road....
So, why did the turkey cross the road?
Memorial Day Weekend - May 23-25, 2009
Kathleen came down from BYU-ID for Memorial Day Weekend, so we planned a road trip! This time we went to Zion National Park near St. George, UT.
First, we drove around the Bountiful, UT temple.
.jpg)
And when we made it to St. George, we took a walk around the St.George Temple..jpg)
First, we drove around the Bountiful, UT temple.
.jpg)
And when we made it to St. George, we took a walk around the St.George Temple.
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg)
Since we didn't plan ahead for this road trip, we didn't have a campsite reserved anywhere. We tried Snow Canyon State Park - no luck. So we went back to St.George for dinner at the In-N-Out Burger. We tried Quail Reservoir campground - no luck. We got the next-to-last available site at Red Canyon BLM campground - lucky! And it was on our way to Zion National Park in the morning.
James in a sandstone 'hole' in the rock..jpg)
James in a sandstone 'hole' in the rock.
.jpg)
James taking in the view. .jpg)
.jpg)
Kathleen exploring our campsite..jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Near our campsite was a trailhead for an Anasazi site. We had to be careful on the hike because the camp host was hitting golf balls from his site out over the hillside. We found quite a few golf balls embedded in the red sand along the trail. The site turned out to be semi-excavated storage for corn and other crops.
.jpg)
Our tent borrowed from backcountry.com - a pretty nice campsite w/red sand for a tent site - very comfortable and not too cold. Especially compared to our April roadtrips.
Zion National Park! We got to the visitor center before lunch and made ourselves a parking space behind an RV in the RV parking. We got on one of the free tour buses - they run up and down the canyon with stops for hiking or picture taking. So we stopped at the Grotto and decided to hike to Angel's Landing. 2.5 miles to the top of Angel's Landing - 5.0 miles round-trip. No problem RIGHT?
Walter's Wiggles - switchbacks that have been reinforced due to the sheer number of hikers, short, but steep. (I stop to take a picture, Kathleen is almost out of sight (she's the person at the top, headed toward the tree in the middle) and James is just a 'wiggle' behind her - I don't catch up for a long time!)
.jpg)
Our tent borrowed from backcountry.com - a pretty nice campsite w/red sand for a tent site - very comfortable and not too cold. Especially compared to our April roadtrips.
Zion National Park! We got to the visitor center before lunch and made ourselves a parking space behind an RV in the RV parking. We got on one of the free tour buses - they run up and down the canyon with stops for hiking or picture taking. So we stopped at the Grotto and decided to hike to Angel's Landing. 2.5 miles to the top of Angel's Landing - 5.0 miles round-trip. No problem RIGHT?
Walter's Wiggles - switchbacks that have been reinforced due to the sheer number of hikers, short, but steep. (I stop to take a picture, Kathleen is almost out of sight (she's the person at the top, headed toward the tree in the middle) and James is just a 'wiggle' behind her - I don't catch up for a long time!)
Angel's landing is at the top of this ridge - only 1/2 mile to go!
The view from Angel's Landing - there is a lot of sky!
Kathleen at Angel's Landing
The three of us at the top! Time for lunch.
Coming back down from Angel's Landing, waiting for uphill traffic to go by, James & Kathleen find a place to rest with a view.
Another view of Walter's Wiggles on the way down.
Other things to see at Zion National Park:
Court of the Patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac, (Moroni) & Jacob (the lighter peak hiding behind Moroni on the right).
The cacti were in bloom.
Angels Landing -at the top of this huge rock.
Look how tiny the double-car shuttle buses are!
Hanging garden - where the water seeps from the surface into the earth, then out through the rock - 800-year-old water drips feeding these plants on the cliff wall.
The view from Angel's Landing - there is a lot of sky!
Kathleen at Angel's Landing
The three of us at the top! Time for lunch.
Coming back down from Angel's Landing, waiting for uphill traffic to go by, James & Kathleen find a place to rest with a view.
Another view of Walter's Wiggles on the way down.
Other things to see at Zion National Park:
Court of the Patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac, (Moroni) & Jacob (the lighter peak hiding behind Moroni on the right).
The cacti were in bloom.
Angels Landing -at the top of this huge rock.
Look how tiny the double-car shuttle buses are!
Hanging garden - where the water seeps from the surface into the earth, then out through the rock - 800-year-old water drips feeding these plants on the cliff wall.
Grilling dinner - we decided to eat before it got dark and before we left the park. There were some picnic tables near the Visitor Center, so we set up the grill and enjoyed the shade of a nearby tree.
On the way out of the park, we drove through a tunnel, built through the mountain. They had also drilled 'windows', so as you drove along through the tunnel, you'd come to a section with a view out into the park - pretty cool! The sign! James & Jessi
Kathleen and James
James
We camped - after dark - at a campground near Navajo Lake - it is a lake without a visible outlet. Instead, the water seeps out through lava formations under the lake and end up entering the nearby creeks some distance from the lake. It was much colder, and the ground was much harder at this elevation than the soft sandy campsite we had the night before!
On the way out of the park, we drove through a tunnel, built through the mountain. They had also drilled 'windows', so as you drove along through the tunnel, you'd come to a section with a view out into the park - pretty cool! The sign! James & Jessi
Kathleen and James
James
We camped - after dark - at a campground near Navajo Lake - it is a lake without a visible outlet. Instead, the water seeps out through lava formations under the lake and end up entering the nearby creeks some distance from the lake. It was much colder, and the ground was much harder at this elevation than the soft sandy campsite we had the night before!
On our way back to SLC, we stopped at Cedar Breaks National Monument - looked like a mini-Bryce Canyon, and it was chilly.
We also stopped at Brian Head Ski Resort on our way through - now we're determined to ski there sometime this winter.
Trail Map for Brian Head Ski Resort - James wants to explore some of the backcountry as well!
We made a special trip up the canyon from Beaver to explore Elk Meadows Ski Resort - and we couldn't find it! Not a single sign for Elk Meadows anywhere, but lots of signs for Mt. Holly Club. Turns out Mt. Holly Club bought Elk Meadows and during their remodel, had to shut down. So there hasn't been much lift-access since the 2001/2002 season.
The Elk Meadows trail map - notice how Mt. Holly Club 'whited-out' the Elk Meadows logo, but never got their own logo up. They planned to be a private ski resort - where only the club's members and guests could ski. So the residents of Beaver and surrounding area would have been unable to purchase a lift ticket. And then the club folded, so no fancy house development and no skiing.
Trail Map for Brian Head Ski Resort - James wants to explore some of the backcountry as well!
We made a special trip up the canyon from Beaver to explore Elk Meadows Ski Resort - and we couldn't find it! Not a single sign for Elk Meadows anywhere, but lots of signs for Mt. Holly Club. Turns out Mt. Holly Club bought Elk Meadows and during their remodel, had to shut down. So there hasn't been much lift-access since the 2001/2002 season.
The Elk Meadows trail map - notice how Mt. Holly Club 'whited-out' the Elk Meadows logo, but never got their own logo up. They planned to be a private ski resort - where only the club's members and guests could ski. So the residents of Beaver and surrounding area would have been unable to purchase a lift ticket. And then the club folded, so no fancy house development and no skiing.
Another successful roadtrip! Looking forward to exploring more of Utah as soon as possible.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)