Blog Challenge

I am having a really hard time keeping up with Amanda's blog challenge. I only posted the one blog, and that has been several weeks ago. So, I guess I have to start all over and count this as week one. Today, on my list of things to do, was go and check on my Griz Country letterbox to see how it made it through the winter. It was nice and dry, not wet at all. I'm going to try and check on Bad Hair Day Float tomorrow afternoon. After going to breakfast with several friends, I took Blew and headed down the Box Canyon Trail to check on Griz. What a beautiful day it is! I wore a jacket, but ended up tying it around my waist because it got plenty warm. We saw many drift boats and one raft going down the river, but only ran into two groups of people out hiking. On our way back we stopped at the Box Canyon campground to say hello to the campground host who told me he is lonely when he came in to pick up his mail yesterday. So far, he only has one person camping there. When we got home from the walk, I mowed my lawn, then decided I would mow Dion's lawn too because she had to go to town, and who knows when we will have a clear day again. Then I made my dump run, and now I am ready to get to work on some of the letter boxing things I have yet to complete for the event I am hosting here in Island Park in two weeks. So, for my photo for this blog, I am going to post a picture I took today of Blew on our walk. And one of the waterfall that is near the Griz Country plant.

Blog Challenge

Okay, Amanda told us that if we accepted her blog challenge to do a quick post telling what we hope to accomplish with the challenge. Like usual, I just jumped right in and posted the first blog of the challenge. So here is my quick post.

I plan to get into the habit of blogging once a week so that my friends and family who are far away can share in my adventures! I know you all wish you could be here in "God's Country" with me...so hopefully through my blog you will be.

View from the top of Angel's Landing

At Angel's Landing

Going back down

Looking down at the easy part!

I am just trying for the twelve weeks to get into the habit. Then I will see if I like it enough to continue. And, I couldn't resist adding some more pictures from my Angel's Landing hike. Look where we are going to take you next year, Amanda!

Birthday Vacation

Echo, Utah, Cemetery

Carma and I recently returned from our annual birthday vacation. And, because Amanda is getting a little testy about my starting on her blog challenge, here is my recent vacation blog. Happy, Amanda?

Muddy Shoes in Ogden

Any of you who have read Carma's blog know that we went to St. George for our birthday this year. Mostly because neither of us could afford much of a vacation, and we could stay in my time share in St. George for nothing more than what I am already paying. So all it cost us was gas and food.

We letterboxed all along the way.  I love this picture at Echo cemetery because I angled it just right to catch the sun coming through a hole in the rock.


We did most of our letterboxing the first two days in the Ogden area. It was wet and rainy, and we hoped for better weather in St. George.

Square Goats

The next four clues are in this picture.

Little Lizard

Dinosaur?

On our first long hike (the clue said 4 miles round trip, but they had changed the trail so it ended up being 7 miles + what we added on looking for the boxes) we only got one box out of the three that were supposed to be there. And, this was not one of my long adds--just for the record. I did misread the clue, so we probably added another mile that we shouldn't have. We spent a lot of time looking for a man with his hands hanging down with a lobster to the left and a 13 above him. There were plenty of men with their hands hanging down. But the clue just before that was to look for square goats. Then we would have been on the right path. On this same hike, we saw a rock that someone had stuck smaller rocks in that made it look like a dinosaur head. And, I managed to catch a couple of shots of a cute little lizard. One of the many we saw.

Angel's Landing towers above Carma

Walter's Wiggles

Angel's Landing from Scout's Landing

Before we left, I made a goal to climb Angel's Landing in Zion National Park. Two years ago I would never have attempted this. I am afraid of heights, but not extremely terrified. I did make it to the top, but I can tell you that coming back down was the hard part. When you are climbing up, you don't constantly see how far it is to the bottom of the canyon. On the way down, however, it is always in front of you. I made it by concentrating on where I was going to put my foot next. I will admit that even though the top of Angel's Landing is relatively flat, every time I put my camera up to my eye to take a picture I was overcome by vertigo. My knees would start shaking and I got sick to my stomach. I put my camera into my backpack to go down. I carried it on my neck strap on the way up, but I didn't want to have to worry about it on the way down. It was a good decision, but I wished I had turned around and taken 360 degree visuals on the way up because I really missed some awesome photos.

See the chains?

Sister's Landing

One of the tough parts

The top is in sight!

That hike, and the hike in Red Canyon, were highlights of our vacation. But, we letterboxed every day, also. I loved the box that was placed in a major bookstore. The most amazing thing about letterboxing is the places you see. We never would have hiked Red Canyon if there hadn't been three letterboxes placed there. Even everyday places become exciting when you are looking for treasure. I do agree with Carma that the Farmington letterboxes were amazing. Not only were they excellent carves, but the clues were great. We even met the letterboxer who placed the first box we found on our trip to Tennessee last year. CW Sunseeker was out with her niece, Flowergirl, checking on one of her plants and picking up a few others. We actually met twice, and had been to three of the same places that day.

Looking as straight down as I could get.

 

Youngest niece and youngest nephew

After we returned to Idaho City, we had an Easter dinner at my parent's house in Boise. Most of the family was able to attend. I'll be back for G's first birthday party on May 21, 2011. 

Waiting for the sky to fall...okay, the roof, actually.

Look, Mom! I'm Queen of Dion's hill, too!

Is today going to be the day? I really wish my garage roof would slide soon. I have been locking Blew up in the garage so that she (or her chain) won't get buried, but it is taking its own sweet time. Blew probably wishes it would happen, too. She hates being locked up. If it doesn't slide by the time I leave for Idaho Falls around noon today, I will take her with me. She won't have much fun, waiting in the car for me to do my shopping and then a temple visit, but I wouldn't feel right about locking her up in the garage for over eight hours, either. At least this way I will be able to take her on a couple of short walks. Slide, roof, slide!

Free Snow...Come and Get Yours Today!

When I came home for lunch today, there was no sign of Blew, just her chain stretching up over the snow by the side of the house and out of sight. I went inside and put on my snow boots, snow pants and gloves, because I knew she was probably tangled up out back somewhere. I did look out the sliding glass doors (which I haven't used since at least December) to see if I could get to her easier that way. I can't figure out how to rotate the picture in blogger, so you will have to turn your head sideways to see why I couldn't go out the sliding glass door to rescue her! (I rotated the picture on the disc, but it didn't load that way.) So, I climbed the hill and set off out back. Sure enough, she had gone around the post holding the bird feeder and not just once! Evidently she found out she was stuck and kept trying to untangle herself. She just doesn't understand that you have to go the opposite way around to get undone.

After I got back from having my teeth cleaned, I got my camera and went back out to take pictures. Blew thought we were playing and she romped around and rolled in the snow. I tried to get a picture of how long the hair is on the bottoms of her front feet, but it didn't turn out too well. You can tell she is having fun, though. It is nice to be able to see the 5 foot marker on my snow pole. The snow has melted a little bit--and yes, that is snow falling as I am taking pictures.

Anybody want some snow? Come and get it, I won't object!

The Countdown Begins!

I AM TIRED OF THE SNOW!!! This is a picture I had my carrier take of me last week standing by the snow pile in the back of our parking lot. She didn't quite get the top of the pile in, but you can tell we have a little bit of snow. Mormon Hill in the church parking lot is pretty amazing, also. Two years ago it was still quite high for Memorial Day Weekend. I'm hoping it will melt a little faster this year.
Okay, so I know that I have at least two and half more months of seeing the white stuff, but I am so ready for some green.
This year our birthday vacation is St. George, Utah, and the countdown has begun. Only 37 more days! Are you ready Carma?

Today celebrates two years of my successful weight loss journey. And yes, I still have a ways to go until I am down to where I want to be, but this is the first time a diet has worked for me continuously. :) So, I decided to be brave and post before and now pictures. I combined them so that they are side by side to more readily see the change I have made for the better. Here is to continued success!

Island Park lost an earthbound angel to the heavens yesterday. Kari Dalton lost her fight with cancer. She will be greatly missed by the entire community.

I was privileged to work with her for a few months in the Young Women's organization. She taught me so much. She established the after school program to give the children in this community opportunities that they would never have enjoyed if not for her unfailing determination.

The greatest thing she taught me was to look for the promise that God gives to us for each of His laws we obey. Every day as I read my scriptures, I look for His promises. Thank you Kari for giving me that insight.

I took this family portrait (with the two children still living at home) just over a year ago, near the end of Kari's first round of chemo. During her entire battle, she always showed us a positive outlook and absolutely glowed with the spirit of God that dwelt within her.

Although I am glad she will no longer suffer the pains of this world, I sorrow for those she left behind. May her memory always be in our hearts.

I Learn to Snowshoe, Thanks to Blew

I thought I had before and after pictures of the house. Before the roof got shoveled, and after. Evidently I have managed to lose them somewhere on my computer. I took this picture yesterday after my adventure with Blew.
We started out the day with nary a care in the world. When I opened up the garage door I knew that I would have to snow blow the driveway, but decided to take Blew on her walk first. She was excited because I didn't put the leash on her. I noticed some moose tracks as we went by Bart's house, but she didn't even take an interest in them. Too glad to be running free and bouncing all over the place, I guess. We went around the sheds and she obeyed me every time I told her to come,
amazing in itself. Don't let that innocent look she is giving the camera fool you. Notice she is on her chain....

I began to snow blow the driveway and Blew took off again around the neighborhood. I wasn't worried, because she always runs around while I am cleaning the driveway. I finished, and turned the snow blower over to my next door neighbor. I started my usual walk to pick up the kid (she usually comes running to go on another walk). No Blew. As I circle around to Bart's house I hear barking off in the distance. I know what that means. Blew is trying to play with a moose. I can tell she is over near the bone yard (description given by the forest service employees to the place where they keep stuff that can be used somewhere, sometime). It is only about 1/4 of a mile away across the pasture...an impossible distance because I have no snowshoes and I really can't cross country ski worth beans. I call, knowing that she will NOT obey me this time, her adrenaline is up and running. While I'm calling, I'm wondering if there is any possibility that I can get to her by following the trail the guys have made with their sleds out to the groomed trail. I head over to the sheds, calling off and on, hoping she might listen...but she is too excited to have a playmate. I start up the trail from the sheds and make it past the first two fire crew cabins. Then I have to venture off into the snow to get to the bone yard. The snow is only five feet deep on the level, but it is way too warm of a day. I call some more, then head back...trying to figure out how I am going to get the silly dog before she gets stomped.

I went home and drank my vitamins and minerals because I knew I was going to need something to fortify me as I tromped through all that snow. I walked back over to Bart's and climbed this mountain of snow on the east side of his garage--following the tracks of Blew and the moose. They went into his backyard, and I looked over to the bone yard and could make out Blew running around in the trees. I climbed back down, wondering what I was going to do. As luck would have it, Jim had decided to plow the roads. As I came down the mountain of snow, he was stopped on the other side of the duplex. So I asked him what he would suggest. He said to climb in the truck and we could go over to the warehouse and get the extra snowshoes that were hanging on a wall that he knew about. We went and got the snowshoes (he had to show me how to lace them up), then I went home and got my cross country ski poles to help with my balance. These shoes were a cross between the old wide type and the newer, skinnier snow shoes.
As you can see from the picture above (all of these pictures were taken after the fact), I managed to traipse across the pasture, following the moose and Blew's tracks. That little greenish oblong in the left of the picture is part of the weather station. Blew finally came when I called her, she just had to tell me all about her fun playmate. Simple enough to catch her in that deep snow.
Instead of following our trail back to Bart's house, I headed over to the warehouse. That showed me what snowshoeing across an untracked area is like. Even with the shoes on, I would sink clear up to my knees.

It doesn't look very far, when looking at this picture. But, the distance from that trailer up to where I am standing took three stops to catch my breath. It didn't help that I only had a four foot leash for Blew. When she followed behind me, she would step on the shoes and when she tried to break trail in front of me, she couldn't get very far ahead. When we got to the warehouse, I took off the snowshoes and walked them out to Jim (who was plowing the front parking lot). Then we continued on home, where I hooked Blew up to her chain and went inside to get my camera. By this time it was only 9:45 a.m. I was exhausted, but, needless to say, I had a blast! Snowshoes are now on my wish list...along with that kayak. Sigh.


Thanks, Blew Girl, for giving me a fun new experience!