Yes! More blog updates!!! We're still not caught up, but we did get everything through the end of August added. Once again, we are pre-dating these so it appears as though we posted them in a timely manner. Call it cheating if you will :) Enjoy!
Several of you have been inquiring about a blog update. Well, here it is. We are going to go back in time and update the adventures of Ron, Lori, Lacey and Riley. We have had many fun adventures it would be sad if I didn't update!!! :) We will be pre-dating these entries, beginning back where we last left off: Jun 2010. Enjoy!
We sent off our baby girl off to her first day of kindergarten on a cold, stormy Monday. I think the sky was feeling the way I felt that day. I was so glad she had her friend Gwenneth on the bus with her. I had to keep it in and not let Lacey know how hard this day was on me. I still cannot believe she is old enough to go to school. Where did the time go? She loved her first day of school, and she has an incredible teacher, Mrs. Molloy. Lacey came home that day and told me she didn't have anyone to play with at recess, and it made me start crying it broke my heart to think she had no one to play with. She now has lots of friends to play with thank heavens. I do have to add, for the first couple of weeks Riley kept asking “Were did sissy go”?
We were volunteers at the second annual Take Back Utah Rally. The rally is a grass roots effort to “Take Back” control of Utah public lands from the control of the federal government. The parade started at Liberty park. We got to the park at 6 am because we had a volunteer assignment up at the State Capitol building so we needed to be at the front of the parade so we would be the first ones there. While we were waiting for the parade to start we ate breakfast in the park and went to Brian's house and hung out for awhile. Of course Riley and Lacey had to go and play on Brian's motorcycle. We paraded up to the Capital Building. People were in Jeeps, 4x4s, atvs, motorcycleshorses, mountain bikes, and even a few buses from a handicap outreach center. Lacey and Riley made it on the local news that night.
adventure days=1.0 work vacation days used=0 highway miles=30 off-highway miles=0 hiking miles=0
Ron, Jason, Riley, and a handful of guys from the Utah 4X4 Club did some work on the 4x4 road up to Forest Lake in American Fork Canyon. They surveyed conditions of the trail, repaired some broken fences, and blocked off some illegal bypass routes. Good job Ron! While there they came across thousands of tiny little Tiger Salamanders in the lake. They are supposedly a very rare type of salamander that only lives in a few unique places. They also found one big, ugly regular salamander, and a huge dragonfly. There was this strange moss stuff growing the lake, turning the entire lake a bright lime green.
adventure days=0.5 work vacation days used=0 highway miles=50 off-highway miles=16 hiking miles=0.5
We went with Lori's friend Rachel to her parents house in Castledale, UT for the Castledale Pageant, parade, and carnival. It was a lot of fun. The kids had fun running after the candy that was thrown to them from the people in the parade. After the parade we went to the carnival at the park. The Kids enjoyed the bouncy slide and the fun food. The kids went repelling. I was so proud of Lacey it looked so scarey but she did so good and didn't get too scared.
That night we went to the Castledale Pageant. It was fun a ton of fun. The stage is a miniature pioneer village on the hillside. Before the pageant started you could wander around the "stage"/village. There were pioneer activities like milkings cows, petting a donkey, and fun pioneer crafts. The pageant was incredible. Man what the early saints went through I am so grateful for them, they are amazing wonderful people.
The next day on our way home we went through the San Rafael Swell. What a beautiful place. We went to the Wedge Overlook where we met up with some guys from the Utah 4X4 Club. We had planned to drive down through a place called Fuller Bottom, but after we forded the San Rafael River the road was extremely washed out. It was likely that we could have got the Jeep through there, but there is no way we could have got our friend's truck through. So we turned back.
adventure days=2.0 work vacation days used=0 highway miles=260 off-highway miles=50 hiking miles=0 average lodging cost per paid night(0 nights)=$0.00 average lodging cost per total nights(2 nights)=$0.00
More pictures of the Kids riding bikes and scooters!! :) I promise we will get that thing painted blue or red or black or something other than pink in the very near future. Riley sure does enjoy it though, he likes to put rocks in the basket.
On July 30, 2010 was our Sweet Kiley's (Riley's birth-mom) wedding day! She looked so beautiful!!!! Lacey was a flower girl and Riley I guess you could say was kind of like a ring bearer ( he didn't actually hold the rings, just sat around all dressed up looking cute). :) Lori had fun doing Kiley's hair. It turned out very pretty. Thank you so much for including us in all in this wonderful event WE LOVE YOU KILEY AND JAMES!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!
On July 26, for a Family Home Evening activity, we took the kids on a hike to the temple quarry up Little Cottonwood Canyon. Well Ron and Lori hiked, Lacey rode her bike, and Riley rode Lacey's princess scooter (I know, I know, we're working on that). It was fun.
Adventure Stats:
adventure days=.25 work vacation days used=0 highway miles=10 off-highway miles=0 hiking miles=0.5
July 23 we decided to take a drive and go for a hike in the Unitas. As much as we go camping around the state we have never camped there. We decided this year we wanted to do more of that. Well we still haven't camped there we did go on a beautiful drive and the hike we went on was fun and of course gorgeous. We hiked to a lake called Castle Lake. It was small but pretty, the area reminded us of the movie, How to Train Your Dragon. . While we were there we met a cute couple with a darling little girl, who were camping at the lake. We talked to them for a while then we hiked back to our car. On our way home the moon rise was spectacular, the pictures don't even do it justice. Once we got back to Kamas we decided to go and eat. Lori wanted to eat a Cheeseburger at a place she use to eat at when she worked at Oakcrest. We couldn't find it so we ate at this pizza place. It was one of the best pizza places we've ever eaten at. In Kamas, who knew?
FYI - Riley is shirtless not because we were working on his tan, but because got a potato chip stuck in his throat which caused him to puke all over his shirt. So he had to go without while we washed it and hung it to dry.
On the 24th We had breakfast at the pool then went swimming. Then later that night we went to fireworks at Liberty park with some of Lori's family. It was fun. Riley got a kick out of the sparklers, so did the other kids.
Adventure Stats:
adventure days=0.75 work vacation days used=0 highway miles=100 off-highway miles=5 hiking miles=1.5
Our last night in Grand Teton National Park, we went to Jackson for a night on the town, to celebrate Lori's birthday that was coming up in a couple of days, the 11th to be exact. We had fun. We had been planning a nice dinner and Ron had purchased some discounted gift certificates beforehand online. We were excited for a nice steak dinner at the Teton Steak house! It ended up being a re-badged, glorified Sizzler. That was very disappointing because we were expecting something different, but it WAS beef, and that was good enough for Lori. We went window shopping and hung out around town. We love Jackson!!!!! Despite his awful look, Riley was actually feeling much better by this time!
THE DRIVE HOME:
The last day we got up bright and early and drove home. We got some amazing pictures of some of the scenery. We were hoping to get a picture of a moose to complete our collection of wildlife sightings, but were not successful. We stopped in Idaho Falls again for breakfast, a break, and to change out of our jammies. This was such a fun trip despite sickness and the cold.
Adventure Stats:
adventure days=8.5 work vacation days used=4 highway miles=2,635 off-highway miles=65 hiking miles=6.5 average lodging cost per paid night(5 nights)=$33.20 average lodging cost per total nights(8 nights)=$20.75
After a couple of days in Yellowstone National Park, we all packed up and headed for the Grand Teton National Park. As soon as we got into the park we noticed a bunch of people pulled to the side of the road We thought it was just more Buffalo. We then noticed it was a couple of bears we got out and took lots of pictures The Park Rangers came by and made us all get back into our cars when one of the bears started charging us from about 100 feet away. Other Grand Teton wildlife sightings included a bald eagle and some pelicans.
JACKSON LAKE BEACH:
We were in the Tetons for a family reunion with Lori's family. While we were waiting for them to show up, we went to Jackson Lake in Colter Bay and, of course, threw rocks. This is one of our favorite spots in the Park because of the great view on the Teton Mountain Range. The lake was so cold only Owen, Mark and Ron braved the water. The girls had fun collecting pretty rocks.
SWAN LAKE HIKE:
Early one morning, we went on another ranger guided hike. None of the extended family joined us. The hike was to Swan Lake. We met some nice people and learned some neat things about the area we saw some neat wildlife, we didn't see any swans but we did see a bald eagle and some pelicans (pictures above with the "wildlife" slideshow). We watched the pelicans land in the water and that was pretty cool.
VISITOR'S CENTER/ STRING LAKE:
One afternoon, we all went to the visitor center and then to String Lake. The sad thing was Ron was still so sick and getting worse and Riley was starting to get really sick too. You can see it in the pictures just how miserable they looked. Other than the sickness, the rest of us had so much fun we goofed of in the water. Marley, Bradley and Tyler played water basketball and the girls dared each other to see how far we would dare to go in the cold water then we decided to take funny pictures. We had so much fun playing in the water. I think water brings out the kid in everyone, and also if you can't make a fool of yourself with family then who can you do it in front of?
CAMP:
We camped at the Colter Bay Tent Village on Jackson Lake. It was a great place to stay. The last night, while everyone else hung out at camp, Ron and Riley-sick as they were-took a nap. The girls made bracelets provided by Mallory and we chatted and laughed. Later that afternoon Riley woke up and wanted cuddles poor guy he was so miserable. Ron ended up sleeping about 14 hours. That night we roasted marshmallows and did more chatting. It was fun. Ron was so sick he missed the last night's activities.
CANOE RIDE:
The last morning we all got ready to go our separate ways. It was sad to depart from each other. Thank heavens Ron and Riley were feeling better. This was a short but fun trip for the extended family . We haven't done a big family vacation like this since 1996 when we went to Disneyland so we hope to keep this up and do it yearly and make it longer than a couple of days. Ron, Lori and the kids stayed in the Tetons a couple of days longer. We found a tentsite at Colter Bay and camped there again. We wanted to take the kids on a canoe ride, unfortunately we all couldn't go on the canoe: three was the limit. So Ron and the kids went on the ride and Lori walked around and looked at shops and then went back to camp and read a book. All in all it was a lot of fun the kids enjoyed the ride and Lori got some peace and quite.
As a side note, Julie, Jordan and Lyndee got in a really bad car accident on their way there. It was very scary and we are grateful that they all survived. Julie got a concussion and other than that everyone was shaken up but they were all alive and ok. We thank Heavenly Father for that blessing. Also, a little over a week after the accident Jordan got his mission call to Tonga.
After the Tolman family reunion we ditched the rest of the family and went to Yellowstone National Park. On our way we stopped in Livingston, MT at a park to get dressed, have breakfast, and take a break from the drive. It was a fun town. The ride between Livingston and Yellowstone is breathtaking. We then made to the “gateway to Yellowstone” in Gardiner, MT.
YELLOWSTONE WILDLIFE:
We saw some fun wildlife of course. One of our favorite animals encounters was a female elk that came up right by us while we were throwing rocks in a river by our campground. She came down the hill and took the spot where we had been playing. Once we realized where she was going, we scrambled like crazy to get out of her way. The kids got the biggest kick out of it. You'll notice a picture with Lacey in the foreground marking “elk” off of her animal list, with the elk in the background. We saw lots of other animals as well, including a postcard perfect scene of a buffalo walking in front of Old Faithful.
MADISON CAMPGROUND
While we were in Yellowstone we stayed in the Madison campground it was fun but it was still cold, the kids had fun helping us put up the tent and get camp ready. Riley's job when we set up camp is to drive the tent stakes into the ground. I don't know who likes throwing rocks more, Lacey, Riley or Ron :) I guess we all like the noise (plunk) it makes as the rocks drop in the water. They had a pretty neat ranger program and man it was cold so we all snuggled up in a blanket and enjoyed the program. You can see in some of the pictures that Riley is starting to get a little sick too. Don't take that wrong, nothing graphic, I was just talking about his nose and cheeks.
Lacey was so excited because she was old enough to be a Jr. Ranger, she had to fill out a fun activity book and complete some assignments and once she did all her assignments she went to a visitor station and was sworn as a Jr Ranger, she liked that a lot.
OLD FAITHFUL HIKING:
One of the fun hikes we took was a ranger guided hike on up above Old Faithful, the view was amazing. We then walked around Old Faithful and saw some of the other geysers in the area. One of the most impressive was the Beehive Geyser, wow it is powerful and pretty cool! The thermal pools were pretty neat too and it was nice to stand by them because it was chilly and you could feel the heat from a ways away. You just need to get past the smell. After looking at the beauty outside, we checked out the Old Faithful Lodge. It is gorgeous inside The architecture is beautiful.
OTHER YELLOWSTONE HIKING:
Mark, Susan and family joined us for part of out time in Yellowstone. We went to Fire Hole Lake, Fire Canyon drive, and the Fountain Paint Pots. The pictures speak for themselves.
This Summer went by so fast and I'm sure it was because it was so jammed packed with all sorts of fun stuff we did. July was full of fun!!!! The beginning of July we went to Ron's family reunion at his late grandparents' Ranch in Montana: over the Forth of July. We stopped in Idaho Falls for a bite to eat and then we played by the falls. Those falls are so beautiful. We then stopped and camped in this campground near Dillon, Montana. It was dark when we got there. Lori and the kids slept in the car (they were too tired to climb outside). Brian and Ron slept outside under a picnic shelter. Despite the shelter, they ended up getting wet in the rain. The kids and Lori stayed dry, but slept sitting up. It was not the best accommodations, but it was cheap (free), extremely convenient, and there was no risk of being so comfortable that we might accidentally sleep in. By the way, in the morning when we got up about 5am, as we were leaving, our headlights hit a reflection in the bushes where we saw... Well, the picture speaks for itself. Oops! :)
THE RANCH:
When we finally got to the Ranch it was cold. When we left Salt Lake it was in the high 90s and when we got to Montana it was in the 60s. Grandpa Tolman's home is so fun, there is so much to do there. Lacey had lots of fun playing with her cousins. One of the highlights the kids look forward to is Ron's cousin Todd tells such great stories. He has the kids eating out of his hands they are mesmerized by him. On the Fourth we had a home-brewed firework show over the pond, which is always a blast. Ron went to bed early because he was starting to come down with something. Poor thing. (that was just the beginning of the sickness on this trip).
On a side note here are some fun thing the kids did. Riley was in heaven because he got to play on a tractor again. I know he doesn't look like he is having fun, I promise he is. He is good at hiding his excitement when he is ecstatic about something. He also had fun on the four wheelers. Lacey had fun on them too. Uncle Brian made the mistake of taking Lacey and her cousins on some rides on the 4 wheelers. The problem was they didn't let him stop and when he did they begged him to go again. Those kids have Brian wrapped because he gave in to them a lot. Riley was mesmerized by the buffaloes that live next door.
It was decided that Grandpa and Grandma's headstones were not stout enough to last for eternity, so the boys got a big rock for a new headstone . It was quite the project, but everybody had fun.
On Sunday, Sam went with us on an attempt to go to church. The church is some 30 minutes away via dirt roads. We started out with good intentions, but about half way there we realized we were going to be at least 30 minutes late. So instead, we put on one of those scripture story podcasts from radio.lds.org. We were on dirt roads, in the mountains, with 4WD, and a couple of hours to spare. We took a detour and ended up on a mountain and got the car really dirty. Let me explain it was a very wet June so there were some big mud puddles, especially this one we found that Sam was determined to get through. It took him a few tries but he finally made it through. We had mud everywhere, even inside the car. WOW he made a mess but it was so fun the kids were loving it. I hope you enjoy the videos of us going though the mud puddle and might I add Ron was in pure heaven, he is a kid at heart and loves puddles the more muddy they are the better. Later on that day Brian, Ron, and Lori took the Four-wheelers out on a dirt road and Brian took us to some really cool old buildings he knew about. In these buildings there were so many cool old furnishings and and there were old cars, tractors and car parts in the yard. One of the cool things we saw was a tree growing up through the middle of the steering wheel. Inside one of the houses, we scared a cow who was in there exploring, who then scared us. We somehow didn't expect to find a cow inside an abandoned home. I don't know who was more scared the cow or us. It freaked us out and the poor cow didn't know what to do because we were blocking the only exit. Well he did finally escape and we were all ok. Our country cousins would have either laughed at us or scoffed at us I'm sure. Perhaps both. :)
Father's Day weekend we went and had lunch on the beach at the Great Salt Lake by Shipwreck Rock, the kids had fun playing on the boulders and throwing rocks in the water, it was windy and then the seagulls came along and cut our lunch short.
We then went with the Craig, Kristina, and kids to Five Mile Pass and went Jeeping on the Rattlesnake 4x4 road. Afterward we had dinner the kids played outside and got bit by giant mosquitoes. That was not fun poor kids!!!! Mean parents!!!!
MARY'S AND DEBBIE'S SHOWER:
Kristina and Lori threw a surprise baby shower for Mary and Debbie , it was fun. While the girls ate and chatted, the kids played in the little kiddie pool. Riley could not get enough of it. When he finally got out he was shivering. He absolutely loves the water!
RON'S WORK PARTY:
Ron's work's summer party this year was at Boondocks. We had fun going on the go-carts. Lacey liked going on them better with Ron. She thought Lori was too slow, she would tell me to go faster. We tried to play mini-golf but Riley would take off with the ball and drop it in the hole. He did have a fun time trying to golf too. Lacey loved the “Virtual 3-D Roller Coaster” she could not get enough of it. It was a fun night.
CAPITOL REEF JUNE 2010, VERSION 2.0
Last but not Least, in June we went a second time to Capital Reef. This time we went with my brother Mark and his Family; Craig, Kristina, and their family; and Stan and Rae. We love Capital Reef but there was a down side. There were these tiny bugs the locals call no-Seeums that bit the stink out of us. Bug spray doesn't work on them. Stupid bugs.
We went on some fun hikes and played games. One of our favorite places is the picnic area. It is so beautiful and the trees are very old and cool. The best part is there is a little creek that runs by the picnic area. After lunch we played in the stream. Riley did two of his favorite things: playing in water and throwing rocks. The kids had a blast. Water and kids seem to go well with each other. After all that play time in the water we went to the old Gifford farm house and bought soda and ice cream YUMMY!!!!! Ron took the kids to the Park Ranger Evening Program at the campground. Lacey likes to pretend she is Park Ranger Odette (Odette is her alter ego whenever we are in a national park). While at the program she got to help the real park ranger with her presentation. She got to pretend she was a bat. They put some fake ears on her to demonstrate how big a bats ears are in proportion to their body.
On our last day we all got ready to go home. Before we went home Chloee went with us on a hike to a fun waterfall. The hike starts at the Visitor Center. When we got there Riley found a “Mokeekykle” in the parking lot. The owner let him sit on the bike, even though Riley looks unhappy, he is bursting with happiness inside. I promise he is obsessed with the things!!!!
This hike was so fun! We hiked about a mile in the water until we got to the waterfall. Riley fell asleep on Ron's shoulders on the way. We had fun. There was a second little waterfall and a small "kiddie pool" just upstream a few feet. We played there for about an hour. Once we were done, the only way to get down was to slide down the waterfall. Everyone did great getting down except Lori. She was so scared that it took about 10 min for Ron to talk her down. Afterwards, she realized that was a lot of fun!!!!
On our way home we took the long, scenic way home. Our stops included looking at some really odd cows and enjoying some excellent views from the top of Thousand Lake Mountain. Lacey and Chloee didn't have any problems posing for the camera for a fashion photo shoot. Riley stepped on a cactus and got pricked on his heal, poor thing (it's hard to see, but the picture of his heel shows the cactus needles sticking out. Our shoes took a beating on this trip. We we got home we spent the rest of the day in the pool. Like I said kids love water. What a fun-filled June!!!
Adventure Stats:
adventure days=4 work vacation days used=1 highway miles=615 off-highway miles=10 hiking miles=5.0 average lodging cost per paid night(2 nights)=$5.00 average lodging cost per total nights(2 nights)=$5.00
We took a quick one night trip to Capitol Reef National Park with Marcus, Megan, Payton, and Emma. It was a fun, quick trip. We went on a couple of short hikes, checked out the Fremont swimming hole, went on the scenic drive, let the kids play at the nature center for awhile, and generally enjoyed one of (if not THE) most beautiful campground(s) in the entire National Park system!
The weather was slightly less than cooperative, although thorough. We had cloudy, rainy, windy, thundery, lightning-y, hail-y, a bit of slush on the drive home, and enough splashes of sunlight and blue skies here and there to keep us out of doors and to keep the spirits up. Oh well, less than perfect weather often makes for short moments of some the most incredible landscapes, if you look quick enough.
It was a lot of fun to go camping with Marcus and Megan, they are fun to be around, they even appeared to tolerate us, and seem to enjoy the outdoors as much as we do! I think the kids all really enjoyed it too. Now, if we could just get Riley to share his spikey ball without a meltdown and if we could get Lacey and Payton to NOT try and start the dry weeds on fire with flint and steel... well, no trip is perfect I guess ;)
Anyhow, here's the goods:
CAMPGROUND - As said before, the Fruita Campground in Capitol Reef N.P. has got to be one of the best around. Fruit orchards, a river, 2 streams, grass, a horse pasture, historic buildings, an ice cream & quilt shop, all with a backdrop of multi-shaded red sandstone cliffs in three different directions.
PETROGLYPH "HIKE" - After checking out the Fremont River Waterfall and swimming hole (which was overrun by a large youth group who appeared to be using the swimming hole as their first bath in a week), we thought we would be a little bit nerdy (as usual) and show up for a Park Ranger lecture at the Roadside Petroglyph Panel. Well it ended up being very crowded and very windy, and very hard to hear, so we skipped the lecture and took advantage of the hope that while everyone else was listening to the Ranger, the hike would be less crowded. If you call 200 feet of wheelchair accessible boardwalk a "hike" that is.
RIPPLE CREEK NATURE CENTER - Always a fun place to let the kids be kids for awhile.
SILLY TENT PIX - In serious need of a nap and/or a time out, Ron took Lacey to the tent one afternoon so she could "chill" for awhile. They got to chatting, and then they got to giggling, and then Lacey got ahold of the camera, and... well...
CAPITOL GORGE - After a morning of taking down the tents in a hailstorm, a heartily unanimous VETO to Ron's suggestion to go hiking in the rain, and even some talk of going home early, we settled on the scenic drive. The weather cleared up significantly and urged us to take the Capitol Gorge hike at the end of the road. We made it to some petroglyphs and some historic graffiti, but overdue naps and lunch prevented us from continuing the hike on to the Pot Holes, which would have been pretty cool right after the rain. Oh well, we'll be back soon enough, two weeks if I'm not mistaken.
6/12/10 Capitol Reef National Park adventure statistics: adventure days=2.0 work vacation days used=0 highway miles=486 off-highway miles=0 hiking miles=1.75 average lodging cost per night (1 night) = $5.00
Friday night, 6/4, Ron went back to St. George to pick up Lori and the kids and to enjoy Marley's big weekend.
After an early morning Jeep ride up to the West Rim (documented elsewhere), we had a busy day visiting with family, attending Marley's baptism, enjoying a swim party, and a late night trip to the park for the heartier in the group. Ron, Lacey, and Riley wimped out and went to bed, leaving the late night frolicking to Lori and her rowdy group.
MARLEY'S BAPTISM:
CUTE KID PICTURES:
MARLEY'S BIG SWIM BASH!:
LATE NIGHT PARK FROLICK:
DRIVE HOME - We stopped at Kolob Canyon on the drive home for some snacks and to stretch our legs:
6/5/10 - 6/6/10 Marley's Baptism Weekend adventure statistics: adventure days=2.0 work vacation days used=0 highway miles=606 off-highway miles=0 hiking miles=0 average lodging cost per night (2 nights)=$0.00
Although technically part of Marley's baptism weekend. We are posting our morning jeep ride as a separate blog post so as not to distract from Marley's big day. That and Marley didn't go with us on the jeep ride, so including it under his day's blog post just feels wrong.
Due to various plans of the attendees (baptisms, dinners, swimming parties, etc...) and the heat (108* forecast), I talked a few of the guys from the Utah 4X4 Club into an unusually early 7am trip up to the Fault Line and the West Rim in the Sand Hollow State Park. It's normally very difficult to get people to go 4 wheeling much earlier than 9 or 10 in the AM, so it was nice to get the group to commit. Riley and I picked up Sam and Braden from their hotel at 6:30AM to meet the group out at the staging area. We ended up with 4 rigs total.
Here are some pictures:
And a video:
6/5/10 West Rim Jeep Trail adventure statistics: adventure days (included as part of the baptism weekend post)=0 work vacation days used=0 highway miles=15 off-highway miles=8 hiking miles=0
At the end of our Memorial Day Weekend in Pine Valley, Ron dropped Lori and the kids at Marci's house in St. George so they could stay and play for a week. While he went home. Alone. To work. Without his family. For the week. The whole week. Alone :(
On the way to St. George, we stopped for gas. Riley (who always makes a huge fuss over "mokykycles") made a big fuss over a motorcycle at the gas station to the point where the rider let him sit on it. With his best poker face, Riley showed little emotion about the event. Inside, however, he was as happy and content as a 2 year old can be.
Other than that, and going swimming, and staring blankly at the T.V., and making a couple of lays for Marley's upcoming baptism, apparently Lori and the kids had very little fun...
...Okay maybe they had lots of fun, but they didn't bother much with documenting it with photographs. Even though they were the ones in possession of the camera for the week.
Here they are (the photographs that is, all 5 of them):
Meanwhile, Ron, without the camera because he left the camera with Lori so she could take lots of pictures of her fun week, took advantage of his bachelor status and took a weeknight Jeep ride with Brian and a couple from the Utah 4X4 Club out to the Rattlesnake trail at 5 Mile Pass just West of Lehi. He was able to document it quite well, even without a camera (which he had left with Lori) using mediocre cell phone pics.
Anyhow, here they are (the cell phone pix that is):
6/1/10 - 6/4/10 adventure stats: adventure days (Lori/Ron)=4.0/0.25 work vacation days used=0 highway miles (Ron only (Lori's mileage undocumented), note that travel from and back to St. George is included in the respective weekend blog reports)=74 off-highway miles=5 hiking miles=0 average lodging cost per night (Lori only - 4 nights)=$0.00
This Memorial Day Weekend we went camping with Misi, Marci, Marley, Macey and their extended family in Pine Valley, UT.
We were about 3/4 mile from Pine Valley Reservoir and took several hikes to the scenic (though fisherman infested) reservoir. Apparently the area is a big summertime destination for the St. George/ Las Vegas folk. There were more Nevada license plates than there were Utah license plates at the campgrounds. Being Memorial Day Weekend, we were lucky to get one of the last available campsites in the whole valley! We ended up at the Equestrian Campground, which was not the best for Lori's horse allergies, it didn't have the best campground amenities, and was much less forested than the other camp areas. But since most of the group was interested in doing little more than sitting around the campground relaxing, and since we had a total of 17 people and 6 vehicles, the extreme roominess and privacy of the campground was ideal for our group.
CAMPGROUND - Pix of hanging at the campground:
THE KID CORRAL - a huge benefit of using a horse camp:
THE KID CORRAL - video:
HIKING - THE LAKE - Between the 4 of us in various combinations, and with various company along, we took a total of 7 hikes to the vincinity of the Pine Valley Reservoir:
HIKING - THE LAKE - videos:
HIKING - THE MEADOW - Unfortunately, the lake was typically infested around it's entire shore with hundreds of fisherman, practically standing shoulder to shoulder, who do not take kindly to rocks thrown in the water, splashing about, giggling, and general horseplay as is typical of small (and not so small) children. So Lacey and Ron did a little exploring and found a great fisherman- free meadow with the stream running through it where we were able to enjoy pine cone races, rock throwing, stick fencing, toe dangling, and various other activities on multiple occasions:
JEEPING - Forest Service Trail # 31040. Ron and Lori bribed a Marci and Rae with ice cream to watch the kids for awhile while they went exploring in the Jeep. Armed with the most recent Dixie National Forest MVUM (Motor Vehicle Use Map), we went to check out a road that showed on the map as legal only to ATVs and motorcycles. However, when we got to it, the sign on the ground stated that the route was open to ALL motor vehicles! So we took it. It was a nice short trail (about 2 miles long) that was fun, but not very difficult. There were a couple of places where it was certainly more suited to ATV-sized vehicles, but was still easily passable to a carefully driven full- sized 4x4. Other than a single incident that involved breaking a large tree branch to clear the trail, sliding face first about 20 feet down a steep hill, and a couple of bloody scrapes, it was a very enjoyable ride ;)
5/28/10 - 5/31/10 Pine Valley adventure stats:
adventure days=3.0 work vacation days used=0 highway miles=687 off-highway miles=12 hiking miles=12.0 average lodging cost per night (3 nights)=$5.00
[Note: In order to maintain this blog's chronological continuity and to cover up our delayed documentation of the past couple of weeks of whirlwind back to back family adventures, the next several blog posts will be deceitfully backdated to the actual date of their associated adventure/event, giving the appearance that these posts were actually made in a timely and sequential manner]
Our Riley is now 2 years old! His actual birthday was swallowed up by our camping trip with Marci's family in Pine Valley, but we decided to pull out the pix related to his Birthday activities in a separate blog post. Grandpa Sam, Grandma Judy, and Uncle Braden came up to Pine Valley from Las Vegas to see Riley on his birthday as well.
Also, on Thursday, Kiley and a few of her family came over to celebrate with him. Kiley got a video of the now infamous "Baby Diaper, Riley Diaper" comedy act. So I have stolen that from her Youtube and added it here as well.
Birthday Pictures:
"Baby Diaper/ Riley Diaper" Video: Background: We had our niece Sagee staying with us for a few days about a month ago. Riley got a kick out of the difference in sizes between her diapers and his. So we started this dialogue with him where we would hold up Sagee's diaper and say in a high- pitched, girly voice "Baby's Diaper!" Then we would hold up Riley's diaper and say in a deep, manly voice, "Riley's Diaper!" The act has become a winner and Riley loves to perform it on demand, when offered an incentive such as candy, or in this case, popcorn.
After 2 years of counting, ABC's, nursery rhymes, songs, sign language, and learning to read; today Lacey attended her last day of Preschool! Miss Tiffany held a graduation for all the kids who are moving on to Kindergarten in the fall.
We are very proud of Lacey! She is very excited for Kindergarten!
adventure days=3 vacation days off of work=1 highway miles=990 off-highway miles=5 hiking miles=1 average lodging cost per paid night (0 night) = $0.00 average lodging cost per total nights (3 nights) = $0.00
This past weekend, we took a trip to Vegas to attend Judy's graduation! We stopped at Valley of Fire State Park on Friday to go hiking and took Judy on a short Jeep ride on the Logandale Jeep Trails. Didn't hike much, didn't jeep much, but had a great time hanging with Ron's family and had great weather! Gay went with us as far as St. George so she could spend the weekend with Marci. Although not recorded in photograph, Lori got a breakfast and a couple of homemade cards from her kids, and Ron and Lori each got to spend part of Mother's Day with their Mom's.
Enjoy!!!
By the way, for some reason, after you click on the play button on the slideshow, you have to click the other play button below for the slideshow to start, but if you click too fast, the whole web album pops up in a new window, if you click too slow, the second play button hides itself. Annoying. (Note, those viewing via email or Facebook might need to go to the live blog at http://rllrtolman.blogspot.com/2010/05/5710-5910-las-vegas.html to see the picture slideshows)
VALLEY OF FIRE SUNRISE: We left St. George at 4:30amMDT to make it to VOF by 5:30amPDT for sunrise and breakfast. It was beautiful! Next time Ron should remember the matches so we don't have to eat cold, dry oatmeal for breakfast!
VALLEY OF FIRE HIKING: Judy, Sam, Amity, Wayne, Haley, Davin, Treton, Jessica, Chelsea and Lisa all met us for a day of "hiking" around VOF. I say "hiking" because we mostly dawdled and only put a total of 1 mile of official trail underneath our feet.
JEEPING AT THE LOGANDALE 4X4 TRAIL SYSTEM: Ron and Riley took Judy, Wayne, and Davin for a quick jeep ride before heading to town. Despite our intentions to spend half the day jeeping, we only got part of a short trail finished. As that Ron was the driver, the spotter, and the photographer, we came away with just this one blurry picture. Now that we know where to go... We'll be back!
GRADUATION: Congratulations Judy!! We are very proud of you (and jealous)!! Over time, all the kids got restless and ended up leaving the stadium proper to wander and play in the outer corridor, and eventually, outside.
OTHER: Does "other" need a description? I guess not!
4/24/2010 Canyonlands National Park - Horseshoe Canyon Adventure statistics:
adventure days=1.5 vacation days off of work=0 highway miles=520 off-highway miles=61 hiking miles=7.0 average lodging cost per paid night (0 night) = $0.00 average lodging cost per total nights (2 nights) = $0.00
FYI - for those of you viewing this through email, Facebook, or Google Reader, you must view our blog directly at http://rllrtolman.blogspot.com to view the 2010 Cumulative Adventure stats and/or the photo slideshows)
This past weekend we took a trip to the Horseshoe Canyon Unit of Canyonlands National Park. It was great fun with perfect weather! Let's start with the good stuff, the pictures!! Then, if you're not too bored, to can scroll to the whimsical commentary down below.
THE HIKE (VIDEOS): Note - It's a slideshow so keep watching till the end, about 4 minutes total
ROCK ART:
ROCK ART (VIDEOS - yes! We really did take videos of rock art, feel free to shake your head): Note - It's a slideshow, about 45 seconds total
THE DRIVE HOME:
Having wanted to hike Horseshoe Canyon for several years now, we finally decided we better just do it, before the summer comes on and ruins the opportunity. So Friday night we headed off on the long drive to Horseshoe Canyon to set up camp and wait for daylight. The camping area is little more than a gravel parking lot with a pit toilet. It is NOT an ideal camping area in many respects, but with regard to its proximity to the trailhead, it was perfect.
We arrived about 10:00pm and settled in. Before we get on with the hiking trip, we must digress temporarily to include a story about the resolution of mis- adventure #1, which occurred in the wee hours of the morning just before dawn. Several months ago, Lacey started asking about shooting stars. She wished she might "wish upon a shooting star." We discussed it with her and let her know that although she might find a shooting star or two on nearly any clear night, she may have to stay up all night scouring the skies in order to find one. So we checked the internet and found out that a meteor shower would be peaking on the night of Wednesday, April 21. Lacey marked that on her calendar and has spoken of it with great anticipation ever since. Well April 21 came. Completely overcast and rained all night long. Same thing the next night as well. What devastation filled our home all the day before and after. Fast forward to Friday night. As we drive to our campsite we encountered wind, rain, cloudiness, and even a little snow; not promissing. Nonetheless, Ron set the alarm early in the morning; there would be approximately an hour or two between the setting of the moon and the first twilight from the sun. He woke up, unzipped the door to the tent, and found a perfectly clear and calm sky! With the moon having gone down and with us being several miles from any kind of light pollution, the sky was black as night (pun intended) as was glittering with stars galore. He woke up Lacey, they moved their sleeping bags so they could drape their heads out the doorway and stare at the sky. First came one, then another, and finally a third! Just before the morning twilight began to wash away the darkness, Lacey finally got to make her first ever, "wish upon a shooting star" - thrice!!! :)
Morning. Breakfast. Started the hike about 8:45 am, which leads us to mis- adventure #2. Forgoing the tale of details, about 3/4 - 1 mile into the 7 mile adventure, Stan and Rae decided that they needed to turn back. We offered to go with them, cancel the hike, and go do something else for the day; Goblin Valley is not far away. But they insisted we finish the hike without them. We parted ways. :(
The rest of the hike... First off, know that Lacey hiked the entire 7 miles on her own two feet! The only complaining was about the sand in her shoes, of which stopping to dump became a regular task. Having borrowed a kid carrying backpack from Mark, Riley enjoyed a comfortable ride for most of the hike, including 2 long naps. However, even he hiked at least 2 miles of the route all by himself. We are proud of them both! This hike consists of about 1.5 miles descending into the bottom of the canyon, about 1000 feet. Then it is flat walking through a sandy wash, with "marked and signed" Indian rock art at 1.7 miles, 2.0 miles, 2.5 miles, and, finally, the Great Gallery at 3.5 miles. Then you hike back, saving the hardest and most gruelling part, the ascent back up to the canyon rim, for last, when you are the most tired and hot. In total, the hike took about 4 hours. We spent a good long while at each of the rock art panels, including 2 hours of gawking and playing at the Great Galley. The weather was a near perfect 70 degrees with deep blue skies as far as the eye could see. The deep canyon provided opportunities for shade for all but maybe an hour when the sun was highest in the sky.
The rock art! It was outstanding! All of the panels were impressive. The highlight being the Great Gallery which is about 200 feet long and contains dozens of extremely intricate figures, some as large as 8 feet tall, many were around 6 feet tall. Many figures have details that were carved or pecked into the rock and then paint applied over the top. Within the Great Galley, the crown jewel of rock art in the National Park System is arguably the group known as "The Holy Ghost and Attendants." Images of it have become Canyonlands National Park's unofficial mascot, appearing on much of its literature. It is famous for its unique 3-D effect, using images of differing sizes to, theoretically, depict varying distances. Whatever the meaning or intent, the artistic methods used by its creators, estimated to have lived anywhere from 2,000 to 8,000 years ago is awe- inspiring. The most common style of rock art in the canyon is the "Barrier Canyon" style. This canyon used to be called Barrier Canyon, now all rock art of this style is named after this canyon. The images here are widely considered the most impressive example of Barrier Canyon style rock art in the world. Arguments about comparison's aside, it is a spectacle well worth the effort.
While at the Great Gallery, there were Park Service volunteers on hand to answer questions, and, no doubt, keep on eye on the visitors. We ended up spending 2 hours there; lunch time, play time, and gawk time. At one point, no other visitors were around. The park volunteers offered to take Lori into the restricted area right up within touching distance of the art. The public viewing area is a good 50 feet at closest to the rock art. They spent about 20 minutes up behind the barricades with Lori, talking to her about the art and letting her take pictures to her heart's content. We ended up with 275 pictures on our camera and added 100 pictures to Stan's camera, which Lori took with us after he turned back.
We had a great time and it was a great adventure. On a commercial note, I HIGHLY recommend the book, "Best Hikes with Children - Utah," by Maureen Keilty. The kid oriented facts, questions, and commentary are a great way to keep kids of all ages focused and intrigued on an otherwise long and potentially boring walk.
After the hike, we went to Hanksville for burgers, then went to Stan and Rae's house to sleep before heading home Sunday morning, just in time for church.
Our Jeep being currently crippled, we canceled this year's annual migration to Moab for the Easter Jeep Safari :(
However, Craig and a couple of his kids were still going and so after some lengthy negotiations about who keeps which child for the weekend, Riley and Ron bummed a ride from Craig and off to Easter Jeep Safari 2010 :)
We decided to make a 3- day weekend out of it. We even caught a few sessions of conference on the radio despite a weak and wandering signal.
Anyhow, pix...
CAMP
EASTER JEEP SAFARI
KIDS
LUNCHTIME AT LAKE POWELL
4/4/2010 Easter Jeep Safari Statistics:
adventure days=2 vacation days off of work=1 highway miles=650 off-highway miles=15 hiking miles=1.0 average lodging cost per paid night (1 night) = $5.00 average lodging cost per total nights (2 nights) = $2.50
Friday: Got on the road mid-afternoon and headed for Sego Ghost town (about 40 miles North of Moab) where we met up with Pricket & family, set up camp, and enjoyed some of the ruins. Unfortunately, we didn't really have the time to explore as much as the area deserves. I'm afraid the list of Utah sites to visit just got a notch longer, not shorter.
Saturday Morning: Packed up camp, breakfast (I think it was donuts, twinkies, and left over candy from the previous day's travel snacks - jk Moms) and on the road for Moab by 8:00. We headed straight out to Sand Flats Rec Area to get a campsite. We had a much harder time than normal finding one, but we were also about 1 1/2 hours later in the morning than in previous years. Note to self, if you want a good campsite Saturday during EJS, get there by 7am at the latest. Anyhow, time spent running a little late and searching for a campsite delayed us enough that we didn't get to enjoy any of the parade: other than from within the 4Runner as we headed to Moab Rim for what turned out to be some good watching. Within the first 1/3 mile or so, there are 2 very entertaining obstacles where we hiked and watched the official Safari group make their way. Shortly after arriving at the 2nd obstacle (called the Z-turn I think), we witnessed one vehicle bust an axleshaft and then a rollover of a very expensive looking newer Jeep Rubicon Wrangler! We stuck around long enough to watch them upright it and then headed back to camp where we finished setting up, had lunch, and listened to some of conference.
Saturday Afternoon: After lunch, a little bit of letting the kids play around the campground, and relaxing for a bit, we went out on the trail for the afternoon. We hit the obligatory first half of Fins and Things where the Nemesis Hill was conquered handily with no issues whatsoever (amazing what a couple of "working" lockers will do for you). Then on to Hell's Revenge; in name, an interesting trail choice for an afternoon session of conference! On Hell's, we had several chances to stop and stretch and watch. After waiting for someone to entertain us on Hell's Gate (nobody came along) we moved on to the Hot Tubs where we witnessed another rollover! A purpose built off road buggy this time, so no tears were shed for the owner, who had obviously built the rig for this kind of thing. As a matter of fact, the guy didn't even bother getting out of his seat, he just hung there upside down waiting for his buddies to hook up the strap and tip him back over. He seemed more concerned about having spilled his soda pop than about the slight scratches to roll cage. Riley's 2 new favorite phrases are, "Jeep tip over," and "Jeep fall down." Then, back to camp.
Saturday Evening: Because of the kids, we skipped the Preisthood Session of conference. At camp we ate dinner, played around camp a bit more, then headed out for one last hurrah on the last mile or two of Fins N Things where Kenny's Climb and Frenchie's Fin were eventlessly conquered.
Sunday: Craig had some business to take care of in Blanding, nearly 80 miles the wrong direction from from home, climbing some 3,000 feet in elevation in the process. A good workout for the overloaded little 4 cylinder 4Runner. Upon leaving Blanding, it was sixes to head back through Moab or to head NorthWest up through Cedar Mesa, Fry Canyon, Hite Marina at Lake Powell, Hanksville and home. So we took that route to minimize the repetition of scenery, although looking back, it probably wasn't the ideal route for a good radio signal. We had lunch at an overlook of Lake Powell near Hite Marina.
We had a great time! Enjoyed some camping! Enjoyed great scenery! Saw some vehicular carnage! Can't wait to go back (as usual)!
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