Colorado Adventures

OK, I’m still figuring this dang blog out. I tried to do this visually, then went into HTML and after an hour decided I’m just going to publish the dang thing and go to the gym. You can read the comments and then try to figure out which pictures they go with : >

We got our adventure to Colorado started with eating peaches off of Great grandma’s peach tree and playing with the front porch swing and other things…

Then it was time for a hike

Checkin’ out the creek

And back home for relaxaion

Followed by some play with great grandpa

The next day we went to the zoo with Aunt Jane Miss T thought it was a little gross to feed the giraffes. Miss A did it once and then wanted to stay far enough away from them!

And fed the birdies

Rode the carousel

And Miss T found a few new friends

The next day it was time to say goodbye and head back to Utah before the snow hit.

Four Generations…

And one last ride on the front porch swing….

Most and Biggest

We went FISHING today.  Dennis caught the first fish, but I ended up with most and biggest!  I have to admit though, Jay was the first one to catch fish with this particular jig, and when he caught two he decided I should have the lure and he would switch to another similar one.  We all had really good luck, but I ended up catching the most and the biggest : >.  Dennis is going to cook this one up for us Monday evening.  The rest we released.  It was a good day.  I lost count after 10.

It was fun catchin’ em, but I have to admit, I still have a hard time killing them, when we decide to keep one.  I know all our meat is killed before we get it.  It’s always a  good reminder that these creatures give their lives to feed us. This cutthroat was the largest of the day.

On the way up to the reservoir we stopped at one of the streams and watched the kokanee salmon which are swimming upstream to spawn.  Very neat to see.  It’s nice that fishing these guys is not allowed while they’re spawning.

It was a beautiful day up in the mountains.  I hope to take a few pictures of the fall colors tomorrow.

Yumpin’ Yimminy Yellowstone!

Ok, I’m not sure how to do this.  I’m going to try to upload all the photos as a ‘gallery’.  There are a TON of ‘em so I want to get ‘em all in.

The beginning of the gallery shows us coming to Yellowstone via the southern route.  We went through Thayne, Wyoming (where we bought cheese curds : >) and then Afton (the archway made of elk antlers.  We arrived at Yellowstone in the evening and got settled in our rooms, ate dinner and then headed to bed.

Friday was hot spring/geiser day and we started at West Thumb (close to where we were lodging at Grant Village).  Most of the hot springs you see are from there, including the ‘cooking pots’ located out a little in Yellowstone lake.  Indians would cook food in this boiling water.  From West Thumb, we went to Old Faithful and watched several geisers go off, including one that goes off every couple of months.  It was quite an artistic event and now I understand a little where Bellagio gets it’s ideas.  Pretty terrific stuff.  We saw lots of bison and here’s mom and baby, just a few of the many bison travelers crossing the road on our journey.  Sunset from day 1 was taken just outside of the general store in Grant Village

Saturday was falls day.  But first we tried to find some moose near Fishing Bridge.  No luck, but lots of beautiful views.  Jay said when he was a kid, you could come to fishing bridge and see lots of cutthroat trout in there, it’s their spawning location.  About 20 years ago, some dumb fisherman illegally introduced mackinaw trout which are virtually wiping out the cutthroats.  Eventually the mackinaw will wipe the cuttthroats out and then they will die because they have no food source, other than their own kind.  Sigh.

Anyway, from there we headed up to see the Upper Falls and the Lower Falls located in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  I show the Upper falls pictures first then the Lower falls.  If I can figure out how to put a few movies in, I’ll add those too : >

After we did this section of Yellowstone, we went to Tower Falls and the looked around Lamar Valley to see if we could find wolves etc.  One of the pictures you can see the burned out area (the ‘88 fire took out 38% of the park) with the 20 year old trees coming in.  It’s pretty amazing how mother nature just starts over again.  At the higher elevations (9000 +) the trees are only about 1/4 the height of the original trees.  In the fuzzy picture there are moose if you look closely.  At the end of day 2 we were treated to lovely views in both east and west directions and on the drive back, we saw this cute little big horn sheep munching on bushes.  It’s kinda gettin’ dark, so you have to look close.

As we got close to Grant Village, Binie said one of the things people rarely can sense anymore is peace and quiet.  So Jay pulled the car off the side of the road and turned the lights out.  That’s when we finally got to hear the elk calling, since it is rutting season afterall!  Pretty spectacular.  We called out to them, and they called back.  Amazing.

Sunday we did a few more smaller falls on the way out and stopped to see a nice heard of elk as we exited the park.

It was truely a spectacular trip!  I can’t imagine growing up and coming to this place time and time again like Jay has.  He knows all the good fishing spots, where to find elk, bison, wolves and bears.  I’m glad there are preserves like this, and I’m even gladder (yes, I know it’s not proper english : >  ) that I have Jay in my life!!!

Demoosetified

OK, So there are no pictures… because we didn’t have a camera with us…DOH.  Jay and I were mountain biking up little cottonwood canyon this morning and stopped at the bridge (I can show you what the view was like from the bridge earlier this spring when Sabine and I were hiking it)…  looking at the water which was now just a little stream compared to this photo, but similar view…

when I looked up the path, about 30 yards from where we were standing to see a BIG bull moose come walking out of the brush and onto the path.  He looked at me briefly and turned to go uphill.  Having already heard Jays stories of being chased by moose (twice!), I gently reached over to tap him on the leg (he was still admiring the water and looking for fish), and quietly said… ‘look, look… moose’.  The moose at this point was starting up the path and Jay said that was as big as any moose he’s seen in Alaska.  We decided to turn around and ride back down to the car and not proceed up the hill and possibly encounter our friend again.  Leave wandering moose be.  We’ll ride longer another day.  Still, all in all, it was really cool, and the closest I’ve ever been to one (or care to be).

On the photos, I’m hoping this one of the water in the creek came through.  Nic let me know that only the zoo pictures showed up on the previous post!

Lata!

Hello world!

Hi Guys,

We’re stating a new blog location because I just couldn’t get the otherone to work quite right… so here we go.  I have a lot to learn about this site, so please be patient as I test out the various bells and whistles along the way.  Kowabunga!

I wanted to post a few pics post reception.  Here are Jay and Richie gettin’ ready to head down the bobsled run at Park City.

And away they go!

After we sent Nicole and her crew back home : (  , it was time for Jay to attended a conference in Washington DC and I joined him there.  It was my first trip to our nation’s capitol.  I got to see just a few of the many sights to be seen there…

Here is the classic picture of the White House.  It is kinda neat to see it from this vantage point.  I’ve seen it in pictures many times, but to actually be there puts it more into perspective.

From the White House you can see the Washington Monument.  It was a beautiful day for walking around the ‘mall’.  The temperature was in the low 80’s and a slight overcast (thanks to leftovers from Fay)

And I have always wanted to see the Lincoln Memorial.  It was definitely a trip worth making and I enjoyed just sitting there and contemplating the nature of this marvelous man.  Inspiring.

After our trip to DC, we went to the Bahamas to do a little diving.  Unfortunatley, hurricane Gustav had just passed below us and Hanna was forming to the east of us which kept the water pretty churned up.  Jay and Jen went out on a shark dive, which I wasn’t too excited about in 30ft. visability, so I enjoyed the shore.  We had a fun time anyway, swimming in the pool and just relaxing.  It rained a little, but not too bad and the sunset the first night was spectacular.  I didn’t take my camera that night tho.  So here we are on the beach.

After we got back home, it was life as usual (for at least two weeks : > ).

I met the kids at the zoo.  Here we are with friends, enjoying our day!  It was especially great, because the bigger kids are back in school and none of the schools are doing field trips to the zoo!  Sweeeeeeetttt.

Very good day had by all.  Next adventure… next week!  Yahoo!!!