Wyoming Adventure, Part II-b

Oops! Blogger went haywire and I lost the back side of this post! I will now try to re-create it in all it's eloquence! Haha! :)

Visiting Mount Rushmore - I took many photos here because like Devil's Tower and Crazy Horse before, I felt like if I didn't keep my eyes on those presidents in stone, they'd somehow disappear! What an awesome feat! The Visitors Center (nice and cool) shows a timeline of the work on the carving, the geological facts of the mountain, and other related facts. The National Park Service Mount Rushmore website, here, has all the information about the conception, the funding, the carving, and the completion of this symbol of the birth, growth, development, and preservation of the United States of America.

Me, Clare, Jenn, and David and the four presidents in stone.

Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln.

Also in the Visitors Center, there was a display of small quilts, part of the "Find Your Park" challenge for the 100th year celebration of the National Park Service on August 25, 2016. I liked this one of Rocky Mountain National Park beautifully rendered by Marilyn Remboldt of Lincoln, Nebraska.

We were all getting quite wilted and hungry, so before leaving the park, we went into the Memorial Team Ice Cream Station to sample the TJ's vanilla ice cream, based on Thomas Jefferson's original recipe brought to the United States in 1780. . . delicious!

We left Mount Rushmore and journeyed back to Gillette, stopping in Custer so that Jenn and Cassie could look in a tee shirt shop they'd spotted on the way up, of all things! Made it back to the CAM-PLEX in time to grab dinner at the new Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom and then we settled in to watch a movie ("London Has Fallen" - very bad!) with Dave and Jenn. Thursday would see us staying close to camp to watch Team Utah in Performances 8 and 9, 2nd Round. 

 

Ah yes! A frosty Lemon Shandy.

Bright and HOT for Performance 8 (2nd perf of the 2nd round).

Friday morning was grandson Ty's second, and final, run at a steer; he made a good, solid 5.95 second run. However, with his earlier run of 15.05 seconds, he would not be in the top 20 for the Short Go Saturday evening. Clare and I decided to pull up stakes and head for home via Cody, Wyoming. Since this part of the trip was quite different and I took many photos along the way, I will post it as our Wyoming Adventure, Part III!

Wearing red in honor of our troops.

More later.

               

Wyoming Adventure, Part II

Here is one of many coal mines outside Gillette. This country is rich in coal, oil and cattle; and, wind!
When we returned from our trip to Devil's Tower, we grabbed dinner and headed back to the arena for Performance 5 of the First Round. I took a photo of this precious little baby girl for Alternate 2 of Rinda's 2016 Summer Photo Scavenger Hunt since I am uncertain that I will ever find #17, twins, before the September 22 deadline.

I did post this on Instagram too.

Plans had been formulated with our son and daughter-in-law and another Utah rodeo couple to leave early Wednesday morning for Mount Rushmore; since we were within 150 miles of this renowned monument, we figured that we'd take the opportunity to see it. Not far from Rushmore is the Crazy Horse Memorial so we took in that too. We entered South Dakota and the Black Hills 10 miles out of Newcastle, Wyoming on Highway 16. This country is truly beautiful forest and it was a curvy but very pleasant drive to Custer and then on to the two monuments.

Crazy woman at Crazy Horse.

The sculptor's, Korczak Ziolkowski, vision. More information can be found here.

We watched the video presentation in the Visitor Center and came away from that quite impressed with the determined effort not only of the original visionaries of this memorial, but with the continued dream of the family and the organization they have built.

Ziolkowski's original generator used to power the drills he used to make the first holes. According to his narration in the video presentation, it was not terribly reliable and would "kaput" just as he had climbed the stairs to get to the top of his drilling site; hence, the sign out of the exhaust stack.

It is difficult to describe the size of this monument although the crane boom seen at the top of the hand (which is currently being carved) looks very tiny and is, in comparison to the face.

We journeyed on through the Black Hills National Forest to Mount Rushmore - I spotted so many gorgeous wildflowers along the way but stopped myself from asking Clare to stop so I could photograph them . . . it would've held up the caravan behind us! There were White Yarrow, Purple Prairie Clover, Blanket Flower, Black-eyed Susan, Sunflower, Wild Meadow Rose, Lupine, Aster, and Green-headed Coneflower among many others. What a feast for the eyes! 

Arrived at Mount Rushmore along with hundreds of other summer tourists and made our way to the viewing point:

The flags depict all 50 states of the United States of America and the dates each entered the Union are inscribed underneath.

My Reading Habits - an open tag from Julie

Happy (almost) Autumn/Spring Equinox (accounting for my sister in New Zealand here!)!

Although I didn't get around to posting my August month in numbers, Julie has inspired me with her invitation to "pick up the gauntlet" and spill my reading habits (read here for how she came to be tagged). What better way to get back to blogging than to chronicle one of my most favorite activities! So, here's how it goes:

Q: Do you have a certain place at home to 
read?
A: No one place, although I do tend to read alot in bed before putting out the light at night. Fact is, every room in the house (yes, including the loo) is fair game for me to be found reading. I also read in the garden; wherever there's shade when it's hot and in the sunshine when it's cooler.


Q: Reading at home or everywhere?
A: Mainly at home but I take a book with me when we are on the road for any length of time, to the doctor's office or anyplace I know requires a wait, to the rodeo (high school rodeos are often long, drawn-out affairs - sort of like watching paint dry . . .), on the bus, etc.

The Tooele City Library - my favorite place to get reading material.

Q: Do you watch TV or listen to music while reading?

A: Neither. If Clare has the TV on, I go to another room and if there's music I get distracted and want to sing along.

Q: Do you eat or drink while reading?

A: Most assuredly! If I didn't eat and drink while reading, I'd be very, very hungry and thirsty!

To the library and then the coffee shop; natural order of things!

Q: Reading aloud or silently in your head?

A: Both. I've read numerous books aloud all the way through to Clare (To Kill a Mockingbird, True Grit, Lonesome Dove, The Hearts of Horses, to name a few). He is more of a technical material reader and so my reading a book aloud is a way for both of us to be entertained, on road trips especially. I also have loved reading aloud to my grands and greats - this gives me an opportunity to really pull out all the animated stops! Mostly, though, I read silently in my head.

Me reading a book aloud while we were camping in August.

Q: One book at a time or several at once?

A: Generally, I read one book at a time, especially those I check out of the library. However, I read my Bible everyday, along with a daily devotional. I have a stack of books in my bedside table that I pick up now and again and I also have books on my IPad Kindle that I sometimes read simultaneously with whatever hardbound book I'm reading.

My everyday read.

Q: Can you just stop reading or do you have to stop after a chapter or number of pages?

A: I can stop reading sometimes mid-sentence; for instance, when my name is called, the timer goes off, or the lights go out. I usually, though, try to read to the end of a chapter or paragraph.

Q: Bookmark or random piece of paper?

A: My Bible has a bookmark that's been there for years. For library books I use the due date receipt for a bookmark and for books I own or have borrowed from a friend I use an envelope, a grocery list, yes . . . a random piece of paper. Which is dumb really because I have quite a few very crafty and unique bookmarks that I've accumulated over the years. I never, never, never turn down page corners!

Q: Do you ever read ahead or skip pages?

A: Sometimes, but guiltily!

Q: Do you ever write in books?

A: I write in my Bible but never in other books unless I'm "altering" them which is a whole other ball game. If there is something I want to remember, I write it in my journal, on a scrap of paper, a napkin, a post-it note, whatever; or, I take a picture with my phone!

This passage, beginning at the top of the page, is appropriately, about books and how important they are!

This then is a scaled-down version of my reading habits. I could go on and on about what books and reading have meant to me in my lifetime; suffice it to say, I'd be a lesser person if I couldn't read. I'll leave you then with this picture of my youngest sister reading on the deck at Dad's house. You see, it runs in the family!

She was oblivious of me taking this photo!

May a good book be always by your side! And do read Julie's "Portable Magic" posts and join in with her to report your reading habits!

Summertime 2014 Photography Scavenger Hunt #18

Hello, hello!
Listening to the rain pattering on the roof of our motorhome on this first day of the long Labor Day weekend. We've finally gotten a chance to get away for a little holiday/vacation, just the two of us (and Tip, the dog). Spending a relaxing five days at the Echo Island Ranch just outside Coalville with Clare's sister, brother, and sister-in-law. And because the campground is located on the Weber River, I thought that of course there would be a waterfall to fulfill #18 in Rinda's Photography Scavenger Hunt. And so there is!

It actually is a man-made falls but it takes water and re-circulates it from the river and looks quite natural. The flora all around is what grows naturally along the river too as you can see in this picture of yours truly.

That's the Weber River in the background. 

We're having a lovely time even though at the moment it is raining. No worries. We are snug and dry in our home on wheels!

Ta for now!

Rodeo Week

Hi, Hi!
Well, last night we finished up with the 2014 Utah State High School Rodeo Finals in Heber City and some memories were made for sure! My favorite of the week was this photo of grandson Tee with two of the rodeo royalty, Queen Baylee LaFleur and Miss Congeniality Kortney Backus; kind of a cute thorn between two roses!

Tee's kind of splattered as this performance he seemed to be designated steer pusher - not a particularly clean job! These cowgirls were real good sports though!

The two grandsons competed in team roping and steer wrestling with good and not-so-good results for the three "go's." In the first go or round, they were "no time" on the team roping but both of them got decent times in the steer wrestling. Second round they caught in the team roping with a fairly good time but their average on two steers was not enough to get them to the "short" go or final top 15 performance. However, their second steer wrestling times (grandson Ty won the round with a 4.40 second run) got them into the final performance Saturday evening. 

The final performance then, was an edge-of-the-seat sort of deal . . . turned out pretty good for grandson Tee with a 4th place run, but disappointing for grandson Ty with a "no time." 

At any rate, the four days spent there were good times with alot of the family there to cheer on the boys and all the other really amazing young people competing. Of course, the arena setting is truly beautiful nestled in the lush Heber Valley. Here are a few photos of the rodeo grounds, etc.:

The proud flag leaving the arena

Looking southwest at Mt Timpanogos and Provo Canyon

Grandson Ty on Boomtown getting ready to go in the box for his first steer wrestling run

Grandson Tee and Boomtown waiting for the barrier to be put up for his first steer wrestling run

Pretty team roping run

Up in the stands for Friday night's performance

Cowboy transport

The draft horse wagon with young people representing Primary Children's Hospital

Yep! Another rodeo year ends and we look forward to late summer and fall rodeos now. There'll be some serious trail riding for the summer I think as well as a little bit of practice.

Happy thoughts!

Mid-August Ramblings

Hello, hello!
Already mid August and the ordinary days are whizzing by! haha! I can't even remember how August began but I do know that taking photographs sure helps keep me on track; I should take a photo-a-day (or more) in order to document this passing of time . . .
Last week, Wednesday the 7th, Grampa Clarence drove off with son Doug, grandsons Tee, Ty, and Johnathon, Tip the dog, three of the mules, five of the horses, and a bunch of camp gear for a four day pack and camp trip on the North Slope of the High Uintahs.

The Hillsboro stock trailer looks pretty beat up but makes a good "ranchy" backdrop for Doug, Tee, Johnathon, Ty, and Grampa Clarence. Three mules and two horses are in this trailer; the other three horses in the small trailer that Doug pulled with his truck.

   They lost phone signal at about 2 p.m. (MDT) that day and were out of contact until Sunday the 11th at about 1 p.m. (MDT). We're talkin' OUT IN THE WOODS here! They set up camp at the China Meadows trailhead.

Thursday they packed mounted up and made a 28 mile trip up to Lower Red Castle Lake; it started to rain pretty hard at the upper bridge just before the lake, so they didn't attempt going to Upper Red Castle. Doug snapped this really great picture of Clare with the three grandsons and Red Castle in the background.

Johnathon on Ranger, Rooster the red mule, Clare on Willie, Tee (kind of grumpy!) on Dolly, Wilbur the mule with his nose in the grass, and Ty on Hollywood

Friday and Saturday were spent fishing two different locations and then Sunday the broke camp and journeyed home. Although Clare caught a bug and had a sore throat and headache most of the trip, it was a memorable time for everyone.

While they were gone I did anything I wanted! Which was . . . Wednesday I cleaned house and went and had a pedicure; Thursday morning I went and picked up my friend Heather and a couple bags of her crafty stuff and we spent the next two days doing a card-making marathon! Whoa! It was pretty darn fun for us both. I'll compile a slide show (or something) of the creations we came up with but here are three cards I made which went in the mail already:

2nd Anniversary card for my granddaughter and her husband. Modified a Mason jar Silhouette cut file to a print and cut. Papers from Dear Lizzy 5th and Frolic.

This jar was stamped on vellum using the SU Perfectly Preserved set and diecut. Modified flowers and stems from a Kerri Bradford freebie cut file. Papers from Doodlebug Flower Box 6x6 pad.

Birthday card for my son using AdornIt Nested Owls papers. Medallion and happy birthday banner from SU Blue Ribbon and Itty Bitty Banners stamp sets.

After Heather left I hadn't had enough and went a little berserk with the AdornIt Nesting Owls paper I had left over (had the coral collection too) and ended up with six cards! Had a card-making mojo going! Now if I could find my scrapping mojo!

Since Sunday the 11th there's been a very bad fire over in Skull Valley which has caused some very gloomy days in our valley. Last night there was a rain of ashes giving everything a dusting of greyish white. Hoping that it can be contained soon.

Instagram photos of the smoky sunset.

Going to Oakley this Friday and Saturday for grandsons Ty's and Tee's first Fall High School Rodeo. Grampa will be hazing for their steer wrestling runs. Fingers crossed!

Nighty night!