Month: August 2018

This evening, after a fit of creative passion, Sam presented us with this tetraptych:

Sam does not respect the seasons, as shown by his Halloween-themed birthday and this work of art.

You may not immediately recognize the subject matter, as he has re-ordered the poem. (Whether this was an accident, I am not sure)  Allow me to translate:

Jingle Bells, Batman Smells (notice the upended trash can on his head)

Robin Laid An Egg (with horror, it would seem)

Batmobile Lost A Wheel

And The Joker Got Away

Everyone was a little worn out by this point.  Ben had a few side-interest stops, but over and over the vote was to just keep moving.  We did stop for gas and ride a dino 🙂

And we made sure to visit some family.  The Martha and Ronnie welcomed us to their home for a rest.  They have a beautiful home right next to the mountain with a grand view of the Salt Lake (sadly mostly obscured by smoke with all these wildfires).  We had a delicious brunch spread and Jack and Sam got to meet all four of their cats.  It was great to see Josh and Jill too, who were headed to university in just a few days.

We blazed past SLC, the boys barely looking up from their tablets to see the temples whenever I pointed them out.  A final stop in American For for drinks, fries, and extra fry sauce, before buckling in for the long haul to Grand Junction.    We saw some actual fire in the mountains as we went through the canyon.  The worker’s at the Solider Summit gas stop said they were on stand by for evacuation.  Mom said that they ended up shutting down the high just 1 1/2 hours after we passed through.  Whew!  Glad we made it safely!

A quick stop for melons in Green River, then we rolled into Grand Junction about 8 pm.  Still time to let the kids jump in the pool!

Going through my phone, I didn’t seem to take any pictures the rest of the trip.  It was a short but normal visit.  Mom made crepes for breakfast.  Dad had the day off so he got to be abused with water guns all morning.  The kids swam until we dragged them out, then got to play even more with Grandma Betty.

We left in the afternoon for a relatively quick jaunt over the mountains.  Being a Monday we had little traffic.  We listened to Ramona and Beezus stories told by Stockard Channing and Sam napped off and on.  We stopped in Edwards to recover from some car sickness, adventuring down into the rocks.  We made in home to a clean and quiet house in time for their usual bedtime at 8pm.  What a trip!

All of Saturday we played in Burley with our friends.  The boys were delighted to have Cartoon Network in the morning and hotel lobby breakfast.  We drove out to Walcott Lake park to relax and play disc golf. I guess I was too busy talking, enjoying the food, and keeping Opal from inhaling ALL my rations to take many pictures.

We took a giant table at the Wayside Inn to get lunch.  Ben got his finger steaks, but Sam was to tired and distracted to care 🙂  I had a delicious country fried steak.  But the best part was all this time to talk to dear Miranda and Nate about life.

We split to let Opal have a nap with Ben and Nate, while Miranda and I took the older kids swimming at the hotel.  Then we stopped at one of Burley’s SIX snow cone sellers for an icy treat.

Back at their compound we played with the kittens some more, noshed on pizza, and I tried to stay awake while we played the Mistborn board game.  The kids were all playing Minecraft – we’d been listening to a Minecraft novel narrated by Jack Black so Jack and Sam were obsessed with playing it more.  Luckily, like all kids in the USA, Azalea and Cedar were also Minecraft fans.

We woke up refreshed, ready for the lake. We raided the garage for boogie boards and sand pails.

The lake level was unusually high, so the free spots had no beach! We decided to pay for the sand access at Rendezvous Beach. The kids played happily. The water was pleasantly cool.

Lunch time means one thing at Bear Lake: LaBeau’s!

Sam has really expanded his culinary horizons this trip. In Wyoming he learned to appreciate mozzarella sticks, and in Utah he decided corn dogs and fry sauce are delicious! We’re going to push him in Idaho for their local delicacy: finger steaks.

After lunch we changed and repacked at the cabin. Our destination tonight was Burley, Idaho. Logan was a welcome stop of civilization. We drove around the temple (sam emerging from a Dramamine snooze to see).

We found another local specialty, the dirty soda shop. These are strangely all over Utah. I got a Diet Coke with lime and coconut and it was actually really good. I grabbed some Spudnuts (potato flour doughnuts) and drove on to the apex of our trip.

The Walkers! How we love and miss them! They are building their dream home here and face of us a tour of their hard work. I was happy to see our kids linked with theirs, exploring the farmland.

We had dinner at Taco Bandido, then came back to their place for a marshmallow roast. We attracted the local kitten family who were desperate for attention. I asked Jack and Azalea if they cats were kittypets or warriors, based on the definitions in the Warriors Cats books. They launched into a heated debate (Azalea says kittypets because she feeds them kibble when the neighbors leave, Jack says loners, an inbetweener cat, because they are linked to a home but do not have collars).

We talked, laughed, and meteors dashed overhead.

We packed up into a rental car and left Arvada before 9 am, not bad! Ben broke up our journey to Idaho into manageable chunks. Today’s destination is Bear Lake. Our first stop was to visit the new Fort Collins temple.

After a quick stop to replace my splintered needles, we made our way into Wyoming.

Ben found an old diner, J’s Prairie Rose for lunch.

Then we took a tour of the Ivinson Mansion. What a strange little house! They had some interesting pieces, like this music disk player.

The next stop was Rawlins to see their old penitentiary museum. We just did a quick view of the free exhibits, rather than the full tour. It was a good leg stretch.

In the middle of nothingness, Ben finds a way station. Here at Point of Rocks the boys peeked into the ruins of a stagecoach way station.

Green River offered a playground next to the river, but I preferred eating dinner in an air conditioned restaurant over a picnic. Sam got some wiggles out.

Little America was busy busy. The kids got cones, now up to a whopping 75 cents each 😉

Just before 9 pm we rammed up the steep driveway of the Cook Cabin. The boys were excited to explore all its eccentricities (Ok, who left a wooden MACE up here??) I might be the first one to climb in bed tonight. Looking forward to some raspberries tomorrow!

It’s finally here!!!

Jack is going into third grade. Sam is starting kindergarten!

They have the usual first day jitters. I walked them into class and they both seem eager to be there.

Here’s to a great school year!!!

16 years married today!

Only mild celebrations this year, with it being a normal Thursday and the weekend already booked with scout camp and an Alamo date Saturday night (Mission Impossible, if you’re keeping track).

Ben worked from home so we could have a long lunch date. Leisurely we chatted over Which Wich, perused the LEGO store, and got Dole Whips at Menchie’s frozen yogurt. 16 years and we still love each other’s company. ❤️