Sunday, June 5, 2011

Hole-in-the-Rock girls adventure!

After our book club finished reading the book "The Undaunted" by Gerald Lund, I told the group that if anyone wanted to make a trip to Utah to see it I would be happy to take them! Well when spring break approached I threw it out there and had some takers! So we began planning our adventure! Me, Gaea Vaughan, Judi Poll, Debra Harris and Cindy Griffiths were game and set to go! Stacy also met us there in Escalante and I was just so super glad she came! We left on a Wednesday about 2 on the afternoon and stayed in St. George at Judi's World Mark Condo--really nice!


Got up early the next morning to head over to Escalante!

We made a quick stop at Mossy Cave and it was so beautiful, the red rocks were shining in the sun and there was still snow in the cave! It was a gorgeous morning and it was a great little hike.



We got into town about noon, and were ready and raring to go for more adventures! We first went over to the Heritage Center where Dad gave us a great tour and everyone just loved seeing how wonderful the center had turned out. So much information and everyone soaked it up.

We drove around to some local sites, Calf Creek, Boulder, Hogsback, and the Pertrified forest, where if we had only hiked a teeny bit more we would have actually seen some things!! It was still beautiful! We also stopped at Slot Canyon Inn and she took us on a little tour of her bed and breakfast and we also got to see the Indian Petroglyphs on the rocks there. We finished the day at Cowboy Blues for a great dinner! We spent the evening relaxing and enjoying having such a nice "resort" to stay in!


The next morning was our big trek to the Hole and we left about 8 in the morning, with sandwiches packed and cameras charged! The drive was about 2 hours on a pretty bumpy and precarious road but good old Dad got us there lickety split and my car actually survived the road! Although we were doubtful at times!! Dad is quite a driver! We enjoyed visiting the whole way out and having such a great tour guide was an added bonus! We stopped at Devils Garden first and had a little time to hike around at enjoy the intersting formations, and also use the last bathroom for several hours!



Next stop was Dance Hall Rock....really amazing place! Its where the pioneers gathered to dance and sing and enjoy one another's company, a fun happy place for all. The rock was massive! It was here that we met up with several county commissioners who were also making the trek that day and Judi Poll overheard one of them saying--"You should really talk to Jerry Roundy, he is the true expert on this whole area" She couldn't help but speak up and say "Excuse me, but he is right over there...!" That was so fun, and Dad was sooo glad to be able to talk to them and explain how important it was to have the road graded and kept open and driveable for people to go visit the Hole, and it was really meant to be for us to be on the trail that particular day and to meet up with all of them.



Now off to the Hole, we kept driving and driving thinking we may never make it but sure enough off in the distance, I said--"is that is??" And sure enough we had made it and to top it all off we had the Mormon Tab playing in the car and the song happened to be Faith in Every Footstep! It ended just as our car pulled up to the rock! It was breathtaking to see the blue waters of Lake Powell against the deep red rocks and the sun was shining and the day was perfect in every way. I can't post all the pics that I would like but these few will have to do.
You can see the crevice to the right of the trail marker as we approach.







While we were there Dad told us the story of the last wagon down the hole, and it was actually pretty emotional, a very cool story and great way to end the experience.


We all came back in awe of what was accomplished on this trek and had so much fun being together and enjoying the experience with each other. We spent the evening relaxing at the campfire and rode around the property on the four wheelers, where I was so glad that Stacy was around to do the driving! There were a bunch of deer on the property, that made Gaea excited! In fact, everything made Gaea excited! It was just so great on every level, everyone had a spectacular time and we all want to do it again!! SOON!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Sledding on Christmas Eve 2010

Don't have to drive far in Ephraim to find a nice hill to slide down! We had a great time going down backwards, sideways, upsidedown, pyramid style, chained together...you name it!

Christmas 2010-worl'ds longest post.....

This year Stacy really wanted us to come and spend Christmas at her new house, so how can you turn down an invitation like that? We had such a great time and are so glad we did. We left California at about 5:00 on Thursday after Gordon got home and we were going to stop halfway but decided to just keep on going, we got to Stacy's at about 4:30 in the morning, sneaked in the house and slept for a while. The next morning once we got going we made preparations for a big Christmas Eve dinner with the Casperson family. The guys did some snowmobiling during the afternoon, and Stacy and I ran to Wal-Mart one last time...........Then dinner! Delicious! Prime Rib, Turkey, stuffing, the works! They had it over at the church so that there was plenty of room for all the grandkids. They had a pinata for the kids and even Santa came to give everyone new PJ's--even Kyle got some! He was thrilled! haha


Later that evening, Blake, Melissa, and Dallin made it down and it was so nice to have everyone together. We were missing Bryce, as he had to unfortunately stay home and work and house sit for his boss. We missed him terribly, he spent Christmas day riding out in the desert with some friends. He opened his gifts before we left but saved his stocking for Chrismas morning.
Christmas morning was just great! All there together, that was the best present of all! We took turns opening gifts and watching everyone's excitment. We sent each other on treasure hunts too! And this year the kids sent Gordon and I on one!! It was awesome! In the end they gave us a most thoughtful gift and we were just both crying and couldnt even read the card that they made for us! They saved up their money and pooled it together to send us on a VACATION!! Something we have really never done! I dont even know how to process it! We have been on tour with Dad, and we went to Korea to get Blake, but never on a real vacay! How will we act? Where will we go? What will we do when we get there? Those are all questions that will be answered when we actually go..........! Still can't process it.....but are waaay excited for the adventure!




"0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562948182779414994" />


Christmas morning there was a beautiful snowfall and Babe and I went for a little walk and took some awesome pictures! Babe actually really liked going out in the snow! She did NOT like when we left her at Stacy's for a few days while we went up north, I guess she was howling everytime Stacy left her in the house alone! It got to where she couldn't even leave her!



Grand Prize winning photo!!

What can I say...it was a "picture perfect" Christmas morning!

And.... Stacy's tree was so beautiful!!!
We then went up north to see Blake and Melisss's apt. They called the day after Christmas to give us the bad news that they had been robbed while they were asleep inside their apt. It was very upsetting to everyone, they took their TV, xbox, games, wallet, car keys, and.....car. Merry Christmas......To make a long story short, their car was recoverd about 10 days later and they got ins money for the stolen items, so all is ok in the end but very upsetting and frustrating.
We spent the night with them and Melissa made us this awesome breakfast!! My goodness! Fritatta's and blueberry something rather delight, yum yum! We got so visit Blake in his new place of work! You are the MAN Blake! sweet office!


We then went up to Melanie's to visit and we had planned on going on up to Logan, but a snowstorm kept us from doing that so we held up and had a couple of relaxing days at Melanies. Seth brought Dallin and Kyle back from Logan then next day as he was up there and that worked out well. Then our trip was about over, so we headed back to Stacy's to save her from Babe, and back on to sunny Cali, with an extra passanger, Dallin who came home for a short visit!
Other highlights: Snow! Lights at Temple Square! sleeping on Stacy's couch....!
Losing at Wii bowling! Winger's! Snowmobiling! Shopping with Stacy! Cafe Rio! Seeing Morgan's kids at Burger King! Fabric store with Melanie! Wood store! Seeing Erica!
A big highlight for me was seeing the lights at Temple Square. The Salt Lake Temple is really my favorite temple, even over my own here in SD! So much was sacrificed to build the Salt Lake Temple, it is just so inspiring to see it! Ok I LOVE the Nauvoo Temple to--so really its a toss up, but at Christmastime...SL wins...