Nate's Family visits from Boise

Just before Thanksgiving, Staci came for a short visit with the Boys (Dallin, Parker, and Landon). We enjoyed getting to play with them. The chaos was so fun when Ashley brought her children. The grandkids put on a show( their own idea and production) and had us laughing like crazy people. What a bunch of hams! and Makayla is a natural at directing everyone. I wonder if Nate taught Dallin his GQ poses. (Video)

New Grandchild arrives

Clay and Brittany had a beautiful baby boy on Nov 19th. He made an exciting entrance with an emergency c-section but he is healthy and Brittany is doing well. We are thrilled to have him safely here. It is fun to watch your children become parents. Clay said,"It just feels so right!" when we asked him how it felt to have a baby.

Conference Weekend

One of my favorite weekends is Conference Weekend. This year we went to the cabin to watch the conference sessions on TV. It was beautiful up there. Ashley with her family and Kelsey and Logan joined us. We missed Clay and Nate with their families but still had a great time. We drove the ATV's, took walks and had a cardmaking session for the girls. It was fun to get away from it all and be together.

On the Mend

It has been about 14 weeks since my bike accident and I thought an update was is order. Last Tuesday I went for my most recent checkup. The Doc said that the bone is healing well with very little evidence of the break still apparent. And since the break was more crush than a clean break the femoral neck(that's the bone I broke) has compressed a bit. The result of that is a slightly shorter right leg. With all that said my recovery is going well. In fact we are going to St. George this weekend for the Tour of St. George Century ride. I wanted one good ride before the season ends and winter sets in. Speaking of winter, the Doc said I can ski this year. Yee Haa!!!! It's all about muscle strength now. I am thankful for all of you who have prayed for me and sent your good vibes. You helped more than you know.

Channel Islands

Finally after 7 years, I got Ric out to Santa Cruz Island. I have guided and paddled out there for so long and told countless stories so I am thrilled I finally got Ric out there. We drove out on Wed nite with 3 friends,Nancy Seamons, and Lynnette and Brian Kap, all packed into a minivan. We paddled through sea caves, saw whales, sea lions, and played games. Nettie, Brian, Nancy and I hiked seven miles to Smugglers Cove. The island was great. We had good paddling weather and lots of fun. Happy Times!

Granddaughters' outing

My friend Nancy Seamons and I took our granddaughters to lunch and then to the Thanksgiving Farm. We went to Wendy's since that was Ellie's favorite. We were going to the Jump on it place but found out that it was closed so off we went to the farm. Makayla and Ellie rode the horses and we went on the carriage ride. We had fun feeding the turkeys. Boy are they fast grabbers. The calf was very slobbery to feed, the horses were a little scarey and the goats were really tickly as they licked the kernel out of your fingers. It was an experience but the favorite thing for Makayla was the washing area with the little sprayers for your hands. Anyway it was really fun to go out with Makayla and Nancy and her granddaughter. It is fun to have the opportunity do be with your grandchildren.

The yard that grew and grew.

When we bought the lot for our house, it looked like a good sized lot but not too outrageous. It looked smaller that most of the other lots. When the house was built it looked a little bigger but had a huge drop off so we had some soil brought in and it made the slope less drastic and increased the yard right in back of the patio. Ok, so it was pretty big but we felt it would be manageable. Then we started the landscaping and the yard got bigger, not to mention expensive. We added rock walls to keep the slope in check, and sloping ramps to add access. Somehow the yard looked bigger and we wondered "What were we thinking?" Then it was time to put in the irrigation. Wow, the yard was really big! By this time Ric was incapacitated...so we had a landscaper put in the irrigation system(thank heavens or we really would have messed it up). We also had him plant a few big trees that needed a tractor to move them in place but that left about 2o trees for us to plant. With a small window of time to get them in before the sod needed to be laid, we valiantly rented an auger ( a big machine you drag around to dig the hole). That was a smart move on our part since Ric was still on a crutch and I had a pulled ham-string. It all went reasonably well...there were only a couple of times that I thought Ric was going to be run over by the huge machine while we dragged it from hole to hole. But when it came time to dig the lower trees' holes, we knew that we couldn't do it on our own. So we called two of the nicest men we know and they came to our rescue. Curtis Smith, a dentist and Shawn Hurley along with his wonderful son came and helped us move and dig and plant. Curtis was really good at drilling...I guess the dentist thing transfers over. We now have 31 trees. Then it was time for sod. By this time, the yard looked more like a park than a backyard to us and we weren't sure if we asked people to help that they would be our friends after laying that much sod. Ric said it would be ok but I thought it was too much to ask. I have never had to ask for help in my life so this was a new experience for me. I was so touched when we had over 35 people come to help lay sod over 2 days (we worked from 6 to 8:30 on Fri and 7-9:30 on Sat). Everyone was amazing. Men and women hauled, cut and laid 12,000 sq feet of sod. Our son and daughter in Idaho traveled all the way from Rexsburg to help, Justin was there helping as always and Clay came after work to help clean up. I couldn't believe that so many people would come to help us. It was a miracle to me. The whole yard has been a miracle with people showing up at the right moment to help move beams and tresses, dig trenches etc. Ric was able to walk without his crutch or cane when he needed to. So while the yard seemed grow in size, it also grew as a testimony of the goodness of people and God's love for us as a family. It is beautiful in many ways.

Fossil Hunting Trip

I volunteered to be the Fed Express for my sister. She bought a huge painting from Emily and couldn't get it in her car. It barely fit in mine. I drove up with Kelsey (she and Logan had come down to help us lay sod). I stayed the night with Kelsey and Logan on Sunday night. I got to Suzan's and delivered the painting. She and I went shopping and did some reading. On Tuesday morning, Skip, Suzan and I headed out to go fossil hunting in eastern Montana. I love the wide open spaces on the praries there. We stopped at one place and I found dinosaur bones, turtle shells and some teeth. We drove off the road and set up camp about 6pm. We had a nice dinner of soup, cheese, and crackers. The sunset was great and the weather was warm. Unfortunately, the next morning it began to sprinkle. The roads there are bentonite clay so if it rains they get slick and stick to everything. You can get stuck forever there. We hurried up and broke camp. Once we got off the dirt roads, it began to pour. We were glad we had not waited it out. Although I was sorry not to get to do another day of fossil hunting, it was nice to drive around such beautiful country. I had a great time and have a few cool fossils.

Lee on the Rogue River in IK

Pictures

Triathalon
Rainie Falls on the Rogue River
The Cabin with the Grandkids

Recovery and Rivers

We had a great family outing at the Burley Idaho Spudman Triathalon. Logan, Justin and I participated in the 1 mile swim (my wave was cancelled due to a drowning of one of the swimmers ahead of us), a 26 mile bike race, and a 6 mile run. The whole family was there with the exception of Clay and Brittany who had to work but did include my sister Suzan. After the race, we attended the Twin Falls Temple Open House. The grandkids were really reverent and it was such a beautiful building. Parker, Dallin, and Landon are below on the Temple steps. After the two nights, the girls were joined by Brittany and we traveled to Boise to stay at the Marriott there by the river. We went floating down the Boise River, (where I broke every boating rule I know), accidentally popping the raft Kelsey was in, seeing river otters, eating licorice , and laughing our heads off. We went to the play "Oklahoma" at an outdoor theater in the mountains and just had fun talking, eating and hanging out. My sister Suzan, daughters Ashley, Kelsey, Staci, Brittany and I all had a blast.[Photo]Ric is continuing to get better. At his last doctor appt. he was given permission to start putting weight on his leg. He has begun physical therapy and is relentless in his persistence for recovery. Last night we went to a wedding reception and he only used one crutch. He is getting stronger, today he even washed a couple of pans for me. Yeah...a first in 8 weeks. I am stoked and so is he. ( Not about the dishwashing however.) We completed the cement work in the yard and now we are getting the sprinkling system in. Somehow, our yard has grown since we bought it. It looks much, much larger. I am wondering who will be mowing and doing the weeding. I really hope it is not me. We built a deck while Ric was been broken and we really appreciate all the kids did to help with it. Ric even sat and a stool and drilled in nails. I learned to drill those long screws in too and did a pretty good job I must say. With Ric in recovery, I did the Rogue River in Ore. without him. I missed him the whole way because he would have loved it as much as I did. The mountains there are spectacularly green and lush with streams and little waterfalls everywhere. The water is cool and clear. It was hot and the water felt great to cool off. The river was class III and two IV's. I think one of the IV's was a III and I paddled that in my IK (inflatable kayak). I took one swim. Mostly because I loaded my boat stupidly and after I removed the ballast in front had no further problems. I hate to swim, but felt better when the other IK paddlers took their turn at least once. I didn't paddle Blossom Bar and just rode in the raft with Nancy Seamons. There have been 2 deaths there this season and I didn't want to stress out Nancy. She rowed it perfectly. It was lots of fun. We hiked, swam, ate, jumped off rocks into clear streams and used water cannons to spray passengers on the motor boat cruises on the lower part of the trip (they started it and finished it too when the boat put the stern toward us and gunned the jets, totally dousing us with a rooster tail of water). It was a great river.Last Friday, I did a quick day trip with Nancy on the Westwater section of the Colorado. It is III's and IV's too. I just was a ballast the first section with the rapids. I was thinking as we were flawlessly sailing through the rapids that I was going to have to go with less experiences rafters in order to see carnage. At Sock it to Me rapid, Nancy's oar hit a rock and popped out, we were swept in the wave train to "Magnetic Rock" and pinned against the rock. The raft started to flip while Nancy was struggling to get the oar in place. I yelled "High side!" so we threw ourselves on the edge of the tube and were able to keep upright while we pushed the raft slowly off the rock. One of the boats, came down and bumped us off at the end so all ended nicely but it was a thrill for a moment. I rowed the last 10 miles which was good experience for me since we are acquiring a new raft in Sept. I am excited to get Ric and I out there. I envision Ric rowing with all kinds of gear and me paddling along in a kayak. Sounds great, huh?!
draft

Making Progress

It's been three weeks since my crash and I thought a brief update wuld be in order. I had my first follow-up visit with the doctor last Tuesday. He looked at the xrays and said things were looking good. I have 2 very cool screws and a neat metal plate in there! He said the bone had not moved which is a good. And although I have another 5 weeks on the crutches with no weight bearing on my hip, I did get the okay to begin some exercises to help restrenghten my hip flexors, and abductor muscles. He even told me that I could begin a stationary bike, peddling with the left leg and allowing the right to just turn to reintroduce that motion. YeeHaa! He also removed the staples in the incisions. Anyway, I am doing well thanks to my wonderful family and great supportive friends. I love you all.

Turn? What Turn?

Lee did a great job of recapping the injury I sustained last Saturday while riding the MS 150. I thought I would just attached some details of what happened. So here goes. I had just left a rest stop at about the 60 mile mark, feeling great and riding strong. I took off by myself looking forward to a good finish. The road took a slight turn to the right and began a small downhill decent. There were several riders to my immediate left as we reached the bottom of the hill when with very little warning I noticed the blue arrow on the road indicating we were to turn left. I shouted that we needed to turn left and think that I touched my brakes to slow. But almost at the same instant, I heard someone from off my right shoulder. I don't know where he came from. I suspect he was on my wheel and did not react to the turn command but there he was and then I felt the pavement and heard my head, thankfully well protected by my helmet, crash down too. I think I knew immediately that I had broken my hip. I chose to lie there for a moment and collect my thoughts. Fortunately for me a good Samaritan stopped to lend assistance. He was actually supporting his wife who was riding and happened to be near the accident site. After a few seconds I asked for help to my feet where I was able to confirm that indeed my hip was not willing to take any weight. Now I've been told several times since that day that a rational person would have called 911 for assistance at this point. I've never considered myself as irrational, stubborn maybe, but not irrational. So with some discomfort, read pain, I managed to lift myself into this man's truck for a ride to the hospital. Strangely enough the course official instructed us to return to the rest stop before going to the hospital so I could sign an incident report. We waited at the stop for about 5 minutes when another official approached to tell us that the SAG vehicle would not be coming because were down the hill at accident! You guessed it. The same hill where I had crashed! So we proceeded back to the site where 911 had been called and an EMT was on scene, signed the form, and then headed off to the Logan Hospital. I will be forever grateful for my good Samaritan who saw me battered and bruised and gave me help.

Pictures of Ric and his hip.

Ric is being loaded for shipping to Murray Intermountain hospital. What a trooper!

His good hip (xray) Upper left

His broken hip (xray) Upper right

Sorry no picture of the repair with screw and metal plate.

Ric is doing well for being broken. He is on crutches and a little slow but can get around. We are happy for that! Its the small things in life>

An unexpected end to a bike ride

I had a been off on great trip to see my sister and Kelsey...I even took my sister on a commercial trip going down the Gallitan River. It has some 3's and one 4 but the water was too high to do the 4. It was a lot of fun and Suzan said she understood why I like it. Enjoyed Kelsey too...we went to see Wally which was funand prepared for a surprise birthday party for Logan. On Saturday morning however, I got a call from Ric who was doing the MS century ride in Logan. He had been taken out by a cyclist (of course the cyclist got up and rode away) and Ric had broken his hip. Ric being a guy and a little too macho didn't call 911 for an ambulance and accepted a ride in a truck to the hospital which amazed the ER staff and firemen paramedics alike. A broken hip is really painful. I drove right to the ER in Logan, getting there by 2pm (Ric had gone down about 10:15). The surgeon got there about 3 pm and after looking at the xrays and taking a CT scan, decided to send him to Murray's Intermountain Hospital to a Orthopedist that does more complex injuries. We had to wait 3 hours for a bed to be free before they would transport us then Ric went by ambulance and we arrived about 8:30 pm. We were taken to his room where we waited until 3 am for the doctor. They had a big trauma case and it took him that long to finish, They decided to wait until morning...of course the hospital being a major trauma hospital ended up swamped with traumas and we waited until 6:30 pm for an orderly to wheel Ric to the OR. We were all frustrated by then and worried about the bone staying alive without a blood supply. We didn't see anyone until 6 hours later when the surgeon came out. Good news (I guess) is he was able to put the neck of the femur back together with wire, two screws, and a metal plate. Since the bone ends were splintered and not a clean break there is some chance for it not to heal right or even survive. Recovery will be long and slow probably, but Ric had some good blessings where he was promised to recover completely. A good miracle would be nice about now. This of course changes our summer plans...he will not be doing the Spudman triathlon with the family, doing the Ulcer century ride with Nathan, the boat trip with me or the LotoJa 206 mile bike ride with his buddies among other things. It is pretty disappointing but Ric is such a positive non- whiny guy. He is a real trooper and I am lucky to be nurse and wife to such a great example. We have lots of prayers and well wishs from our friends and family and we really appreciate it. I am all about miracles...our family has had many in the past so I would love Ric to surprise the doctors with an incredible recovery. He does so much for others and he has so much he wants to do especially for his Young Men in our ward. We will keep you updated. I will add pictures soon.

Yampa's Warm Springs Rapid

Yampa River Trip

Ric could not go with me on this trip so my good friend Nancy and I left for the Yampa June 4th. We drove in a rainstorm from Heber to Western Colorado to our put in site at the Deerlodge Park Campground. The river was at flood stage. The campground had to be evacuated the week before due to flooding. The river had dropped but was still licking the banks. The rain let up long enough for us to get our tents up and then went back to raining. The next day was very cool with rain off and on. After shuttling our cars to the take out, we began our trip. The river was really moving fast and we only had 4 miles to go which was nice since it was still raining. Again the rain let up enough to set up tents and then it poured. I thought for sure I would be sleeping in a puddle, but the tent was stayed dry and I slept like a rock. Next morning we awoke to sun and dried out the gear. It stayed sunny but very cool (like in the 50's). The water was colder which I discovered from personal experience later in the day. With the river so full, the flat water had riffles and waves and the two class 3 rapids that day were really big. Teepee Hole had big waves and a big hole but I was able to get through it with only a surge of adrenaline. However at Big Joe, it was really turbulent and big. Valiantly, my ducky (an inflatable kayak) and I paddled forth like David facing Goliath. I made the mistake of not scouting the rapid myself and was told to just stay right of center. I didn't know that the river turned to the right and since I was in the really huge waves, I got too far to the left. There were to big lateral waves breaking off the wall of the gorge. I crashed through the first but there in front of me was a huge rolling wave which just flipped me over like a twig. I hung on to the paddle but there was too much current to get to my boat. Meanwhile, I am not seeing my rescue boat which was caught in the current and couldn't find an eddy so they could rescue me. It was a long, cold, bouncy swim. I was glad I had my hydroskins and drytop on. Dave, my hero and rescuer, said I was in the water about 5 min. which is pretty long in cold water. They finally fished me out. I was pretty cold and drained but otherwise in good condition. No ducky was showing up however. We waited and waited but no boat so being as stubborn as I am, I hiked back up the gorge looking for my boat while Dave and Roland waited at the raft. After offering a prayer of thanks for my safety and plea that I would be able to retrieve my boat, I hiked up about a mile along the steep wall. There down a gentle slope along the bank sat my ducky. Upright with all my gear in place, was my kayak ...just like someone had left it there for me. I hopped in and paddled down to my buddies who were relieved at the happy outcome. I gave everyone a break the next day by not paddling the class 4 which was really huge. I found my true calling...which is ballast (extra weight in the front of the boat which helps it break through the big waves). I was able to run Warm Springs twice acting as ballast in a 14 foot the first day and a second day in a 12 foot raft when the river had dropped slightly. Both rides had their exciting moments. I videoed some of the rafts going through Warm Springs but they don't do justice to how big the waves and holes were. Catherine, a fun gal from Louisiana said she looked down into the hole and saw China. I believed it! It was a great trip, with awesome food in true river trip tradition, and I met some really nice, fun people. I had so much fun I am talking Ric into buying a raft for our fleet. I keep assuring him he will love the Rogue River in Aug.

San Rafael ATV Trip

Our neighbors invited us to go on a two day ATV trip to the San Rafael Swell. They let us ride their bikes and we camped out there one night and rode two days. Ric and I had a great time doing this together. I thought we would be sharing a bike but no.... I had to ride my own ATV. This is scary because my last ride many years ago was up the Logging Road at the cabin . I managed to tip the 3 wheeler backwards on top of little Nathan and myself pinning us. I was pregnant with Clay and the experience made me very leery of going up steep grades. Luckily, they gave me an automatic transmission and 4 wheel drive so there was less to worry about. However, our first ride went up some very steep rocky stuff which Larry later told me was like a Black Diamond trail in skiing. I was scared ( I had just read an article about how most of the accidents out there are due to Atv's) but somehow I managed to get up and over the rise without becoming a statistic. After that trail, I felt like a pro and it all seemed easy so I could relax. The country was beautiful and the weather perfect. We enjoyed hanging out with our neighbors and their friends.

Am I really back?

Ok, so I am the worst at Blogging. Here is another try (I will blame the past failure on forgetting my password).

Here is the update.

I spent the winter season teaching skiing again, but this year was really fun since my daughter Ashley taught with me. I loved driving up with her and occasionally getting to ski together. Later in the season, Makayla joined us. She added another element of fun as she talked about her own personal ski coach. She loved skiing! The great thing about teaching is now I get free passes. Ric and I would go up and ski for awhile then go home and do something around the house. Nice not to feel that you have to ski until 4pm to get your money's worth. It was great when the family came up. My only regret is that we didn't get to do more family ski trips. Maybe next year.

January...Ric and I went on a CarMax Company cruise. I always enjoy a free vacation. We visited Key West where Ric drove me around on a scooter. That was fun. We swam in a Cenote near Playa del Carmen. I really enjoyed that too. I ate too much but I enjoyed that also.

The winter seems a blur...enjoying the skiing, hating the cold, wishing for spring, missing California, working out at the gym and watching the series 24 (Seasons 2-5) at night during the writers strike.

In February, Kelsey invited us to retreat at her house with a trip to the Rexburg Temple Open House. Ashley, Justin along with the kids came and we had a great time together as usual. We also went to the Elk Refuge in the Tetons and saw the houses that Logan had built. The hayride to see the elk was lots of fun.

I attended a Kayak Symposium the end of March. There were classes by some of the best kayakers in the world. I did a incident management class where they enacted different problems and it was a hoot watch ing the chaos as everyone was hooking tow lines up to each other. I also tried an intro to canoeing. I didn't do too badly. My buddies and I camped out at Mission Bay in San Diego and made new friends. It was fun and frustrating at the same time. I love kayaking and miss doing it weekly. My kayak buddies keep getting better and I am not. Whaaaaa. So Sad. Oh well hopefully I can make up some during the summer.

My Trip to Israel

Petra

In April, I went to Israel for two weeks with my sister and her husband. He was lecturing at the University of Tel Aviv. Suzan didn't want to be there by herself so I agreed to come and tour with her. Since I used all of Ric's frequent flyer miles, it took me 36 hours to get from SLC to Tel Aviv. I had a 17 hour layover in Rome so I hopped on a train and went to Pompeii to see the ruins there. I had never seen it and really was amazeed how extensive the ruins are and all the details. The mozaic floors were still intact and beautiful. I successfully arrived back in Rome and caught my plane. Somehow, Skip and Ric got our wires crossed and I arrived a day earlier than Suzan and Skip. It was a little unnerving to get to a country where you have no idea of the language ( everything is in Hebrew which looks like Greek to me) and there is no one there to meet you. I finally was able to get a hold of Issac, Skips friend and he rescued me. I was happy when Suxan arrived the next day. We first went south to Elat and over to Jordon to see Petra. That was one amazing place. A whole city cut into the mountains there. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade filmed the temple that had the hole grail there. Anyway it is so beautiful. As we drove through the desert, I sympathized with Laman and Lemuel. It is the most barren of places. You understood why they ate raw meat...it was because there was absolutely no vegetation to use for fuel. I would have complained too I am afraid. Suzan and I toured everywhere. Sea of Galilee, Nazareth, Capernum, Caesarea, Acre, Joffra, Masada and the Dead See and of course Jerusalem. I learned so much and since Suzn and Skips friends were Israelis, I understood a lot more of the challenges they have with the Palestinians. It is not an easy situation. I can't imagine having gas masks under the bed and think there was a good chance I would need them. Bombings are not unfamiliar to them and everyone there has had a least someone they know killed by a bomb. We spent Passover with them. They were so considerate to get us a book with the translation of the prayers for passover in English. We ate a traditional Passover Meal...I don't like Gefelte Fish or however you spell it. I did eat it though. Deborah is a typical jewish mom and wants to feed you tons of food. The most fun was Suzan and I smearing ourselves with Dead Sea mud and floating in the dead sea. I loved all the ruins. I hated the churches in Jerusalem ( you would have to be there to understand I think) I had a great flight home and was able to watch about 5 movies onroute. My favorite was Martian Child. It was really touching and you should see it if you haven't already.

I am at the West Wall in Jeruselm

Suzan and I smeared with Dead Sea Mud

May brought the Womens Conference. I helped with a humanitarian project. I helped cut out and prepare Christmas stockings that would be completed during the conference. I attended classes and helped ladies finish the stockings. We completed 575 stockings which will mostly go to Operation Gratitude for our military men.

The Delores River and My Snaggletooth Adventure.

Last week I went on a river trip with my friend Nancy who is an awesome person and river guide. I met 9 other new friends as we rowed down the Delores River in Southern Colorado. The river had lots of class three rapids and one class 4. We spent 4 nights on the trip. I loved the canyon and camping out and just joking and talking with people and of course the water. The water was really cold...I tried to wash my hair and got a freeze headache. It was really cold at night with one morning showing 20' at 7:00am. Everyone laughed at me when I came out of my tent that night wearing a down parka, neckgaiter, ski hat and gloves. I think they were just jealous. The last day the weather was warm and really nice and I didn't wear the 4 layers I wore the day before. One crazy thing happened on Snaggletooth Rapid, the Class 4. We stopped and scouted it. The amount of water made it seem pretty ominous and three of the guys said they weren't going to go down it. I wasn't worried because Nancy was rowing and I was just in the front getting splashed on. So we discuss the line we planned on taking which means go straight over the big Rooster tail wave and bust through that. Then row like crazy left so we don't hit Snaggletooth and get sucked into the big holes by it. Off we go, we line up great hit the big waves, and start rowing left. I can see we are not going to make it to the left of Snaggletooth. Option B... I am hoping we don't get pinned on Snag...Nancy begins to row forward to the right, with some luck we can hit the hole straight. We plunge down and the raft begins to tip downstream. Flipping the raft is bad soI throw myself to the upstream side of the raft and into the hole we go. The raft rights itself....there are still some rapids ahead but I turn back to cheer Nancy on. She is not there! She has been catapulted into the fridged water, all I can see are her feet being swept down the river. The raft is headed to some big ROCKS ahead. I jump back and grab the oars and straighten out the raft and finish the rapids and head to shore. The safety lines miss Nancy and a boat downstream picks her up just before they enter another set of rapids and around the corner they go. I don't know what to do....I don't know how to row but Nancy is downstream so I go after her. I do ok until the river makes a hard bend to the left and I get hung up on rock. Good grief! I am thankful when another boater comes to my rescue and pushes me off and I tell him to row the last 30 feet to Nancy and the shore. Everyone in our party is saying, "I didn't know you knew how to row" and I am telling them that was the first time. They thought I looked pretty good. So "My First Rowing Experience" is in a class 4 rapid. We all laughed and were glad for the happy outcome. Everyone else in the party did great even those who originally decided not to go through it.

I am going again in a week. This time on the Yampa in Northern Colorado. I Really appreciate Ric and his support. He is the best and such a good sport. My mom says" I didn't raise my girls to go off and leave their husbands. I don't know where Lee gets this." ( I really did try to talk him into doing some of the other rivers with me but he has scout camp and youth conference and I did skip two other rivers to stay home with him. So I hope I am not too bad) Oh well, my love of adventure wins out, but I have talked Ric into going with me in Aug. on the Rogue River in Ore.

Most of my energy lately is going to working out at the gym, running, swimming and biking. In a moment of craziness, I signed up to do the Spudman Triathalon in July. It is Olympic distance, which is swim one mile, run 6 miles and bike 26 mile. It sounds easy until you start working out and the weather is being so beastly. (and of course you leave for river trips). I will finish even if it takes me days so there any doubters. Will let you know how it goes. Boy do I hate peddling up hills.

I love the outdoors but I do love my family more and cherish every minute I get with grandkids and children. I am looking forward to this summer....and I hope I will be a better blogger.