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.

I am back.

Sorry to be absent for so long but well life gets a little overwhelming for me sometimes. Anyway, we have pretty much finished the basement(only a few little things need to be finished) and we have pretty much moved in. It has been a big job for us but it will be nice to have done.
Ashley and I have started working at the Canyons Resort. It is fun to have someone to ride up with. We are finally getting snow so things are picking up.
Last Saturday Ric and I went snowshoeing. We left the house at 6:30am with a temperature of 15' and went up our American Fork Canyon. We met a group of fellow snowshoers and began our hike up a small canyon. It was beautiful with the newly fallen 18+ inches of snow and very cold (about 0'). We were dressed warmly and kept moving so we were really enjoying it. We got back to the car at 11:00am. I had lots to do but was so tired that not much got done the rest of the day.
Our Christmas eve was very quiet with just Ric and I but Ashley and Clay with their families were here on Christmas day. We ATE and played games. It was nice to be together.
I will post pictures as soon as I find my camera cord to the computer. Yea I am still unorganized. Sigh!

Grandkids are fun play toys!

We enjoyed having Staci and the boys come for a visit. Ashley and her gang came over and we went to the Childrens Museum and the next day to the Heritage Farm. We looked like a preschool on an outing. It was chaotic but fun. At the Childrens Museum, the babies loved the water area, Dallin and Parker loved the balls, and they all loved the helicopter. The train at the Farm was a hit as well as the pony rides and the playhouses. I ran out of battery in my camera at the Farm...oh well...I am still a grandma in training. But I have decided that grandkids are really fun "playthings". Lots of good times had by all.

A new baby boy added to the family.

I have spent many fun hour with the grandkids this summer. We welcomed Nathan and Staci's new son Landon so most of the family was together in Boise. He is such a good baby and so sweet. He was blessed wearing Nathan's blessing outfit. Staci did a great job arranging a brunch and hosting us all.

All the grandkids loved playing together...6 under age 4 years is a real zoo. It is also incredibly fun to watch. They are so active and individual.

Havasupai Falls Trip

I have always wanted to go to Havasupai Falls from the time I was in college so this was a dream come true for me. We spent 4 days having a blast...hiking, jumping into falls, swimming, floating down the stream, eating and camping. We drove all night on Thursday and began a hike down the canyon at 6am. It was still cool and the switchbacks were not bad. As we hiked the 10 miles into the canyon where we found a magical world of azure blue water, huge falls and groves of green trees within a desert world. We hiked through the Indian village to our campground. There were lots of people at the campground but for some reason I wasn't bugged. I was just happy to be some place cool. The hot temperatures made the water really inviting. We did the trip with Ashley, Justin, Justin's friends Tom and Sarah, Sarah's aunt and uncle, her 2 brothers, and a couple who were Tom and Sarahs friends. It was a great group.

We spent the next two days floating on inner tubes down the cascading terraces, swinging off rope swings, hiking to the four falls, eating and even attending a church meeting in the Indian village. I managed to pull a muscle in my leg which has dampened my summer activities but it was worth it. We all got a little banged up bouncing down the stream in our inner tubes and jumping off ledges with them into the pools below. It was incredible!
The last night we got up at 3am to pack up and begin our hike out. Since my leg was not working too good, we left our packs to be brought out on the mule train later in the morning. It turned out to be a really nice way to do it. I enjoyed the evening/morning hike out. The stars were awesome, we saw frogs and scorpions, and the sunrise was beautiful as dawn approached. It took us about 4 hours to hike out. We were thirsty and hot but we had cool drinks and watermelon waiting for us in our coolers up on top. We waited for our packs and watched the mules carry out the mail from the village(one of the last places to still have mail delivered by mule.
Ric and I had the best time especially being able to share it with Justin and Ashley and their friends. We recommend the trip to anyone even with the heat, the indian dogs, and hiking. It was worth it.