Our new dog, Chace

 This is Chace.  We rescued him when our neighbor said she wasn't taking her grandson's dog with her when she moved.  

They said he was three, but he's too small and still chews up stuff.

He likes to play fetch. 

Enjoys the kiddie pool with Cassy.  I think even more than Cassy.

Took him to Utah for Cassy's birthday.  They both had a great time on the mountain.   

They both had a great time at Meadow Lake.  Love the smile on Cassy's face! 

Tromping through the creek.

Maybe he'll learn to ride the quads like Cassy.  Don't get too excited, he only went about 10 feet before jumping off.

He's a snuggly little thing.  I think maybe he should have been called Shadow, he sticks to me like glue.   

He likes to look out the window.  

I think he'll fit in really good around here.  He and Cassy have been playing, wrestling and enjoying the companionship I think.  Life is really a new adventure when you add another dog to your family.  

Cabela's...Lehi, Utah

On the way to Salt Lake City for the Sam's Club National BBQ Tour contest we stopped in at Cabela's in Lehi, Utah.  What an awesome place!  We spent about 2 hours there.  They have a big game room...what an amazing place.  Here are some photos to share.

We managed to spend some money, taste some fudge, see some great animals, and enjoy ourselves.  If you want to read about the BBQ contest, head over to Trailhound Smokers BBQ blog to check it out 

The Annual Christmas Tree Hunt

This year it took two attempts to acquire our beloved Christmas tree.  The first weekend of December was bitter cold but we headed out anyway.  We were stopped just before the Virgin River Gorge by highway patrol.  They had closed the gorge due to black ice and snow.  We turned around and came home only to hunt another day.  

Our second attempt was successful.  We headed up Cedar Mountain, beyond Brianhead to the parking area outside Meadow Lake Estates.   We crossed the road and headed into the woods.  

I was not allowed to walk into the snow to hunt trees because of my recent knee replacements.  Scott, Timm and Christy all headed in to find our trees.  The snow was deeper than we thought it was, so it was probably a good thing I didn't wander off the road.  It certainly isn't as much as the snow though. 

We found our three trees pretty quickly.   

Christy really gets into this tradition of ours and she loves it too.  

Scott and Christy's tree. 

We even found a bird nest in one of the trees...super cool.  

The successful second attempt was a pretty quick trip but we still enjoyed lunch at Lupita's Mexican Restaurant in Cedar.  The dogs didn't go this year, Chris and Bri had to work.  I hope next year they are all able to go with us. 

Fun in the water

We headed up to Enterprise, UT to pick up a load of fruit wood.  We had to stop by the Beaver Dam Reservoir to let Cassy play in the water.  She absolutely loves it.  I wish we lived closer to a place she could play in the water all the time.  

Mmmmmm, grass.  

She loves to roll in the dirt too.  

A couple of trips planned

It seems like its been forever since we've been on a trip but we made reservations for a couple of trips.  Labor Day weekend we are heading to Marysvale, Utah!  Yes!  We'll be camping at Lizzie and Charlies' and riding the ATVs in the beautiful Utah mountains on the Paiute trail system.

In the next couple of weeks we'll be heading south for the Northern Arizona BBQ Festival in cool Williams, Arizona.  This was our first contest ever so it's always like going home.  We're taking a couple of extra days for us to explore and enjoy the area.  

Quick Utah Get-away

I got my little adventure finally.  We took my 4 wheeler up to Cedar City for some TLC so it's ready for spring.  After talking about some barbecue, Chris recommended Sonny's BBQ so we grabbed some before heading up Cedar Mountain.  Good grub by the way...looks like another favorite place to eat in Cedar.

We stopped at Wood's Ranch, it's still really covered with snow.  If you know Cassy, you know she loves snow.  She must have rolled around in it for 15 minutes before doing anything else.  

And if you know Shelby, you know she just wants to play fetch.  

Click on the photo to watch. 

We headed up to the top of the mountain and turned around at Midway.  The wind was really chilly up there and we weren't prepared to hang out in it but we did let the dogs get out and play a bit more.  

She was trying to catch snowballs.  I thought she was going to dig half way to China to find one of them. 

With that being said, here's another video for you.

When getting back to town I shopped at a cute little shop on the main drag called Country and More...I think.  It's in the old Bulloch Drug building.  Cute stuff...I bought a couple of frames.  An early dinner at Lupitas...Timm's favorite Mexican restaurant and we headed home.  I'm glad he took the day off to go with me, I really enjoyed it...and the girls did too. 

Marysvale

We took the Labor Day weekend off from the BBQ thing and decided to go camping instead.  Marysvale and the Paiute Trail was our destination and it's a great choice.  The weather has been wonderful, we've had some rain, clouds and sunny weather.  It's been nice and cool, especially at night.  Lizzie and Charlies RV Park wasn't as full as I expected, I'm just glad we were able to get a spot (and in the old area with grass as well). 

We've covered quite a bit of ground over the last few days.  Friday, we set up camp and took the truck over the mountain to Beaver.  What a beautiful drive it was, with a steady rain at the higher altitudes.  We picked up cheese curd and enjoyed some ice cream at the Cache Valley Cheese Factory, got my wood order from the lumber yard (Lynn rocks by the way) and enjoyed dinner at Maria's in the Beaver Canyon Campground.  Our adventure took us over I-70 for the return trip to Marysvale. 
Saturday, we headed west and explored the old Silver King Mine area, down to Kimberly, and back over to Deer Creek Canyon. 

That is one beautiful ride for sure.  I even got a short video of it.  Cassy got to play in the water, hunt for squirrels and chase a deer on her 40 mile trip.  She stayed back at camp for the afternoon ride while we took the trail up to Boullion Canyon.  Timm got to play in the water there.  We even saw a few deer. 

Sunday, we headed out to the east side of the Pauite in the Monroe Mountains.  Lunch was lake side at Manning Reservoir. It was good to see that it wasn't lacking for water.  Cassy sure enjoyed that part, she got to go swimming and fetch sticks...not to mention roll around in the grass. 

Some of the leaves are already starting to change...a few more weeks and it will be stunning.

It was a great weekend that I look forward to with anticipation to go again.  We can't wait.

Snowy weekend in Kanab

In January, I purchased a hotel night in Kanab, Utah on Living Social.com.  We've been so busy, we just made the deadline on the offer.  It's been warm in recent weeks, but not this one.  We left Vegas in the rain, hit snow just outside of Hurricane and had it snowed most of the day.

A pit stop in Fredonia, AZ was in order to pick up an axle for Scott from a guy.  Cassy enjoyed rolling in the snow and trying to chase down a cat in a huge pine tree while Timm and the guy loaded up the axle in the truck.

We stayed in a cute, cozy, retro room with super comfy beds and fluffy down comforters at the Quail Park Lodge.  They have bicycles for guest use...we didn't use them because of the snow and rain. But next time I'll surely give them a spin.  Just a note if you stay there...parking is tight. 

A nice thing...they are pet friendly!  Cassy loved the beds too.

  

We wondered out and explored on Saturday a bit over to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary...  

Coral Pink Sand Dunes was gorgeous!

Cassy ran around on the dunes a bit.

We took a few photos in the snow

Sunday we took the tour at Best Friends.  Our tour guide was a gal I worked with at the country recreation dept about 30 years ago.  She retired and moved up there about 6 years ago.  Small world. 

Timm really enjoyed the kitty section.

Sunday the snow was only in the upper areas and ecerything was gorgeous!  We had a late breakfast at Mt. Carmel Junction then headed to homeward via Zion NP.

 Apparently, eveyone else had the same idea and went to Zion on Sunday...it was really crowded.  We explored around the Grafton ghost town area.

 

After that, we enjoyed a late lunch overlooking Sand Hollow Reservoir before making our way home.  It was a great weekend, I look forward to the next getaway.