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.  

National Parks Week

April 22-26 is  National Parks Week....and it's free!!!  Free entry that is!  

Really, it's true.  To celebrate the National Parks System they are offering free entry into

some of America's best treasures...our national parks.  So if you can get out and visit one of the parks that would be amazing.  While you're there, thank a ranger for his service.  

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. 

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.

Death Valley...part 2

Where were we...time has flown quickly.  Another stop for a day of adventure was Salt Creek and those expensive pup fish.  Believe it or not there is water in Death Valley...and yes, fish.  There is a cool, wood boardwalk that hovers over the salt flat and lets water flow underneath it.  You can see the pup fish in many places and other wildlife...yup, that's a rattlesnake.  He's hanging out at the edge of the boardwalk in the shade.

We stopped at the Harmony Borax Works.  It's hard to believe that anyone could work, let alone live out here...such harsh conditions, and hard work for those pioneering folk.  

We also stopped at Furnace Creek for a picnic lunch, some ice cream from the General Store, and walked through the outdoor museum.  That is one big wheel...Timm is 6'3'' to put in perspective.  Do you notice the elevation sign in the background behind the wagon...178 feet below sea level.  We also took a drive throught Artist's Palette.  Such unusual colors, I see where it got it's name.  By that time, I was not hiking down intot he wash and back up the other side to get close...dang knees.  Lots of very tight curves in there as well and we followed the wash down the alluvial fan to the valley floor again.  Our last stop was at Donte's View, it overlooks Bad Water.  It's 282 feet below seal level down there, and over 5000 ft at Donte's View. 

What a full day we had.  It was so good to get out and explore.  I really enjoyed and I know Timm and Cassy did as well.  A great birthday present for everyone to enjoy. 

It's a Cassy Day

On Saturday we got up early and headed for Cedar City to have some work done on Timm's quad.  Cassy, like us, loves a road trip. What a surprise it was to see snow on the ground in town!  They had gotten snow on Thursday...no tracks in most of it.  Cassy loves the snow, so while Timm was handling things at All Seasons I took her out back to stretch and potty.  It was 'game on' when she saw snow drifts against the buildings.  She got all excited, was running around all speedy like and rolling in the snow.  I couldn't help but laugh, she was having such a good time.  While they worked on the quad, we headed up the mountain for some much needed scenery.  The seeps along the road heading up the canyon were still full of icicles, and there was a ton of snow on the ground...way more than when we went to cut Christmas trees.  We stopped at Woods Ranch to let Cassy out to play some more.   

Fortunately, they must have gotten some nice sun on Friday to put a crust on the snow making it easy for us to get around on top of it.  Good thing I didn't wear my Crocs though.

After tromping through, running and playing fetch for a while, we were on our way back up the mountain.  We stopped at Midway to watch some snowmobiles...man those things are fast.  Had a friendly conversation with some of them who fell in love with Cassy.  

Again, play and roll around in the snow...silly girl. It must feel really good. 

We made our way to Duck Creek Village, along the way there was so much snow, especially for April.  The snowmobilers said Brianhead got 18"...we all know they are happy campers right now.  Navajo Lake was covered in ice and snow, couldn't even see it.  Where we stopped to cut Christmas trees, there was about 3-4 feet of snow and no place to pull over.  We stopped at Loose Wheels to get a drink and snack.  Cassy shared a cookie with mom.  The Yamaha dealer was having a BBQ, the guys were all bundled up hovering around trying to keep warm. 

Cassy guarded the truck and quad while we ate lunch at Timm's favorite little Mexican restaurant in town.  She was rewarded with her very own ice cream cone.  She had a good day.

ATV Club Rides Ely, NV

Holiday weekends always bring extra members out to ride and Labor Day 2009 was no exception. We based ourselves in the Ely KOA. They were very accomodating and friendly, the spaces are wide so you don't feel like you're on top of your neighbor, large trees shade every site, and you can ride your ATV in and out of the park. They even offered up a BBQ dinner and breakfast Saturday and Sunday for a small fee. We had dinner Saturday night and Timm enjoyed breakfast both days. Eldora is a mighty fine cook and the proceeds go to the children's cancer fund.

Here we are Saturday morning...28 riders strong ready to head out for a day of adventure. Timm was the ride leader so he gave his required speech...ride with your lights on, wait at turns for the rider behind you, and so on.









One of our prettiest places to ride was Sawmill Canyon. What a gorgeous place this is. We pre-rode this area on Friday and tried to connect over to the next canyon but it just got too rough. I hate to say it but I pulled out the 'girl card' and said someone else was taking my quad over that section. (I know, I know...I've never said that before...I was having a really weak moment apparently) It definitely wasn't a trail to try and pursue with so many riders so like much of the area around Ely, we had to backtrack our way out of the canyon.

Eventually, we made our way to Ward Cemetary and Historic Mining District. Unfortunately, the mining district was not accessible. There were large burms with deep trenches behind them where all the roads used to be. GRRRRR! The cemetary was neat though. Our plan was to go see the Ward Charcoal Ovens from there and to head over the mountain at that point. Another big GRRRRR! You can't get close to them without paying $4/person and the trail that connected up over the mountain is now closed! Two years ago, it was a fairly new ATV trail constructed by the Forest Service with wooden bridges to cross the creek and other neat stuff. Now, it's closed to ATV use and a housing development is built on part of what used to be trail access. It is so frustrating!!!!


Anyway, on a happier note, we also rode on the east side of Ely on Saturday's ride. Saw some gorgeous territory, found an old mine site, many took a steep trail to the top of one of the mountains for an amazing view of Ely, the Steptoe Valley, and more. You could see forever and a day.

We enjoyed lunch in a lush meadow that had a spring and some water troughs. I'd like to hide myself there to see what kind of wildlife comes out towards evening.

Our last stop on Saturday's ride where the train stops to turn around. We barely made it in time. It was neat to see them disconnect and re-connect the train. There was a boy losing his mind when he saw all of us along the tracks and the stopping point. Funny stuff.

All in all, it was a good trip, with lots of wonderful people. There were a few issues that will soon be resolved, and a few closed trails that made it really frustrating for Timm. Alan's quad broke down before the weekend even started. Some major repairs need to be done because the service technician didn't complete his job. I don't think those that follow know how the weight of responsibilites feels for the ride leader. Hopefully, someday they will step up and lead a ride.

Cassy and Shelby camp and swim

On our Red Desert Road trip last weekend Cassy and Shelby came along for the adventure. They got the chance to play in the creek, camp and swim in Meadow Lake. Cassy also got to ride the ATV's...she loves that.

They both had a great time at the lake. Shelby forgot how to swim for a minute...there was more splashing than swimming...it was hysterical. I put the video on Facebook if you want to see it. (Crystal Martin, Las Vegas...Cassy is the the photo with us)

They even shared the stick...although not by choice I think. It was cute though.

A great time on Cedar Mountain

We spent last weekend with friends from the ATV club on Cedar Mountain in southern Utah. It was wonderful to get away from the heat and the rat race to enjoy ourselves in the cool mountain air

Our Saturday adventure to us to an awesome overlook, took a group shot there. Nineteen riders went on an 80 mile loop that day that took us to Yankee Reservoir, Panguitch Lake, Hatch, near Duck Creek, Dead Lake, and back to camp on Red Desert Road. Timm was our ride leader and he did another awesome job. For most of the riders this weekend, this was a new place to ride and explore.

This section was much steeper and rougher than it looks here...honest. Most put it in low hear to crawl up over the rocks. A couple of people even used the 'girl' card and had others take their machine over this section.

Mark and Chris at Yankee Reservoir. Lots of people camping there this time. It's a great place to fish.

Keith was there this weekend so you know we had to have a big fire...this time....a really big fire. There was a fire pit that had to be 6 foot across and it was his mission to fill it. The wood was stacked up about 5 foot tall in the pit. Believe me...we had a fire like this both nights. He was on a mission to burn all the wood...and he did.

Get away for a day

It's been hot...ok, really hot around here lately...and humid (for us). Storms have been brewin' but we don't seem to get any of it on our side of the valley. We decided to escape the heat for a day and headed off to Mt. Charleston.

We started our day adventure on a gravel road that I had recently spoken with a BLM ranger about our ATV to work on. We made it half way down the raod before it turned left and started getting too rough for my little trailblazer. Figured it would be safer to do that than get stuck, besides no one knew where we were at the time. Next time, we'll take the ATV's to get the rest of the way through. You know, now that I think about it, the ranger said he had not been all the way through it either...hmmm.

Well, we headed up the Lee Canyon road watching the clouds get darker, lightening hitting the ground on the mountain, and rain making it's way down to us. It cooled off and it felt so good. We explored a group primitive campsite that looks like a great place to get out of the heat for a weekend. There are many people tucked up in the trees...avoiding the rain...as we were walking around in it. (Note the lovely hair style I'm wearing.) Further up the mountain we stopped at the picnic area and munched on a couple of chicken wings in the Trailblazer since it was still raining.

We ventured as far as we could go, that's the ski resort by the way. We got out at the meadow and wandered around for a while. With all the rain, there was actually water in wash...lots of it. By the time we stopped to get out it had subsided quite a bit. Cassy sure loves to explore, really she does. She ran around the meadow sniffing, running through the water and more. What a great time she had. It's fun to watch her knowing she is really enjoying herself.

We took the cut across over to Kyle Canyon, stopping at the over look. You could see storms on the Sheep Mountain Range across the valley. We met a nice couple from Sweden that took our picture together for us.

We finished up our day in Kyle Canyon, doing a little bit of hiking, but mostly just enjoyng the cool weather.

And to top it off, stopped and got dinner at Cafe Rio....YUMMY! I wish we would get one on our side of town. What a great get away it was...pretty scenery, time spent together, rain, cool weather, exploring...just about perfect.