Tachatticup Mine

It was a gorgeous day Sunday and I really felt the need to get out of the house. We gathered up the kids and we all headed down to Nelson for a mine tour. We haven't been there in forever so what the heck. Besides, it was good for the whole family to do something together. We picked up some chicken and enjoyed a picnic lunch and headed for Nelson. These guys have done a ton of work down there and have had the mine tour going for a few years now. There is so much stuff to look at and wonder through...it's so interesting.

They take small groups into the mine, you can see levels below and above you. There are about 3 miles of tunnels in that mountain! Cassy even went of the tour...she's such an exploring dog, really she loves to explore.

I took a ton of photos of old stuff....signs, gas pumps, buildings, cars, and more. Timm even posed for this one, wouldn't get into the car though. I would like to go back and explore some more around there. We were told they are used in many photo shoots, videos, and movies. In fact Toby Keith is supposed to be there soon for a vidio shoot...to bad they can't say when. In a short time the cactus will be in bloom and the whole area will be even more spectacular, I think we'll go back again then. If you want to get out of town for a day, this is a great place to explore!

Pre-ride...part 1

Saturday we headed up to Utah with a handful of friends to pre-ride our scheduled ride for May. What a beautiful day it was, the weather couldn't have better. We headed out and within 6 miles, Timm had a flat tire. This is the first time ever for him on the trail. Had to fix it twice but it lasted all day. We ventured and followed the plotted GPS route but lost the trail. On the map it was listed as a 'pack trail', we wanted to see what a pack trail is and now we know. It became an oh so very faint single track as we headed further up the mountain. We finally had to turn around, this was not a direction to take a group. Reviewing the maps, we found anouther route but took up much further west and on a graded road than originally planned.

We came to another 'trail' that mirrored the road and it was great for about 5 miles, then the valley narrowed and we were traversing the stream. We came to a washed out section, Timm ventured up a little further but came back to get another quad with a winch. He was dropping back into the wash and about rolled his quad. After the rescue, we turned around and went back out.

Further up the trails we encountered snow still on the north side of the mountain. We bogged down and backed up a few times. Mark with his aggressive tread on his newer tires was able to blaze the trail. Around the curve, another snowbound section...aaahh...it was frustrating.

We made it back to the trucks about 5:30pm, we hadn't even made it to our original destination, we were all tired, Timm was disappointed...he had never not made it to a planned destination before. Don't get me wrong...it was a still a great day. Any day spent on a quad is better than a day at work. Look at it this way, now we need to go back and find another route...another day spend on a quad.

A pre pre-ride

When someone is going to lead a ride in our ATV club it's recommended that they pre-ride to make sure the route is okay to travel...you know, things like wash outs, closures, knowing the trail, etc. Timm is leading a ride in May in southern Utah, we have a pre-ride date selected but he wanted to make sure there was a place to park 10-12 vehicles with trailers and to just get out of town. We found the parking area he was looking for from a view years back, plenty of room for a group of riders to park. So we headed on to the location since part of it is a dirt road. We stopped about 5 miles up the road since the snow was getting deeper, thermometer in the car said it was 31 degrees and we only had sweatshirts, no travel partners for safety, etc. We simply weren't prepared to go explore. Not our norm by the way.

We let Cassy roll and play in the snow for a while, she just loves it...she goes nuts. We ate lunch at the park, let her play in water, roll and play on the grass and we all enjoyed the sunny day in St. George. It was a great day for all of us. To top it off we enjoyed dinner with friends at Lucilles.

We will be layered and bundled up to pre ride next weekend, that's for sure.

Nascar in Vegas

Last weekend was Nascar weekend in Las Vegas. It's a pretty big deal around here. This year I worked the races with my friend, Liz. She works for Sierra Ice and they had the contract for the speedway. Liz and I got the infield section and sold ice to the campers inside the track. I've seen it all now. Campers, toy haulers, trailers, 5th wheels, motorhomes, coaches, tents and even an old houseboat. These folks came to party. Guys came out of the RV's in the morning with beer and OJ & Vodka in the hands, along with coffee. It litterally is a city within itself.

Here a pic of us unloading the trailer Sunday morning. Alan and Keith, Liz and myself. We're all Dunes and Trails members. We helped moves 8 tons of ice that morning, all before 7am.

Here's one of Dale Jr.'s merchandise trailers.

It was a sea of flags with everyone showing their Nascar spirit and Amercian pride.

We spent 4 long days selling ice at the track, most were 11-12 hour days. What a great crowd though. Everyone was happy to be there, smiling and having a great time. I had a good time as well.

Oh yeah, one of our home town boys, Kyle Busch won Sunday's race.

A day at Gunsight

Last weekend we headed out to California for the day to explore around Gunsight Mine with some friends from work. The weather couldn't have been any better...no wind, about 65 degrees and sunny...just awesome!

Dave and Sue were supposed to go on the ATV club's outing in this area but Dave ended up having to work, so they asked if we would go out wth them for the day. It was really nice to be out with a tiny group instead of 12 or more. Got to do a lot more exploring instead of just riding. Found some interesting old remains from the mining era. Having read some on the area just made what we found more interesting. Explored the Noon Day and War Eagle while we were out there also. Ended our day at the China Ranch Date Farm for root beer floats. Yummy!

On another note...noticed a wobble on the front so I took the truck to the tire shop. Two of the tires were starting to seperate wouldn't you know. Well, now we have new tires!

Cutting Trees

Not the type of adventure we'd like to be on but none the less...still and adventure. We had 15 fruitless mulberry trees in out front yard. There used to be a gorgeous lush lawn under them but over the years the grass has died out and the trees were a beautiful canapy of shade. These are messy trees, need to clean up after them twice a year, besides Timm is allegic to them. Now that the place is ours they have come out. Lots of work to do it. We kept 4 in front of the house.



A bunch of friends came over on 2 Saturdays and helped us cut them down. We saved the bug stuff for firewood and left the rest in the front yard. Now that is a huge pile of tree parts!

We even had the pine tree trimmed and thinned. It looks so much better.


Here is the cleaned up front yard with all the limbs gone. It's so naked!
No we can start the landscaping plan. I can see a dry river bed, some desert type trees, a hill or two, and more. Got any ideas?

New Years at Rasor Road

We spent our New Year's weekend with friends at Raor Road, outside Baker CA. Timm and I didn't get out until Jan 1 along with a few other couples. The rest arrived the last day of 2008. Our youngest son, Chris tagged along this time. It was nice to have him there with us for a change. His dog, Shelby came along and it was her first camping trip. Cassy showed her the ropes and she did well.

Our fist day took us to Afton Canyon. Along the way we stopped to play in the dunes, ran amunck along the valley floor (it's practically all river bed and washes), and splashed our way through the water in the canyon. I think the most fun was the river crossing near the Afton Canyon Campground. It was quite a bit deeper than las time we were there and Chris had never been there. Here is Liz trying not to get wet, and Chris...well...he's all wet!

On the way back out, there were a few stops we'd like to have made but there were all ready several groups at each location so we continued on. We did stop at the mine though. Some folks drug their trailers all the way back there and had set up camp. That's a rough road in many spots. Again, we all ran amuck and we lost Chris for a bit. I can see how people get lost in the desert. Here are Chris and I in one of two cabins that we found. We've been to this one before but found a second with all kinds and of fun and wired stuff in it.

It was a little chillier than expected with the wind that blew through at night but campfires kept us all warm. Keith is our designated 'fire dude', he can build quite a campfire and we all stayed warm.

If you don't know, sunrise is awesome in the desert. This was Saturday morning.

Saturday's ride took us south through the desert and the sand past the railroad tracks to the Desert Megaphone. I've got several books on the area, and no one can figure out why it's there. Just beyond it is the Bacon Strip Ranch. Yup, I know it's wierd but someone actually has an air strip on the dry lake bed, has built a couple of buildings and a shade structure and call it a ranch. Believe it or not, a person can actually rent the cabins out there. He will supply water, firewood, and a cabin. That's an entreprenuial spirit for ya!P.S. We're really not that chubby, just have 4 layers on (including some rain gear). On the way back we hit a really awesome dune area with tall hills. All the guys had a great time racing around on the sand. Chris was in his glory.

It was a great weekend capped off with delicious food, good friends, and fun for all. Can't wait for the next one.