Fairy Falls - Labor Day Weekend

Marlene and Steve came up for the first part of the Labor Day weekend. We decided that we wanted to do something "outdoors" on Saturday, so off to Yellowstone we went to do some biking and hiking. None of us had hiked to Fairy Falls, so that was our destination for this trip. We rode our bikes from the parking area at the end of Fountain Flat Drive to where the trail turns west; this is where you have to leave your bikes. We hiked the remaining 1.5 miles to Fairy Falls.

We were "naughty" and didn't wear our bike helmets...and still lived to tell about it. Hey, if I'm going to get gored by a buffalo (or bison as they are officially called), I don't think a helmet would help protect me.

These four buffalo, plus two others we saw while driving, were the only wildlife we saw on this trip into the Park.

Grand Prismatic Spring - which we rode past on our bikes only because of a logistical error on my part.

The trail we hiked from where we parked our bikes is through an area that was heavily burned in the 1988 fires. It is hard to believe that it has been 20 years since the 1988 fires! As a result there is a lot of downed timber in this area, and all the new trees are now 20-year growth.

Most of the burned timber has fallen, but here is a stand of timber still waiting to fall.

Marlene and I on our way to Fairy Falls

Fairy Falls!!

Steve and Marlene

After our bike/hike to Fairy Falls, we had a picnic along Nez Perce Creek, where we grilled hot dogs and rested our feet in the creek. The water temperature was nice!!

After resting at Nez Perce Creek, we headed over to Old Faithful. We decided that we didn't want to wait almost an hour to watch Old Faithful blow, but as we were walking out of the Old Faithful Lodge, a geyser to the north of Old Faithful went off. I'm not sure of its name...and I don't think I had ever seen it go off.

We then headed home, past Grant Village, out the South Entrance and through Jackson Hole. Another first, at least for Marlene and Steve, was stopping in Swan Valley to get the infamous square ice cream cones. Yummy...and a good way to finish off a very fun day!

Friday Night Lights!

I love fall. And one of the things I love about fall is football. And football season is here!!!! Yeah!!!

There is nothing quite as nice as spending a Saturday afternoon in Lavell Edward Stadium watching my BYU Cougars...except for watching a high school football game on Friday night (or during the playoffs in November at Rice Eccles Stadium if my BR Bears are there). I think it has something to do with a sense of community that I enjoy high school football so much.

So Friday night I "kicked off" the football season by watching the Ririe Bulldogs defeat the Soda Springs Cardinals (although I had to leave at the beginning of the 3rd quarter - but Ririe still won). Yeah!!

And if anyone wonders, yes I live in the Rigby High School boundaries; Rigby High is five miles from my home and Ririe is seven miles. Since I have no kids, I can choose whichever team I want to go watch. Ririe won my loyalty because of a fantastic win last year - with a field goal with 17 seconds left to win the game. I also enjoy the friendly, small-town atmosphere...and they wear blue.

A Fun Saturday

Gale was out to Utah/Idaho for a visit. After spending Thursday evening at the BE County Fair with Dad and I, and then spending Friday with his Utah kids, Gale came up to eastern Idaho to visit Jon and Kelly and their family. They invited me to join them Saturday afternoon at Heise to eat pizza and golf. When we got to the Heise golf course the tee times were booked. So we ate pizza at the Heise Hot Springs Pizza Parlor and then went over to the 7N Ranch to hit some golf balls at the driving range. Then it was off to Kelly Canyon to pick huckleberries. (Gale is the only child my parents had who was born in Idaho - and yet he has never tasted a huckleberry. Sorry Gale, I have taken your place as the true "Idahoan".)

Sydnie and Kelly - Sydnie is taking a picture of me taking a picture of her.

Three generations of golfers

Gale teaching Sydnie a golf swing

Photo op for Brooke

What cute kids!!!

Looking for huckleberries in Kelly Canyon. We were a couple of weeks late - will reschedule for next year. Note to self for next year: The best time to huckleberry pick is at the beginning of August - not the end. Nonetheless, it was a fun afternoon!!

Box Elder County Fair

I have an annual tradition of going to the Box Elder County Fair in Tremonton. I am by no means biased, but I think it's the best county fair in the state of Utah. It has always been and still is free of charge to attend, and it gives me the chance to see friends that I know from my childhood - and even extended family - that I may not otherwise keep in touch with. It also reminds me of how blessed I am to have farming roots and be raised in such a friendly community.

The routine is that I drive down to Tremonton, meet Dad there, walk around to see the exhibits, handicrafts, and livestock, eat a "Farm Bureau" hamburger, and then I head back home to Idaho and he goes home to Riverdale.


This year an added treat was that my brother, Gale, was visiting from New York, and he joined us at the County Fair. It was a great time!

Dad and Gale - by the lambs

While walking through the dairy cow area we stopped to watch a couple of gentlemen, Keevin Nelson and his son-in-law Matt, getting this cow ready to show. It takes a lot of effort to have livestock at the fair.

I have some cousins, Doug Payne and Peggy Payne Nelson, whose children have pigs at the fair each year - at least they have for the last several years. I usually run into them when going through the pig shed.

Peggy (Payne) Nelson, her husband John and their youngest son.

Gale and Dad - Gale works for John Deere and has for most of his working career. So I had to take a picture of them by a John Deere tractor - and note the John Deere caps.

Gale, Dad, and Doug Payne - visiting by the tractor "exhibits".

Willow Flat

Willow Flat is a traditional camping spot for me and Marlene's family. I think the first time I can remember camping at Willow Flat, I was about five years old. Mom was a 4-H leader and back in those days there was an annual 4-H camp there. During my teenage years, Girls' Camp was held there at least a couple of times. I even have fond memories of Gale's kids camping up there with us; I have taken Brian's kids camping there, too. Mostly, I think Marlene and Steve have gone there each summer for like the last 30 years - without exception. Willow Flat holds lots of happy memories for me.

It is a great place for family camping. There is a creek - in fact a couple of creeks - that go through the campground that are just right for playing in, even for the little ones. The water is a bit cold; though that is not a deterrent to playing in the creek. The creek is also exceptional for water fighting. Among other things, we have fished, biked, and hiked. The one-mile hike to Willow Spring is a "must" for each visit.

I took Friday off work to take care of some personal stuff in Ogden in the morning. Then having the afternoon free, Dad and I drove up to Willow Flat to join Marlene's family. Mike was up from Arizona, Kevin and his family were down from Fort Lewis, Washington, and Jenny and her family came up Friday after Nathan got off work.

Because I had a hair appt in SLC on Saturday I did not stay overnight. Too bad. But because I was going back to Dad's that night, it made it possible for Dad to come up to Willow Flat. That's good.

Highlights from Willow Flat-2008:

• The channels engineered by Mike and Kevin - for floating boats. Steve had made little boats for the little girls to float down the stream. (It's just like 20 years ago. Mike and Kevin and still playing in the creek. The only difference is,the ones floating the boats are the next generation.)
• Watching Alex and Olivia have boat races...and Lisa observing.

• Mike and Kevin immersing themselves in the creek. (Still, just like 20 years ago - when they were 11 and 8 years old.)

• Hiking to Willow Spring.

• Marlene's Dutch oven BBQ chicken. Mmmm.
• Moose balls for dessert.

Cave Falls

Sunday, August 3, after church Lois and Allen Suski met up at my house to drive up to Cave Falls for a picnic and to do the short hike to Bechler Falls. If you haven't been to Cave Falls or are not familiar with where it is, it's in the very southwest corner of Yellowstone National Park. It's a very pretty drive and not too far from my home...just a little over an hour.

Allen and Lois relaxing by the Falls River while dinner was cooking on the grill.

This is the view of the Falls River from our picnic spot.

Cave Falls

When I was growing up, we had a painting in our home of some falls in Yellowstone National Park. My grandparents had a similar picture of some falls in Yellowstone. (I seem to remember the one my grandparents had had an elk standing in the water, ours didn't.) For all the visits I had taken to Yellowstone, I had never seen any falls that resembled the falls in those paintings...until I visited Cave Falls. The first time I saw Cave Falls, I knew that was the setting of those paintings that I remember from my childhood. This is a beautiful place!

Approaching Bechler Falls

After our picnic of grilled chicken we hiked up to Bechler Falls. It is a very easy hike, and very pretty. The only negative aspect of this hike is the MOSQUITOS!!! I thought about mosquito repellant at about Chester (between St. Anthony and Ashton). Too late to go back. So we took our chances. We were swatting mosquitos all the way up to Bechler Falls and all the way back. We probably each had about 100 bites by the time we got back to the car. No exaggeration!! Note to self: Next time DO NOT forget bug spray.

Bechler Falls

It was a nice picnic, a beautiful drive, good company, and a nice Sunday hike - even with the mosquitos.