Thanksgiving

We still had a good (long) half day of driving ahead of us, at the very least, to get to Mesquite, NV for dinner. We got there just as they were finished preparing all the food. Dinner was great as, except for the burritos on her first night, we had been living on simple and easy camping foods all week. We got to catch up with Christian's sister, Aron and her husband plus her two oldest sons and their wives. We had not yet met Mason's wife, Kendall before. They've been married a year now. Austin's little girl, Georgia, is running around and talking now. She's so adorable. She's going to be a big sister in February as Natalie is expecting a little boy by then. 

After dinner, we went out shooting. The boys brought some of their guns for us to use. We haven't gone shooting for a long time, so that was pretty fun.

We all got to try out all the different options. They were pretty fancy. Afterwards, we got to see some of Aron's horses. She showed us last time when she gave us a tour of the ranch, but I did not bring my camera.

Then we returned to the house for dessert and chat some more.

We had considered spending the night and leaving in the morning, but Kraig's autistic son doesn't like any changes in his schedule and having strangers staying at the house upsets him. We would have to sneak downstairs so that he wouldn't know we were there. It seemed like a lot of trouble and we had not been sleeping well anyway for the last couple of nights and wanted our own beds. Plus, we'd been gone a while and were getting anxious to check on our house. We drove through the night and got home around 1:30 in the morning. It is kind of good that we did as I had put an order in that wasn't supposed to arrive until the next week but was on our doorstep before Thanksgiving. Luckily it was still there when we got back!

The girls had a their own Thanksgiving feast with their friend (Emily's old roommate, Amber). It sounded really good and it seemed each of them made enough food for a meal each so they have food for the week taken care of, I think!

Aron sent us back with food as well, so we didn't have to cook all the next day and was able to relax and work on our pictures and videos!

Hole In The Rock Jeep Trail

Christian gets the week of Thanksgiving off and it could not come soon enough for Christian. He is so burnt out. We spent one day packing up and headed out the next morning. Our plan was to head to the south side of the Hole In The Rock 4x4 trail. It is very remote and difficult to get to. There is no direct route so we have to drive extra distances to get onto the trail. 

We had planned to spend the first night in Southern Utah, but when we got there, it was either raining or still wet from the rain. When the dirt there gets wet, it turns into the worst kind of slick, slimy mud. It was supposed to stop raining before noon and we hoped that it would have had a several hours to dry off by the time we got there. Actually, our first choice of where to camp was full of RV's so we opted to find a better alternative. We still had some hours of daylight left, so we continued on for a bit. A lot of the open areas that we knew of was now full of newly developed housing communities. Some of them were new enough that they did not even show up on online maps. By the time we got to Kanab, we were losing the last vestiges of daylight and it was difficult to see if any of the undeveloped areas could be suitable for our needs.

We ended up in Page, AZ with no place to camp. We grabbed some dinner there as we had no time to stop to make dinner. We had hoped to be making dinner at our first campsite. We picked up some Mexican food at a little joint there called Paco's Tacos and it was seriously good! As we were heading out of town, we missed the turn for our road. There was no sign for our turn off and so continued down the road for quite a way before we realized that we were too far south. We got out the map and plotted a new route east to catch the road that we were supposed to be on but it was so rough that we had to air down. It was late, we were tired and we were not even sure that we were on the right road. After a while, we realized that we were getting no where crawling on the deeply washboarded road and decided that we had to pick another route even if it took us farther. Of course, we then had to air our tires back up. We had to decide whether to go all the way back to Page or to go down more to catch a bigger road across. We opted to go down as we had come quite a long way south of Page by this time. We lost at least a couple of hours on this little detour. Since we were basically in the boundaries of the Indian Reservation, we were not able to just camp wherever we wanted and most of the dirt roads that went off to the side were all basically residential drives. On top of all that, we were being rained on again.

We finally found a place to camp back in Utah in the Valley of The Gods. It was windy and cold there but it was dry and there was no snow. The only other areas that were open to us would have been up in the higher elevations where there was snow and we were not prepared for that. So, yeah, by the time we found a suitable campsite, it was after 2:am. We were exhausted. We set up camp and went to sleep. 

By morning, the wind finally died down. We got up to some beautiful views. We couldn't see anything when we arrived.

We drove around a little bit but we knew we still had a long way to go so we hit the road up the Moki Dugway.

We then took Utah Highway 276 through the Clay Hills. 

We last got gas in Mexican Hat and we wanted to top off before heading into the unknown. We carried an extra gas can but it only has two gallons. We don't have room for a bigger can in Christian's little Jeep so we decided to top off our gas at Halls Crossing. We had to backtrack a little to get to our trail.

The trail started off fairly well. There was nothing too hard and the trail was well marked for the most part. There seemed to be only one other person out here since the rains. He was a mountain biker who left his car a short way into the trail.

We've driven quite a few 4x4 trails now and have learned a lot. Some of them are even considered to be "difficult" trails. This was on a new level and we were not sure that we were going to be able to finish it but we wanted to go as far as we were comfortable with so that we can learn and test our capability without doing anything outright stupid because the risk was not worth it to us. The Jeep handled amazingly well and the front lunch box locker seemed to make all the difference.

We had to stop to make a small trail repair at one point. There was nothing wrong with the Jeep but the hinge on the back window of the hard cover was rattling off or something. Christian tried to pound it back in but it didn't seem to do much. It only got worse, so we had to take it apart to get it back in properly. It took a bit of juggling out there on the trail but he got it back in properly. In the ensuing chaos of fixing the window and trying to film our adventure, I lost my lens hood and we spent a good chunk of time looking for it. In the end, Christian found it but by then the sun was getting low in the sky. Just ahead of us on the trail would be one of the steepest descents we've done thus far and we wanted to make sure that we wanted to attempt it and if we did and had problems, if we had a way to self recover. We found a a place to camp nearby, set up camp and heat up some dinner. Then we went to take a walk to see where the trail led and what we could expect coming up if we get past the first really steep rock descent. Our major concern was whether the Jeep would have any problems crawling back up. We certainly didn't want to get in a situation where we can go down but not get back up as we have to return the same way we went or we aren't getting home. It was kind of the opposite for rock climbing. You didn't want to climb up something that you couldn't get back down!

We talked it over and we decided that if the TJ could handle the going up and down the next obstacle, then we would continue on further until we came to something we were unwilling to do. If, however, we had to struggle in any way, we would probably winch back up and head back. We did make sure that there was a tree nearby to winch off of. In the morning, we attempted the obstacle and wondered why we even hesitated. The Jeep didn't even flinch, so we continued on.

This was definitely one of the craziest trails we've been on. Not exactly technically difficult trying to get around rocks, trees and boulders...trying not to damage our vehicle. But most of this stuff didn't even look like a trail! And in the end, some of it wasn't. And they were steep and the consequences could have been dire if you didn't approach it correctly. We had to keep stopping to try to figure exactly where the trail continued. There were occasional markers in places that let you know you were heading in the right direction. Some of it was obvious from the tire marks left by others but some of it was not so obvious. You can't even simply follow others tracks because some other person may have been off the trail trying to find their own way as well.

We just tried to enjoy the journey and stopped to take pictures and videos along the way.

At some point yesterday, the only other person out here that we were aware of, turned back and headed back to his car. So, as far as we knew, we were now the only people out here and we wanted to enjoy it.

At one point though, shortly after we got to the intersection of where the Hole in The Rock Trail veered off from the Lake Canyon Trail, we lost our way. We had gone some distance following what appeared to be the trail and we couldn't understand how we could have missed any turns but after hiking around, we decided that this could not be the trail at all. We hiked around in several different directions trying to find where the trail might have gone. We found the trail at last and followed it back out nearly to where the "Y"  in the road split off to Lake Canyon. We then drove back out to take the correct route. We found that while we saw a trail marker next to the road we took, there was actually a second marker further up the rocky mountainside that was obscured by the sun when we drove by that indicated the entrance to the trail. We lost a fair amount of time with that one and thought we would have to turn around and that that would be the end of our trip.

We were able to continue on some ways further. It was difficult to tell exactly how far we were into the trail and how much further we had to go. The trail is over 30 miles one way. We did maybe 20 miles or so but that included a bit of wandering. We passed the strange area that has these strange round stones all over the ground in all different sizes. I'm not sure where they come from, how they are formed or what they are made of. They are really strange and looks kind of like cocoa puffs. 

At some point in the afternoon, we knew we were running out of time. We came upon some somewhat difficult obstacles that might have been a bit washed out. We would probably have to stack a few rocks or fill a hole or two and it was just going to take too much time. So instead of starting any of that, we decided that we had to turn around and head out. We probably stayed out longer than we should already as it was. We need to make it as far as possible back out to the beginning of the trail because we need a lot of time in order to get back out of here. We need to be in Mesquite, NV for Thanksgiving and we are a long way away from anywhere.

We found that we didn't go down some of what is supposed to be the actual route, so on our return, we tried to go back the correct way. Some of it was easier and some of it might be harder than the route we actually took.

At least we didn't have to camp at our previous camping spot...not that it was a bad spot, but it is way too far from the start of the trail. We still had a decent amount of daylight left by the time we got there, so we continued along until the sun got low in the sky. We didn't quite make it to the beginning, but we were at least closer to it.

The next day was just a lot of driving to get out of this area. We didn't want to go back through Arizona, so we went up and around to Grand Staircase Escalante.

There are many easily accessible disbursed camping spots out here but we were shocked at how many other people were out here. We travelled through snowy mountains to get here, so it was pretty cold still here and it was the day before Thanksgiving. When we arrived, we had our pick of spaces and there weren't really people around but after we started setting up, tons of cars arrived. Some came one by one and there was a big group that came in after. We were not expecting it to be so crowded here under these conditions. We were not too happy about that, but we were able to have another campfire. Someone even came in in the wee hours of the morning. It was pretty irritating. The night was so cold that a 2-liter bottle of water Christian had with him had chunks of ice in it by morning.

Hello Friends!

 

We thought we only had about three regulars that came by all the time but after looking at my pictures more carefully, I can find 5 or 6 distinct hummingbirds so I don't know how many come. They are small and fast so they mostly look alike through the window. Some fly in distinct patterns and some chirp in a district way. The others are not as easily distinguishable. None will come at the same time, at least not that I have been able to capture. If one is feeding and another arrives, they will leave and come back later. The males are a bit more territorial and will chase other males away if they approach. 

I love watching them. I only wish I had a nicer backdrop to take my pictures!

Happy Anniversary, husband!

 

Christian's Birthday

Christian's birthday was on Thursday this year, right before a three day weekend for Veteran's Day. Since he took a day off mid-month in October, he decided that he should go in to work but that he would just hang out and play with the kids. He ordered a new Uno game and I offered to bake cookies for him to bring in to share with the kids. Little did I realize, that even with only one cookie each, with 160 kids, required a LOT of cookies!

I made half of them in chocolate chip and half as old fashioned sugar cookies. It was a bit insane. It took me two days to make them. Christian told the kids the day before that there would be a pop quiz that day. That eliminated a couple of the worst kids so that it wouldn't be quite so chaotic. But some of his kids surprised him too. His 6th period kids had thrown him a surprise party. They distracted him while they quickly put up decorations and brought in a whole cake and everything. Now, I would think that they got wind of his ruse from the kids earlier in the day and someone's mother brought stuff in for them, but no, they even had a little piñata filled with notes from the kids to him. It was very sweet and would have taken some planning to pull off, so I think that they actually had their plans in the works before they could have got wind of what he was doing.

I was actually a little disappointed with the cookies, honestly. They wee a little too much on the crispy side because I was too lazy to take out the very heavy cast iron pizza plate that is on the bottom of the oven. It makes it hotter in the oven. I realized that last year when I was baking and had some problems but kind of forgot about it again. But the kids seemed to enjoy it and Christian said that even some of the teachers came by looking for extras afterwards.

We had a simple steak dinner with roasted mini potatoes for dinner. I also threw together an apple pie for dessert from our stock of canned apples as Christian loves apple pies. I made a simple chocolate mousse cake this past weekend to share with his dad and Jackie already. And I guess his kids brought in a Tres Leche Cake for him too so that worked out fairly well. 

I got him a few little toys for his TJ. A new steering wheel cover as we got ripped off on the last one. It was supposed to be leather but obviously wasn't because the surface un-bonded and sloughed off of the steering wheel. It made a real mess. We got one for Caitlyn and it seemed real nice so we ordered a second one for the TJ but it was complete crap. You never know what you are getting with this Chinese junk from Amazon. You order the same exact product and you just never know what you will end up with. It's like they put in a bunch of decent ones just to trick people into giving them good reviews and then filling the rest of the stock with junk so that they can make more money. Once the reviews get too bad, they re-list it with a new fake brand and do it all over again. It is very frustrating.

Anyway, the new one appears to be real, but I will wait and see what happens to it. Emily usually puts them on for us but I didn't want to just give it to him and wait for her to put it on for him, so I had to suck it up and sew it on for him. It was a pain in the butt because my eyes are terrible these days and trying to sew black thread onto other black thread on black leather with the sun glaring through the windows was near impossible for me. It's probably not as nice as Emily would have done, but it is on there okay for now.

I also got him some cute little covers for his cigarette lighter, as they are missing. I also got him a fanny pack of sorts for trash. It hangs off of the spare tire. And the last thing he got was a locked cover for his gas cap. With the price of gas so high now, we hope it will keep casual thieves at bay or vindictive adolescents from sabotaging his tank.

The girls had given their dad their presents before they left. Emily got a 3/4 inch wrench for him. It was the only one he was missing and was always lamenting missing it...even though it is the same as a 19 mm wrench...which he has. Caitlyn got him a little book on mini lathes.

On Friday, Christian spent the earlier part of the morning trying to adjust his brakes to work better. We have new parts on order but it won't come for another week. We then took off for a short drive to test it out. The brakes seem to work a lot better now. We drove to the Mormon Rocks off the I15. Traffic kind of sucked. We are trying to get back in shape a little so that we might be able to climb still so we did a few laps going up and down a slab climb there.

We were a little shaky and unsure of our steps the first time up but we quickly got more sure footed afterwards. Of course, I am so out of shape that I was huffing and puffing by the time I got to the top! There is an anchor at the top so I think we will definitely be back to top rope the slightly steeper section next to where we were climbing up. We thought about going up it but it just wasn't worth the risk.

Quite a few train went by in the short time that we were there.

We had lined his trash bag in case we wanted to clean the area up a bit while we were there but there was so much trash that we didn't even bother. There was also a lot of graffiti on the bridges and stuff so it's pretty sad that it is so messed up there now. I was a little amazed that there wasn't more graffiti on the rocks at this point honestly. They have started on some of the rocks so it could be much worse the next time we make it out there. 

We also found a scream of swifts on the next rock pile over. They were really neat to see but they were so fast, it was hard to keep up with them. We were quite far down below where they were flying.

Afterwards, we did some more driving around the area. It was amazing how lush everything was still after a long hot summer.

We were originally thinking of continuing on and going farther out to the desert but decided to just drive around locally here since it was a bit less crowded than usual. Not everyone gets Veteran's Day off. I'm so glad we did because we found some really spectacular views.

And it didn't take too much gas to do it.

Corral Canyon

At the beginning of the month, we actually went down to spend the weekend with Christian's dad. UCR was having their "homecoming" celebration...which I think is just a drive to raise money from the alumni. Anyway, it is usually loud an obnoxious as they have a concert planned and there is a big risk of parties breaking out around the neighborhood afterwards.

We drove down to San Diego Saturday morning. We had planned to leave early in the morning but did not leave until mid-morning as we did not get a lot of sleep that night. We heard some disturbing things that caused us some stress.

When we finally made it down to San Diego, we unloaded our junk and took off with Terry. We went to check out Corral Canyon. While driving down the dirt roads, we heard some weird scraping noises from our brakes that was a bit disturbing...but it does make noises and squeaks occasionally, so Christian wasn't very concerned about it. We saw a couple of different fires in the direction we were heading but we think they were a bit farther on the Mexico side of the border.

We drove around for a bit and we went up to a fire lookout on Los Pinos Mtn. Sections of the trail was considered moderately difficult so Terry was a little freaked out a couple of times but we didn't think much of it as we've been on much harder trails. Mostly, he's a bit afraid of heights and did not appreciate the narrow shelf roads. I guess it is a good thing that we didn't take the doors off for the drive. It definitely looks a lot crazier when the door are off. So needless to say, he had no interest climbing up the actual fire lookout structure. A ranger was in residence and had invited us up but Terry didn't want to go up on the exposed steps and Christian didn't want to chat with the overly social and maybe lonely ranger. His kids (and even some of the teachers) at school are so demanding that he needs quiet and solitude on the weekends to recover somewhat from the chaos at school. 

Afterwards, we picked up some pizza on the way back to his dad's house to have dinner with Jackie. We got to visit and chat with them for a while before calling it a night. After his dad went to bed, Christian went to check out the Jeep brakes as it was sounding very bad by the time we got back.

Apparently, a spring in his brakes broke and was scraping his drum. It but a bit of a gouge in it by the time we got back. He removed the broken pieces and put it back together. The brakes still worked but was not quite as good. It was enough to get us home as long as we were aware of the situation.

We got very little sleep. In the end, we concluded that we would have gotten a lot more sleep if we just toughed it out and stayed home, but we would not see his Dad over the Thanksgiving holidays so I guess it was nice we got to visit a little more with him.