Flaming Gorge trip July 21-24, 2016

Kent and I needed a get-away trip so we went to Flaming Gorge for a few days. Day one was pretty much driving there and checking in. When we got near Flaming Gorge, we found a shady campsite, put up our chairs and enjoyed the cool air.

When we checked in there were several little booklets on different day trips that you could take in the area. We picked 3 or 4 and took them to our room to look over. We decided to go on the one entitled Outlaw Country Backways. It sounded wonderful and even had a swinging bridge!

So, day 2 - we headed out for outlaw country. Let's just say that whoever put that booklet together hadn't been there in quite awhile! It warned us that most of the road would be unpaved. Not a problem in our Subaru. "Unpaved" was not the right descriptive word - "jeeps or horses only" would have been more correct!!! This is us starting out - oblivious to what lies ahead.

We don't have many pictures of the actual canyon that we went through because I was gripping the steering wheel too tightly to hold a camera and Kent was trying to help me see the best places to drive forward. 
These were taken near the end as we were coming out of the canyon.

We did have a nice diversion once we were back on level dirt roads:

Git along little doggies! 

And we crossed the Colorado/Utah border:

What I would refer to as a meadow or grassy area they called a park. The picture above and the one below were taken at Brown's Park.

Next came an intersection. "Go straight or take the dirt road to the left". The booklet said the best and widest road was straight ahead. It even said this would be okay for those pulling a trailer. Who in their right minds would pull a trailer through Crouse Canyon!!!!????? We took this recommended "better road." It wasn't all that great. I wouldn't pull anything on it!
We finally arrived at the swinging bridge which had a sign - "Pedestrian traffic only." WHAT??? Well, there was no way we were going back through that canyon so we returned to the intersection and took the other road - which turned out to be the better road that actually took us to a usable bridge. They had reversed the directions in the booklet. They are FIRED!!   :)

We arrived at a place called Taylor Flat, which even had street signs and intersections. But not a whole lot of actual homes on those streets.

But, it got us to the bridge - hallelujah! 

We finally made it back onto a paved road and crossed the Utah/Wyoming border!

It rained just a bit and the sage was SO fragrant - wonderful!

Before returning to our room we went to the dam and took some pictures:

When we got close to the bridge we saw an osprey circling overhead and pulled over so that we could watch it. As we were looking up we noticed a nest on top of the bridge in front of us. There was an osprey sitting in it! We were so excited. We wish we could have gotten a closer picture.

Day 3 - 
We threw away the other booklets on day trips - we didn't trust them. We spent today at Spirit Lake. It was a lovely, restful day just enjoying the scenery and the cool air.

Day 4 - Sunday morning we went to church in Dutch John. It was full to the very back - mostly visitors like us. It was a nice way to begin the day. We were glad to arrive home safe and sound!

Spa Day at Grandma's

Today I had my grand daughters over for our very own spa day. Here was the setting - I hope you can hear the background music I had playing.

We began our experience with a little yoga.

We refreshed ourselves with Pita chips, dip and fresh fruit- including chocolate covered strawberries. Our water was fruit infused. :) While we ate we soaked our feet - ahhhh.

Lotion applied, feet soft - now the eyes. While the girls laid on the floor with pillows and put tea bags on their eyes, I read them a few "fairly stupid tales".

They were a little bit wet from the tea bags - but whatever! Now we needed to do the rest of the face! We made our own masks and let them dry.

Yes, it was kind of gross-feeling going on.

Aren't they lovely?

It was, of course, necessary to wash faces afterwards and we had a little incident with the laundry hamper - don't ask!

With clean and soft faces we moved on to our nails. There seemed to be lots of polish, water and q-tips on the table, but at least some of it made it onto nails!

Posing, is apparently difficult to figure out!

But, we finally made it.

So rested, relaxed, and beautiful we rewarded ourselves with a trip to get a snow cone. Unfortunately, Haley had to leave us - that's why she isn't in the picture. 

Again the table got the worst of it! But, we had fun!! I have the best grand daughters in the world! Love you all. 

Day 8 & 9 of our California trip

Day 8: Mammoth Lakes to Ely, Nevada

What can I say about this drive, other than we crossed Nevada! Kent and Becky refer to it as "the space between Utah and California." [sorry anyone who is from Nevada!] ;)

We did have some interesting experiences in a place called Tonopah. Sorry - no pics. We stopped there for lunch and while we were eating an air raid siren sounded! We looked around and saw no one reacting in any way so we went on eating. After about 1 minute, the siren stopped. Maybe they do it every day at noon?

After lunch we went to this little museum called the Central Nevada Museum. It was kind of fun, mostly old mining equipment, but my favorite antique was an old switchboard! It was a nice, and cool rest before moving on.

So much for day 8.

Day 9: Ely to Home

After breakfast, before leaving Ely, we went to this fun museum. The National Railroad Museum. It is a working museum. The railroad was built and was busy during Nevada's copper mining industry. Went that died, so did the railroad. However, they have kept it alive by charging people to wander through the buildings and even take a ride on the train. We went into the engine house and saw some young guys working on old steam engines. It was really cool. We didn't stay to ride the train. Maybe another time. 

Next stop:

We drove to the top and had lunch in a beautiful spot. Our plan was to go for a short walk on one of the trails, but they were still all covered in snow. 

 Nice view though!

Where is this, you ask?

It is called the Baker Archaeological site, excavated by BYU. It is the remains of a Freemont-culture village.

Last stop before dinner was the Topaz Internment Camp - the place where we kept any Japanese/Americans during WWII. Sadly, we haven't done much to honor this place. Desolation we a few white markers. This was says "High School".

Well, that's it. Our amazing journey to California and back!

Day 7 of our California Trip

Day 7: Yosemite National Park

We left our hotel this morning - already hot! But, look at this beautiful, and cool place. This is Glacier Point in Yosemite. Wow!!!

See the half dome behind me. There are people climbing up the curved side! Me, I like where I'm standing just fine!

This is my favorite traveling companion. :)

We found this lovely spot and had lunch here. Can you smell the pine?

After lunch we drove on Tioga Road - which just kept going up and up . . .

And up and up . . .

Here we are at the summit:

This is a frozen lake. You would think it would be COLD, right? Nope, 66 degrees. Awesome!

Another amazing day and we relaxed in our hotel in Mammoth Lakes.