Day 5 - Mule Ride

After lunch at the historic Bryce Canyon Lodge, we moseyed down to the corral and hopped on our mules for a 4-hour tour of the park from a different point of view.

 

The boys did their first mule ride a long time ago when we went to the Black Hills. Since then, it's their favorite big-park adventure, wherever we go.

 

We went down into the canyon, then up and over into another canyon, then from the bottom, up and over into yet another canyon. I was grateful to be riding and not hiking. It would have been one of those endless hikes where you question why you're doing it. What's the point of going down if you're only going to hike straight back up. Riding made it different and I was able to enjoy going downhill without thinking "Ugh. Once we get to the bottom, we're going to have to climb back up 500 vertical feet."

 

Day 5 - Bryce Canyon

After being cooked by the hot wind & dust of AZ and the Glitter Hole, we headed north the next day to the high country of Bryce Canyon. This turned out to be the boys' favorite destination.

 

As immense and inaccessible the Grand Canyon was, Bryce was the opposite. It offered an intimate experince with easy trails into its depths.

 

 

 

The trail down to Wall Street consists of nothing but switchbacks.

 

We ended our morning with a hike down and thru Wall Street. The boys had never had so much fun. The hike back up, at 8,000 ft above sea level, had them panting.

Day 4 - Petroglyphs & Glitter

After the New and Improved St. George Airport, we headed south into AZ on dirt roads in search of petroglyphs.

 

The BLM maintains a trail at the base of Little Black Mountain, a 500-ft mesa with very nice petroglyphs all around its base. The kids had a blast running around, climbing, scrambling, and getting dirty. The wind picked up while we were there and dried us out like dehydrated apricots.

 

Part of the fun with petroglyphs is trying to figure out what they mean. Are they merely graffitti, carved by bored teenagers, or do they have deep meanings? Grampa is in the Erich Von Daniken camp on this topic. He showed us all a complex drawing that clearly illustrated a De Havilland Beaver (or Otter - we weren't quite sure) on floats. I'm in the bored teen camp on this one.

 

Next, we went on to find "The Glitter Hole." It's a gypsum mine completely in the middle of nowhere. There's a pure gypsum deposit just below the surface. By pure, I mean that the deposit is essentially a single giant (50+ feet in diameter) crystal of clear and shiny gypsum. The tailing are nothing but orange-sized clear crystals. The kids all hacked at the wall of the mine for an hour, trying to chop out the biggest piece of crystal they could. GP ended up with a hadfull of blisters from the rock hammer.

 

Day 4 - The New & Improved St. George Airport

After a long day at the Canyon, we figured we'd take it easy on Day 4 by staying around St. George and checking out some of the local scenery. First stop: The New and Improved St. George Airport. It's way out in the middle of nowhere, and Grampa moved his hangar from the old mesa airport in town out to the new place. The boys were fired up to sit in the cockpits of the planes.

 

MB was ready to go for a ride in the back seat.

 

What could be more fun?!?

 

After Grampa's hangar, we visited the new St. George Air Museum. WOW!! I was impressed. CP was doubly impressed; he got to touch a real MiG.

Day 3 - Grand Canyon

We hit the road early on day three and headed south. We crossed the border into AZ and stopped Under the Banner of Heaven in Colorado City. JP wouldn't let me shop for additional wives. Something about not being able to control the one I have...

 

A few hours later we reached the north rim of the Grand Canyon. This was JP's first experience on the north side, and the boys' first time to the canyon, ever. We had lunch at the lodge and sat next to one of the ginormous picture windows that overlooks it all. We hiked out to Bright Angle Point and GP didn't like the exposure at all. CP didn't seem to mind.

 

One of the things that caught us by surprise was the abundance of lush green meadows on top of the Kaibab Plateau. After driving all morning thru red rock, red dirt, and red dust, the bright green of the grass and aspen was breathtaking.

 

 

Utah Day 2 - Tubing!

 

After lounging aroung the condo pool and catching up with family, we loaded up the boat and hit Quail Creek Reservoir for some tubing action. The water was beautiful, and the scenery even better. The boys tubed for two hours. Since it was a weekday, we shared the entire lake with only two other boats.

 

After tubing, we caught up with the B's at their campsite in Snow Canyon for a cookout.

 

Summer Vacation 2012

This year our summer vacation took us west (as usual) out to beautiful southern Utah. I have a bunch of pics, so I'll put up a post for each day.

Day one was a travel day from Lincoln to Omaha to Minneapolis to Las Vegas to St. George. The boys had a blast. The MSP airport is now their favorite airport (and mine, too). We flew over Grand Junction, Moab, and Zion. I was sitting on the north side of the plane and was able to see all the red rock from above.

This is sand mountain and St. George. Last time we were here, we rode 4-wheelers all over down there.

We stopped at Grampa's favorite restaurant in Mesquite to load up on $3.95 steaks. We made a wrong turn in the casino and wound up at the buffet. An hour and $60 later we emerged much satisfied. CP put away four steaks himself, plus a large plate of salad. At this age, buffets are a good thing for the boys.

Mother's Day 2012

JP has been complaining that our current cat isn't affectionate enough for her. She is always with us, but she stays just out of reach - she's not a lap cat.

We've been casually looking for an additional cat, but haven't had much luck. Petco has some nice ones from the Beatrice animal shelter, but they're $80 to adopt. There's no such thing as free kittens in the paper or Craig's List any more. I mentioned this at work, and half a dozen coworkers spun around and simultaneously asked "You need a cat!?!" Seems that everyone has kittens, they just don't actively try to give them away. With dogs, cars, coyotes, owls, etc., the lifespan of the typical farm cat in NE is only about a year. Most farmers go thru 3 or 4 litters each year with no net gain in the number of farm cats.

On of the guys in my group asked if we would be interested in an older cat. Sure. His complaint is that the cat wants too much affection. Perfect for JP!!! I brought her home Friday night, and she's starting to live up to the too much affection claim. Her name is Libby, and she's five years old.

Last Chorus Concert

Last week we attended GP's chorus concert. It's sad to think that we are now done with elementary school. The school here in Lincoln was the best experience for the boys, ever. We have our issues with NE and the lack of life here, but the bottom line is that this is the best place to raise kids.

Olive Garden

Nana stayed with us on her way to & from seeing her other grandkids in OK City. We're halfway there, so it makes for a perfect rest stop. On her way back, we went out for dinner (a big treat for us, as we only go out to eat once in a blue moon) at GP's favorite place - the Olive Garden. Both boys thoroughly enjoyed their meals. GP ate ALL of his order of fettuccine alfredo. It was probably 4 pounds of pasta and sauce. Plus breadsticks and two plates of salad. Won't be long before he's taller than me, too. (CP is now an inch taller than I).
 

End of the Day

GP had a long day. 10 minutes before this photo, he was in a most foul pre-teen mood. Looks like he just needed a nap.

40

Our young neighbor hits 40 later this year. He is feeling the pressure of mid-life and bought himself a toy. It's got an aluminum big block that puts out 426 hp thru a 6-speed manual gearbox. SWEET!!!

Feline Video Games

JP found some video games for the cat. It's cute, but the cat has become like the boys and wants to play video games 24/7.

New Datalogger

I finally received the production prototypes of my new lawnmower data logger circuit board. We're going to get a bunch made and install them on mowers across the country to measure fuel consumption. Some of our customers can accumulate 1,000 hours per season on their mowers. The bigger mowers can burn two gallons an hour, which adds up pretty quick at $3.50 a gallon. Fuel economy is starting to become more of a conversation topic with landscapers.

The datalogger records engine RPM, fuel flow, fuel level, throttle position, manifold pressure, and the date/time once per second. With an 8 GB SD card, it can record continuously for 3.4 years before it runs out of space. I love being a geek and getting paid for it.

New Old Stock

I found a marquee for my Omega Race arcade game. I had the choice of a used one, or a "NOS" one that was brand new with the protective paper still on it. That's a no-brainer - give me the new one! When it arrived, I was excited to peel off the paper and see my new found treasure. It was "new", but the temporary adhesive on the paper was 30 years old and had become permanent. It took over an hour to peel it all off in little tiny crumbs. Omega Race is looking pretty sweet now. I only have to make a patch piece of star & planet black-light background, and then it will be complete.

Easter Brunch

This year for Easter, we hosted a neighborhood brunch. JP cooked up 3.5 pounds of bacon, and it all evaporated quickly. Next year we should serve at least 8 pounds. It was a beautiful sunny day, but the wind forced us to setup camp in the garage. We have such beautiful weather here, except for the wind that blows 15 mph too much ALL THE TIME.

Snow Tires Be Gone!

GP Helped change out my tires this year. It took over an hour, but he stuck with it until the last lugnut was tight and the snow tires were all up in the attic. Nice to have a capable helper!

Spring Break

For spring break, I had to go on a trip for work. It was a grueling week-long ordeal in Florida. The last two nights we stayed at a place on Clearwater Beach next to a big resort that had live bands every day. It was tough, but we were able to accomplish all of our goals for work.

Owls are back

We've been hearing the owls at nite, hooting back and forth. They used to hang out on JRO's roof, but it looks like they're now perched on ours. One of them hacked up a hairball and dropped it onto the deck. Kinda gross, but I love having them in the neighborhood.

School's Out!

It's been two long months since my last post. I've been a bit tied up with school and work this spring. I took the final for my class this morning and I should have some free time on the weekends again to get caught up with the blog. Stay tuned.

Science Fair

GP had his 5th grade science fair yesterday. His experiment was to see if increased CO2 helped plants grow. He grew radish seeds in both a lasagna pan and a sealed-up glass jar. Each day he exhaled into the jar for 90 seconds to fill it with CO2. After a few days, he had over a hundred 5" tall seedling in the jar, and only a handful of scraggly ones in the lasagna dish.

I took the afternoon off so that I could see his exhibit. My favorite display was one that examined the "5-second rule". If a piece of food is dropped on the floor and you pick it up within five seconds, it's OK/safe to eat it. The girl dropped pieces of bread onto various floors & surfaces around town and then swabbed them and cultured the bacteria. She proved without a doubt, that the 5-second is a myth. The most frightening surfaces were a computer keyboard and the TV remote. If you drop food on you keyboard, don't eat it.

New Lights

 

Last weekend we finally broke down and replaced the nasty old lights we had on the front of the garage. Menard's helped us out, as usual.

Pizza Night

JP keeps a container of bread dough in the fridge so that fresh bread is only an hour away at any time. Our latest weekly trend is to have pizza on Friday nights. JP makes the crusts, and everyone gets their own custom pizza.

NU B-Ball

GP & I were exploring the UNL campus after his "Saturday Science" event at the new physics building. As we were leaving the bookstore, the girl at the couter asked if we would like some free tickets to that afternoon's mens basketball game. Of course we would like them! One of the highlights of the game was a pack of stunt dogs (all rescued) from KC that performed tricks during halftime.