2017 White Pine County Fair - Part 1: Livestock

 After months of feeding, watering, walking, and trying to tame the lamb, it was time to take him to the fair. (We left his companion behind at home because he was a little sick. Thanks to Dave for keeping an eye on him.)

We arrived at the fair on Friday to weigh-in the lamb. Minimum weight was 100 pounds. "Trouble," (Desert Boy's nickname for the sheep) made it in at 101 pounds. He had been having an up-and-down feeding issue the last month and a half, so he didn't gain as much as we had hoped. But at least he made it in. Desert Girl was styling in front of the Sheep and Goat barn.

We entered our other exhibits (coming in the next post), and Desert Boy did Skill-a-thon (answer questions about animals) and showmanship clinic. Then we saw one of the horse races, went to the BBQ dinner, and then went to bed at a local motel. Saturday morning we were up early to get to the fairgrounds and wash the sheep.

Our preparations were rather simple, wash and brush the sheep. We observed others applying shoe polish or hair dye to the sheep's legs to make them darker and ice to the back to make it firmer.

We had a little spare time, so we decided to take Trouble out for a walk.

We had been coaching Desert Boy that if the sheep started to make a run for it, he was supposed to hang on and smile. He listened!

He seemed fairly confident, so we went back to the barn and waited for his class to be called.

Finally, it was time. (This photo is really overexposed, but I love the kids in their 4-H clothes. And the bib number conveniently covered Desert Boy's grass stains from getting drug on the grass earlier by the lamb).

Desert Boy kept his smile on.

Desert Boy weighs considerably less than the lamb, so it wasn't easy for him to control it (spending more time with the lamb before the fair would have helped). But he kept the lamb with him the whole time.

Much to our surprise and delight, he got a blue ribbon!


Then we watched the cousins with their steers. Megan ended up with a nice fourth place finish.

And Kayli, just barely peeking over her steer, had a good sixth place finish (also blue ribbon).

We weren't done yet, it was still time to show again for showmanship. Desert Boy and the sheep were getting along much better by now.

Showmanship was really long, and Desert Boy had a harder time keeping his eyes on the judge and showing his beautiful smile. He finished second to last, but still got a blue ribbon. (Grade inflation seems to have also affected judging, but we won't complain!)

Back in the pen, Desert Boy pretends he's mutton busting. It was a total joke, as after last year's experience with Desert Girl mutton busting and Desert Boy calf riding, neither ever want to rodeo again. And that's quite okay with me, it should help keep us out of the emergency room.

We spent the rest of Saturday looking at the exhibits and wandering around the fair (coming in next post), as well as going to a friend's birthday party and out to dinner.

We got to bed a little late, but still had to get up early to get the sheep ready Sunday morning for the White Pine County Junior Livestock Show and Sale.

The buyers had breakfast provided and then settled onto the bleachers by the covered arena.

Desert Boy with his sheep.

They're getting ready to go in.

Desert Boy kept his smile on. We were lucky to have some friends bidding on the lamb, and Desert Boy got a good price. That money will be going into his college fund.

The sheep still tried to get away, but Desert Boy managed to hold on. And even smile.

Photo with the buyers and the lamb trying to escape again. Thanks so much to the Gonders/Lystrups!

After a little break from the fair to run errands, it was time to go back and load the lamb on the livestock truck that was taking all the market animals away. The kids held up better than me. But later that night, they were very sad.

It still wasn't time to go--we had to clean the stall. Desert Boy looks like he's ready to hit the beach next!

Overall, I think having a 4-H lamb taught Desert Boy a lot about caring for an animal and a little about ranching business. He also gained some confidence about showing an animal.

We are so grateful to those who helped, especially Charlie, Gwendy, Melanie, and Tom.

Right now Desert Boy says he's never going to show a lamb again. We'll re-evaluate after awhile and see if that's still the case. Looking back at some of these photos may make him want to try it again...or maybe not.

Spring Break in Southern Utah

The week before the kids' spring break, my brother and sister-in-law from Kentucky had their spring break and decided to come out West. We wanted to meet up with them since we don't see them often, so the kids got to take a couple days off school. After a successful dentists' visit, we headed up onto the Colorado Plateau to the Ponderosa Grove campground near Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. It was a great somewhat primitive site, and although there were plenty of spots in the mid-afternoon, by the evening it had filled up.

The next morning, Desert Boy tried out his new guitar and entertained us during breakfast.

We also made use of the big ponderosa pines and put a rope up in the tree. Giacomo, an exchange student from Rome, got to try out a new technique and loved it.

Then it was off to the sand dunes. There were quite a few people there. I really like the rule of no ATVs before 10 am, as it gives you a chance to go out on the sand and not worry about getting run over.

The kids' favorite part was digging. They dug and dug, but still didn't make it to the bottom of the dune.

From there we went to the nearby Moccasin Mountain dinosaur tracks. We had visited a few years previous, but it's been developed a lot more, with a huge primitive camping area just off the paved road with a confusing network of roads, and then the road leading to the tracks was in better shape than I remembered. We enjoyed looking for dinosaur tracks.

With all the changes, it doesn't seem as remote a spot, and we shared it with a bunch of other people on a weekday morning.

It is just so cool thinking about dinosaurs walking along here millions of years ago!

We climbed up on the rocks and got a most awesome view of the rock layers. This place is gorgeous!

After a picnic lunch in Kanab, we went to Peekaboo (Red) Canyon. It turned out to be a great adventure to get there, on extremely sandy roads. We eventually made it in our 4WD pickup. Barely. We weren't sure if we were going to make it out, as it was slightly uphill. We decided not to sweat it and just enjoyed the slot canyon.

Desert Girl insisted on getting past this obstacle all on her own. She eventually found a technique that worked.

The red rock makes such a nice backdrop for photos! My niece wasn't feeling so great, so she might not remember much, but the photos prove she was there.

The slot narrowed enough in some parts to make it rather dark.

The canyon was rather short, about a third of a mile until we reached a 20-foot drop that we couldn't find an easy way up. So we turned around and headed back.

The drive out was a little eventful, with a patch of really deep sand we almost got stuck in. I don't think I'd go back in a 4WD full size vehicle. We could have deflated our tires to help, but ATVs are better vehicles to get out there.

Our next destination was Zion National Park. Zion's popularity has swelled, and they now receive over 4 million visitors a year. We were hoping that by going very late in the afternoon, we might be able to find some parking spots. We saw some bighorn sheep on our drive in from the east entrance.

And we found some parking at the Overlook Trail, a trail I hadn't done before. It's just one mile long each way, but it's a bit of an adventure hike, with some steep dropoffs.

It provided us with some challenges. And I was surprised how many other people we saw on the trail at the late hour. Apparently they were going to make the most of parking spots too!

We all made it to the overlook!

I knew of a fun off-trail hike on the other side of the road, but it turned out it was flooded, and no one wanted to wade in the cold water.

So we went up to the Zion Canyon entrance and found some parking there and got on the shuttle bus to go up to the Riverwalk. When we got off the shuttle, we found some turkeys and deer.

The Zion River was flowing high enough that no hiking through the Zion Narrows was permitted. That was okay with us, it was getting dark and the air and water were very cold! But we still found a rock to go stand on to be in the river a little!

That night we had camping reservations for Sand Hollow State Park, but we arrived at 10:04 pm and the gate closes at 10 pm and there's no getting in after that. (If we had known, we would have arrived earlier!). So we spent a very windy night at a BLM trailhead that we called our campsite for the night.   (All the hotel rooms within two hours drive were full.) None of us got much sleep, and Giacomo had to take the ACT the next morning. Hopefully he did okay! We played in St. George parks for awhile, my husband and I bought a new used van, and then we had lunch together before we parted ways. It was a fun trip. Southern Utah is very popular in the spring because the temperatures are great and it's so scenic. Although some spots are very crowded, there are places to get away from the crowds, they just take a little work to get to!

Magic Steve at the 2017 Sheepherders' Gathering

Every year in January, sheepherders and aficionados of the sheep industry gather on the Nevada-Utah line at the Border Inn to celebrate at the Sheepherders' Gathering. A musician (or two or three) are invited. This year, Magic Steve from the Salida Circus came and brought his banjo. Before the gathering even started, he went to the local school and entertained the kids, teaching them a little more about music. 

The kids enjoyed it a lot. So did the adults!

Then he said that since his name was Magic Steve, he better do some magic tricks. The first volunteer helper did great.

And Magic Steve obviously enjoyed interacting with him!

More helpers were needed in the make-the-pink-hankie-disappear-and-then-reappear-in-his-taped-mouth trick.

Desert Girl got called up to be a helper, which she certainly enjoyed because she's been doing her own magic tricks at home. She needs a bit more practice to master the sleight of hand that Magic Steve uses. His tricks seemed to go off effortlessly.

It was a very entertaining hour, and I'm glad I got to go, especially since I was sick the rest of the weekend so missed all the other events. But if you do a search on this blog for "Sheepherders," you'll find more about this unique annual gathering.