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.

Exploring Central Nevada-Part 1: Hot Springs

 In mid-June I got a hankering to go exploring. I took some time off off work, and we loaded up, the kids, the au pair, the dog, and me. We headed west on U.S. 50, lunched in Ely, and then took a quick stop at Illipah Reservoir, where the wind was fierce.

Just a little bit further on, we stopped on the side of the road to let these huge oversize loads go by. They definitely take up more than one lane! Being in a mining state, this is a fairly frequent sight on the highways.

After a swim in Eureka's pool, we continued on and exited the highway to head to Potts' Hot Springs, also called Monitor Hot Springs. We found the old Potts ranch and stopped to enjoy the view.

It was still nice and green out in the meadows, and the late afternoon sunlight was gorgeous.

The road to Potts' Hot Springs was marked as 'No Public Access,' so we respected that and continued on to Diana's Punch Bowl, which was about 30 minutes away. I had previously visited this spectacular site, and was eager to return. The sun had already set by the time we arrived, so we set up camp at the base and then wandered up to observe the hot spring under the full moon. Diana's Punch Bowl is a 30-foot deep cauldron that's about 50 feet in diameter. It rises off the valley floor, seemingly without rhyme or reason. The evening primrose was blooming right on the edge. The water in it is reportedly very hot, about 170 degrees F, so we didn't want to go in.

Our camp was simple, and I love primitive camping in the middle of nowhere. We heard some coyotes howl in the night, but no sounds of civilization. It was wonderful.

I awoke early and got some sunrise photos of Diana's Punchbowl.

It was just cool enough that steam was rising. And the full moon was setting.

 With one angle, I captured a lot of steam.

Then I wandered down over the other side, and the shooting stars caught my eye.

The hot water in the nearby creek is cool enough to soak in, but it's not very deep. It looks like at one time someone worked to improve it, but now it's in a fairly natural state.

Orange algae dotted one end, and steam rose along the channel.

I went back to camp and everyone got up and ate. Then it was to the top for a group photo.

Our next destination was to the Toquima Campground, which was totally empty. We set off on the quarter-mile trail to Toquima Cave. I admired the buckwheat on the way.

The trail meandered through the pinyon-juniper to some cliffs.

I got distracted again by flowers!

When I caught up to the kids and Charlie, Desert Boy was scaling the huge gate over the entrance. The kids were so happy to climb.

Through the gate we could see some amazing pictographs. Some call these the best pictographs in the Great Basin. It's very unusual to see yellow coloring in pictographs.

We admired them for awhile, speculating on what they mean. Then we headed back to the vehicle and continued over the pass to Big Smoky Valley to Spencer Hot Springs.

After we soaked in the pool for awhile, we wandered around to check out the other hot springs. The trough was too hot for me, but the others could handle it.

After a bit, we had our fill and headed to Austin for a break at the playground. Austin has the best playground I've seen along Highway 50, and as an added bonus, some folks stopped with their dog, and Maggie had the best hour playing.

Next up...on to fossils and ghost towns!

Baby Lambs

Meet our new lamb, Whitie! We got him a couple weeks ago, as Desert Boy had signed up to do market lambs for 4-H. This is his first year in 4-H, and we have a lot to learn! A friend told us where to get lambs that had done well for them in the past.

And since lambs are social, we got two, so they can hang out together. 

It was quite a sight when we unloaded them. My husband easily picked one up to move to the pen. I thought I could too, so I gave it a try. The lamb wiggled out of my arms, past me, out of the trailer, and out into the big open world. Oh, no, how were we going to catch it now? After chasing it fruitlessly for awhile, we left it alone and it went to the other one. Then it was a matter of opening the gate at the right time (first we got the wrong time and had two lambs loose!), but we eventually succeeded.

Our new dog Maggie made fast friends with the lambs.

We've been working to tame the lambs, so they've been eating grain out of Desert Boy's hand a lot.

Although sometimes they get distracted.

They have really sweet dispositions.

This sign was near the pen, so I couldn't resist putting it up.

Desert Girl wanted in on the action.

Desert Boy even got the halter on one day. We have some work to make that easier and start taking the lambs for walks. I'm sure that will be exciting at first!

The lambs have been welcome companions. The kids are learning more responsibility. We'll have them until the fair, the third weekend of August. We're all learning more about lambs, and are looking forward to having a lamb expert come live with us for awhile. More about that soon!