April Potpourri

It's so easy for me to get behind on photos! Here are some from April. We went for a drive and saw a pronghorn. I love watching these animals, the fastest land animals in North America. They are also unusual in that they don't jump over fences, but go under them.

On this particular drive we were heading to a wet meadow area, but due to the dry winter, it looked kind of brown.

This fence post caught my eye. And in the background you can see that there isn't much snow on the mountains.

This is one of my favorite trees. Sometime I hope to go down and take a night sky photo with its silhouette.

Back at home, the kestrels have moved in and make a lot of noise.

One day I found the kestrel was excited about its catch--a lizard.

Our dog, Maggie, jumped out of the back of the truck and broke her femur. So she had surgery and was on a lot of confinement. Fortunately she's been recovering well.

We have a lot of playdates. I loved that one incorporated some music practice. These two will be performing in the spring concert next week. They will have a duet, as they're the only brass players in their school.

A couple coworkers and I led the elementary school on a wild cave trip. The kids had a great time and were delighted to have an opportunity to crawl and get muddy. One of the chaperones was surprised how we incorporated how much science into it--programming bat equipment, checking climate data, reading maps, showing geologic features. It's easy in caves, there are just so many cool scientific areas to study!

Our currant bushes bloomed, and that brought lots of pollinators, including these cool sphinx/hummingbird moths. They are not easy to photograph! They move around really fast.

I thought it was cool to see how the proboscis is curled up while it's flying.

Then it extends it to take a drink.

The flowers help provide a bullseye.

Desert Girl did a session of dog training for a friend. They were so cute! One of Desert Girl's ambitions is to become a dog trainer, so it's good to start young.

Caving friends came via a small airplane, and they let the kids sit in the cockpit. They immediately started dreaming up their adventure.

These ladies are awesome, I will have to do a whole post more about their geologic work in Lehman Caves soon.

We squeezed in some trail work on the local Sagebrush Discovery Trail. The flowers along it have been great in May (also another post!). There are still so many more rocks to move, but we're slowly making a difference. And it's always great to socialize!

One of the school events was a Young Author's Fair. Guest speaker Glenn Terry came in to do some cowboy poetry. Then the kids read each other's book that they had written for the event and did some activities. Parents and friends also get to read the kids' books, which are very entertaining.

We had a few EMS and fire calls for the month, including this vehicle fire. It had stalled, so the driver pulled it over to the side of the road, and then it caught on fire. She was able to get out safely, but the car was totally engulfed. Fortunately minimal brush caught on fire, as you can see there was some wind.

We got good practice with self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBAs). There are so many toxic fumes from a car fire that you don't want to breathe even a little of that smoke.

One last tidbit was a school field trip to the Aquarium in Draper, Utah. It's a 3.5 hour bus ride--each way--but it was worth it. Everyone had a great time and we certainly got to see things that we don't usually see in the remote desert!

Hope you had a good April and are enjoying May!

The First Annual Old Capitol Storytelling Festival

 We received a note home from school in early March saying there would be a First Annual Old Capitol Storytelling Festival. We weren't quite sure what to expect, but they were having two nights of concerts/storytelling in our area, plus a storytelling contest for the school kids.

First off, the Old Capitol refers to Fillmore, Utah, which was the first capitol of the state of Utah. And before the state of Utah was declared, it was the Territory of Utah, which not only included all of Utah, but most of Nevada, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.


We talked with the kids, and Desert Girl decided she wanted to enter the storytelling contest. She started practicing right away for a maximum of a five-minute-long story, and she decided to talk about camping at Ibex playa.

On Sunday night, we went to EskDale High School, where we listened to the orchestra play beautifully.

Then it was time for some stories. This night's theme was about different religions and beliefs, and I found it quite interesting.

Various speakers talked about different belief/religious systems.

One pastor couldn't make it in person, but had recorded a video. He lives in Salt Lake City and drives down to Delta every weekend for his congregation. Except when he does missions in Africa, and then he preaches via video, so it was very apropos.

On Monday night we went to the Border Inn for the last night of the Old Capitol Storytelling Festival.

Clive Romney, who had visited the schools earlier in the day, provided some entertainment.

Then the two winners of the storytelling contest told their stories. Desert Girl's teacher was so glad that only two kids had wanted to tell stories this year, as it made it very easy to judge!

Desert Girl did a great job, talking about how when we took an old camper out to Ibex playa and a window broke, Dad fixed it with "marshmallow glue." The next time we camped there, we just took a tent. The wind blew so hard that night it broke the tent poles and pushed the tent down on us. "Mom cheated and got out of the tent with her sleeping bag and slept on the other side of the rock."

Desert Girl then concluded talking about how the next day we went to the Leamington Rodeo, where she competed in mutton bustin'. She wasn't so good at it, and it hurt when she fell off, but she did get some Skittles for her efforts.

The kids got their prizes, which made them very happy.

Then it was time for the adult storytellers. Delaine talked about the Massacres in the Swamp Cedars.

Dave told a few stories about experiences around the area.

And Denys had fun relaying some family history.

It was very enjoyable to listen to live entertainment. Next year both the kids say they will compete in the storytelling contest. They have until next March to figure out their stories. For more information, check out the Old Capitol Storytelling Festival website.

Time to Swim!

 So it was still March, but the kids wanted to swim. My husband had just dug out the settling pond, which is a place for the mountain water to slow down and for sand, sediment, and rocks to settle out of it before the water goes down a pipeline to the pivots to water the fields. We also use it as a swimming hole. And the kids couldn't wait to try it out. The temperature was in the high 60s, which apparently was good enough for them. There was a lot of pond scum, but they didn't care. So we went over and they gave it a try, first on a kayak.

Then Desert Boy had to try to run down the pile of sand (left there by request) and jump into the pond. I had him wear a life jacket because the water was cold and I didn't want to have to jump in after him.

Splash! He got out fast. And then since I didn't get a photo the first time, I had him do it again. Ha!

The other kids were content to stay on the edges or on the kayak.

 The kayak became more popular when the second time we went Desert Boy figured out he could go through the culvert on it. We love our red-neck water slide!



He even cleaned out most of the cobwebs.

Another time we went the excitement was seeing a snake. Of course the snake kids wanted to catch the little garter snake.

Isaac's a pro.

Then his sister caught another one. Garter snakes like water, so we see them by the pond a lot.

We like seeing them, but they don't seem to like seeing us so much, and they swam away and hid.

The day was a little warmer, so the kids got into the water. We can still see the snow on the mountains a few miles away, and that's where this water is coming from. I guess they will be tough!

The boats have been really popular. Desert Boy wanted to make his own raft. So he stuffed life jackets into a pallet. It worked, sort of.

 I can already tell that we're going to be spending lots of time at the pond this summer! Now if I can just figure out how to rig up a hammock, it will be perfect.

Return to Eagle Point

 We had so much fun on our first 2018 excursion to Eagle Point Ski Resort near Beaver, Utah, that we decided to go again. The weather called for more snow. That made me excited to hit the slopes, but worried about road conditions. After the treacherous road conditions on Highway 153 up Beaver Canyon on our first trip, and talking to others who were also really bothered by it, I sent an email to the Beaver County Commissioners notifying them of the problem. I received a response that they were looking into it and contacting the proper authorities.

So I was hoping that was all in place when we woke up the next morning and we had fresh snow! We had a leisurely morning with more swimming in the hotel pool (the kids love to swim!) and started out about 9:15 a.m. to give the plows a little more time. We saw a plow coming our direction by the golf course. 

But as we started up the canyon, we found that it had not been recently plowed. We passed the chain up area, but the lights were not blinking next to the sign that said When Flashing, Four Wheel Drive or Chains Required. The snow wasn't particularly deep, so I wasn't too concerned. Then we got to a corner that had an icy spot and we started careening towards the 15-foot dropoff that fell into the icy creek. While the kids were screaming in the back seat, I turned the steering wheel sharply to avoid the terrifying situation. Praise the Lord, we eventually found traction. Then our truck started sliding towards the 30-foot tall jagged cliff on the other side of the road. Fortunately we managed to avoid it. 

A bit further on, we found a car stopped in the middle of the road, the driver out with chains in his hands. If he had known that chains were required, he wouldn't have had to stop in such a precarious place.

Later I talked to my grown nephew who had gone up to Eagle Point with a friend that day, and he said he had hit an icy spot and nearly slid into the guard rail.

It wasn't safe to turn around, so we kept going up. Fortunately we made it, and the snow was fantastic. Fresh powder on top of other new snow, so we could ski in the woods and not worry about tripping over downed trees. It only took till mid-March! Desert Boy was delighted to be back with his instructor from his first lesson. Meanwhile, Desert Girl and I hit the slopes. And when we went over to the big mountain, the first run she wanted to do was the black diamond she had done before. I told her to make sure she waited for me (I wasn't kidding!). She did awesome. I figured we could probably go about anywhere on the mountain as long as we took breaks. So when we got off the lift the next time, we took a right and headed into country we had never seen before.

This involved finding a tow lift with a frisbee-like disk that you don't sit on, but it goes between your legs and you hold on to a pole and go up the hill. Desert Girl found it really hard to get on. She crashed about five times. But after watching some other people do it, she finally made it. We had a fun run and then she wanted to go back and do it all over again. Way to go, girl!

 

When we caught up to Desert Boy in the afternoon, he had improved a lot.

It was fun watching him rip the slopes. We found his older cousin who rode with him and made the snowboarding look easy.

We tried some selfies on the lift.

I was in the middle and couldn't get us all at the same time.

On the way back down, the road was much better (but still not plowed a full two lanes wide). I wrote again to the Beaver county commissioners but heard nothing back. I also wrote to the regional UDOT supervisor, and he wrote back that they were looking into conditions. I sure hope they can make some improvements!

Eagle Point had a really crummy winter season, open just 27 days. How can it go on? They posted a letter on their website and Facebook page that said they will indeed be open next year. They'll even have some snow making equipment. So hopefully the highway will be in better shape, because it sounds like Eagle Point will be an even more popular winter destination!