Thanks Ginger!

I am actually doing this blog myself! Well, sort of. Ginger is sitting at my side, telling me everything to do. Gee, this is so much fun! And there is so much to tell everyone. Where shall I begin???

First, let's start with a really fun hike I went on about a month ago with David and Amy and their kids.

THIS IS A PICTURE OF THE ROAD TO H***!!!! Sure, it looks innocent enough, almost like a hike up to the top of, shall we say, Sunrise mountain? But after you

have made an impossibly steep hike up the side of a mountain, what do you see? A beautiful view? NO. Peaceful meadows with butterflies? NO? A water fountain? NO. David, Amy, Bradley, Audrey, and Mason? Sometimes. But what you always see is that road ahead of you that goes up to the real top of Sunrise Mountain. Do you see that gentle little trail behind them heading up the hill? NO? Take a better look. Yes, that's actually a road, and it climbs STRAIGHT UP THE SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN!!! What fun! The reason I am not in this photo is that I have turned an odd shade of green.




















Here's one more story for this installment. Sherie and I went to houseboat in June with David and his kids. We actually had a lot of fun, even Sherie! We went on a neat hike to some caves on the far side of the lake. In the first photo you can see me with the kids in front of one of the caves.

I think what made this trip so nice is that we have moved the boat to another marina. This marina makes it much easier to get to the boat, it is much more family friendly, and it is actually on a part of the lake that is fun to use. We didn't even take the boat out on the lake, we just left it a the marina, sort of like a cabin on the lake. We just went out on the small boat. It was great!



The next photo is a view from the cave back towards the lake. Pretty, huh?

The lake is at its highest level in about 5 years. It has risen at least 20 feet since we were there in June. I am looking forward to going back. The problem is finding the time. I keep inviting everyone, but everyone is always busy and can't find the time. So if any of you (hint hint) would like to go to the lake for a few days anytime soon, please please please, let me know! We'll have fun!

The funny (ha ha) part of the trip was on the way back. Sherie was CERTAIN that there was a gas station between Page and Kanab. So off we went, with only a few gallons in the tank. You guessed it, we ran out of gas. No cell service. Fortunately David was following us, he had to drive on ahead and find the next station, about 30 miles in front of us, and return with the gas. Notice a very shy Sherie hiding behind David in this picture?

OK, that's enough blogging for one time.

Whew, that's a lot of work! I'll have to try this again some day.

Richard