80 Days of Summer - Days 18-22

Days 18-22

This week was mostly scattered events, so no single-day posts. Returned from Wyoming on Monday evening just in time for Emmy's softball game. She had a hit and scored a run in a close 12-11 game. Had my first Apple Store experience on Monday as well. Crowded, everyone angry, and poor customer service. But they bought my affection by handing me a replacement phone for mine that had picked up a "virus" even though Macs don't get viruses (Shhhhhh. Don't tell anyone). It's been a love-hate relationship with my iPhone these past 9 months. My first phone never would sync with my iTunes, so it never held music. Maybe this one will. It also spent one entire week in January not taking a charge. The day my replacement phone arrived, it suddenly started taking a charge again. So, iPhone Number 3 should be an improvement, right? I've had 3 versions of the iPhone 4 (non-Siri) since November. 

Tuesday, I drove a group of girls from church, including daughter Annie, down to girls camp in the mountains above Blanding/Monticello. Wednesday, I drove down with the other counselor in our bishopric (I'm the first counselor in our bishopric - every LDS congregation has a bishop with two counselors) to Boy Scout Camp near Blanding to check on our guys down there and take down some junk food. We then spent the evening at the girls camp where we were asked to share a motivational/spiritual message. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Navajo tacos for dinner and dutch oven cake for dessert around the campfire. Annie was having a great time.

Dave and Erin stayed the night on Thursday passing through Moab. Erin and Brandi wanted to eat at Pasta Jay's in town. It's my least favorite place to eat in Moab other than Wendy's. I asked for a bigger table than the one above, and they flat out told me, "No." Love eating out with Dave and Erin - always good conversation and lots of laughs. Walked down to Moab Diner for Hot Fudge Malts afterwards.

After dinner, we drove out Potash Road west of town along the Colorado River. They're still shooting Johnny Depp's movie, Lone Ranger and Tonto. This set on a sandbar has a "Hanging tree" (we just canoed past this spot a few weeks ago with the kids). Today, there was a guy with a camera up on the scaffolding and two people on horses riding away from the tree along the river. Not Johnny from what I could see (the camera was small, so I think it was a demo shot).

The movie tents at Gold Bar. If you've been following my blog all summer, this is the "take out" where we pulled our canoes out of the river on Day 1. The movie company has totally taken over the entire campground and river takeout. Oddly enough, a UTEP student from Texas just drowned right behind these tents (before they were set up) in the river during the past week. He was walking across with some friends and got dragged under. Guess he should have read the signs that say, "Don't enter the river. Dangerous currents."

Movie set pieces at Gold Bar. Old West train cars. Each day, more equipment arrives, and today, the "Star Wagons" arrived, which means, Johnny might be out there soon. Brandi drives this road everyday to work out at the Potash Mine at the end of the road.

Dave and I drove out to the Mill Canyon area north of Moab on Friday. I hadn't ever been out there. There's a cool ruin of a stage station, several springs, and a .8 mile long Dino Trail with fossil dinosaur bones in the rocks along the trail. Kinda cool.

Driving up Bartlett Canyon. In the middle of the desert - see below - there's a lush canyon with tons of trees and occasional water.

 Past Bartlett Canyon around 3D Jeep trail. To iPhone's credit, I took all of the pictures in this blog post with my new iPhone 4. 

 Past Bartlett Canyon around 3D Jeep trail. Miles of slickrock out there attract the mountain bikers.

Friday afternoon, it was so hot (104), that I took the kids up into the mountains above Moab for some cooler weather and fishing on Oowah Lake (a little high mountain body of water in the pines). Test-driving my new hat above. I must be getting old because the sun on my neck is starting to bother me. Brandi said she would allow me to wear this in the wilderness, but she won't be seen with me around town in it.

James brought a stick to me after fishing with his real pole for awhile. He also had 5 feet of fishing line he found in the bushes. He asked me to tie it on with a hook and give him a worm. I said, "No" at first because I didn't want to take the time for such a pointless endeavor. But I relented and set him up. Two minutes later, I hear, "I got one" as he yanks a 12 inch trout from the lake onto the grassy shore. He fished with it the rest of the day and caught several more small ones with it. He'd just stand there totally still for a long time until a fish came up and took the worm. Then he'd yank back bringing the fish out of the water.

We hiked up a small creek feeding the lake. It had little 6-10 inch deep pools as it worked its way down through the small canyon and the pines. James used his stick pole, and I used a regular pole. We caught about 10 small fish in these tiny pools ranging from 6-12 inches. James and Matthew got into stinging nettle again. James said through tears, "I wish stinging nettle didn't even exist."

Matthew jumped off an embankment by the stream and landed on what he thought was a mound of dirt. Turned out to be a fresh cow pie (ranchers graze their cattle up above 10,000 feet in these mountains). He was pretty angry - see below. We were cracking up. I hate the cows up in the mountains. They really tear up these pretty creeks and meadows.

 He was mad that we were laughing about the cow crap. Lucky for him there was a creek close by.

 Fishing the creek.

 Matthew finally caught his first fish at the end of the afternoon.

James catching some Zs on the drive home.