Go Forth on the Fouth (of July)

 Our last full day in Utah was the 4th of July.  Hailey, Don and I headed south to Provo.  Sure enough, there was a parade going on in the downtown area.

We passed by an interesting bronze sculpture along the way.

We wound up on the sunny side of the street.  It was warm, and there were lots of pop up shades and umbrellas.  I took quite a few pictures, but it was hard getting good shots this far back from the front.

I thought this was a really cool wagon, so I inched my way further towards the parade route. 

Here comes the guy who was the "Life of the Party".   Not anymore!  The guy with the reins didn't look awfully happy either.  No wonder, it was a dead end job for him.😂😂

This group was a hoot!  They were having a great time banging on cowbells, drums and even upside down plastic buckets.

An hour later as the parade ended, we headed back to the Hailey's car.  On one of the buildings was a very colorful painting on a building.  It reminded me of Silver City, which has murals all over their downtown area.

One last and important stop:  Ice Cream at Sub Zero!  Don and Hailey ate the ice cream while I enjoyed sitting in a cool spot without the sun beating on me.  It was a win-win for the 3 of us.

Provo Pathways

 Since we had our bikes behind the truck, we did manage to fit in a bike ride one day while Hailey was at class.  One of the popular bike trails is Provo Canyon.  We found the trail, and by the time we got there, it was REALLY windy!  Usually we are "fair weather" bikers but this was probably the only chance we'd ever have to ride here.  Off we went:  UPHILL and AGAINST THE WIND!

The path is heavily used by bicyclists, walkers and runners.  People walking stay on one side of the yellow line and people on bikes share a two way path up into the canyon.  Even though it looks like Don is "hogging" the middle of the path, he is actually in the correct lane.

It was slow going up into the canyon for us oldsters. There were a lot of people on electric bikes, taking the easy way both up and down the path.

On the right is the Provo River.

 Still going uphill, but at this point the wind wasn't as strong since we were further into the canyon and surrounded by wooded areas.

Heading back towards where we parked, we had a nice view of the cliffs.

Another view of the Provo River, with the path partially showing on the very right side.  We did succeed in riding a total of 10 miles, our daily goal.  And it sure was a lot more fun heading towards the truck, going downhill and with the wind against our back.

Not Quite Salt Lake City

 One old saying is "Close, but no cigar".   Yes, we got close to Salt Lake City when we visited our granddaughter Hailey in Orem, Utah.  However, we needed to drive about another half hour north before hitting Salt Lake City.  That didn't happen this trip.  Below is a picture of the house (actually a log cabin) that she shares with 3 other ladies taking the same physical therapy tract.

 Hailey is in graduate school at Rocky Mountain University and will have her doctorate degree in 2025.  The university is located in Provo, Utah about a 15 minute drive south from her house.  She took us on a personal tour during a Saturday when there were no classes.   

Here is a view from the top floor looking north.

 I took a picture of Don and Hailey going down the stairs to the classrooms.  Below is the library, one like I have never seen before!  All the displays can be checked out by the students to assist them in their studies. 

This is one of the rooms where the students practice on each other.  There are plenty of tables. I wonder if this would be a good place to take a nap between classes?  Hmm.... I think not.  Their days are long and intense and these students only have 2 week breaks between their semesters.

Karchner Kamping

 Another delayed post.  Again, my focus was on other things, or maybe my memory failed me.  Hmm...which one was it?😒

On March 7, 2023 we joined Doris, Sandy and Jerry at Karchner State Park in southern Arizona.  This time we bunked with Doris and avoided hauling our trailer down for the short time we were there. We promised to be on our best behavior and she graciously put up with us.😅

We were greeted each morning with a beautiful sunrise.

Clear weather and a sunny day made it perfect for Doris, Don and I to do the Foothills Loop trail located above the campground.

This was the first time we had seen water running in the canyon.  The spring and winter rains brought an abundance of water to all of Arizona.

There wasn't much water here during our hike, and by the next day the wash was dry.  It will remain so until the summer monsoons bring needed moisture to this area.

Beignet time at the White campsite! These delicious little morsels are one of our favorite foods to eat while camping, even if it isn't healthy for us.  Ainsley helped Sandy and Jerry with the process while the boys (Micah and Wyatt) did their part by eating them!  Jerry's beignets are the bomb!💖💖

Better Late than Never: Catalina State Park

Good grief!  What happened to make this "January" post show up so late?  In simple terms, I completely forgot about the blog!  We had cut our trip to Tucson short because we hosted a student teacher from Martin Luther College during the same time period.  We came home early and adjusted to having a third (and much younger) person in our home for 2 months.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.  😉

So here it goes: Once again in January we headed to Catalina State Park in Tucson and met up with family and friends.  There is always plenty of good food and camaraderie with this group.  Notice that more than one grill is being used for breakfast.

For the second or third year in a row we had family members from Reno join us.

Greg was in charge of the grill, and he always has a smile for me.

One afternoon we grilled chicken, peppers and zucchini with Don managing one grill and Jerry and Shelley doing their thing close by.

Bobby Cowen takes after Don.  Even if is chilly out, he is still wearing his shorts!  I keep telling Don he has no nerve endings in his legs.  LOL

One of our favorite things to do is to walk along the Bridle Trail to the trailhead.  Along the way we got to see this roadrunner up close.  Jim and Shelley had never seen one before, and he was a fine specimen.

Doris and I found our special rock alongside the trail.

Looking back, it was a good thing that we left earlier than usual.  A few days after our departure the road into the campground was completely flooded.  Campers were stuck there until the road could be cleared.  A lot of food was shared among our remaining group so no one went hungry.  Camping can still be adventurous!

The Last Hurrah for Show Low

 Our last venture this summer took us to a very familiar campground: Fool Hollow Lake in Show Low, Arizona.  After driving the winding and mountainous roads, the five of us decided that it was the last trip here with our trailers.  What was "fun" in our 60's is no longer as exciting as it used to be.  As they say, "All good things must come to an end.".   We have been blessed with many good and wonderful times camping across the U.S.

On Saturday, our daughter and son--n-law came here for the day.  Heidi and Glen had rented a cabin in Christopher Creek for the weekend.  It was a relaxing afternoon, having appetizers, chewing the fat and enjoying a smoked pork roast and roasted potatoes for supper.  We are a lively bunch! 😂😂

Don and Doris were out each morning by 5 AM to do their morning walk.  Jerry, Sandy and I decided to skip that early walk and sleep in until 5:30 or 6:30.  Walks in the campground took us to the lake and around the various loops in the campground.  Below the surface of Fool Hollow Lake lies the old town of Adair.  Mormon settlers began to arrive here around 1876 and the local people chided Thomas Adair about trying to farm this area.   Only a fool would try such a thing!  Guess they were right.

At our age, we consider ourselves lucky that we can still negotiate stairs!  

Above is the view we had from the tent area at Fool Hollow.  Loved the clouds, the thunder and the rain during our time here.

One morning we drove into Pinetop-Lakeside to walk around Woodland Lake.  The trail around the lake is a mile long and flanked by tons of sunflowers that were blooming profusely.  Sadly, the drought has turned the lake into a large pond.  The water level was quite a bit lower during this visit.

As usual, I was behind, taking pictures of various wildflowers along the way.  Give me a camera and some flowers and I am one happy camper. 😊

In between walks we occupied ourselves with various games of Mexican Dominoes, Skip Bo, Phase Ten and Sequence.  We even managed to squeeze in a movie called Where the Crawdads Sing..  All of us had read the book and enjoyed the movie.  

So, if you're hankering for a place to escape the Arizona heat and want to put up a tent or sleep in your RV, try Fool Hollow.  You won't regret it.👌