I'm Still Here

We are still in Hatch, UT . . .

I wanted to get a quick post up here. I had to make an emergency trip to be with the kids this past week. Family emergencies are never a good time to socialize. Things are progressing on that front, but it will be a long haul, no doubt. Any special thoughts you can send this way will be most appreciated.

Even though I was in VA, I didn't get a chance to come say hello to the people we think about way out here. A big thank you to some wonderful friends: Jacquie and Frank, Joanna and Steve, Phil's mom, Nina, Gary, Jimmy and Barb in Las Vegas for your company and assistance. Also, thanks to Carrie, Tyler, Jake and Phil for their help and support. Hopefully, the next time we are in the area it will be for visiting everyone.

Bill kept asking me (he didn't come with) if I was going to get out to Leesburg to The Downtown Saloon . . . had no wheels!!! Thanks, Kelly for letting us know you guys are still checking in on us. Hola to kelly, rick, bruce, mike, linda (and the rest of the web crowd), buffalo bob, bill, tom, cheryl, rob, scott, sue, wanda, sturgis, grandpa pat, jackie and all of you behind and in front of the bar! I'm sorry if I missed your name. Hey, anyone going to Sturgis? We will be there from the 4th - 9th. Let us know!

I promise to get some pics up and share some amusing (at least they are for me) stories asap.

Thanks again, everyone for all your help this past couple of weeks.
Jody

Road Crew

Yes, that is me driving the water truck!

We are still in Hatch, UT – guess it is because of how peaceful this place it (Cherokee Springs Golf & RV Resort). I need to take some outdoor pics to share what I mean. The other reason is we are really enjoying the company of the few people here!

Then there is Bandido (it is a d and not a t), our camp host who entertains us late at night by the fire with his crazy stories and colorful jokes!

Bandido is always offering up the chance to workkamp since he is busy with the constant attention the 9-hole golf course needs. So . . . here begins the story of my first day workkamping:

Since we are in the desert the campground roads benefit greatly from being watered to keep the dust down. Each day I have been watching Bandido slowly drive up and down the main drag occasionally stopping to chat and flood a little patch of the gravel road. Now I know this sounds a little crazy (What?! From me???) but there have been a couple of chores I have really enjoyed over the years. Vacuuming the pool when we lived in Michigan was one of them. Partly because I loved that pool and the kids and I thoroughly enjoyed our time in it. The other reason was the solitude. No one could (or did) help me. It was mindless allowing me to (as Deb from Crossfield would say) go to the Bahamas in my head. It was also immediately gratifying when I could see the results of my time right away.

Another chore was mowing the front yard in Virginia. This one was a little trickier. Except for the large slope near the road where if I leaned to keep from tipping over I would lift off the seat causing the mower to shut off it had the same calming effect over me. And, of course the same immediate gratification.

So, watching Bandido, I decided that this chore was another I would enjoy. He laughed at me and I don’t think thought I would (or could) really do it. So when he teased me the other day about not having watered the road I was on my way. The golf course and equipment area is just over a mile down interior road and off I went.

The tank had already been filled with 1600 gallons of water from the spring. I unhooked the water hose, hoisted myself aboard the 1960’s vintage GMC truck and found the lever to slide the bench seat closer to the wheel. A quick look around confirmed the key was in the ignition (like every other vehicle here) and I could reach the gas and brake. OK, choke out, first click and I could hear the fuel pump (and even knew to wait a min.), gear shift in N (no parking gear), looked to release the parking brake to find none – that would be the reason it was in R and there were blocks under the tires! The trick was to get that engine turned over while both feet were holding the brakes (did they even work?)

Got her backed up instead of rolling over the green ahead of me and she stalled. Start again, stall again. Hmmmmm – Gas on E. Just then, Bandido comes running up laughing because he heard the engine and couldn’t believe it was me. How did you get up there without a ladder? HAHAHAHAHAH, funny. How about some fuel? He added a few gallons and wished me well. I headed down the dirt road leading to the area to spray. The steering wheel is as big as the one in the bus although quite a bit “looser”. I felt like the fireman who sits at the back of the ladder truck turning like crazy for even the slightest maneuver. And those brakes . . . yea, right. Jackrabbits and Sage Hen – run for your lives!

As I approached the starting point to water, Arlon (another workkamper) was headed towards me. Whew . . . he graciously climbed up back and opened the water valve for me. All right – it was official now – I was running the water truck!

I made a pass by my cheerleading squad who were enjoying happy hour. The third time by, Jo held up a glass of Merlot for me but I couldn’t get the truck to stay still in N so I could climb out and retrieve it. I’m still wondering why no one brought it to me! By the 5th pass I decided it was easier and more challenging to back up the road rather than go over the cow grate to turn around. I was having a good time bouncing all over the place. No air, no radio, no problem just me and my dustless, damp road!

The road looked wet enough after an hour so I began my return trip. I found a suitable spot to angle the truck so it would stay put in R so I could figure out how to get the valve shut. I couldn’t reach the bar in back to step up, couldn’t get over the PVC shooting out water, so I climbed out the passenger side, stepped on the fuel tank and scooted my way along the side of the water tank. Too bad no one was there to enjoy my rendition of da da da daaaaa, da da da daaaaa (Mission Impossible, you know the tune) as I treacherously dragged my feet in a step together, step together dance attempting to reach the valve before the truck began to roll on its own!

Feeling pretty smug at my little accomplishment, I chugged along the road until I reached the final climb. I was in first gear, floored, slowing down almost to a stop with the remaining water (oh, say, about 1000 gallons) sloshing back and forth. I was even leaning forward coaxing her to just get up another 20 feet . . . the next challenge being parking her back at the water fill which sloped forward. I eased her in place (water still sloshing) and every time I tried to take my feet off the brake (in R) she rolled forward. I was hanging out the door trying to see if I had lined up at the blocks – looked good, but she was still trying to edge forward. Engine off, in R, at the blocks, door open and I carefully inched my way out. It might not have been such a worry but someone had parked the green mower RIGHT in front of where I needed to park the truck! Didn’t need to add that to our bill.

I hit the ground, she creaked a bit and I barely closed the door. Mission accomplished. Betty was watching this scene from the porch and wanted to know what took me so long to get parked? Thanks.

Later that evening, we were all sitting around the campfire (really) watching the 20+ satellites and 3 shooting stars and Bandido asked me what happened earlier. I was imagining the 10,000-pound truck and water carving a trench in the green dragging the mower when he asked why there was still water in the truck. What? I made 8 passes up and down the road! Apparently, he was expecting me to continue until the water was gone. He’s now talking about setting me out in one of the meadows with the back hoe. Oh, baby!

Well, I heard through the sagebrush (there aren’t any grapevines here) that Pete was going to take on the water truck task for the next few weeks. Hmmmmmm did Ole’ Dusty see me having all the fun?!?!?!?!? Make note: I’ll be sure to take him a cool drink during happy hour!

More later,
Jody

Celebrating the 4th

Not a whole lot of stuff going on around here to celebrate the 4th– especially because of the very dry conditions. The little town of Panguitch (of balloon fame) was having a BBQ lunch sponsored by the high school senior class. We (Betty, Jay pictured above rounding out his meal with his 1st ice cream dessert, Bill and I) piled into Mel & Evelyn’s big Ford F350 (boy, does Bill miss his truck) to the BBQ. It took us a while to find where it was – where were all those kids with posters screaming on street corners trying to get the people there? Man, in Northern VA there would have been dozens of kids pointing and yelling at cars with homemade signs to get you to stop and support their cause. Anyway, quite a meal for $5.00.

Don’t know how the guys had room for ice cream afterwards.

We celebrated later with a picnic with too much food for the lot of us – all 10 of us here at the campground! I have to find out who has the pics of the sparklers!

Hope everyone had a good 4th!
Jody

Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah

Believe it or not, this tree is over 1700 years old!!!

We had a wonderful ride 43 miles over rt. 14 up and over the mountains ascending 4000 feet in 18 miles! Jo and Pete (that would be Ole' Dusty Pete) went with us for the afternoon to Cedar Breaks National Monument. It is called a mini Bryce Canyon. The really nice part was there are only two walking hikes. None of the trails go down into the canyon. But you can walk the rim - awfully close to the edge. The terrain is rough gravel - very "slippery" if you were to lose your footing. The drop is 2000 feet! Forget getting back up!

Check out that trail so close to the drop!

From Cedar Breaks ...

(If you click on that Cedar Breaks link above, it will take you to more pics I didn't post here.)
The many colors of the different "layers" are compared to a wedding cake. Much more colorful than Bryce.

Another cool thing is that the dead wood looks like drift wood. The wind, rather than the water works its power on the surface of things (rocks included!) to wear them down. Really interesting shapes.

There was and older couple near the visitor's center. The woman was pressing the man for details. He responded, "It has been over 60 years since I was here. I can't remember how it looked!" He told me he drove up the dirt road in his 43 Chevy with his buddies hoping they would find what they were looking for. He said there were no railings or fences, no visitor's center, no paved walkways! They drove up hoping to find this really cool view!! WOW! He said cameras were few and far between so he had no printed record of his visit.

The walk took us through Bristle Brush Pines (not cedars) including the oldest one dated as 1700 years old. It actually still has some living branches. The "bristles" are actually soft - like a bottle brush. It is crazy that they can grow in the sandy ground. I wanted to get a whole pic of this incredibly old tree - but there was this rude group totally camped out under the tree with their lunch, backpacks . . . so it would have not been what I wanted. They even had a dog with them even though it was clearly posted that dogs were not allowed on the trail! Tourists!!! Part of this 1700 year old tree is the first pic on this post.

The surrounding forest is full of tons of wildflowers. In fact, the month of July is their Wildflower Festival. They were just starting to bloom. Tons of columbine and lupine - very pretty. I want to go back for one of the ranger wildflower talk/walks. And bring the right camera lens to get the best pics.

We continued on to Cedar City for lunch and a visit to a REAL grocery store.

Now we are busy planning our 4th picnic. I think I'm on dessert duty. Last night I made gumbo and everyone (our neighbors: Jo, Pete, Evelyn, Mel, Betty, Jay, Arlon) brought something for a great picnic. You know - THIS is what it is all about! Getting together with people you meet and enjoy spending time with!!! In fact, Bill and Mel were still outside at 10:30pm looking and photographing the moon through the binoculars . . . great shots - full moon!

Cool place, cool people, great time!
Love to you all,
Jody