Thursday, December 25, 2014

A day of interesting events

 Welcome to our Christmas day. As with most Christmas mornings, presents were unwrapped and then everyone just zoned out. We got Noah a new camera for Christmas due to his taking a foto class at school, and he has an assignment due. We decided to help him out and go take fotos. We ended up at the Spiral Jetty and we got a surprise. If you look closely at the foto above you can see the wild horses up on top of the hill. I have been going out there since it was rediscovered in 2001. I have only seen them 3 or 4 times and they are very wary of humans. 
I didn't think twice about them and took this awesome foto of my Jeep and the Jetty. No, I don't get tired of taking fotos of the Jeep..... it's a Jeep thing you know. So while I was doing that, Noah had headed up the hill to take close up fotos of the horses. I watched him for a few then jumped in Old Yellow cuz I was cold. We lost sight of him and figured they had ate him or something like that. What followed was amazing. I tried to down load the video in here, but it said it was too big.... Yah, right! OK, so I did up load it to YOU TUBE so I will try and insert a link to it.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuJ_Zl6bbuU  What you will see is crazy. I have never seen anything like it. If by chance the link doesn't work, I believe that there are links to my channel on previous blogs.  The last interesting event took place back here at the house. I was browsing through Facebook and came across a post from a friend. It was about a little guy who had passed away from cancer today. I went in and read some of the story and got a very quick attitude change. I had been feeling not Christmasy the last few days. I had no reason for this but it just was there. After reading this story and taking in what this family had gone through, especially today, I began to realize that my attitude really sucked. I had no reason to be down. What this poor family had and are going through was the worse possible thing ever! To lose a child on Christmas day would be.......... unimaginable. I am still somewhat devastated by it. I'll stop now.  



Sunday, November 23, 2014

School can be fun.............


Welcome to my latest creation. For Utah history this semester we were given the option to make a small video on certain subjects instead of writing an essay. I figured this could be fun so I did three of them. 

They are kind of not the best but I am learning and having fun at the same time. 
You will have to be careful with the above video. The first few minutes are very hard to hear. The damn GoPro picks up everything mounted on the hood, but set it on a tripod and it doesn't pick up sound worth a shit! So these are the 3 videos, enjoy and maybe you will learn something!

Thursday, August 21, 2014

A Day at the Fair.....2014

 Welcome to the highlight of my summer. Needless to say, it hasn't been the greatest of summers for fun. And no, I wont say anymore. Above you can see Mr. Piggy and his friends. They were happy to pose and strut their stuff for the camera. Most of them we saw were stuffy and wouldn't even wake up for a foto op, but these 3 piggies were all about being social. 
 While strolling thru the bird barn, we ran into some very interesting looking entries. The rooster above was crowing up a storm but shut up long enough to have his pic snapped.  
 Opposite the chickens were the pigeons. This dude won my award for the ugliest bird there. Click on his foto and look at the growths on his head. Apparently this is normal for this breed. I say we should have killed them all off before they reproduced. Seriously, this dude is something out of a nightmare.
 Back to the chickens..... This guy has a 1980's hairdo from hell. Again, this could cause nightmares. 
 Speaking of nightmares, this guy is equally as scary. I honestly never knew there were so many breeds of chickens as well as so many ugly ones!
 In the children's art entries, we came across this..... uh...... I have no idea what the hell it is. But, it's good enough to win a first prize ribbon. I'll wait to go there at the end of the blog.
 This quilt was a grand prize winner. I think the moose is awesome and I wouldn't mine owning it. Nothing says happy like a moose!
Last thing we saw before leaving was this other entry in the 6-10 year old category. This was also a first prize winner. Maybe I'll enter some Lego thing I create out of the evil recesses of my mind..... ok I am not a happy camper. I am rather pissed off due to the lack of credible judging. I entered this year with no expectations of winning anything. It was an old foto from years gone past, but some have said they really liked it. What we saw was a joke. Every foto that won with 1 or 2 exceptions were Photoshop'ed. Come on people, let your talent stand out. Don't hide behind your computer and let it do the work for you. I can say I am disappointed in the judges for overlooking this. A true photographer wont use a computer to make up for his or hers lack of skills. All I will say is that if you choose to hide your lack of skill behind a computer, you truly have no balls....... or ovaries, what ever the case may be.  Jeep on my friends!      

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Starting them young

 Saturday dawned cool and sunny so why not take advantage of it and head to the hills. Samantha is back in town from Texas so we decided to take the kids out on their first Jeep trip. I chose a familiar trail that wouldn't freak them out and we headed up to Willard Peak. As you can see, there is still snow up there which made for some fun mud holes. I didn't get to serious in my mud playing because I really didn't know how the kiddos would handle it. We got to the top and it was quite chilly there. Mr sun kept playing hide and go seek with us, which made for a wee bit of cold.
 Now I can't really explain this foto. Sam had them show their belly's and took some fotos. I don't know why but she did. These two girls are the cutest things in the whole world. Miss T, on the left, is just beginning to talk. She is so fun to listen to. She is the quieter of the two so you gotta listen hard to hear her. She started singing Jingle Bells and it was too funny. Gracie on the other hand is non stop jabber. The trip was an adventure to find Elsa, the princess in the movie Frozen. We never found her, but we did find  her castle nestled up deep in the woods surrounded by pine trees. Too bad she was vacationing in Mexico this weekend.  
 We spotted this accident on the way up and thought it was recent. It appears to have happened some time earlier than today. This is what happens when people don't pay attention to what they are doing. We have no idea whether anyone was hurt or what really happened so I guess we can just speculate and hope everyone survived. When you go off road, you need to pay attention to what you are doing at all times. One slight mistake and you end up down the mountain  possibly dead. It is a sobering thought, but it can and does happen.  
This is us parked on the side of the road just above the accident. Old Yellow did the job for us today delivering us safely up and down the mountain. As you all know, it is my favorite subject to shoot when I am taking fotos.........  All in all, a great day. The kiddos got their first ride up a mountain in the Jeep and they loved it. Hopefully it will become a habit, one that doesn't need to be broken! Jeep on my friends!

Saturday, June 14, 2014

A day of surprises

 Along time ago, I was fortunate enough to inherit, or better said, save some old fotos that belonged to my grandfather, that he was tossing away. Unlucky for us was the fact that I only was able to save a few. He had thrown away many of them before I could get to them. The above foto is one of the Columbus-Rexall mine located in Alta, Utah. I am not 100% sure, but I believe that he did work in this mine. In all of my travels of visiting the mines he worked, I had never gone up Little Cottonwood Canyon until today. I had no idea what to expect or if I would even see anything that resembled the areas rich mining past. 
 Surprise number 1..... I didn't see shit! We found the library open and  had it all to ourselves until the Postmaster came out of the crapper. He was helpful to an extent and got us pointed in the right direction to find some answers on Alta's glorious past. Well, the head dude of the historical society was out of town, but we did get a phone number so I can contact him in the future. Up in the library/Post Office/ City Council chamber there were just a few fotos of Alta's past life. So, I do believe that I will have to send him some of Grandpa's old fotos so that they can add them to the collection. So much of the past has disappeared and these fotos are all the evidence we have left of what once was. As soon as I get the $$$$$ I will be redoing my web site and posting all the fotos of the past as well as the recent ones of the ghost towns and mines I visit. 
Surprise number 2..... It was damn cold today. We left home at 59 degrees and during our trip up the canyon, it dropped to 44 degrees with the wind blowing like crazy. I reckon it was well below freezing when you threw in the wind. Yes, I should have thought this out before the journey, but, I am a Jeeper and we did survive. It finally hit 72 on the way home but that lasted all of 15 minutes. Oh well, I have chosen this lifestyle so I wont complain. Besides, who is gonna listen??
surprise number 3...... This was the best one by far. A few months ago I received an invitation to a birthday party for a friend I went to school with from kindergarten thru grade 12. Her daughters had planned this out in total secrecy and wow, was she ever surprised! It was a great time sitting there reminiscing about days gone by. I must state that Elene has some magical power when it comes too aging. Yes, I am jealous. It seems that I didn't get that gift. Oh well, some people got it and some people don't. So, Happy Birthday Elene and welcome to the half-century mark. All in all, it was a great day. I need to do this more often. Jeep on my friends! 

Monday, May 26, 2014

Dead ends on Memorial Day

 Welcome to another off road adventure in Old Yellow. Being Memorial day, I actually had a day off with nothing better to do than Jeep. Today we headed off to the trails between Willard Peak and Avon Canyon. This trail has it all. We had some mud flinging and some serious rock crawling throughout the day. Our intentions were to go from one side to the other, but, in the governments infinite wisdom, the last canyon closest to the Avon trail had been blocked off to full size vehicles. Stupid Bastards! At least you think they could put up a sign or something. Dead end number 1.
 On the return trip back, we ran into Bambi's mom. She was kind enough to pose for us, then scampered off into the wood to enjoy her lunch. We actually saw 5 deer today. It was kinda cool. We did a pre-run of this trail a week ago, and we saw no deer, just a lone wolf. He or she was much to quick for me to get out my phone and snap a foto of him. I decided to skip the nice camera today and use the new Galaxy S 5 camera. It did ok, I am not that impressed with it. I didn't video this trip either. I am glad I didn't cuz I would have been cleaning it every 5 minutes. This trail is nice because it combines all the things that make for a great trip. It has some gnarly hill climbs over watermelon sized rocks as well as mud holes galore. There were a few I wouldn't go into due to the fact I only saw 2 other full size vehicles the whole day. Nothing stupider than getting stuck while you are alone.  
As you can see, everywhere was green or white. With all the spring snow and rain we have had, the sites were spectacular. The mountain in the background is Mt Ben Lomand, I think. I am 90% sure so we will say it is. We tried the Willard Peak trail last week and got cut off by the snow. Today's trail didn't have any snow, but run off from the melting snow made for some sweet mud. Luckily I left the doors on so most of the cleaning is still on the outside. I'll get around to cleaning it someday. Well my friends, thus ends another fun adventure. Keep yourself together, keep everybody warm, and always remember to keep riding  the storm out........Jeep on my friends!

Sunday, January 5, 2014

6.33 special and a long pony ride

Hi and welcome to 2014 and the first adventure of the year! We started early this year on our adventure Friday the 3rd traveling to Wendover to see one of the greatest bands in history, .38 Special. I suppose your wondering about the odd title, so I guess I need to explain it. Back in the good old days when we were all younger, there were 6 members of the original band. Well, as of last Friday, there was one left. Supposedly there were 2 left for this tour, but LJ, the bass player was no where to be seen. The remaining original did not say why or even acknowledge his absence. Hmmmmm, an odd situation. This collection of players did ok I guess, but something was missing. I think the fact that they actually played other groups songs was a reason it didn't settle well with me. They have so many hits, yet they played other groups songs, it kinda bummed me out. Still, it was a great show and an awesome way to start the adventure. 
 Saturday morning brought a sunny day and our 1st Jeep trip of the year. We headed south to Gold Hill and got on the old Pony Express trail and headed east. You need to know that the pony express didn't last long in history. It began in 1860 and ended in 1861. The Civil War pretty much ruined it and by the end of the war, the original owners sold out to Wells Fargo.  During its run, stations were set up every 5 to 20 miles, depending on the terrain. The rider would hop off one horse and jump on another and continue on. The remnants along the trail in Utah are still there for those to see. The above one is just south of Gold Hill and as you can see, not much ls left.  
 This one is a reconstruction located at Simpson Springs. The original station was torn down and a farmer used the stones to construct a home for his new bride. Sadly, she died in child birth and never got to live in the house. Just a small bit of the farmhouse remains in an enclosed area across from the monument. This site also has a campground, which no other site has. 
 The trip is around 190 miles long and they say to expect 5 hours to do it. This time does not take snow, ice and mud into consideration, so it will take longer during the winter. There are other sites to be seen along the trail too. There are numerous mines on the Gold Hill end of the trail, some with buildings and such. Also there is Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, where you can watch birds and other wild animals in their natural habitat. And, if you are feeling really adventurous, there is the Dugway geode bed dig site. You can go out there and search for geodes to your hearts content. Be advised though, you will have to dig them up by hand. We will be doing this sometime this summer.
To end the trip, we stopped by and visited Ms T and Gracie. These two little ladies are such fun to hang with! I wished we lived closer so it could  happen more often. So, we drove 540 miles in just over 33 hours. It was a long drive but well worth it. So much to see and so little time to do it. Wish I was rich!  Jeep on my friends! 
PS..... On a blog below, I talk about the machine on the porch of the old general store in Gold Hill. It appears that someone beat me to it and it is now gone. This bites!