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!
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!
