Another week in Utah

Another Mule Deer

Tuesday, 6-24 was another work day, but surprisingly enough it was pretty busy.  We had more people and launches on Tuesday than we had combined on Sunday and Monday.  The day actually went pretty fast, then we headed into Dutch John to drop some things off at the office and picked up a couple as well.   Home to rescue Rudy, a quick snack, nap for Brad and Rudy, then off they went for their daily walk.  We had dinner, another walk then off to bed by 10:00 for all of us. 



2 mile hike to
this place!!

Wednesday we had breakfast wraps then got ready to hike the trail between Browne Lake and the Ute Fire Tower.  Now Chris recommended starting at the Ute Tower, but he has the luxury of having somebody shuttle his car to Browne Lake.  Not us, so we started at Browne Lake with an elevation of 8,289 feet and climbed the 2 miles up to the Ute Fire Tower at 8,834 feet.  We saved the walk back down the hill for the end and we were glad we did.  When we got to the tower, there was a crew doing some major repair/restoration on the tower.  We talked with them for a little while, learning that they are a mix of volunteers and paid professionals.  Another organization to check into, ‘Historicorps.org’, they have volunteers help in the repair/restoration of various historic places throughout the US.  After about a 10 min. break we headed back down the

The view on our
hike down

mountain side, enjoying the views on the way.  The total hike took about 3 hours so we take a short break and head off towards home…..only to find 3 horses in the middle in the road.  We turned around and headed back to the CG by the lake, find the owners, and they are off.  They had caught them and were headed back to camp by the time we got back to where we originally saw the horses.  We then headed home, walked Rudy (a short walk) had dinner and then off to bed for Brad about 8:30, me about 10:30. 

Brad is up bright and early at 4:00 AM.  He has a fishing trip scheduled for 5:30-6:00 and needs to be 

Brad's fishing trip
and this is the only picture

out of here early.  He leaves about 5:30, so Rudy and I lay in bed, sleeping ‘til about 7:00…..better him than me.  I managed to have one cup of coffee before Rudy had to go for his second morning walk, so off we go to the CG down the road and back again.  I feed Rudy, have some yogurt, then get to cleaning and putting things away around the Moho.  I managed to stay busy while Brad was gone and had just settled down at the picnic table when he pulled in.  From here I’ll let him tell you about his trip. The fishing trip was great other than getting up at 4 am.  Johnny (my guide) did a great job.   We hit 6 or 7 spots and caught at least one fish at each stop.  I didn’t need to do a thing other than real them in.  We were fishing with down riggers for Kokanee Salmon and lake trout.  I got 6 salmon (in the boat) but no lake trout, Johnny even stayed out an extra half hour trying to get a lake trout hooked.  As we pulled back into the marina he asked if I wanted him to fillet the fish and I said ‘well sure’.  By the time I got to the fish cleaning station he was already done cleaning them, I couldn’t have found a knife in that time.  I would like to try it again but I need to find another guy or two to go with and share the expense.   Once he got home, a quick shower, then off to the Vet’s Office in town for Rudy’s yearly check-up, shots and to get his broken due claw check out.  We ended up getting there an hour early, but they said they could see him in about 10 minutes, so Brad stayed with Rudy while I ran to Wal-Mart.  As I was checking out my phone rang, they are finished.  I picked them up, we then stopped for ice cream and then I head into the grocery store while Brad gets the grill propane tank filled.  We head home, put the groceries away, and then have our evening happy hour chat with Jim.  We are just having burgers for dinner, so Jim stayed and ate with us.  We never seem to know where the evenings go, by the time I walked inside again, its 8:30 and time to head inside.  Tomorrow we have nothing planned, other than laundry and getting ready for work on Saturday. 

Friday we carry the laundry up and get 2 loads started, then back to the Moho for breakfast on the grill.  While cooking breakfast, Brad decides he wants to try some of his salmon, so breakfast consisted of Bacon, eggs, toast and a small piece of salmon…..pretty good.  It’s a cool, rainy day, but we managed to do 5 loads of laundry, fix the bedroom window blind and take Rudy for a couple of quick walks.  About 4:30 Brad starts the grill and we cook 2 fillets of salmon and give the Smith’s and Jim a couple of small pieces to try…Delicious.  After that we have chicken on the grill with some steamer vegetables, then we get our stuff ready for work tomorrow and we are all in bed by 10:00. 

Saturday we got to work by 7:00 and about 7:30 I notice a movement out the front window, a mule deer buck had just jumped over the jersey barriers, and while looking for my phone to get a quick picture, here comes the second deer.  They managed to entertain me for about 5 minutes before they disappeared.   After that it was a very slow start to the morning, very few guides and by 9:00 we only had about 10 public launches…..the calm before the storm.  I never thought it could get this busy, but until we left at 1:00 we had almost 200 launches and over 700 people on the river.  Talk about being overrun, I barely had a chance to eat my morning snack and luckily for Brad, Jake came to help on the ramp.  It took both of them to control the flow of the traffic going down the hill, but I could have used somebody up top helping to park vehicles, there we so many we ran out of parking spots.  Somehow we managed to get through the day, but until we left, all three of us were exhausted.   We hurried home to tend to Rudy, a quick snack then Brad and Rudy headed off for their nap, while I started the blog.  I worked on the blog until they got up, then the three of us headed out for a nice walk, up to the Canyon Rim CG, once around the CG to see how full it was, then we headed back home.   When we got home Brad sat down to fill in about his fishing trip, and until he got finished it was time to head outside and visit with Jim and Frieda (his poodle).   The three of us ended up having the last of the salmon for dinner, along with rice and some apricot Jell-O with pears in it….pretty good.  After dinner, Jim started a fire so Brad and I joined him until about 9:00 then inside to do dishes, make coffee and get ready for the next day.  We headed for bed about 10:00 and Jim was still enjoying his fire, but he is off tomorrow and we have to be at work by 7:00 AM.

Well here it is Sunday and I am finally finishing up the blog so that I can get it posted.  We had a very slow day today, in comparison to Saturday.  It was kind of nice having time to breath, but it made

The Dachshunds

the day seem long.  Not much happened, we did have three little dachshunds go by to go down the river, and the each had on a life preserver….cute.  After work we stopped for a loaf of bread back to the Moho to rescue Rudy a quick snack, napping done for Brad and Rudy and now I am finishing the blog.  I will head up to the visitors center to do the posting, so in the next blog we’ll see how this evening will go.   Well things didn’t go as planned, when Brad got up I asked for the camera so I could head up to do the posting, oh no, he left it at the launch site.  So Brad and Rudy jumped in the car and headed out while I cleaned up and waited at the Moho.  They finally get home about an hour later (close to 5:00 PM); we talked for a little, gathering up my stuff to go post…..no luck.  First Jan came over, then Jim, and last but not least, Don stopped over.  The 5 of us ended up talking until about 6:30, so now its dinner time, so no posting or phone calls happened.  After dinner, Brad and Rudy went for their normal walk while I cleaned up, did dishes, made coffee and finished my nightly chores.  Brad and Rudy came back, then the normal rest of the evening and all off to bed by 10:00. 

Thanks,

Diane and Brad

 

Petroglyphs



The Cliff face with the
'Remember the Maine'

Well it didn't work, first thing Thursday, back into Vernal but this time it's an oil change for the car.  We get that taken care of, then pick up a sub(from Jimmy Johns) and head out of town heading for the petroglyphs.  On the way we passed another 'Roadside America' stop, so we pulled into the park across the street to take some pictures and decided to have lunch while we were there.  On the rocks about 70 to a 100 feet up is an American Flag painted on the rock wall of the Canyon with the motto of  'Remember the Maine'.  It was originally painted in 1898, and has been maintained over the years, an interesting site to see.  After that we headed to the 'Indian Petroglyphs in Dry Fork Canyon'.  There is no set fee, but they do

Picture of what is painted
on the cliff Face

 ask for a $4.00 donation, per car to do the tour.  It is on private property where they have put in a parking lot and a shed that contains a visitors log and refrigerator with water.  They also have walking sticks for you to use if you so desire, so we paid our donation and headed up the trail.  Now this is not an "OSHA" approved trail and involved a couple of extremely high steps, narrow walkways between rock and boulders and some really steep gravel inclines.  It took us about 2 hours to walk the whole thing (yes it is the same on the return trip), but it was interesting and worth the time. We got home, talked with Jim for a while, then the three of us had burgers and BBQ Chips for dinner, yum.  

 

I have included the many pictures of the petroglyphs below:  https://picasaweb.google.com/115574168101787483704/IndianPetroglyphsDryForkCanyon?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCP7i2OuiwuatBA&feat=directlink

 

Friday is our stay at home day, planning on relaxing and not doing much before work on Saturday.  Well we did stay at home, but between cleaning the inside of the Moho, scrubbing the floors, 3 loads of laundry, a little jigsaw puzzle time and a 2 mile walk, the day went pretty fast.  It was a beautiful day which made it nice to have all the windows open and it was even somewhat rewarding to get all the cleaning done and to be able to hang the clothes on the line to dry.  We had a nice steak dinner, with mushrooms and a baked potato.  A little relaxing and off to bed by 10:00.

 

Saturday, Sunday and Monday are work days, so needless to say not much happened.  Saturday was pretty busy, we had over 120 launches, with well over 400 people go down the river.  It was steadily busy and the day went really fast.  We had one fisherman stop in, he had lost a fishing pole and case the day before and wanted to know if it had been turned in.  Jim had told Brad about finding the rod the day before and he had turned it into the office.  So I call Chris, he finds the rod and brings it over to the ramp area, and asked me never to look for lost and found on the weekends again.  It just so happened we were fortunate that he was in the office, and they prefer the owners call in during the week to their things back.  Back home a nap for Brad and Rudy, about a 1.5 mile walk then back home in time for a chat with the neighbors.  After that we have sausages for dinner and Jim joined us once again. After that Fred stopped over to chat and our three dogs were running about for their evening exercise when Rudy came up limping.  We checked his paw for a thorn and ended up finding a broken dew claw.  After that I went and was doing dishes, making coffee and getting the regular evening things done, when Chris stopped by and ended up talking with Brad and Jim for about 45 min.  All in all it was a good day, late night as it was about 9:30 until Chris left, so a quick shower and off to bed with us all. 

 

Sunday and Monday were really slooooow days, about 45 launches on Sunday and only about 30 on Monday, what a change from Saturday.  The strange things is, one more time a fishing rod is found, but this time, we just took it home with us to take it back to the ramp tomorrow in case anybody looks for it.  After that Sunday was our usual routine, back home a quick lunch and a nap for Brad

At the overlook
on the phone!!

and Rudy, then the 1.5 mile walk.  We headed out about 4:00 to the overlook, a call to dad and about a 45 min talk, then a quick call to Lynne that wasn't as long as it could have been, since Brad was waiting patiently, neither of his girls were home to talk to.  We pulled in just before Jim, so we got together for a quick drink, then Jim invited us over for chicken on the grill, OK, we took vegetables and had a very nice meal together.  Fred stopped over and talked for a little while, then Don and Jan stopped in when they got back from the visitors center.  We all talked for a while, then we headed home, not realizing it was already 8:30.  Rudy's paw is no better and he has licked all the hair off along his dew claw, so we'll have to keep an eye on it to decide if we need to go to the vet.  After that dishes get done, coffee made, shower taken and Brad and Rudy head to bed about 9:45 with me following about 10:15.  Another long day. 

 

Monday morning one of the guides did show up looking for the fly-rod that was left behind yesterday, and to our surprise, the darn thing was worth about $3,000.00, ouch, that would hurt to loose.  It was so slow, we left  about noon and headed up to the Red Canyon Lodge for lunch.   It's about 70 out, so we decided to have lunch on the deck and enjoy the view of the lake.  After about 15 min. the rain moved in, but not enough to run us inside, just made me switch seats, it didn't last long, then the sun came out again and dried everything out.  We grabbed the mail as we were leaving, then headed down to the visitor center to give the Smith's their package.  As we headed back home, the wind starts to blow again and you can see the rain storm heading our way.  We let Rudy out for a quick break, then back inside as the rain begins, Brad and Rudy head off for their daily nap, while I start the blog.  They napped about 30 min., then went for a short walk between the rain showers.  The temperature went from 70 degrees about noon to 60 at 4:00, what a change.  The wind is still

Mule Deer

blowing, so we are sure there is more rain to come.  I guess it will be a stay at home night, with left overs for dinner.  One more day of work before our 3 days off, hopefully tomorrow will be a little busier, ha ha ha.  Just after dinner Rudy starts to bark, when we look out the window there is a mule deer in the front yard.  After about a half hour of watching her, she ended up walking right in front of the RV.  No fear from the dog barking or me standing inside taking a picture. 

 

PS:  Rudy's paw is no better so I guess we will get him in to see the vet. 

 

Thanks for the visit,

Diane and Brad  

 

 

June 17......SNOW at 7,500 feet

Well here it is Wednesday, time to play catch up again. 

It's tough to see, but
it's the U-Haul Crowd

We headed to work Saturday morning and rounded the last corner on the mile trip to the booth, when to our surprise there sits a U-Haul truck, about 6 other vehicles, a lot of people, boxes and stuff.  If they wouldn't have been blowing up a raft, I would have thought they were having a yard sale.  The normal rush of guided launches showed up a little after 7:00 and again about 8:00, then about 9:00 a truck broke free from the crowd at the top of the parking lot and headed down to me.  They were taking down the 1st of 9 rafts and wanted to know what they owed.  We have a $5.00 usage fee for the area, but there were so many seniors with seniors passes I only charged them for 1 pass and sent them on their way.  The raft, a pile of stuff and a few people stayed at the river, while the truck came back up to get ready for the next raft, belongings and people.  About 10:00 when the second general launch came down, I remembered it was 'National get Outdoors Day' and there was no usage charge, so I headed up to the crowd at the end of the lot to return their money and get my day pass back.  Well worth the trip, a fresh cup of percolated coffee and a cinnamon roll was my gift from them....not bad.  After that, we had a good amount of other launches that day, but it was fun to watch these people get ready, and they did their raft count for me with each trip past my booth.  They finally headed down with raft #9 about 12:00 noon, now that was a long morning for those folks, but they are doing a 5 night camping trip on the river, all the way to Ladore Canyon, Colorado, about a 60 mile river trip, wow.   When we left at 1:00, the crowd was having lunch on the river, waiting for their shuttle vehicles to return so they could set out on their trip, what a crowd, we wished them a good trip and headed home.  Back home, tended to Rudy, lunch, a nap for Brad and a stay at home lazy day for us all.

 



Yes, the raft is bigger
than the car!!

Sunday morning is Fathers Day so there were a bunch of dads going down the river with no wives or kids, other than themselves.  They all seemed like they were having a good time and some of the wives showed up to the pick up vehicles and run shuttle service for the hubbies.....nice women.  It was a little cloudy all day, but we still had a pretty good river crowd.  Nothing much exciting happened and 1:00 rolled around pretty quick.  I texted Dad this morning and tried to call after work, but no luck getting a hold of him. I was going to try a little later, but Jim came over and the next thing I knew it was 8:00 PM here, 10:00 PM in PA, a little late for a phone call.  A quick meal for us and off to bed about 10:00.

 

Monday and Tuesday are pretty chilly and most of our traffic is the guided fishing trips, the only
interesting thing is that the dam is slowly closing the by-pass tubes and the river has dropped from

Water Level dropping,
the white pipe used
to be underwater

8600 CFM to about 6300 CFM when we left at noon on Tuesday.  They started Monday morning and dropped it a little at 7:00 AM and again at 8:00 AM, then held it steady until about 6:00 PM when they dropped it a little more.  Tuesday morning they started dropping the flow again and Brad was all excited, the benches were out of the water and so is the board walk area down at the launch site.  He was happy he could put the trash can back down on the bench area and the boats are no longer tying off to the water faucet and there is more room on the ramp and tie up area.  A couple of neighborly visits each evening, with Jim and us having our little happy hour and the others stopping in to say hi and chat for a while, nothing much happening Monday, but Tuesday while Brad napped, I did laundry and worked on the new jigsaw puzzle in the laundry room.  When Brad got up, he and Rudy came over to join me and Brad actually worked on the puzzle as well.  The wind is blowing and the temp is dropping and they are calling for snow above 8,000

Snowy June 17 night

feet, but guess what, we are close enough that it is snowing by 7:00.  Lucky for us, I put a pork roast in the crock pot with BBQ sauce for pulled pork with mashed potatoes for dinner, not a bad choice for a cold, snowy night.

 

Today, Wednesday, Brad woke up to 34 degrees and about 1.5 inches of snow, burr.  It was beautiful, and as usual, Brad and Rudy did their 1.5 mile walk, while I slept in, yawn.  I was still up at 6:30, checking out the snow and how beautiful it is.  They get back, get inside and we all decide this is the place to stay....so we computer surf looking for a place to volunteer for next year until

Deer sighted on the
morning walk

about 8:00 when we have a quick breakfast and since we forgot to get dog food last week, we start getting ready to head into Vernal.  More computer surfing and map checking, so we ended up having lunch here at the house and didn't get out of here until a little after 12:00 and it still only 43 degrees.  We are both dressed rather warm, but lucky for us we layered our clothes, once we did the 2,500 foot decent down the mountain, the temperature hit about 65 degrees, whew a little warm, so the top layers come off.  We stopped at a new sporting goods store, the pet store, then off to the grocery store, where Brad dropped me off and headed out to wash the car.  I didn't get very far until he was back, but another $200.00 in food and I am hoping I don't have to make this trip again for another 2 weeks.  I called Mel on our way home to wish her a good trip and fun vacation,

Beautiful Early Morning
Lake View

and we finally got home about 6:00 PM.  Unloaded the car, groceries put away and a nice UPS package sitting under the Moho.  My sister does love me, 3 bags of Middleswarth BBQ chips for me, and 2 bags of pretzels for my husband.  Decision made, Italian sausages and chips for dinner....for me that was a no brain-er.  Jim stopped over while dinner was cooking, and then Fred stopped into say 'hi' while he was out walking CJ.  We chit chatted for a little while, but the cold was getting to us all, so they left, I got the table ready and dinner was server, yum.  Now dishes are done, trash out, dog walked, Brad and Rudy are in bed, so I am finishing the blog, needing to load pictures yet, but I'll be off to bed soon.  Hoping to do some site seeing and a little hiking tomorrow. 

Baby Deer spotted on
the way home from
Vernal

 

Thanks for the visit,

Diane and Brad

 

River Trip for the Volunteers!!

Well, here it is Friday night and I’m just catching up with the blog.  For some reason the Internet is no longer working at the RV. 



Boat Launch

Monday and Tuesday, June 9th and 10^th we worked, but it was not the best of days.  Monday morning we were pretty slow and Nan came through about 8:30 and told us to close up about 11:00 if the crowds didn’t show up.  So we left about 11:00, stopped for lunch and were still home by 1:00 to let Rudy out and give him a chance to run and have some fun.  The rest of the day was pretty quiet, chit chats with the neighbors and relaxing evening and off to bed by 9:30…..5:00 am comes early.

 

Ties up to the
water spigot

Tuesday was really slow, but about 8:00 Brad radioed me to see if I heard anything about a fatality on the river Monday evening…..no I didn’t.  It couldn’t have been 15 min. later when Sheriff Ray stops by to let me know they had a fatality the night before, just to make us aware.  We both then worried about who it was, 'Gramps and Pappy' (our nick-names for two guys), the youngest was about 72, and we were hoping it wasn’t one of them.  Then we found out it was a 62 year old with his 13 year old son, and we were both hoping that it wasn’t the Moody’s.  My first weekend working they came through and didn’t have cash for the Day Usage Pass, so I fronted them the $15.00 for the week pass, and the next day he was very nice, grateful, and gave me an extra $5.00 for being so nice. J  They fished all week and everyday they took time to talk for a while, really nice guy.  Saturday June 7, they were back for another week pass, but ended up buying the yearly pass, since they planned on being back again and again.  Well, sad for us to hear, it was their boat that flipped and Mr. Moody got stuck in the river brush, they finally got him loose and told him to float out, but he had a heart attack and they were not able to revive him…..oh, I can’t imagine how his son feels, being there watching all this happen.  Nan and Adam came down Tuesday, about 10:00, planning on going down the river to check out the site and see if they needed to put up signs or clear something out….but it seems like it was just a freak river accident. 

Wednesday we were off, so we headed up to Rock Springs, Wyoming for supplies, again we saw the herd of wild horses on the way there, but they were too far away for pictures.  Now we have decided it is cheaper to shop in Wyoming, the taxes are lower and the food selection is better, but what a long day.  We left the CG after 10:00, got to Rock Springs about 11:30 had lunch, shopped at K-Mart for the misc. stuff, then hit the Smith’s grocery store.  We did do some touring around the town to check out what else was there, then headed home, finally arriving about 5:30 to let Rudy out….the poor thing.  We finally get everything put away when Jim came over for a chat…..not another good night on the river, a raft flipped and got stuck in some trees in the middle of the water, but the family made it off the water.  It was late till somebody got the news out, so they dropped supplies from a helo for them to spend the night safely and then the rescue team went in and floated the family out early in the AM on Wednesday….what a couple of days.  While we are sitting there talking, Fred, another volunteer stopped over and asked if we heard about what happened at ‘Little Hole’, another boat launch that hasn’t been manned.  He heard that the pay booth was hit, but nobody really knows for sure….something to check out another day.  We are inside for the night, when Jake stops by and asks if we are available to go down the river tomorrow, the Forest Service goes down every week to check out the toilets and camping areas and they are headed down Thursday, so we can go along and check out the river, launch time is 1:00 PM.

Thursday, since all our original plans are changed, we ended up having a big breakfast, did a load of laundry and just kind of hung out at the CG for the morning. We had some fruit for lunch and headed out about noon, heading into Dutch John before we got to the launch area.  We got to the pay booth and talked with Jim for a minute, only to find out the boat is already waiting for us at the launch, so off we go down the hill.  Now we thought we would be going down the river on a ‘Dory’ (the Forest Service Boat), but there was a raft instead, there are 4 going down, and the Dory only holds 3 people.  We ended up having Adam as our boatman, and from everything we have heard, he is one of the best, so I’m a happy camper.  He just finished cleaning up around the launch area when Teri, the other worker, shows up to go down with us.  We all get ready, into the raft and off we go.  The river is still running high so the 7 mile trip should only last about 2 hours, I have added a link to pictures from the trip.  There is normally a walking trail along the 7 mile stretch, but some of it is totally under about 3 feet of water and some of the wooden walkways have completely washed away.  We passed the stuck raft, where one of the guides/owners of the Outfitter was trying to get it loose.  We stopped to make sure they were OK, but then headed on wishing them the best.  Further down the river, there are still signs of where the fatality happened, then off to Dripping Springs for Adam to check out the toilets and make sure all is fine, but as soon as we are tied up, Brad looks up and out on the river there goes an upside down kick boat.  We waited about 20-30 min. to see if the owner came down, but we didn’t see him, let’s just hope one of the other fishing guides picked him up.  While we were there waiting, the Outfitter trying to get the raft  passed us, without the stuck raft….that might be there until the water levels are dropped.  Back in the water and the rest of the ride was pretty much uneventful, other than seeing one of the fishing guides holding the loose kick boat.  We landed safely, got the rig loaded up and headed out of Little Hole.  As soon as we had cell service, Adam called and reported the incident, but it seems all ended up OK and the rafter made it out just fine.  We get dropped off at the car, head home to tend to Rudy, then have a nice evening at the CG.  Steaks and a veggie for dinner and off to bed about 10:00.  Oh yea on a side note: it looks like somebody threw a rock through the window of the fee booth, but nothing was taken.

 

River Pictures:  River Pictures

Reservoir from
Antelope Flats CG

Friday Brad once again made a nice breakfast of sausage and pancakes, cooked on the grill and eaten out side.  After that we head out to check out a couple more of the campgrounds.  We stopped in Dutch John for an ice cream, but instead had a light lunch.  Off again and this time we stop at the ‘Mustang Ridge CG’ and boat launch area.  We both agree that this is the nicest CG we have seen yet, set on the reservoir with water access nearby, well shaded and sites big enough for a motor home.  After that we headed to ‘Antelope Flats CG’, what a drive and of course there were the token Antelope running around as we headed in.  I think the drive was about a 30-40 min. long, mostly on a gravel road after you turned off the main highway.  But if you want a remote CG, right on the reservoir, with it’s own boat launch this is the place to go.  There was also a large group camping area, that had about 4 covered picnic areas.  We walked for a while, checking out the beach area and the Utah butterfly bushes that were very fragrant and beautiful.

Checking out the
Butterfly Bushes

After that we head home, we left at 10:30 and didn’t get back home until about 4:30, who would have ever thought it would take that long to check out 2 campgrounds.  Oh yea, I did talk to Lynne for a little, she was heading out on her camping trip and took time to call on the drive, a pleasant surprise.  Back home, chicken on the grill, some visits with the neighbors, laundry done and we are still off to bed about 10:00, our work week begins tomorrow.







Diane and Brad
 

What a Ride!!

The tiny brown thing on the left in
 the picture is an old fee tube, the
 bubbles are holes drilled in the
concrete to release pressure so the
 water doesn't lift the ramp
 instead it comes up through them.

Yesterday, Saturday we headed to work, but instead of stopping at the booth we headed down to see the dam.  They have all the generators open and the over flow open, WOW, what a difference.  Our mild river is now raging.  We ended up being pretty busy on Saturday, a warm sunny day and the river is supposed to be great for the rafters, but not so great for fishing.  They say after a couple of days of the rapid river, fishing returns to normal, so we'll have to wait and see.  It was fun working, the people were all excited about the water level, and the biggest problem for us, was watching people take infants on the rafts.....but if this is what you do, and how you are raised, then maybe it is normal, but on my!  The day went by pretty fast and it was time to leave before we knew it, exhausted, but happy for such an interesting day.  Then the same routine, back home, walk Rudy, and a nap for Brad and I worked on the impossible puzzle.  After Brad got up, him and Rudy do a 2 mile walk up to the visitors center while I finished the puzzle, yea.  The neighbors dropped some keys and guessing they needed them to close the visitors center, Brad took them up.  After that we had meat loaf, mashed potatoes and a veggie for dinner and a lazy night at home.  Brad took Rudy for another

At the edge of the water, to the left,
 is the Fee Tube that is now
underwater in the above picture

walk, while I did dishes and cleaned up the house and then ended up talking with Jim for about 15-20 min.  Jim started a fire, then Fred and Judy joined him and about 8:00 Brad went out to visit while I finished making coffee, etc., etc., what ever else needed done,  back in ready for bed and all of us are in bed by 10:00. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Water coming out
Overflow Tubes, Wow

Today, it was back to work, but it's cool, cloudy and overcast.  After an hour, we only had 3 launches, so it's not really looking good for the day.  Oh well, we deal with that pretty good, I tend to talk more(surprise) with the people going down the river, a couple of walks up and down the parking lot, picking up trash and a long talk with Judy, one of the shuttle drivers.  One of the Deputies and DNR guys stopped by and both chatted until somebody pulled up behind them, then they headed down the hill and talked with Brad a while.  We had a group come through about 12:30, it was their second run down the river today....they were having a blast, the first time there were 8 people, this time they had 12, somewhere they picked up a couple more, but a lot for the raft.  After that we were getting ready to close, when of course 3 or 4 more come down, and about 3 more people just wanting to see the overflow tubes.  We finally get out of there about 1:15, head home, a short walk for Rudy, lunch, then a

Rough Waters Ahead

planned long walk for Rudy.  Well that didn't work out, he decided he was more interested in chasing the marmots then listening to us.  Once he did come back, it's on the leash and that's been the extent of his walks tonight.  We headed up to one of the overviews to make some phone calls, I got to talk to Lynne for a while, but no answer at Dad's, I guess I'll have to try him tomorrow.  After that we head home and have grilled cheese and soup for dinner, chilly and damp out tonight so it was a good comfort meal.   Now it's about 7:30, dinner is done, I'm working on the blog while Brad relaxes thinking about taking a walk with Rudy. 

 

Thanks,

Diane and Brad

 

Three Days off

Cows on the open range
they have the right of way

Wednesday we were planning a trip to Wyoming, but that got put on hold, by the time I finished the blog and Brad got done with a phone call, it was after 10:00 and a little later than we wanted to leave.  So we continued with inside things, finished our time sheets and work claims, balanced check books then headed out about 11:30.  We had lunch with Fred and Judy at the Flaming Gorge Lodge then headed into the office in Dutch John.  We dropped off our paper work and Nan gave me a print out for the next river increase, which just happens to be on Friday, from 4600 CFM at 7:00 am and then being a full 8600 CFM output at 11:00 am, wow what a change.  After that we headed out to Brown's park, the second pull out spot on the river.  We first checked out the BLM campground, which was actually pretty nice, with most sites having a covered picnic table.  Then we went to the historical area, where John Jarvie ran a store/trading post and a ferry(circa 1880) over the Green River.  It was interesting and the dugout which was the original home, was not as romantic as one would think.  After he built a log house the original dugout was used by people such as Tome Horn (a hired gun), Ann Bassett (queen of the cattle rustlers), and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  It really was an interesting story and in the end John Jarvie, himself, was killed by transients.  After the long ride home we just had grilled sausages for dinner, talked with the neighbors for awhile, then off to bed.

Not so Romantic Dugout home

The Vastness of the West

 

 

 



Thursday we had a quick breakfast, then headed out to Wyoming to do the Wild Horse Loop.  Within 5 minutes of the loop we saw our first two horses, then about 15 min. later we saw 3 more.....what a

BLM Camping on the  reservoir

great day this is going to be.  No such luck, that was it, the rest of the 24 mile, bumpy rough road, not another horse, a few mule deer and a bunch of prong horn deer, but that was it.  We ended up in Rock Springs and found the wild horse corrals, which were absolutely full.....now we know where they all were, rounded up the week before we hit the loop.  We checked them out for a while, very beautiful animals, full of spunk and energy, then we headed off to the store for just a few things that we needed.  We then headed down route 191 to Dutch John and about 30 min. into the ride we hit the open range 'Live Stock' may be on the road (and they have the right of way).  We saw a bunch more

First two Wild horses

deer and about 45 min. into the ride I saw 4 wild horses down a ravine.  We pull over a little less then 1/4 mile down the road and when we got out to look, there must have been about 20-30 wild horse down the embankment, enjoying the open range area.....now they need to get the rest of them from Wyoming to join them.  We watched them for a while, then back in the car for the rest of the ride home.  Nothing eventful after that, just a long ride home, all in all about 200 miles put on the car, but we had a great day, beautiful weather.  Back home, a chat with the neighbors, left overs for dinner and we were all in bed by 10:00. 

 

Wild Horse Herd
On the open range
not in the place they are to be

Wild Horse Corral

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday is our stay at home day, 2 loads of laundry in by 8:30, breakfast on the grill and we eat outside on this beautiful morning.  Back to the laundry room, another load in the washer, some hung on the line, the rest in the dryer and I get to work on the impossible jigsaw puzzle, but I got a lot put together....yea.  Laundry gets done, we have a quick lunch, then take the car up to the parking lot for a washing, a scrub on the outside and then a good scrubbing on the inside....but why, until we got it back to the RV parking area, it is yellow with pollen.  Oh well, I move inside and clean the RV, dust, sweep and scrub the bathroom, while Brad cleaned up the picnic area,  Pretty nice when I am finished inside, so we start a fire to burn up the debris and just as the fire gets burning the wind picks up.  We let it burn up the big stuff, but then dump about 5 gallons of water on it to put out the log that started to burn,(we don't want to be responsible for a forest fire).  After that chicken on the grill and a veggie for dinner, a little chat with a few of the neighbors, dishes done, a walk for Rudy, shower and shave for Brad and now we are about ready for bed.  Tomorrow is another day of work, but this time the river is flowing at the maximum rate....we'll have to see what that is like. 

 

Thanks for the visit,

Diane and Brad

River Rising

Thursday, we are up at 5:00 and out of the CG by 6:30, getting to the river by 7:00.  The water flow was 800 CFM, but over the weekend they are planning to raise it to 4600 CFM, so we are trying to take a picture everyday to see how the level changes.  Nan our boss stopped down on Thursday to chat for a while and drop off scheduled flow rates for the river, and papers all us campers have to sign.  We are both a little anxious to see how it flow release effects the rafters, from what we understand, not much, it just makes for a faster trip down the river.  Back home and a lazy day, the first day after work we are pretty much useless.  Oh, no what's that?  A text from Nan, we now have Friday off and work Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, a schedule change, but that's what it will be set to from here on out.  Oh well, I guess we can deal with that, dinner and off to bed early for all of us.

 

Friday, 5-30, we really don't want to do too much, so we headed out to the Lodge for breakfast, pretty good, but expensive, then down to the river for some pictures, to the office in Dutch John to drop off the signed paper, and a stop at a couple of the overlooks to check out the river/dam and reservoir.  Back home, a walk for Rudy, then Brad and I do some reading and just enjoy the day. About 3:00 we head to the visitors center to make a few phone calls, but after about 5 min. of talking to Dad a thunderstorm blows in.  Now we really don't get much, if any rain from these storms, but about 80% of the trees by the visitors center have already been struck by lightening, and I don't want to be in the midst of them if it happens again, so off we go, back to the RV.  A quick dinner and again, off to bed by 10:00

 

Saturday we are back to getting up at 5:00 and out the door by 6:30, but we made it.  A beautiful day, but the river was much slower that we had expected, so it made for a long day.  I hiked up and down the parking lot, collecting any litter, but surprisingly enough, there was none, but it is a nice little walk for me.  I close up at 1:00 and while I am closing our the register, here come 4 car loads of people, oh well, not much I can do now.  We head home, walk Rudy then plan our time for the evening.  They are having a picnic tonight for all the volunteers and I am making a cheesy potato casserole.  We have some time to kill, so Brad naps and I actually laid down and rested for a while, then it's time to get up and get some things done.  We cleaned up the RV, ran the sweeper and then I started the potatoes.  The picnic is to start at 6:00, but now the wind is blowing and the temperature is dropping (ha ha, it's pretty chilly at 68 degrees when there is no humidity).  But it didn't take long, the crowd started to show up, and the picnic is on.  The Forest service brought burgers, hot dogs and sausages and all the fixin's you might need for them, while everybody else brought a covered dish to share.  Not a bad meal, potatoes, coleslaw, fruit salad and just about any dessert you could want, yummy.  About 8:30 people started to leave, Brad and I hung out until about 9:00, then headed in, another early day tomorrow.  There were a couple of youngsters (20 year olds) that showed up about 8:00 and they stayed until about 10:00. so all in all, it was a nice night.   

 

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday are all work days, so it was early mornings and early to bed, with an afternoon nap for Brad each day.  We were both surprised when Monday and Tuesday were busier than the weekend, but we guess the vacations are starting and the guided fishing trip business is picking up.  It really helps make the days go a little faster.  We did however manage to see a wolf on our way home, he ran across the road in front of us, and then we watched him for a little, while he walked down in the woods.  Monday there were 2 guys getting ready for a 4 night trip down the river, so they dropped their boat off about 8:00 and headed out to the pull out spot, about a 3.5 hour round trip drive.  About 10:00, Brad noticed that the stuff in the boat was starting to float and the boat was slowly taking on water, so when they got back I sent them down to talk to Brad, before they made the long walk down and discovered they couldn't go.  But as it was, they put the boat plug in, bailed her out and headed on their way.  Tuesday morning Brad is walking Rudy at 0 dark 30, and I'm getting ready to shower when the howling starts.  It sounded like a pack of wolves and that they were right behind the camper, out the door I go, to find nothing, but Rudy dragging Brad back to the RV.  I guess Rudy didn't like the sounds of it any more they we did, then back inside, finish getting ready for work, with a little excitement in our day.  Monday and Tuesday we had a group of about 35 college kids, from the Colorado School of Mines, going down the river on a guided tour.  Monday the class was pretty docile, but Tuesday's was much rowdier and ready to have some fun (we felt sorry for the guides).  Its funny we both learn something new every day, one note to keep in mind, if you hire a shuttle service for your car and it has a manual transmission, please ensure they have drivers that can drive a manual transmission (I'm not sure that one of the cars made it to the pull out site).  A little cleaning in the evenings, a load or two a laundry, some jigsaw puzzle pieces put together, and mostly quiet evenings, light meals and off to bed about 10:00....we are slowly getting into a routine. 

 

Levels before opening
of the Dam

 

 

 

 

Water Level Rising

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Higher Yet

 

Last of this rising

 

The water level rose for three day, and was to stay at this level for 14 days.  Well the word came out, Flow to increase from 4600, where it is today, to 8600 by Monday....We'll have to see the difference.

 

Below is a little group of some more scenery pictures and some of the animals that are around.

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/115574168101787483704/ViewsAndAnimals?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMmrrfOom864DA&feat=directlink

 

Thanks for visiting,

Diane and Brad