4th of July in Utah

Monday June 30 was a pretty slow day, as Monday's usually are.  The most exciting thing was this

Interesting transportation

4-wheeler vehicle coming in with a raft tied to the top.  Dad and son, are in the front seat, while the dog hangs out in the back seat....we just had to get a picture.  After work we headed into town to drop off collected money, then back home for a relaxing evening.  A quick call to Dad, since I missed my phone call on Sunday, then home for dinner, a walk and the normal nightly chores, 

Tuesday was more of the same, not a busy day, but a few more people than we had on Monday, but oh my, after Saturday,  this is really boring....I like being busy.  Being so slow, we left a little early and headed up to Flaming Gorge Lodge for lunch.  After that home, a nap for Brad and Rudy, left overs for dinner and couple of walks with the dog and then our nightly visit with Jim.  I think I beat Brad to bed about 10:30, but needless to say, he headed in very shortly after that.

Wednesday we decided to go into Vernal, knowing it would be busy, but tomorrow would only  be

Under the road tunnel
at the Mine

worse.  We stopped at a couple of the overlooks on our way down, one of them being an overlook of the phosphate mine...pretty interesting.  After that we looked for a barber so Brad could get a hair cut....no luck, they are all closed down or were just closed for the day.  We then stopped at a recommended Chinese Restaurant for lunch, it was OK, but it was nice to have something different for a change.  We then stopped at a couple of the local stores (non chain stores) looking for good sandals for both of us....no luck.  Now it's about 3:00 and Brad called Shari to talk with her for a while, so I left him sitting in the shade and headed to a store that I knew had sandals.  I tried on a couple of pair, found the ones I liked, then headed out to the car and ordered them on Amazon.....$22.00 cheaper.  I headed back to pick up Brad, but he's still on the phone, so I relaxed a little, then it was time to hit the grocery store.  He dropped me off, then headed

Vernal is decorated
for the summer

out to one more place to see about a hair cut....no luck for him, they were closed and no luck for me, the grocery store was a zoo.  It actually took me about 1.5 hours to get through the store, and I had a pretty small list, but I survived and about 5:00 we headed home.  It was a pretty hurried drive home, poor Rudy has been in his kennel since about 10:30 this morning, but he survived.  We put groceries away, then had our evening happy hour with Jim and an easy but late dinner.

Thursday we had a nice breakfast and then planned on going kayaking, but just as we were about to leave, a thunder storm blew in, so we waited.  It cleared out so we headed into Dutch John to drop off our time sheets and then headed to the marina.  We were planning on lunch at the little restaurant there, but they were closed and another thunderstorm was rolling around....no kayaking here.  After that we stopped at the Flaming Gorge Lodge for lunch then decided to go up to the Red Canyon Lodge and get kayaks for the little lake up there, but the temperature went from 80 to about 65 degrees, with more storms blowing through, so we scratched the kayaking for the day.  It was too late and to stormy to head out anywhere else, so it ended up being a lazy day at home.....ugh.  We did head to the visitors center to do some bill paying and make a phone call or two, but that was about it for the day. 

 

Judy and Fred

with Freda standing behind them

Friday, July 4, all the other volunteers had to work, but we planned to have a picnic when they all returned.  I had boiled some eggs last night, so first thing I did was put brownies in the oven and make deviled eggs for the picnic this afternoon.  Brad and Rudy were out for a walk, then when they came back we had breakfast, cooked on the grill, then gathered up our 5 loads of laundry (don't ask me how we always have so much) to do and get ready for this evening.  Jan and Don had gotten brat patties and were making baked beans, Judy and Fred made Waldorf Salad and had fresh tomatoes, Jim made Sauerkraut, and I made sliced potatoes with onions wrapped in foil

Jim and Brad

for on the grill.  It was a crazy day, the temperature dropped and the wind blew, so we were thinking about having the meal in the duplex, but about 5:30-6:00, it all cleared up, warmed up and we had the picnic outside.  The food was inside the duplex so we fixed our plates, then headed out to the picnic tables to eat.  For dessert, we had brownies and home made ice cream.....not a bad picnic at all.  We all helped clean up, the Jim built a nice camp fire.  Jan, Don, Jim, Brad and I only lasted until about 9:30 until we put it out, but what a great way to end the evening.....tomorrow is another work day for the 5 of us. 

Saturday, Judy and Fred headed out about 5:30, heading to Salt Lake City to pick up family from the airport and then they were off on a mini vacation.  Saturday they were expecting a crowd since there were crafts shows, car shows and fireworks in Dutch John, so the place is usually pretty busy, and they were right.  Saturday was pretty crazy, we had about 800 people go down the river, and there were 4 of us working at the launch area all day.  There was a truck that broke down about 10:30, right in the middle of the road leaving only one lane open, but we survived until the tow truck showed up to haul him out (only 1 tow truck in the whole Dutch John area, ha ha).   Brad and I didn't get out of there until about 2:00, and we were hot and exhausted.  We stopped at the Red Canyon Lodge and got a six pack of Corona, we just needed something cool and refreshing.  We got home had 2 beers each, then we both napped, even after that we could hardly stay awake.  Don and Jan also had a busy day, they had almost 500 people come through the visitors center, so they were exhausted as well.  Jim stopped over when he got home, but I think we were all inside by 8:00 and in bed by 9:00....another early day tomorrow. 

 

Sunday we arrived at our normal 7:00 am and about 8:30, Chris and Jake showed up expecting another busy day.....no luck, we went from 800 people to about 150. When we first started here that seemed like a pretty busy day to us, but after the last two Saturday's we are just pretty bored.  It was so slow, that Brad drove up the hill picking up trash and then stopped to chat with me for a while.  Chris and Jake headed out about 10:00, they decided to go check out some of the dispersed camping sites and were glad they did as some of the camp fires hadn't been put out properly.  We got out of here at 1:00, headed home and Brad and Rudy had their normal nap while I laid on the sofa and rested.  It is about 91 here, but humidity is only about 13%, so it's very hot in the sun and pretty nice in the shade.  About 3:30 Brad and Rudy head out on the daily walk (about 2.5 miles), but Brad tried to pick a path that was pretty shady.  After they left, I packed up the I-Pad, cell phones, a cooler full of water and headed to the visitors center.  I talked with Dad and Mel for a while, and when Brad arrived he called Shawna, left a message, then actually got a hold of Shari and they got to talk for a while.  After that Brad and Rudy headed back out, while I got on the computer and paid our CC bills, then I headed home for dinner.  I had thrown a beef roast in the crock pot with some home made BBQ sauce for pulled beef sandwiches with chips, not a bad meal on a hot day.  Jim had off today, but stopped for a little chat when he got home, then we got cleaned up and Brad was off to bed about 9:30, with me shortly behind him about 10:00.