San Rafael Swell

We took a couple of friends camping with us to the San Rafael Swell this spring.  They are usually forest campers, so it was a bit new to them.  Our trip started out with a flat tire on their truck.  That was quickly swapped for the spare, then we found a close spot to camp out of the wind (mostly).

The next day we went exploring and found a ghost of a mining town.  The buildings here were mostly standing and had random old appliances scattered about.

We also explored the remnant of the mines a little.  We didn't go far because we didn't have flashlights.

This one was big enough you could drive a four wheeler around in it.  It would be lots of fun to explore more one day.

 Hondo Arch

We went for a brief hike with the dogs.  Their favorite part was splashing in this small puddle.  I'm sure the water is completely gone by now.  The hike was down Crack Canyon, which is a slot canyon, and we didn't get very far before we had to turn around because the dogs couldn't maneuver the six foot drop-off we ran into.

We had a really good time, though I don't think our friends fell in love with the desert the way we have.  Maybe it has to grow on you.

Nesting

Some cute little birds decided to build a nest at my house this spring.  As cool as I think that was, I would have appreciated it if they had built it somewhere other than the wreath on my front door.  By the time I noticed, they already had eggs in it and I just couldn't bring myself to take it down.  We managed to get a couple of egg shots and a couple of little bird pics, but they grew up a flew away really fast!

All five eggs hatched and they all survived.  I don't know how they all fit in the nest though.  Now my wreath is destroyed and my porch is covered in poop, but it was fun while it lasted.

SLC Nerd

We heard about the SLC Nerd convention one weekend and thought it might be fun to go check it out.  There was one vendor selling games, but they were pretty much all the ones we already have.  It was mostly fun to see all the costumes everyone had put so much hard work into.

Moab St. Patrick's Day

For St. Patrick's Day this year Pat and his Aunt signed up to do a five mile run as part of the Canyonlands Half Marathon.  It was the first organized run he's ever done, though his aunt used to do lots back in the day.  He did really well for his first time out!  He came in 46th overall, and 5th in his age group.  Total time was 42:05.

My brother Paige was down there at the same time cheering on some friends who were also running.  After the race was done we went out to do some wheeling.  He hadn't done any of the trails and really wanted to try out his truck because he did a bunch of work on it, so we did Hell's Revenge and Poison Spider again.  No new trail stickers for the Jeep this trip!

 

February Book List

Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey - 341 pages
No Dominion by Charlie Huston - 251 pages
Hidden by Kelley Armstrong - 193 pages
Basilisk by Rob Thurman - 324 pages
Blood Trail by Tanya Huff - 272 pages
Saints Astray by Jacqueline Carey - 356 pages
Fate's Edge by Ilona Andrews - 372 pages

TOTAL - 7 books - 2,109 pages