I just noticed it has been more than 6 months since our last post. Since this is our informal family journal I think I should give an update.
Last spring we decided that we wouldn't be heading out to Clearwater for the summer. We were really sad, but our struggling start-up needed our attention more than the lodge did. We promoted Erik, the outfitting manager at the lodge to GM and trusted that he would do a great job. He did an awesome job and really seems to enjoy his work/life. I did work on a massive project in during the spring where I compiled pictures and stories from as far back as 1909 and turned it into a book on the history of the lodge. I thought it turned out really well and we received many compliments on it from guests who enjoyed reading about the various owners of the lodge and it's unique history. Kasey worked like crazy again in March and April making shirts and hoodies for the gift shop and then in late April we loaded the truck up and headed out with the kids for a week. It was super cold still and the lake was frozen solid. We were all disappointed that we couldn't go out on the water, but we had so much work to do to get things ready and train Erik and his crew.
After a week of crazy work, we returned to Utah and started working on our garden. We planted corn, potatoes, strawberries, beets, onions, brocoli, cabbage, pumpkins, squash, zucchini, peppers and tomatoes. We also had a decent raspberry patch, a pear tree, two apple trees, a peach tree and a sour cherry tree. Needless to say we were pretty busy trying to figure out how to be gardeners. The kids loved planting seeds and talking about all the stuff we would eat during the summer and into the fall. Sadly, we found out we are awful gardeners. And the late freeze that killed the buds on our fruit trees didn't help.
I returned to the lodge a few times during the summer to check on things and for a couple of meetings. Here is a picture I took on one of my trips as I walked down to the lake.
Back in Utah, Kasey was preparing to run a Marathon and a Ragnar race. In June I went on a road trip through Wyoming, Montana and Idaho where I drove around visiting remote lodges, B&Bs, dude ranches and resorts. In two weeks I covered 5500 miles and saw some incredible country. My favorite areas was the area around Glacier National Park and Jackson Hole, WY and Stanley Idaho.
During my trip I stopped occasionally and saw some family, really I was grateful to get a nice meal and a bed. When I was at my Grandma's house in Northern Idaho I asked my Grandma if she had any jobs that needed to be done while I was there. I assumed she may need something done on her roof or somewhere hard to get to for an older person. However, she had a different problem, she had a skunk get stuck in her window well. She asked me to get it out. So I built a little ladder and the skunk crawled right out. She thought I was really smart to think of that. I just didn't want to get sprayed trying to lift it out.
In late June Kasey ran the Ragnar with Natalie and Thayne. She said it was fun. Didn't look fun to me, but oh well. The kids had fun going to the finish line to watch her come across.
I decided somewhere during the summer that I needed a hobby. So I tried my hand at spray paint art. I've always wished I had some artistic talent but can't sing or draw to save my life. So I got on Youtube and started watching recordings of street performers. Once again I was reminded that I am bad at art. But after dozens of paintings where the kids asked me what the picture was, even after I told them they couldn't see it, and lots of odd looks from my family I finally started to get things that resembled what I was aiming for. It may seem weird, but it has been fun and I'm slowly getting better.
We enjoyed being Utah for fourth of July. It had been a few years since we went and watched fireworks. Kasey and I decided to go all out and went to the stadium of fire. We also took the kids and hung out for a couple of days with family and stayed at my cousin Michelle's house. We really enjoyed barbecuing and playing in her pool. Then in late July Kasey ran her marathon. She worked ridiculously hard training for it. She was so dedicated and did a great job on her big day. I dropped her off at the starting line really early in the morning and went back to bed. 26 miles, and almost 5 hours later we met her at the finish line. The kids had made signs with me that morning and they were excited to cheer on their mom. We were very proud of her hard work and determination to finish. She was super sore. Couldn't really walk for several days and she now says she will never do that again. We will see.
For almost 10 years now I've heard how awesome the Morgan County Fair is. Kasey has always wanted to take me to it and since this summer we were in Morgan, we went. We went to exhibits, we ran a 5k together, we went to the rodeo and of course to my personal favorite-the demolition derby. Brock thought the crashing cars were awesome. This one car went right over through the barrier right in front of our seats.
After the fair we went up to Bear Lake and visited Kasey's Grandpa Haddock. We went at the same time as Kasey's parents and brother's family. The kids enjoyed camping in the back yard with their cousins and some of the adventures we went on. My favorite part was hiking to Bloomington Lake. It is so pretty up there. Plus they have one of the best rope swings in the world. Here is how not to do it. And yes, I am the jerk laughing at my wife. In my own defense, I could tell that she wasn't hurt.
I was going to blog more, but this one is already long, so I will have to do the catch up in parts.
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