Camping at Redman

Camping at Redman...a campground thirty minutes from our house and considerably higher up in the mountains.
When the weather is too warm at home, camping where the temps are twenty degrees cooler is just great!

We always try to get campsite #13 as it is has a nice stream running along beside it.

Even when afternoon rains are part of the deal, it is still nice to be up there.

Jeff's family got the site on Thursday night and stayed through Saturday day.
We came up Friday night, went home, came back on Saturday afternoon, when we pitched our tent.
We  then stayed through Monday morning.
Luke...camping for the first time at age 3 months.

No, he didn't actually get held every single minute.

Sometimes he just kicked back in a camp chair all by himself for awhile.

Bernie fished the stream and yes he did catch fish that he released.

When the sun broke through we took a few family memory shots.

 

 

Dad always seem to clown around with their kids, don't they?

 

(I should mention that the camp ground has about 50 sites and three were in use while we camped...)

 

Monk's Hood was blooming all over the grounds.
Can you see the "hood" and the praying hands inside robe sleeves?
Don't you just love flower names that describe other things and make you think?
Like Crane's Bill and Snapdragons...

We enjoyed the wildlife...and I rued the fact that I rarely had my telephoto lens on my camera when the wild life was most colorful and active.

 

This just in...squirrels are not locovores.
They will eat papaya which clearly is not grown anywhere in the mountains of Utah.

 

 

We really didn't do much while we camped.
Bernie read "Killing Lincoln", I had a new cell phone and was trying to figure out all the functions and loading aps.
But I did manage to get a little photo time in between rain showers.

Kind of interesting how on one side of the natural dam the water was frothy/scummy and on the other side it was crystal clear.

On Sunday Bernie and I decided to hike up to St. Mary's Lake, which is about two miles round trip and about 7,000 ft climb.
Or something like that.
As we were walking along a trail a fox came trotting along.
He left the trail and cut the switchback, blowing past us like he was totally used to seeing humans hikers.

 

A pink variety of Indian Paint Brush.

By the time we got to the lake the heavens had opened up.
That didn't stop Bernie from wetting a line...

 

It is awfully pretty up there...

 

 

Makes me think of photos I have seen of the coast of Maine.

Once puddles started forming I was ready to start hiking back.

 

The trail was rapidly becoming a stream bed!

 

Hiking with a telephoto lens on the camera body is just to heavy around my neck.
I did carry the telephoto lens with me, but was reluctant to switch to it in the rain.
So bear with me for the blurry bird photo...

 

Happily the bird kept hopping closer to me. 

I am guessing it was a baby due to the short wing feathers and the fluffy back.
Bernie thought it was a Pine Gross Beak.
I think it was an immature male Pine Gross Beak from what I could see once I looked it up later.
Pretty little guy...

 

The clouds kept training by over the mountain tops.
After the hike I was soaked...and hungry.

I didn't need to ask twice...lunch at the Silver Fork Lodge?
Absolutely...and it is only five minutes from our camp site.
We didn't even bother to go back to the camp site; we just rolled in "as is" fresh off the trail.

Soaking wet, no comb, no make up, no problem!

Hot tea and Turkey Chili never tasted so good.
The hot apple crisp for dessert was pretty darn good too.

Monday morning dawned sunny and bright.
The streamside flowers reflected beautifully in the water.

These flowers were in "bloom"..that is, they brown nubs pop open to a speck of orange and that is that.
I now call them "Goth Flowers" due to their lack of petals.
Some of them do have a faint chocolate scent!

Either you like them or you don't...I think they are interesting.

I still am in awe of the fact that I can go camping in a place that looks like this so close to home.

Or just go up for the day and evening for a campfire if we want!

Four Generations!

The men of our Grandson's paternal lineage.
Luke with his Dad Jeff, his Grandfather Bernie, and his Great Grandfather Harold!

Luke's Paternal lineage.
Luke held by his Father Jeff, and his mom Rachel.
Luke's paternal grandparents, Bernie and me.
Right below Luke is my Mom and Dad, below Bernie is his mom and dad, four of Luke's five living great grandparents.

Luke's outfit...the one I bought him back when the ultrasound revealed that "it" was a boy! 

Creekside dining

Creekside dining on a hot afternoon.
Can you believe it...I was out shopping at the time!

I was at a shopping area that is built right next to a natural stream bed.
Rubio's Fish Taco's patio dining backs up to the stream.

Sometimes there are even fish swimming along.
This day...kids were wading and playing in the water.

I enjoyed watching them just as much as I enjoyed my fish tacos!

The stream was on my right and Old Navy was on my left as I munched my lunch.
This is my idea of how to combine shopping, dining and outdoor life all in one outing.

Bet you can't guess what these things are.
Hint:  The stream runs through an area called Sugar House.
OK...I'll tell you.
These are huge sculptures of sugar beets found all through out the Sugar House area of SLC.
Way back in the late 1800's there was a huge endeavor to make sugar from beets as an industry in this area.
It went OK, but not so well as to make it a sustainable industry.
In honor of the "roots" of the Sugar House area, sugar beet sculptures were commissioned and place in public areas.
The Sugar House library sports a beet or two...and they just randomly show up as one explores the area.
Which begs the question:

But is it art?

Me...I think the stream is much prettier than the beets.
To me, a sparkling stream is always more enjoyable to look at than beets!

Snoopervision...the job never ends.

If you are planning on just hanging around...

Watching life go by....

And you decide it would be a good time to take a nap.... 

You can just about count on someone suddenly coming up with something  that you need to do.

In this case...it was snoopervising the installation of a new television set downstairs.

TATE: Looks about right sized...

Smells like the right size...

Hmmm....wonder what needs doing that I should help with.

The head cat boss Hart dropped by to make sure the cat supervision was going OK and that Bernie was going to be able to manage with just one cat helping.

Sound bar...check.
Sound bar cord...check.

This thing sure has a lot of pictures...wonder what they all mean.

HD..Web...Photos...Wireless...50"....what ever that means.

Too much to think about.

Bernie will let me know if he needs any more help....I think I'll just take a little snoooze while he finishes up.

Yes, snoopervision is a job that never ends around here.
Sometimes it feel like a jungle at our place...

Bitsy has taken charge of snooperviseing the jungle creatures.

 

Because snoopervising is what cats do best.

Well...snoopervising and bringing orange rats to Jill every night while she sleeps.
Bringing an orange rat to Jill is Frenchie's specialty.

(She says she is pretty sure she is the only woman in America who gets an orange rat brought to her every night.  She is probably right about that.)

That is what cats do best.

These were the people...

I woke up this Independence Day thinking about the people who were living in the original 13 Colonies on July 4 1776.
Some folks were old, some were teenages, some were toddlers.
Some were parents...who probably wondered what this news would mean for the future of their children.

Some of the people who were "there"...and how old they were on the fateful July 4 1776,  and whose DNA are now shared by my own children were:

James Spriggs      was 42 years old and living in Maryland.
Reason Spriggs    was 10 years old and living in Maryland
Edmond Dedmon was 42 years old and living in Maryland
Comfort Dedmon was 18 years old and living in Maryland
James Sullivan*     was 17 years old and living in South Carolina
James Foxworthy was 16 years old and living in Virginia
Lucinda Tippett    was 16 years old and living in Virginia
Joshua Hays          was 19 years old and living in New York
Martha Loyd         was 15 years old and living in New York
Elijah Gray           was   7 years old and living in Pennsylvania
Mary Moore         was   5  years old and living in Pennsylvania
Benjamin Amos   was   2  years old and living in Maryland
Katherine Wyley  was   2  years old and living in Pennsylvania
David Moore        was 32 years old and living in Virginia
Nancy Moore       was  42 years old and living in Virginia
Abigal Clement    was  31 years old and living in New Hampshire
Sarah Bannister    was  32 years old and living in New York
John Foxworthy   was  49  years old and living in Virginia
Simon Weatherman       2 years old and living in North Carolina
Eli McDaniel         was   7 years old and living in North Carolina
Timothy Dustin     was  33 years old and living in Massachusetts
Richard Morden    was    6 years old and living in New York
George Lasher       was    7 years old and living in New York
Phillip Nottingham was  26 years old and living in Maryland
Ebenezer Newell     was  31 years old and living in Massachusetts
Elizabeth Corbin     was  26 years old and living in Maryland
Benjamin Fenno    was  27 years old and living in Massachusetts

A few people I know were there, but I either do not know what colony they were living in at the time or how old they were:

Samuel Fenno was 60
David Sutherland was 22
Sarah Northcut was 35
William Basham was 66
Eliz Griffen was 6
Phillip Haseltine
Thomas Gillespie
Nathaniel Wyley was in Pennsylvania
Elizabeth Wood was in South Carolina
Joel Odor was in Virginia
Jane Fletcher was in Virginia

*James Sullivan went on to fight as an adult in the Revolutionary War.

How did they learn the news?
What part did they and their family play in the battles for freedom that followed?
Something I hope to research...some day I hope to know...some day I hope I will meet some of these people in heaven and hear what they remembered about that day first hand.

I hope years from now I can tell them that the Nation was still OK when I left it...

Vacation Wrap Up

Hot enough for ya?
It has been in the high 90's here since we came home from our vacation.
It wasn't quite that hot up in Park City....

But it was warm enough to make me buy a snow cone.
Usually I stick with cherry/blue raspberry mix
 (very Summery patriotic don't you know...)
This year I gave into a rainbow mix.
The banana flavoring sounded good for some reason.
It was really good.
The only problem was something that I sadly learned as a six year old:
When all the pretty colors of the rainbow are mixed together....

The mix turns a disappointing shade of brown.
So that meant I didn't get a cute (cuter?) picture of a purple or blue tongue this year.
Maybe a theological lesson can be learned here:
The rainbow colors on high are a promise to the earth.
So when they mix together on earth...they make brown, just like the earth.
OK...so maybe I should leave theology up to other people.

We only ate out four times...twice to the Mexican place on the resort grounds, once to a Thai restaurant and once to a burger joint.
Their homemade slaw and chips were great, as was the barbeque sandwich.

Under the heading of:

You Know You Are In Park City When...

The burger joint's beer list begins with Champagne.
Offered at $250 a bottle.

'Cuz when you are on vacation in PC, money is no object!
At least not for the Sundance  Film Festival crowd...

Yes, it was warm, but whenever we head out for the river I wear long sleeves and long pants that can be zipped off to short pants length.
And a wide brimmed  hat.
Not an especially flattering look but I favor outfits that prevent sunburns and bug feasting when possible for riverside wear.

A prettier photo...the columbine were blooming in an array of color combinations.
I still like the white/periwinkle blue combo the best. 

Another evening of fishing.... 

No catches this time.
I ditched my long pants and went wading.
The water was so cold I don't know how Bernie stood it out there.

We were watched....

Back at the resort a pool side band played some great accoustical music.
Wrapped up in a paro, I danced a few steps as I passed before them on our way back to our room.
I, with notable lack of rhythm, got a round of polite applause from the crowd.
Seriously, I just kinda bounced a bit as I walked.
Didn't take much to get that crowd's approval.

Peony were blooming all around the pool area.

Now they were applause worthy, in my opinion.

Hadn't encountered this peony variation before.
Looks like ribbons are shooting out of the flower's middle.

Friday at 10am we had to be checked out.
Our kitchen...where all that was cooked during vacation was one poached trout, toast and coffee.

Our living room where we watched a movie or two, read and were mostly just plain lazy.

One movie of the movies we watched.

The title translates "With all my heart".

Which meant two very different things to the male and female lead.

 I had purchased the dvd after reading about the opening musical dance number which was amazingly filmed atop of a moving train over five days, with no "blue screen" or any other post production magic.

The dvd arrived the day before we left for vacation.

Perfect!

Turned out to be a great movie...with amazing scenery.

It would be great to just watch the beautiful filming without the sound.

Or listening to the music without the pictures,

 Or just reading the story.

The train scene...you can watch it below.

Hang in there past the 45 seconds mark when the song really begins.

After that...this song is one that makes one want to move!

And maybe take up belly dancing!

(The belly dancing woman is quite famous in other parts of the world for her dancing skills).

How crazy daring filming was that?

 

And this was how the "Exit" scene of our Park City 2012 vacation looked.  Like our vacation, it was nothing fancy...just nice.