Paria River Hike...nearly swept away!

Every Memorial weekend we go hike the Paria river. Dad, Waylon, Donna and I road together and Jared, Becky, Jenny and Jeremy road together. Dad's brother Jeff and his friend Mitch met us up there as well. As we were headed up there on Friday it rained most of the way up there. Last year the forecast called for rain and kept us from walking the entire hike (which sucked because we could have walked it) and it was beginning to look like that might happen again. Well this time it was raining, in fact it rained most of Friday night as well. We kept in contact with Alan via cell phone and he would give us updates on he river flow.

When we got up Saturday morning we made the decision not to start at the White House trail head because Becky and Jared were going to walk to Big Spring and then back to White House and there was a possibility of a flash flood and we felt it was just too risky(I'm so thankful that we made the right decision)! Waylon, Becky, Donna and Jeremy were going to walk to the Petroglyphs, and Jeff, Mitch, Dad and I were going to go on to Shower spring. When we started walking at 5:00 am the water flow was just under 10 cubic feet per second and the water was fairly clear. We all walked together until we got to the Petroglyphs and rested a bit.

Dad, Jeff, Mitch and I had about 6 more miles to go to get to Bush Head Canyon. As soon as we got out of the river at Bush Head Canyon, Jeff said "look at the river", it couldn't have been more than a minute since we came out of the river and here came the flash flood! There was debris floating and the water got so dirty and was flowing so fast. It went from just below 10 cubic feet per second to just under 150 cubic per second! It was unbelievable...I have never seen anything like that before. When we got back to camp and had talked to Alan again, he said that was a record for Memorial Weekend...OK Back to the story! We decided to sit it out for a bit at Bush Head. We ate some food and took some pictures...at the end of my post I'll have a video for you to look at. Well the river wasn't going down, so we decided to go back to Lee's Ferry and not go up to Shower Spring. We stayed on the high water trail as long as we could...then came the time we had to cross the river. Dad and I linked arms and went in slowly...he told me to not move forward until I had a good foot hold...it was so scary and exciting at the same time ( but more scary)! There were a couple of times that I thought I was going to be swept down the river! One of the times that we crossed dad yelled out to Mitch and Jeff "I need a little help here" so they came right in and we all linked arms and got across. That was the scariest crossing for me...I really felt like I was going on that one. One of the crossings dad, Mitch and I had are arms linked and when we went in and all three of us slipped and dad messed his left hand up. The water was just below my chest on that crossing...We had to cross the river on the way back a total of 16 times. It was so very exhausting! I will never underestimate the power of water...so strong!

We had a great time...and an adventure of a life time...so yeah I'm crossing that one off of my "bucket list" =) I'm very grateful that we all got through it in one piece...my calves are pretty sore from all of the pressure of the water. Anyway, I look forward to next year...and no rain!! Enjoy the pictures and video!

Kit and Kate's Wedding

Dad and I had a really nice weekend. We went to Prescott Friday night for the dress rehearsal for Kit & Kate's wedding. They got us a really nice hotel room and we met up with the Bowler's(Dad's aunt Kathleen uncle Ernie and Toni) and the rest of Kate's family. The wedding was at a different place and we all got to ride there in a Limo...that was fun! The wedding was really nice and Kit was so happy. He has had such a ruff two years...so it was time for him to be happy! Kate is a wonderful gal...they are so much in love and have so much in common. This is her first marriage and are so good for each other. When they were dancing you could see the love in their eyes. Dad made a really nice toast...made me all teary eyed! After the the actual wedding ceremony we started with all the fun. Dad and I danced several times...I love dancing with your dad. Then they played "Love Shack" and yeah...I got up there and was going crazy! It was so much fun. I looked over to dad a couple of times and he was smiling really big! After I caught my breath the DJ asked for the Bride's maids to come up and do the twist...well, I couldn't let him down...so I was twisting away. It was so much fun! I defiantly got my work out for the day! Here are some pictures that I took! Jenny help fix my dress so it fit perfectly...kudos to her! I have such talented girls. And did I mention that I love your dad! This is a picture of Cindy(Kates sister) and I in front of our limo. Here are a couple pictures of dad and I at the wedding...he was the one that wanted one of us kissing =) I'm not really very good putting this all together...sorry, but you get the picture...The rest of the pictures are of the Bowler's and Dad and his cousin Mike and Dad and his cousin Gordon.

When the lights went out!

On mile 14 out of the 22 we walked on Saturday, dad called me up and told me that all of the power went out in the greater metropolitan Phoenix area (including Surprise) and would remain out until Tuesday morning!

Let me back up a bit. Last Sunday our Bishop told us that we would be having a drill on being prepared. So after the first 7 plus miles on Saturday, dad met at the church to give all of the families he was in charge of the envelope that told of the "disaster". So for three days we were all to live without using any power(Bishop did say we could use the air if it got too hot)no lights, music, t.v., computers, hair driers, oven, stove, microwaves etc. You get the idea.

When we got back to Donna's house after our walk, we told Waylon what the drill was about. He was watching Donna's boys so she could walk. Anyway, Waylon said that it was gay and he's not going to do it. Well I'm here to say that he participated 100%. The first night we had cold sandwiches and stayed up talking...yeah! talking, imagine that! When it got darker we lit some candles, and then I got our battery powered lantern. I was a little concerned about what my hair would look like on Sunday not to mention if my clothes were wrinkled. When we got to church it was so good to see so many of the women with their hair pulled up in a pony tail or still wet from the shower =) It was nice to see so many of the members participating.

After we got home from church dad made us some eggs and sausage burros using our grill out back. We took a nap and we all did a lot of reading. Later that night we got out the game of life and played that. When we were done with that game we played several games of Yahtzee. It was so much fun! I really enjoyed not having all of those distractions(t.v. computer, video games)and just being with each other. We stayed up talking until about 8:30 and then I went to bed. Dad and Waylon stayed up talking for quite a while after I went to bed. I can't remember the last time that happened. We all get so busy in our own lives and forget the important things. Last night we played more games...Phase 10 and Boggle.

I was getting ready for work this morning and dad asked me why I was using the lantern...I forgot that the drill was over.

I'm so grateful for the opportunity we had to participate in this. Not only did it help us to see what things we needed that we didn't have, but it brought us closer to each other and I will always treasure "when the lights went out"!

Walking with the boy's

Wednesday's Donna and Abe work with the youth at church, so dad and I get to watch Aidan and Tanner. I picked the boys up right after work and told Aidan that we would be walking 8 miles, he was a little bit sad so I told him that after 6 miles we would go to McDonald's and get ice cream...that cheered him up! When I was getting them in the truck I pushed my sunglasses up onto my head and Aidan said "OH...you have gray hair! are you 51?" It was so funny! I said no, just 50...then he told me that I need to get rid of it. I asked him what color and he said green. Sorry, that's not going to happen, so he said brown would be fine. Kids are so funny.

Well we took off on our walk and I forgot my camera...so after the first 4 miles I went back home while dad kept walking. We were to meet up at Litchfield and Greenway. When I got to the point I thought were going to meet, they were no where to be found. I called dad up and he told me where they were so I hung up and started running. I ran...and I mean ran for almost a mile before I caught up with them. These are the picture that I took when I finally caught my breath.
We finally got to McDonald's and bought the boys some ice cream...Aidan loved it and Tanner didn't want anything to do with it. We kept trying to give it to him, but no luck. I remember when Aidan didn't like ice cream too, so I'm sure that someday Tanner will like it as well. At one point it looked like Tanner was going to take Aidan's cone away, but Aidan was having no part of that =) When we got home Tanner kept looking for Waylon...all of my little grand babies love Waylon, they always have so much fun with him. I sure do love all of my little ones. I'm so thankful that we are such a close family and that I have so many wonderful children that have blessed dad and I with all of these grand babies.

20 miles and counting...

Dad and I are trying to get ready for the Paria hike, so we went on a 20 mile walk on Saturday. We took off at about 5:30 in the morning...it was much colder than we thought it would be, so after the first 4 miles we stopped back by the house and got long sleeves and gloves (those were for me). We were walking at a pretty good pace for the first 9 miles and then dad's stride kicked in and off he went. There is no way I can keep up with that! His legs are just way to long for me =) The last 10 miles I pretty much walked alone...I could see dad up ahead for a little while then he was gone. I felt pretty good for the first 10 miles and then my heals started hurting. I had a couple of blisters to begin with, but I had put mule skin on them and thought I would be good! Boy was that a mistake! I stopped one time to take some rocks out of my shoes, and the mule skin slipped off the blister! OUCH! By the time I got home I had a blister on my left foot the sized of a golf ball! It took me about 5 hours and 25 mins. to complete the 20 miles. When I was walking down our street I could see dad sitting on the tail gate of the truck waiting for me. That was a sight for sore eyes ( or should I say sore feet).

Well I learned some valuable lessons...Don't leave home without any supplies to fix blisters, wear shoes that fit ( dad has been telling me for months to buy new shoes!) and don't try to keep up with dad!

I will be getting new shoes today, because we are going on another long walk this weekend...22 miles I believe. Even though I'm a little sore, I'm really glad that we did it. Now I will be prepared to walk the canyon!

Weekend Getaway

Dad and I went to Flagstaff this past weekend and had a wonderful time. We wanted to see if we could find any Elk sheds and do some pre-scouting as well. The first day we walked about 7 miles and walked through plenty of snow. Dad sunk to his knees a couple of times. We didn't find any sheds but it was just so nice being out there and enjoying the peace and quiet. No cars, tv's, cell phones and best of all no people! The road was closed where we went so the only way to get there was by foot, and people are so lazy anymore we knew that we would be all alone =)

We packed rather light, taking only bedding and a change of clothes. No cooking, just some cold sandwiches and some granola bars. We put our air mattress in the back of our truck and that's where we slept. I forgot how many stars are out there. It was so beautiful! We stayed up for quite a while just looking at them, we also tried to see how many satellites we could find. I think that dad found two or three. After we finally go to sleep we both woke up to some coyotes that couldn't have been more than 30 yards away! It was kind of eerie, but cool at the same time. We have some really warm sleeping bags, but for some reason my feet were like ice cubes. I think that dad thought that I was just being a wimp =) But when we got up that morning I showed him how cold they were. We are both trying to figure out how that happened.

We walked a few more miles that morning and climbed to the top of Slate mountain, and did some glassing, and the best part was...I didn't fall =) Dad found some deer so we watched them for quite a while. I just love being with dad and being outdoors! We found all sorts of game sign. Turkey tracks, Elk tracks, Deer tracks and lots of Elk poop! This will be a great place to hunt if we get drawn. We also saw some pretty good piles of Bear poop! I'm also posting some pictures from our trip. There are some pictures of trees that are missing some bark. Those are called rubs. They were all over the place! Dad and I had a great time. We sure do love being together!

Change is Good

****15 YEARS AGO (1994)****

1) How old were you? 35
2) Who were you dating? The love of my life (dad)
3) Where did you work? Nadaburg Elementary School
4) Where did you live? in the desert in a cozy little trailer in beautiful Arizona =)
5) Where did you hang out? at home with all my little kiddos
6) Did you wear contacts or glasses? really large glasses!
7) Who were your best friends? Dad
8) How many tattoos did you have? 0
9) How many piercings did you have? 1 in each ear.
10) What kind of car did you drive? Chevy Suburban until I blew it up!
11) Had you been to a real party? unfortunately yes
12) Had you had your heart broken? When I was 16
13) Were you Single/taken/Married/Divorced? Married
14) Any Kids? Oh yeah...6

***10 YEARS AGO (1999)***

1) How old were you? 40
2) Who were you dating? Some good looking man...dad =)
3) Where did you work? Still at Nadaburg
4) Where did you live? still in the Desert
5) Where did you hang out? with my family
6) Did you wear contacts and/or glasses? yeah...but not so big =)
7) Who were your closest friends? dad...and my kids
8) How many tattoos did you have? None
9) How many piercings did you have? 1 in each ear.
10) What car did you drive? a little ford ranger
11) Had your heart broken? Dad keeps that from happening
12) Were you Single/Taken/Married/Divorced? Married
13) Any Kids? yep...still have 6

****5 YEARS AGO (2004)****

1) How old were you? 45
2) Who were you dating? dad when we can afford it =)
3) Where did you work? working for the District at Nadaburg now!
4) Where did you live? Surprise, Az
5) Where did you hang out? Home
6) Did you wear contacts and/or glasses? sometimes glasses
7) Who were your closest friends? Dad
8) How many tattoos did you have? None
9) How many piercings did you have? 1 in each ear
10) What car did you drive? a black GMC truck
11) Had your heart broken? nope...
12) Were you Single/Taken/Married/Married
13) Any Kids? 6 plus 3 more boys =)

****TODAY (2009)****

1) How old are you? 50...and looking good!
2) Who are you dating? forever the love of my life!
3) Where do you work? Nadaburg School District for life =)
4) Where do you live? Surprise, Az
5) Where do you hang out? with dad and all my kiddos!
6) Do you wear contacts and/or glasses? sometimes
7) Who are your closest friends? Dad will always be my best friend
8) How many tattoos do you have? None
9) How many piercings do you have? 1 in each ear
10) What car do you drive? a big 3/4 ton Dodge 4x4 Diesel...I love trucks!
11) Had your heart broken? With dad around my heart will never be broken...he mends everything =)
12) Are you Single/Taken/Married/Divorced? Married to the love of my life for all eternity!
13) Any Kids? 6 kids...4 extra sons and 1 extra daughter...8 beautiful grandchildren!