The Rest of the Project..

There were still several more posts to go.  So early Thursday morning (there was no school) the boys, Mr. Bechtel, Grandpa, and their friends Sam and Kevin headed back to Rainey Creek.

They hiked back into Hunt's Corral where they had cached the tools two days before.  Grandpa was recovering from being sick, but he still did great. 

 

Their friend, Kevin, thought he was going to die.  "Nova Spy told me it was only like 3 miles, with a couple tiny hills!"  He lamented after hours of hiking.  He ended up doing just great, but Mr. Bechtel waited til the end to tell him he'd actually gone 20 miles.  He didn't want him collapsing scoutishly on the the trail.  

They made good time, though, and found all the post drop point just fine.

They also startled two bear cubs who immediately ran over to a tree and climbed it.  They could not find the mom, which made them nervous, but they just kept going.  They never did see her and the cubs were gone when they came back that night.

Taking a well earned break!  They got the whole trail done and Nova Spy's project is complete.

Now onto Prairie Spy....

Nova Spy's Eagle Project

Both the Spy Twins are working on their eagle projects right now.  There are two sections of "The Great Western Trails Project" that needed signs put up along sections of the trail.  The boys decided to do these for their projects.  Nova Spy's project was on Rainey Creek.  The boys had gone up with Mr. Bechtel the Saturday before and hiked in several miles on both trails just to get a feel for where they were and which sections would work with horses, etc. 

Then on Tuesday the boys got done with school at noon.  Granny Smith and I joined Mr. Bechtel and the boys.  The goal was to get at least 2 posts in before dark.  It was a gorgeous day.  Just perfect.

We had a tough time getting really good maps.  One with topo lines would have been helpful.  (Possibly discouraging, but helpful!)

This map at the trail head was the best one.  We started where the sign says trailhead and went 2.5 miles on trail 066.  Then the trail continued on 081 past Hunts Corral past N. Fork of Palisades Creek and down the canyon to the last two sign locations

.

The first post was supposedly dropped at the first bridge.  Everytime we crossed a little bridge like this we would look hopefully for a post, but no luck!  Keep going!

Finally we found the South Fork of Rainey Creek (no bridge).  The boys put the sign on the post and planted it 2 feet in the ground.

One Down.  Six to go.

We pressed on up the pass.  After awhile Granny Smith and I realized we were slowing the boys down so we turned around and headed the 3.5 miles back alone.  The two of us got a bit scared, even though Mr. Bechtel gave me his pistol.  Granny Smith kept asking questions like, "What would happen if we met a bear??"  I tried to be nonchalant and mellow, but I was praying we wouldn't run into anything, because I couldn't see that working out well any way I thought about it.  We sang the whole way back "Teeeeelllll you 'bout them sooobbbbin' women who lived in the roman daaayyys!" I did see fresh bear sign on the trail.  (Which I did not show Granny Smith) and we passed a tree trunk that had just been ripped open.  Fresh wood chips were scattered on the trail.  But I didn't see anything so we just kept singing and made it back to the car just fine.

Meanwhile the boys hiked several more miles to Hunt's Corral and put up the next sign.

Then they sang the whole way out while jogging and trotting in the dark, which takes talent!

Making Sauerkraut

The Relief Society President called and said a lady in the ward had tons of cabbage and she had heard we liked sauerkraut (?!) and did we want some.  We have tried to make sauerkraut unsuccessfully before although I don't know why this is general ward information!  So we decided to try again.

I can't make sauerkraut without Grandpa!  He brought his mandoline over and helped us.

This time I let the cabbage sit longer in the salt before mashing it.  It was much easier because the salt draws water out and starts breaking down the fibers of the cabbage so you don't kill your arm trying to do the same thing.

The boys brought the dogs in when Grandpa and Grandma went home, so they managed to make it into the picture too.  Jack and Pete love the camera.

I let the jars sit on the table for the requisite 3 days at room temperature.   On the second morning Prairie Spy was doing his math at the table and jumped up in alarm.  "The jars are hissing at me!"  They did gurgle and hiss and drip lots of cabbage smelling juice.  (gack).  They they went over to my friends basement, who makes sauerkraut all the time and has a basement that is a steady 60 degrees, which is what sauerkraut needs to be perfect.  We'll check on it in a few weeks and see if we have crunchy tangy sauerkraut, or gooey yucky strands of gross cabbage.  Should be exciting!

Colt Starting Class

Every morning from 7:30 til 9 they worked with the colts.  There were 4 colts.  This is Dave.  His colt was the most flighty and exciting to watch!

This is Ben.  He was an interesting guy.

This is Cory.  He was new at colt starting.  He was a bit nervous so Ricky had Issac work with his horse.  

Here's Issac with the same horse checking things out before he gets on.

And smoothly getting half way on and checking if the horse will stand.

They rode the horses with just a halter and Ricky helped them move around the pen.

Here's Levi, Issac's brother.  He's a saddle maker at Frecker Saddlery.  They all got on at the fence.

Very gently and smoothly!

And then started working to get his horse to bend his neck both directions.  There was no buck, or big drama.  It was impressive!

Foundations Class

Prairie Spy took his mare, Nikita.  Nova Spy borrowed a horse named Vaquero that looks quite a bit like his real horse, Pepper.  We didn't get Pepper's paperwork in time to bring him.  And it's a good thing we didn't.  The poor suburban had a hard enough time pulling Nikita up Parley's Summit.

Mr. Bechtel borrowed a horse also.  She was an tiny, ancient 26 year old mare that wanted to sleep.  At lunch Mr. Bechtel told us he thought it would be easier to just pick her up and take her where he wanted her to go.  The second day they got in a rhythm and did much better.

Here Ricky (center) is talking about how to hold the McCarty.  The girl on the left is named Nicole.  She is nice and gave me some herbal salve she made herself.  

Here they are practicing switching hands with the McCarty's.  I wish I had pictures of more of the people.  There was a girl named Sally, who changed her name to Ashley half way through the clinic, and a lady named Colette who got Levi in trouble for asking him questions, and lots of girl friends of Mona, the host.  At night when the clinic was over they would pour themselves glasses of white wine and go for a little ride on their horses while sipping.  

Ricky Quinn Clinic

Oh Boy.  Good Thing we have school and work and no money or we would spend our life traveling around to horse clinics.  We just got back from Heber City, Utah going to the Ricky Quinn clinic. 

 We stayed with Mr. Bechtel's brother and had a wonderful time.  Each evening we would come home tired and would relax in their little apartment casita, and then mosey out to the fire pit on the patio to sing songs and eat delectable treats.  The Spy Twins and Granny Smith ran around shooting airsoft guns with the cousins, and Golden Delicious soaked in the beautiful sunsets and magic of a new place. 

Ricky is a protege of Buck.  The only picture I have of him is of his saddle -which is bad, but we are obsessed with saddles at our house right now.  The day was divided into 3 parts:  colt starting, foundation ground work, and Horsemanship 1.  Since the boys had never ridden in a clinic before they signed up for the foundations class.  I was going to do the class too, but my back rebelled, so Mr. Bechtel took my spot.  He did much better than I would have.

The evening before we were trying to find the ladies house in the dark to drop off Nikita, the horse.  I was so confused because we were driving through subdivisions.  Where was "the ranch"?  Mona, the host, said the clinic was at her ranch, "Fired up Ranch".  Luckily, we found her boyfriend/husband Tim on the side of the road putting out a sign and we followed him the rest of the way up the hill to "the ranch", which turned out to be 5 acres.  What??  

Granny Smith and I explored the subdivision and various gates on the front of the estates.  It was fun.  He also froze in the morning and baked in the afternoon.  This is a morning photo!  We also met some great people and learned a ton.  More on that to follow....

Mr. Bechtel's Brother Gets Married!

Mr. Bechtel helped me download pictures from my phone from earlier this summer, so here is an important event!  Mr. Bechtel's brother, J, got married to a beautiful girl in the Salt Lake Temple in August.  They met in Dallas where J is working.

The kids stayed at home for a multi regional conference with Elder Bednar so I had to try and take pics of N's hair for Golden Delicious to see.  It was lovely.

Here are some of Mr. Bechtel's siblings and his parents.

They had a beautiful reception at Morinda Gardens after.  I didn't take any pictures because it got too dark.  But it was lots of fun.