Maui Nov 13, 2010

We bought fresh pineapple from a guy standing in the road and dried mango from a green roadside stand.

I took one last dip in the ocean and got sand in my suit!

Ray and I had dinner at the Plantation House to celebrate the anniversary of the day we met. They gave us a nice card and champagne.

Binary

101010 Converts to Happily Ever After for Ray and me. Today is our 25th wedding anniversary.

Here Bigger Kitty

We took possession of our snow cat today.

This should get us through the winter.

Snow Cat

We got news today that our Snow Cat should be delivered next week. Is it crazy to get excited about a snow cat?

It's going to be pretty cool though.

Photos to come--oh and the Snow Cat will be named The Ark--Why?

Because it used to be owned by NOAA

:) (Wil's idea)

Oh and Happy 50th Birthday to the Flintstones!!

Indian Summer?

The temperatures have been in the 70s for a few weeks now and I'm loving it. I'm getting kind of spoiled and I'm afraid I'll be disappointed when the weather turns cold and then colder.

But for now it sure is nice to be able to sit outside and eat outside and go for our afternoon walk without worrying about bundling up.

Here Kitty

Believe it or not we have a kitty in our yard. He must be really lost. I wonder where he came from? I hope he sticks around. It's kind of nice having a domestic animal around.

We also saw several piles of elk doo on our walk today, so that means the elk are coming down and we'll probably start seeing them soon.

Oh and I almost forgot to mention the moose. Jeez we see so many of them lately.

Backblogged

Is it legal to backblog? I felt a little backlogged on my blogging so I've posted a few new blogs that happened earlier this month.

Little Miss Muffett has Nothing on Me

For a week or two now Ray has been monitoring the progress of his new pet. This one is right outside our bedroom Window.

I hope he doesn't find his way inside.

First Snow and a Fox in the Yard

When I got up this morning it was cold outside, so I went out on the front porch and got some kindling to start a fire. I thought I heard a dog barking, which in a normal neighborhood is not uncommon, but in mine is rare except for weekends.

It was still dark outside and I was half asleep, so I was really surprised when the sun finally came up and I realized it had snowed overnight.

The other really nice surprise was the pretty little fox that was running around just below my office window.

Roh-Day-Oh

Ray and I decided to participate in local festivals and events when we moved here. The nearest town is 30 miles to the North, so that's where we shop and eat out. We invited our kids and grandkids to come and go with us to the rodeo and I really enjoyed it.

It had been years since I had gone to one. I took a lot of photos and found new features on my camera that were pretty cool.

2002 East Fork Fire Still a Big, Ugly Mess

The fire started June 28, 2002, inside the East Fork of the Bear River Boy Scout Camp. It blackened 14,200 acres of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest and caused an estimated $150,000 in damage within the Scout camp itself, but the devastation to the Forest and surrounding area was estimated at over $14 Million.

In 2002 while I was mourning the first anniversary of the death of my son Mathew, flames forced evacuation of the Scout camp, nearby campgrounds and caused me and my family to pack up what we could and leave our mountain home. Officials were forced to close most of the north slope of the Uinta Mountains to the public.

Lawsuits were filed against the Boy Scouts of America and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2004. The state of Utah sought more than $600,000 in damages for putting out the fire that spread over state, federal and private lands. The Federal law suit saught $13 million in damages.

So why am I bringing all this up now, so many years later? Because Ray and I decided to drive up to the area where it all began and take a walk today.

We Killed The Mouse

Our little mouse friend kept stealing the cheese from the mouse traps we set, but the little guy was so small he wasn't setting them off. Finally we got the bright idea to push the cheese down a little harder on the trap so he would have to work for it. We caught him in less than an hour. It was actually kind of sad. He died instantly from what looked like a broken arm.

I hated killing him, but what other options are there?

Mel, the Sears technician--

A month or so ago I got a letter from Sears telling me my brand new washer needed a circuit board replacement due to problem they had discovered with one of the rinse cycles. The instructions said to call and they would mail out a new circuit board and schedule a technician to come to my home to replace it.

When I called I spoke to a really nice lady in Texas and explained that we would love to have the technician come to our home, but did she realize it would require a snowmobile ride for part of the way? She assured me that my address indicated I lived in a remote area and she was certain the technicians were used to getting in to places like mine.

I was doubtful to say the least.

As is often the case, when the circuit board was sent, the address they used on the package was our physical location rather than our mailing address. Thank goodness the UPS guy called and asked me where I lived. He was kind enough to put the correct address on the box and route it to Wyoming so it could get delivered to me. Sure enough the package showed up two days later.

This morning I was doubtful (due to our experience trying to get the Dish Network technicians to show up) that the technician would really come as planned.

He called around 8:30 or so and spoke to my husband who explained where we were, gave him very specific instructions to call when he reached the nearest town so we would have an estimated time of arrival and Ray could meet him out on the highway to bring him in.

AND (drum roll please) Everything worked as planned.

So here's to Mel the Sears technician from Salt Lake City. You're on my list of great service providers.

My very ambitious husband decided the wood stack we had was dwindling and since the high temperature today was 44 degrees he went out and spent the day cutting some more wood and stacking it.

The weather here is beautiful and sunny, but I wish it would snow. Is that strange? I used to hate the snow, but not having to commute in it has made a big difference to me.

Friends lunch, no shows and eek!

Where do I begin? We took a trek down from the mountains to have lunch with friends on Friday. That was fun and really good food. If you ever go to Tooele for anything-- eat at Sostanza. Great food and great service, reasonably priced.

Saturday we cleaned like crazy because we were planning to show the house to at least two or three interested buyers who had called and said they would like to come by on Saturday. All were no shows. :( So we have a nice, clean house still for sale.

We visited with Mom on the way back to the mountains on Sunday and got in pretty late, but it sure was nice to be home.

First thing this morning as I came up stairs to get to work, I stopped in the bathroom to wash my face, etc. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something small and dark, dart across the floor, run around the room and run out the door. EEK!!! It was a mouse. I guess the little critters have finally found their way in from the out doors. Dammit. Want to lend me your cat?

All in all though today was a beautiful day in the mountains. The thermometer got up to 39 degrees today and the sun was out all day.

We could use some snow though, otherwise the ground will be bare in no time.

Wine, bubbles and candles

Day two as full timers was another day in paradise. Ray and I met in the kitchen for lunch and then after work we took our walk down to collect the mail. We're always excited to receive mail from friends and family.

After our walk I took a nice bath with the candles lit and the bubbles up to my chin. Ray brought me a glass of wine and I was in heaven.

Full timers

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. We sure did. It was great having Wil visit from school for a few weeks. I sure have missed having him around. He provides so much entertainment and I just love his sense of humor.

Ray and I are now full time mountain dwellers. Yesterday was my first day working from my mountain home and it was delightful.

After I got off work Ray and I went for a walk and made an event out of retrieving the mail.

Some friends and family have been concerned that we'll feel isolated up here in the mountains.

I'll keep you posted on that.