Father's Day Gift

I was really surprised to get a Father's Day gift from my children. They gave me an iPod nano with a holder thing to put on my arm when I go hiking! Isn't that cool! Now I just have to upload some 3 Dog Night, Simon & Garfunckle, Beatles, Herman's Hermits, Beach Boys, etc. Great 60s music. I've got great kids (and a great wife who gave them the idea I think).

Decisions, decisions, decisions

As you know, yesterday was Fathers Day. A few days before I asked Tom what he wanted for his "special dinner". He knew exactly what would please him and his father---steak, baked potatoes and apple pie. That was great...I didn't have to make any food decisions. Josh and Logan had also invited friends, bringing the number up to 14 for dinner. On Friday I priced steaks-WOW! Then Saturday came and Tom and I stopped at a quilt store and I found exactly what I wanted for my room. There came the BIG decision....steak for Tom, quilt for me. Check out the quilt! It was worth it. I figured the pleasure of the steak would of only lasted for a couple of hours and the quilt would make us happier a lot longer. Tom agreed...I chose a good man to be the father of my children!

Fun with Ty

About once a month we drive up to Salt Lake to see Ty. We always go out to lunch and then we often go do something if we have time. Last Saturday we went to Squatters Pub and had a very good meal. Then we went to the Farmer's Market at Pioneer Park. If you know Pioneer Park, it has been a place for the homeless and alcoholic. SLC is trying to rehabilitate it and the market is a giant step. It was fun. We like trying new places so Ty searches places to eat. We have eaten at some great places among them a Tibetian restaurant in the Avenues, In Irish pub, a Viennese place with great German food, Ruth's Diner up one of the canyons with pictures of Ruth (always smoking) on the wall, etc. We have also eaten at questionable places like Incantations, a Peruivan place where Linda wouldn't even order anything--she was the smart one. Ty and I got "food" that was gross. I got major sick when Ty and I ate at a Scottish restaurant. Next time up, it was out of business. There was the Guatamalan place where hoofs of some animal in the soup Ty got.

What you'll see in small Utah towns!

We recently went to Star Valley in Wyoming to visit Jenny and the kids who were visiting her sister and family on the way to Oregon. We had so much fun with the grandkids and the Draney kids, we forgot to take pictures But on the way back, we saw something we just had to have a picture of. Just outside Woodwuff, UT we saw this sign. I'm not sure we should post this on our G rated website, but Grandma Linda insists (I'm going to blame her anyway). We were actually there during the festival days and thought of stopping but didn't have the stomach to do so--we did see some women holding crock pots heading for the senior center, but we weren't sure we wanted to eat what they were cooking.

Battle Creek Falls

So here is hike #2. It starts at the top of Battle Creek Drive (200 S) in Pleasant Grove, UT. It is about a 1.8 mile hike and is fairly easy with just a few steep places; lots of families with young children were there and the kids did okay, so maybe some grandkids would like to go?? This trip I took along my new trekking poles and they were fun and very useful. They give better balance and supposedly cut down on wear and tear on the knees. I only saw one person making fun of me. But who cares. I'm now saving up from a little extra job I took reviewing a new textbook to buy a GPS devise so I can start geocaching. What is geocaching? First grandchild to call or email me the answer gets a prize. I'll get it down so anyone who wants can go with me and have fun finding buried treasure. In fact, I wonder if that was buried treasure I saw in the back of the cave you see in this set of pictures? We'll have to check it out when all the Grandkids are here (I'm going to get someone to go with me on these hikes one way or another. Linda only likes asphalt or dirt trails, not ones with rocks and skree on them). What is skree? Look it up. First grandchild to call or email me with the answer gets a prize.

Grandpa Tom's Hikes

Every Spring and Summer I say I am going to hike and maybe even backpack, but am lucky to get one or two hikes in. Well, this year I am really going to do it! So I started this Spring with some short, local hikes to get me started. These are shots from that hike; just up to Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon. I did this in May when we finally had a nice day. I hope the grandkids remember this spot--we had a lot of fun there last summer. We can do it again if you want when you all get here in July. Notice how the Provo River is running fast. We had a good, wet winter so we have lots of water this year.

There is Evidence!

Remember the stop sign I ran into in front of Kohls? Here is a picture of it; notice how it leans a bit to the left--that is from my right front bumper hitting it. The next picture is the bottom of the sign with the spot of white paint from my car. I'd be dead if CSI was looking for me!