Anniversary Trip 2021

 For years, Lori and I have talked about taking a trip to Europe for our anniversary. We even made sure we had passports so we would be ready. Our 30th anniversary seemed like the perfect time, but sadly, our 30th was during Covid in 2020, and traveling out of the country was not a possibility. As our 31st approached, we were hopeful, but Covid was spiking, and London was not open for visitors. A bit dejected, and scared after the disaster of our last minute trip to Glacier National Park last year, we weren't share where to go. We sat down, starting looking at airfares and vacation packages, and landed on New Orleans as the spot. Neither of us had been there, so why not? We found a great deal through Delta, and our plan was set. Lori set about planning daily adventures for us.

Alyssa took us to the airport on a Wednesday. The flight went smooth, and we soon were landing in the Big Easy. The airport felt deserted. It was surreal, like a scene of a dystopian novel. We quietly picked up our luggage and went to the taxis. We figured we could walk to everything we had booked, so no need for a car.

Our taxi driver was incredible. She obviously was a southern gal, and very religious. When we asked if we should mask up in the vehicle, she emphatically told us NO. Only God could give her that disease. Nobody else. Only God. She talked with Lori about children and grandchildren, and soon we were in the French Quarter. Man, was I glad we did not have to drive or find a place to park. The French Quarter literally was built a long time ago, and has been carefully preserved. The streets are narrow, and there is pretty much no parking. 

We soon were checking into The Bourbon Orleans. As we entered, Lori noted the sign that talked about all the hauntings that have supposedly happened in the historic structure. We were then on ghost watch the entire time, but were not lucky enough to witness anything supernatural.

Our room was nice. It was painted dark, with dark flooring, which was a lot different from other places I've stayed. Our window looked out onto the street below.

It was late, but we were hungry. The restaurant in our hotel was closed, but we walked around the corner and found Pere Antoine. They had a Cajun sampler, which I opted for. Lori went with a PoBoy sandwich. I was not disappointed.

Thursday morning we found breakfast French Toast. Incredible. It's like a diner out of the 50s with very good breakfast. We were booked for the Cajun Pride combination tour. Our driver, Big Joe, was texting Lori for pickup arrangements, and told us he could pick us up by where we were eating. Southern hospitality right there, folks.

Big Joe first drove us to our swamp tour. He was very informative. He even had a Spotify playlist of music he felt really worked for New Orleans. I can hook you up if you want!

The swamp tour was great. It was basically a pontoon with about 30 people on board. We saw a lot of gators. We saw two large racoon homes, which honestly, the gators should eat them. I'm not a fan of racoons. I'm probably scarred from the time Jason announced there was one in our garage. I said, "There's no racoon in the garage!". I opened up the door to the garage, and there on its hind legs was the largest one I've ever seen. True story. Stupid racoons.

I did get to old an alligator!

Next, we were off to a plantation. It's the one where Bo and Hope were married on Days of our Lives. Lori was beyond stoked. The plantation was incredible. They did a good job of making sure the dark history of plantations was told. It's hard for me to imagine treating other people as slaves and property, but I also don't know what it was like to be raised and live back when slavery was legal. It was a good reminder of the dark side of human nature. The property was so beautiful, and well preserved. It is another supposedly haunted place, but still, no ghosts were seen.

Big Joe told us story about how all swimming pools in the French Quarter were built on old cemetery ground. According to him, they were all called the "Well of Souls", and you could see headstones hidden around each one. We decided to investigate this. The pool at our hotel had none of this. It did have a black tiled bottom, which made it appear to be bottomless. But no headstones. However, I never saw anyone swimming in it.....

Friday was supposed to be our steamboat trip on the mighty Mississippi, but the boat was down for the count and out of service. We had breakfast and Café Beignet, where Lori had the beignets she'd been craving. With our outing for the day canceled, we did  a lot of shopping and went to a movie. Still, a quality day!

When dinner time rolled around, our options were limited. Bourbon Street at night, which is right by our hotel, is like a scene out of Satan's fantasy. It is LOUD, bright and full of drunken behavior. We weren't up for that, so we wandered up a couple of streets and soon found ourselves in the gay zone. Their words, not mine. When we entered Betty's Bar and Bistro, I was a bit skeptic. However, the service was awesome, the food was incredible, and they had the Olympics playing on 6 different televisions. 

Saturday was our bus tour around New Orleans. It was informative and fun. We spent some time at one of the cemeteries. If a person can have a favorite tomb, mine would be the one where a rich old lady was mad at her children, so she built a tomb that cost a half million dollars. Bitter much?

Sunday night was the big ending to our adventures. We were off on the adults only haunted tour, featuring Hellvision. It was a lot of fun, up until the incident. I don't usually quote from myself, but here is the review I left for them:

"What started out as a fun tour quickly devolved into an awkward, uncomfortable experience. Jenny was doing her best, but she seemed very nervous. After sending our group off for a bar break, she kicked 6 people off the tour because one guy essentially told a Dad joke. She wielded her projector like a light Saber, aggressively shining it in the eyes of anyone who dared to question her decision. I was a bit jealous of the 6 who essentially escaped. Honestly, they did nothing wrong and were not a distraction. This was definitely not the Jenny from the Block, and her number is not 8675309."

Side note: the tour company saw my review, and we were issued a refund. We also received an email which implied Jenny was probably no longer with the company. Or at least wasn't conducting tours.

I should mention that twice we ended up eating the The Clover Grill. A gay diner, and again, the food and service was amazing. Lori had a club sandwich, which I had to attempt to remake for her because it left such a good impression!

Monday's ride to the airport was amazing. He was a young man, in his early 20s, just trying to start out in the transportation business. When we arrived at the airport, we found out he only accepted cash, so he took us to the nearest ATM. Too funny.

Our hotel was close to Jackson Square, and the entire French Quarter reminded me of Disneyland. Well, except the French Quarter also has a lot of vendors, street performers, homeless people and sirens. So many times we heard first responders. It was incredibly hot and humid, and not everyone was blessed to have a hotel room where the A/C never turned off. 

We did a lot of shopping. It was a lot of fun. We bought all sorts of gifts for the kids back home, including some Voodoo dolls and HOT sauce. We were in walking distance of everything we had planned to do.

New Orleans was also just entering a Covid flare-up, so we did  a lot of mask wearing.

I'm told the French Quarter is wonderful at Christmas time. I'd like to go back someday and see. I'd take my family as well, I just wouldn't turn them loose on Bourbon street. Also, they'd have to understand the importance of daily naps!

The Camping Trip That Wasn't

 For weeks, Braden had been talking up Mill Hollow. He sent pictures and did his research. It was going to be a great place for us to camp. The sites are all first come, first served, but he felt confident we would get a spot. I spent a couple of hours on Friday getting ready. I borrowed "vacation" truck (a story for another day) and loaded it up. I thought of everything. I even packed extra things, like my camping shovel, a broom for sweeping out the tents, etc. My children gave me a fancy air mattress for Father's Day. I had on one of my new fishing/camping shirts. I was locked and loaded.

Braden and his family left first, but due to a needed bathroom break for them, we actually pulled into Mill Hollow together. It is beautiful! Even the drive in through Woodland is quite pretty. 

First problem - every campsite is taken, in both loops. No problem, Braden said, as he had read about tons of unofficial campsites up the road. Well, we drove up the road looking, but they were all gone. I even drove to the top of hill I could see, and as the truck crested over the ridge, all I could see were RVs. Honestly, where did they all come from?

A bit dejected at this point, but Braden has a 3rd option. He had noted a camping spot about a mile back down the road from the Mill Hollow turnoff. It turned out to be just big enough to collect a bunch of beer cans and rodents. In the end, it served as a bathroom break spot for those in need.

Ok, option 4! I suggest we head up the Mirror Lake highway and camp in one of the lower campgrounds. I have never seen them full. As we get back into cell coverage, Michelle noted that by the time we got there, we would not have time to do anything other than set up the tents and go to bed. We are headed home.

But wait, Jason comes up with option 5! Apple Maps says there is a campground about 5 minutes out of Kamas. We can be there in 10 minutes. Why not check it out? Ledgefork campground has great reviews as well. We turn where Apple says to, and wind our way up on a dirt road. This dirt road is the route to a lot of peoples houses, but no campsite. Jason checks Google Maps, and it turns out Ledgefork is really about 10 minutes past Smith Morehouse, which is over 40 minutes away. Curse you Apple!

We decide to head to Heber to get some dinner and head home. Jason, somewhat timidly, says there is a campground just off the road on the way home. Option 6? Rock Cliff campground by Jordanelle? Why not? As we pull in, we see a sign that says "Camping Closed for Season".  We could do nothing but laugh.

It is decided we will meet up for breakfast, then swim later on Saturday. However, we found out the pump is out, and there will be no swimming. So long Option 7.

At least we can eat at Dairy Keen in Heber and watch the model trains? The line to get in stretched down the street, and the drive-up around the block. Option 8 died in flames. Basically, options 9 - 12 never really even started.

We then drove to a number of places in Heber, only to find out they were all closed for dine-in purposes.

I called Lori, said we were picking her up, and she, Jason, Traven and I went to Olive Garden in Spanish Fork, which is actually not crowded at 9 pm! In the end, I drove around for 5 hours to eat at a restaurant 5 minutes from my house!

We are still meeting to eat the breakfast burritos I made, and we are going to have a water day (splash pad and hoses) in the back yard, so we will still have fun today.

Mexico 2021

For years, I have been hesitant about traveling outside of the country. To be honest, I wasn't crazy about the trip we took to New York. But after hearing Alyssa and Dallin talk about their honeymoon to the Cancun area, and when I saw my entire family was sold on the idea, I finally put on my big boy pants and said I'd go. No regrets.

Some of us met early Saturday morning in Mapleton for the drive to the airport. Despite a couple of small hiccups, we all arrived safely in Mexico. In total, our party consisted of Glenn, Allison, Eric, Aubrie, Eli, Anni and Caleb; Mike, Lori, Kaylee, Jason, Alyssa, Dallin, Traven; Eric and Sally; Renato, Emily and Olivia;  and Kassidi and Russell. I was sad Braden and his family could not join us, along with Jeremy and his family. Someday, we will all take a trip together again!

The experience of going through Mexican and US customs were both new to most of us, but it honestly went smoothly. It was invaluable to have Alyssa with us. With her travel experience and Spanish skills, she was simply amazing. I think she felt a lot of pressure, as EVERYONE turned to her as the expert, but she wore the crown well!

Cancun was hot and humid. Some of us (I'm looking at you Kaylee) kind of hated it. And some of us (Traven) looked like we were born and raised there. Man, that boy can sure tan up nicely!

The check-in process at Bahia Principe Akumal was SLOW. Incredibly slow. But after about a half hour, we all had our wrist bands and were set. We didn't even go to our rooms first, but headed to the buffet for some much needed nourishment.

The resort seemed to work well for all of us. I had no idea how HUGE it was. They actually had shuttles (oversized golf carts) to transport people to their rooms, the other resorts and the Hacienda (small area with shops, a pharmacy and Covid testing). As a traveling party, we were really spread out. The one thing I didn't like was that I hardly saw some family members. It seemed to work well to keep parties no larger than 4 rooms together. We were in building 52. 52! It was so big, and Akumal was one of three properties in the Bahia Principe family that were all joined together. It never felt crowded, though. 

I think Eric and Sally had fun. As the oldest members of our party, I worried the most about them. But I know Sally enjoyed the seafood, and Eric seemed to be doing wonderful.

The food options were great. You could make one dinner reservation a day to the nicer restaurants. One of my main regrets was that we didn't do this sooner. We missed out on the most popular ones. But we were able to partake in some great seafood, Italian food, Japanese cuisine, etc. We could choose from the buffet at each of the three resorts (Koba and Tulum were the other two). There was also a snack bar, which was really just a smaller buffet. Room service was also available and included.

Sunday, we relaxed and swam. We played a lot of pool volleyball. 

I don't know what everyone else did, but Monday, I went fishing! Man, it was so much fun. We caught a lot of fish. Kassidi got a bit scared, and Traven had some sea sickness, but I would definitely do this again. My favorite moment was when I was battling a Mahi Mahi while Dallin was reeling in a different fish. Our fishing guides really knew their stuff! I was amazed and how they could keep working, while the seas were very choppy. They were moving the entire time, working up to 7 fishing poles at a time. Just incredible.

Tuesday was supposed to be snorkeling, but the ocean was not cooperating. Instead, it ended up as another day of swimming and relaxing.

Wednesday, Glenn and his family headed to see the ruins. Most of the rest of us went on an excursion that included riding ATVs, zip lines, jumping into a cenote, and experiencing a Mayan ritual.

Thursday, we caught the shuttle at 3:30 am to the airport. It was a LONG day. Traven lost his phone, which we found in his bathroom bag when we got home!

All in all, I would definitely do this again. Among the entire family, we were able to do the following:

• Swimming
• Pool volleyball
• Snorkeling at the beach
• Beach time
• ATVs
• Swimming in a cenote
• Watching a Mayan prayer ritual
• Seeing Mayan ruins
• Zip lines
• So. Much. Food.
• Fishing
• Shopping
• Lots of non-alcoholic mixed drinks
  
  
  
  
  
• Dancing
• Entertainment shows
• A game room, with pool, foosball and video games
• Swimming (lots and lots of different pools)
• Water parks (ask Emily for the details!)

Memories of my Dad

 My Dad is gone. I owe so much of who I am to him. My memory is not the best, so I thought it best to capture some key memories I have of him.

First, he was a machine, a man of keeping a schedule. I remember the automatic coffee pot firing up around 4:00 am. The sounds and smells would drift into my bedroom, which was just off of the kitchen. He was off to work early, so that he would be home by 4:00 pm. Dinner was generally at 4:30 pm. After that, he was off to work on the farm. By the time he settled in to his recliner to "watch some tv", he was exhausted. I don't know that he ever saw the end of any show that wasn't over by 9.

Back when I was young, you didn't bug Dad at work. But I knew what time he would be home, and I would often start walking down the road, just so he would stop and pick me up on the way. It wasn't until I was an adult, and had found my career, that I found out he was a computer analyst for Hill Air Force Base. I walked into the same line of work that he had for decades.

His work often took him on TDY. I still to this day am not quite sure what it stood for, but it meant he would be gone for the work week to another base. The top destination was Wright Patterson Air Base in Cincinnati, which he referred to as Right Pitiful. He did bring me back Reds gear, and that was my baseball team growing up. He also would put all his change in his toiletry bag, which he would let me keep. I still remember the smell of his aftershave coming out from that bag.

We fished, hunted and camped. Our favorite camping spot was on the Hayden's Fork of the Bear River. Not in a forest service campground, but just off a dirt road that led down to the creek. We caught a lot of fish in that little creek. He also loved to camp at Spirit Lake. That trip was always a week long, because of the distance. 

We didn't have much, but one thing we always had was either a camper or a trailer. Every night, Mom, Dad and I would play Hearts and Spades. His favorite phrase was "Faint heart never a fair maiden won". I think that was his way of saying to take risks in games.

We took a few longer trips. One was up to see my sister Patty in Montana. I have a few great memories from that trip. One was the route we were taking. If we cut through Island Park in Idaho, we would shave a lot of time off the trip. I don't know if you've been on that road, but it takes a pretty steep climb at several points. At one of those, it was snowing hard. The truck in front of us came to a halt in the snow, and so did we. Then we started to slide backwards. Dad executed some sort of race car move, the truck spun a perfect 180, and we were headed back down the road, rather than sliding off the cliff. We lost time and added miles, but we ended up spending the night at Flathead Lake in Montana. Dad decided to make the most of it, and we rented a small fishing boat for the next day. Mom hooked a big lake trout. As she reeled it in, she didn't wait for the net. Somehow she hoisted that monster into the boat without breaking the line. 

We also took a trip to Disneyland, camper and all. I don't remember much about that trip, other than I'm sure it gave me a life long love for Disney.

Deer hunting was a lot of fun. We would lay out all our gear on the kitchen table the night before the season began. I'll bet Mom loved that. Open up the back door, walk up the hill behind our house, and you were hunting. I remember one season we came upon the first draw with some trees and brush. Standing in the clearing right below were two bucks. We counted to 3, each hit our mark, and were dragging out the deer that morning. That was a quick season! Dad would process our own meat, using the old stone building behind our house and sometimes a table in the basement. 

We would go to the "duck runs" in Weber county for duck season. If the weather was right, we would easily go through several boxes of shells in one outing. 

Pheasant hunting involved walking across the street and down toward the Weber river. It was a unique, wonderful place to grow up.

On one hunt, our dog ran into the biggest, meanest raccoon I've ever seen. She was losing, and there was too much movement to get off a shotgun blast that wouldn't injure the dog. Dad grabbed that raccoon by the neck and took it out with just his pocket knife. This was one of many times he seemed a bit larger than life to me.

Every spring, we worked with all the local men to clean the irrigation canal. Man, that was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun.

I remember from a very young age being able to help with hay hauling. My "job" was to pull up on the hand clutch when I was told, then push it down when we needed to stop moving. I wasn't allowed to turn the tractor and wagon at first, but eventually I was old enough to do that. And soon after that, I was tossing bales and Grandpa was driving. I loved pulling into Grandpa's dirt driveway. The wagon would pass under an apple tree, so I'd be on top of the bales to grab a green apple early in the season, or an even better one if we were doing 3rd crop.

Directions for backing up the trailer consisted of "uphill", or "downhill". I never really understood the difference, but Grandpa and Dad sure knew what they were doing.

I was big time into boy scouts, and Dad was right there with me. He served as our Scout Commissioner for years. 

We did a lot of fishing up at Soldier Creek with Dad's best friend, Max Searle. We would leave so early in the morning, but it was ok, because we would stop at the cafe in Heber for breakfast. I swear that place had the best breakfast anywhere. We'd still be early enough to have the boat in the water before sunrise. Triple teasers or Needlefish lures on leaded line was how we rolled. And the fishing was incredible.

I don't remember my Dad ever getting mad at me. I think maybe my sisters maybe set the bar pretty low for me? Who knows, maybe it was just the luck of being not only the youngest but the only son.

Dad could fix anything. Well, he would at least try. He spent many hours battling the pipes downstairs. He often had to repair the leaky porch roofs. He claimed the only thing holding our farm machinery together was grease. He also was of the opinion that you can fix anything with duct tape and bailing twine.

Sometimes, his ideas weren't the best. One year he decided our front lawn needed to be burned to get the dead grass out. It took the lawn a full season to recover. Another time, he decided to make his own dandelion wine. The good news for him was that his concoction fermented. The bad news was that every bottle exploded.

One of our favorite treats was to get root beer and soft serve ice cream from Pendleton's gas station. You could take a rinsed out milk jug and get them to fill it with root beer. Good stuff.

We had a large garden, which he worked hard in. We had a lot of raspberries, and a go-to treat was fresh berries covered in sugar in a bowl of milk.

One time we were hunting, and he told me the only thing you can do with gloves on is pee your pants. I'm not sure what inspired that nugget of wisdom, but I think a good pair of gloves is appropriate for many circumstances.

When Mom and Dad moved to Ivins, Dad went out of control in the backyard. He and Mom would grow driving and bring back plants. No, not from the store, just random cacti and other plants they dug up. Pretty sure they broke a few laws, but I digress. The key thing is that the back yard was out of control. Huge trees and plants, with no real order. It was very much like a jungle.

I remember one of the first times he met Lori. Somehow, we had him going to church with us. That was a rare treat! He offered to drive, and as he pulled up, he decided to turn on the windshield washers. They weren't aimed exactly right, and he ended up dousing Lori in windshield washer fluid.

One time, there was a fire on the other side of the valley. We went to help. It was then I realized we didn't really know what we were doing as far as brush fires go. At one point, we were surrounded by flames. We were fortunate enough to have a man on a bulldozer come to our rescue.

Mom had a lot of back problems, and another thing I learned from Dad was service. He went to great lengths to care for her and make her comfortable. He built a platform in our family room and put a hospital bed on it. He installed a phone line in there just for her. 

He may have not been a religious man, but he taught me service, the importance of family, and how to work hard. 

 

Spring Break 2021

This spring break came together in a hurry. A bit of a bonus from Lori's work, and we had a place booked. We stayed at the Polo Towers, right off the strip. We were on the south end, close to MGM, Aria, etc. Polo Towers is a vacation club / timeshare place, so Lori had to endure a sales pitch when we arrived. Parking consisted of a limited number of underground spots, each with no turnaround space. That's right, just 3 dead end lanes. And if you didn't score one of those spots, you had to share with the outdoor lot of the Travelodge. That place looks like a crime scene, and in fact, on our last day there, a heavy police presence was there for hours. 

Traven loved the setup. He basically had his own private suite, complete with a small kitchen area, bathroom, TV, etc. We had plenty of room, since it was just the 3 of us. And our suite was bigger, so we had a kitchen table, sofa, recliner, etc. It was quiet for Vegas, and we slept well.

The pool was lame. It was on the rooftop, which is cool, but it was only 3 feet deep. We didn't do much swimming.

For road trips, I either drive vacation truck (Showgren's F150) or I rent something a bit bigger. Since it was just the 3 of us, I opted to rent a slightly bigger car. Well, Enterprise in Spanish Fork was hopping, the size of car we rented wasn't there, so we ended up getting upgraded to a Nissan Armada. That's right, 8 seats for just us! It was great. It came equipped with a cruise control that auto slowed for traffic. That through me for a loop at first. And it had this cool aerial view when backing up. I'm not quite sure how they pull that off, but it was like having a drone monitoring my parking job.

After over a year of isolation, the VA started allowing limited visits this month. I called, they had just had a cancellation, and we were able to stop in and see my Dad on the way down. He has lost quite a bit of weight. He refuses to wear his hearing aids, so it's a struggle to visit with him. And he usually answers questions with more than off topic answers. We were limited to a half hour, but it was still a wonderful experience.

We decided to buy a few items at the Walmart before heading down to Vegas. One item was hand sanitizer, of course. We got in the car, and Lori gave each of our hands a generous portion. As I began to rub it in, I realized she had actually bought hand soap. Yeah, that was fun to try and rub in with no water!

We arrived in Las Vegas and went to dinner at Chapalas Mexican restaurant. Good food. I'd go there again. Las Vegas is a bit behind Utah on Covid recovery, so it still felt weird at times to be out. Lots of people wearing masks, even outdoors. And I think the kids just barely went back to in-person learning this last week.

Tuesday, we walked. And we found out that a lot of places have adjusted dates and times due to Covid, but those aren't shown online. We went with the 7 experience GoCity pass, which is a great deal. Anyway, we walked to the High Roller, just to find out it didn't open until 4 pm. We then walked to Madame Tussuads. Lori decided she needed a bathroom. Like a fool, I told her to just step into the Venetian, find a bathroom, and we would get a place in line. Nearly an hour later, we found her! She was on the wrong floor, and about as far into that casino shopping area as you can get. I told her to stay put, and we'd find her. She said she was by a waterfall. I didn't even know there was one in there!

At any rate, we finally made it into the museum. I've done it several times, but it is always entertaining!

Lori was feeling a bit off, so we opted to go see The Unholy that night, rather than walk anymore. Solid movie, but not as scary as I would have hoped.

Wednesday, we started off at Pole Position raceway. The carts didn't look Mike sized, so I sat this one out. It was more fun for me to watch Lori and T race! It was an indoor track, and they were moving pretty quickly. Lori was a bit more conservative in her racing strategy, but they both had fun.

Located at the same place is a virtual reality outfit. We chose to slaughter zombies as a family. Not to brag, but I had the highest kill count. I'd definitely do this again.

Wednesday afternoon was Meow Wolf. It is located in Area 15, and I don't really know how to describe it. It's a weird looking "store", with hidden entries into back rooms. Those rooms have slides, activities, hidden items related to the experience, etc. It was fun, but for the price, I would have hoped for more. Area 15 actually has other activities, but each is very pricey.

After this, we went on the High Roller. It takes that boy 30 minutes to make a full rotation. If you haven't been on it, it's the giant structure that looks like a Ferris wheel. Each "car" actually can easily seat a dozen people, but thanks to Covid, we had one all to ourselves. The views were great. There are screens telling you how long you have been on, how high you are, and all sort of facts about Vegas. Definitely worth doing.

Thursday, we did the Hunger Games exhibition. It left me with a desire to rewatch the movies. And we got to test our archery skills. That was way cool.

We then went to the Big Apple coaster at New York New York. I wasn't feeling it, so Lori and T went, then T went again. Traven has come a long way in overcoming his fear of coasters. This one is high speed, has a loop and some corkscrews.

We ended this day with the 4D shows at the Excalibur. Not nearly as cool as I remember the "magic motion" machines being, but still, worth trying.

And Friday, we were on our way home. This is pretty much what I got out of Traven for HOURS. With having his own room, I think he might have stayed up a bit late each night!

No buffets, weird hours and the usual Vegas issues of half naked people walking the Strip (kind of gives it a new meaning), but all in all, it was great to be back!

The Beginning of Alyssa and Dallin Henderson

 To begin, I'd just like to state I have 5 wonderful children. They are each unique, and I could not love them more. I've written in the past about Jason's accidents, Traven's Graves disease, etc. This will be a very Alyssa-centric post.

Alyssa has always been a very self motivated, driven individual. I never worried about her grades. An A- one time about crushed her soul. She chose good friends, exceled at sports and always followed a path of righteousness. She is a rule follower, leader and just fills everyone around her with joy.

She never really had time for a boyfriend. Sure, she dated in high school, and there were a quite a few who tried to win her heart, but that wasn't her plan. She planned on a mission, so having a boyfriend before that would serve no purpose. 

Well, she did serve a mission, which was a truly remarkable time. I have written about some of those experiences before. When she returned home, I joked with her about dating, and even bet her lunch that she would be married within two years. She laughed. That wasn't her plan. It was all about an education at this point. And work. Did I mention what a hard worker she is? She had scholarships lined up for her first two years of college, and saved up so she could pay for her own housing, car, etc.

During that first year back at USU, she met a boy. They dated, and soon he was her "boyfriend". But she didn't seem to be in love. I had told her some day she fall hard, but this was a slow burn. I heard them on the phone with each other one time, and thought they sounded like an old married couple, not like two kids in love. After 8 months of this, he decided he wanted to date other girls, and it was over. She was heartbroken. It was at this time I really noticed how fiercely loyal her friends are. I actually pity that first boy that broke her heart. He is lucky to be alive. You've heard of scorched earth policy? This guy was signed up for inappropriate dating apps, a daily phone call with cat trivia and more. 

Right after the breakup, we had our family vacation to South Dakota. She just wasn't herself, and stated she would not date again. She had moved home, since the cost of USU was going to be so high. She had also decided to attend BYU-I starting in the fall, but that heartbreaker was going to be there, and there really wasn't much point in going there anymore. She would sell her housing contract she had there and stay at home. She could really just hide from the world at this point.  But you know what? That girl listens to the spirit, and when we got back home, she announced she was not going to settle for feeling like she did. She downloaded a dating app and put herself back out there. She would date, have fun and enjoy life.

Someone like Alyssa being out there on an app was like throwing gasoline on a fire. Within hours, she had hundreds of would be suitors. She had to remove her account within days. There was just too much to even keep up with. During that narrow window, a boy named Dallin slipped in. He asked her to go hiking to a place called Alien Tower. We joked about that even being a real thing, but a quick Google search revealed it to be so. They hiked, then after talked for 3 hours. THREE HOURS. That was probably the first sign that there might be something there.

They both had some dates with other people lined up. Some took place, some were cancelled. They fell hard! This is what I had anticipated would happen some day. It went from a first date, to seeing each other almost every day. It went from talking about future plans, to discussing marriage. And that went from summer, to spring, to getting married in December. 

We had short notice to get things booked. The Payson temple had one opening, December 18th at 2:30 pm. We looked at reception venues, and the one we wanted just happened to be available December 19th after 3 pm. I have to tell you, having the temple on one day, then the reception the next day, was an absolute blessing.

I asked at work if anyone knew a good photographer, and we found a gem in Elk Ridge. She truly has a talent, and her price was a lot better than any others we found. We also wanted a videographer, and I can't wait to see his work. He is the brother of one of Alyssa's best friends, and a pop star in Africa. No joke.  We found a wedding cake designer in a girl that used to be in our ward. We borrowed picture frames for the reception from Lori's sister. The list goes on an on and on. Kaylee was the greatest maid of honor you can imagine. Lori and her Mom aced the maternal side of things.

We have good friends in the ward, the Rifes. Brother Rife was a mission president in Korea, and has been a temple sealer in 3 different temples. He currently is one in the Payson temple, so I thought it would be a personal touch to have him perform the ordinance. He was AMAZING. He took the couple and their parents to dinner a few nights before the sealing. We spent close to 3 hours, most of which was Brother Rife not only getting to know Dallin (he was Alyssa's Sunday School teacher for two years), but explaining to them how the day would go vs. how it would have gone pre-pandemic. He is a spiritual giant, one of the smartest people I know, and has a great sense of humor. I could listen to him for hours. It truly was a wonderful night. 

The day of the sealing, we were greeted by the temple recorder. His name is Kelly Woodbrey, and he just happens to be a neighbor who was in our ward for years and was also in our stake presidency. I also coached one of his sons a few times, so it was again nice to see a familiar face to guide us through this experience. 

This sealing was certainly different from the ones I've experienced pre-pandemic, but we were all so grateful the temple is open for these things! I just sat there, reflecting on the many tender mercies that had led to this point. We truly have a loving Heavenly Father.

Dallin's family provided a grooms dinner before the reception, which was just great. Honestly, his family is amazing. I'm so happy that Alyssa will have so much more love in her life. The reception was better attended than I would have guessed. I truly enjoyed our Daddy/Daughter dance, where we had just a few minutes to talk, joke and enjoy each other.

One other experience I had during this really brought me to my knees. Two days before the sealing, I helped Dallin move out of his apartment. When I came home, I took a shower. As I got ready, I just didn't feel right. I took my temp, and I was over 101. I was devastated. I had made it this close, just to get sick? I turned to prayer. Not to pray to feel better, but just to not be a distraction for the wedding. Dallin found me a place that could do a rapid Covid test, so I did that and found tested negative. By Thursday, I was feeling much better. What a time to get hit with a 24 hour bug. I was still worried my temp would spike, but at the temple I measured 89. Brother Woodbrey asked me if I had a pulse. I think it's more the fact that he is a bit short and probably took the temp of my shoulder, not my forehead!

Lori asked me several times if I was sad. I don't think that's the correct word. As a father, my desire is for my children to be happy. When I see how happy Dallin makes her, I feel safety and warmth. I know I won't always be around in this life. I feel old. I feel melancholy. Is that the right word? I miss the days when my children were small. It seems like just a short time ago. But I feel hope as well. I look forward to seeing how Dallin and Alyssa's family evolves over time. I look forward to our trip to Dallas for an open house in their honor. So I guess I feel warm, safe, old, nostalgic, melancholy and hopeful, with a gentle dusting of sadness tossed in there. I feel like a father, who has now watched two of his children find love and start their own families. 

South Dakota 2020

For years, I've told my family I wanted to vacation in South Dakota. I have fond memories of being there with my Mom and Dad, probably when I was an early teen. That's the trip when Dad tried to make it to Island Park, got caught in a snow storm, and ended up doing a 180 degree turn with the camper on top of the truck, while sliding downhill in traffic. Now that's a memory! We spent a couple of days in Fairview, Montana, then journeyed back through South Dakota.

It took some time, but once my mother in law Sally mentioned she wanted to see South Dakota, I finally made it happen this year. We booked a vacation rental in February, right before Covid-19 took over. I figured if you can't social distance in Wyoming and South Dakota, where can you?

On Friday the 10th of July, we picked up a 15 passenger van, which we named Bertha. That evening, we set off for Rock Springs. Since the van provided no luggage room, we took Grandpa Eric's truck loaded with our gear. I put my luggage rack in the hitch, so we ended up with lots of room in the pickup for passengers. I drove the truck with G-pizzle, and Jason and Eric Jr. rode on the back seat. The van had Kaylee at the wheel, with Alyssa as her steady copilot. Lori, Sally, Michelle, Mason, Parker, Emily, Renato, Olivia and Traven filled up the van. That's 3 car seats my friends.

We stopped at the rest area just outside of Coalville to eat our sack lunches. We stayed at the Clarion Hotel that night. This was our first experience with the pandemic affecting the trip. You had to book a time to use the pool. That said, T, J, Eric Jr. and Renato were not going to miss a shot to swim, so a time was booked.

The grab-n-go breakfast was laughable. A bottle of water, a granola bar and two mini muffins. But it did the trick to get us on our way. We actually made pretty good time, considering the little ones, but it still took a long time to eventually arrive at Devil's Tower. I had thought we might hike around it, but that wasn't going to happen. Too much driving, too much heat and too many tired folks for that. We took some pics, and arrived at our rental in Rapid City around dinner time.

I looked up the house, and found it was built in 1951. Honestly, it felt like someone's Grandma passed away, and the family decided to turn her house into a rental. We made it work, but it definitely was not the nicest place to stay. It lacked adequate comfortable seating. One interesting thing is that the house only had one television, but we didn't miss it. The one TV was located downstairs, and it got used primarily by Traven and Renato!

Glenn, Allison, Caleb and Annie drove down from Wisconsin to vacation with us, which was awesome!

Sunday began our vacationing. First stop, Chapel in the Hills. It was built in the 1960s by a radio preacher. We spent a bit of time looking around, and took some excellent photos. I'm not sure where Michelle and Parker disappeared to in the family photo, but we got most of us.

Next, we journeyed to Cosmos Mystery Area. Personally, I would rename this attraction to "The Law of Gravity". They have built a couple of shacks onto the steep slope of a hill. Things are laid out to give your mind the impression that things are level, when in fact you are actually working against gravity to stay upright. It does give you a bit of an uneasy feeling, and some of our group tapped out early. Definitely would not do this again, especially given the price, but no regrets on vacation.

We next took in one of the family favorites for the trip, Bear Country. Mason and Parker both rode in the front on top of Jason for this one. Bears, reindeer, big horn sheep, wolves, deer, elk, etc. all were just wandering about as we drove through. The kids LOVED it. Actually, I think we all loved it. And with 15 people in the van, and a $65 flat max rate per vehicle, it was a bargain. We did spend a long time waiting for reindeer to clear the road, because it turns out they are just plain rude!

Monday was Rushmore day. It is an amazing sight, and definitely worth the $10 it takes to park. After taking some pics, some of us decided to hike to the base. The signs said it was close to 300 steps up and down, so only a handful of us went. It was so worth it. Once we were there, we discovered the trail is actually a loop, and the way back was basically level. Awkward. We all could have went that way!

Side note: Mason and Parker are not really into getting their picture taken.

Some of the crew took off for naps, while some stayed and walked around the town of Keystone. Alyssa, Eric Jr., Caleb, Traven and Annie did a zipline. T, Caleb and Annie also went miniature golfing. We browsed the numerous Trump shops, t-shirt shops, etc. Eventually, the van came back for us and we were off to Old Macdonald's Farm.

I'll be honest. I did not expect it to be the hit it was. We actually went back the next day as well. Parker it turns out speaks fluent Goat. Mason just kept saying, "I'm holding a baby goat". Olivia seemed enthralled as well. What I didn't expect was Traven, Caleb, Annie and Alyssa being so into the farm!

Tuesday was Custer State Park. The drive in the park is a challenge. Hair pin curves and narrow tunnels. I was amazed at Kaylee's driving of the van. I swear we had just inches to spare through two of the passes, but she made it. It would have been nice to do a bit more hiking, but this was mainly a drive and see it journey. We had planned on lunch at the house, but we found ourselves in the town of Custer, a long way from the house and HUNGRY! It was then I learned of Parker's deep love for chips and salsa. We are talking both hands in the salsa type of love!

We saw Crazy Horse from a distance, then finished out the day with some shopping and a return trip to the farm.

Wednesday, we saw the Badlands. I pitched a bit of a fit because the family wouldn't wait to see the Minuteman Missile visitor's center, but I guess most of them don't remember the cold war like I do. That said, the Badlands are a sight to behold. It's no wonder why they have the name they have, because they are rugged and probably weren't much good to the people that passed through.

Thursday was Deadwood. I was a bit underwhelmed by it, but we did get in some shopping and I ate a buffalo burger. Side note: Glenn had heard about an amazing Chinese food place in town, but we couldn't find it. Turns out it closed 7 years ago. Awkward.....

And that my friends is it! Friday we stayed in Rock Springs again, and Braden surprised his family by being there. This time we stayed at the Hampton Inn, which was definitely an upgrade. We were home by lunch time on Saturday.

A few of my favorite memories/moments include:

1. Celebrating Mason's birthday!

2. Eric Jr. mixing up his shoes and wearing one of Lori's all day on Thursday.

3. Hearing this sage card game advice: "If you can play, then you can play".

4. Answering the question, "What is Cr stal?"

5. Watching Parker wake up Jason every morning.

6. Observing Michelle and Mason at the Badlands, and wishing I was that brave.

7. Playing cards each night.

8. Having so many of the family together for meals at the house.

9. Glenn and Allison providing some killer green chile burritos.

10. Spending so much time with the family.

11. Sitting back and trying to relax while Kaylee did the driving in South Dakota.

12. Eric Sr. and his sense of humor.

13. I'm not a fan, but seeing all the Trump signs, shirts, banners, etc. was something to behold.

14. Mason wearing his new tool belt around and fixing everything.

15. Parker inventing a game where he just dives off of tables and expects someone to catch him.

My two regrets are from things being closed. I would have LOVED a tour of a Minuteman silo, and the Wind Caves and Jewel Caves are both amazing. Maybe we go back some day? It was definitely a great trip with many great memories made.