2021 Summer & Autumn

In late July we joined Julie's family for a week exploring Moab and the San Juan Mountains from our base in Telluride.

Check out our gallery at:

Friends & Family > Julies Album > 2021 Moab & Telluride 

At the end of August, following a record hot and smokey summer, the pool guys finally came to replace the skimmer and liner.   No swimming in 2021-- hopefully better luck in 2022. 

In late September, Julie was looking for a get

away so we took our Jeep back

to Moab and Needles District of Canyonland National Park.

We got a permit to climb over Elephant Hill and (with Spencer's help) headed down Devils Lane

for a short hike to the Joint Trail.

In early October a film crew decided they needed our driveway

for an Adidas commercial. 

In late October LuJean's sister invited us to join her and 

the kids for a get away at Park City.

We all spent a fun Thanksgiving in Logan with Christy.

 

2021 Heading into Summer

 In late April, we hopped in the Jeep and headed out for a three day trip that took us into the northern and southern sections of the San Rafael Swell.  For details, check out >Outings>Jeep Trips>2021 San Rafael Swell.            

                           

In May, Maddie graduated from high school and will be heading to BYU this fall.

Congratulations!

During the second week of June we headed north to the cool, lush beauty of Jackson Hole and the Jackson Lake Lodge.  

For details check out:  

<Friends & Family>Rob & LuJean>2021 Tetons

On June 28th we decided to cool off on the 10,000 foot Skyline Drive between Spanish Fork Canyon and Ephraim.  

We returned home via the Nebo Loop--another refreshing get away.

On the 4th of July weekend we all got together at Christy's.  

Lots of cute kids and fun times!

We also got to meet Christy's new dog -- a Goldendoodle named Blue.

2021 - Hope & Sun

In February snow was piling up in the mountains but we were very excited to receive the COVID vaccine.

                                    

                                    

Feeling free at last, in late March we joined Julie and her family for a spring break vacation at Springdale and Zion Park.
 
Needless to say, the park was very crowded.  However, Julie had nabbed reservations for the park shuttle.  The next challenge was finding seats on the town shuttle from the hotel to the park entrance.  Definitely a process--nothing like earlier years when you could simply hop in a car. 

Matt, Julie and the kids did several ambitious hikes that took them up the West Rim Trail and an exploratory adventure in Clear Creek where they found several panels of rock art as well as a fresh cougar track.

Mid-week LuJean and I joined the crew for several short hikes (really walks) in the main canyon.  It would be easy to say "been there--done that" but we found the beauty of Zion is still stunning. 

Here we are waiting for the town shuttle to take us back to the hotel. 

Below is a view of  the top of the East Rim Trail which is now closed due to a massive rock slide.  For details copy this link:

https://www.thespectrum.com/story/news/2020/01/16/zion-national-park-weeping-rock-trail-closed-due-future-dangers/4482205002/

   

     Due to the crowds and COVID restrictions we ordered               dinners from various restaurants and ate in the lobby of the         new Springhill Suites.  

     Lots of changes in Springdale as old businesses have closed       and many new shops and restaurants have popped up.  

Rock art in Clear Creek.

While the kids were hiking LuJean and I took our jeep on long loop that took us from the Kolob Terrace Road out to Smiths Masa and then back to the town of Virgin via the Hurricane Mesa access road. 

Looking back toward the park from Smiths Mesa--one fun and very beautiful adventure.  

It's good to be out and about again!

The Strange World of 2020

May is birthday month, so we enjoyed lunch with LuJean's sister at Market Street Grill. Here we have Alexander, Julie, Rob and LuJean:

Summer got off to a rocky start with riots over the Memorial Day weekend.

  

With the pool working well and another record hot, dry summer we spent a lot of time visiting with Julie while the kids swam. Here we have Matt, Christy and their kids joining the fun:

In early September sustained hurricane force winds damaged structures and trees throughout the Salt Lake Valley.  We periodically operated our generator for five days while cleaning up the mess.

 

Aside from the heat, the summer and early fall were plagued by poor air quality due to wildfires on the west coast and locally.  During September a lightening caused fire broke out in Neffs Canyon--one of our favorite hiking areas. 

Fortunately an early snow storm dusted the mountains and brought an end to the local fires.  We were glad to have clean air back...

As Thanksgiving approaches we feel we have a lot to be grateful for.  As the coronavirus continues to fill the hospitals we continue to lay low and look forward to a vaccine in the spring.

Best wishes for the holidays,

Rob & LuJean

Staying at Home in April

 

   We cleaned the pool cover and fertilized the lawn.  Meanwhile, streets looked like scenes from
   apocalypse movies and Beth was busy making masks.

The Easter Bunny brought welcome surprises while flowers bloomed and we continued to work on puzzles.

One morning the neighborhood moms loaded the kids
and dogs in their cars and treated everyone to a children's parade.

Spring has also brought swarms of bees.  Our neighbors who are bee keepers decided to capture the swarms and relocate them to hives.  This was great entertainment for the neighbors.

COVID-19 Downtime

Good luck to us all as we take precautions to avoid the virus.

In the meantime we drive around on empty streets, go hiking with the grand kids, do lots of puzzles and recently got a subscription to BritBox and the library of British television we enjoy.

When the weather is pleasant, we also like to walk in the park.

As baseball's Vin Scully recently said:

"Pray a little bit more, like most of us will do, and above all, try to smile.  Because when you smile, that makes everybody else feel better."

Incidentally, the photos for this post were taken with our new iPhone 11 Pro. To the girls chagrin we were the last people in this zip code to get a smart phone--but it was worth the wait.  No more lugging camera gear for this cat...