Road Trip to Moab and Colorado

We took a road trip down to Moab, UT and the San Juan Mountains in CO.   I had this big hitch basket to carry all our camping gear. Not much room in a 2 door with the backseat it. Needless to say we still did Elephant Hill and out Beef Basin with fairly minor scrapes on the basket.

There is a stone henge replica in Washington near the Dalles OR

Shishone Falls in Twin Falls, ID was cool. I think it lived up to being the Niagra of the West.

Bonneville Salt Flats needed more going on to justify the extra drive. Go for an event or something. We just pulled up, walked on the salt, felt it's pasty qualities, and left.

Elephant Hill

Devil's Kitchen Campsite

Silver Stairs (my brother spotting)

The Group at the Confluence, I'm the one with the saddle one the far left.

Everybody Squeezing in a Joint

Chesler Park Viewpoint

The Joint Trail really was amazing. Well worth an addition to any trip through canyonlands. Also we had no idea what amazing viewpoint in Chesler Park was waiting for us at the end of the trail.
Exiting through beef basin

Lined up in Ruin Park

Poughskipie Gulch Trail, The Wall was awesome. I made it up and winched up the unlocked TJ. This is further up the trail.

Some other pass in CO, they start to run together

Headed down into Telluride via Black Bear

Telluride from Black Bear

The film festival was going on in Telluride so crashing that was awesome. Bunch of dirty 4x4s pull through the little town as they are rolling out the red carpet. Has some amazing organic lemon basil ice cream from a street vendor. Fat Kid Ice Cream or something. 

Overhanging rock on Imogene

Getting ready for an evening swim in the great salt lake

Ever been blocked in by a Hot Air Balloon? They were taking off as we got back to the jeep.

This spray bottle was the only A/C in the jeep. When is was really back it was an every 5 minutes spritzing.

Trip B 3259.2 Miles

Who's that monkey?

Snow and Icicles!

We found huge icicles hanging from our garage after the last snow fall. Andy decided one of them would be a fun toy for Heidi. This was not condoned by me... although I did take these pictures.

Heidi's sword.

Don't take it away from me, Mommy!

Our backyard after the snow last week. Good thing we hadn't planted our garden yet! We did plant some onions and beets today, so we can't have any more snow now...

Hopefully our last snow of the season. It was fun though!

Andy's 25th birthday

Andy's 25th birthday was on Monday February 28th, but we celebrated with his family the day before, on Sunday. Here are some pictures from it. Enjoy!

Ready to open presents and cards with Heidi to help!

Connie made Andy a cake with a Jeep rock-crawling theme.

Our family :)

That's too many candles to blow out by himself. Heidi, you have to help Daddy!

Daddy got to feed Heidi some yummy apples on his birthday.

March 5th Off-Roading Trip: Elbe, WA

On Saturday we headed to Elbe at an early 7:30am to meet up with some Jeepers from JK forum and Washington Virtual Jeep Club (WAVJC). There was about 1-2 feet of snow on the trails, and nobody else had been on them, so they were actually a little hard to find. This is the first time we had to break the path, besides just playing in the snow. We, luckily, were not the first ones to have to set the path, as we usually are. A 4-door JK started out, but then he got stuck in a huge mud hole (pictures down below) and later got high-centered on a tree stump. Those darn tree stumps were so hard to see, especially in the snow! We had to literally "yank" him off the stump with toe straps. That was when he realized his winch wasn't working, so he called it a day. Then, another TJ set the path and we were at the back of the pack the rest of the time since we have a winch and CB radio.

We did have an adventure early on when one of the tires popped off the wheel and we had to reset it. After looking at it today, though, Andy noticed there is a stick wedged between the wheel and tire! Whoops!

We saw an eagle on our way. It is right above my head and a little to the left.

The line-up of Jeeps.

Huge mud pit. We ended up going through a different icy mud pit next to it.

The white TJ was too light to pull the 4-door out, so Lucas's XJ had to be the anchor.

Scenery of Elbe Hills, "Gotcha Trail"

Andy and Heidi playing in the snow during lunch.

Snow makes for a good use as a chair!

Heidi in her Jeep dress.

7:30pm and finally on our way home after Andy tried to figure out what was causing the "Death Wobble" in the Jeep. Heidi had just woken up from a nap.

What a day!

Food attempt #4: Sweet Potato

I tried feeding Heidi again today, now with sweet potatoes, but she was definitely more interested in her spoon and new bowl.

This is Heidi's new face when she is upset or apparently, what she thinks of eating too.

Food face complete with drool.

Playing with the seat buckle is much more fun than eating food.

Checking out the spoon and bowl. It got a little messy.

I don't want to food, Mommy! I want to see the bowl!

Our garden adventure

Last year we made a small garden dug out from our hill and planted carrots, beets, watermelon (I told Andy they wouldn't grow but he persisted anyhow), and tomatoes. The beets and watermelon both did not produce anything, but we got quite a few carrots and tomatoes.

This year we became more serious about this gardening business and Andy built 2 planter boxes. We also will be be planting squash or pumpkins next to the planter boxes. Today we laid down some newspapers following the "lasagna" method and added top soil.

Heidi is in heaven playing with the newspapers. Paper is by far her favorite toy, but she usually does not get to play with it since it goes directly in her mouth and she gags on the small pieces she tears off.

Bigger view of the planter boxes.

The "supervisor." I helped with some raking too, though.

Heidi likes hanging out with her uncle Lucas. Thanks, Lucas, for helping us!

Watering the newspapers before adding the top soil.

The first wheel barrow.