Hunting Season...already

One of Tyler's best friends drew out for a limited draw deer hunt down in Southern UT and invited us to come out and camp the weekend of the opener. We went down with another one of Ty's good friends, Mike, and his girlfriend from Brazil, Julianna. Tyler and Mike have both drawn the same tag and hunted this area in the past, so I am sure it was good to have some experience along.

Opening morning I slept in and Adam shot his deer. I was grateful for this because I did not want to see him shoot it and now we could play! He did end up getting a really good deer, Tyler and Mike were both very proud. Guss and Coal were both with us, Coal loves the deer and kisses them, but Guss was scared of it. It was funny to watch them.

After the work was done, we went over to Tropic Reservoir for some swim time, which is my favorite! The dogs needed to get out of the desert too. We swam for quite a while to build up an appetite. We ate at a really good local restaurant, had prime rib, soup, salad, homemade bread, and apple pie ala mode, mmmm!

It was a such and fun quick weekender trip with close friends! I really don't want Summer to end.
Tyler, Adam, and MikeGuss the water dog!Family Portraits!

Main Fork of the Salmon River, Idaho

From July 11-17 we were lucky to go on such a great river adventure with the Finch family, and some other friends. On the 10th we drove to the put in at corn creek, a bit northwest of Salmon Idaho. Tyler and I have a lot of history with this Salmon River. Some of you know that 5 yrs ago this summer, when mine and Tyler's relationship was just starting, we rafted the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. This fork flows into the Main Fork. Then 3 yrs ago Tyler proposed to me the day before he left to float this same fork. So some of the group had floated this section before, which was great to have their experience.

It was not as intense or technical from what I remember of the Middle Fork, but the wave train rapids and camps were so great. Sandy beaches to play horseshoes, boccie, and one great evening of volleyball at Mackay Bar where we got to camp and Big Al treated us to a great dinner and breakfast. Tyler and I took the horseshoe champion title against Cody and Scottie, a friend of Cody's.

We had 5 rafts including a catamaran, 1 dory, and 4 kayakers. I was fortunate to get to behind one of the green rafts, and cat occasionally. I switched Shane for a day and rowed one of the green rafts while he was my passenger. He was great to have as my rider, because he was so confident in me. I have ored before, but only Tyler's dory on the Green River, so this was very different. The one named rapid that I remember the name of and ran was Devil's Tooth. It is pretty obvious why I remembered this one! As I was approaching the rapid I was very nervous, but Shane just kept telling me that I was doing great and had it. We hit it right on and it was so fun! Tyler was in the boat ahead of us, and I guess was not as confident in me as Shane. He kept saying things like "Ok, she is still on the ore's, I guess Shane is going to let her run this one." But he was glad I did it too. I ran a few others on other days, but this one was my favorite.

Tyler really liked to ore the catamaran. Usually Al and Diane were on that boat, but Ty jumped at any opportunity to man the cat. One day we switched and we were coming up on a few rapids, first one being Bailey's Rapid. I wish we had a video or at least a photo, but no one was really close enough or prepared to take one. Ty always goes for the biggest hole, or line no one else is taking. He is definetly a leader moreso than a follower. We hit Bailey's right on and the hole just swallowed us and spit us out, it was such a blast.

Fortunately we had great weather, aside from one day of wind and rain. The wind was going against us and blowing the rain sideways straight at our faces. It was a hard day for everyone, but especially the oresman, because they still had to watch the river, while the rest of us could protect their faces. Luckily the rain didn't last all day, and there was great rapids.

Seven days on the river went by so much faster than I had imagined. The day we finally were getting back into civilization, and seeing cars on the road from the river was kind of a sad day. I loved being on the river with some of the most important people in my life. We missed Emily and her quick wit, as well as the little Milo monster. I am looking forward to running more rivers with them in the future!

We got to the take out Friday morning in Riggins, ID and broke up the drive home by spending a night in McCall, ID. It was fun to go swim in the Payette lake, enjoy the beauty around us there, and shower! Saturday we ate at the Pankake House in McCall which is always a treat. Huckleberries are not really found in Utah, but are great in Idaho. I had huckleberry crepes that were so yummy! A great end to an unforgettable adventure.

-Tyler scouting a rapid
-Big Al and Diane on the Cat.
-Joe (Shannon's boy)and Barry, his dad, on the Dory
-The whole river crew (top to bottom, left to right): Big Al, Mike (Kayaker), Glen (Kayaker), Steve, Diane, Tyler, Shane, Beau, Russ, Barry, Scottie, Cody, Rachael, Joe, Shannon, Marci. (Arian is taking the pic)

-Bridge Jump: Arian, Cody, Shane, Tyler, Rachael, Marci (in the water), Beau, Russ (doing the back flip).
-Feeding an apple to the potbelly piggy at one of the historic stops along the way.
-Me jumping of a rock, wahoo!
-Tyler, Me, and Arian at the take out.

Rachael Vs. Wasp/Hornet: Verdict...Wasp/Hornet

This past Monday I decided to head out on my road bike for a ride. Right off the bat a hornet or wasp, I am not sure which, flew into one of the holes on my helmet and stung/bit me at least four times. I ripped off my helmet and glasses as fast as I could to get the darn thing to stop. It stung a bit, but wasn't too bad, so I continued and finished my ride I had set out on.

It was later that night that it really started to affect me. In the middle of the night I started to run a fever, got really achy with a constant headache, and worst of all felt really nauseous. I pretty much did not sleep past that point, and was not feeling in any condition to go to work later in the morning. As Tyler was leaving, he pretty much told me to go see the Dr.

Around 6:45 a.m. I texted the dentist I work for and told him about this weird reaction I was having. I figured it was either linked to the hornet/wasp, or I have the swine flu! Not really, I pretty much knew it was the wasp/hornet. My dentist was so good, and actually got me a Dr.'s appt. with a family physician that is in our same medical complex. That way if I was feeling better after I saw him, I would already be close to work.

The Dr. pretty much couldn't say that it was directly related or not, because it is not a common reaction, since it was not allergic in nature at all. He wrote me two prescriptions, one for a steroid, which I was not about to take in case I was just coincidentally sick because that would suppress my immune system, and one for an anti-nausea because that was bothering me the most. So much that I could only sit/stand for a few minutes at a time. I ended up not filling either, I wanted to wait it out as long as I could to see if it would pass.

After the appt. I was actually feeling worse, so the dentist called in a temp to cover my patients for the day. I felt so nauseous that I had to drive with my seat as far back as possible and still able to see the road. I had not eaten anything, but was feeling like I really needed liquids. I went straight to my mom and dad's house because I knew my mom had sprite there, you know how that helps settle your stomach!

I crashed on the couch there most of the day, and my sweet mom took care of me until about 4:00 that afternoon when I finally made my way home. I was actually feeling much better by then. I knew at this point it was related to the wasp/hornet because it was so short lived.

Now here it is Wednesday and I am almost feeling 100%, but half of my forehead and down to my ear is swollen. Which is weird, because I got attacked more so on the top of my head. I guess gravity works that way though. It isn't that noticeable, until you really look at it. I look like I had a face lift gone bad!

I know these pics are creepy, but they give the jist.

Green River

The Green River has always been a hot spot that we usually hit a few times each summer, but since we moved to Idaho Tyler has only been once and I haven't been at all in the past two summers. So we were excited to get out there this past weekend. It was good to be able to go with Tyler's parents, and good friend Mike Thayne.

We headed out Friday after work and got to camp around 9:00. We got things situated, then went to bed early, so we could get out on the river early on Saturday. Saturday morning we had a good breakfast and got on the river around 9:00 a.m. We spent most of the day on the river, and it was such a great day. We thought we may get some rain, but it was beautiful. Not too hot, not too cold!

The river fluctuated quite a bit between the morning and afternoon, we started out at around 800 cfs and by the afternoon it was somewhere around 2800 cfs. So the fishing was a bit difficult. When we got off the river, there was a van with the alarm going off in the parking lot, and I guess the keys to it were back at the put in. So we ended up giving the dad a ride back to the dam to get the keys, which meant we missed out on our ice cream cone that we always get afterward!

We got back to camp, had showers, then Tyler and I went over to this little bouldering rock nearby to climb around a bit. As we were approaching the rock we saw some marmots and I got as close as I could to get a picture. They were actually pretty cute, but are a bit hard to pick out in the picture below, there are two in there. It soon got dark and we went back to the trailer, watched a movie, and fell asleep.

Sunday we woke up, had breakfast, and then closed up camp for the most part. Tyler, Mike, and Alan (Tyler's dad) were going to run the river one more time, while Diane (Tyler's mom) and I were going to do the shuttle and head back home so I could teach our little sunbeams. It really worked out great, so that they could get a little more fishing in, and we did not have to get a sub.

The boys did run into a bit of rain on Sunday, but still had fun with a few fish caught. My only disappointment about the trip was that I did not catch any fish. It was the first time ever that I have been there and not caught any fish, so I am anxious to get back there to redeem myself!

Tyler's catch of the day!
Can you see the marmots?

Capitol Reef National Park

My littlest brother Ben is leaving on his mission to Guatemala this upcoming Wed. June, 3, so for the last weekend we had together, we decided to make a quick trip down to Capitol Reef. Not all of the family was able to go, but for those of us who did, it was a blast.

My parents stayed at a hotel, while Ben, Ruth, and I camped in the park Friday night through the rain, thunder, and lightening. But that was not what kept Ruth and I up, it was my brother's snoring!! I feel bad for his companions! Surprisingly we woke up and were completely dry, thanks to one great rain fly. The morning was beautiful, we ate a a quick breakfast and decided to hike to Cassidy Arch. Aside from a 30 or so minute detour, we made our way atop the arch.

When we returned from the arch, we decided to go see some petroglyphs. I have always liked to see that stuff, and try to figure out their story. There was just a few, but still interesting. By then our appetites were growing. We decided to go get a sandwich and then possibly do another hike.

After our sandwich, it started to hail outside, and dark clouds were surrounding us, so we decided that we probably were not going to be able to do another hike, so we left for home. It was a short getaway, but a very enjoyable way to spend some of the last few days with my little bro!

Self Portrait


Ben, Ruth, and I on Cassidy Arch

Yellow Pine Creek, Uintah Mountains

In an attempt to go hiking/fishing up by Mirror Lake, we found ourselves at Yellow Pine Creek. We had planned out a hike that would take us to a few lakes we could fish, but about 6 miles before where we needed to be, the road was covered in snow. So we ended up at this Yellow Pine trail head that follows the Yellow Pine Creek. We were a bit disapointed because the trail does go all the way to a lake, but by then we didn't have enough day left. The hike was still awesome and beautiful and of course the dogs had a blast since water was involved. We couldn't have asked for a better day weather wise as well.

Escalante, Upper Calf Creek Falls, Lower Bowns

Tyler and I had a great chance to get away this past weekend to go visit one of his close friends that has been working down in Escalante for many summers. So Friday afternoon we loaded up the farm truck with our gear, dogs, and hit the road.

We camped on the Boulder Mnts. Friday night, then on Saturday, Mac took us on such a beautiful day hike to Upper Calf Creek Falls. He knew of some great secret spots to take us to including an old indian cave where we went on somewhat of an arrowhead hunt. I found a tip to one, and Mac, who has found many, found the end of one. I am pretty sure we were supposed to leave them there, but we took them and Tyler super glued them together, most unique arrowhead I have seen!

We then headed down stream to see the top of Lower Calf Creek Falls. This was awesome because most of the time we were hiking in the water in this really remote place which was so amazing. Our dogs were doing well, even Guss with his three legs. The hike back out to the car was the hardest for Guss, but he impressed us all and pushed it out of there, with a few boosts along the way. They were both wiped out by the time we reached the trucks.

Saturday night we camped again on the Boulder Mtns and had a great fish dinner. Sunday we hung around camp for a bit and did some target shooting. Mid-morning we made our way down to the lake at Lower Bowns for some float tube fishin'. We had three competitions: 1. First Catch 2. Biggest Catch 3. Most Catches. Well most of you would think that Tyler would have creamed me in this, but nope I took him 3-O! So he bought me an ice cream on the way home!

Needless to say we loved our time out-n-about, and we are so excited that spring/summer is here. We are looking forward to many more adventures this summer!