Breaking It

For Memorial Day weekend Anthony & I decided we needed to take a little break from our stresses and have some playtime. Anthony had heard of a 4-wheeling club called MIOBI (Make It of Break It) in Southern Iowa that sounded like the mini-vacation we needed. We loaded up Swamp Thing and made our way to the grounds just North of Albia.

I was surprised at how many people filled the campground. This was obviously not the small affair I had imagined.

On our first run through an area aptly named the Playground we discovered that Swamp Thing was not quite as up to the challenge as we had originally thought. We found that her carburetor had a tendency to flood on steep inclines. This was not a convenient problem to have when traipsing through a 400 acre former strip mine full of steep hills and rocks.

After we were pulled to level ground and gave Swamp Thing a chance to recover we attempted to climb the West side of an area called the Rock. Halfway up we encountered the same problem.

The break while Anthony operated on Swamp Thing gave me the chance to play around with my camera.

Once Swamp Thing was up and running again we decided that she would be better suited for running through the mud than climbing rock walls. We set off along a muddy forest trail not paying much attention to the twists and turns that we were taking. That would prove to be our undoing but also the beginning of an interesting adventure.

At the bottom of a steep gully Swamp Thing found a challenge she could not surpass. We were buried up to the bumpers in mud and not able to move more than an inch in any direction. MIOBI requires that every vehicle in the park be equipped with a working CB. Anthony hollered across the air waves for help but we didn't know our location. We tried to talk our would be rescuers through the path we had thought we had taken but it took them nearly two hours to find us. It seems that we had ventured down a seldom used dead end path that many didn't even know existed.

We were pulled out of the mud and backwards up the steep hill by two buggies strapped together.

As it was nearing dark (closing time for the park) we were told to follow the buggies to the campground. They had to go rescue another vehicle on the way so we were taken down a path meant more for buggies and rock crawlers than old, heavy and big 4-wheel drives. The buggies had to hook together again to pull us up another steep rocky incline before we once again entered the muddy forest.

The mud in this part of the forest was deep and that morning's rain had filled the deep ruts to their brim. A little ways down the path we slid in the mud into the wall of one of those ruts. The impact popped the bead off the passenger side tire. It was getting dark and we did not have a spare tire with us. There was nothing we could do to limp Swamp Thing to the campground so we accepted that we were there for the night and hitched a ride back to the Tahoe.

The hospitality back in the campground was amazing. We had people offering to help us in the morning, sharing their dinners and beer with us, and inviting us to enjoy fellowship and warmth by their campfires.

Early Sunday morning Anthony set out with several of his new friends and a borrowed trailer tire to perform their magic and rescue Swamp Thing. I was given the opportunity to sleep in (a rare occurrence) and read my book while snacking on our small supply of Lunchables. It took the boys from 6 am until 2 pm and working through a thunder storm to bring Swamp Thing back to the campground. During this time I watched with amusement as the tent across from me blew over sending several people scrambling out into the cold rain.

When they returned with the disabled truck we had another challenge to confront. How were we supposed to reseed the bead without running water? Anthony adapted with the only liquid we had left.... beer.

I watched with amusement as the beer foamed from the air filling the tire. In all my years around vehicle repairs I have never witnessed anything quite like this.


It worked like a charm though and we had Swamp Thing loaded on the trailer before 4:00.


I played around with my camera for a few more minutes while Anthony said his good-byes and then it was time to hit the road.
Swamp Thing has developed a few more issues since our little weekend jaunt, so it doesn't look like we will be taking her out again anytime soon. It was definitely a different experience that we both enjoyed despite all of our obstacles.

Restaurant

This week's Random Photo Challenge theme was 'Restaurant'. I have been eating on the go way too much lately with Sis still in the hospital, but somehow most of my meals were never eaten inside a restaurant this week. Save one, Friday Night Supper Club, where I didn't even think about pulling out my camera. In fact, it didn't even occur to me until the next day that Chris was working on his challenge project during our weekly ritual. You can check out his and the several other fun submissions over at Photography139.

At some point during the weekend I mentioned to Anthony that I hadn't given any consideration to this week's project. He had a few ideas that he thought I could be creative with so we set out on a little road trip around Greene County.

Why don't you venture along with us?

As we drove by I realized I had actually eaten breakfast at this little restaurant many sunrises ago. I was surprised that the birds hadn't picked these berries clean.

Most places along this route have been named after the old Lincoln Highway and painted in the familiar red white and blue instead of it's route number of Highway 30. The new highway now by passes the hearts of these small rural towns but reminders are plentiful.

Across the parking lot is an old rail station. Although it's not a restaurant these icicles caught my eye.

Although I am not sure exactly how long the Uptown Cafe has been in existance I know that it has resided in this building for quiet a long time.

Maggie, Sam, and Bug enjoyed the ride as well. When we returned home Maggie was ready to go again.

See Dad? I'm ready! Let's go kick up some snow!

Sam Sam on the other hand was ready to kick back and take it easy the rest of the afternoon.

Discover

Were you beginning to wonder if there was going to be a blog post this week, Dear Readers? Well, truthfully, it just about didn't happen. I took the opportunity to join a very old and dear friend (on very short notice) on a weekend road trip. Fitting to this week's Challenge theme I discovered a lot of things about myself thanks to my wonderful companion forcing me to confront myself.

This is one of the few pictures taken during our adventure. We had just finished a great Thanksgiving meal of smoked turkey and mashed potatoes.

I helped a friend celebrate his birthday shortly after I returned from our jaunt across Iowa. That didn't leave me much time to follow through with my thoughts on this week's Random Photo Challenge theme of Discover. There are much better interpretations over at Photography139. Unfortunately, I haven't taken the time to finish my composition for Impassioned Versifier this week.

We are currently dealing with some medical issues with Sis which means my blogging may be spotty over the next few weeks. Don't lose faith friends, I will be back on here as soon as I can!

One Step at a Time

Day 6 in Yellowstone. It was our final full day in the glorious wilderness. Bug and I decided to make the most of it. We had labeled the previous day as Bug's day. This day was to be mine.

For our first activity Bug had helped me choose a Ranger hike. At 7:30 in the morning we met Rangers Rod and Linda, a sweet husband/wife team from Washington and California, as well as several other families to embark on our 7 mile hike to Lone Star Geyser.

Rangers Rod and Linda had been out the evening before to try to predict what time the geyser would erupt. They thought it would erupt around 9:00 so we hiked a hurried pace down the old service road in hopes to catch it.

The prediction was wrong, the people that had passed on the information to our dear Rangers the night before had apparently only witnessed a minor eruption. That meant we would have to wait about 2 hours to see the Lone Star's major eruption.

Lone Star is a geyser that is not predicted by the Park Service but there is a handy little log book available to help visitors predict when the scalding water would flow. Here Bug is checking the book for accuracy.

Ranger Rod led us further along the path while we passed time. We hiked to the beginning of a back country trail. Rod explained to us that the Park Service would not allow him to guide us any further due to liability concerns. The little bit of back country I could see was gorgeous and inviting. Our little trek took us past a back country camp site. I could picture myself camping in such a site someday, gazing at the stars and enjoying the peacefulness.

We were only back at Lone Star for a few minutes when the minor eruption started. We sat on a log watching as we grazed on snacks from our backpacks.

In the 20 minutes between the minor and major eruptions we found amusement in watching this inquisitive deer follow a raven around the thermal grounds.

Finally the major eruption started.

After we finished the Lone Star hike we stopped for a quick lunch along the banks of the Madison River. Then it was on to our next destination. We headed back to the Madison Junction Ranger Station so Bug could turn in his finished Jr Ranger Packet. Great job on earning your badge Bug!

The Ranger in Madison Junction suggested we check out the 1 mile back country hike to Harlequin Lake. She told us there was a good chance to see beavers at work as they had just built a dam on the far side of the lake.

The trail took us a half mile through a young Lodge Pole Pine forest up the side of a small mountain. It wasn't too steep, so we made the climb quickly.

As we emerged from the forest we were greeted by a beautiful view of the small lake.

As we waited for the beavers to emerge from their dam Bug paused to pose for a picture.

And he insisted I pose for one as well.

Alas, the beavers were in no mood to be photographed that day and not a single one emerged. We were investigated by this elk as we strolled down the trail though.

She was not afraid of us and seemed to startle us more than we did her. She actually turned down the trail to check us out and came as close as 7 feet from us. My heart was racing as I nudged Bug behind me, wondering what her next move would be.

Luckily she decided we were not a threat and turned back towards the lake.

The next trail we tackled was a little more strenuous. Purple Mountain is another back country trail that leads 3 miles up a semi-steep mountain. We only made it up 2 1/2 miles of the trail as the last half mile was a very thin and loose rock pass. A few steps out onto that rugged part of the terrain I decided it was not safe enough for an inexperienced 9 year old and a mom with dizzy legs.

We were still able to catch some beautiful views and racked up 5 more miles on our round trip.

After hiking 13 miles in one day it was hard to believe that Bug still had any energy left. After cleaning up and grabbing a quick bite to eat in West Yellowstone we once again attended the evening Ranger Program at Madison Junction. Tomorrow would begin our journey back home.

Day of the Rainbows

Our 5th day in the Yellowstone area was Bug's day. We each got to pick out one activity for him to enjoy that day. I choose an activity that would bring Bug out of his comfort zone. Bug doesn't always like to venture out of his comfort zone, but he knows that I will always make sure he is safe and if he doesn't enjoy it he won't ever have to try that activity again.

We drove to Gardner, Mt, and found the Wild West Rafting Company. I had done a little research prior to our vacation and knew that they offered just the right combination of class II and III rapids for a little boy's first white river rafting trip.

We weren't able to take the camera with us, so these are actually photographs of the pictures that I ordered later.

We donned our live vests and listened to the instructions and safety tips. Then we carried the raft down to the river.

Wave to the camera!

Up until shortly before this picture was taken Bug was sitting in the middle of the raft next to me. Logan, our guide, asked if anyone felt they hadn't gotten wet enough yet. Bug had enjoyed the bouncy ride but felt that he wasn't wet enough so he raised his hand. Logan tried to convince Bug to sit on the very front of the raft with his feet hanging over. Bug is a hard one to convince though, so he satisfied himself kneeling on the floor.

All forward!

We approached a rapid called Sleeping Giant. It looked fairly calm as we barreled through the water towards it. Bug certainly couldn't say that he didn't get wet enough when the wave engulfed the entire raft, completely covering him at one point.

I recently asked him what the underside of the tidal wave looked like. He said he couldn't tell me as he had his eyes closed.

Bug will always remember that the hungry Yellowstone River devoured his flip flops that day. We had pulled the raft up to feel a hot spring when we got caught in an eddy and thrown towards the rocky shore. The whole crew had to get out and carry the raft over small boulders downstream. Bug slipped as he was climbing out and his bright orange sandals rode the current swiftly past us. A tour guide in another raft did manage to rescue one but the other made it's way towards the gulf.

"Don't worry Mom, I didn't like those flip flops anyway," he told me as we boarded the bus later.

Bug requested that we visit a ghost town for his chosen activity. After we dried off, had a change of clothes, and a brief lunch we loaded up in the truck and drove toward Virgina City, a supposed ghost town. Along the way we drove through a terrible storm. The sight of this rainbow eased the whiteness in my knuckles.

The approach to Virginia City looked promising.

The post office looked authentic and old.

Unfortunately these weren't anything more than old store fronts on newer buildings. It was 7 pm when we pulled into town and almost everything was closed for the evening already.

The opera house was the only thing open and had unfortunately already started the evening program.

We decided to head back to West Yellowstone for some supper. We saw another beautiful rainbow from the Madison Valley overlook.

A short drive up a mountainside later, I realized why we had seen another rainbow.

The hail was coming down so hard that I had to pull over for fear of driving over the edge of the mountain. The road was completely white by the time the storm passed. Bug wanted to get out and save a piece of the gum-sized hail, but I convinced him that it was late and we should get going.

Later that night I sat outside our cabin and star gazed. This was such a relaxing perfect trip so far.

Calm & Cool

Our fourth day in Yellowstone wasn't actually spent in Yellowstone and was a bit more relaxed. We spent most of our day chatting in the truck on our way to and from the Grand Teton National Park just South of Yellowstone.

The Tetons are Auntie's favorite place to camp and from the little bit of the park we did see I can tell why. The views are gorgeous.

Bug and I spent our day exploring the Colter Bay area. We hiked the easy 2 mile Lakeshore Trail. The water was beautifully clear and cool. Bug couldn't help but wad in several times.

Until he realized there were leaches in the water that is. We knew it was going to be a good day when Bug discovered a smiley face consisting of two snails and a leach.

Bug sampled the water temperature every chance he got but was not satisfied to stop and swim.

So we continued down the trail.

finally we found a beach area with other families swimming. As the boats passed a cool mist would spray up from this log. Bug entertained himself trying to predict when the splashes would occur.

After watching several children surf the waves on downed Lodge Pole Pine trunks Bug decided to give it a go himself.

It took him a little while to paddle out against the waves.

He did very well balancing himself against the waves.

I think he has the hang of it now.

The view was so relaxing, the water cool, and the sun warm.

I took the opportunity to sit back and catch up on a little reading.

That evening we made it back to Yellowstone in time to watch another Ranger program. This one was called Boy Cub and was about man's interaction with bears. It was a very pleasant & relaxing day. We both slept well that night.