Trip to Angel Lake and the Ruby Mountains

There is a road going from Wells to Angel Lake that is the scariest road in America, even worse than The Highway to the Sun at Glacier National Park in Montana. It is this little place and the guidebook we read does not mention anything about what it really is all about, and our photographs and videos did not do it justice. But there are no guardrails, and it ascends thousands of feet and you look down into a huge valley with the road you just ascended winding down on several levels below you, and just scream out of fear. We loved it! And we also loved the Animal Refuge Center at Ruby Lake, which is a series of marshy little ponds with lots of birds. The Ruby Mountains themselves are gorgeous and exotic looking, with lots of diverse shapes and colors. All along the highway anywhere in Nevada are millions of wild mustard bushes in bright yellows and they give everything a cheery aspect. The smell of the fresh sagebrush is wonderful as well. And the vastness of the landscape--the feeling of being "off the beaten path" pervades every drive. This is a wonderful state! We have enjoyed our stay enormously here, with Elko as our home base.

The guide book warned us not to try it in a passenger car, but as we got closer to the 90-mile dirt road, we decided to just step into the waters for a bit and get our feet wet. "We'll turn around if it looks too hard," Grady said. "What do you think?" And I wanted to at least attempt this little-traveled path. As it turned out, this was probably one of the ABSOLUTE BEST roads we have ever been on, with heart-stopping scenery on the one-lane dirt path, as we looked over the sides of the sheer drop-offs at about 8700 feet. We enjoyed the shadows of the trees, the mountain peaks, the amazing rocks, the Jarbidge River gurgling alongside through the valley at the bottom, and even the little town, where we stopped to use the bathroom in the Inn/club. It took all day, since we could only go at about 10-15 miles per hour, but it was something I was really glad we saw. We did not meet many people on the road. There were a few places I was a little scared because the gravel seemed to push us off the road as we slid a little bit, and that was scary, but the many switchbacks were not too bad, and the road was not rough like the guide book had warned. We only scraped the bottom of the car once and it was not a bad bump. There is no way that photographs captured this trip adequately, but I did take over 350 shots yesterday, and Grady took 7 videos. Best of all, we had wonderful conversation together, and it provided a memory for the rest of our lifetimes that we will not forget.

Desert Trip

Sept. 3, 2010, Friday night:
It is beautiful in the desert at night. Especially on the road to Elko, Nevada, where the stars are so big and bright that they resonate with magnificent energy throughout the very dark night. We enjoyed a wonderful drive through the Skull Valley of Utah, stopping to visit with Paul on his job at Dugway where he was working at the front gate in his uniform with gun at his side. He was surprised to see us and seemed pleased,and we were extremely pleased to see him. We listened to Grady's latest music he has written and it suited the trip perfectly--music from the future and it felt like we were in a flying saucer or hovercraft, speeding through the night with his music as the evening's theme. Purple flowers mixed with the little golden sunflowers along the roadsides until darkness overwhelmed us. We saw deer and antelope playing beside us, and at the beginning of the trip we took the new Pioneer Parkway to Saratoga Springs in an effort to avoid holiday traffic and it worked. A cat crossed numerous lanes of traffic on this parkway and survived. A pioneer cat we decided. A good omen for a weekend away from the heat of the city and the work of the world.

Grandpa and girls

Here are Hannah (age 7), Becky (age 5), and Beth (18 mos) with Grandpa Golden.

Age 15

Here is a picture of me at 15, turning 16, Sara at 9, and Esther at about 3.

Becky and Gina and Sandra

Here is an old photo of Becky, Gina, and me when the girls were about 18 mos and 20 mos old. Becky was born in Dec. of 1980 and Gina in Feb. 1981.

about old photo

The photo near this text was taken when Hannah was about 13, Becky about 11, and Beth around 7 (I think). This was at Grandma and Grandpa Golden's and that is their dog.

old photo

Memorial Day Trip to Yellowstone

On Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday we went to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, the Grand Teton National Park, and to the Bear Tooth Mountain Range in Montana. Edith, Grady and I had such a wonderful time! We rented a new car and I baked pepperoni rolls to last through the whole trip, along with a case of spring water. Edith brought cookies and peppermints. Grady drove. It was WONDERFUL! Here are some of the pictures.

Mother's Day 2010

I am sitting at my kitchen table before church, listening to the cd from Ken Burns's The National Parks, America's Best Idea, The Soundtrack, and sobbing, sobbing, sobbing. Thinkng of my dear mother and all that she did for me and all that she was. I read over the blog of her journal and wish I could finish transcribing it. She really was an amazing mother, just full of love and goodness. I am so homesick for her and would give anything to visit with her once again. I also cry for my own children so far away and in such big lives of their own. They will never know how much I love each one of them and ache for them and their world. I miss them. I always tried to be a good mom but I know I failed. And it was all I really wanted in life, really, to be the best mother I could be. It was why I did everything--why I majored in home economics, why I stayed home when they were little (except for Beth) babysitting for other people, typing papers at night for law students, and sweing little Norman Rockwell designer clothes as ways to make enough money to buy food and pay other bills so we could live. When I started working at the ER at WVUH things got better for us financially but I let the world seep into our home, and I was so fragmented with the business of everything. Too busy with work, church, neighbors, kids activities. Too busy to realize just how important the most important things in life are. I never learned how to listen to my children properly. I was just so busy surviving. Trying to keep us all alive and maintained. I wish I could do it all over again, knowing what I know now. Grady taught me how to listen better and how to really have a peaceful, happy home. I had forgotten what my mother and dad had taught me and the home I provided for the girls really was so fast-paced and there was so much fighting with all of us. I wish I could have taught them how to have peace and harmony. It is so good to have that in my life now. Anyway, I am sitting here sobbing, because I just miss my daughters so much. I dream of them all the time. They are always little and happy and involved in their projects in my dreams. They say dreams are either representations of your wishes or your fears. Usually mine are my wishes. From the bottom of my heart, I wish I could feel my daughters love for me through all these miles and through all these unforgiven passages of life.