Big plans for September

We've been going over our schedule for the next month or so. Some exciting things coming up in the future, at least to me. I lead that humdrum life, remember? In order for us to do the things we want to do, Jim will have to work during the Labor Day weekend. That's okay I guess, because most of our family is busy. Eric has to work until Monday morning, and deserves to rest and have some time off with Angela and Adam. Todd's family is here from Oregon and they have prior claim to this Labor Day and probably all future Labor Days. They always do something together on that weekend, and I have to share. So on either Saturday or Monday, Jim will work at BYU and on the other day he doesn't work, he and I will go and tune pianos at Snow College or for the Church FM group.


On Thursday, Jim has to be in Las Vegas for a PTG Institute meeting. They are planning next year's National Convention, which is being held at Bally's. Even though I was born in Boulder City, Las Vegas is not where I would choose to spend my time. We are hoping that we can leave early enough to do a little hiking in the Valley of Fire. I remember going there as a very young child. We took our dog, Cinco, and she fell down into one of the formations (I have always called it Mouse's Hole). I remember that my dad had to climb down and get her. I was so worried about having to leave both of them behind. I thought that they might have to stay there forever. You did note that I was very young when this happened, about 3 years old.

Then we are going to stay at Bally's until Sunday. Jim will be in meetings and I will probably go to the temple or visit my two uncles or go to the exercise room or all of the above. There might even be a visit to the M&M factory in store for me.

On the 26th our whole family is going to hike up to Timp Cave. Connie and her girls are going too. We were lucky enough to book our reservations on the only day that we can get in for free. It just happened it was the only day that we could all get together. Adam is going too. The lucky boy will get carried up and down on someone's back. That's the way to go. We are using this hike to help us get ready for our next hike, which will be the following weekend. It's UEA weekend and General Conference weekend so the girls are going with Jim and me.

We are going backpacking in the Superstition Mountains. There are some great Indian ruins that we are going to find, and then we want to go to Reavis Ranch. Reavis Ranch was a working ranch and farm in the 1920's. It was later bought by Twain Clemens, the owner of the ranch that Jim's dad used to manage. Yes, he was Mark Twain's grandson. Jim's dad used to tell him about the good apples that were grown on the ranch. The trees are still there, although they are in serious need of attention. The road to the ranch is no longer passable by vehicle and Jim has always wanted to hike there in the fall and see (eat) the apples. We will leave on Wednesday afternoon and come back on Saturday. We can listen to conference on the way home and have the next day to recuperate while we listen to the Sunday sessions. The picture below is of the trailhead to Reavis Ranch. There probably isn't any water there at this time of year, so we will have to pack it in with us.

So that's our plan for September and the beginning of October. We also want to backpack at Grand Gulch in southern Utah and go to Lehman Caves in western Utah/eastern Nevada. Those two will probably be in October. If anyone is interested in coming, let me know.