Cave Crawling

Norm: There are not many caves in North America that we have not explored. Even have a good start on the ones in Europe. This one, Minnetonka Cave is one of the lesser known caves and is just over 100 miles from home, in the Cache National Forest by Bear Lake.

Although not the most spectacular that we've seen, it was enjoyable. Elevation from the entrance to the end is pretty much the same, however it does undulate several times requiring a lot of climbing. 888 steps for the in and out trip. Stairs were put in during the 1932 depression under President Roosevelts "New Deal" to supply work for the unemployed.

Temperature in the cave is a constant 40 degrees F. Cooler than most caves. Almost as cool as the ice caves of Austria. Luckily the Forest Service supplied jackets. Our guide took this photo of us in the "Wedding Room " at the end of the cave.

A Trip to Paris

Norm: Paris Idaho that is.....So many times we have driven by this historic old building but never stopped. Well this time we did and we were not disappointed. Early church members settled here in 1863 and desired to built their own Tabernacle. Timbers and stone were collected over a period of 20 years before they could even start. Construction began in 1884 using designs of Joseph Don Carlos Young, son of Brigham Young.

The builders were member craftsmen from Europe. They had the know how but not the fine materialswith which they were familiar. One was a ship builder who used his skill at ship building by creating a roof as an inverted hull.

The ceiling has the appearance of metal with steel support hardware. Not so...it is all wood.

Charles C Rich 1809-1883 Pioneer builder of the west. Founder and settler of Bear Lake Valley. Friend of the Indians, humanitarian, Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

High Meadows Adventure

Heather: Monday August 15 was a very memorable day! Corena, Kevin and Braden competed in a 25K and a 50K on Saturday. They ran up the Swift Creek Canyon and back for the 25K and Corena did it twice for the 50K. When we visited with them later, Corena told us about the beautiful high meadows they ran through. She said she wished I could see all the wild flowers blooming so profusely this year. I wished I could too so we decided to try hiking up on Monday morning. Our cabin is on the edge of thousands of acres of  National Forest  Recreation land. We have a short trail going up the small canyon beside us, but I have always wanted to hike up to the high meadows near us. This was my chance to fulfill that dream!

Bright and early Monday morning Sheryl and I drove to Swift Creek Park to meet Corena, Kevin, Hailey, and Becca. We hiked through forests and crossed several streams. Kevin was ever the gentleman helping us cross on this skinny log!

Corena of course needed no help! She had crossed this same stream 4 times on Saturday, but did not use the log. She just ran through the water! This time she showed off using my walking poles for balance.

The wild flowers were indeed spectacular! The high meadows were awash with vibrant color. After hiking for 3 hours, we still did not reach the highest meadow! There was so much to see and take pictures of that we were slow hiking. The scenery was so awe inspiring that we hated to leave. Sheryl, Corena, and I stopped to take pictures every few steps on our return trip -- just soaking up the beauty of this wonderful world we have been blessed with.

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Surviving Mother Natures Onslaught

Heather: We were taking our time hiking down from the meadows, when Sheryl looked ahead and saw some ominous clouds coming up the canyon. We could hear thunder down the valley so headed for the cover of a grove of spruce trees. Just as we were about to leave the trees the wind became ferocious. We dropped our metal poles and were headed back to the trees, when we heard the loud crack of a tree splitting. We could not tell which tree was falling as all the trees were twisting and bending in the wind. So we just started running back down the trail. We were going to run out of the trees when the hail hit! 

Suddenly we were being bombarded by the biggest hail stones I have ever seen! All we could do was stay huddled up to the closest tree trunks and try to keep the hail from hitting us too hard. I had a plastic poncho that Norm had put in my hiking vest which we tried to hold over our heads. Didn't help much, but was better than nothing!.

 The hike out after the storm was a messy affair! The trail was covered with icy marbles which made walking most difficult. Water was pouring down the trail and our feet were soaked and our shoes socks and legs were muddy. I was very grateful that I had those 2 walking poles to keep me upright!  

Kevin and the girls had gone ahead of us on the way back so they were at the trail head when the storm hit. They were a little worried and Kevin started to hike back to find us. We were almost down when he met us.  By then the sun was shining and all was well. I had a wonderful time -- I even loved the storm! I was so glad that Corena and Kevin took the time to show Sheryl and me that beautiful canyon -- what an adventure we had together together!  

Lincoln County Fair-DEMOLITION DERBY

Heather: This week is County Fair week in Lincoln County. The first night of the fair is devoted to all kinds of noisy machines. Even kids can participate in the fast noisy barrel race. This youngster is making his final turn before hitting the home stretch. Some of the kids in this event were only 4 and 5 -- where were their mother's!

Next was the Wyoming version of a balloon battle. The teams are on 4 wheelers and armed with sponge bats. The object is to break the opponents balloon and put them out of the race. Makes our balloon war in Pécs look tame! One of the 4x4's tipped over but no one was hurt. It was a team of girls that one this event!

The noisiest and most exciting event was the Demolition Derby. The object of this mayhem is to crash into and disable as many vehicles as possible with and extra $200 if you can make another car roll over! The green car in the middle was the eventual winner but the car was unrecognizable by the end of the Derby!

This car was driven by a mother several small children! I guess she figured that crashing into other cars was  just as easy as looking after kids! She was third overall in the competition. There was also a pickup truck event and that was won by another girl! Girls in Wyoming are tough drivers!