Friday moment

this is how dad

Lot of trout rodeo

I guess I am not too old to rodeo. Well maybe so, anyway a trout rodeo is something that I have heard of and maybe you have or not.  Now we were up there on the east side of the skull crack end of the Causey reservoir about sun down. With my bad leg and all, I set up my chair up on the trail above the two foot drop off of the shore. I could have got down by the water but I am getting a little old, and have a little problem getting up and down those places. The trail has a little bit of a slope to it about 20% anyway it’s not flat a level ground.  Brandy my dog and my constant company had to be on a leash do to park rules and her safety. Otherwise she would be after every ground squirrel in the place. So leached and hooked to my chair.

So we are all baited up and case out waiting for the wild times to begin. My four year old granddaughter Shania was picking the wild flowers, that if you want to call weeds flowers, She pick Russian thistle, prim roses, Indian paint brush, and cradle cap. She would pick one and walk in front of me so I would have to raise my pole to let her pass. She was getting a kick out of trying to aggravate grandpa. She would take the blossoms down to her mother who was fishing just below me on the left on the three foot wide beach. Watching her get up and down that two foot drop off was scary fun that was keeping me on the edge of my seat to say the least.  Then Bailey  her 18 month old sister was not going to be out done by big sister one bit no sir. She started in picking the flowers and following in her sister footsteps.  Now for this old grandpa the nerve racking wait for one of them to fall head over the tea kettle into the back of their mother or worse into the lake held my attention.

The two girls were down on the beach with their mom seeking admiration for the flowers. And Shania got stuck by the thorn on the Russian thistle. She went onto a titrate “That’s a bad flower bad bad flower I am not going to pick any more, you are a bad flower.” Bailey had to mimic Shania and this old man laugh so hard the tears were rolling. The girls started back up the bank, bailey having a time climb back slipped and fell  and Shania help her back up and bailey went crying over to her dad.

Well about this time thing clam down and I started to focus on my fishing. Then here come Shania back threw to get to her other sister who was fishing to my right, I guess she open the gate. I had a strike and set the hook and yelled I got one, about that time my chair slip it footing that scared brandy and set her running for the hills whit my chair in tow. And I went down rolling pole in hand headed for the drink and Brooke my daughter-in-law setting between me and the water. Somehow I managed to stop and get back to my chair and started to get untangle from the fishing line that somehow got tangle around my foot. Don’t ask me how. Settle down and I figured I had better check my bait. I started to reel in when I found I still had the fish on the line. Well I guess I am still not too old to rodeo.

Thank you for stopping by and god bless

Lot of home camp

state flower the Sego Lilly

Well as you folks may know I went camping. It started out as a quick fishing trip and picnic. My son and his family had been camping at the Weber Veteran’s Memorial camp grounds up Ogden canyon. They could only stay there a week and they had to move to one of the other camp ground down the canyon farther away from the dam or manmade lake, the other camp ground are federal camp ground  and my senior pass would give them a 50% discount on the camp site. One catch I or my wife had to stay with them in the camp.

 Well it did not take any arm twisting to get me or my wife to stay , but the old man (that’s me) had thing to do back down town. Seeing the doctors and taking care of the dog and other things. So I went back to town and seen the doctor got some new hearing aids a load up my camping gear and went back up for a seven day of camping and fishing.

As I settled into the camping and fishing and watched my kids and grand kids play, explore and discover the world as I did so many years ago. I could see myself, granddad, dad, mom, brothers and sister playing in the same old place it was just home. Only now I am the grandpa now but there was some magic a foot here. I was not up there when the kids move camp they move down the south fork of the Ogden river camp grounds. Of the fifty or so camp site to chose from they pick the one that was my granddads favorite. This was the first time they had ever camp at or been this camp ground. I was a little surprise to be at that home again.

My grand kid had to show the jungle maze of trail through the hawthorn a scrub oak a cool place to hide from the sun and explore. I could not find a way to tell them I knew each trail and had made some of them when I was their age. That evening the grand kids’ fasces washed and put to bed I sat there and looked into the ashes of the camp fire the thought of ashes to ashes came to mind. Four generations have camp here in this spot I could feel the present of my grandparents’ father, brother, sister, aunt and uncle that have passed on and that have camped there long ago.

 I don’t think we should have washed the kids’ faces and hands that dirt was just the love and kisses of the generations pasted.  

Oh! cool muddy water bath ha! ha!

As soon as my daughter-in-law gets the picture uploaded I will be sharing some of our fun with you. Of the many camping trips I have taken over the years this is a special one to remember. I don’t know why just maybe it was getting in touch with my youth or just a family gathering. Oh! cool muddy water bath ha! ha!

 Thank you for stopping by and God Bless.

lot of driver two

Well I made it back from my summer camping trip. Caught a lot of fish and watched a lot life in the wilds. My last post I talk about recreation vehicles (RV) and the way people drive them.  Now most people who drive them only drive them on a summer vacation. It doesn’t take long to see who know how to drive one when they start to back their trailer into a camp site.  I could here “turn the wheels the other way. Daddy can I go play in the water? Stop your running over the fire pit! Mommy, I ‘m hungry? I want the trailer over there it to close to the rocks!” Plus enough cussing to make a sailor blush it took an hour and a half to park the trailer before the fellar ask if I could help. I had ask him if he would like some help.

I look at the whole thing from a number of perspectives. The first is well! I am an RV user, then I am or was a commercial truck driver, and I am also a former peace officer. Driving a combination of a vehicles and trailer requires more skills of a driver then day to day driving does.

Here is what I do and most commercial drivers do every day, starting with the walk around, we walk all the way around the rig, look at the tiers , hook up and safety chains.  Then we fire up the rig and drag the setup half the length of the setup and panic stop to see how well the brakes hold, then we get out and do the walk again. We make sure that our load is secure.  First chance we get once we are on the way to our destination we pull over at a safe stop and do the walk. Every step we take save lives.

If you are a weekender or a vacation driver of RV’s here is a tip or two. A week or two before you take your vacation hook up your trailer and find a big empty parking lot. Practice backing and backing the trailer into a parking stall. Put a mark as a starting point then bring your tow vehicle without the trailer up to ten miles per hour and panic stop.  Then get out and walk back to your starting point.  Then do it again with the trailer in tow.  See how much farther you have to walk back.

Next plan your rout, find out about road conditions, fuel stops.  Once you are on the road read the speed signs. Just because the sign says 70 MPH. you are now drive a combination vehicle. And most state law tells you 55 MPH for truckers.  You can be stop and give a speeding ticket for reckless endangerment. If road conditions slow you down to 10 MPH below the post speed limit for trucks, that is forty five MPH you are required by law to put on your four way flashers.

Here a big tip at 60 MPH you should be three seconds behind the vehicle in front of you to have a safe stopping distance. If that vehicle is big rig it is about 88 feet long that is one second.  If you are going to pass safely you will need 15 seconds to that.  Fifteen second is one forth of a mile at sixty MPH, and you will need to see clearly one half a mile of the road just in case someone is going to do the same thing, coming from the other direction. In the picture to the left you are driving a truck and trailer, can you safely pass the vehicle in front of you? please give your answer in the comments, but think about the what if's.

I had a safe fun trip did some fishing and had a lot of fun. Thank you for stopping by and God bless.