Nichols Re-union

Cheryl has been busy this year planning a family reunion for her Mother's side of the family. The Nichols have not gathered except for those unplanned events i.e. funerals or marriages. This was the first organized reunion of it's kinda. So we spent our 24th of July weekend in Midway "getting to know the family". Friday morning, 51 of us ventured into the great outdoors and hiked the trail to Timp Cave. A mile and half trail straight up the mountain well nearly straight up. The scenery of the canyon was spectacular and the cloud coverage made it bearable to endure the hike.


Cheryl and I had our cheerleaders. Adyson and Lexi,our granddaughters,one or two switch backs ahead would shout encouragement:



"Great Job Grammy..you're almost there" or "Go Papa, you can do it."

Finally, nearly 2 hours later we arrived at the entrance of the cave and enjoyed a great tour of the cave.



Adyson made great friends with our Forest Service Tour Guide.

It felt like we climbed from 0 to 6730 feet above sea level. Okay, it was only 5000 feet to 6730 feet.

The Nichols Family Cave Dwellers
Coming down the trail I was able to teach Adyson my granddaughter about fractions and if we split a pie into fourths we are able to eat four pieces. Interesting enough the trail was marked out in fourths also so as we hiked past each marker we would say "Okay we have eaten one piece, two pieces, three pieces and finally at the trail head we had eaten the whole pie. Hm, it was much easier eating the pie going down the hill then up.

Of course, Lexi was the smart one in the group as she persuaded her daddy to carry her down the trail in the backpack and she rested all the way down the trial. Man Philip where were you when I needed you.

The rest of the reunion we played a little golf and sat and relaxed and visited with each other. I think I heard someone even say that maybe we should do this every 5 years or so. Hm, maybe my legs will have recovered from the hike in 5 years. I'm game.

2009 Adventure #6 Gooseberry

Yesterday, Cheryl and I found ourselves with the whole day to our self's. Hm...packed the car with some goodies and lunch, grabbed our fly rods and we were off first thing in the morning for an all day adventure.

We drove to Gooseberry Canyon with the thought of exploring our potential camping areas to bring the family or get away for a weekend. This area was beautiful. Halfway up Gooseberry, we pulled over and looked back down the canyon and were just taken back with the colors and scenery. I would highly recommend this drive to anyone, I'd even volunteer to be your guide if you would like.


Cheryl accused me of taking the drive to check out the construction project near the summit. Yes, the project was interesting and I took some mental notes as we proceeded through the project; however, being with my wife away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and enjoying the great outdoors was what today was all about.


Our journey took us over the summit and into Lost Creek and down Seven Mile Creek. We were able to stop and walk about a bit enjoy the scenery. No pressure to hurry just take our time. As we returned home via Fish Lake we made several side trips to places of interest.

It was an awesome day to spend together and just take in the greatness of the day.

2009 Adventure #5 - Camping

I'm a bit behind in my blogging so I'm going to try and catch up on some of the awesome adventures and fun that Cheryl and I have been having recently.

The last week of June amidst trying to complete a CM/GC Proposal, we loaded up the trailer that we had purchased last year and invited all to come with us on a camping trip over the weekend.

Friday evening, we pulled into the campsite just as a large thunderhead storm arrived also. Philip and Jenny were racing to stake their tent down and trying to keep all their belongings from blowing downstream. Taylor arrived just shortly after Cheryl and I and with his assistance we leveled the trailer out and open the doors and everyone climb in and enjoyed a good old fashion rain storm. We played games and just enjoyed visiting with everyone.


Saturday, we enjoyed the beaches (what we could actually stake out) of Jordanelle State Park. We built sandcastles and as you can see it was also fun to for some to smash some of the structures made of sand. It didn't take long for my engineering blood to come out and we even constructed a mammoth dam. Even the Corp of Engineers would be amazed at the innovations and quality of this earthen dam embankment.


Saturday evening, I pulled out the Dutch Ovens and cooked a feast for everyone to enjoy. The mosquitoes were a pain that we had to deal with and it made fishing that evening very unbearable. We all went to bed tired. Sunday, with a bit of luck, I was able to land one small fish that Adyson and Lexi enjoyed touching. Adyson even got to release it back into the river with a mighty throw that sent the fish about halfway across the river.


It was fun to get together with our children and grandchildren and spend time fishing, riding bikes, playing on the beach and just enjoying life. Even Porter enjoyed his first camping experience.

We were just living the dream.