On the way to Canada!

We are on our way to Canada. We are meeting Merril at Mt. Rainier for a radio repeater setup and then on to the Pacific Northwest! Girls are driving up with the gear and stopped at Lagoon and met up with Nicole.

At Lagoon, Julie and Nicole took off and Mikayla and I had a great time doing whatever we wanted.

Juliet has her learner's permit and she drove a lot on the way to Portland to pick up Daddy.

Merril and Mark barely caught a flight to Portland Oregon. The only reason they made it on the plane was because the plane was held at the gate because of a maintenance issue. I picked up Merril and Mark and drove up to Mt Rainier. We were lucky with the weather. Mt. Rainier is often obscured with clouds. We were able to see it with fantastic clarity.

First we had to hustle and get a radio repeater set up. I've only helped Merril take down radio repeaters. So was fun to watch him set up and to snag a picture of him.

After getting the radios set up, we went up Mt. Rainier. We hiked but it was very snowy on the trail.

We saw a killer waterfall on the way down.

We camped close to the repeater. There's danger of bears and I was a little nervous that one would try to eat us. We were lucky and didn't have an encounter.

Mikayla found a frog.

Can I say it was just beautiful? So so pretty!

As we headed north to Vancouver, we stopped at a roadside stand and got some Rainier cherries. They were seriously so good! I love cherries but Rainier cherries are so good and more expensive. We hit the season just right!

Cascade Falls

We went to Glendale, UT for Merril's Dad's family reunion. On the return trip, we decided to try and hike Cascade Falls. We hiked it when Maxine, Jack, and Juliet were little. This is July of 2008. I was thinking it wasn't that long ago but that's 14 years ago.  

We were hoping there was water coming out of the falls. This time is was Juliet, Mark, and Mikayla.

It's less than 2008 but it's been a dry decade. I was still pleasantly surprised. 😁

I'm hopeful of the monsoon season. I would love it to bring lots of rain. 

4th of July 💥

Today Juliet is riding with the mountain bike team in the 4th of July parade in Hurricane. She looks so cute in her tech tee. 💗 

We scored a free t-shirt and tons of cheap candy. 

We bumped into Ellen and took a pic with her to send to Maxine.

And then we tried a different location to watch the fireworks! We paddled the kayaks over to the island and watched from there. I don't have any pictures from the island because I was worried I would drop my phone in the lake. It worked out way better! After it was over, we weren't fighting with boats to get out of the water. We paddled back and loaded up. Jack's truck hauled all the kayaks and he only got it stuck for just a second. Merril's still riding around in Canada so he missed this year. No worries. There's always next year.💥

Merril, Motorcycles, and the Arctic Ocean

Merril wanted to ride a motorcycle to the Arctic Ocean and found 2 other adventure-seeking friends to go with him! Ryan Rosenberg and Jared Hummel. I just like this picture!

This is a hotel on Lake Louise. I bet it's freezing 10 months out of the year.

They found a hot spring to have a bath in. It's nice to soak your bones when you've been riding 15-16 hours a day. 😅 Merril said the hot springs were nice and hot! They stopped on the way there and the way back.

But look at his face! He loves it!

They reached the arctic circle without any problems.

We went to our own Arctic Circle on the same day. It was pretty tasty.

They had to be careful of bears. This campground had an electric fence to keep them out.

They made it! It looks like afternoon but it's more like 1 a.m. 🤯 The sun barely sets this time of year. 

One is bound to get some helmet head.

They had to catch a boat to cross a river. During the winter, the river freezes over and people drive across the river. During the time of year when it's too slushy for driving but too much ice for the boat, you just don't cross the river. It's closed for about a month in the spring and again in the fall.

They saw caribou, lots of bears, mountain goats, elk and deer. Everything went pretty great until the end when Merril's fuel pump stopped working about 11 hours from the truck in Montana. Ryan and Jared went to get the truck and Merril stayed back with the bike. When they met up, Ryan and Jared slept and Merril drove home. 

One bit of luck! On the way back they made a stop for dinner and people asked which way they were going. They said South and people said good because the road had just washed out behind them. If they hadn't gotten past the washed out road, they would have had to make an almost 500 mile detour. Oi. But they made it so all was well. 

Merril's hands are pretty tired but other than that, everything else was good. I'm glad he has crazy friends so he doesn't do these things alone. 😀

My Garden Brings Blessings

My garden makes me happy. It brings me food! The apricot tree is almost done and the veggies are coming in regularly. 

While Daddy's gone, we went to see a movie. We saw a new animated movie called Bad Guys. It was pretty cute. A bunch of thieves turn their lives around. Good 'ol summer vibes. No schedule!

Summer Sugar

Yummy shaved ice, one of my favorite summer treats!

 

Juliet's 15th Birthday!

We didn't plan ahead enough to schedule an appointment with the driver license division in Hurricane and there were no appointments on Juliet's 15th birthday. Luckily, there's an office in Cedar City and it had a few appointments left! I wanted to make this happen for Juliet! We made an appointment in Cedar City and drove up there on her birthday. She passed and we remembered all the right documents! 

She was so excited to drive home! Let's be honest, she's been driving for a while now. She's pretty good. I'm sure I'll be terrified at some point.

We picked up Nicole and went to Yogurtland.

Birthday cheesecake!

Juliet had a friend party on Saturday and Nicole made this gorgeous cake for her!

Juliet is a great kid! It's fun to watch her grow up! 💗

Fixing Jack's Truck

 Jack's truck came from Grandpa Campbell's work.  It was an old yard truck and Jack got it for free. Free vehicles tend to need some work now and then. It was leaking coolant like crazy! It was time to change the intake manifold and valve cover gaskets. Jack got started on the truck but became frustrated when he couldn't get some bolts out. I started to help him because I have small hands.

We changed the thermostat too because it was right there.

This project took several weeks but we got it buttoned up finally. Merril isn't pictured but he provided the expertise.

We forgot the o-ring on the fuel rail. When Jack started the truck up the first time, it started spraying everywhere. I thought the truck had gone from bad to worse.

But we quickly realized out mistake and it was an easy fix. Now it doesn't leak coolant!

It was a lot of work and but now it's running perfect! It's great when projects work out! Jack's getting good at fixing things and making them work again. 👊

Now Mikayla Wants a Cello

The Intermediate School had a free summer class in order to garner interest in the band and orchestra department. Mikayla learned about a lot of instruments but decided she really likes the cello. She still has another year of elementary school and we're not close enough for the early morning program. She's excited for it when she gets there. I could have a cellist and a pianist, just like The Piano Guys! 

Mikayla and I wanted to plant flowers in the strawberry bed this year. We planted dahlias.

And California poppies because my girl is in California. 🌻🌺