Abraham's return and Zions Narrows Trip

MORE PICTURES TOMORROW

September 26, 2010
Dear Rosalynde, Gabrielle, Naomi, Brigham, Rachel, Benjamin, Abraham and Christian!
I had a wonderful time with Abraham this weekend. For the past four months, I had been planning a Zions Narrows hike for those of my soccer players who wanted to do it. When I sent out the invitations four months ago, and about monthly thereafter, I received about 10 “Yes” answers. When it got close, the number dwindled, and finally no one came. However, that left Abraham and me to go together, for which I am glad. We had a wonderful time together. On the drive to Zions, we talked a lot about his mission, as well as about his mission the next day. Since Abraham also stayed up most of the night before ready The Hunger Games, he also slept. He drove for a while during which I finished some legal work.
We drove up to Hurricane Thursday evening. We wanted to go to the permit window early Friday morning to get a permit for the Saturday hike through the Narrows. But then when we learned definitively that no one else was coming, we decided to see if there were any same-day walk through permits available for Friday, then we would do another hike on Saturday and leave Saturday afternoon for Provo. So we were fortunate to get the walk through permits and we were fortunate enough to call the shuttle operator late Thursday evening and arrange for transportation to Chamberlin Ranch. The hike was as spectacular this year as last year, but the weather was a little warmer. The water was just as cold. Perhaps the water was a bit lower, and we did not have to swim through any holes, and the deepest hole was only up to our waists. The foliage was bright green this year, compared to late October last year when many of the leaves had turned. We made the 16 mile hike in 8 hours. I only slipped twice in the river, but caught myself with gloved hands so my camera did not get wet. Abraham did not fall at all. Thank goodness for trekking poles to help keep balance on the slick unseen rocks in the bottom of the river!
We were thrashed when we arrived back at the Temple of Sinawa, and then back at the Visitors Center. We drove into Springdale and stopped to eat at Willies Café and Saloon. The place was quite full, so the hostess took us back to the saloon. We looked at the prices and left out the backdoor. We then drove to Hurricane and stopped at JBs. Should I confess that I did order a turkey dinner from the Seniors’ menu ($6.99)? But Abraham’s all-day omelet was only $7.99. We showered and cleaned up at the motel, finished watching the galaxy game (the Galaxy lost to the Red Bulls 0-2), then went to sleep. We awoke at 5:45 AM, to drive to the Park again to catch the shuttle. This time we decided to do the West Rim trail, which started in the high for north part of the lower portion of the Park. The map said it is a 14.5 mile hike, but my GPS said it was a 19.5 mile hike. We took a longer loop so perhaps the actual distance is between the two numbers. It was absolutely spectacular. There is a part of Zions that cannot be seen from any road. It is only visible by hiking the West Rim Trail. The scenery was stunning, as many breath-taking canyons drained out to the west side of the park. We also saw the amazing upper drainages of the canyons that drain into the main valley of the park. After hike the majority of the distance on a high plateau, starting at nearly 8,000 feet, we descended to the very rim of the main valley, with shear walls dropping off. Back in the 1930s (I assume), the NPS carved out (blasted, I am sure) a path right out of the sheer canyon walls. We carefully took this path, going back and forth, and somewhat up and down, and winding around and finally ascending the promontory from with Angels Landing juts out. Then we followed that trail down to the Grotto. After being beat up the day before by the narrows, my legs, especially the lower legs and feet, we crying out for rest.
We took our water purifier and got our water from springs and streams, and wonderful food mama put together for us. Abraham carried yoghurt, fruit, granola trail bars, fruit and a jar of nuts. I also realized again that on a strenuous hike, one should not worry about over-eating. One burns lots of calories on these hikes, and keeping a steady supply of calories is important. Occasionally, I felt hungry, but thought it was not time to eat. But I realized I did much better by eating. Fresh water from springs and streams is wonderful.
Please see the pictures on our blog. I hope that you all (together with your kids) can make these hikes with me sometime.
Wednesday Mama called me at my office and suggested that I just take Abraham straight to Provo this weekend – since any other time involved too difficult conflicts. I said fine. So Thursday, Abraham packed his school things and we put them in my truck and left Thursday afternoon. In my view, it is amazing how many few things and stuff Abraham took back with him than I remember hauling out of his Freshman dorm. He really learned how to live in a Spartan style no his mission. I had a lot of room left in the truck when we threw his gear in. We drove to Provo by going through the east entrance to Zions Park over to Carmel junction, and into Panguitch and then north through Centerfield to Provo. I love that trip. I think it is so scenic. If I were rich, I would buy a ranch in that area. In panguitch, we stopped at Henrie’s drive-in, and we each got a very delicious thick shake, the kind they used to make and still make in small towns – even much better than In’n’Out. As we drove through Centerfield, we missed grandpa and grandma, who were attending the BYU football game, the unfortunate result of which was a 27-13 loss to Nevada! (How can losing to Nevada even be in the realm of possibility in God’s eternal plan?)

W arrived in Provo just before 10 pm. Benjamin and Christian soon arrived, and with their help, Abraham’s gear was all moved in in two minutes. I then drove Christian back to his dorm and had a nice but short talk about school. I got gas then dropped by Smiths grocery store (about 11 pm at that time) to get some yoghurt and fruit for the drive back to California. I learned that the hottest date, the hottest place to be in Prove on a Saturday night is at Smith’s grocery store. It was teeming with students. I remarked on this to the cashier. She said oh, yes, Saturday night and Monday night are the busiest times at the store, and there are often lines of byu students just hanging out and talking in the stork. (Smith’s is a giant store, so I suppose it is a good place to hang out). Before we were married, Mama and I ended up a store late in the evening (probably even Saturday evening) buying ice cream.
I didn’t see much of Benjamin. When I returned, he was helping Shayla with computer stuff (that is the story I heard, anyway). Benjamin gave me his bed so I could sleep, since the rest of the apartment would be up later than I needed to go to bed. So I finally got in bed about midnight. I was up at 6:00 am and I was off 25 minutes later.
It was a beautiful drive down in the early dawn, except near Beaver, the smoke from the wild fire in the mountains northeast of Beaver really mucked up the air in the entire Beaver valley. Occasionally I struggled to stay awake. The Classical channel on Sirius radio had the most beautiful program on Baroque choral music. I loved it. However, the beautiful music did not keep me awake. I finally switched to the 60s station, and tried to follow the words to stay awake. Finally, when church started in La Canada, I had Eva call me, put her phone on speaker phone (I muted my phone), and I plugged my phone into my truck’s speaker system and listened to the farewell talks for Matt Van Slooten, Mike Gooch, and Mike Weston. The talks were very good, the congregation filled up the chapel and the cultural hall, and Eva’s YW-YM choir sang beautifully. I made it home a little after 2 pm, put things away, and took a short nap.
So that was my fun weekend. (My legs are sore today.)
Love Daddy
That’s all for now.
Love Daddy

even more yellowstone pictures

This one is for Brigham.



One of the highest in the Park.




Old Faithful, only 20 minutes late.

pictures! pictures"

more pictures from yellowstone

more pictures

Pictures from Yellowstone

More pictures

Dear Kids,
Mama should go into the moving business. She is really good at it. She can put things in boxes, carry them to the truck, take them out of the truck, and walk up to the second floor with the boxes. She can also clean apartments very well – both the apartment being vacated and the apartment into which one is moving. Of course, she now has very sore muscles. But she is really amazing. She loves all of you so much that she will work until she is skin and bones. I am so lucky (actually I am really blessed) to be married to her.
On Thursday, mama jumped into her car and drove to San Francisco. Thursday evening and Friday, Mama helped Rachel and Jonathan pack boxes, care for Rosalia, and prepare for a move to their new apartment. Friday, she rented a truck in San Francisco, drove the truck to Rachel’s apartment and set to work. After two truckloads, she was able to return the truck by 4:30 pm. Jonathan took the day off from work, so among the three of them, they were able to watch Rosalia, and move boxes and furniture. After helping out Saturday morning and early afternoon, Mama drove home in the evening, arriving at about 11:30 pm. She listened to Christian radio stations up and down the great Central Valley. I am sure mama will give you a much more romantic view of her three day trip to San Francisco.
In the meantime, Eva stayed home, went running, read, prepared for school, and enjoyed her new-look room. Late into Wednesday evening before mama left for San Francisco, mama completed sewing new bed covers for Eva’s bedroom. They look fabulous. They took a lot of work, as mama cut out and sewed together 12” squares of materials. I am attaching a picture. Friday evening, Eva had been considering attending a stake dance, but ultimately she did not go. Saturday, Eva worked on house cleaning, vacuuming, and doing the dishes. The house looked great for Mama’s return from San Francisco. In the afternoon, Eva was a great help for me. She helped me stripe the FIS field for soccer in the afternoon. It is so nice to have someone smart to work with. I only had to explain things to her once, and she immediately caught on. Plus, she can do addition and subtraction in her head, so she could help me get the measurements right for the field. I have had others of the soccer players help me stripe the field, but no one catches on as quickly as Eva did. In fact it might be the best job of field striping that I have ever done. (It was not perfect. I had tried to get right angles using a little surveyors stand and rifle telescope that I had contrived. I was 1% off when we reached the 4th corner. I guess that is not too bad. No one noticed it at all.) In the evening, I invited Eva to do some quick errands and grocery shopping and go to dinner with me. But she felt more like going running and being home. So I did my errands and Eva went running.
We had a great time on our trip to Yellowstone. The Saturday before we left, mama stayed up until 1:30 or 2;00 am Sunday morning working on Eva’s room and other tasks. I stayed up late, but not that late. So Sunday morning, we finally left – not too early. Mama slept in the front passenger seat, and Eva lay down and slept in the back seat. At lass Vegas, mama and I switched places. I did some work, but then fell asleep until St. George. We had a nice family devotional on the way up. We arrived in Spanish Fork late at night, just as Aunt Pat was busy finishing cleaning the house from the visit of her grandchildren. We are so grateful to her for working so hard. We are grateful to Uncle Tracy for always making his house available to us when we need it.
Monday was a beautiful morning. We drove to Provo and met Benjamin and Christian. It was good to see Christian after his long sojourn in Israel. We soon left. Benjamin and I drove the explorer to Wal-Mart and then to Naomi’s friend’s house, where we saw Naomi and Polly. Mama stopped to do grocery shopping at Macey’s. While we waited for Mama, we washed the Explorer, which is I pretty good looking vehicle when it is clean. We left the explorer for Naomi and took off north along Redwood Road, past Camp Williams, and into Salt Lake City. We drove to Brigham City, put gas in the truck, and drove to Logan. We stopped at the Temple in Logan, and very much enjoyed it. We enjoyed the drive through the canyon on the way to Logan and the drive over the canyon to Bear Lake. That is certainly beautiful country. We then headed out through the countryside. I missed one turn-off, which took us 15 miles out of our way, before we got back on track. We drove into the Star Valley – Afton, Wyoming, a beautiful place. Then we drove up the Snake River Gorge, and we saw many boating expeditions going down the swift flowing river. I wanted to do that. We stopped at the river for a while, and Benjamin finally threw a rock all the way across the Snake River. I hope he did not damage a ligament or rotator cuff. As we drove through Jackson Hole (with its tourist town ambiance, and with numerous arches made of elk antlers) and into the Great Teton National Park, we were overwhelmed by the sight of the Grand Teton Mountains. They are spectacular! I am posting this letter to our blog, where all the pictures will be available for you to see. Is any of you up for my challenge to hike with me next summer to the highest point in the Tetons? We received off and on rain showers during this drive, with the sun coming out now and again. As a result, the visual ambience was spectacular. We finally drove into the south entrance of the park as it was getting dark. One thing we learned on this trip is that I am not so good at interpreting road signs. As a result, I stayed left when I should have gone right. We drove for 20-30 minutes, before I finally decided that I was on the wrong road – we had almost reached Old Faithful! We turned around, and 30-40 minutes later we were pulling into our campsite at the Bridge Bay campground. There were no lights in the campground –just the glow of a new moon and the stars. When we climbed out of the truck, I heard some strange sounds. It sounded like snorting, like I have occasionally heard from cattle or horses, but not as incessant as I heard that evening. Finally as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw in the distance (75-100 feet) outlines of big creatures – there was a herd of bison right in the middle of the campsites in the campground! After a few minutes, they started to run – I do not know if we should call it a stampede – but I am sure it set a few hearts aflutter. The bison ran through the campsite adjoining our campsite, then a solitary bison came trotting back right through our campsite, within 10-15 feet of the kids. We did not have our camera ready, so we did not get pictures of that bison, but we did take pictures of other bison. We set up camp, inflated the air mattresses, and went to bed.
Tuesday morning, we awoke, and wished Mama happy birthday. We fixed pancakes for her. She was surprised at the tender golden brown hotcakes we presented to her. Everyone was up early enough, and cooperated and made camping wonderful. I regret that we have not taken the younger kids camping more often. Hopefully this trip is a type of make-up. We’ll do it again next summer – any suggestions? Dinosaur National Monument and river rafting? We then headed north. We stopped at Fishing Bridge, but we did not see any fish! I wanted to stop of LeHardy Rapids, but that did not hold that much interest to the others. We then went on to the south rim of the grand canyon of the Yellowstone. The last time I was there I had Eva or Christian on my back. There were a lot of stairs down the side of the canyon, but the view was spectacular. Benjamin decided to run all the way back up the stairs – he almost made it. We then hiked along the rim for a view of the upper falls. Then we drove to the north side, looked at the upper falls again, and then went to the lower falls. We walked down a longish path to the very brink of the lower falls, and leaned out over the water as it plunged hundreds of feet into the gorge. It was a fabulous sight. After the grand canyon of the Yellowstone, we drove over the mountain to Mammouth Hot Springs. We enjoyed walking through the formations. We got gas and enjoyed an ice cream sandwich. We drove back through another beautiful canyon. I wish we had had time to stop and explore more. When we were driving back on the stretch between the Grand Canyon and LeHardy rapids, we ran into a traffic jam. It took us 30 minutes to get through. The cause turned out to be bison on the highway. The bison are very arrogant. They do not care a whit what we think. They will stand in the road and simply look at us, very slow to move. Of course, no one honks at a bison. I would not want a bison to charge by truck. My truck would get the worst of it. As it turned out, the wait was worth it. We some the bison even closer than our campsite; we saw bison fording the river. It was fun. Also on that day, we saw a wolf up on the hillside. We could see it move. It looked like a big dog to me. . We also stopped to get wood on the way back (one can now gather wood in the park – the fire from 15 years ago has left plenty of dead wood to gather. During our gathering of wood, a huge army of mosquitoes attacked us. Back at camp, we fixed dinner and Dutch oven cornbread, I think. Then we had some interesting and serious discussions around the campfire. I told Benjamin, Christian and Eva, who think they can never live up to their older siblings, that they are just as bright as any of their siblings. I would love to have had all of you around the campfire with us. We didn’t have any little boys to be constantly playing with the fire, so Benjamin and Eva had to half-heartedly make up for it.
Wednesday morning, we again had hotcakes – with Benjamin and me acting as food mixer and cook. Then we were off to Old Faithful, stopping at several other places along the way. At old faithful, we had just enough time to go for a short walk before coming back for the old faithful performance. However, this time, old faithful was a little bit late. After waiting 20 minutes past the predicted time, we were getting antsy – but then it showed its stuff. It was fun to watch. We were also very lucky on our subsequent walk through the geyser basin. We saw one of the infrequently erupting geysers, the highest in the park, erupt. It was a fine sight. On the way back, we stopped to watch a geyser erupt, and the kids sat exactly downwind from it. They were soaked – but they did not move. I took a picture of them and also on the board walk where they were sitting – showing three dry spots surrounded by wet boards. After getting some big delicious ice cream cones, we drove further down the valley, and then back up a drive right alongside the Firehole River. We arrived back in camp in time to make a nice dinner. We sang songs and had a good time around the campfire. A family next door to us, with 4-5 kids 12 and under, from Minnesota, looked like they should be LDS, but were not. The next morning as we were leaving, I complimented the mother on such well-behaved children. She said they heard us singing and almost came over to join us. Mama told her a bit about our camping experiences as well, when our kids were little.
Thursday morning, we were up early, without cooking breakfast. We packed, stowed away our gear, folded tents up, and were on our way. We drove north past the lake, past the bison meadows and river fords, and to the Grand Canyon. We then went west, and arrived at the canyon where the road had been closed for the night. It opened at 8:00 am. We arrived 5 minutes before it opened. By this time, the fuel gauge light had been on for some time. No one thought we could make it the 30 some miles to the gas station in West Yellowstone. However, my truck and I communicate well, and we made it with no problem. I had at least 4/10ths of a gallon left. The drive through the canyon was beautiful. Let’s all move to West Yellowstone in the summer. The drive along the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River was great and scenic. We should have stopped to fish. Then we descended out of the canyon into the Pocatello area, the world capital of potatoes. By mid-afternoon, we were back in Provo. We all used Benjamin’s apartment to shower and clean-up. I went up on campus with Naomi, who walked around campus with me for awhile. Naomi stayed there to be with her in-laws, rather than coming to dinner with us. Back at Benjamin’s apartment, we waited for him and Shayla. In the meantime, I took Benjamin’s fancy bike out into the street to ride back and forth. So Shayla met me first on Benjamin’s bicycle. She is a very bright and charming girl. I said that we are a big and frugal family, that we needed both my truck and the explorer, and would she and Benjamin be kind enough to ride his bike to the restaurant. After three seconds of wondering whether I was serious, she laughed and said that would be great. We had an enjoyable time at the restaurant.
Friday morning, I went to BYU to do some work on my computer. Mama and the others went shopping and did errands, etc. we rented a car for Naomi and Christian so they could return from the family reunion. Then we headed to Centerfield. We arrived in time to help Kathy set up tables, chairs, table covering, etc. then we still had time to drive to Mayfield. We stopped at the cemetery and found Mama’s grandpa and Grandma Hansen’s graves. Then we drove south to Mayfield to the farm where I spent so much of my early teenage summers. The little valley looks smaller now than it did when I was a boy. I have many fond memories of farming in that little valley. Then we drove south through willow creek. We did not have time to drive down to the meadows where I played the rattlesnake joke on grandpa frandsen, but I pointed it out. We arrived back centerfield in time for dinner and conversation into the night.
Saturday morning, mama and I were up early, since we were in charge of breakfast. Then it was off to the clarion farm to take pictures by the sprinklers in the just harvested grain field. After that, it was soon time to start preparing for a barbecue lunch at the Church Pavilion. So we helped Rita set everything up. Then some of our Mackay Cousins, including Aunt Ruth, came down, to help celebrate grandma’s 90th birthday. We had a good time with all of them. I do not know where the time went, but soon after that, it was time to start setting up for dinner in the evening in Grandpa’s Park. Aunt Pat and Libby really put on a fancy dinner, with table decorations, wonderful food, and so forth. It was wonderful. Then we had a slide/PowerPoint show about grandma frandsen. Soon, Uncle Ronald had to leave. But earlier in the evening, Nick came down with his fiancé. They are a handsome couple. There were lots of little kids around, primarily from Jill and Peter, Deron, Devan, Libby, and from Paul and Jonathan, with Naomi as well. You would all have loved to see everyone with all your little ones. That would have made quite the scene.
Sunday morning, we were up at 6 am Utah time and shortly after, mama, Eva and I were on our way. We managed to miss the terrible traffic from lass Vegas by leaving so early and we were home by mid-afternoon.
This past week, I just worked hard and long. I went running twice. Then I played in the LA City league soccer game Friday evening. The first half was my worst ever. I have had this cold, plus I was a bit out of shape, not having run for 9 days during the vacation. The other team won, 4-1. The first score came on a shot from 35 yards that hit the far post and bounced in. but the shot came from a player in my defensive area. I guess I did not close him down quickly enough. The second goal came when I stepped up to challenge a player, who passed the ball, and then quickly tried to run past me. He did get a half-step on me and when no other defender stepped in to cover behind me when I stepped up, the player took the return pass and squeezed a shot off. It is the only time I remember getting beat on a give and go in this league. The third goal came when our outside left back failed to track back and pick up the attacker, so I went out to pressure the attacker, forcing him toward the endline. However, he cut the ball back and me, and beat me embarrassingly, and he was able to put a shot into the net. I did not feel great. In the second half, we dominated the game, but we could only score one goal. I played much better then. Saturday, I also played soccer in the afternoon. So today I have some sore muscles.

That’s all for now. Love Daddy.