Mom and Dad's Visit

Saturday afternoon, after the Tin Cup, Gary and Sue arrived.  They arrived after a hot ride from Meridian and lunch at a historic hotel in Baker City, OR the day before.

They'll be here a few days, then travel to Kaycee, WYO to see Pete and his family.  On both ends of that trip they'll stop in Lander to visit friends.

We had a nice dinner on the back deck before they left with Kath and the kids.

Tin Cup

The Tin Cup Challenge was a hit this year for everyone.  The Green's (minus Chad because he is already back in NH working) and Lang's split up for the 5k run.  Some ran, some walked, and I photographed.  Connor, Nancy, and Will finished under 30 minutes!

Afterwards was the usual booths at City Park complete with a dunk tank, diaper derby, and hula hoop contest that I think Dillon won.

Connor on the Teton

While Nancy, Brady, and Maggie were at Music on Main, I took Connor for an evening float on the Teton.  We put in at South Bates and I let him get accustomed to throwing a loop.  After a few minutes he was ready to catch a fish.  

When we turned the corner and found two moose.  Then we caught fish.

The kids had a great time at Music on Main with the Greens and Doyles.

Lang/Green Float

Yesterday was the annual Lang/Green float on the Teton.  We floated from South Bates to Bates with a drift boat, canoe, and two paddle boards.  Everybody took turns on floating on everything.  Nancy and Maggie got a little creative with their paddle board stances.  And we saw a moose in the water.

The Spud Turns 60

July 3rd the Spud celebrated their 60th birthday with a party.  The gates opened early for $0.60 burgers,  raffles, contests, and cake.  We got front row seats and set up a picnic table for a dinner of Gladys burgers, spicy fries, and spud buds (tater tots).  The Greens joined us, along with their friends from Concord who were in town visiting.  Dillon won the hula hoop contest.  Connor really wanted to win a Spud Season Pass in the raffle.  After loading up on the chocolate carmel birthday cake with whipped cream, all the kids played on the grass before it got dark enough for the movie.  Despicable Me II played to a packed house.

South Fork Again

Fished the South Fork again the other day with Chad.  We played the same game of beating the banks until finding a riffle the switching to PMD's.  The method seems to work.  We pulled more fish of the banks this time, probably because I used the rubber leg semi-stimulators Dad tied and gave me for Christmas.  On the flats and in the riffles, parachute Adams worked well.  Seems they liked the grey bodies today.  The pictures below are taken on Jobba Flats.  We camped out there for a few hours again.

Balloons and Badwater 4 Good Water

Nancy took Connor and Maggie to see the hot air balloons launch at the Fair Grounds on Saturday.  It was a crystal clear and calm morning; perfect for balloonist.

Saturday was a 5k run sponsored by Dreamchasers to support Lisa's Badwater 4 Good Water.  It was a nice loop on the streets of Teton Reserve.  The whole family came out to the event.  Both Nancy and Maggie ran the race while I stayed with the boys to cheer them on.  Connor got to watch Rudy while Tammy ran.

Nancy had a good day. She finished 5th overall and was the second woman.  After every 5k she always says to me, "I could have done that faster."  Maggie ran/walked with Gabby Batchen, her friend.  They had a great time.  At one point I went to check on them to ask if they wanted a ride in, but the were in good spirits, well hydrated, and said they wanted to finish on their own.  Not long afterward, they ran across the finish line.

4th of July

The Teton Valley is the second best place to spend the 4th of July (Lander is the best).  We started the morning with the parade in Victor.  The usual cast of characters...the American Legion carrying the flags, Old Murphy from the Spud, cheerleaders, cowboys and cowgirls on horses, the Emporium's huckleberry shake float, and Uncle Sam on stilts.  We sat with Heather in front of their office.  The kids all collected the candy that was thrown.

After the parade we came home to grill lunch.

In the evening we went to the Harper Street block party for more food and fireworks.

Biking in to Targhee

As we spend more time at Targhee, it's more practical to ride up there.  So, I've decided to take it to the next level.

Pine Creek and the South Fork

Chad and I left early the other day to see if we could find fish in both Pine Creek and the South Fork.

Pine Creek opens on July 1 because it is spawning water for the fine spotted yellowstone cutthroat that live in the South Fork.  This year the water was down and it has been warm so the big fish seemed to have left.  We did turn a few smaller brooke trout and it is always a blast to break out the 7' 3wt and throw adams while wading through ankle deep water.

We got onto the South Fork at Palisades Creek by 2:30pm.  We beat the bank for awhile with no luck.  A few times we'd pull over and rustle the weeds to find Salmon flies, so we thought this was a good way to fish. When we got to the first major flat, Jobba Flats, we found rising fish.  We stayed with this rising pod on the riffle for a couple of hours, each taking turns catching fish on parachute PMD's.  Mostly rainbows and cut-bows.  It was a good way to spend the afternoon.

The row to the take out after the sun went behind the hills was productive.  Chad caught several fish beating the bank using the same fly that didn't work earlier in the day.  These fish were beautiful green spotted cutthroat.

Celebrate America @ Huntsman Springs

Last night was the annual Celebrate America festival at Huntsman Springs.  This year they toned it down a bit from previous years.  It started at 4pm, instead of lasting all day, and their were less vendors, shows, and no air show.

4:00pm	Gates and Parking Open
4:00pm	Pre Show Entertainment Bounce Houses & Inflatables, face-painting, magicians, food & more!
7:00pm	Dueling Pianos
8:30pm	The Surf City All Stars The music of the Beach Boys, feat. founding members Al Jardine & David Marks
10:00pm	Fireworks Extravaganza Featuring a patriotic tribute by Lee Greenwood.

Fishing the South Fork

I fished the South Fork from the dam to Spring Creek yesterday with Sean Doyle.  It has been hot the last couple of days and we had heard the stone flies might be migrating up the river.  It seems the heat produced a fantastic PMD hatch in the riffles during the late afternoon, but we didn't see much evidence at all of a prolific stone fly population.

We put on the river at 3:30pm and beat the bank with big hairy attractors for a few miles with no luck.  Finally we came across a pod of rising fish at the tail end of a riffle feeding on PMD's.  A quick change of flies produced some success.  With more river miles to go, we took off in search of more riffles, PMD's and rising fish.

We beat the bank between riffles with no luck.  By the time we got the to the next good looking riffle, the hatch had turned off and there was no rising fish in sight.  It seems the hatch ended around 4:30 or 5.

Sean put on a big parachute adams for the last stretch from the braided section just above the falls to the take out.  He was able to turn a few on the grassy side of the river along the highway at sunset.  We took off around 9pm.

The "ladies"and kids had a collective dinner at the Doyles.  Nancy and the kids rode their bikes.  Coming home in the dark, Sean had just dropped me off and ran into them on the road.  So, Maggie rang her bell all the way down the lane to announce that she was coming so I would know.

Sheep Bridge Bike Ride

With Maggie at gymnastic camp, we took this opportunity to take the boys on a mountain bike ride.   Since this is Connor's first, we chose the Sheep Bridge trail (also Brady's first a few years ago).

After crossing a raging Teton Creek (on Sheep Bridge), the trail gradually climbs through stands of pine, aspens, and meadows filled with wild flowers to the Boy Scout Camp.  Here we stopped for a big break, stories, and explored the river.  The return trip is a nice easy down hill back to the bridge.  Connor did great and we had a wonderful ride.

This was not only a first for Connor, but also Nancy.  She hasn't been on single track since the famous Fire Lookout ride in outside of Sisters, OR that we did the summer before our wedding.  That summer, Nancy and I toured the west in my VW Golf with sleeping bags, bikes, and running shoes.   After a few short warm up rides around Bend, we decided to tackle a longer ride, 10 miles to a fire lookout and 10 miles back.  The ride out was fine, but it was hot and dusty so the return trip was difficult.  At the very end, Nancy fell on a switch back in the fine powder dirt that stuck to her sweaty body and was a mess.  Needless to say, that was the last time she was on a mountain bike on a single track.

On today's ride, we told this story as well as the first time I took Brady mountain biking on this trail.  He scared me with his fast descent---a lot like the first time I took him to the top of Mt. Sunapee when he bombed to the bottom without turning.

We're all here

Connor and I picked up Brady, Maggie, and Nancy at the SLC airport on Wednesday.  They had a smooth trip with no delays.  Promptly after descending into the valley off of Pine Creek Pass we were sitting at a booth at the Brakeman which still has the best hamburgers and fries in the Valley.

Summer 2013 has Started!

It's official, the summer of 2013 has started.  Connor and I made it across the country in our land yacht (the F250) and we are in Driggs looking at the Tetons.  I left Andover with Connor on Friday, June 14, and he had more than two weeks of school and his league playoffs remaining.  Nancy, Brady, and Maggie stayed behind while Nancy finished New Administrators Workshop and other odds and ends.

Connor and I left Friday, June 14, the day after graduation.  Our first stop was Toledo and a night with a graduate school friend Tod Shockey.  He is teaching at he University of Toledo.   His wife, Kim, and 12 year old son, Sam, were at a lacrosse tournament in Buffalo, NY.  So, Tod and his daughter who had just finished 10 grade hosted us for the evening.  We grilled Toledo famous Paco hot dogs and burgers ate ate them under the stars.  Tod gave Conner a few (read 5) Arnold Palmers for the drive.  Needless to say we stopped every two hours as Connor drank them all the next day.

After a stop in Iowa City for lunch, we made it to a campground just outside Kearney, NE by night fall.  The highlight of the evening was the cool ranch and nacho cheese Dortitos tacos from Taco Bell.

An early departure meant we arrived in Lander early afternoon.  We proceeded to the City Park for a catch at the same baseball field that I played Little League.  Parched, we dragged ourselves to the Campbells for Lemonade and cookies.  We also visited with the Gilbertsons.  After picking up provisions at Mr. D's we headed though "the Res" and over the pass.

We arrived in Driggs by 8pm. on June 16.  Just enough time to take a good look around and fix dinner before the sun set.  It's good to be back.