Great Basin Day 4

While we escaped some warmer temperatures Tuesday by heading up to Wheeler Peak, the weather cooled off Wednesday with some thunderstorms. We decided to go to a different part of the park - Grey Cliffs and Baker Creek for a look around. 

On the road in, we saw this unusual road sign. Sadly, we didn't spot any marmots!

Baker Creek was lovely. We chose a hike we thought would take us near it...

...but instead wrapped way around to the right, through rocky flatland and then a solid incline. We tried, but decided it was too much elevation gain and too little time by a creek (plus, the hike was poorly marked, so we weren't sure where we were!). 

We turned around and enjoyed the same view of the creek that we had at the beginning of our adventure.

We drove to the visitor center, which features the only eatery in the park. Our food was great, and a real treat after our hike. Through the big picture windows, we watched the thunderstorm and lightning. Later, we enjoyed a quiet night in the RV, listening to the rain (feeling grateful we had a solid roof overhead).

On Thursday morning, we enjoyed one last breakfast outside, watching our family of robins. We had to find them, as the storm messed up their nest. 

We loved having this up-close look at this little family!

We then packed up and pulled out of our site at Lower Lehman Creek. It was a great few days here, and we loved our campsite. 

Lehman Creek was just a short walk away.

Great Basin: Day 3

We woke up in the RV in our campsite, got ready for the day, and watched a family of robins who lived in a tree on the site. 

We then drove up to the top of Wheeler Peak, at 10,000 feet. Stace was initially nervous to drive the RV up the road, as there were warnings about driving longer RVs. But he handled it like a pro. We hiked to Stella Lake, seeing turkeys and deer along the way. At the lake, Violet tried out fly fishing (or in this case, fly casting - no fish were seen or caught).

We hiked back to the RV, where we enjoyed lunch and a rest. Then, we did another hike, to the ancient bristlecone forest.

Finding these 4,000 to 5,000 year old trees was very special.

Stacey, hands on history.

 

We relaxed by a second alpine lake, and then headed back to the RV. 

So peaceful.

Once back down the mountain, Stace figured out how to work the dump station! Real RVers now, are we!

We returned to our site, built a fire, and made s'mores.

Great Basin Trip: Days 1&2

Sunday was Father's Day, and also Stacey's birthday! We celebrated in an atypical way: we got up and out and on our way to Las Vegas. We weren't interested in gambling, shows or the Strip, but we were instead renting an RV from El Monte RV in Vegas. It was our first time renting an RV. 

We drove our Mazda to a friend's house in nearby Henderson, and stopped at a local coffee shop for an afternoon pick-me-up. We also got a gift card for the friend who kept our car safe, to deliver when we returned to collect it.

The open road! Nevada is so much more than Las Vegas.

We spent our first night at Kershaw Ryan State Park, a beautiful, clean campground with full hookups. It made a great halfway point to stop at for the night, as we drove toward Great Basin National Park.

We drove to the end of the campground/state park, and found a lovely manicured area with a pond and recreation area. Then, we were on our way north.

We stopped in Caliente on the way, which boasts this lovely 103-year-old train depot. The station was a stopping point on the line connecting Salt Lake City, Utah, with Los Angeles.

The upstairs, shown here, once had 50 hotel rooms. Now, there are offices, along with local artwork.

We also took a slight detour to see Cathedral Rock State Park. As you can see, it was worth it.

We then went on to Baker, Nevada, and to our campsite in Great Basin.

Catio Project - and a New Project

We have a new project, one we've been thinking about and planning for a few months. The netting and framework will become a catio, or safe outdoor enclosure for our cats. 

Here, you see Stace in engineer-mode, staring at his project, and thinking hard. 

 

Cora lent a hand for a bit. We've been blessed with beautiful weather, so we can work on the project and it's not too hot.

Here is where it will go, with the cats entering via a cat flap in the screen in the dining room window, on the left. 

Also this week, I worked on the 2024 and 2025 blog books, cleaned, and baked. Stace and I rewatched Wolf Hall, and he watched a lot of World Cup games.

We also went to Ellie's dance recital - we especially had to show up for our dancer, since Grandma and Grandpa were in Alaska.

With Violet gone, Evie had to hang out with Cora! (I promise she was happy; I just caught her looking angry.)

Cora had a friend in town from out of state, so she hung out with this friend group from her first high school.

And then...

...This happened.

While Stace was outside working on the catio, I heard a dripping in the bathroom. It sounded like someone left the tub faucet on, but we don't use the tub. I looked up and saw two streams of water flowing down from the ceiling onto the tub and floor.

Uh oh. 

Stace turned off the water and began clearing up six bags of wet insulation from the attic around a pipe that had burst.

The orange circle shows where the copper elbow is, on a joist, which it had evidently been rubbing on all these years.

As the ceiling began looking worse, Stace propped it up with a stick. We had a mitigation company come out on Sunday, and learned we'll need to demo both bathrooms because the drywall and the studs behind them are soaked. Then, high-powered fans and a dehumidifier will be brought in to dry out the internal structure.

We did NOT have this on our bingo card this year.

Needless to say, the catio is on an indefinite hiatus.

Once Violet was back, we went out to dinner as a family, for Stace's birthday. 

On his actual birthday, Violet, Stace and I started off on our summer road trip to Nevada. Stay tuned for more!

Violet's Trip to Alaska

Violet thoroughly enjoyed her Alaska adventure. She flew up on Friday, and Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty picked her up. It just happened that cousin Alison gave birth to baby Harlow on Saturday, a couple of weeks early! So Vi got to hold a one-day old on Sunday, such a miracle.

On Sunday evening, my parents flew up, and on Monday, they were all off to Juneau!

Later on Monday, the crew took a half-hour flight from Juneau to Gustavus in a tiny plane, so they could spend the week at nearby Glacier Bay National Park.

Sunset on Glacier Bay - around 11 p.m.! In the far north of Alaska, the sun is up very early, and sets very late in the summer.

This pond was near the lodge, and Vi walked by it numerous times on their hikes. She said their trip was full of hiking

Here's a rainbow shining above the Lodge parking lot.

Hiking...

This photo shows a tree, next to a pile of pinecone shavings left by squirrels hunting for seeds.

A river that flows into the bay.

On Wednesday, the group spent all day on a boat ride into the bay, to see the glaciers up close.

They viewed the Margerie Glacier, which is 21 miles long!

Violet enjoyed learning about the glacier, and how it grew and receded.

This is Glacier Bay at very low tide - notice the tide marker stick.

This is the same tide marker! This was about a seven-minute walk from the lodge, where Vi got to experience staying in a room on her own

.

Here's a view of the bay from the lodge.

This huna house, or tribal house, was in the national park, a five-minute walk from the lodge. In it were interpretive displays about the Glacier Bay clans, which were displaced in the 1700s as the glacier grew and intruded on their homeland. It since receded.

Carl the Porcupine lives near the lodge, and is a visitor favorite. Violet also saw otters, whales, harbor porpoises, bald eagles and a moose carcass.

A closeup of Carl, taken by another guest with a good camera.

On Friday, Vi and company flew back to Juneau, where they visited Mendenhall Glacier, a short drive away.

The glacier is in the photo directly over Grandma's head, where the two hills come together. 

Violet said that in Juneau, it was evident how tourism impacted the downtown, where numerous cruise ships dock. Lots of tourist shops!

Violet loved her trip. They flew home Monday.