April Adventures

 My back is finally starting to recover from a small disc rupture at the end of March. It feels good to get out on the trails again. The snow is melting on some of our local trails, so I've been hitting them a lot. 

Bigalow's Beast X2:

Joyce and I hiked up Bigalow's twice on one of our hill workout days. I felt remarkable good considering I haven't done much climbing. I haven't done much of anything to be honest.

I love that I can look out from the top and see very little snow left on the mountains.

I did a few more runs at Rigby Lake, the Butte, and the Greenbelt that I didn't take pictures of. I've been slowly working my mileage back up.

Cress Creek Area:

Jenn and I got up early and did our long Saturday run mostly in the dark. We snuck in a good 10 miler before I headed out to work the Spitfire aid station.

I loved the moon shining bright on the river.

I love Cress Creek area for sunrises and sunsets.

We saw tons of deer, and these cute horses.

Bigalow's X3:

Joyce and I climbed Bigalow's three times! That's a record for me. It's a one mile hill with exactly 1000 ft of gain. So we went a little over 6 miles, with 3000 ft of vert. Not too shabby for this early in the season. We were trying to get a feel for how we're looking for the rest of our 12ers.

Joyce

I saw this cairn an awful lot this month.

Bigalow's X2 & Little Kellys:

The day after I climbed Bigalow's three times with Joyce, I went back with Ashlee and Becky and did it two more times, and then came down Little Kellys. This time kicked my butt! These ladies are fast, and it's hard enough to keep up with them when I'm in really good shape, but it's extra hard when I'm just getting back into the swing of it. I love the challenge, and I always feel good after a challenging run chasing them.

So many deer!

Ashlee-Becky-Tricia

Little Kellys & Bigalow's:

I had to be in Boise on Saturday, so these awesome ladies were nice enough to do a long run on Friday with me. I needed 12 miles, and I was pushed the whole time by them. In case you haven't caught on to the theme this month, I did Bigalow's for my 6th time in one week on this run. We started up Little Kelly's to check on snow levels. We started up Bigalow's at mile 9, and I was pretty wiped out by that point. I survived the climb, and then it was a nice relaxing run back down Little Kellys and to the car.

Six times up the Beast in one week! 🙌

Ashlee-Tricia-Becky-Ashley

I spy a moose.

The trees are starting to get leaves! 

I've been getting up an hour early each morning to stretch, and do core strengthening for my back, and do IT band stretches and strength exercise. I'm determined to not let those things ruin my summer of running.

Easter

 Easter was pretty low key this year. We had Sawyer, Amanda, and Larry over for Easter dinner. We just did the usual ham, sour cream potatoes, rolls, and cooked carrots. Amanda made the BEST carrot cake! Seriously one of the best I've ever had. 

We didn't do Easter baskets for the kids this year. We gave them a dozen farm fresh eggs instead. 😁 

Not only was this cake delicious, but look how pretty it is!

😍😍😍

We went to Boise the weekend after Easter for Nora's birthday, so we celebrated Easter with her right when we got there. I love putting together Easter baskets for her! I also love giving her a stack of summer clothes. Seems like the perfect kick off to warmer weather.

Easter with Nora

Spring Fling Scrapbook Retreat

 My life has been so crazy the last few years, that I've kind of let scrapbooking go. It's something I love to do, so this year I made some big goals to prioritize scrapbooking again, and get over 100 layouts done. I set Thursdays aside and try to get one or two layouts done each week. That's been going really good! I also signed up for a local scrapbook retreat. Jocie was the only one I knew that was going, but I was fine being in a room full of ladies I don't know; I was on a mission to get a ton done! Lani and Courtney ended up being there too, so it was fun to catch up with them. I ended up getting 23 layouts finished; that's 46 pages! I was super happy with that!

I got some big events scrapbooked too, which is always a good feeling.

The scariest Easter Bunny I've even seen showed up to give us an Easter treat. 😂

The whole crew!

Cooking Through the States: April

We're still going with our monthly 'Cooking Through the States' night. April was Washington, and it was one that was very new to me. We did clam chowder, salad, and bread for dinner, and Amanda made cherry pie for dessert. I've never even tasted clam chowder before, let alone made it. It was pretty easy, and everyone seemed to like it. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. I was kind of indifferent to it. I don't think it will go in my normal soup rotation, but now I know that if I get served clam chowder somewhere, I could definitely eat it. Trying new things is what this is all about.

 

Cider Bend-March

We kicked off March with some fun St. Patrick's Day shenanigans! Everyone dressed in their best green attire, and I had my women's run group over to visit the animals. 

 Mark and I took a quick trip to Arizona for the Black Canyon Donkey Derby. It's too far to travel with our own donkeys, but we had the great opportunity to run with Maple, and Pickles, two of the donkeys from Hope the Wild Burro Place. We had a blast! We went to burro camp the day before and got to know Maple and Pickles a little bit. We met so many great people that I've been following on Instagram for a long time.  Race day was so fun! It was a learning experience for us, and Maple and Pickles were so patient. I'm hooked now, and we are planning on a race with Clover and Willow in the future. We need to bring events like these to Idaho.

The morning of the burro race, we got this message from Nora. 😄

"Good luck with running a race with your donkeys!"

Mark was out of town a bit in March, and one night I was home, reading in bed at around 10:00 PM and the ring doorbell went off. I was a little nervous at first, but when I looked on my camera app, this is what I saw. 😆

Snow and ice were finally melting in the pasture, and the cows and donks were so happy to have more space to run and kick up their heels.

It's a sure sign of spring when your tree turns into a total bird hotel!

We're still getting random dustings of snow every once in a while.

We spent some much needed time cleaning out the feed room. It was a mess, and although it doesn't stay clean for very long, it's a really good feeling when it gets cleaned and organized.

Goats:

The goats have gotten out on more walks this month, and they are really enjoying that.

They don't even mind the snow; they just like to get out and run.

Goat corral clean out day.
Before

During

After

Cows:

Opal ate and then went out in the rain. She was a total mess!

Selfies with my cute Opal!

Sometimes Opal forgets she has horns and tries to use me as a scratching post.

Watching them eat never gets old. 😅

All clean and sparkly after his bath.

I love his cute face!

Donkeys:

When it's corral clean out day, they are always so helpful. 😅

💖💗💕

I had to go out and feed them extra early one morning. They were not thrilled about being woken up that early. 😆

Willow loves a good rake scratch!

Chickens:

I let Tillie and Fern out into the big part of the barn when I'm doing chores in the mornings. Once I'm finished with everything, I take turns picking them up and walking them around the barn. They love it! I usually walk Fern first, and then when it's Tillie's turn, Fern chases after us, getting under my feet, and pecking my feet because she wants another turn. Mark thinks it's so funny! They had already had their walks, but Mark wanted to film Fern following me around, so I picked up Tillie and just walked her around the stall. Sure enough, Fern was jealous and wanted it to be her turn. 😂

The chickens are producing pretty good now that winter is mostly over, so I've been selling lots of chicken eggs. I love hearing how much people love the eggs from my chickens.

I've been dumping buckets of hay scraps in the chicken run, and I love watching them scratch through it. Here are a couple videos of them doing it.

Jenn got me this shirt, and I love it!

We got 7 more chicks this year to add to our flock. It's always so fun to have the babies in the barn. I wish they could stay little fluff balls for a bit longer.

We told Nora she could name our chicks this year. Her choices did not disappoint! 😆 I made a reel of it, and it went crazy; over 760 thousand views so far, and still climbing. I'm getting so many comments of people telling me the names of their chicks, and there are some hilarious ones.

We get powdery chicken food at the bottom of the bag, and I don't like it to go to waste, so I found a way to use it up.

At the end of our fire season, we cleaned out our fireplace, and used all the ash to make our chickens a dust bath.

Cats:

I've had to start locking them out of the office when I'm in there working on stuff. They are so nosey!

😹😹😹

Stormy and Cheddar are hanging around the house more and more lately. I got this ring notification. 😆

Cheddar comes to the back door several times a week in the evenings. He usually meows for a snack and then hangs out with Floof and Michem for a while. He never shows any aggression towards them, which is good for an intact male cat. He has a really sweet personality.

Stormy will show up with Cheddar every once in a while too. She has come up to the door several times to see Floof and Michem. I wonder if she knows they are her babies. Floof and Michem love having visitors. They sit there like they are watching a movie. 

One morning I opened the back barn door and Cheddar just waltzed right in like he owned the place. He just did some looking around and then went back out. I tried to get Stormy to come in, but she kept her distance. I would like them to come in on the really cold negative temperatures nights, but Stormy isn't quite to that point yet. We've made huge strides with her the past year though.

We brought a little cat stand out to the hay barn that Floof and Michem outgrew. Stormy loves it.

Stormy is worth her weight in gold around here. We see her catch tons of mice! I love when she realizes I'm watching her in this video. 😆

We've got a lot of big projects underway on the farm. April and May will be a busy month, so stay tuned for big farm improvements.

Zion National Park Girl's Trip

I took a super fun spring break girl's trip to Zion National Park. Jenn asked if I would help plan a trip to Zion, and of course I said yes! Not only do I love little trips like this, but I also love planning them.

I was stretching a few days before we left, and I had a small disc rupture in my back. Worst timing ever! I was hoping it would get better each day and that I would be mostly recovered for the trip, but it ended up getting worse each day. I don't think farm chores did much to help me heal. 😅 The day before I had mostly decided not to go. I was worried about the car ride, certain parts of the hikes, I wasn't sure if I could get on and off the bikes, and I really didn't want to ruin the trip for Jenn and Joyce. At the last minute I decided to give it a try. I brought my Kindle, and figured if I couldn't do the stuff we had planned, I would stay in the hotel and read. That would be better for me than staying home and continuing to carry around bales and hay and water buckets. So so so glad I decided to give it a try. I was able to do all of it! Jenn had to put my shoes and socks on for me each day, and I just had to hike (no running), but I actually felt better after the trip than I did before we left. 

Kanarra Falls:

We left early Saturday morning to head to Zion. We made a stop in Kanarraville, Utah on the way down to hike Kanarra Falls. I love this hike, and I was so excited for Jenn and Joyce to see it! It is so stunning! 

That's a good friend right there.
I 100% could not get my shoes and socks on by myself. Jenn must have put them on for me at least 10 times on this trip. 😬

If you are ever driving by this area, I highly recommend stopping for this hike. It isn't long or hard, but the water is cold, and you do need a permit.

Look how tiny Joyce is once we entered the slot canyon.

The first of three waterfalls. When you round the corner and see this, it takes your breath away.

I love this picture of Joyce!

Me and Jenn at the top.

The second of three waterfalls.

To get past the second waterfall, you have to climb some boulders off to the right. I was a little worried about getting up them because I couldn't bend over at all. I ended up doing great. I could get up and down this section staying upright.

The third waterfall. The canyon keeps going, but I believe it's private property beyond this point so this is where hikers are supposed to turn around.

Hiking out.

Zion Day 1:

Our first day in the park was amazing! The park is closed to personal vehicles, so we rented e-bikes for the day. It was so fun! It seemed like we were the only ones in the park while we were riding down the road. We had to pull over occasionally to let a shuttle bus go by, but other than that, we were alone. It was so peaceful and beautiful! We rode up the Pa'rus trail until we entered the main road. Then we just rode along stopping at all the viewpoints and trailheads to hike. 

I highly recommend seeing Zion this way.

The Pa'rus Trail.

The Court of the Patriarchs and the Sand Bench Trail:

We loved this trail! It was a 4 mile loop that takes you right past the Court of the Patriarchs. It brought back memories of renting horses and doing it when the kids were little. 

We saw this big guy right at the start of the hike. We ended up seeing tons of turkeys in Zion. I loved them!

The three patriarchs:
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob Peaks

Big red cliffs everywhere you looked!

This turkey hiked with us for about half a mile. I'm sure she was leading us away from her nest, but we felt like we made a new friend. 😁

😂😂😂

Back on the bikes to our next stop. We hiked a short 1 mile trail called Zion Grotto that just goes along the road.

Angel's Landing:

Angel's Landing was the highlight of the trip for us. All three of us put in for the lottery, and Joyce was the only one selected. We got so lucky! Each permit allows up to 6 people to hike it. I remember doing it with my kids when they were little and thinking it was so scary. I've come a long ways in my adventuring, because no part of it even phased me the time. As a matter of fact, I think even Mark would be fine on it. It is such a cool experience!

It was crazy to look up and realize we were going to be at the top of that.

Even the trail before you get to the really good part is cool!

Starting up just past Scout Lookout.

Here's the narrow ridge we go across and up. This is where the fun starts!

Joyce-Jenn-Tricia

That's a big drop beside me.

Almost there!

I'm finishing up the climb.

Pictures will never do this view justice.

A guy took our picture and then did a backflip up there! 

So much fun!

Emerald Pools:

The Emerald Pools are kind of dumb. 😬 The hike was so crowded, like a constant line of people the whole way. They aren't really emerald pools either, just glorified mud puddles. 😅 But now Jenn and Joyce have done them, and none of us care to do this particular hike again.

The waterfall that goes into the lower pools.

The upper pool.

Virgin River Walk:

Our next stop on the bikes took us to the Virgin River Trail. This is a short hike that drops down into the canyon and meanders along the river. It was pretty.

Virgin River Walk

The Narrows:

I love the Narrows! We got to them kind of late, and Jenn didn't want to get wet and then be cold while we rode the bikes back. I couldn't help myself, I had to walk up a ways. I'm the type of person that always wants to know what's around the next bend. Joyce and Jenn finally stoped and I just went a little further up. I got as deep as my crotch and then didn't go any further. Joyce and I have already talked to our husbands about coming back with them in the fall and hiking all of the Narrows. It isn't quite as deep and the water temperature is a little more mild. I CAN NOT wait! I get fixated on things I want to do, and now this is one of them. 

There was a group of guys coming out of the canyon, and they offered to take my picture for me.

The ride back to the bike shop was 9.5 miles of pure fun! The wind dried me off, and we had the whole road to ourselves most of the way. We saw lots of deer and wild turkeys. I loved touring Zion with bikes, and I can't wait to go back and do it with Mark.

Zion Day 2:

We started our second day in Zion hiking the Watchman Trail. I love this one. Mark and I hiked it with Mark's dad when we were in high school, and I did it again years later with my kiddos when they were young. So pretty!

You just can't beat the view on this one.

The sun was coming up and kissing the mountains on the other side of the canyon.

We saw 10 big horn sheep. 

They were so fun to watch!

Joyce with all her new friends.

The Watchman standing tall behind us.

We finished this section of Zion by driving the east road through the mile long tunnel. We were going to do an overlook hike on the other side of the tunnel, but there was so parking anywhere. We did see the Oscar Mayer Weiner Mobile though, so that made the drive worth it. 😁

😂😂😂

Kolob Canyon:

Kolob Canyon is a smaller, less known section of Zion. I love it, because it's a lot less crowded. We drove the scenic drive and did a couple hikes.

South Fork of Taylor Creek:

This is one of my favorite hikes in this section of the park. 

This is the wall that the rock climbers climb.

We hit snow at the end of the canyon.

We made it as far as we could go.

Timber Creek Overlook:

We drove the rest of the scenic drive and did one final hike at the end of the road. The canyon is so gorgeous!

On the way back to our hotel we stopped for ice cream and a little animal petting area.

The only disappointing thing about our trip was Cedar Breaks. We were planning on stoping on the way home, and I was super excited for Jenn and Joyce to see it. I had a really cool hike planned along the rim. They had a spring storm go through, and they had to close it to vehicles. The only way you could get to it was with snowshoes. Oh well, we'll just have to stop there on our fall trip. Mark and I loved it when we did it a few years ago.

I loved this trip! It had been quite a few years since I had visited the main part of Zion, and it was so fun to experience it on bikes, and with friends who had never seen it before. I can't wait to do it again with Mark in the fall!