2011 Utah Deer Hunt

Warning...Warning...Warning

I should warn those viewing the following pictures that some may not be for the weak stomached. There are pictures of dead deer from being on the hoof to having no hoofs...

I should also note that I promised pictures of the fancy outhouse we built. Forgot to take a picture. Maybe next time I get up there.

Here are some of the deer that we got this year. Some I was a little late getting pictures of so they are mostly in the buff.

Golden got a small two point (Not pictured) on the first day. Golden likes the security of a getting a deer. He just can't hold back, he has to shoot the first buck he see's. He was sitting on a tank and the deer came to get a drink. He watched it while it got a drink, trying to decide if he should shoot it (only the first day). He waited until it was done drinking (nice easy shot) let it trot back and almost disappear into the tree's and then decided to shoot it (level of difficulty had increased substantially at this point). He made a nice hind quarter shot (blowing up both) as it went into the bushes.

Here is Bevin's Deer

The deer on the right is Dale's and the one on the left is Randy's. Tony got a big one on Saturday but I have not got a picture of it yet.

Driving Through Zion Nation Park

On our way to deer camp we went through Zion Park. Here are a few pictures. Easy to confuse with Sedona.

Below we are about to enter the Mile Long tunnel. This is where as kids we used to go tunnel running. Actually I didn't ever do it, but your law breaking mother did (it was illegal). You would run until a car would come and then jump in one of the indentations in the wall.


Zion has not been a good experience for your Uncle Dale. He has had several run-ins with this particular park ranger. He refers to him as the big fat park ranger, jerk and other unmentionable names. Any way it all started when he was driving the dump bed truck through the park and the above mentioned park ranger stopped him to measure the width of his truck. (7' 10" is the max). Anyway the truck was one or two inches to wide. If your vehicle is too wide it requires an escort through the tunnel and and extra $15. Dale thought the guy should cut him a little slack, but the ranger wouldn't. Of course Dale wasn't going to pay the extra money so he turned around and went back through the Colorado City way. Anyway it did not improve Dales love for government employees.

I could add one more incident of Dale vs. government, but will save it for another time.

Here is a picture of one of the Mountain Sheep we seen on the road. This one was funny because it would not move nor look right or left. Every car had to go around it. Last we seen it was still standing there and looking straight forward. There was a huge ram off the road eating that I did not get a picture.

Another mountain sheep eating along the road.

This picture is an eye tester. Can you find the big Ram mountain sheep in this picture?

West Zion

Bevin and Dale have bought an acre each up on West Zion. By owning land up there it gives them hunting rights for that area, about 10,000 acres plus the BLM land. There is one acre left next to theirs that would be nice to buy. When you buy the land you also have access to their miniature golf, swimming pools, spa's, basketball and tennis court and access to the monster bucks that run on the Ponsigont (not sure how you spell that. Just think of the place where the big buck roam).

Unfortunately at this time I do not have the $12,000 needed for the property. Anyone interested? I know what you are thinking, I don't live in Utah and probably would never use the land. This is not true. Think of the great family reunions we could have here. The back fence is Zion Canyon and with all the modern convinces everyone would enjoy it. Anyway something to dream about.

Below are pictures of the Buffalo herd that is just down the road from the property.

The video is the to great, but all those little black dots are buffalo.

It is sure nice being only 20 minutes away from the temple. Tina and I went after we got back from helping Bevin and Dale build an outhouse on their new property. I wish I would have taken a picture because it is one of the finest outhouses you have ever seen. Next time I am up there I will get one for everyone to admire. The following picture is the St. George Temple not the outhouse.

More Whitney Reunion - Little Finland

Aside from the Zipline event the rest of the reunion was pretty uneventful. We did go to some pretty neat places. One was called Little Finland. I'm not sure why it is named that other than it is quite a drive to get to it and maybe the people that discovered it thought they had traveled so far they were in Finland.

Here are some photos

If you look real close you can see the indian writings on the rocks

That is your mom playing King of the Hill. No one went up to challenge her. So I guess she is still king of the hill.

I need a vote on this rock. Doesn't it look like a cow about about to eat your mom? She doesn't see it.

The Whitney Reunion

We are now in Utah and luckily timed it just right to catch the annual Whitney reunion.

Kameron will have fond memories of this reunion as it was his first and as far as I know, his last attempt at fire walking. It didn't turn out too hot (no pun intended). Actually now I think about it, it turned out quit hot. After he did his fire walking routine and we got his feet bandaged up we had to go to Las Vegas to pick up Tina who flew in from Phoenix, where we were living at the time. If the fire walking was not hot enough, it turned out to be the hottest day on record for that day at a whopping 117 (F). I took Kameron with me so I could keep an eye on his feet. What I didn't count on was that it was so hot that our little red truck was over heating so I had to turn the air conditioning off. When we got to the airport, Kameron was on the verge of heatstroke, his face was beet red and his feet were both wrapped up in gauze. Now you all know why your mom does not allow me to change diapers; back then we used pins.

On that occasion you would have thought Tina would have been excited to seem me, since we had been a appart for a week. I sort of imagined something out of one of those chick flicks where the boy and girl run toward each other in slow motion and at the last second the girl leaps, wrapping her arms around the neck of the love of her life, the two of them spinning in circles with her legs swinging out and kissing him profusely. The girl telling her man how much she missed him.

As near as I can remember it did not happen that way. I think I do remember her running towards me, but not in slow motion. There was no last second flying through the air, but she did grab Kameron out of my arms and in a not so romantic voice said, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BABY!!!". You are probably all wondering what I learned from this experience???...Even after being separated for a week remember...Presentation is everything.

Anyway that was a long time ago.

Back to the current reunion. Probably the highlight of the reunion was the zipline. One of my cousins is pretty well off and they brought a 500 foot cable to make a zip line. They wanted it to start really high and be really long. I'm not sure the best way to explain the first trial run, but I'll try. First, imagine a football field standing straight up, that is at least how high the mountain was they tied it off too. They went to the very top. Now hold your hand out flat like a board and point it stright up. Then tilt your finger back about 5 degrees and that would represent about how steep the zipline was coming off the top of the mountain. At the bottom it gradually sloped out and was tied to the bumper of a truck. Surprisingly it took quite a bit of talking to convince someone to do a test run. It was one of my cousins (Craig - and I'll only mention his first name) who they roped into doing the maiden voyage, assuring him that they had purchased special pullies that would keep the person riding the zip line from going too fast. I should insert at this point that I am not sure what they considered "Too Fast", but I am guessing it did keep Craig from exceeding 60 MPH. I'm pretty sure he never got over 55. At any rate, I guess I could best describe the ride down by the comments of the spectaters. Here they are..."Are you sure that is not to steep?". "I think he is going way to fast!!!", "Ohhhhh, this is going to hurt" and finally, "Do you think he is all right?".

Looking back I think everyone over reacted a bit. When he made the initial contact with the ground it only bounced him about 10 feet and I am sure that after that point he had slowed down to about 20 MPH. The second hit would not have been that bad if he would not have plowed through a chaperal bush. That pretty much slowed him to a stop, he didn't drag more than 5 or 6 feet after that. The good news is that he stopped before hitting the tailgate of the truck they tied the end of the cable to. You can only imagine what that would have done. So it didn't work out all that bad for Craig. When it was all said and done he had only smashed in his face up a bit and maybe separated a shoulder.

There was a funny part to it. It was all caught on video and at the end they had him holding a Klondike bar and he said, "I would do anything for a Klondike Bar." They were going to post the video on YouTube, but not sure that happened. Below is the modified zip line with your mom riding it. Notice that Tina started about a third of the way up the mountain and she is going at a pretty good clip. Pay close attention to the start of the video where you can see the top of the mountain where they originally had it tied. That is where my brave cousin Craig started from.

Move From Arizona to Utah

Well it has finally happened. We have officially moved from Arizona (House rented out) and are no longer Arizonians (At least until this years hunting seasons are over). For family folk lore and you are telling your kids about the time when your parents were run out of the state, you can get the exact date of Monday, October 3, 2011.

Here are a few last memories

The Havalina stopped by to say good-bye to Daisy.

They even started to show off, performing some sort of synchronized Havalina going away dance routine.

My last shoulder surgery, come to think of it, it was my only should surgery. I'm pretty sure that is not gangrene setting in.

Daisy's last time being packed across the Verde River by (now Bishop Goimarac)

Last Arizona Rainbow after a monsoon rainstorm

Last Arizona sunrise with a balloon in the picture

Our last hike with Cade and Connor on the Woodshoot Trail on top of Mingus Mountain

You can not leave Arizona without attending a Diamondbacks baseball game when they clinch the division championship.

And what about a last ride in the infamous aluminum boat with the $200 motor at Lake Mary. The boat has now been sold, but oh what memories. First trying to get it registered in Arizona (Cade and I better understand the word Going Postal) and then trying to get the motor to run. As you can tell in this picture by the wake the motor was actually running and NO we were not being pulled by another boat.

And of course who can forget the last load of goods going to Hurricane, with of course the house in the background. Actually this was the second to the last load, I didn't get a picture of the last load.

I thought these days would never end.

Those were the days...

I bet you thought the song would never end didn't you.

Sam's Gets His Eagle

My blog post have been somewhat sporadic, but since I have a little time on my hands I thought I would catch up on a few things.

First, I should mention that Sam finally received his Eagle Scout Award. Way to go Sam. This was a pressure off the back accomplishment for several reasons. To name a few: I don't think we have the energy to do one more. Second Sam is the final boy of our family to get his Eagle (4 for 4). Third, Sam is the final Eagle of 18 grandsons from the Johnson Side of the family (18 for 18). That was huge pressure on us, but your mom came through.

I did notice on his sash there are only 19 merit badges. I'm pretty sure you have to have 21. Probably the hot glue did not hold.

Looking ahead we have three grandsons and parents that need to start mentally preparing to carry on this great tradition of all boy in the family get their Eagle. And...No, according to Elder Boyd K. Packer in the last conference, you won't be bailed out by the second coming.