A great long weekend!!

We are usually in a time constraint when we go to St. George for the marathon, but this time we weren't!  So we stopped to see my Uncle Peter in Mesquite - at the Virgin Valley Heritage Museum where he works!!  It was great to see him in his "natural habitat!!"

 

It was great to have Bonny and Team Bolander join us this year.  She and Harry ran/walked together.  It was a long haul, but she made it!!  (It was her first and Harry's 23rd marathon!)  It was about 10 degrees cooler than had been at first predicted, so we were all grateful!

 

Ara came down from Provo - so great to see her - and Bruce brought his bike so he could shadow the race for a bit - then he and Ara just followed along with the car.  I manned the finish line - and actually had enough time to listen to the first session of conference!!

 

So sad to leave everyone - didn't realize how much I missed Ara Grace!!

 

  

After watching the first session of conference, we left St. George for the Grand Canyon, South Rim.  We were able to listen to most of the second session except for patches where the signal went out - so we just pulled over and listened until it was over.

I had only ever been to the North Rim - and the South Rim is way better!  It was magnificent!!  We got caught in some rain, found shelter in a visitor's center, then headed back out.  We were rewarded for our diligence with an exquisite rainbow - that slowly morphed into a double rainbow!!  I'm pretty sure I've never before looked down at a rainbow!!  It was pretty spectacular.

 

The rain and the clouds and mists only added to the beauty.

Learned a lot about a female architect - one of the pioneers in her gender - who designed many of the buildings at the South Rim - Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter - this building was called The Lookout!!  Wonder why??  We saw lots and I bought two books - so watch for more than you ever wanted to know about the Grand Canyon in upcoming posts!!

We drove home about mid-morning on Tuesday - lots of rain by then - but a nice drive home - listening to Louis L'Amour's The Ferguson Rifle.  I am sold on driving with a Louis L'Amour novel - a little hackneyed but the plot's are compelling!!

Today we celebrated Deacon's second birthday with cake and candles - and he was one happy boy.  I'm not sure he has "birthday" figured out, but he was up for celebrating.

I also went out to Mom's to visit with Alice and also take her to the Flyaway.  I was sorry that her trip coincided mostly with our trip away - she is off to Korea for six months - I will miss her!!  But we are good correspondents!!

A little trek down Memory Lane!

As we wended our way homeward on our recent summer road trip, we found ourselves in Centerville - a place we called home from 1973 to 1979.  It's a long story, but starts with the "while chapel" in the center of town.

 

We were living in SLC, and Harry had finished with school.  He was driving a truck for American Paper and made a delivery to Centerville.  While driving through the little town - so named because it is the mid-way point between Ogden and Salt Lake City - he came across the "white chapel" surrounded by an entire city block of lush green lawn.  He said, "You've got to see this place Barb!"  He'd also found a house for rent on the main street of town - a 100 year old rock house no less!  We went and saw the house and the town.  I was as excited as he was - so very shortly we moved to Centerville and the famous - or maybe infamous - rock house.

Unfortunately, the beautiful green lawn has been diminished in size to accommodate a parking lot.  Sigh!!!

 

We bought a lot and built a house there.  A New England Salt Box.  The neighbors all called it the Nauvoo house!!

It's a long story - and I won't tell it here - but I'd like to think that if we still lived there, it might look better than it does now!

 

 A new chapel was built - right across the street from our house - Harry F. learned to ride a bike in this parking lot!  Harry was in the bishopric.  We had good, dear friends.  It was a very happy time in our lives - one that is full of good memories - good memories that have nudged the less-good memories into the background.

 

A couple of doors down is the Nelson house - one Harry built for them.  As we drove by, we saw them in the yard.  Even though we hadn't seen them in over 30 years, they recognized us!!  It was a lovely little reunion.  The house had held up pretty well - but they were now going to replace the wood siding with aluminum.

 

I wanted to go see the school where Bonny and Harry had started their academic careers, but alas, it is no longer there.  It has been replaced.

 

But there is a plaque!!

 

Harry with Bill and another neighbor - who didn't know us, but assured us that our named still lived in the ward - and he knew who we were when we were introduced!!  That's what's great about a small town - you can be famous in perpetuity!!

 

The side of our salt box - that tree was a shrub when we left!!

I should have taken more photos but time was of the essence.  The Cook Apartments still stand - and does the rock house, the duplex, two other houses Harry built - and there's a WalMart and a Target and a DQ!!

You can't go home again - but it's fun to visit!!

Road Trip Preview!!

Fun with Phoebe,

 

fun with Pam,

 

fun with Pat,

 

fun with Joy.  (It just looks like I wore the same shirt every day - maybe every other day!!)

 

And of course, fun with Harry!!  (My road tripping buddy!!)

I will blog more when the company here leaves - we are glad to have them here for the Clayton Reunion tomorrow - and we got back today!!

I may be glad to get back to school so things can slow down!!

But the trip was just tons of fun - must say I mostly enjoyed every minute - maybe didn't enjoy so much the heat wave in Ashland and the vintage hotel without a/c where we  stayed for 3 nights!!  But the company was great - and so were the plays at the Festival!!