Hot August evenings

August found Granddaughter in Cove for a couple of weeks. She entered her first attempt at a counted cross stitch project and won a blue ribbon. She was pretty happy. Then we were off on another adventure, this time to Utah. The Lagoon Amusement Park in the Salt Lake area. 2 days and Cassie / Gpa rode almost every ride at least twice (especially the big ones). Cassie did ride two that Gpa would not get on. Gutsy kid. From there we drove to Marysvale, Utah for their second UTV Jamboree. Fun. Cassie and gpa took a long guided ride. Probably won’t do that again. It seemed like the ride leaders stopped every half mile to keep the group together. After the ride, I was able to go to the main area and see lots of RZR’s with modifications. Good ideas.

We left Marysvale a day early as it was hot and we had no power for ac. Decide to head west to

Great Basin National Park and did the cave tour. Cassie seemed to have fun exploring. We camped at 7000’ that night, and briefly drove to 10, 000’. That was a bit of an issue for Betsy. She requires oxygen when sleeping at night. Thin air was a challenge. As we left camp, the driver made a slight mistake. Forgot to put up the steps on the trailer (crunch). Was able to do some hammer adjustments and the steps worked again, sort of.

On to Wendover, UT for Bonneville Speed Week 2010. Spent the first night at the KOA. Swimming pool was yellow/green. Not something any of us will get into. Got some sleep. Cassie and Gpa were on the salt at 5:30 am. Cassie had watched some video of the event, including “Worlds Fastest Indian”. She seemed impressed. We spent about 3 hours at the start line. Cassie was impressed with the number of women drivers and crew members. We were able to see the Harris Family Roadster (Lincoln Harris driving) make a run. At over 230 mph, he had engine problems and had to shut down. Now to ship the car back to New Zealand.

We had a commitment back in Wendover to move the RV out of the KOA. Moved to a good camp on the sand area just off the salt (with 3000 of our very close friends), then the three of us drove back to the pit area. Bought some t-shirts and stuff. Just about then, we got a call from our other NZ friends (Newport’s) and they were setting up camp next to us. Back to camp for some reunion time and a good cold beer.

Back to the pit area for a tour. That evening, we had some more beverage, conversation, story telling (lies), and just a good time. Russell and Sue, with their friends John and Trish, were on a quick one month motor home vacation of the South Western USA.

One more trip to the race track at 5am. Sunsets out there are just beautiful. After a brief stop at the start line, we moved to the pit area. Cassie got to see some vehicles go by at 150, 250, and 400 mph. I think that last car really impressed her.

Time to say “see ya later” to our friends and get on the road towards home. Drove to Farewell Bend State Park that night and then on to Cove and home the next day.

Long trip, good times. Two days of rest, and we are off again. This time to Paulina Lake in Central Oregon for a family gathering. Once again, another good trip. Cassie headed back to Beaverton with her parents and a new school year. She had a busy summer.