A week of Sun, Sand and Sorrow

This past week I have been pretty well laid up with a viral infection, and since it is now starting to depart my poor fatigued body, I wanted to catch up on the week before I was sick and got to spend some time in Hurricane withe friends and family.

Mom picked me and Brucer up at the Las Vegas airport on Sunday afternoon, we had decided to fly commercially which ended up being a very decision even though weather during the week was just about perfect. We stopped on our way out of Las Vegas as we usually do at a small grocery store off the Cheyenne exit for authentic Mexican cuisine. The place is called Marianne's, it's in a strip mall south of the exit, it's phenomenal! Of course some of you will wonder why we risk the neighborhood, but just take a stroll around the store and you'll get it pretty fast. The bakery, the meat counter, the fresh produce and the cafe, unbelievable. Yes, we are the only white faces in there, but WHO CARES, the food rocks!

Some of the high and low lights of the week were: hanging out with my brother Dan and learning to milk his nanny goat. His wifey Jill has been growing a herd out there and they have some really cute babies (kids).

Jill's been making cheese from the milk and is getting ready to do soap and lotions, I'm in line for that stuff! Right after we headed back to the house, Jill was hiding from the baby goat so it wouldn't follow her to the house, she got leveled by the dogs in her hiding place, I thought it was kind of funny (the same kind of thing happens to me regularly) until the next day....

I thought I would run from the house to the hangar on the rock path, bad idea! I tripped on a rock and went down hard! Skinned knee, gravel in my hands and a few days of feeling like I was 90! Sorry Jill, I shouldn't have laughed!

That night I was sitting in the living room when I noticed the ambulance lights at our neighbor's home. Jen and Pat McCarroll live across the taxiway behind us and Pat has been battling bone cancer for as long as we've known him. He lost his fight that night and it was a really sad scene. RIP Pat!

The better part of the week came on Thursday when Dan took us out to the desert for some 4 wheeling sight seeing dog roasting fun. We broke in our new side by side and had a great time, I can't wait to go out again and just explore, it was incredible!





And a picture of my silly beautiful sister Karen

Then the big rib smoke with Dan, Jill, Karen and Leonard. If you haven't had meat that Dan has smoked topped with his special barbecue sauce, you are totally missing it. He caters events too, so give him a call, his food in INCREDIBLE and the ribs ROCKED!

About this point in the week I had a sore throat and was in the beginning stages of the crude that has had me down all week. Great trip, but I wish I could have left the crude there!

I loved my trip to Utah this time and I am looking forward to the next one...soon!