Zion national park January 2014

I realized I forgot to post on our little trip to St. George and Zion National park, it was MLK birthday weekend and we really needed to get away, so we needed some food storage we decided to head for the state of Utah, stuff is so much easier to find there and the prices are very reasonable. We hit our favorite store for food storage in St. George and the Walmart there the first day. The second day was Sunday, we decided to go to Zion National park, we packed a picnic and headed off. We went to the Northwest entrance first (it was pretty, but did not offer as much as the southern entrance) we took a hike to get a better look - the elevation is high, it was a lot of hike for me. Then we drove down to the Southern entrance, we learned that three national parks all run together, Bryce, Zion, and the Grand Canyon. You can do the 3 parks in 3 days, definitely a trip we plan to take soon, fall would be a nice time to do that, this year because of the drought it would be doable in the winter too. We drove quite a ways in and LOVED the beautiful views as we drove, kept going onto BLM land and ran into a place with a Buffalo ranch with cabins for rent. I begged Tom if we could check them out - they were awesome and cheaper than usual because it was off season. Wish we could have stayed a few days, but we will be back! Tom really loved the rock formations on the Mountains, can't wait to asked Heavenly Father all about it someday. Zion National park as some really neat tunnels, one was a mile long, it has observation "windows" for ventilation - they were incredible, you used to be able to stop and take pictures from them, cannot any longer, but they were beautiful. Traveling back home on Monday was quite a drive, because we were to deep into the National park we left early, with just one side trip of seeing the Pawn Star's shop in LV, they were filming, so we had to wait about an hour to get in, small shop - we saw none of the stars. (kinda a bummer)
It was a great little trip, we would like to make it again and go through all three national parks, and stay at the Buffalo ranch again!

Julie

Tom

Julie and Tom

Zion national park, South

One mile long tunnel

Pawn stars shop

Cabin we rented at the Buffalo ranch

Tom's looking at stuff we cannot afford
 

Tulare Ag Show 2014/Tom's birthday

In the last few years I have not had a chance to go to the Tulare Ag show, it is a lot of fun and a lot of walking. This year I took a day off to go, it has really grown in the last few years. Lot of things to do for free (after you get through the gate $15 per adult - unless you have some connections with a vendor) We participated in a auction from Richie Brothers auctioneers, using their play money. Shelby bid on an item (because Grandma kept putting her hand up) and got IT!! Can not show a picture of what she got, because she want to give it as a gift to someone special. The winners were all kids, no matter who bid on them - I think it was rigged! They had these trick rider girls from Three Rivers - wish we lived closer, I would definitely enroll her. Tom's birthday is on Saturday and this is what he want to do every year, this year I did not get him a birthday gift, he has been wanting a little computer, but when we saw there Makita tools on sale I gave him the option of tools or computer - he picked the tools, a great set with a bag that rolls for a great price. We had dinner on the way home at Tom's favorite place - Chick-fil-A. We even saw the cow, but Shelby would not get her picture with it, she said it would be too embarrassing, she is growing up.

Trick rider girl at the Tulare Ag Show

Shelby on a Ranger that was auctioned off for Breast Cancer, she looked so good in the pink one!

Tool boxes with fuel tanks in them, these were awesome

Tom with his new set of Makita tools, happy birthday honey! Now fix stuff around here, he he!

another trick rider girl, the "school" is in three rivers, wish we lived closer - I think Shelby would be great at this!