R&R

Two 5 day vacations 4 days apart? Oh yes! 

We drove up to Forest Lakes on Friday night to escape the heat, recharge our batteries and spend some time with Kenny's Nana. What we didn't know is that the heat had beat us up the mountain... it had been in the 90's all week... not that hot, but with no AC... not very inviting. We brought Shelby only this time so she could have her chance at going camping... since we weren't planning on pulling the trailer out into the forest we just didn't want to bring all 3, because they are too hard to handle. 

Saturday morning was very beautiful weather for us while we went out yardsaling. Sarah and I found a few things we couldn't live without... mine included a red Apron and a red and blue bonnet- oh yes! Best $1 I ever spent! 

When we got back to the cabin Shelby came running around the corner... we had left her inside the trailer so we weren't sure how she got out! We took a quick look and immediately saw that she had jumped out the window!! She broke the screen and it will probably have to be replaced. Since it happened I totally wish I could have seen her do that! I am telling you this dog is SO shy and scared of everything and has to be coaxed to jump in and out of the truck and trailer.... so what in the world possessed her to jump out a window and then fall 4 feet!! Crazy dog! I am just so thankful  that she stayed close to the cabin, didn't run off and nothing ate her!! (seriously there have been 3 bear attacks in this area) 

After we had lunch, got a visit from Kim and Chris and rested awhile we decided to take a ride out to Black Canyon Lake off road 86. Our goal was to check out the mansion between Forest Lakes and Heber... we got to see way more than expected! 

I really had not idea how close the Rodeo/Chediski Fire had been to Sarah's Cabin!

It was fascinating to see the area where that fire had blazed over 10 years ago:

We continued on that dirt road and passed some beautiful camping areas.... the further we went the more tents we saw and the less trailers.

Sarah remembered about and old cemetery they had seen off the right side of the road and so we stopped to check it out. Only 5 people were buried there... they were mostly the Baca family. Very interesting.

 Up the road we found a history plaque and it told all about the Baca family and how they had settled on that land. They had 7 daughters and 1 son. The house isn't there anymore (at least that we could see), but it was fascinating to me to hear about people who had lived in this area so long ago! It probably sounds ignorant, but I really hadn't thought of people living on this land... there isn't visual evidence like old homes, fences etc so I just assumed no one had every lived there.

 Baca Meadow:

 We finally made it to the mansion at Legacy Ranch. WOW. It was hard to take a good picture of the house, but it is pretty amazing. A father built the home in the 80's about the same time Sarah and Quint were building their cabin, for this 4 sons. They each have a separate wing... its pretty huge.

We stopped at a few other of the historical plaques and learned there were some early settlers in the area and the town used to be called Wilford. I was interested to learn there were fundamentalist mormans in the area who practiced polygamy! I watch a show called Sister Wives and am particularly intrigued by polygamist... weird I know.

We finally made it to Heber and decided to stop at Diary Queen for some Blizzards... cause we can totally have dessert before dinner- thats just how we roll!

Nanette and Brittany came by for a quick visit later in the day. Brittany had the cutest hat on! Turns out Nanette MADE it for her! Victory! Seriously, who can make an accessory that a 13 year old girl not only will wear but LOVES and shows off! Good Job Nanette! I want one too!!

Isn't Brittany a beautiful girl!?

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We finished the day with a HUGE, delicious meal made mostly by Kenny. Roasted onion, corn, potatoes, garlic bread and New York Strip Steaks. Yummo 

Sunday was a super lazy day. We slept in and then Sarah, Kenny and I made breakfast burritos and invited Nanette, Kim, Brittany and Chris over to eat with us. It was a really nice way to start the day.

After breakfast we headed to Payson so Sarah could pick up a fan... and go to Urgent Care and get her ears taken care of... seriously she wouldn't have gone to Urgent Care if she didn't want to buy a fan to combat the heat up here! She is so much like my grandma. Doesn't want to inconvenience anyone else with her needs...

We got some good pictures of Shelby while we waited outside of the Urgent Care

Sarah took us to the Ice Cream social at the Forest Lakes Fire Station and we joked that she was buying us ice cream everyday of our trip! Spoiled rotten!

We bummed around the rest of the afternoon and I worked diligently on THIS BLOG... I am getting there... 30 unfinished posts to go!

Sarah made us a delicious chicken and dumpling dinner. We ate outside and soaked up the nice weather that has only been making its appearances at night! We chatted on the porch until the sun went down.

It was defiantly a relaxing day!

Monday: 

After Brittany and Chris got done with Vacation Bible School Sarah made lunch for everyone and we sat around and chatted for a while. Nanette is now dispatching for emergency calls! It sounds pretty awesome and the perfect job for her since she has such a passion for news. Nanette mention that she thought I had lost weight! Totally made my day! She is the only one besides my mom to notice. Although I have only lost about 7 lbs I know I am toning up a lot doing yoga and my clothes are fitting a lot looser! Won't be long and I will need to go shopping for small sizes! Speaking of healthy we headed into Heber for our dose of daily ice cream late in the afternoon! Kenny joked with Sarah that we hadn't had ice cream yet for the day and she went in her room got ready and came out with her purse! At first Kenny and I just looked at her because we were shocked she was all ready to go! lol We quickly got up and got ready to go to! I love that she is always up for anything!

Clouds on the way back from Heber 

Awesome Fake Elk in one of Sarah's neighbors yards 

She made us some delicious ribs, potatoes, corn and garlic bread for a late dinner on the porch. We ended up staying out there till almost 9 PM talking. That is one thing I really like about Kenny's family, they stay at the table and talk... my family is more of a race of who can be done first.

Tuesday: 

When we planned this trip I envisioned reading on Sarah’s balcony all afternoon listening to rain hit the roof.  Or working on the blog on the porch in beautiful cool weather with a little breeze and maybe playing cards in the evening…. Sadly it was HOT the entire trip (except the evenings) UNTIL today… of course the rain hit literally as we were heading out of town! Kenny picked up Chris from vacation Bible study and while we were waiting for him to get back and head down the mountain a beautiful grey cloud appeared above the cabin and showered down big cold drops of rain! It thundered and the wind pushed mist on to Brittany as we watch from the porch! So bummed it didn’t come sooner, but at least we got a taste of it!

Kenny and Sarah

Brittany, Sarah and Kenny 

I am usually more than ready to go home after a long camping trip, but I didn’t really want to leave today! It was such a nice trip visiting with Sarah and just hanging out! She is so easy to be around and always up for anything. I love listening to all her stories about he and Quint and all the adventures they shared.

We talked about their childhoods and how she grew up on a farm. They were almost completely self reliant only buying staples like sugar, coffee etc They ate pork and chicken mostly and depended on their own garden and orchard for food. She said if she had to go back to that type of lifestyle she could probably make it just fine. I would starve.

Kenny really enjoyed listening to the stories too. We heard about how they left Arkansas to CA on vacation and decided to stay if they like it. They did and Quint was able to get a job so they stayed. Sarah said those 10 years were her best years. Then Quint had trouble dealing with the smog in LA and they had to choose to move to San Francisco or AZ… they chose AZ and have been here ever since. He liked hearing everyone’s real names because he had always heard them referred to as mama and papa. Also, he was interested to hear how Sarah’s mom had been split from her siblings after their parents passed and there was no one to look after them. Some of the siblings went to Oklahoma and the others to Tennessee. Sarah’s biological mom passed away at the age of 22 when Sarah was only 2 years old. She doesn’t know much about her and only has one picture of her.

Anyway, I could probably go on and on, but basically it was a great, relaxing trip and I am thankful for the time we had to spend with Sarah!