Recently in Family (Utah) Category

Today at 4:05pm, we sadly euthanized our long time dog Sasha. We brought Sasha home from the pound shortly after our son Alexander was born.

Sasha was my constant companion on virtually all my hunting and fishing trips. Even during the coldest weather, Sasha never feared to jump into a half frozen lake to pursue duck and geese. She was mild tempered, protective of the family and although smaller than our other dogs, easily the top-dog in the house.. so much so that both my male dogs learned to pee like her (squatting, not raising their legs).

A few photos from her life:

Sasha in 1999

Sasha in 2002

Sasha in 2004 with Ferris, our new black lab puppy (we had to put him down at 3 years old)

Sasha and Ferris in 2004.

Ottercreek camping in 2007.

Christmas, 2009

Flaming Gorge camping in 2009.

Sadly, in late 2011, Sasha's age started to catch up to her and she became totally inactive.

RIP to one of the best companion dogs my family and I have had the pleasure to have in our lives.

As of 5pm on 1 August 2012, Sasha is now resting peacefully in our backyard.

On Friday, October 21st (2011), we departed Salt Lake City for Fillmore. Our goal was to get in one more camping and ATV'ing adventure before the weather turned cold and snowy.

On the first Fillmore exit, we stopped to hit Carls Jr. for a quick lunch. Just as we parked, we noticed a guy on a golf cart inspecting every trailer that pulled into the lot. At first, we didn't think much of it.

A few minutes later, this guy was looking at my 5th wheel tires with much interest. He came over and told me that my tire tread was separating and that if I pulled my rig to the service station a few hundred feet away, his guys would gladly mount my spare. I pulled to the service station and was immediately told that all six of my 5th wheel tires were coming apart.

Initially, it looked very likely that I was in a very dangerous situation with my trailer. I was quoted $2100 for 6x Cooper "Provider" tires in 235/80 R16. I declined and we made the 2-3 mile tow to the Fillmore KOA.

Google was fired up and I researched Cooper tires. To my dismay, I learned that Cooper doesn't carry a brand called "Provider", nor did they carry my tire size. Clearly, these guys were pedaling Chinese knock-off tires at twice the price I could source replacements from Discount Tire/Sears/Walmart.

To compound matters, upon arriving at the KOA, we determined that the front electric motor for the levlling legs was not working. We had to manually crank to lower (and then raise) the legs. Additionally, the rear garage door was not sealing completely, allowing both sunlight and bugs to come through.

We settled in that Friday night and for dinner, drove the ~50 miles to Hoovers for another awesome meal.

The following morning (Saturday), we decided to sleep in a bit. Overnight temps were near freezing, so nobody was really inclined to get out into the cold morning air.

My 11am, we had the ATV's loaded and were ready to roll. Destination: Marysvale (just shy of 60 miles one-way across two mountain ranges (Pahvant & Tushar).

Our route would start at the far North/East corner of Fillmore via the Paiute 03 trail through Chalk Creek.

Somewhere near the middle of the Max Reid trail (Paiute 01), the Honda Rancher lost all brakes at one of the steepest sections of trail. My tactic: Get my ATV and my sons in front of the wife and have her just coast down using the two front ATV's at brakes. Success!

Hunters were everywhere in the woods. How they managed to spot a deer is amazing considering how close they all were to each other. Deer to hunter ratio had to be 100:1 (100 hunters for every deer).

We returned to camp after sun-down with temps in the 40-50F range.

That evening, we discussed the situation with the 5th wheel tires. I went out and inspected and determined the tires would be able to handle the 140 mile return trip home.

We departed early Sunday morning and didn't exceed 55mph the entire trip home. We arrived without incident. Seems to me that tire center in Fillmore has a pretty interesting (and unethical) racket: Scope out every trailer, spread FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt), then when they hook somebody, they increase their tire prices by $600-800 over normal retail.

The quest for replacement tires is underway and the 5th wheel goes back to Motorsportsland for service on Friday. What an eventful weekend. It would be nice to have one outing with the 5th wheel not end with maintenance/repair issues!

My senior management team at work decided to attend the MDM West trade show in Anaheim, California as part of our Sr. Mgmt retreat. After the planning and trade show, some adjourned to Disneyland, while two of us took our rental car and drove south to La Jolla.

That evening, my wife and kids flew into San Diego (from Salt Lake) and joined us in La Jolla (La Jolla Cove Hotel).

The weather was in the mid-70's and full sun. It was nice.

Upon arrival, we noted the news crews and circling news helicopter. The front desk indicated that a great white shark was spotted and that the beach was closed while they looked into it. The closed beach didn't appear to stop the surfers, kayaks and swimmers/scuba divers.

Day 1: Legoland. A few photos (can you spot the real buldings from the Lego buildings?)

The hotel was located right on the La Jolla Cove. We were on the 3rd floor. Sunsets were amazing:

The Cave at the Cove:

The 2nd day, we decided to take a short drive to the UCSD Scripps Oceanographic Institute Aquarium. Suffice it to say, we should have just gone to SeaWorld as we had originally planned. A few photos:

This fire has been raging since noon on Sunday (19th) and is less than five miles south of our house. Last night, because the smoke was so thick, we prepped the 5th wheel trailer, put the hitch back in the bed of my truck and prepared to evacuate -- not so much because of the fire, but because the smoke was so thick.

Sourced via the Salt Lake Tribune
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"It's chaos," said Salt Lake County sheriff's Lt. Don Hutson as he helped move residents out of their homes.At least 1,400 homes had been evacuated as of midnight and some had caught fire, said emergency responders who descended on Herriman from across the valley and pushed through crowds of onlookers.

Meanwhile, as many as 250 evacuees waited for updates at a Red Cross center at Herriman High School.

Melissa Kula said she and her husband packed their car while they watched flames rise over the ridge behind their home on Muirwood Circle. When they pulled away at 8 p.m., flames were almost to their backyard.

"I'm devastated, to say the least," Kula said, tears welling in her eyes. Her family had lived in the home since June. As of Sunday night, she assumed it had burned.

Authorities could not confirm which or how many houses had burned Sunday night. "Upwards of 100," homes were in jeopardy, said Unified Fire Authority Chief Michael Jensen.

The blaze started during a National Guard training session when a spark from a soldier's round ignited dry brush, said Utah National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Hank McIntire.

"They knew immediately and they got on it right away," but did not have enough manpower and equipment to contain the fire, McIntire said.

From Camp Williams, the fire moved into Arnold's Hollow of Rose Canyon and jumped over a dirt road that had previously acted as a barrier on Camp Williams' northern border at Black Ridge, said Unified Fire Authority Capt. Brad Taylor. Bulldozers were digging up fire breaks to the fire's east to keep it from spreading into the valley, but Taylor said they would not be effective until the winds die down.

Over Memorial weekend, we made the 5 hour journey South-East (30 miles from the Colorado border), just off I-70 at exit 131. Our goal was to enjoy a new section of the San Rafael Swell (the Swell) and camp along the North side, instead of our usual location near Temple Mountain and Goblin Valley. The North side is chock full of great off roading adventures, to include :The Devils Racetrack, Buckhorn wash/draw, Head of Sinbad and many others. The most enjoyable and challenging area of riding was easily the Devil's Racetrack. Although I knew about this location, we didn't plan on riding it until we stumbled upon the trailhead. With us were my 15 year old son (Alex), my 12 year old son (Nick), my nephews (Zach, Skyler), my neice (Megan) and my brother-in-law and his friend Jeff. I decided to ride up for the first 3 miles or so to determine if the kids could make it. There were a few rugged stair climbs and slick rock sections, but after that, it seemed to level out. I turned around and indicated that we could probably get the entire group up. What a mistake that was... A few photos from the trip:

Camp

This guy was stinking up the area and completely blocking the trail. I had to winch him off the trail.

Underneath him were frogs, apparently eating away at the underside of this sheep. Carnivorous frogs?

Our first planned ride and Zach’s machine blows out the CVT belt less than 2 miles from camp!

The “Head of Sinbad”

Rest break along Coal Wash:

One of the many natural arches we encountered:

Zach and GF climbing the rock pile.

Spectators at the top of the Devils Racetrack.