Clovis!

I haven't been back to Clovis for almost a year!  Dave had another business trip so this time I tagged along!  He said it was fun having me there, but I think I threw off his groove a little.  I got to have a totally relaxed vacation and see lots of sweet friends so I really enjoyed it!  We left on Thursday the 5th and spent the evening at Terry and Barbara's in Folsum.  It was great to visit them and Dave's brother John was there and then his brother Mark and his wife Judy came later in the evening for a quick visit and dessert.  It was great to catch up on the McKinney side of the family!  Friday was the perfect day. We stopped at my favorite DI - Sacramento!  Even though I have a DI close to where I live and a few others not too far away, the Sacramento one will always be my favorite!  Thanks Dave for humoring me and taking me there!  Then we got lunch and drove on to Clovis.  We checked into our hotel and then just drove around the old neighborhoods and also drove by where Clif will be going to pharmacy school in the fall!  A brand new school!  We actually got a little bored not knowing where to go.  It was finally time to be at Winieckes for dinner and game night!!  Boy how we have missed those!!!  We went to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner ( have missed that too!) then back to Winieckes for game night.  It was so fun to be there again doing that!  On Saturday we slept in and had a leisurely day.  We almost got bored!  But it was game night again at Winieckes so we were excited about that.  Scott and Terry Olsen came and also Tom and Melanie Martinez.  Brunsviks couldn't make it and we were sad about that.  But we had a GREAT NIGHT!  Oh my goodness it was so much fun to be playing cards again with good friends!   Sunday morning we slept in again (it felt so good!) and then we went to church at Clovis 2nd ward.  It felt really weird being there!  I almost felt out of place...it was surreal.  But we got lots of friendly hugs and it was fun to see so many familiar faces!  After church we went to the Winieckes for dinner.  Linfords came too.  It was great to see them all and enjoy a delicious meal.  Bishop Dan's garden is always a joy to see and eat from!  Then it was Monday and time for Dave to be off to work and me to be off to fun!!!  Here's our home away from home, and our Saturday game night that Amber took a picture of with her phone!

One last stop...well, two...no three...

The campground we stayed at is right behind The Gifford House, which is a little museum/gift shop.  They sell fresh cinnamon rolls and ice cream and stuff.  More of a snack shop than a gift shop, though they do have a few other things.  I guess it is a pioneer home, but the real reason I wanted to stop was because my Grandpa Brown's truck is on display there.  Well, they have moved it to the back, and the sign that said it was his and donated by his family, was missing.  They had originally said they were going to restore it, but I don't think that is going to happen. If it hasn't happened after all these years.  But it was fun to see it and my aunt says they are going to get it back and let it set on their own property instead!  Anyway, Amanda and I had a cold soda in the pretty bottles she wanted to use for a halloween project (now THAT'S planning ahead!) and the boys all had ice cream.  It's a scenic spot and we enjoyed our last little treat before heading out of there.  Our next stop was at the Capitol Reef sign to take pictures.  We didn't stop on the way into the park the day before so we made sure to stop and take a few pictures to document where we'd been.  Then we drove on to Loa and stopped at my Aunt Beverly's again for a little lunch before driving on home and back to reality.  What a fun little camping trip!  Yes, as long as someone else sets up the tent and does the cooking, I am good for ONE night of sleeping in a tent.  Thank you Amanda for arranging it all!  We got home Tuesday and are back at the usual routine...for now. 

Post Script: My cousin went to the park this week (June 28) and the sign is back in the truck!  My Aunt must have called them and gave them heck for taking the sign down!  Or not, but it's fun to think that she might have!

The River Trail/Overlook hike...and visitors!

Tuesday morning we had to be out of camp by 11.  So we got our breakfast and took off on one last hike. Again Amanda made our wonderful breakfast and we all enjoyed it!  Before we went hiking, we had some visitors stroll through the camp.  Deer!  We had seen a few the night before walking close to the river, and some on the far side of the campground, but in the morning they just waltzed right through camp!  Right past our tent!  I can't even remember how many we saw...at least 6 of them.  Our hike took us up and around a big red cliff, and it takes you around to the back side and up on top where you can overlook a huge part of the park.  We couldn't see our campground because of the trees, but we knew right where it was down there, so we could see how far we had come!  Again, just beautiful sights, strange twisty trees, little flowers growing in the rock and sand...strange formations in the rocks, and Dave built a trail marker to show Jacob and David how it's done.  It was beautiful to be up there and see everything.  We had our snack at the top and couldn't believe we only saw 2 other people all the way there and back.  Where was everyone!?  Maybe it was too early for them...ha ha.  As we have been hiking, the boys always look for little "caves" in the rocks that they can sit in.  We always say, "there's a cave of wonder!" Jacob is holding up his little rock that splits and says that's what opens the cave of wonder.  So on this hike when we would see a little "cave" he would open it with his rock.  We decided before we go hiking again, we need to find a mini Aladdin's lamp and stick it in one of the holes when we say we found a cave of wonder.  Wouldn't that be funny!? When we got back to camp we put our feet in the cold river water and it felt so good!  Then we broke camp and made one more stop...that will be on the next post.  There are enough pictures here for one post!