Imlay Reunion, Hot Springs RV Park, Tremonton UT 6/3/11-6/5

We have our Imlay Family Reunion every two years and this year everyone wanted it at our Camperworld campground in Tremonton Ut. We had it here four years ago and everyone liked it so much that they wanted to go there again. There is a small 9-hole golf course, a large hot springs swimming pool, and ATV trails.

The camping sites were a little bit improved from six years ago, but we still had no hook-ups for any of the RVs except two. Jill and Dan got one of those and Jo and Merl (who did all of the food and cooking) got the other one. They parked right in front of the pavilion where we did all of the meals. It worked out well. They even let us put tents on the grass.

The kids spent a lot of time on the grassy hill behind the pavilion. It was a great place to play baseball and football. Here, Ryan H, Ryan U, Sarah, Jill, and Dan are playing with Wesley, Kamber, and Lindee.

Everyone gathered around the big fire pit each night (the same one that was out in the field four years ago that cousin Jo fell on and permanently damaged her leg when she was playing baseball with the kids.)

Tim and Mindy (Jo's daughter) sitting around the campfire.

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Uncle Terry with daughter Kim and her husband James.

Ryan, sister Lorrie with her granddaughter Trista, and brother Bill.

Some crazy How-weirds/Claysons/Ussings under an umbrella in the pool--Dan, Jill, Jenna, Ryley, Ryan, and Chaz!

Everyone loved the pool. Here is Ryan with his kids Ryley and Chaz.

Sarah with hubby Ryan and daughter Lindee.

Jenna and Kamber swimming with cousin Taylor (Lorrie's granddaughter).

Jill trying to out-shoot nephew Luke.

JT getting an under-water ride from Dad, Ryan.

Cousin Dennis visiting with my brother Bill.

Aunt Anna (the matriarch of the Imlay family, Uncle Bud's wife) sporting a hat that I made and gave to her.

We had a great golf scramble. This team included Ryan, Tayler (Lorrie's granddaughter), cousin Francine, and cousin Kim.

This team was cousin Jo and her grandson Cody, Terry, and James (Kim's hubby).

Another team was Mindy, Tim, Jill, and Ben

Merl, Nancy, Bill, and Dan made up another team. I don't remember which team won, but they all had a good time and everyone got "great" prizes! Thanks to Jill and Dan for organizing it, with the help of Ryan and Terry!

Families all sitting around eating--with Nancy is her son Kelly and wife Rhonda and daughters Taylor and Holly.

Sarah with kids Lindee and Luke, and other relatives.

Kamber, Jenna, and Ryley.

Cousin Francene with granddaughter and son-in-law Ben and his baby.

Aunt Eulala and her daughter, cousin Debbie, also sporting one of my hats.

Jo's son, Robert, and his wife.

Brother Mike and wife, Janet, and brother Frank and wife Andy.

We had a great group at the reunion--around 60 people! We pretty much filled the pavilion.

Jo and her gang did a great job with the food and meals. She even won a super prize hula hoop in the golf scramble. She demonstrates while wearing the hat I gave her.

James won some great goggles in the golf scramble. I am thinking he might could use them to find golf balls he lost in the water, or something like that!

Ryan giving the kids a lesson on the art of hula hooping! I think the kids actually showed him how it was done!

At the last meal we all shared the "Welcome to the Imlay Family Reunion" cake. It was a great reunion. Thanks to all who helped and all who came. We hope to see everyone in Idaho in two years when the "Fisher family" put on the next Imlay reunion in Emmett!

Terry even got the first piece of the cake because he had a birthday the day before and everyone sang to him.

Hot Springs RV Park, Tremonton UT 5/31/11-6/3/11

After leaving Sarah and Ryan's we headed north to Tremonton where we have a Camperworld campground. It has a big hot springs swimming pool, two hot tubs, and a 9-hole golf course.

We called my cousins, Janeanne and Wright, who live in North Ogden, and they came the first night we were there and ate dinner with us. It was so much fun seeing them. They always feed us when we visit them and we finally got a chance to fix a meal for them!

Janeanne insisted on doing the dishes after dinner. I couldn't talk her out of it. She is as bossy as I am! Not many people but Terry and I have done the dishes at my little sink.

Of course, the men did what they do best. It was good to see both of them in such good spirits and better health!

A couple of days later Shay and his family showed up to spend the night with us on their way to Disneyland. We were awfully glad we were on their way! They celebrated Terry's birthday with us, a couple of days early, and brought a birthday cake--German chocolate--his favorite!

Another reason they wanted to stop and celebrate Terry's birthday is because Shay delivered a birthday gift that was from all of our kids--a 22-410 shotgun over and under rifle! Terry has been looking for one like that for several years. Standing with him is Sean, Tyson, Marissa, Emily, Heidi, and Shay. Thanks, and what a great surprise, kids!

Sarah's, Grantsville UT 5/24/11-5/31/11

We left Pahrump, NV, and headed to Utah. After spending one night, without even un-hooking the Condo, in St. George RV Park in Hurricane, we drove to Grantsville where Sarah and Ryan live.

We had been to their new home before, but never with the Condo. It fit just right in their driveway, with just a little hang-over onto the sidewalk. They just planted grass and it looked really nice.

JT came visiting in his baseball uniform. He looked really official. We got to watch him play a game.

Jenna wanted a perm so we got out the perm rods and curled up her hair. This is her first perm.

It turned out really cute and she was happy with it. Hopefully it will stay curly for a little while.

Jill and her family came down from Rexburg to spend Labor Day weekend weekend with all of us. We all helped put some of Ryan and Sarah's garden in. They plant a huge garden and then share their produce with all of their neighbors and Ward members. After the garden was in, it rained all night and all the day. Because their home is at the bottom of the housing district, the drain field is part of their property. But, the drain water ended up going through the garden first and was just a big flood the next day. Hopefully it will survive without having to replant everything! They did spend that night and most of Sunday pumping out their basement and helping their neighbors pump out basements, also!

Grandpa and the kids got the job of "rock picking" the other half of the garden.

It looks like Luke, JT, and Boe are sitting down on the job!

Even Lindee is doing her part.

When the kids were allowed to throw all of the rocks into the water in the big drain ditch, it made the work a lot more fun!

We all went to a movie one afternoon and then got pizza to bring home. That giant pizza filled everyone up. Here are Kamber, JT, Boe, Lindee, and Luke getting their fill. We all had a fun time!

Preferred RV Park, Pahrump NV 5/19/11 - 5/24/11

Our last park before we head back into Utah and up north is Preferred RV Park in Pahrump, Nevada. We spent a week here last November and really liked it. It is in a good location for a split with Ron and Alice--they go on to Idaho and we head to Utah.

We like the location of this park because it is within walking distance of some good places to eat and we can ride our bike to Walmart for shopping! The staff here are very nice and make us feel like part of the family of people who stay in the park for most of the winter.

Again, we got great sites right next to each other, with a tree between us. We only spent five days here, but had a good time. Terry and I learned a new way to play pinochle when we played in a tournament at the clubhouse, and the meals in the casinos are so inexpensive that we ate out three nights of the five we were here!

Just a few days before we got to the park this cactus had 35 blooms on it! We saw pictures and it was beautiful. The blooms only last one day and then they wilt. We were fortunate to see the one last bloom come out while we were there. This is the latest in the year that we have stayed in the desert and we have been able to see several of the cactus and trees bloom that we had never seen before. We were hoping to see a saguaro bloom (that is Arizona's state flower), but we never did.

When there were 35 of these huge flowers on this cactus, you could barely see any of the cactus plant itself. I am glad we got to see at least one of them bloom.

I have always thought that this cactus was one of the ugliest in the desert, but I guess I will have to change my mind, at least while they are blooming! This is the first time we have ever seen it bloom.

Also a first--this cactus has beautiful yellow flowers! Who would have thought!

And coral-colored flowers on this one! All of these cacti are in a garden in the park. Can you imagine a whole desert filled with these amazing colors!

The cactus garden has a little stream with large goldfish in it. Alice put her quarter in the machine and got feed for them so we could get a picture of them all gathered together.

This pretty little garden also has benches and a little paddle wheel house. I am sure we will be back to this park again. It is only about 60 miles from Las Vegas where we have a Thousand Trails park, but this is a very nice alternative to being in that busy place.

Ridgeview, Bullhead City AZ 5/9/11 - 5/19/11

Ridgeview is an ROD park so we get to stay there at no cost, except our yearly dues. It is just up the hill from the Colorado River and across the river from Laughlin, Nevada, a town made up of about 10 casinos, a mall, and a few housing areas. It is kind of a mini Las Vegas. The airport is so close to the park that when the planes go over we can almost recognize the people sitting in the seats!

We got to Ridgeview the day after Mothers Day and there was a surprise there waiting for me! The kids all got together and got me a new Nikon camera! Now I have no excuses for not taking great pictures!

Here is one of my first great pictures! This friendly little roadrunner started roosting in the tree between us and Ron & Alice. He came back several nights. We didn't know that roadrunners roost in trees at night.

There was also a family of quail that would visit us each day. This mama quail had at least 15 babies. They moved so fast that I couldn't count them all. What?! You can't see the babies! Let me zoom in a little. . .

. . . here are three of them close up. Alice saw them a couple of times when they came right down to the front of their RV, but she could never get the camera in time to take a picture. We also saw a lot of rabbits in the park and we were told there were rattle snakes seen. I think it is about time to start heading North when the snakes come to visit!

There is a "taxi" that will take you across the Colorado from Bullhead City to Laughlin and the casinos. We took it a couple of times when we went to eat or just visit the other side. It was much nicer than trying to fight for a parking place at the casinos. I love being on the water for whatever the reason!

This is one of the oldest casinos in Laughlin. It sits right on the waterfront and is built in the shape of a steamboat. It has added other sections for hotel rooms, but the casino is right in the steamboat part.

I haven't quite figured out how to take night pictures with my new camera yet, but this is the view we have from the park of Laughlin.

Yes! This is home-made bread from scratch. I forgot how easy it is to make. I use a recipe for 6 loaves that I cut in half and make 3 loaves at a time. The first loaf we eat hot--the second loaf goes in the cupboard--and the third loaf I give away! It has been fun giving a loaf of warm, home-made bread to a neighbor RVer or someone who just stops by to visit. The plant in the vase is a "Lucky Bamboo" plant is is growing ing water pearls. I got the water pearls at the fair in Cottonwood. They are so fun to use. You just have to cover them with water every couple of weeks and they fill with water again and this sustains the bamboo plant. They are very pretty.

I got this pattern for hats from a fellow crafter at one of the parks. I am trying to learn to make them "cowboy up" on the brims. Some of them do pretty well.

The blue and orange one I made to show my sister Lorrie so she can make some Boise State hats to sell with her other Boise State things she crochets. Now I need to find homes for all of these other hats!

One day we were waiting down on the river to go on a boat tour and this mama bird was trying to feed her baby a lizard! There were two babies in this palm tree--one was still in the nest and one had fallen or jumped down to land several feet below. The mama would go back and forth trying to get this lizard into one of their mouths. She finally made it after several attempts at each one of them--and I got pictures of the whole thing happening. They were quite far up in this tall palm tree. Great camera!!

Terry, Ron, and Alice are getting aboard our tour boat.

We are having a great time. We sat outside on the back of the boat, but when the guide's voice came over the speaker, we could hardly hear him because of the motor. . .

. . . so we moved inside for the rest of the trip. It was really interesting. It took about an hour and a half and we learned all about the dam just above Laughlin and all about the building of the casinos. Terry and I had been on the tour a few years ago, but Ron and Alice never had. Alice gets a little nervous on water, but I think she enjoyed the trip and didn't even get sick.