Wow.... another year older today. I don't really put much stock into birthdays, including my own, finding it a bit of a stretch to get all excited about the day we all exit our mothers womb. Especially in these days when it can be induced to speed up or slow down with artificial drugs or it can even be bypassed completely with a cesarean section. So I don't tend to get to excited about my birthday.... That being said, it was a very nice day for me. I had to get up way earlier than I wanted to today in order to see my friends off on a short trip they were taking to Santa Fe, NM. The problem with getting up that early, other than basic principle, is that I stayed up until 3:30 a.m. last night reading the new 'Jack Reacher' novel by Lee Child I had picked up at the store yesterday afternoon. Some times I think those books are just pure evil in how they suck you in to their plots.
    Once up though I hung in there. I headed over to my friends, George and Marge late in the morning. They had invited me out to lunch with them, so I was over there to meet them around noon. We headed off to the local 'Outback Steak House' from their house and had a really nice meal together. I had a small steak, garlic mashed potato's and salad. Hadn't really had a steak for a long time, so this one tasted really good. At about 5 oz's it was just about the right size too.
    Came back home afterwards and actually laid down for about an hour and took a nap. Probably not enough sleep to make up for my deficit, but certainly better than none at all. Was still napping when the phone went off. One of my friends, Steph was inviting me over later on for drinks and then dinner on the patio with her and some friends. When I finally arrived I was able to help her build the main course for the meal which was a wonderful, and simple, green chili relleno casserole. Of course there were drinks served also, in this case it was Ruby Red Vodka and tonic with a slice of lime. One of the all time great summer patio drinks, but one just needs to remember that they can sneak up on you if you aren't careful.
    We had a very nice meal outside while watching the sun set, including cheese cake just for my birthday. Afterwards a couple of us took the two dogs, Rhodie and Lucy for a walk over to the clubhouse and back. It is now nearly 9:00 and I am ready for bed so I need to get on with the photo's and wrap this up. Enjoy!

Green River Canoe Trip - Aug/Sept 2014 - Part 3



The end of the second or third day on the river.

Tom brought several of his Native American flutes along with him as usual. Fino also brought along a couple flutes with him and it was fun to hear the two of them practicing together in the evening.

More wonderful scenery.

Sometimes a little bit of shade is all you need.

Marge loves the water and seems to always be in it. With the amount of sediment in the water this year, we took to calling her 'Mud Puppy' Marge.

Lunch time on the river. One of the newest pieces of gear that we all had this year were these beach umbrellas we brought along. by the end of the trip I was thinking that they were actually more important to have along than most of the rest of our gear. With temps in the high 90's and 10-12 hours of full sun each day, it can be brutal out there if you don't have any shade.

Sandy was along on this trip of course, and just like the last time when we were on the Grand Canyon, she braided the hair of anyone who wanted one. Rima loved having her hair in braids, and it certainly looks good on her. Guess I'll have to learn how to do that one of these days.  

The other side view.

I thought it was great when Fino jumped in and came up streaming nearly as much mud as there was water.

Looking pretty tan after several days in the sun.



Caroline and John's night to do dinner. I can still remember their cocktail that night was a combination of tequila, lemon lime drink and ginger beer. It was perfect for a night of sitting on the bank and watching the river flow by.

Not to bad of a campsite.

Another beautiful evening on the river. Just about time for the bats to start flying.

A rock formation we know as the 12 sisters. Not sure if it actually has a real name or not.

Pulling over so we can take another short walk to some petroglyphs we knew of. You can't see it here but the mud was plenty deep and sticky enough to suck you shoes right off your feet.

A very nice petroglyph panel on a rock wall overlooking the river. Besides bighorn sheep, there are also deer, dogs and even something that looks like a camel represented. Wish the light would of been a bit better.  

Rima.

Here are the remains of at least two stone grinding stones and one of the stones that was used in it.

Beautiful rock formations along the river. 

Rafted up and just floating.

One of many rock formations that we passed by.

We had a solo boater pass us by in her canoe several days into our trip, and she wanted to know if we were part of some 'Club Med' group on the river. I guess this view of us on the beach might elicit that kind of question.  

Our 2nd night of cooking. Tonight it is potato gnocchi and sauce, fresh salad, garlic bread and cookies for dessert. This is our 6th night and we still have ice in the coolers, so even the wine was cold.

Rima and I.

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