Stansbury Front Trail.

#optoutside

We headed over 2 mountain ranges last Friday and hiked part of the Stansbury Front Trail.  I've wanted to bike this trail for over 20 years, the hiking didn't disappoint but I'm planning on coming back in the spring on my Fat Bike!

North view as we approached the trailhead.

Almost there!

At the trailhead looking Northeast across the Tooele valley.

Checking out the gully.

Parking area.  There were ATV trials going everywhere.

Starting out on an ATV section.

Maizey dog got to be off leash the entire hike!

There was a threat of rain so we were a little overdressed.  Better safe thank sorry though.

Dark clouds.

A boy and his dog.

Look at this pine tree!  So gorgeous!

Junipers and sage.

Looking back East.  WOW!

More pics tomorrow.

Foodie Christmas!

AKA, Thanksgiving!

We hosted Thanksgiving at our place again this year.  I think it's now become a tradition to do so, I thoroughly enjoy making a dinner and having everyone over to share.  I'll let the pics do the explaining.

Fresh picked sage and thyme from our garden...

Used in our stuffing with our home grown celery!

                   

Our 9.8 pound fresh turkey from Sprouts Market.  It brined in apple juice and salt for 2 days.

Butter makes the meal!  Two sticks for the stuffing.

Homemade bread by Mommy added to the celery, onions, and herbs.

Turkey check.  Halfway through cooking I flip it over.  This way the breast meat starts out in broth and doesn't get too dry.

Time to flip!

Table set.  Skyler saved his place name tags from last year's Thanksgiving!

Stuffing and bird on the bottom, cranberry and garden squash on top.

Boiling the potatoes for mashed potatoes really made the house humid!  Skyler decided to write on the front door.

It says "Happy Thanksgiving everyone"!

He made the wreath at school.

Cranberry apple compote.  Every dish featured something grown in our yard.  In this case, it was apples from my Parents' apple tree.

The garden grown butternut and acorn squash.  It didn't look too pretty but it was delicious!  My own recipe.  :)

Finished stuffing.

Finished turkey.

My plate in progress.

Full table.  It was kind of quiet.  That means everyone (hopefully) enjoyed the food!  Thank you family for coming to dinner!

Saturday Svengoolie.

On the patio!

That's right, 3 weekends ago I grabbed the TV from our room and set it up outside on the patio.  We enjoyed watching "The Tingler" (terrible!) next to a cozy fire.  Mommy and Skyler had S'mores and it was surprisingly delightful and not cold at all.

Skyler and Mommy roasting marshmallows.

Patio lights and a raging fire!

Vincent Price starred in "The Tingler".

Safety first!  I had the hose on standby just in case we had any trouble.

Wood pellet fire pit.  Reminds me of a firebox on a steam boiler.

New ladder!

I finally caved and bought an extension ladder after 15 years of needing one at our house.  We immediately used it to hang Christmas lights the day before Thanksgiving.

Of course I had a helper!

Eddy cat!

Skyler drew a picture of Eddy cat last week on his white board.

He asked me to take his picture with Eddy.  :)

B double E double R-U-N!

Spells BEER RUN!  Mommy and I dropped Skyler off at school last Friday and headed West to Lee's Discount Liquor located in West Wendover, Nevada.  What a fun day!  We took my truck and it was so nice and comfortable driving in it.  Salt Flats, great scenery, a delicious Mexican fiesta for lunch and we headed home in time to pick Skyler up from school.  Next time, we're going to stop at the Wendover Air Museum.

Rest stop just outside of Wendover.

Mommy walking out to the salt.

Closeup of the salt.

Flat.

Sun gleaming on the individual salt crystals.

I thought the salt looked to be in pretty good shape after years of decline.

Wendover off in the distance.

Inside of Lee's Discount Liquor!  It was like Costco for booze!

Home grown cotton?

Yep!  We grew our own cotton this year!  I was in Arizona 10 years ago for John Deere training and grabbed a few cotton bolls from a nearby field that was being harvested.  Fast forward to this year when I remembered about the seeds and Mommy planted them in a pot.  8 months later, we have cotton!

Cotton blossom on August 15th.

Cotton boll.  I moved the plant inside the house back in October due to frost outside.

Boll starting to open.

Cotton!!!

Fully opened cotton boll.  The fibers are so soft!