The month of July was a really active and interesting month. It began with my Harley Birthday Ride and a fun party for my 77th Birthday. Bonnie & I then drove to Utah where we attended the Hadfield Family Reunion, I ran the Highland Trail with Amy, hiked the Crimson Trail with Judy & Randy, played some ping pong at the USU Student Center with Michael, and went to Bear Lake for some boating and water skiing with Ted & Dixie and Quent & Barbara. Individual blogs were published on each of these activities. I also posted blogs recognizing July birthdays, posted some favorite family photos, and published a memorial for my dad-in-law Clyde.
This blog summarizes other activities during the month in a category I call Visiting Friends & Family and Other:
"It is one of the blessings of old friends
that you can afford to be stupid with them."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
On Sunday evening (July 9th) before we left to go to Utah, Bonnie & I attended a fun dinner hosted by Don & Debbie. Friends Jarrett & Marj, Steve & Karan, and Art W & Connie W were also there. Don prepared and served a delicious dinner.
On Tuesday, while on the way to Logan, we stopped at the Spanish Fork cemetery, visited the resting place of Bonnie's mom and dad, and placed some flowers at their headstones. Then we met our friends Gary & Mildred at the Riverside Country Club in Provo for lunch. This was a really enjoyable visit. My friendship with Gary goes back to grade-school and with Mildred to junior high. Bonnie met them at my Logan High School class reunions. We have not stayed in close touch with them over the years, but our conversation was so fun and easy - we could have talked for hours longer. Playing to my fixation with the number seven, Gary said he left a $7 tip for the waitress, and also said that he played golf at his club on July 7 (i.e. 7/7/17) and he shot a 77. I'll make an effort to stay in closer touch with them in the future.
When we arrived in Logan we moved in on Quent and Barbara. They are always so hospitable to us and had invited us to stay at their home while we were in Logan. Upon our arrival, Barbara showed me my birthday present from them; the number 77 spelled out with Bud Lite beer cans. What a treat, but I don't think I can drink all 77 while I'm in Logan. That evening we drove to Wellsville where we visited with Lesly & Brian and watched Cole play in a little league baseball game (which his team won).
On Thursday we we went to the Logan cemetery, visited the resting place of my mom and dad and brother Stephen, and placed some flowers at their headstones. We had a fun lunch and visit with Ted & Dixie and Quent & Barbara at the Beehive Grill. After watching Cole play in another baseball game (which his team won again) we had dinner with Quent & Barbara at Elements Restaurant. The food was good, the service was terrible.
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The timing of this trip to Logan was selected so we could attend the Hadfield Family Reunion. We have attended most of the Reunions over the years and I was really looking forward to this one for a visit with my remaining aunts and uncles. Unfortunately, time ran out for two of my aunts. Aunt Elaine passed away three weeks prior to the reunion at the age of 96 (Elaine shared a birthday date with my mother - she would have been 97 on August 5th). Aunt Vonda passed away three days before the reunion at the age of 97. Uncle Max is my dad's only remaining sibling. Aunt Marie, Uncle Max's wife, and Uncle Allen, Aunt Nina's husband, and Leah Rae, Uncle Allen's 2nd wife, still remain with us. The reunion was held as scheduled on Friday and Saturday, with Aunt Vonda's funeral held on Monday. After the reunion on Saturday, Bonnie & I had dinner with Julie & Jim and Dale & Pam. It's always fun for the six of us to get together - since we live far apart, it doesn't happen often enough.
On Monday (7/17/17) we attended Aunt Vonda's funeral at the Hillcrest 2nd Ward Chapel, and visited afterward with Julie & Jim, Dale & Pam, Judy & Randy, and Nancy. I contacted Marilyn that morning to see if we could drive to Perry for a short visit, but our schedules wouldn't permit it this trip; maybe next time. That evening Carl & Jeri hosted Quent & Barbara and Bonnie and I to drinks and dinner at their lovely home.
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On Tuesday morning I did a quick "drive-by" of the house where I grew up on 3rd West. It was a great neighborhood in my youth, with kids around my age living in every house on the block. Many fun memories.
On Tuesday afternoon Quent & Barbara and Bonnie & I visited Evan & Hattie's home in Cove. Evan took us on a tour of this fabulous home - the layout, quality of the structure, amenities, and furnishings are all unique and in excellent taste. The home is so large I couldn't resist asking Evan what the square footage was; believe it or not, his answer was 7700. That evening we spent a couple hours at Julie & Jim's home in Providence visiting - it's really good to get caught up on them and their family.
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While staying with Quent & Barbara I got a little exercise on several mornings with a 2-mile round-trip walk on Canyon Road to the updated Herm's Grill. Those of us from Logan will remember Herm's as a small store/gas station where you could get a sandwich and buy some fishing tackle as you headed up Logan Canyon. It was closed from sometime in the 1950s until it reopened in the early 2000s. The photos below show how well it has been remodeled and expanded.
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On Wednesday we drove to Bear Lake where we stayed at Ted & Dixie's home for several days. As we arrived in Garden City the first order of business was to have a raspberry shake at La Beau's drive-in. For anyone who has not visited the Wilson's home on the lake, you have missed something wonderful, and they are really great friends and hosts. They actually threw me a second birthday party, with Ted preparing his specialty salmon dinner and Dixie preparing a special chocolate/Kahlua birthday cake. Further, along with Quent & Barbara, who joined us for dinner, they sang the Happy Birthday song to me. The lake was smooth all afternoon and evening, and would have been great for my day of boating and water skiing - but that is for the next day. What a fun evening.
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On Thursday morning we drove to the marina where I had rented a boat for a 4-hour period. A discussion of our boat ride and my attempt at water skiing was published as a separate blog. It was a fun day on the lake and fun visiting as we had both lunch and dinner with the Wilsons and the Coverts at Ted & Dixie's home at the lake. Friday morning was beautiful as we just visited and watched the activity on the lake - ducks, geese, boats and water skiers, etc. Late morning we all drove to Bear Lake West where we had lunch at Cooper's Restaurant.
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Dixie had made reservations for us to play a round of golf at the Bear Lake West golf course on Friday morning. However, I had wrenched my back water skiing on Thursday and felt like I would make it worse if I starting swinging golf clubs so we cancelled that activity. After lunch we said goodby to Ted & Dixie and drove to Park City; Bonnie & I drove via Evanston, while Quent & Barbara drove to Logan, dropped off their dog Emmy, and then met us in Park City. The four of us had a nice dinner at the Red Rock Brewing Co. that evening.
On Saturday morning, Bonnie and Barbara went shopping at the outlet stores. Quent and I actually did a little shopping ourselves. On a sad note, while we were shopping I received a call from Clare Taylor with the message that our friend Kenny Taylor had passed away. He had been fighting melanoma cancer, and passed away at his home on July 14th. Kenny's obituary can be found at http://www.lindquistmortuary.com/notices/Kenneth-Taylor.
"Kenny The Kid"
Mike N. & Nanette drove up the mountain from their home in Salt Lake and joined us for a fun lunch and visit Saturday at Chubasco Mexican Grill in Park City. Mike N. has become a master- builder of unique birdhouses and to our surprise he gave the Covert's and us, each a birdhouse. Then he gave Quent a special large birdhouse, built to resemble a birdhouse that Quent had seen and requested. Gary D. & Nel, joined us for dinner at the Loco Lizard, one of our favorites in Park City.
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As we planned our trip back to Southern California on Sunday, we talked with Jon & Maridee about meeting them for a visit somewhere along I-15. They would be traveling north to Logan from Joseph, where they had been attending a family reunion, and we would be traveling south from Park City to Monrovia. We decided the small town of Scipio would be a good place to convene. However, the morning we were to begin the trips, it became clear that our schedules would not support the plan. We now have a plan to meet in Monrovia during November, sometime close to the Thanksgiving holiday. So we drove to Cedar City where we had a fun visit with Linda and Chad. Later we drove on to Mesquite where we spent the night, and drove on to Monrovia Monday morning, July 24th.
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Meghan is working in Boston, and she and her friend Rachel came home to Southern California late July to visit family and attend ComiCon in San Diego. On the night Meghan & Rachel were leaving to return to Boston, the Daly family gathered for dinner at Mt. Lowe Brewing Co. and Bonnie & I joined them.
Photos from the left - 1st row: Griffin, Rachel and Meghan; Griffin, Rachel, Meghan and Marietta; Cliff & Ginger.
2nd row: Terra & Curran; Sean and Ginger; Bonnie and Heather, with Curran trying to get in the photo.
Yvonne has been my friend and barber/hair dresser for many years. When she works her magic, there is one day each month that my bald spot in the back is invisible.
I have set an objective to be more aware of the opportunities to do good deeds. It seems difficult to recognize these situations, but I'll keep trying. I covered a dangerous hole on the Wilderness Preserve hiking trail, I helped a guy in need of a jump-start for his car, and I took a neighbors trash cans in when it appeared they were on a trip.
July was an interesting month, with many fun activities and visits with friends and family members. I'm looking forward to an active and fun month in August.