Sometimes in the summer, after you work a 9 hour day, you have to leave right after work and make the 3 hour trip to get your girls back from their dad.
When that happens, you call The Man and tell him to meet you somewhere for dinner so you can see him before you hit the road.
Sometimes when you get back from that 3 hour drive, The Man has flowers waiting for you.
For no reason at all.
Sometimes when your ex husband is a trucker you get to drive all over to new places to retrieve your children (
here).
But sometimes when your ex wife is restless and likes to go to new places and see new things, you have to drive all over to new places to retrieve your children.
The Man and I were invited to go riding and camping at
Joe's Valley with Uncle Tim and Aunt Shirsten and their family.
I asked my ex if he could meet in us in a new spot that would be along our route to get to Joe's Valley, but still in the same frame travel time wise for my ex.
We decided on Emma Park Rd, a handy little road that connects 191 to 6. 191 which drops down from Duchesne and 6 which we were driving up.
We got there before my ex did so we hung out and the girls climbed to rocks on the side of the road.
It's a beautiful area.
We watched this road, where Emma Park T's at 6.
Eventually we heard the rumble of a motor and turned to look.
A man on a Harley appeared.
"For a second I thought that was him," I say to The Man.
"That wouldn't have been good," The Man replies.
I look again.
"That guy really looks like him though," I say.
I watch as another Harley pulls in view on the road behind the first.
They stop at the stop sign and then cross the road to where we're standing.
It
was him.
Sometimes, even when your ex wife makes you drive somewhere new to get your girls, you one-up her by showing up on your Harley, with your Harley gang in tow.
The ex had asked that the girls not pack in suitcases but in backpacks and had asked that they please wear jeans, jackets, and tennis shoes.
It was all making sense now.
He'd brought enough bikes and helmets with him to transport the girls safely away.
I'm sure it was a beautiful ride for them. 191 is an amazing canyon on the way to Duchesne.
So I watched my girls load up on Harley's with a bunch of bikers and they literally rode off into the sunset.
How many mom's get to say that?
And with that The Man and I were off on our own adventure.
Blending a family is hard.
It's nice to get away on our own and remember why we do it.
I love that man.
We pulled into Joe's Valley with a few minor mishaps of a wrong turn and then a booked site which was way too small for us to fit in. But in the dark, we figured it out and were ready to play the next day.
I'm pretty sure I took four naps the next day.
I think it has something to do with the fact that I run full speed pell nell with work and kids and church and trying to maintain a clean house and cook dinners that when I found myself out in the middle of nowhere, with no cell phone service, no kids, and no agenda... my body just crashed.
And I let it.
But in between all those naps we had some amazing 4-wheeler drives and found ourselves on top of the world a few times.
There was a wicked storm a brewing in the distance with lightning flashing and thunder booming...
Little did we realize that we were on the road that would take us right through it.
The rain began gentle enough, but as we continued we hit it full force and it was raining on us in a cold torrential down pour.
Tim stops and we pulled up next to him, shivering.
"Should we stop and wait it out?" he asks.
Before he's even fully finished asking I'm yelling, "let's get outta here!"
It got worse and as we rode through the hard rain the bigger drops were pelting us on our faces and necks and other bare skin and it felt like someone was hurling small rocks at us.
The smaller drops felt like pin pricks.
We had so much water coming at us that I was having to swallow water, like I was taking sips from a glass, but it was just the rain being blown into my mouth.
The Man saved me.
I don't know how he continued to drive in that.
The foam around my riding goggles soaked up with water, and the water began to flow into my goggles and into my eyes in steady streams.
The rain began to puddle in my seat.
By the time we made it back to our trailer we were soaked completely through. We may as well have jumped in the lake.
But as we stopped, and the wind from riding wasn't whipping around us and we didn't have the extra force of driving to hurl the rain at us, the storm didn't seem too bad.
The Man says, "that was
not fun."
"I don't know, now that it's over it kind of was..."
"You know, you're right."
But I was done riding for the day. It continued to be overcast and I was done taking chances with it.
West went out again with his cousins and Uncle, but I stayed at camp and played cards with his aunt.
And not riding again is how I managed four naps that day :).
 |
| Jessica and Josh-cousins of West |
The next day dawned warmer, and with white fluffy clouds instead of gray heavy ones so we headed out again.
We didn't really have a clear plan of where we were going, but we did follow the signs to Mud Springs.
Let me tell you, if you've never been to Mud Springs, you're not missing much.
Uncle Tim had the coordinates for the
Crandall Mine (news stories
here) so we decided to go check it out.
We made it to the road that was made for the mining equipment that was trying to make other exits for the trapped miners to escape through.
It was very clear that they didn't want us to take our bikes down the road to see the mines that were dug to save the miners.
And the GPS showed it to be a 5 mile hike round trip, which we weren't at all prepared for.
So we contemplated the situation and envisioned the chaos, the urgency, the stress of that time as we looked at the road that plowed through the trees.
It was almost eerie and my heart broke for those involved.
We continued to the top of the mountain instead to see if we could spot the mine from our perch.
I think if we ever go back there, I'd like to be prepared for that hike.
It's a good thing, with as big as cows are, and with as determined as they are to be in the roads, that they're so docile.
Those things could really do some damage if they had half a mind to.
Joe's Valley is a beautiful area.
There were so many smaller bodies of water and the riding trails are mapped out and clearly marked which made it fun and easy to ride to certain destinations.
Spending time with my man is the best thing in the world.
Thanks again to Tim and Shirst for letting us join you on this adventure.
