Flaming Gorge--And Caitlyn passes her skating tests!!! (Don't miss the video)

In Phil's letter last week, he showed a picture of a moose and wrote this:

"Rocky! We gave him a wide birth and walked gingerly to keep him happy.
Rob and I were just telling Natalie about the time he and I nearly walked into a Moose
while traversing the Tetons from the Idaho side to Jenny Lake because we
were so busy talking we didn’t notice it. Natalie spotted Rocky mid-sentence."  

I'm sure you've all heard our bear story, but after reading Phil's letter, I thought I'd probably never written down the experience that Nick, Roy and I had on the Middle Teton Trail.  After hiking to base camp, we turned around and headed down.  When we were probably a mile or so from the end of the hike and I was watching the trail to avoid tripping.  From behind me I heard Nick say, "Mom, Bear!"  I looked up, and about 30 feet away, coming towards me on the trail, was a brown, black bear.  I loudly whispered, "What do I do?" Roy said, "Meander off the trail."  We meandered one way, and the bear meandered the other way.  Thankfully.  After we returned to the trail and went a few more yards, we realized a picture would've been great, but looking behind us we could no longer see the bear.

Matt did capture a picture of some wildlife on our way home from Flaming Gorge this past weekend:

Not so frightening as a bear--or a moose for that matter.

Natasha Hall was married this past weekend.  Sadly, we were out of town and missed the wedding.  We heard it was very nice.  We should be in town for Austin Nelson's wedding reception which will be held at Dave's home in Springville.   

I also read in Nan's letter that she broke her fibula this past week--while exercising.  My worst nightmare.  I hope she recovers quickly.

Back to Flaming Gorge.  We had a great weekend with Matt and Crista, Ruby and Greta, and Adrienne and AJ, Gunnar, Ollie and Finn.  We left our boat at home, as AJ had the use of his family's Malibu.  We knew if we took two boats, we wouldn't all be together, and AJ said there was plenty of room.  On the Malibu you can surf, which we can't do on our boat, and all the adults gave it a go--even me.  Everyone got up (even I did, though I only stayed up for a few seconds at a time). 
AJ and Adrienne obviously have lots of experience.  Even Ollie had to have his turn each day.

Adrienne

Roy.  He was able to stay up for quite a while, but he needs
another weekend to figure out the surfing part of it. 

Matt

Ollie and AJ

AJ--showing us how it's done

 We had arrived in Flaming Gorge around 6:00 Thursday evening.  Crista and Matt met up with us in Mountain View and we came the rest of the way together.  Adrienne and AJ didn't arrive until nearly 11.  So, we spent the first evening with the Vance's.  Ruby loved the camping experience, of course, all the grandchildren do.  

Even Greta had a good time.  

And finally, goodnight.

The Green's arrived and therefore more fun.

Gunnar caught 4 fish.  Ollie felt disappointed until he caught a crawdad.  After he caught
a crawdad with his fishing pole, we took this cage down to the pond.  They cooked the one
Ollie caught and found out that they taste like sand.  --Not very good.

Gunnar, Ollie, & Finn with a crawdad
They showed our camping neighbors--a family from London with three children --and asked
if they wanted to touch it.  These children were pretty apprehensive.  They were traveling around
in preparation to see the eclipse tomorrow--so were a lot of the other foreign and American
campers.

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We boated on Friday and Saturday and maxed out on Sun.  It was a gorgeous weekend.  We didn't get our favorite hike in, because the parents are a little worried about the cliff at the end of the trail.

Ruby loves the tube.  And Gunnar even rode it with a little gentle persuasion.  Ollie's not afraid of much.

Crista slalomed.  She took a crushing fall the first day,
but tried again the next day to make sure she wasn't
afraid to try the next trip.  She also did great at surfing.

Ollie

Finn and AJ

Adrienne and Finn

Ruby, Crista, Greta and Adrienne

A new captain for this trip.  AJ did a great job.  Let's do it again!

Adrienne  

Grandma with Ruby and Gunnar

Gunnar--Fun on the boat--kind of chicken to do water sports,
 but he did ride the tube before we were done.

Also this week Caitlyn passed two skating tests.  Both her Intermediate Freestyle test, which includes all her jumps and spins, and her Novice "Moves in the Field" test.    She skates beautifully.  I have included the video, and some still shots.