August to September 2018

I fixed Grandpa Tony DeSimon's chair that was sitting outside for a long time.

He didn't make the chair but I wanted to fix it because it was his.  Something to remember him by.

And I refinished the back deck with an elastomeric coating on it.

It looks really good!

My brother likes to take me on drives up the mountains with his Ford Bronco.

This is Horseshoe Mountain.

One weekend, we did a family camping trip at Emerald Lake in Mayfield Canyon, then a hike on Mary's Nipple....or Mollie's Nipple.

My camping spot.  I slept in the bed of my truck.

Fishing

Nieces and nephews

Then a hike up Mary's Nipple the next morning.

Mary's Nipple

We took it slow for everyone.  We had a 5 year old boy and a 98 year old dog (dog years).

Almost at the top!

Me and Deagan

It was pretty tough at the top.

The top!  The elevation was around 11,000 feet above sea level.

It was great up there.

Pretty

Then my rides for the last two months:

I rode up the canyon road after a rainstorm which made the road not as dusty.  I made it up to the first guard rail (right below the Ponderosa Pine Plantation).

Dark Trail in Settlement Canyon near Tooele.  I always liked that trail.

I went on a ride with my brother since he bought a really nice bike! 

We rode on Danish Knoll.

Another farm road ride with smoke in the air from the summer of forest fires.

I did a climb up Nebo Loop Road for the first time.  I always wanted to do it.

I made it to Devil's Kitchen after 2,500 feet of elevation gain of climbing.

I put a 11-42 cog on my road bike so I can finally ride up steep roads like the Nebo Loop Road.

A mountain bike ride in Wheeler Canyon near Ogden.

Fun loop and trail!  It goes uphill until to the base of Snowbasin Ski Resort and back down towards Pineview Reservoir.

Another road ride.  I went along Diamond Fork Road near Spanish Fork Canyon.

It was a mostly easy to moderate kind of ride.  It was pretty with the trees and the road didn't have very many cars.

I went on a hike in Bluebell area in Ephraim Canyon.

Duke and I hiked up to the top of Haystack Mountain.  It was tough because there was no trail.
And it was really steep.

I went on another ride in the Bronco with my brother and his family up to Emery Lake and we did some fishing.

This was the first time I've been up at Emery Lake.  It's on the other side of Mayfield Canyon.  So pretty!

I enjoy going on rides on Bruce(the Bronco) in the mountains!

Is this heaven?  No it's Sanpete County, Utah.

North Carolina 2018

I went to visit my older sister in North Carolina.  I did a lot of bike riding too.  This is the Pisgah Covered Bridge, one of the two only covered bridges left in North Carolina.  I rode my bike to it and looped around it and went back to town.  40 miles.

The roads were so pretty for cycling.  Not a lot of cars either so I rode on the road since there was no shoulder.

Downtown Asheboro

We ate at a restaurant that has the 63rd rated best fried chicken in the nation.  I still tried their chicken pot pie.  The candied yams was to die for.

I wanted to go back and try their fried chicken.

My sister got me a special room in her apartment.  I slept good for my bike rides.  I went riding at 7 am every morning to beat the heat.  So that's 5 am Utah time!

My sister just talked and talked.  That's what she needed when my mom was around and that is good.

Then we went to Asheville for a couple of days.  We ate a good barbecue place and I got so much food.  And it was good!

You don't see that sign every day.

The next morning I did a ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway, a ride I wanted to do for so long.  It's a climb and it has lot's of dark tunnels along the road.  There were too many tunnels to count!  And I didn't have a light so it got dark in the tunnels.  I was worried that I was going to hit the side walls.

I made it at the top after 3,333 feet of climbing.  It was a great climb and I loved it.

The top at Mount Pisgah.

More tunnels.  Most of the road was barely chipped sealed but I didn't mind.

More rides on the farm roads at around my sister's place.

And I got some self portraits.

Lots of trees!  You don't see that often in Utah.  I went to Pisgah Covered Bridge again.

Before we got on the plane home, we went to the fried chicken place again.  This time, I tried the fried chicken, it was delicious.

One day, we went to Sea Grove with my sister and her friends to look at pottery.  No, I am not a pottery kind of person but I did buy a thumb piano at a pottery store that was a restored cabin.  My kind of place and my kind of souvenir.

More talking at my sister's place.  It was a fun trip and I really needed it and I needed to see my sister.