Fall Break

Fall Break this year was like all other times in Cache Valley. As you can see from the pictures below, the weather likes to play a trick on us. It snows once to get things cold and reek havoc. This year the trees had not lost their leaves, so the added snow bent and broke a lot of the trees all over the valley. 

It was like the wind storm last year that toppled big trees. I got up and had to assess the damage on our property. The front yard tree lost some good size branches and same with the side yard. We were lucky and faired a lot better than others.  Once the snow melted and we saw grass again, we headed outside to get as much sun as we could until the sun and warmth goes away.  This snow fall only lasted one day before it all melted away.  Then the temperatures went back up and we had another warm Indian Summer.

We had a great time going the the annual pumpkin walk in North Logan. This year was a fun year with a lot of cool scenes. The theme for the Walk was "A Little Bit of Everything." This year there was definitely a lot of that because each scene was different and unique. 

This was my favorite year because they had some really creative ideas. They had a small black bat that we had to look out for in each scene.  Our favorites scenes were the Monster's University Scare-o-Meter bed that actually moved when you roared at it, the Paw Patrol scene, the Halloween candy scene, and the Wile Coyote and Roadrunner scene.  They were all cool.

At the end of the Walk we always made sure too see the witch at the end to get a donut.

Once we went were done with the Pumpkin Walk we went home and spent time playing around and getting the house and yard ready for winter. On Friday we went to the American West Heritage Center for the Fall Festival and did all the cool activities. This has been a family tradition since we moved into the Valley. 

The kids have always loved going even though they have the same activities every year. The Corn Maze is always a good time. This year we went with the Checketts and it was cold but fun.  Alex used the map to lead us all through the corn so we wouldn't get lost.  Once we were though the big kids wanted to go back through the maze without the map to see if they would make it.  While we were wiating for them, Charlotte and Logan played on the outdoor equipment and games. We saw a lot of people in our neighborhood while we were there. 

Since Tiff works at the Heritage Center we went multiple times through out the month of October. Emily, Logan and I went to the Haunted Hollow and it was a fun time trying to get scared.  Logan loved it and was not scared at all.  Colby decided to stay back and watch the little girls while everyone else went through the Hollow.    

Also the end of October was the general deer hunt and I drew out this year for a buck tag. I took out all of the oldest kids on Saturday. The weather was showing bad weather all day and I was bummed. I woke up around 5 am Saturday and it was not raining, so I decided to wake the kids up and give it a try. We got to Left Hand Fork and it was barely raining. The four wheelers were unloaded and it was still not raining. Off we went to have a good time. We decided to go to a new area to see what it was all about. We were about an hour or so in and the rain started to come down. Thank goodness for rain gear and kids that were in good sports to carry on for a little while up the trail to see what was in the area. We turned around when it started coming down hard. It was an amazing area and it had so much water where we were at. The mountain side had multiple streams coming down onto the road. When we got back to the truck we were cold muddy and wet. I told the kids to ditch there shoes and go in the truck to get warm. They were happy to do that. We sat in the truck to see if the weather would lift and stop raining. We had some nice hot cocoa and muffins as we waited. It was a good morning hanging out with them. We decided to head back because the weather was not getting better. 

Later that afternoon the weather lifted and Colby and I went up to Rock Creek to hike around. It was fun to have my oldest boy with me hunting and hiking. It reminded me of when I was his age hiking around with my dad hunting for deer. I am glad that I can make the same memories with my kids. The afternoon was full of hiking and only seeing a herds of doe. The whole week of the deer hunt was full of hiking and see doe. It was fun seeing new areas in the valley to hike with the family though. 

Colby and I went up to Dry Canyon later in the week and it was an amazing view when we got to a spot to glass. We found a cool cave and this awesome view of Logan City with the temple. Colby hiked so much with me that his poor feet and heels were sore. He even had a knot in one of his calves. I was proud of him because he did not complain one bit. 

I also had a chance to take my friend, Justin Slack, out with me. He also drew out for the hunt. We hiked into Rock Creek again and it was way cool. We actually saw a few bucks that were just out of shooting range. I had a three point in my sites, but his back side was turned to me the whole time. He walked into the trees and we sat and waited on them to see if they would move. About twenty minutes later we heard a shot and knew the deer was gone... It was Justin's first time deer hunting and it was fun to see him get excited when he had one deer in his sites. He was not sure if he wanted to pull the trigger. I said go for it and then the buck was gone. 

I went back out on Thursday and hiked even further back into mountains by Rock Creek. I found an amazing place to glass. I spooked a herd of deer with a two point and missed a run shot. I found a place to glass and the whole mountain was awake with doe and a few bucks that were out of range. I sat on the area for a couple of hours and got bored. I decided to walk closer and get to a new area. I jumped another herd with a two point and couldn't get a shot off because there were too many doe in the area. After I pushed the doe herd all over the hill side I took a lunch break. No deer that day...

Justin and I went out one last time on Friday up to Green Canyon. I thought it was a four wheeling trail and was excited to not hike that day, but I was bummed to see that the road ended and it was a hiking trail. So off we went on another hike. I am glad we did go up and hike because we saw two good size moose about thirty feet away from us just off the trail. 

It was something both of us have never experienced. It was a good hike but no deer. 

On Saturday, I went clay pigeon shooting at my friend, Devon Nelson's house in Paradise. His brother-in-law was there hunting and I said, "Good luck but there is nothing here."  I had come to this area they day before and saw nothing. I left around 10:45 and Devon called me and he said his brother-in-law had just shot a 3x4 and asked me if I wanted the meat. I couldn't believe I had missed this deer earlier but I said heck yes to the meat. He had it skinned and quartered for me.

I hiked hard and played hard all week and the deer came to me already shot and cut up! What a good week. I finished up the hunt with one last four wheeling ride and hike with the kids on Saturday. It was a fun week with a lot of good memories.