May 10, 2015 Happy Mothers Day

On Monday May 4th Gib and Char came to visit us this week

and brought with them Jenny, Char's mom.  She was here visiting

from Tasmania.  

She was pretty excited to see Wyoming and all the handcarts.

She took lots of pictures and had us all laughing the whole time.

We took her into the Depot and showed her off to the other

Missionaries.  She'd actually been to Salt Lake City that

day by herself and ate lunch at the Lion House.  She'd had her

picture taken with six Sister Missionaries there is SLC.

So we really had her involved with the Mormons that day.

She loved our little house and she and Char spent a few 

special moments in our bathroom.

On Wednesday our Area Authority Seventy Lynn Summerhays

came to visit us and spend a few hours with the Missionaries.

He is quite a special man and we really enjoyed our time with

him.  How much he taught us and he left us with a challenge.  

that would help us spiritually.  We followed his counsel and our

week went so much better.  How great it is when we do what 

the Lord directs us to do.  When we involve Him in our lives

our lives go so much better.  That is truly why we are all here. 

Our week at the DL & L was pretty wet.  Saturday was the

most wet.  It snowed all day,  After several days of rain

the snow really made things muddy.

On days like this when I have to walk up to the Trek Center

several times in the mud I think, "What am I doing Here?"

We had to cancel several route reviews on Friday and Saturday.

Our ward Willowwood was scheduled to come Saturday.  We

are hoping the weather turns warmer and less wet so we can

take them out this next Saturday.  We are so excited to see our

friends from our own ward.

We did get lots of work done on the porta johns in spite of 

the weather.  Our welders have been busy building the

rails and steps that have to be attached on the new trailers.

Here are two of the two holers we built for this year.

We use them with the Kitchen crew so they have something

when the regular johns are gone with the trekkers.

The welders modify the trailer to make steps and 

a stepping area for them to stand on.  

Working indoors with the heat was a lot better than the cold wind

outside.  But, a bad side effect.  When they pulled a trailer

out of the inside they didn't get the door up high enough and

they tore the bottom panel of the door, OOPS!  Not

good.  We are glad no one was hurt.  It seems like we have

had several times Heavenly Father has protected us here.

With all the new porta johns we bought we had to build

new plugs for them.  One Elder worked to build them and then

the Sisters worked at the painting to seal them off.  They

look quite nice now but one trip down the road the

first week and they will no longer be so 'NICE"

Jeff went out walking with Elder Kennedy and found a 

elk shed.  He thinks Elder Kennedy guides him to them

like leading someone to water.  

I have to tell you a funny story.  On Friday Jeff and I drove

into Evanston to purchase several items for the work projects.  This

is a regular job, it seems like we are running to town to buy this 

screw or this lug nut,  Anyway we went fast while everyone else

was eating lunch.  We go to the store, Murdoch's we spent almost

an hour finding the different nuts and bolts to fit different

projects.  We get to the counter, we have a pile of stuff

and Cowan looks at me, "You have your wallet with you?"

I feel my pocket, nothing is there!  We had nothing with us, not

a penny in our pocket.  How silly we looked as we said, "We"ll have

to come back, we can't pay for any of this."  They teased us

about giving us a good deal but FREE was not part of the deal.

We had to drive ten miles back to the ranch, then ten miles back to

Evanston.  Our quick trip to the town was anything but quick.

I have another funny story, sorry no pictures.  One of the Elders

was driving into town and they stopped by the dumpsters we

have to throw away their garbage.  He got out, opened the trunk

and saw three bags, he threw all three in the dumpster.  Got

in the car and his wife said, "Did you get both bags?"  Both bags?

"I threw away all three."  Ooops, the third bag was his Temple

clothes.  He then had to figure out how to retrieve the bag back

out of the dumpster.  It was almost empty so the bags were clear

down on the bottom, he is short and couldn't begin to reach it.

When he was telling all of us the story we were all laughing so hard.

How we wish there was a picture, we want him to pose for pictures

after the fact.  He actually had a sickle he had packed, who knows

why, but he used that to snag the bag and pull it out.  He

was pretty glad he'd packed it.   See, life here is never

boring.  Wet, but not boring.  Have a good week and

as they say around here, 'Keep on Trekking"

Oh, did you ever think that Adam and Eve were actually the

first Trekkers!  It's true, trekking goes way back in history.

May 3, 2015

This was a busy week AGAIN.  We finally got all the missionaries here

and we a trying to get them up to speed.  We had two route reviews on

Saturday and we will have 13 more through this week.  We 

are excited for Saturday at 1:00p.m. Our Willowwood Ward

will be here for their route review.  How fun it will be to see them.

As we went out on Saturday we were reminded why we like

this mission.  Driving the roads and talking with the groups about

what they should expect is the reward for all this work.

We love this piece of earth and love sharing and showing it off.

After the route review I did something I have never done before.

I drove the truck to pull porta johns!  This week I've driven

two trailers, one into Evanston and then the PJ's.  For

me that is big stuff.  I am a chicken about pulling trailers, at

least, me doing the driving.  Jeff is afraid if I get to good at

it I won't need him anymore.  Hummmm, I'll have to think about that!

Nah, How could I get rid of this fine example of manhood.

Tom Selleck has nothing on Jeff.

We spent lots of time on the trails this week.  We have a couple

of new trails we are trying to develop and that take lots of

time to decide what is the best route.  We also have to stand

back up all the posts that the cows have pushed over during the winter.

We've been riding them lots to try to teach them to the

new missionaries, it is really overwhelming to them.

Right now we focus on the support roads they have to use

for route reviews, and then we will hit hard the trails they

will be actually on with the trekkers.

Speaking of Trekkers, we continue to find the Trekkers we lost

on the trail last year.  We really should find a way to keep

better track of them.

NEW PORTA JOHN'S, 28 OF THEM.

I know that doesn't excite you but I have to tell

you I love them.  We have lots more trekkers this year

so we need lots more Johns, and a new clean one is so

much better than the old ones.  But, alas, how soon they

will become just like the others, they to will move on to the 

"Dark Side" and we no longer will enjoy being in them.

New carts this year.  We built the boxes last August but the

wheels didn't arrive until late August so we put them on now.

They look so nice with their new stain on them.  We look forward

to seeing them on the trail.  And yes, I take great pride in

seeing the new carts, it feels like we are part of the history now.

Our little home, STELLA, she is again by the skunk shed.

I love the flag that hangs at the Depot and this picture says it all.

We have Ten trailers here instead of the eight we had last year.

One thing about Wyoming, we don't fight over the spots where

the trees are.

We bought another Ranger to be on the 5th trail.  We

have been keeping them pretty busy.  This time of year the

4 wheelers are fun.  We are out on them riding the trails and

going around.  During the treks I don't like them so much.

We follow the group and stay a little behind them so

you don't hear the motor, so we are going super slow.  

That is when driving them is not so much fun, you tend to

fall asleep.  

We are doing well and hoping all the projects  get finished

 before the groups start coming.  Lotsof learning and training

 and hopefully lots of fun in between.

I have to add a couple more pictures.  After I posted the blog

Jeff and I went for a walk.  While walking we came upon this

wonderful bone and I thought about my grandchildren who

love to collect bones here at the DL & L.  So this picture is for

all of them.  I figure this belongs to that trekker we couldn't

find last year.  Maybe we should hide it so no one will

know we lost one, or did we?

When we left home the Greene's left us little

tootsie rolls all over in our trailer.  They are everywhere and 

when we find them we laugh and think of how much

they love us.  Jeff tried to put on his Sunday shoes today

and couldn't get his feet into them, then he realized there 

were several candies in the shoe.  

On Friday we took down and washed the curtains in the

Depot.  A big job because there are several windows.  After

washing and drying them a couple of the sisters ironed them.

We used my spray bottle I had brought from home.  I filled it

with water from the sink at the Depot.  When we were finishing

I looked at the bottle, the water in it was BROWN.  Really!

I think, "Oh no!"  We have not been drinking the water until

the testing on it is completed. The water must be bad.

I dump it out into the sink and what comes out?  A wet

tootsie roll wrapper!  There was a candy in the bottle when I

filled it with water and I didn't see it.  So we had been spraying

and ironing tootsie roll water on our nice clean curtains!

We all had a great laugh and for now the curtains remain as is.

So thank you Greene's for making us laugh and smile so

many times this last week.

I didn't take any pictures when we rode a trail on Saturday.

We were showing the newbies around on the main roads.

We got down to an area that is lower and the roads

were really wet, so wet we had to turn around and go

back.  It was a great learning experience for all the 

new ones.  What will the summer bring?

Well our dear friends and enemies, we are now at the 

DL & L and of course it is wet, snowy and windy.

At Church today they announced from the pulpit that they

knew when it snowed today that the Trek Missionaries must be

back!  Then asked, "Why weren't you here in January?

It was fun to see people we knew from last year and

to make new friends already.

We arrived on Monday April 20th.  We got to the gate

about 2:30 pm.  I was so excited to play with the locks

on the gate, that is worth the price of admission!

"Hey Cowan, We're IN!  The Key still works!"

Notice the high five by Jeff.

We were greeted by the Kennedy's and the Nordgrens.

They served with us last year and we are all so glad

to be together again.  We have 7 new couples coming

to serve with us this year.  We have all of them on site

except one couple who are on a cruise in Europe until

next week.  Can you imagine choosing a cruise or 

windy, cold, Wyoming paradise?

We purchased a new flag for our pole this year.  I can't tell

you how great it looked when we put it up.  There is nothing

as cool as seeing that flag flying next to the Depot.  I 

told Jeff it looks like a fort, I call it Fort Wahsatch. 

I can picture Kevin Costner riding up over the ridge

into the fort.  

We brought from home a cool decoration our good friend

Fred Conlon made.  We put it out on our deck and look 

who came to visit and sit by him,  Everyone has been

so good to welcome us back, even the insects.

I have a check list of things I want to see when I returned.

Badgers are at the top.  We saw several this week.  An eagle

this morning on the way to church.  Antelope (goats are what

they call them in Wyoming), several head of deer, pot guts,

(or squeekers one missionary says), hear the song of a 

coyote, ride a trail and see Kristy's Kid Killer, just to mention

a few.  I have seen and done all these. Life is good.

We had our first Sunday get together at the Trek Center.  It went

well and the warm furnace they put in really makes it nice.

So one week down, I'm not sure how many to go.

All in all we are well.  So Ray and Dee hope this post

is good enough!  We love all of you.

September 17, 2014

So, Dee Stratton, Ray Lund, and others, here is the finish of our summer 

Adventure.  We got home on September 2nd and have been

so busy I just didn't have time to finish the blog.  So tonight I am

going to put a ending on our summer, kinda.

We had Trek Training for the groups coming in 2015.

We had almost 250 people come to the Ranch.  Right now

we are booked 5 treks a week for nine weeks.  We have only

two slots left unfilled.  We are looking at almost 11,000 people 

planning to come on trek with us next year!  We have

the trekkers now we need the missionary couples to

help us with those trekkers.  So SPREAD THE WORD!!!

It is a great mission and we would love to share the experience

with others.

We made 24 new carts this year and will probably build

even more next year to cover our needs.  I have to say building

a hand cart is one of my favorite memories of this summer.

Now they are all tucked away in the Trek Center so

they can stay nice and dry until next summer.

This is one of two unfortunate mice that decided to walk into

a cement filler we had applied to the cracks.  What a surprise

it was the next morning to find them STUCK!  It was not

a pretty picture when they were removed.

The Trek Directors for the past two years has been the Pratts.

They worked hard and were released at the end of the season.

The scary part of this is Jeff and I  were picked to be their

replacements.  So, we were the dumbest Ordinance workers, then

the dumbest Coordinators at the Temple.  We came on a Mission

and were the dumbest Trek missionaries and now we will be 

the dumbest Trek directors also.  What a legacy we have

left behind!  This is a photo of the passing of the 

Trek / Director Staff to Jeff.

Then the passing of the KEYS from Pratt to Cowan.

We love the idea that we will return to the D.L. & L.

We just wish we weren't the ones with the Staff, Keys and 

Phone!  Oh, Well, What more can I say?

This is a photo of Jeremiah's mom and dad, Jack and 

Christina Greene.  On August 26th they were traveling

to the Tetons and stopped to have a tour of the Ranch.  

Jeff was busy with the Elders putting things away and so I

got to be the tour guide.  They had a ball and I loved

showing off our "Play Ground"  This is them in front

of SKULL ROCK, one of my favorite places on the trail.

On Wednesday Aug 27th, everyone else was gone.

Jeff and I stayed waiting for the rain to stop so we could 

apply a sealer to the cement block walls of the trek Center.

We actually were glad because we got a call that the 24

Amish wagon wheels we had been waiting for had arrived in

Woodruff.  So Jeff and I drove to get them, what a load

that was!  They were put together inside that cardboard box

like a puzzle.  We waited until Friday Aug 29th to unload them.

The Kennedy's and Nordgrens drove back up to help us

spray the building and they helped unload the wheels and

axles.  We were so glad for the help.

That night Jeff and I drove up to Fort Bridger to the Mountain

Man Rendezvous.  What a sight that was!  Tepee's everywhere

and all kinds of interesting people.  We loved the fact they

had a ATM machine, talk about being out of place.

Check out the handcart fire truck that is displayed at the Fort.

  

We think we should get us one of those at D.L. & L.  It

would fit right in with our carts.

The next morning we loaded up and drove away.  How

lonely we had been with all the other missionaries gone.

It was just us and the coyotes.  Truly, they would yelp and

bark in the night, the afternoon, the morning.  It was like they

were just waiting for us to leave.  We were actually seeing

them right by our living area.  Notice the shorts!  Jeff was

so excited to wear shorts again.  He only had the one pair and

for the next four days he wore them.  By the time we 

got home on Tuesday they were really pretty dirty.

This would be who I found in my shower when I got home,

how cool is that?  I'm wondering who will be there

next year?  I hope not Darth Vader.

We Stopped in Salina for four days to visit with Zach, 

Katie and their four boys.  What a fun time that was.

The whole family is really into climbing trees, except

Katie and Sullivan.

Quinn and Max slept in the Trailer with us and loved that.

We made Katie, Ollie, Sully and Zach sleep in the house.

Even Zach was up in the tree.  He was working at hanging

a tree swing for the boys.  What a fun Dad he is.

Jeff and the boys were enjoying a moment watching

Transformers.  Check out Max's sox's!

I'm not even sure what this is!  We enjoyed a afternoon

in the Richfield park.  Life for us was very relaxing.

Today we went four wheeling up Beaver Mountain.  On

the way home we encountered this 4 wheeler hookup.

I have to say it was a new way to transport a 4 wheeler.

He actually followed us all the way home to Cedar and

turned toward Enoch, so maybe we will see this sight again.

The leaves were beautiful and we enjoyed riding the

South and North Creek trails.  It has been several years

since we were there.  We saw about six elk and two Bucks, that

is always a bonus for us.  And, no rain, that was different.

We are glad to be home and hope for more adventures in the

mountains before the snow comes.

I am off to Las Vegas tomorrow with my sisters and 

next week Jeff will be off hunting deer with his

muzzle loader.  This is retirement at its best.