Geocache Fun

We went geocaching with Ty and his family over the Christmas break.  We gave them a GPS as a present and we were trying it out.  This was the second attempt at giving Ty a GPS and although this one was better it still wasn't as good as Uncle Nick's the noted anesthesiologist from Cheyenne.  But it still gave us a decent idea of where the hidden treasure was located.  We parked at the North entrance to Snow Canyon and crossed the highway and headed up a canyon.  Ty told us we needed to climb this hill.

I'm no expert on geocaching but this seemed a bit of a tough climb for family fun treasure hunting.  But he insisted that the comments on this geocache said it was a hard hike.  So we started up and I will say the picture does it no justice as it was way worse than it looks.  Very steep, no trail, boulder hopping etc.  But the worst part was the rocks were not stable and keeping them from rolling with 7 people climbing up was a bit of a problem.  I voiced my concern as did Sloan but Ty insisted and picked up Josie and headed up the hill.   About half way up I knew this was a very bad route but it was even more dangerous to head back down so we were committed.  Lisa and I are not 50 but let's just say we are in our 50th year and it was a leg burner but we finally made it to the top.  

Beautiful view of the country.  Checking with the GPS and it's 7 satellites we were still a ways from the cache.  This geocache was called "Joan's Bones" and was suppose to have a skeleton made from animal bones to help locate it.  We found that and Lisa laid down next to Joan and had a rest.

The cache was nearby and I thought it would be on top of a small hill in front of us but Bodie found it in just a few minutes under a tree not far from the bones.  

They looked through the box and left an item and took one as is customary.  Boden as usual agonized over the choices and finally decided on a trinket to remember it by.

Now we needed to get back but I knew we could not go down the hill we had come up as it would result in a nice big rock slide that would probably ruin the day in  one way or another.  We searched around and found a trail that headed to a lookout over Snow Canyon - another great view.

Backtracking from this trail we eventually found the trail that went around a hill and down a canyon that we should have been on in the first place.  An easy hike out through a really nice little canyon that I had never been in.  I walked with Jett and tried to keep him out of trouble.  He doesn't have a healthy fear of cliffs, fast moving objects or anything that can hurt him really and goes full steam ahead at all times.  He is so fun to be around but you have to watch out for him too as he usually has big bumps on his head and black eyes half the time.

It was so much fun hiking with Boden, Josie and Jett.  They are great little hikers as is required in the Larsen family.  Sloan who is expecting our 4th grandchild did the hike with no problems as she is as tough as the rest of them.  Ty is just a lunatic with a crappy GPS and should be considered dangerous.  I think he could hike all day carrying Josie and herding his boys and never break a sweat.

It was a great day spent with my family in beautiful southern Utah in the winter.  Doesn't get much better.

Christmas 2012

We had a great Christmas with all of our family with us this year.   Christmas Eve was fun,  Lisa made a great dinner as usual and we sang some songs and opened a few presents.

We enjoyed another Christmas in St. George and the nice weather and being around family.  It looks like it will be awhile before that happens again.  Lisa and I  (and Boo hopefully )  will be moving back to North Idaho in the spring. My corporate office is in Coeur d'Alene and I need to be there more often. We plan to have a home here in southern Utah again someday.    

Lisa and Wilson

Ty and Sloan's family

Tasha, Carli, Wilson and Wyatt

Bry and Wilson

It was a fun Christmas

St. George in December

Took a hike today at the trail behind the house in St. George.  Cold day but the sun was out.  Had a great hike but missed my wife who usually goes with me on this trail.

Snow on the mountains made for some great photos.  Tomorrow I will go again with Lisa.

Husband of the Year

It's the little things that count... like politely holding the ladder when you send her up to paint the trim on your parents house.  I surprise myself with my thoughtfulness.

Yakatat 2012

Yakutat Alaska

 I got to take a trip to see Andrew and family this past week.  I had to visit a mine in Juneau where we have a drill underground.  I was able to get the flight into Yakutat three days early and sneek in a quick trip.  The steelhead run is on right now but there is still a lot of snow and it had been raining for days so the river was blown out.  We went out on the boat a few times as well but the weather wasn't great and the king salmon weren't biting either.  Still had a great time

My Truck

Here is a picture of my truck a few months ago. Looks good - I take care of it.Here is a picture of her yesterday on a lonely highway in Nevada. Out in the middle of nowhere after Ty rolled her four times. He is okay but the truck is gone.Shit.

Thanksgiving - St. George

Next Generation

The next generation of Larsen athletes have arrived. Here is Johnny Bo at his baseball game. Ty and Sloan are producing a superior batch of kids. They are going to be good. You might wonder how you can look at a three year old and tell he is going to be a great football player? Well you haven't met Jett then. And Josie is just like her brothers. It's going to be good I tell you.

Hanging With Metallica

Sweden

I am heading off to Sweden on a business trip. One of the manufactures of our core drills is head quartered in Stockholm and I get a free trip to see the drill selection. Sounds pretty cool, although November wouldn't be my first choice of a month to do this. We fly to Paris and on the way back get a day there. The skirt is very jealous and I wish she could come with me, especially in Paris. But some other time I'm sure. I will be gone a week and that comes right after we move out of the Hayden Lake house. I am going to miss living there although I didn't spend much time there the last six months. We will be homeless for the winter which is freaking us both out a bit. All our stuff is going in storage up here in North Idaho. In the spring we will decide where we will live, Hayden or St. George. This Obama like decision is the best we came up with after months of discussing it. At that time we will go with the public option.

Yakutat

Just got back from a few days in Yakutat Alaska. I had a great time. The weather was perfect and the fishing unbelievable. Had a fun time seeing Andrew and going out in his boat. We did a fly out in the bush in a small plane and had the best fishing day of our lives. See the fish in the picture, I caught him and about 50 of his buddies on a fly rod (which I broke) Out in the middle of nowhere and had the river to ourselves Just a great experience.

24 Hours In Elko

A day in the drilling game. Got up at 4:30 as usual. Stopped at our office in Elko and checked on the inventory (which I'm in charge of now for some reason) Drove the 45 miles to the mine for shift change. Got the crew lined out and underground. Did reports for four hours and then went underground to check on the 6 drills and crews. Had a drill broke down and helped the mechanics get it back up. Came out of the mine and stayed for shift change, left the mine at 7:30 got back to Elko at 8:30 Went to the Red Lion and ate dinner, was going to play some Blackjack but the tables were full, so I played 3 card poker for a while. (stupid ass game for people that can't count to 21). Lost 40 bucks and left. Got back to my room and talked to the skirt for a while and got to sleep at about 10:30. Woke up with a phone call at midnight, one the helpers got hurt and needed to go the hospital. Got up and met them at the office, took the dumbass to the hospital did the paperwork and dropped him off at home. ( Hurt shoulder my ass get back to work this is drilling not banking. ) Got back to the room at 4:30 slept in until 5:30 and went back to the mine, one of our drillers didn't show. Found out he was in jail, got pulled over the night before and had a warrant, tried to run and got tasered. We thought about bailing him out but decided to hell with him. Found out one of our drills is done out here for the year, have to lay off 6 people. I'm a little tired but don't remember why.

Dead Sexy

Admit it, you'd hit it.

My Wolf Pack

Pretty great ain't it?

UnderWorld

Tonight I start my first hitch as a crew foreman in the underground mine here near Elko. This is not what I had mind. But as the industry has contracted with the investor money drying up there is very little surface drilling (exploratory) going on anywhere. So that leaves the underground core drilling we do for clients with active underground gold operations.
I have very little experience underground so this is perfect that I am in charge of six drills and a crew of 15. This should also make the drillers who have spent years underground more than a little ticked off that I am their fearless leader. Oh well, tough shit I guess.
This mine is huge and I am pretty sure I will get lost down there tonight. I know where three drills are for sure the others not so much. We drive into this mine and our first drill is about five miles in and the furthest about eight miles, with hundreds of miles of roads and drifts all over the place. It is a busy mine and you constantly have to get out of the way of mining equipment. Noisy, dirty and dark. The other mine we are drilling in is closed down right now because of a major cave-in of the portal. Yee Ha.

Cowboy Logic

I have a driller on my crew that is an old Nevada cowboy that has been drilling for 30 years. He is the orneriest most cantankerous guy I have ever met. But at the same time he cracks me up with his profane tirades that usually have some gem of logic and wit to them. Like this one.
They had broken a mounting bracket for a water pump and it needed to be welded. I told him where the welder was and he informed me that he knew where it was but that there wasn't a welding helmet there. And he couldn't weld without one, so having a welder didn't help much -that having one without the other was pretty worthless and if we were going to have just one he preferred it be the helmet as it was lighter and would be easier to haul around.
I told him I was picking up on the sarcasm.

Balloons

Have you ever got balloons for a special occasion? It's real special. I remember once as a kid having 50 cents burning a hole in my pocket while I was watching some lame ass parade in Utah. I decided I needed a balloon. A few hucksters were wandering around selling them and I approached one old guy who had a few and asked him how much. A dollar he says. I grimaced and turned away crestfallen. I might add that was when I was 7 or 8 a dollar was still a substantial sum. That would be like paying five bucks for one now I would assume. I must have made a sorry impression on the old dude because when the parade ended he found me and gave the precious helium filled orb for free. Worthless to him of course with the festivities ending, he probably thought I was an orphan or something and thought he would make my day. I took it and held it and looked at it for awhile, not that great I had to admit. The best thing was letting it go and watching it climb out of sight. This was before I learned to inhale helium and talk like a chipmunk for hilarity.
I believe the experience left a lasting impression though because I don't much care for the things now. And I have a sweet wife that likes to give them to me for some reason. I finally told her straight up I didn't like them, don' want any, do not give them to me. Period. Harsh I know but enough is enough.
This past Valentine's Day I was working in Nevada like last year. I sent the skirt a gift and told her we would celebrate when I got home. I get back to my motel room that night and my message light is flashing. I call the front desk and they tell me I have a delivery. I walk down to get it and there behind the counter is a gigantic display of balloons - shit. They hand them over and I walk down the hallway dragging the thing hoping none of the drillers would see me.
This bouquet as it were was attached to a nice bottle of vino but it also had a big ass balloon that every time it was bumped burst into an annoying version or Roses Are Red My Love - really loud. A new level of hatred was achieved. I was going to let the air out of them when I remembered one of the drillers had just been dumped by his girlfriend and was sulking around. I tied them to his motel door and let him wonder who the hell they were from. He probably thought his girlfriend sent them. Haha. He never said anything so I don't what happened.
Anyway I love you baby but please, please no more balloons.

Josie Maiz Larsen

Our new granddaughter has arrived and she is cute as they come. We had a great time seeing her and her family last week. She is really sweet and we never put her down for four days. Now she is good and spoiled so we went home.

Bodie & Jett

I had a blast with my grandsons in St. George over Christmas. The smartest, funniest, cutest kids on earth. Soon to be joined by their little sister. Can't wait to hold her too.