Saturday, August 29, 2009

Saturday #25-August 29, 2009


Melissa, Amy, Terri

Once upon a time, three women set out on a journey to the mountains of Wyoming. Their quest was for peace, quiet, and a little relaxation--which they got--plus a bit of adventure along the way

Our destination was "Z Pines", a few acres of peace and beauty in the Uintas owned by Terri's family. Z Pines has beautiful pine and aspen trees with the comforts of a bunk house and bath house (with flushing toilets). But...before the flushing toilets will work, we had to fill up the holding tank with water. And since there isn't a well at Z Pines yet, we had to drive down the mountain to the water station to fill up buckets of water. And before we could drive down the mountain to get water, we had to change the flat tire on my Rav4, which I got dodging jackrabbits on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere on our drive to Wyoming. And since there was a flat tire and no water and no flushing toilets in the bath house, we utilized the facilities of a good, old fashioned OUT HOUSE



So, here are a few interesting bits to the story about the flat tire. Just a week or so before going to Z Pines, I had a conversation with a friend where we both admitted it's been years since we've had to change a tire on our cars. I should have "knocked on wood" 'cause the little fairies heard me and consequently the opportunity presented itself. Then, as I was loading up the car with all my camping gear, I came across my favorite "work gloves". The gloves I use to protect my hands whenever I do heavy/dirty work. And when I saw the gloves in my car, I literally thought to myself, "Better keep those handy in case I need them--maybe to change a tire or something." I guess I wasn't so shocked when we arrived at Z Pines and I realized I had a very flat, very dead tire! We all were a little worried we'd be able to get the lug nuts off the car. But after a prayer and a little muscle power from Terri (it's a good thing we've been working out at the gym lately!) we were able to get the flat tire off and the replacement tire on.


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That was our first adventure! Once we fixed the tire, we got water, got the bath house toilets working, and finally enjoyed our Dutch oven mountain man breakfast. By the time breakfast was over and cleaned up (at noon!) I was ready for a nap. And while I snoozed (for 2 hours thank you very much) Terri and Melissa enjoyed a little R&R too...

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Our second adventure started with an afternoon walk down up the road. We happened upon this sign "Open House". Well, it's odd to find a sign like this posted in the Wyoming mountains, so we decided to follow it to see where we ended up.



We followed the signs to a beautiful mountain log cabin (castle!)...a ten year project of the owner, Kristy, as she built a home honoring her family and heritage. Claw foot bath tubs, pistol shaped door handles, cowboy boots, and old style cook top ranges. The house was beautiful and the open house was all about Kristy sharing her home...not "showing" her home.





Okay, so it's not my style (I'm not into Buffalo heads, Indian drums or pine tree stair railings) but, the house was amazing! Obviously a lot of time (and money) has been spent in the details of creating a beautiful and comfortable home. Kristy consulted with a guy who helped her do things to minimize maintenance and cleaning...like no closet doors, no 90 degree corners in the showers, and nightstands mounted to the walls so vacuuming is easier. I'm so glad we followed the open house signs and had a chance to tour Kristy's home. It was beautiful and quite the unexpected treat for my Saturday of Fun in Wyoming.

We hiked back to Z Pines and got started on our third adventure--dinner by the campfire! As an appetizer, we munched on chips and homemade salsa (Terri, I need the recipe!). And for our dinner: corn on the cob, green beans from Terri's garden, and BBQ Dutch oven chicken. For dessert? S'mores of course! After our meal we sat around the campfire and visited. The perfect end to a perfect Saturday o' Fun.


2 comments:

Amy E. said...

Turned out to be a pretty expensive weekend. It was $750.00 to replace the tires. With AWD, if you mess up one tire, you have to replace all 4. YIKES!

Then, on the drive home I got a speeding ticket. I'm no "sunday driver!" that's for sure. I was going over 85 and didn't even have a clue. Luckily, the officer dropped it to 10 miles over which cost me $90 + $25 for traffic school.

I could have gone to Disneyland for what my trip to Wyoming cost. Next time, someone else gets to drive!

andrea said...

Didn't you just do traffic school?!

That cabin/house is beautiful....love the stove and the pistol door handles.