Brian Head Reunion

Welcome to my very long post about our Clemmer Family Reunion to Brian Head, Ut.

On July 6th Justin and I woke up to our alarms at 6am.  We finished packing, made lunches, and prepped the house to be vacant for a week.  We got on the road by 8am, which was our goal.  Then began an 8.5 hour drive to Brian Head Utah.  We made plenty of stops along the way.  Mckenzie was having an unfortunate bowel day (which also happened on the drive home) which means lots of potty stops.  Even a few on the side of the road.  Overall the drive went great.  No car problems. No speeding tickets.  And we all still had our hearing intact despite Isaac's best attempts to scream us to deaf.  :)

My favorite stop was a drive thru to get In n Out Burger and then driving across the street to Chick Fil a to get their fries and food for the kids.  We also let the kids play in the play area to get some energy out.

The last 30 minutes of our drive was up a very steep road.  We ended our drive by parking in front of a large cabin in the mountains surrounded by trees and ski slopes.  10,000 feet elevation!  We got into the house by using the lock box and started to explore the place.  We quickly realized that something was missing, electricity.  Luckily I have a very smart husband.  After turning on a few light switches I declared in frustration that, "nothing was working!"  Justin calmly replied, "there's no electricity."  And he went off to find the fuse box.  In the end we found out that there was no electricity due to a malfunction at a power plant.  Then began our 24 hours + 4 random hours of no electricity.

I was not okay with the lack of electricity.  Give me a piece of something that I didn't expect to happen and add some sprinkles of exhaustion from a long road trip and I'm sure to be a hostile human being.

Over the week in Brian Head we had such a fun time with family.  The cousins made memories, the adults stayed up late playing games, and we ate delicious food.  One momentous occasion which I only heard about from others was when Justin played the one block piece in Blokus as his first move.  It had a rather funny affect on my mom who is a Blokus pro.  "No! You can't play that one first!"

Who is excited about no electricity? 

Overview of the trip:

Saturday-- Arrived in Brian Head, Utah.  Had no electricity.  Channing got elevation sickness.  Once we unpacked his bike from the car he started riding up and down the steep road.  A short while later he started complaining of feeling sick.  After a few bouts of nausea and vomiting Justin gave him a blessing.  Channing didn't throw up anymore after that and slept through the night.  Other than dealing with a sick kid we were happy to be with family.  The Crawford's and my mom and dad stopped in Cedar City for some bags of ice, flashlights, headlamps, and food.  And we got to meet baby Owen!

Sunday--  Without electricity we had to get creative with food preparation.  For a Sunday brunch my mom and dad made Eggs Benedict.  A Clemmer family favorite.  To toast the english muffins my dad used the grill on the porch.  Luckily the stovetop was gas powered for the rest of the cooking.  For church we drove to a ward in Parowan about 30 minutes away.  It was the shortest sacrament meeting I've ever been to due to no electricity.  We hung out for the rest of the day.  The kids love playing together.  They also all fought over who got to hold baby Owen.  At some point that day Cameron borrowed a generator from his neighbors parent's cabin.  That way we could cool off the fridge and put our food back in a cold spot.   After dinner that evening we roasted S'mores by the fire.  And a miracle occurred! The power was back on!

Monday-- Around 2am I was awoken by...silence....  You see I am a white noise person.  Without white noise I hear every little sound and it makes it nearly impossible to sleep.  So at 2 am I woke up to a lack of noise.  After laying there for a few minutes I heard a scream.  This turned out to be Mckenzie crying about the door closing to the kids basement room.  Isaac must need white noise too because he refused to go back to sleep during those hours of no electricity. Thankfully around 5 am the power came back on.  All I can say is electricity is amazing and I appreciate it a lot more now!  I believe this is the morning that Julia and Cameron made buttermilk pancakes and buttermilk syrup for breakfast.  Those pancakes, that combo...these better be available in heaven.  With no electricity we had to get creative with activities.  Such as Justin braiding my hair.

Later on Monday we celebrated Patrick's 6th birthday by going to an indoor water park.  It was really fun.  The kids had a blast.  Wish we had one of those around here!  Then we took a trip to walmart and stocked up on groceries now that we had electricity.  At night we had a cake for Patrick and Mckenzie to celebrate their birthdays.

Tuesday--  On this day we drive to Cedar Breaks which wasn't too far from Brian Head.  We parked at a look out, which was so beautiful, and then took a paved hike to the Cedar Breaks National Monument.  They were having a wild flower celebration or something like that so they had supplies for making paper flowers.  They also had chalk out for anyone to draw a picture.  We had a quick picnic lunch and soaked in the amazing views.

After lunch we drove to Bryce Canyon.  That place is a death trap!  Ok ok, just an anxious mother's worst nightmare.  I mean seriously, walk a few steps in the wrong direction and it's game over.  Moving on.  It was absolutely breath taking.  It amazes me that there are places like that that exist in the world.  We also learned, while waiting in the visitors center, that Isaac will grab any insect he sees and then refuse to let it go even when its apparently bitten him and he's screaming as if his hand is on fire.  Isaac life lesson: don't pick up random bugs.

Can you see the switch backs at the bottom?  I want to hike that one day!

Wednesday-- I learned that my dad likes to see others in pain while riding a bike.  Just kidding. Justin, Channing, Mckenzie, Isaac, Dad, and I went on a short bike ride around the cabin.  Unfortunately any bike ride in that area is either straight up or straight down.  We rode down to the bottom of the hill and enjoyed the use of our brakes.  Then on the way back up we enjoyed the use of a very low gear.  Justin had the bike trailer attached to his bike loaded with two heavy children.  Yeah I'm looking at you Isaac. So he had to walk his bike up a good chunk of the hill.  Papa helped push Channing up the hill as well.

Around noon we rented a side by side.  I was very convenient to have trails right outside our door.  On one trip Julia, Cameron, Justin, and I got to explore lots of trails.  We frolicked in a meadow of flowers, we got drenched in mud by a huge puddle, and I narrowly avoided hitting a random car.

Dad's face haha!

This may have also been a night when Ryan organized the Crawford Game for the kids to play.  And we also got out the Watch Your Mouth game.  Isaac refused to take that mouth piece out of his mouth.  He drenched his shirt in saliva and drooled all over the carpet.  I love seeing cousins having fun together.

He's living his best life.

Isaac was always in the middle of the action.  He was adorable trying to imitate the kids playing the game.

Thursday--  The kids and parents took turns going out on the side by side until it was time to return it at noon.  Then Cameron surprised us all with renting a Slingshot.  The kids were very impressed with that unique looking vehicle.  In the late afternoon we took a hike to a waterfall.  After starting the hike we found out that most of it had been washed away or changed by a flash flood.  This “easy” hike was now not so easy.  In the end we all made it and it was lots of fun. 

Friday--  This was the last full day for the Crawford’s and Jeff and Cortney.  We all made up a picnic lunch and drove to Navajo Lake.  Then we embarked on a “bike ride.”  This was no ordinary bike ride.  This bike ride included lots of walking your bike or holding another child’s bike.  Or biking and carrying another’s bike.  It was much more of a mountain biking trail or just a hiking trail.  But alas we survived.  Although Butter may never walk the same way again. 

Thanks for showing us the best way to keep your backpack straps in place!

We made it to the lake.  

Saturday--  Dad left at the crack of dawn for his epic bike race.  The Crawford’s packed up and left bright and early.  And the rest of us stayed home to do laundry and get ready for our own travels.  Jeff, Cortney, Patrick, and Owen caravanned with our family and mom to the creamery in Beaver.  That ice cream was delish.  Then the Hamilton’s and mom drove to meet dad at the end of his race. 

The Tushars are among Utah's tallest mountain ranges, housing several peaks over 12,000 feet in elevation and featuring Utah's highest road at an elevation of 11,500 feet. Yes I googled that. Dad, Papa, Black Cobra, da bomb, mentally unstable, or whatever you wish to call him finished his 70-mile Tushar Crusher. I’m really not sure what motivates someone to purposely cause themselves that much pain and anguish. Is it the cyclist high or the mental escape? If so, we just visited Oregon in June and they have an alternative to that. Just joking, say no to drugs kids.

That night we ate an amazing meal and celebrated Dad’s accomplishment. I’m really very impressed and find myself working harder in my work outs so I can be as cool as my Dad.

Unfortunately, all trips have to end. Our whole family had an amazing time and can’t wait to make more memories. Thanks mom and dad for this amazing trip. We love you!

On our drive home we got to attend Owen's baby blessing in Provo and hang out with the Clemmer family.

Other photos:  

To come one day--video of Brian Head.