Reflecting Back (double click pics for full size)

Well today is Thursday, September 10 and I’m sitting here warming up. The temp is around 45, better than yesterday’s 26 degrees when our water hose froze. Today we start packing things up to prepare for our trip to Arizona. I went fishing yesterday evening with Ed and caught 2 real nice rainbows, 18 inches, 2+ lbs. The summer sure has flown past here. It seems like it was only a few weeks ago Cindy and I pulled into Bakers Hole campground to start out the summer.

I reflect back over the past 5 months and realize how blessed we have been. We have experienced so many things over the summer. I think of the first time pulling into Bakers Hole and reading the sign “Grizzly Bears Frequent This Area, Store Food And Coolers In Your Vehicle”, we looked at each other and I’m sure the thoughts were the same “what have we’ve gotten into”. I remember waking up to 6 inches of snow on the ground in May, and telling Jimi about it. His reply was “ I thought you went there to get away from the cold”. I remember sitting in the camper and Cindy saying she heard something outside, only to look out and see a half dozen Buffalo walking right past our truck and camper, the excitement of seeing such a large animal walking within a few feet from you is nothing one can describe. The first night we decided to park the truck by the river in hopes of seeing wildlife, only to be rewarded by Cindy spotting a Grizzly in the river. Watching Eagles fly over the campground, sitting by the river listening to nothing but the sound of the Madison River flowing past us, watching newborn “Red Dogs “ buffalo walking in the campground trying to keep up with their mother, nothing like this have we ever experienced before.

The arrival of Rodney and Diana brought us some new friends to be able to share our time with. Working with them cutting firewood and cleaning up the campground to prepare for opening, was one of the most enjoyable times we had at the start. Throughout the summer we have become very goods friends and have spent hours together sightseeing. They will be a couple that will be sorely missed by both Cindy and I when we leave this week.

I think of all the other people we have met here at Lonesomehurst, Wayne & Rae (who taught me all about trout fishing), Bob Stone, (the catch and release guy who fished for the “big Ones”) Kevin & Shelly (Shelly, who took us Huckleberry picking) Kevin who took us fishing, Bill and Kathy, whom we spent hours in the boat fishing together, Ed & Katie, (our summer residents) whom Ed and I only wished we would have started fishing together earlier in the season, Bob & Agnes (we didn’t catch a lot of fish together, but I enjoyed talking to a man that is 85 years old and listening to him share his experiences in life), and all of the other people we met and enjoyed their company. From the bottom of our hearts we want to thank each and every one of you who made our stay a Lonesomehurst an experience that we will never forget.




There is so many of things we have had the opportunity to experience this summer I cannot list them all (nor do I wish to bore you with all of them). We would like to take this last paragraph and thank the person that made all of this possible. From the first phone call I made to her back in November, to the final day that we will say our goodbyes, Vickie Barta has been nothing but the “Perfect Boss”. She has made us feel welcomed from the first time we talked about taking this job to the last time of having us over for a cookout on our final day. How this lady does it is beyond what I can comprehend. She has a family of 3 children to take care of, 5 campgrounds and 13 camp hosts to manage, and she will be the first to pull up her sleeves and start to work. From the first day of cleaning up brush and hauling fire wood, to the last day we were here, she has been non-stop in making our lives and work easier for us. To Vickie we give our most sincere thanks and love for allowing us to enjoy this “workamping experience” and wish her nothing but the best in life.

Aaron & Laura Visit!

Well the summer is winding down and we had our last visitors. Our son Aaron, and his fiancée Laura (yes I typed it right, his fiancé) came to visit this last week. For those of you who haven’t heard, he proposed to her a couple of weeks ago. I’ll have to say he’s defiantly a romantic when it comes to this stuff. Actually he was in New Orleans on business and he had Laura to fly down to spend a few days with him. I’ll let you read his blog so you can get all the details.




We’ve had a great visit with them the past 5 days. They wanted to see some of Yellowstone and do some hiking so our first day in the park we took a hike on a trail called Purple Mountain Trail at Madison Junction, elevation at trailhead 6830ft. The trail was 3 miles up and 3 miles back with an elevation rise of 1500 feet, 8300 ft at the top. It was rated as moderate strenuous and the part of strenuous was correct. The hike took Cindy and I 2 hours to make it to the top (I think Laura could have done it in 1 hour or less). We did appreciate the fact they waited on the old people during the hike. Had it not been for the fact of Laura going ahead and finding the end of the trail, I think the I was ready to call it quits. She came back with great news we were only 15 minutes or less from the top and let me say I’m sure glad we continued on. The view from there was just outstanding.





The next day we done the hike up the Contour Road and climbed to the highest point there, again the view was outstanding and the hike back down took it’s toll on my legs, I actually felt pretty good after the Purple Mt. hike, but the short hike up Contour Road sure did cause me some leg cramps and aches and pain. We went fishing with Kevin and Aaron caught him a nice one. Monday we took a hike to Mystic Falls, beautiful walk and falls. Came back set around the campground and visited. Tuesday morning Aaron and I went fishing and caught a couple of nice ones. Tuesday evening we went out again and had the best evening yet, caught 3 real nice fish within 45 minutes. Came back to the campsite, ate some food and Laura got a call from her dad. Someone had broken into their home early on Sunday morning (along with 4 other homes in the area); thankfully all they took was a couple of computers and some loose change Laura had been saving up. We got up Wednesday morning and headed to the airport for them to head back to Wisconsin. We came back home and I went out fishing with Ed Iverson and we finally caught our first fish together, real nice 18-inch rainbows.