Jeff’s Blog

Today was the first day of Marching Band’s required Band Camp. I got there early to avoid having to do push-ups, and then we hit the field for four hours of marching with a break halfway for a snack.

The first day is also uniform fitting, so after about a half an hour of trying things on, I got my uniform labeled and ready. Then, I went back outside for some more enjoyable marching.

When we were done with that, it was lunch time. Luckily, we were able to go inside for that. And after lunch, we were also inside playing music.

I’m guessing that’s how the rest of the two weeks are going to go, minus the uniform fitting. It’s nice that we’re inside for the hottest part of the day, but it’s still tough marching that early and even in that heat.

Last Friday, my family and I left to go on a weekend camping trip because my dad had to work late on Thursday. We left somewhat early so we could do stuff that day. We tried two campgrounds until we found one that had a few empty sites, so we claimed one that was to our liking.

When we got there and set up camp, we had a lunch of PB&J, and spent the rest of the day playing catch and biking around the campground. That night we had an awesome fire, over which we roasted marshmallows and made s’mores.

The next day we had a great breakfast of scrambled eggs and sausage, and the dog enjoyed taking care of the leftovers. We spent that Saturday doing pretty much the same thing - playing catch and biking, but we also just sat around, relaxed, and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the mountains, with the occasional car driving by on the highway.

When we were cooking dinner, though, the propane tank for the grill caught on fire! We grabbed the fire extinguisher and put it out, and ended up going to a steakhouse in town where we had awesome prime rib, burritos and a burger, with sweet potato fries as an appetizer.

This morning, we had a similar breakfast, packed up, and took off.

We just got back from our four-day vacation to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. We drove, and it took about five hours to get there, which wasn’t bad considering we stopped for lunch which took forever along the way.

Right when we got there, we stopped in at F.M. Light & Sons to buy awesome hats. After we spent a little bit of time in there, we went to a restaurant where I ate “Wings of Death” and a BBQ Pork Sandwich, which were both really good. Then we drove to the campground where we spent two nights, enjoying campfires, playing catch, and boating on the lake.

Then, we went into town and checked into the La Quinta Inn after riding the Gondolas up and hiking, not to mention eating lunch right nearby. And that night, we went to see the rodeo. It was very fun, and during the Steer Wrestling one of the cowboys missed the steer and was in front of it, and the steer actually jumped over him! It was an excellent rodeo and we had a lot of fun.

The first day in town we left town and drove out to Dinosaur National Park, some of which was actually in Utah. It was very interesting. What is now the Green River used to run over a ton of dinosaur carcases which are now fossilized. A long time ago, people dug them out carelessly and quickly so they could be sent to a museum, but now the United States turned it into a National Park, and paleontologists who care about the historical element took over. These days all excavations have ceased, but you can see where they were actually excavating and are still examining - their building is now a visitor’s center.

After we checked out that part, we went on the Auto Tour around different parts and learned a ton about the geological past of the area. At the end, we went on a hike around an old homestead and into a canyon, which was also very cool.

This morning, the last day of our vacation, we got up, skipped the hotel’s free breakfast and ate at the third restaurant we tried, and had a delicious meal. I had incredible french toast with hot chocolate and actual fresh-squeezed orange juice with butter on the side and powdered sugar with syrup on top. Then, we went back to the hotel, hitched up our pop-up camper, and started the long journey home. Now, we’re back, and getting back to reality. It was a great vacation though.