Congratulations, Mr. Hart

Walter Hart, 88, of Fort Meyers, Florida, received his Eagle Scout award on Saturday, July 28, 2007, 5 decades after earning it. As a young man, he earned 23 merit badges and qualified for the Eagle Rank. In 1943, he enlisted in the U. S. Navy before his could receive his Eagle Award. Mr. Hart served 2 years aboard the USS Alfred A. Cunningham. He recently found his Eagle paperwork and contacted the Boy Scouts of America.

The Wasatch Mountain Adventure

Sunday morning we (Wendy and I, with Julie, Nathan, Jacob, and Josh acting as tour guides) drove from Lehi through Alpine, Highland, Draper, American Fork Canyon, Cascade Springs, Midway, and Heber and returned through Provo Canyon.

To see some of the photos from the trip, click here.

We saw some castles in Draper, the Draper Temple construction project, had a picnic in Timpanogos Cave National Monument, drove the Alpine Loop, stopped at Cascade Springs, and returned via a dirt road to Midway, a stop at Nathan’s grandma’s, and then home through Provo Canyon.

It was a great family outing.

7-7-07—My Lucky Day???

Wendy and I left home at 5:00 a.m. for the long drive to visit Julie, Nathan and family in Lehi, UT. We heard on the radio and read in the paper how many people had planned wedding and birth for 7/7/07, figuring the triple 7’s would be extra lucky.

Our first problem occurred as we we were climbing the grade leaving California. The car started jerking hard. My first thought was transmission problems. After a minute or so, it stopped. I thought that maybe things would be better on the downhill side. Nope. More jerking. And some loss of power. We were able to drive to the casino in Jean, NV and call for a tow truck.

The tow truck took us to the Ford dealership in Henderson, NV. We arranged for the repair—hopefully a transmission replacement–the warranty is up in 20,000 miles. Then off to Enterprise rental so we can continue the trip. They informed me that the deal with Ford requires them to rent me a Ford, but they didn’t have any Fords and the moment and a women in front of me had been waiting over an hour. Fortunately, an F-150 showed up before my patience ran out.

We transferred our goodies from car to truck and then we were off. After passing through Cedar City, UT, Julie called and told us to turn around and to go back. GO BACK, after all this? Well, go back just to Cedar. The I-15 was closed because of a fire. We found out that there was a detour, so we decided to keep on trucking in our F-150.

The detour was fine, but getting to the detour was a hassle. The traffic stopped on the I-15 3 and a half miles from the turn off. It took about an hour to drive the 3.5 miles. The detour was scenic, until the smoke from the fire blocked the views. Then it was too dark to see much.

We arrived at Julie’s 17 and a half hours after leaving home. Transmission troubles, rental problems, smoke and fire.

So was it a lucky day for us. I think so. Things could have been a lot worse. We could have broken down on the side of the road. In the heat. All in all, things worked out just fine.

Jury Duty–Kind of

Yesterday, I spent the day as a juror at the Ventura County Courthouse.  At least I shared the experience of sitting around with 200 others waiting to be called to a court room.  No one got called to go anywhere.  A complete waste of time for 200 people.

I did get an entire book read, enjoyed my 90 minute lunch break by geocaching around Ventura Harbor, and listened to some good talks and music on my MP3, but jury duty—nothing but a long sit.  And the exactly thing happened the last time I had to go down to Ventura.  There has got to be a better method.