49th Anniversary Trip

We started our "TRIP" by visiting Mike & Family. Our granddaughter is in track so we had to go support her.

She is not too bashful................

Get Ready, Set, ...............

GO!!!!

This is the family in Billings, MT about 1984-1985. It was prior to Mike going on his mission. We lived at 508 Wigwam Trail. Love those hair styles. What is disappointing is that I didn't have any hair much like today. Only a different color.

It's a White Christmas in Idaho (2008)

Well, this year is certainly different than last year. We have had snow and wind and now we are getting more snow and more wind. Tomorrow will be a fun day .......if I can get mom and dad from Gooding and get them over here (Jerome) for Christmas Dinner. We have invited my brother Gerald and Lori to join us. That would give us 6 for dinner. We may also try to get my Aunt Pat over from Twin Falls. There is a neat snowman down on Main Street. I will try to get a picture and add it to this entry. To all our friends and loved ones............Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to YOU.

I-86 to the Utah border has been closed all week. It was opened today but with the way it is snowing tonight, it's a good bet that it will be closed on Christmas Day.

Malad Gorge State Park - A fun place to visit

Blink your eyes and you will miss it! Malad Gorge State Park is between Bliss and Wendell. The Malad River is 11.5 miles long and is formed by the joining of the Big and Little Wood rivers near Gooding. The Malad Gorge is 2.5 long and is 250 feet deep. There are 6 viewpoints along the route; the last one being Woody's Cove.Looking up Malad Gorge from Viewpoint 2. The Malad Gorge falls and Devils Washbowl. Hmmm...I didn't know that the devil cleaned himself up.......why would he need a washbowl?

The falls as seen from above.
Peering down at the turbulent Malad River. The next picture is where the Malad River is diverted into a sluice to be funneled to a power generation plant midway down the canyon. Below the power plant the water is re-sluiced (is that a word?) and used to generate power as it enters the Snake River. Cool, huh?This is the top end of Woody's Cove. It is awesome to stand on the edge and look down. The next photo is looking west out Woody's Cove and out across the Hagerman Valley. Enjoy!!!

Box Canyon - One of those must see places!!

Tuesday, Marcia and I went exploring. We have wanted to hike Box Canyon for 2 years but just never could find the time. So ... we took the time and had a great experience. For those of you wanting to know, Box Canyon is 1/4 S of 3400 S on 1500 E in Gooding County. Here is a view from Google Earth (on GE the white boxes are pictures of the area).


At the bottom of the East end of the canyon (right in photo above) are two beautiful clear pools that flow from the bottom of the canyon wall.



The hike took us about 3 hours. It is just over 1 1/2 miles down to the end of Box canyon. The river running in the bottom is clear and beautiful. There is a trail from the canyon rim down to the river. There is a nice deck overlooking a beautiful waterfall. All in all ......... one gorgeous place. We were tired when we got home but enjoyed every minute of it.

The last photo is of the beautiful waterfall that is in the cusp of the river flowing out of the canyon. If you look at the first picture, this falls is located 2nd white dot from the left (just beyond the cusp).

A Day at Hogle Zoo

We had a wonderful day at the Hogle Zoo. We spent the day with Doris, Marcia's mother. It was a fun time and we quite enjoyed the visit. I had a concern that all of us might not return. (You know what they say ..... "All of the monkeys ain't in the zoo. There are some walking around with me and you!") Anyway we all were able to leave.

Here we see a marker introducing the zoo........




We are looking at the bears......ooops, maybe the bears are really looking at us.









Is this guy cool or what?? Did he fall into a vat of bleach?? The sign said this is not albino but a mutation where the alligator cannot produce melanin.


Here we see one of the two elephants in the zoo.


We found the original Big Bird.

WOW,...48 Wonderful Years....Happy Anniversary

What a wonderful day, Anniversary Day. 48 years ago I married a beautiful, wonderful young lady that has been my heart and soul all these many years. I can't remember (just a little) when I wasn't married. We have had many fun times and great experiences together. We have a tremendous family, 4 sons, 8 grandchildren, and 1 great-grandchild. What a marvelous legacy. I love her with all my heart. She makes my heart sing.

My How Time Flies!!

Ran across some pictures while going through storage the other day. The phrase "Those were the good old days" sure brought some tears to my eyes. This was a photo of our little family abt. 1972. The boys from left to right are: Michael, David, Gary Lynn, Terry, and Christopher. It occurs to me that Marcia is as beautiful to me now as she was then. Those were days of happiness. The smiles on the faces are smiles that were always there. We had lost our first angel, Kristine, 10 years earlier and nearly lost Gary Lynn at that time. Life was precious and fleeting. Eight years later we would lose Gary Lynn. How many times I would have gone back to that day and changed so many things, but time waits for no man and there is no going back. LESSON: Every day, as often as you can, tell those around you that you love them because there is not always a second chance.


This is Kristine. She was a precious daughter and brought much joy into our lives. She went through much as we tried to correct the problems with her hips she was born with, I believe it was called, "Congenital Dislocated Hips". She was put in a cast from the armpits to the tip of her toes that had wooden stilts attached. We could hold her hands and she could twist to make the stilts walk her forward.




This is picture is of Gary Lynn and Terry. Terry was born in 1964 and this is probably around Christmas time. Notice the bouffant hairdo. Now those were the days. Notice also the white athletic socks with the colored band around the top. Classy!! Narrow ties were in as was plaid. Darn we are a cute family if I do say so myself.

Those really were the good old days!!

The Ron & Linda Happening

A pleasant surprise occurred on Thursday morning. Our dear friends Ron and Linda were passing thru and wanted to say "Hi" to mom and dad. They were dragging a 29 foot camping trailer and had stopped for the night at the KOA south of Jerome. When they called Marcia and I were going thru our stuff in storage to determine what was out of whack with our inventory list when Ron and Linda called. Rather than have them drive all the way to Gooding and back and since I was already in Wendell (half way there) I went on a mission to get mom and dad and head for the KOA.
We had a short but fun visit. Mom and dad were happy and surprised. All I can say is "THANK YOU" Ron and Linda. What a special thing you did for my folks. To those of you reading this you need to understand that Ron just lost his mother, Daisy. We have spent many hours at family reunions visiting and having a fun time. This was difficult for Ron. Thanks again. The picture of two is Ron and Linda. The single is my father, Carter, and the threesome is yours truly and mom and dad (mom is Luella).

Anniversary Trip a Success!!!

We left on Wednesday, September 3, 2008 for our 48th Anniversary Trip. Actually our anniversary isn't until the 25th. My sister could only come up to take care of mom and dad the first part of the month, so we decided to go early rather than possibly not at all. Our destination was Cape Flattery in Northwestern Washington. Wow, did we choose a fun journey and one with great weather as well.







We eventually made it to Ruby Beach. That area was beautiful, although fog was our companion. The starfish and sea anemones were beautiful. The coast along the northwestern most part of the contiguous United States is beautiful beyond description.






We got to meet some dear friends that we had not seen in nearly 30 years. Bob and Judy were gracious hosts as we spent a couple of days with them touring Hurricane Pass and Port Angeles.
Bob we have known from Illinois but Judy came into Bob's life after we left Illinois. They make a beautiful couple and getting to know Judy was a real treat. Bob was the same as we had remembered him from Illinois......same sense of humor and same loving personality.

We definitely fell in love with the Pacific Northwest and more particular the beautiful land around Sequim (pronounced Squim).







We visited Mount St. Helens and were impressed by the shear volume of landscape rearrangement that is visible there. The message is "Don't mess with Mother Nature". She has AWESOME power and is not afraid to use it.



On the way home we stopped by some awesome waterfalls between Portland and Pendleton, OR.

I have put a couple of our pictures here, but for a view of more of our pix go to:

picasaweb.google.com/gkluther

We had a great time and only came home because we felt we had to..............dangit!! (Oh, yeah......we were also running short on money!!)