Gone Fishing

Wide-brimmed hats, fishing poles, and long-sleeved shirts.  That was the list of gear Gay Bastian recommended we bring with us for our fishing weekend in Axtell on the weekend of June 5 and 6, 2015.  Dave, Mike, Heidi, and I drove to the Bastian's home Friday evening, and Camille came for the day on Saturday.

There was fire in the Bastian's firepit when we arrived.  We roasted hot dogs and ate them with homemade delicacies--Marissa's potato salad and Gay's sauerkraut.

Jessica and Josh, Hanna and Andrew, Marissa, Kelvyn, and Kalyce sat around the firepit with us, and Bevan soon arrived home from the hospital.

There were crepe paper and balloons strung around the Bastian kitchen to celebrate Heidi's graduation with a masters degree in Industrial Health.  Rather than party, though, Heidi took a haircutting lesson from Kalyce, who is in cosmetology school.  Michael was her subject, and he was pleased with the result.  "I was scared to look in the mirror when Heidi was done," Michael laughed, "but I liked what I saw."

We had good food and good conversation, and then went to bed early to get ready for the fishing on Saturday.

We drove for forty minutes into the canyons near I-70, and we were amazed with the beautiful, wild countryside.  The cutthroat trout we sought aren't stocked by the Fish and Game Department, but live wild in the rushing creek.

Dave brought the fisherman's hat he picked up in Nova Scotia.  It was just right for coastal hurricanes, but maybe overkill for this creek!

We hiked into the woods with our poles and children.  Gay was soon holding Baby Hannah in one arm and a fish in the other!

Josh had great success in casting his line into still pools at the side of the creeks.  Some people fished and some people watched, but all the fishermen caught their limit of four trout.

Gay assigned Josh and her own children to teach Camille's kids how to fish.

Jessica was good at finding likely fishing holes for Josh to try, but she also spent time on a rock high above the stream, tending Andrew and Hannah.

We gathered for a lunch of homemade bread and homemade cookies, along with sandwich fixings.  Afterwards, a few of us relaxed in the cars, while others did another hour or two of fishing.  Mia went with Dave and Camille to find a likely fishing hole.  She wasn't scared of worms, and she caught some fish.

Annie and Sophie caught some fish, too.

We thanked the Bastians for sharing their home, their fishing holes, their fishing talent, and their good food.  Camille and her kids headed for Provo to pick Steve up at the goal line of a 50 mile race, and the rest of us went back to the Bastians' house to sauté our trout and finish up Marissa's "earthquake cake" and lemon meringue pie.  We played more games, laughed and laughed, and finally drove home to SLC in the dark, hoping for another invitation to "come fish."