The 24th (7.24.25)

The 24th of July is a big holiday, in Utah, stretching into the next weekend.  It marks the first Mormon pioneers arriving in the Salt Lake Valley in 1947.  The Spendloves celebrated the July 24, 2025 weekend with our own fireworks display, hosted by Mike on July 25.  Dave and I also attended performances of "MacBeth" and "The Importance of Being Earnest" at the Utah Shakespeare Festival on July 24.

 My great-grandmother, Mary Bennion, arrived in the Salt Lake Valley during the fall of 1947, as a two-year-old.  She was one of the last of the original "47ers" to die, in 1927, and was an honored guest at July 24th celebrations throughout her life.  

Mike assembled a large box of fireworks to set off, as an adoring crowd of his children, nieces and nephews, and other family members watched.

Mike shot off eight fireworks that zoomed into the air and then emitted a parachute that fell to earth.  That was enough for each of Mike's and Jonny's children to retrieve one of those parachutes.

The kids crowded round to watch the excitement.

Camille and Sophie stopped by to watch the spectacle.

The finale was a $60 Bruno firework that lit up the sky with big bursts of different colors.  The kids chanted, "Bruno! Bruno! Bruno!" as Mike prepared to set it off. 

One of Dave's and my summer traditions is to watch plays at the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City.

We watched the matinee of Oscar Wilde's witty "The Importance of Being Earnest."  It was written as a satire of upper crust British society in the late 1800s, but its observations of the absurdities of social conventions were equally funny and apropos today.

There was not much that was light and funny about MacBeth, but it made us think deeply about temptation, sin, and their consequences.  We noticed LDS Apostle Dale Renlund sitting near us, and we wondered if his observations might appear in a Conference talk!

Good trips include good food.  We ordered the seafood special at Chef Alfredo's Ristorante Italiano in Cedar City.  Each platter included a lobster tail and sole filet, as well as scallops and shrimp, served in tomato cream sauce over linguine.  It was delicious, but immense!

I was hungry again by the next morning, when we stopped at The Creamery in Beaver on the way home.  That's coconut almond on the bottom and raspberry chocolate chunk on the top!  Definitely holiday fare.

And the Ironing, Too (7.19.25)

I am so practical.  Dave suggested we spend a night at our cabin on July 19, 2025.  I agreed, but insisted on carting along my steam iron, spray bottle, and huge bin of ironing.  I finished the whole bin.  Dave went to bed early, enjoying the cool mountain air, after hot Salt Lake. I ironed far into the night.  

The sign by the road identifies our cabin as "The Spend Love Nest" (Dave's parents' sign, not ours, but now we kind of like its funkiness).  Reading and ironing don't fit the common perception of a "Love Nest," but Dave and I spent a very pleasant evening.

The next morning, we rode the four-wheelers around Pine Mountain.  We rode high up on the ridge, where there is a view far down the Weber River valley.  We zipped past new, million dollar cabins and also the elegant cabin that was reduced to just $350,000 during the last recession.  It was tempting, at the time!  

Dave recently gave me a list of everything I should do at each of our houses if he dies before I do.  Servicing the four-wheelers and wheedling them into life may be one of the harder tasks on that list.

Someday, I may learn to just sit and enjoy the views at the cabin, rather than bringing the ironing.  That may not happen anytime soon!

A new ritual, during our cabin visits, is a meal at the Oakley diner.  The restaurant is remodeled, there's a new chef, and the food is good.  The diner even sponsors special events, such as Vietnamese pho on Wednesdays and prime rib on Sundays!

The Road Home (7.12 and 13.25)

Dave and I were determined to squeeze every last bit of joy out of our trip to Oregon.  On July 12, 2025, we meandered south along the coast to the town of Florence.  We then cut east to Eugene and Bend, Oregon.  We also stopped at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, as we passed through to Idaho and home to Salt Lake City.

Our first stop was Depoe Bay, where we paused at the small but fascinating Whale, Sea Life, and Shark Museum.

The owner was giving a tour as we arrived, and she was a fascinating woman.  She did her Ph.D thesis on why some whales linger in Depoe Bay, during their summer migration from Baja California, rather than traveling all the way to Alaska.  She examined whale poop and found that it matched a species of fish found primarily in Depoe Bay.  The owner now owns a whale watching business and sends data to the university research center in Newport where she used to study.  "They go out on boats once or twice a month, but we go out, tracking whales, every day," she said.

The museum had many interesting exhibits, including a display showing the types of creatures found at low tide.

We watched the whale boats depart from Depoe Bay, and we contemplated Depoe Bay's huge statue of a whale, lounging by the roadside.  Dave and I have been on lots of whale watching tours, but I would have enjoyed a tour with that very knowledgeable museum owner/entrepreneur.

We stopped at several Saturday farmers' markets, as we made our way down the coast.  Farmers' markets are always a mishmash of artistic finds, "characters," and funky stuff.

In Newport, we were irresistibly drawn to the crab shack we visited earlier in the week with the family.  We ordered one more "Captain's platter" with its freshly caught white fish, shrimp, scallops, and oysters.

We spent the night in Florence, a port on the Oregon coast which was hosting an artists' gallery stroll the night we visited.  

Bend, Oregon, hosts the last Blockbuster in the nation.  We remember well the days, 20 years ago, when the routine for each weekend was to stop by the local Blockbuster to rent movies.

"We've got to stop.  We'll never go this way again," I begged David, as we veered off the main route back to Utah to see the John Day Fossil Beds.

I know a lot about dinosaurs, but less about the prehistoric mammals that succeeded them.  The John Day Fossil Beds house the remains of huge pigs and bears and lions, disturbingly different, yet similar to today's big mammals.

We spent our last night in Boise, eating huge hunks of corned beef, accompanied by "colcannon," the Irish mashed potato and cabbage dish.  I love Irish pubs, even in such unlikely places as Boise!