Gloria Came Home

When Gloria was 17 years old (-almost 30 years ago-) she left her native Spain
and lived with our family for a year of cultural immersion.

She was as sweet as Utah peach in the month of August.
Still is.

I am Gloria's 'American Mommy'
and I'm always THRILLED when my Spanish daughter shows up in Utah.

We gabbed for five solid days.
First at my place and then at my brother's cabin

We were NOT alone in the wilderness.

These baby birds were a delight. The neighborhood bear was NOT.
Did NOT obtain a photo of the growling black bear outside the cabin. It was too close for comfort.

Just 20 minutes down the a dirt road,
my brother Scott was vacationing in a cabin belonging to his wife's family.

On our second day, we moseyed on over.

We managed to get MOST of Scott's family in this shot,
including Frodo who was my mom's beloved pet in days gone by.
(Gloria is standing to my left.)

* * *

My friend Bonsey showed up later that day.

More merriment . . .
hikes, culinary adventures, riding the ATVs.

We played hard.

Remember the spectacular waterfalls Bonsey and I discovered
during our 'High Uintas' trip in June?

We generously shared our discovery with Gloria.

Fallen logs made it possible to cross the river,
on more than one occasion.

I just love pigmentation of the bedrock under the flowing water.

Before heading back to civilization,
we hiked around Mirror Lake.

Great wooden path, probably constructed by enthusiastic young boys
from the nearby scout camp.


* * *

After taking Gloria back to the airport yesterday morning,
I stuffed my Honda Element with groceries
and prepared for an evening barbecue with the kinfolk at my place.

Here's a shot of the young cousins hanging around the HOT tub on an extra HOT day.
Good thing they had COLD Creamies to keep them from combusting.

(If you don't know about CREAMIES, you aren't from Utah.)

After getting this shot, I caught some of the Inside Crowd BELOW:

Parting shot.