Weather Wonk Stuff

We are already beginning our pre-trip planning for our departure north to Idaho.  We became curious today as to how the April weather shakes out.  I reformatted the April statistics for both Beaver Creek ranger Station and Montezuma Castle National Monument.  You can see a Google spreadsheet of this data by clicking here.  In a nutshell, it can be quite hot or quite cold this month.  The Climate Prediction Center seems to feel it's going to be slightly below normal temperatures with lower than normal rainfall.  All of this information bodes well for us to stay well into April.  Our thinking in a prior blog post had us leaving April 29 because we are wienies about the full moon.  Now our thinking is to leave The Straw House maybe as early as April 25 and take a slow and meandering route north.  We're thinking about staying in Fillmore for perhaps a couple of days so we could explore the West Deserts.  If that plan falls by the wayside, we might stay in Panguitch and go hiking in Bryce for a couple of days.  Those trails "should" be snow free by then.

It was a great Easter.  We had a real nice morning--the rabbit started off on the right foot ( no pun intended).  We then went for a short walk with The Three Wheelers--Kate, Brad, and Joshua.  We went to a place of special family significance and enjoyed a thermos of hot coffee.  We got home about 12:30 pm and turned right around and went to the Annual Despain Family Easter Potluck.  It's an awesome family affair--egg hunting, huge gobs of food and all manner of chatter.  We enjoyed getting acquainted with a couple of retired teachers who served their career in Ganado. Dean Despain--The Grand Old Patriarch of the Clan was in his usual low key form.  Children ran hither and yon in their typical Easter dither.  We ate way too many carbohydrates.  Hey, it's Easter!

When we got back from The Despain's, we were both wiped out.  I laid down for a nap at 3 pm and didn't move until 6 pm.  I can't recall the late time I took a 3 hour nap (other than when I was down with the flu or something).  No campfire tonight--too tired.

Been studying the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.  It's been around since 1990 but I only "discovered" it today.  Click here for more information about it.   Be sure to read the History section and also note the Forest Service EA that's dated March 29, 2010.  Very interesting stuff.

Looks like it's going to be pretty windy for awhile.  No weed spraying on the horizon!

Thanks for a great walk back in time, Kate, Brad and Josh!