Day 5 - Hometown Parade for the Queen of All!!

We were sad to leave the beautiful Boulder Mountain Guest Ranch as it was such a peaceful and serene place to stay and "de-stress!"  What a great staff!  They were all so accommodating and we will definitely be back!!  Check out their website -- WAIT, not yet!  You have to finish reading the blog first!  

We headed out to the Burr Trail to see some of our favorite country.  Everyone headed out to paint their favorite scene.  It was such fun sharing this well-kept secret with our friends – every turn being more breathtaking than the last.  I even took on my second painting of my very short painting career!  It was really fun and I, again, reaffirmed my deep respect to all the painters in the group as well as Doug – they all make it look so easy and I did a lot of mixing of painting and put way too much on my board!  It got messy and gooey and all the greens and reds kinda got mixed together.  Because I was painting, there weren't many pictures taken - Doug snapped a picture of me painting and the back of my legs getting sunburned!  If I can get the picture off his camera, I'll post it!

My brothers family

We had the rest of the BLT’s down in Slot Canyon on the Burr Trail.  What a great little place – wished we would have had time to hike down through it.  Google it – it’s freakin amazing!!  Could be a vacation in and of itself!   My brother and his family hike the slot canyon all the time.  Here's a fun picture of them!

From Burr Trail, we were Escalante bound and I got pretty excited!  Goin home!  Stopped at Kiva Koffee House for some great java and smoothies and an incredible view at the top of Calf Creek.  We caravanned on into Escalante.  The class was wondering where the parade was . . . I mean, "Miss Garfield County 1980 something" is here . . . where's the party and hooplah!!  All kidding aside, it felt so good to be home, even if it was just for a day.  

We checked into the Circle D Motel and the class headed down to paint.  I decided to chill, do a little writing, and then went to find the group and walked down the familiar main street.  My mind was flooded with memories of that main street – it used to seem sooo long from one end to the other.  Probably not more than a mile from one end to the other. 

I finally found the group and here's Doug's little painting of a very old building that seriously looks the same today as it did back when I was growing up.  It's just a block from my house well, okay, almost everything is about a block from my house!  hahaha  

We enjoyed a fabulous dinner at the Circle D Eatery.  Our waitress, Angie, a darling gal, ended up being a “fellow Griffin” yes, a cousin!  Dinner was seasoned with lots of reminiscing about being not only the “Miss Garfield” Queen, but also the Frosty Shop Queen, our family business in the middle of town from the time I was 5 years old.   My dad built it in 1967 and we ran it until I was about 19 years old.  

Living just across the “baseball field” from my high school, I would make a mad dash across the field at the sound of the “lunch bell” to beat the rush of students coming to be fed at the Frosty Shop and as I heard the first bell, I would grab a burger and drink and run back across the ball diamond hoping to get there before the “late bell” rang. 

I did go and take some pictures of my Grandma's house - she was born in 1898, Grandpa in 1896.  

Home of Ray and Nora Griffin in Escalante, Utah.  This is where my dad grew up, and I guess I spent an awful lot of time there myself.  Always home made bread and peanut butter and strawberry jam on the table

My dad as a young boy delivered newspapers.  I think it was the Garfield County News.

Thanks for letting me reminisce.  Great memories of my home town - excited to see more familiar faces and do a little "vistin" as Grandma used to call it . . . "oh, how we did vist!"  hahaha 

Signing off for now . . .

J'net aka Queen of Escalante - you can all just call me "Queen of All" if you want  hahaha