One of our favorite traditions is be able to go to the Summer Range each year and go camping. I'm not always able to go depending on the dates, but Shantel always takes the kids and this year was wonderful since I was able to go as well.
The summer range is near Robertson, Wyoming, you follow state road 279 south. It is about 41.107, -110.4423 (latitude and longitude) and is right where East and West Smith Fork river converge into one river.
The weather was beautiful while we were there and we even avoided the usual massive rainstorm that we get at some point during the camping trip. We went up on a Thursday evening so that we would have all day Friday and some of Saturday to play up there.
Riding the four wheelers is always the very favorite thing. I feel like Caleb especially this year loved riding the four wheeler and loved being able to drive (with an adult). He was a bit nervous his first couple rides and wanted me to drive, but once he had a chance to be the driver, he wanted to do that all day long.
All the kids went with Grandpa Walker to collect some fire wood and the ranger and came back and then formed a line to make a big stack of firewood. Whenever we go, Scott always cuts enough firewood for us, and then extra, so that the firewood stack is always bigger than it was when we got there.
It is really fun to see what new discoveries the kids make. This year we helped work on a new trail along the ridge that needed to be broken in. That was a lot of fun to ride through a new path and work our way through and around things. As part of that loop the kids found a new area they called "Aspen Grove." It is an area filled with aspen trees and a little stream running through it. The kids visited it frequently and even found something they called, "Helmet Hooks" where they could hang their helmets while they went in and explored the grove. Everytime someone new came, they immediately wanted to introduce them to Aspen Grove.
On Saturday it was really great because Grandpa Great was able to come and hang out with us on the Summer Range. Scott had brought the motor home because Lori wanted to come and really wanted to be able to stay in the motor home. The road is not really designed to take a motor home, but Grandpa Great wanted to see if they could get it down there. It was a bit tricky, but Shantel and I worked to help him get the motor home down the hill. We ran into one spot that was really tricky and we tried to use boards to get over, but slipped off and then had to dig things out a bit to finally get it down the hill. I was grateful we did get it down, but then they decided they would bring the tractor and flatten the road out a bit, so Grandpa Great came and Marty and Kim came as well for a bit while they fixed the road.
Then the highlight of the trip was being able to get the grand tour from Grandpa Great. It included a stop at Aspen Grove so the kids could show it to Grandpa Great.
Then we trekked all the way around the entire property. This year because of all of the snow (see January, February, March and April snow posts), there was tons of water up there. The river was flowing high and there was water flowing all over the property and the fields were still just soaked in water. So it was fun to drive through because we had quite a few spots where the water was really high. The kids all did great driving it and it was fun to stop along the way so Scott or Grandpa Great could tell us about something.
We finished up with some shooting. Austin especially really loves to shoot and had a great time with Grandpa and did a great job. Lydia and Caleb also got to try things out.
Meanwhile the girls (Lucy, Sadie and Juniper) were so happen to play together.
Then kids wanted to get in one last ride on the 4-wheelers.
One other thing that was really special this year is that everyone in the family was able to make for the first time since the family was not nearly as big. It had been a long time where Kevin, or myself, or Jake, or Matt & Brookyn, or Melissa or someone could not make it. This year we had Scot and Lori, plus Shantel, Jenna, Matt, Melissa and Jake. Plus we also had myself, Kevin, Brooklyn and Adam (Melissa's boyfriend). So we had the entire family included spouses, plus all the grandkids, (Lydia, Austin, Caleb, Lucy, Camille, Jason, Sadie, Molly, Juniper and Silvy). It was really so great to have everyone there. It was also really fun because everyone took turns on the meals and we had a lot of great food and it was fun to spend time together with everyone. It was especially great, because we had Grandpa Great there as well. Our kids always talk about the summer range and what a magical place that it is and I'm so grateful that we get to go there and spend time there.
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