After months of preparation (and some worry) the pioneer trek finally came. Our ward met to leave at 5:00AM on Wednesday. Liv woke me up at 2:30 with a cough and ended up sleeping on our floor. I wasn't able to get back to sleep, so needless to say I was already very tired when our adventure began.
In our 'pioneer' clothes and ready to go!
 |
| (From left) Randy Yocum, Rob Lundell, Abe Miller, Rob, Chris Brereton, Brian Gardanier, (front) Tony Curtis |
 |
| (Back from left) Sue Yocum, Shelly Gardanier, Brooke Curtis, Alecia Lundell, Christy Brereton, (front) Amberly Miller, me |
After all of the leaders and youth arrived, we were fed a big breakfast of eggs, bacon, pancakes, Tang, etc. I noticed that our family flag was on top of the pile and took a photo. We were divided into three companies (each member of the stake presidency had a company), and we were with President Lewis. He is a great man, and it was wonderful to spend time with him and learn from him on trek.
After a short thought by 'Trail Boss' Campbell, they would call out the names of seven youth and then their ma and pa. None of us had any idea ahead of time who our families would be for trek. The theme of the trek was "I am a pioneer in my family" and the entire emphasis was on family. We had never met any of the youth assigned to us (all from other wards in our stake). We played a couple of name and other get-to-know-you games and then got to work building our handcart:
Right off the bat, we experienced a few setbacks. First, one of the axles on our hand cart was broken and needed repair. After waiting for a while, one of the guys on the support staff suggested getting another cart, so we put together a second cart and then realized that the back of the wagon was missing hinges. We waited for them to fix this and then we started walking with our handcart back to the loading area. Because we were far behind the other families now, we were alone on the dirt road and missed the turn heading to the loading area and walked on the main trail for probably 10 minutes or so extra before we eventually turned around. I joked that we were just trying to get all of our problems/mistakes over with at the beginning! When we returned to base camp to load, it seemed that everyone was already loaded and ready to go. We flew to get all packed up and loaded and our four boys (three of them Eagle Scouts and one very close) did all of the lashings and all of the kids were excellent workers packing up and tying everything down. It seemed like we had a lot less stuff than other wagons and Rob and I knew at that point that we had amazing kids that knew how to work and pack light! :)
 |
| (From left) Kyle, McKay, Rob, Marisol, Marcelle, me, handcart, Kayla, Justin, Tommy, (Pres Lewis walking by on right) |
I had heard rumors that this trek was supposed to be the hardest our stake had ever done, with lots of hills. I guess I was thinking this was some exaggeration, but now I believe it. There really were several big, big hills with one real doozy. We (ma and pa) were instructed to generally walk behind the cart and to let the kids do the work. On the really big hills Rob and I would help push/pull.
We took turns helping each wagon to the top of one big hill called "Yankee Joe." I think there were generally around 14 people on each wagon then. It was very steep and difficult. It was awesome to watch the kids helping each other. I think there were several boys that helped every single wagon in our company.
We stopped every mile or so for water breaks. By late afternoon the kids were very tired and hungry. The kids in our family were fairly quiet (they said later that they needed to just focus on pushing/pulling), and didn't complain at all! We got a few questions such as 'do you know how far are we going?' and 'do you know what time we are supposed to get there?' and things like that, but they were cheerful, positive and worked very hard. Sure they were talking about what foods sounded great and so on, but no complaints. Our lashings on our handcart came apart a couple of times, and our son, Tommy (only 14), re-tied the lashings while we walked! Very impressive.
By about 6:00pm we stopped for a long break and all of the adults had a meeting. They fed the ma's and pa's a snack of bananas and trail mix and told us that there would be a 'women's pull' coming up next. I felt some concern knowing that we only had three daughters and that they had been working harder than me and hadn't been able to eat since breakfast that morning. We had a prayer as a family and instructed our kids that we were asked to be silent for the next bit (not a problem for our quiet bunch). Rob told the boys that he would be pulling them off of the cart soon and they would need to cooperate and walk next to the handcart, but not help until told otherwise. When the boys were pulled off, I jumped on the back and pushed as hard as I could. I figured we would be on flatter terrain for the women's pull, but we went up a big hill. I couldn't see very well from the back (probably a good thing), but wanted to do as much of the work as I could for my tired girls. I literally put my shoulder into the wagon and held much of the weight on my shoulder (which got quite bruised). This is kind of personal to write about, but I had been emotional thinking about this difficult part coming and was thinking about my mom, and about the pioneer stories about angels helping them from the other side. I think in many ways this experience felt somewhat similar physically to having a baby (I think I sounded much the same--just ask Rob!). Just as we were really struggling toward the top of the hill, a tall woman (stake helper) came right next to me and helped me push our wagon that extra bit to get up the last bit of the hill. I was completely wiped and out of breath (and crying some).
We were instructed to stop at the top of the hill to have a family discussion and talk about the experience (it was now getting dark). Each person shared their feelings (both the girls and boys gained a greater appreciation for each other, for sure). I shared with the kids that it's been a tough year for me and that my mom recently died of cancer. I told them that I've not felt her presence like I have hoped I would, and that it's something I've wanted and prayed for. When the woman jumped on to help us right at the end, it was a reminder to me that often our prayers are answered through other people. Although my mom isn't here to help me in person (like I wish she were), I know that our Heavenly Father has blessed me by putting other women and people in my life that help carry my burdens and get me through tough times.
By about 6:00pm we stopped for a long break and all of the adults had a meeting. They fed the ma's and pa's a snack of bananas and trail mix and told us that there would be a 'women's pull' coming up next. I felt some concern knowing that we only had three daughters and that they had been working harder than me and hadn't been able to eat since breakfast that morning. We had a prayer as a family and instructed our kids that we were asked to be silent for the next bit (not a problem for our quiet bunch). Rob told the boys that he would be pulling them off of the cart soon and they would need to cooperate and walk next to the handcart, but not help until told otherwise. When the boys were pulled off, I jumped on the back and pushed as hard as I could. I figured we would be on flatter terrain for the women's pull, but we went up a big hill. I couldn't see very well from the back (probably a good thing), but wanted to do as much of the work as I could for my tired girls. I literally put my shoulder into the wagon and held much of the weight on my shoulder (which got quite bruised). This is kind of personal to write about, but I had been emotional thinking about this difficult part coming and was thinking about my mom, and about the pioneer stories about angels helping them from the other side. I think in many ways this experience felt somewhat similar physically to having a baby (I think I sounded much the same--just ask Rob!). Just as we were really struggling toward the top of the hill, a tall woman (stake helper) came right next to me and helped me push our wagon that extra bit to get up the last bit of the hill. I was completely wiped and out of breath (and crying some).
We were instructed to stop at the top of the hill to have a family discussion and talk about the experience (it was now getting dark). Each person shared their feelings (both the girls and boys gained a greater appreciation for each other, for sure). I shared with the kids that it's been a tough year for me and that my mom recently died of cancer. I told them that I've not felt her presence like I have hoped I would, and that it's something I've wanted and prayed for. When the woman jumped on to help us right at the end, it was a reminder to me that often our prayers are answered through other people. Although my mom isn't here to help me in person (like I wish she were), I know that our Heavenly Father has blessed me by putting other women and people in my life that help carry my burdens and get me through tough times.
We continued walking in the dark and the kids seemed to have a burst of energy after our good group discussion and began talking and singing. The moon and stars looked spectacular and I can't remember the last time I've seen so many stars--they were so bright! The last mile was the most difficult, very uphill and very rocky--our own Rocky Ridge. One of our boys started to get very dizzy and Rob and I ended up pushing quite a bit. It was exhausting. We finally got to camp after 10pm. We laid out a tarp and slept under the stars in our sleeping bags. We had been told that dinner would be scarce, some broth and a roll. The kids were honestly more tired than hungry at that point. We sent a couple of our kids to get the food, and the rolls tasted so good. I noticed that the broth (Rob was dishing up) looked awfully clear, but it was warm and tasted wonderful. It was very windy and we tried to cover our heads and get to sleep as soon as we could.
We did not sleep very well even though we were so tired! I woke up before 6:00AM and it was somewhat cold and windy and our stuff was a little damp. We got packed up and I took Kayla with me to the main fire to make corn meal mush. FUNNY STORY: While I was at the fire making breakfast I heard someone talking about how they hadn't noticed the broth packet to add to the hot water until another family told them about it... I went back to camp and sure enough pulled out the broth packet from the bottom of a pillow case that we were supposed to add to our hot water the night before! What is really funny is that Rob said something like, "Make sure you drink your broth because it has electrolytes in it..." and we were all commenting on how good the "broth" tasted, so we laughed when we realized we were too tired and hungry to notice that we were just drinking warm water. I think we were thrilled just to be drinking something warm and not walking!
We set off again (now Thursday morning) and went about three and a half more miles until we got to our main camp. The kids were really running out of steam toward the end. We stopped at one point under the shade of some bushes/trees and I gave each of the kids a little bit of Gatorade powder to put in their water cups. Just as we moved forward about a foot, we realized that the camp was just around the corner! It was pretty funny. We joked that the Gatorade gave us the strength to go that last little bit. Once we got to camp we were directed to a site for our family. We were the last in our company to arrive and I was afraid that they were going to put us by the outhouses (which we were excited to see as we'd been going in bushes up to that point). President Lewis said that there might be a spot we could use way out across a ravine (another family had to help us push our handcart across it) so we ended up camping the furthest away in a great, secluded spot with plenty of shade and room to spread out.
We set off again (now Thursday morning) and went about three and a half more miles until we got to our main camp. The kids were really running out of steam toward the end. We stopped at one point under the shade of some bushes/trees and I gave each of the kids a little bit of Gatorade powder to put in their water cups. Just as we moved forward about a foot, we realized that the camp was just around the corner! It was pretty funny. We joked that the Gatorade gave us the strength to go that last little bit. Once we got to camp we were directed to a site for our family. We were the last in our company to arrive and I was afraid that they were going to put us by the outhouses (which we were excited to see as we'd been going in bushes up to that point). President Lewis said that there might be a spot we could use way out across a ravine (another family had to help us push our handcart across it) so we ended up camping the furthest away in a great, secluded spot with plenty of shade and room to spread out.
We emptied the handcart and set up camp. We cleared rocks and assigned kids to fetch water and firewood. Rob and I spread out our biggest tarp and began discussing how to set up the shelter. I was thinking we were going to do the top facing one direction and Rob was thinking the other way. After trying to get on the same page for a bit, one of our daughters asked, "Should we go get a ma and pa that know what they are doing?" Ouch. It was hilarious and made me laugh. The kids were great workers and knew that we wouldn't eat lunch until the work was finished. For lunch we had trail mix, rolls, beef jerky, and an apple. It wasn't much really, but seemed like plenty and the kids loved it.
We spent the afternoon doing different activities put on by the stake such as candle making, doll making, taffy pulling, tomahawk throwing and other fun period-type things. Here are the boys playing with their whirligigs:
One of our sons, Kyle, looks so much like Rob's nephews (a cross between Jake and Joseph). He was such a great kid; very sweet and soft spoken. I learned later that one of my babysitters (a girl in our ward) likes him--not surprising at all.
On Thursday night we had chili and scones for dinner (both tasted great!). The kids were in charge of family home evening and then we played some fun games and sang some around the camp fire.
Friday morning we had cracked wheat for breakfast and then had a company meeting. Our family was asked to do a musical number and we sang "Love at Home" with Rob on guitar. We had a few singers in our group and the song was lovely. Our daughter Marcelle (shooting in the photo above) was called on to bear her testimony and did such a great job. She also talked about how much she loves her trek family and it was nice to feel that the kids were bonding to each other and us (she was the same girl that had suggested getting some help with the shelter). :)
After the group meeting we got together with the family camped nearest to us (the Nygrens) and did a scavenger hunt activity and had a great discussion together. We've been wanting to get to know the Nygrens better--they have three boys and a girl just like us and about the same ages (although their daughter is a year or so younger than Liv). I enjoyed the chance to get to know some people outside of our ward. There were 29 different trek families plus all of the support staff-- so many great people to learn from!
We handed out lunches and sent the kids off on some solo time while Rob and I caught a cat nap under a tree. When the kids came back we had lots of time to prep for dinner and hang out. We made yummy flat bread (with powdered sugar), and started our cowboy stew for dinner. Lots of the kids like cooking and it was pretty easy to get the kids to do the work themselves (I've learned that I need to delegate more to my own kids! They are getting old enough, but it is a hard thing to do so sometimes).
Our awesome kids!
We were given two whole chickens and lots of vegetables for dinner. We browned the onions and chicken in the dutch oven before adding them to the pot with the potatoes and carrots. It smelled amazing! Just like my dad's fried chicken:
Our kids wanted to make onion rings and french fries so they made up a batter and did it all on their own. It was so delicious, and I swear it wasn't just because we were camping and hungry :)
Some of our boys did some stick-pulling and Kayla tried it out and beat two of the boys (easily). Kayla was our youngest (14) and was super tough. She even volunteered to cut up all the raw chicken!
Cute 'Pa Pete' stirring the stew:
The chicken fell off of the bones and the stew was so, so good. The dutch oven bread that I had worried so much about looked beautiful and tasted perfect (our son McKay said it was better than the hot dogs and hamburgers they had waiting for the kids at base camp after it was all over).
We left the stew to simmer on the coals and went to a hoedown. It was fun to see and chat with some of our friends for a few minutes. I caught this darling picture of Rob and Alecia dancing:
Rob and me slow dancing:
We left the dance (before our kids) as the sun was setting to get the bread going in the dutch oven and finish up dinner so it would be ready as soon as our kids got home:
Our happy and hungry kids telling us all about the dance as the bread finished up:
After dinner we had a testimony meeting and talked for a bit before going to bed. I slept pretty well the last two nights, although my hips are sore from sleeping on the ground--I'm getting old!
We got up and ate oatmeal with canned peaches in it (so yummy!) and packed up and got ready to head home. I had made this fabric banner to decorate our shelter, but forgot to get it out until it was time to leave. The kids thought it was cute and we used it as 'bling' on our handcart:
Family Photo:
 |
| (Back left) Tommy, McKay, Justin, Kyle, Pa Pete, Marcelle, Kayla (Front) Mari, and Ma Pete |
These kids exemplified quiet faith. They did what they were asked without complaint, even though it was very difficult at times. They participated with great attitudes and made the most of the experience. We learned so many great things from them!
We were the very last handcart in the train back to base camp (only about a mile). Rob played the guitar and the kids (and some of the families in front of us) sang along:
We made it! I'm so grateful for the experience and will never forget it.
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
