Kokanee Salmon- Take 2

After our disappointing trip to see the Kokanee salmon toward the beginning of September I found out from Utah's Adventure Family that there were more fish a couple weeks later when they went to the fish trap at Strawberry Reservoir. The kids and I headed back there on Thursday, September 23, and were very happy to see so many salmon this time. Yay.

There were some in the stream. There were plenty coming up the fish ladder/steps and going into the fish trap. We love watching them. There were plenty more in the fish trap area itself.

It was a beautiful evening and I'm so glad we made it back there even if Jeremy wasn't able to come this time. We did text him about what we were doing while we were there. That was fun, too.

Kokanee Salmon

This year we wanted to see kokanee salmon at the fish trap at Strawberry Reservoir since we missed them last year (we did get to see a few last year at Jordanelle Reservoir but not as many as we usually see at Strawberry). 

We figured September 4 was a good day since it was also National Wildlife Day and Turkey Vulture Day. We definitely saw some turkey vultures while we were out. Here is a list of other wildlife we saw: osprey, red-tailed hawk, grasshopper, a fuzzy caterpillar who fell off a ledge while Jr. was trying to get a picture of it. It's okay. It fell to the grass below. The timing was just funny. We also saw elk crossing signs but I don't think those count as wildlife.

Unfortunately there weren't too many salmon. Not many in the stream going up to the fish trap. Only a few above the fish steps/ladder and we didn't see any swimming into the fish house. Some years we've seen a lot. This year the water level was so low in the stream- who knows? We did have fun spending time as a family, though.

After we saw a few in the fish trap, we went farther downstream and did see a few more (still not a lot, though).

It was also World Beard Day. I didn't get a specific picture of Jeremy showing off his beard even though we talked about it. Oh well.
When we got home we ate fish sticks because... fish.

Bagels and Pizza

February 9 was Bagels & Lox Day. I got out bagels, cream cheese, and a can of salmon and told the kids to use those however for after school snack. Close enough in my opinion.

That day was also National Pizza Day. Nichole made everyone tortilla pizzas for dinner. Thanks, Nichole.

Kokanee Salmon?

Someone told us that if we went back to Rock Cliff Recreation Area a couple weeks after we went to see the kokanee salmon in September, there would be a lot more salmon to see. So we went back and there were not more. We may have seen three? Maybe, if that. 

The trip was not a waste, though. There were birds of course- cedar waxwings, lesser goldfinches, yellow-rumped warblers, dark-eyed juncos, white-crowned sparrows, flickers.

We also saw two or three black phoebes which are not as common as those others. 

There was also beautiful scenery- the river and reservoir and of course the Fall colors. 

We saw deer several times. It was fun to watch them bound away. 

We saw some spiders spinning webs.

We had fun family time. The kids enjoyed making Jet smile and laugh (and the rest of us).

At one point on a bridge, the boys were throwing plants in the water and I called out, "Pooh sticks!"
They got excited about that and went to gather more things to toss. Jr. grabbed a big rock and said, "Pooh sticks. Eeyore style!" and threw it into the water. That started more rock throwing into the water.

It was great and we didn't have any fighting while we were there or in the van.

I loved that time with my family. 

Definitely click on this last picture to see it larger. Lucky's pose, man.

Kokanee Salmon

The National Days Calendar our friends gave us earlier in the year has a whole bunch listed for September 26, 2020. There's National Pancake Day, National Singles Day, Public Lands Day, Hunting and Fishing Day, Family Health and Fitness Day USA to name a few.

So for celebrating Jr. made us chocolate chip pancakes before we all set out for a drive with our water bottles and little packets of singles flavoring. Originally we thought about heading to a public land but we thought that it might be too crowded since it was free entrance that day. Like his brother before him, Jr. Jr. recently got a national parks pass so we can go to public lands as a family anytime for free for a year. We decided instead to go to Jordanelle Reservoir to the Rock Cliff Recreation area where we hoped it would be less crowded. We didn't go to the fish trap at Strawberry Reservoir to see kokanee salmon this year (and they're not doing salmon viewing events this year) so we thought we'd try this place which I recently read was a good place to see them.

 

There were boardwalks to walk around on to get our exercise in (health and fitness) and there were indeed some salmon in the river where we could see them from the bridge we stopped at (hunting and fishing). There were also trout swimming along to snatch up the eggs deposited by the spawning salmon for a nice meal. We learned about this because while we were there on that uncrowded bridge, along came a couple of volunteers from DNR to check on things in the recreation area since there had been flooding in the Spring and because it was kokanee spawning time. They were very friendly and very happy to tell us things about the salmon and about the area. It was very informative and they were great to answer our questions. 

Nichole was great to get pictures of the salmon.

At one point, Jr. fell down so I offered to give him a piggy back ride. He's not as small as he used to be. I thought it would be funny to give him a piggy back ride since he's taller than me now. I can still lift him.

"Will you marry me?"

If you look really closely in the background of these pictures, there is a great blue heron sitting in a tree. Nichole took pictures of the heron while I took pictures of Lucky.

We had a good time. Love that family bonding.

Groundhog Day and Groundhog Day Observed

I realized something recently. January and February this year have the same dates on the same days of the week as back in 2014. It of course will change in March since there is an extra day in February this year. In the meantime, some of our celebrating in January and February of 2020 parallels that of 2014.
For example Groundhog Day. As in 2014 we celebrated Groundhog Day Observed the day before since February 2 was on a Sunday.
Jeremy made imitation groundhog burgers again. This time he made salmon burgers.

The boys watched the movie.
In 2014, Nichole brought home a groundhog puppet from school. In 2020, Lucky brought one home.

And like 2014, we have a new baby in the home. What a joy. (comparison- first picture Lucky, second picture, Jet)

One thing that is different is that this year the date was a palindrome date. 02-02-2020. Those types of things are always fun.
And since we did imitation groundhog burgers the day before, on the 2nd, I tried out a new recipe to go along with dinner- sweet and sour chicken. It was from a Relief Society cookbook I got years ago in our old ward. There are some recipes in there that are our favorites. And this sweet and sour chicken?- Craveworthy! At least for me. Mmmmmmmmmm. Jeremy can't stand pineapple. More for me! I love pineapple!