Martin's Cove



We Said Good Bye to the MTC



and arrived at Martin's Cove on April 26, 2006
This was the Cove's Sesquicentennial
There would be 52 senior couples serving this season

This is our home for the summer
Elder Hilton built a little storage
area under the overhang.  He built
it out of old handcart wood

Our first shot of Devil's Gate

They put us to work immediately
We hand oiled 220 handcarts



Rob dug post holes and make new fence

and more fence, and more fence and still more fence






He built handcarts



He lead the cattle choir
Bet most of you didn't know that
Martin's Cove is an operating
Cattle Ranch

they built cattle guards

he assembled handcarts
(The wheels are made back East by the Amish
but the body and assembly are done
at Martin's Cove)

They tried to have Lindy work in the Humanitian Center

but she preferred the wood shop



Then they took us to Six Crossing
to experience a real trek

 

At first it was fun




but it was long and hard
The pioneers trekked 1,300 miles from
Iowa City to SLC
we trekked less than 16 miles




It was a LONG 16 miles




just a little further, we're almost to the top




we made it to the top gratefully
with pleasant weather and
plenty of food in our stomachs










but in 1857 the weather was harsh, the food was gone
and many saints perished

 



In late May the kids started to arrive by the hundreds



by June, July & August
it was not unusual to have 2,500 youth
on the trails each day
most treks were 4 days, 3 nights

 


We loved all the posts
The Rover was every one's favorite
Taking persons who were disabled
into the cove by this green ATV

 

some of the older missionaries didn't like potty
duty, but we loved it.
all day would be just roaming around from one bathroom
to another, cleaning up and hauling away garbage

 


the crossing of the Sweet Water River



the Visitor's Center




handcart parking
(these handcarts are for little kids)



but our very favorite posts were
The Women's Pull



our Ephraim Hanks and Thesbe Reed
Presentation

 

the highlight of all the posts
was THE COVE




The spirit was so strong there
you could feel the presence of the Saints
who had perished






We had lots of potluck dinners

 




I mean LOTS

 

and LOTS of potlucks





at some of these dinners
we even got to make fools of ourselves

 



We had visitors of every kind
(Richard and Nora Lee were our favorites)

 



some visitors were cute

  

some noisy




some sly
 

and some right down pesky





Hey, that's my garden your eating
(pronghorns, a relative of the antelope family,
are a true newsense



Would you just please stay in your own neighborhood!
Deer were a joy and they did stay where they belonged

 
 













Mission-Week in the MTC



A huge chapter of our life closed in November of 2005
when we sold the Scandia Inn

Immediately we submitted our Mission Papers
and received a call to serve in Martin's Cove
in Wyoming

We received training with the couples going
to Martin's Cove and Six Crossing

It was exciting to train with all of the Young missionaries going
out to serve throughout the World.

Provo was wonderfully beautiful as we were there in the early spring

The young missionaries were always helping the senior missionaries
empting our trays, making sure we had always had a place to set, etc

There were many special guests
Sherry Dew was one of my favorite

In the evenings we spent time getting to know
the couples we would be serving with

Our good friends
LeAnn and Lee Longson
were later called as Directors
of the Mission

O.K. The training is over, let's get started