Smith Family!: 4Wheeling at Hardware Ranch

For the Memorial day weekend we (Justin, Jerri Lynn and Peyton) decided to take the 4 wheelers and go with Justin's parents Ray and Audrey and the Hahn Family (Rusty, Kelly, Samantha, Justin, Caleb, & Trevor) and head up to Hardware Ranch in Cache County. We left the house around 7:30 so we could stop and place some flowers on Ray's Brother Wayne's grave in Brigham City. We met up with the Hahn family around 8:30 and arrived at Hardware Ranch around 9:30. When we got there we unloaded the 4 wheelers and got the coolers and food packed on the 4 wheelers. Peyton was so excited we had taken her Thursday to pick our her own helmet and she was excited to get it on and go riding. We had 7 4-wheelers all together... Justin had Peyton with him since he could ride easier than I could with her on. I tried to take her but her helmet kept hitting me in the chin and it wasn't feeling very well. We headed up the trail and stopped a few times to drinks and snacks. On the way we encountered several other people... One in particular had a close encounter with Justin and Peyton... needless to say he had a few choice words yelled at him by Justin and then by Rusty who saw it all take place. I just shook my hand at him. It was quite scary to witness it and not be able to do anything. Also along the way we had to drive through a lot and I mean a LOT of water. It was a lot of fun! I ended up soaked from my knees down. We stopped for lunch and took some pictures and just enjoyed each other's company. We decided to head down the trail and as we came over the mountain I saw "A SEA OF BLUE"! I knew that we had gone all the way to Bear Lake. We continued down the road and actually ended up in Meadowville just Norh of Laketown. When we got to Meadowville I found that Peyton had fallen asleep in Justin's arms. Yes she fell asleep... not once but 3 times along he way home. We found no gas stations there so we turned around and headed back. We found another trail that was supposed to lead back to Hardware Ranch... as we headed up the trail we came across a lot of snow drifts yes I said snow drifts. I actually got stuck a few times. We ended up having to turn back because there was too much snow to get through and we kept getting stuck. When we turned back, Justin and Peyton hit a large mud puddle and Peyton got soaked! On the way back to Hardware Ranch Justin and Peyton lead the way so that they didn't get all the dust.... all of the sudden Justin stopped his 4 wheeler and started yelling stay to the right side of the road stay to the right.... I was right behind him trying to figure out what he was talking about... as I drove by I saw the BIGGEST RATTLE SNAKE I had ever seen... it had to be 4 feet long and about 2 inches around. I nearly died.... Justin explained that he saw it sliding across the road and knew he was going to have to go by it so he raised his left leg and moved Peyton as far to the right as possible when he heard something hit the side of the 4 wheelers... Yes the snake struck at him and hit the 4 wheeler instead. Lucky for him he had moved away from the snake. So if you are keeping count... Justin and Peyton and 2 near misses. We made it back to Hardware Ranch around 4:30, loaded the wheelers and headed home. Ray and Audrey stopped at Maddox and picked up dinner for the 5 of us and met us at the house. It was a long day but totally worth it. I loved hanging out with Kelly and Rusty and thier family! I hope we can do it again soon!