West Rim Hike Part II

As you all know from our previous post requesting friends and family to go with us, we hiked the West Rim Trail in Zion National park last Saturday.

We’re not totally hated by all of our friends and family because my brother and sister-in-law came with us and it was a great time.

As it turns out, my memory didn’t serve me well, as Sydney can attest, because it wasn’t all downhill, it was mostly though. There were many spectacular views of white sand stone cliffs, huge monoliths, deep slot canyons...

and tourists hiking in colored bras (Sorry boys, no pictures).

One of the highlights of the trip is the long switch backs that are carved right into the side of this huge sandstone cliff where it is just you and the edge. From this point you can hear an echo of a whole phrase like, “Shellie is scared!”

Another part that is also cool is being able to see Angels Landing from up above instead of from down below, and believe it or not it looks scarier from up above. After the 13.5 miles we were a little sore but what really hurts your pride is that we were passed by this, “old broad” as I called her, who must have started at the bottom and passed us heading up the trail when we weren’t even half way, then passed us again when she was coming back down and we still had 2-3 miles to go. All she had with her was 2 liters of water strapped to her fanny pack.

And so you know it couldn’t have been that bad, because Sydney said and I quote,

“I’m even thinking I want to do it again sometime!”

Trip to the Mesas

To celebrate our 2nd Anniversary we took an extended vacation to Moab, through Arches National Park; to the middle of no where, through Natural Bridges National Monument; to Cortez, through Mesa Verde National Park; to Durango, through countless whitewater rafting stores; to a bunch of little towns, through a 12,000 foot mountain pass; and finally to Grand Junction, and home.We had both been to Arches before, but never before hiked to Delicate Arch. It is so awesome and totally worth the 3 mile hike.

This one is at the Natural Bridges National Monument. This bridge is named Sipapu. That is one word we heard about a bazillion times at Mesa Verde...Anyway, click to enlarge this image and look for a little white spot which is Logan. I didn't go to the bottom, it's not cuz I couldn't make it, but because of the photo opportunity. I did, however, almost die coming back up out of there.
This is me coming up a ladder at Mesa Verde National Park. I've come a long way since this. We did all three ranger guided tours and had a BLAST!!! This is actually one of the small ladders. We did just fine on the 30 footer, just fine.
Mesa Verde is a fascinating place. We learned all about Kiva's and Sipapu's and got a feel for what life was like. I would have never made it in a culture where the klutzy don't survive.

This is Logan's "Steve" picture he took of Delicate Arch. (Our friend Steve is always posting these cool, artistic pictures on his blog).

Homemade Root Beer

On Saturday night we hosted a BBQ for some of Logan's work friends, specifically for the one that is moving to Salt Lake next weekend. We had gourmet hamburgers, fries, and homemade root beer. I havne't had dry ice root beer in so long! It was fun to make and really yummy!

Flip-Flop Fiend

As many of you know, Logan is a flip-flop fiend. I remember once searching every store/mall in the Salt Lake Valley with him in search of the perfect flip-flop.

Prior to meeting Logan I was quite the advocate of $1 flip-flops. They were affordable enough to have a pair in every color and it was pretty much like being barefoot.

Logan is an advocate of $30-$40 flip-flops. He likes to find the perfect pair and wear them till there is nothing left of them.

Since I now work in a sweat shop that has concrete floors I have decided that the $1 flops weren't cutting it. I bought a pair of Sketcher ones earlier in the year from JC Penney because my mom gave me a $10 off coupon. They lasted just over a month. They were a slight improvement over the $1 flops but just a little. And my $1 flops last a lot longer.

This led me to go on my own quest for the perfect flip-flop. We went to every shoe store imaginable in St. George and I couldn't find any I was satisfied with. I did find some Tiva's I liked but they didn't have them in my size. Last week I went to Dillard's to look some more. And I fell in love... This is the perfect flip-flop of all time. The flip-flop that beats all flip-flops!!! This is the Sanuk Yoga Mat sandal. The sole is made of a Yoga Mat. THEY ARE HANDS DOWN THE MOST COMFORTABLE SHOES I HAVE EVER, EVER HAD!!!

I HIGHLY recommend them. Really, you should get some or just try some on. I am afraid there may now be more than one flip-flop fiend in the family...

The 24th in Monroe is the BEST!!! (You should try it sometime)

Each year for the 24th of July we go up to Monroe to celebrate with my side of the family. This year was no different. We had so much fun at the parade and on the park.

We didn't get any pictures of me and Logan together. Or any pictures of family really... I am so good at taking pictures of us with Logan's family and so bad with mine.

Meghan and Maycee were 'mini cheerleaders' in the parade this year (Go South Sevier!!!). They really liked it. Maycee is the one with red hair that is waving in the top picture, and Meghan is the red head with red shorts in the bottom. Funny story, one of the cheers included the phrase "kick butt" and my sister was freaking out about it (come to think of it, she probably wouldn't approve of me saying she "freaked out"...haha! Love you Kristy!)

Then in the afternoon, Logan kayaked the Sevier River through Marysvale Canyon (that is also turning into a 24th tradition). This is just a sneak peak of what you may be seeing on the Paddle Oar Die blog soon.

West Rim Trail

Sydney and I are planning a hike down the West Rim Trail in Zion. I've done it when I was a varsity scout it's an easier and cooler way to see Angels Landing among other cool parts. You Start by leaving a car at the bottom in Springdale some where and then drive to Kolob and camp for the night. In the morning you pack all you crap in the car and take some water and a lunch and walk the 16 down hill miles into the park stopping to check out Angels Landing on the way. Then you just have to take the shuttle out of the park and pick up your car and go back up to Kolob and camp that night again (if you want or you could go home). Sydney and I are going to do this the 4th through the 6th of September, If anybody would like to join us (family and friends) you are more than welcome to come. If we get more people we'll just take more cars.

Here's a Picture to entice you.


Trail discription

Fee Free Weekend

So this weekend was one of the fee free weekends at the national parks. So Sydney and I thought it would be cool to drive through Zion, when she got off work. We did, we went up to the park and road the shuttle up to the River Walk, which is the first mile of the narrows that's paved and you don't have to get wet to do it. Then we took the shuttle back to our car and drove through the tunnel and up around Highway 89 back over Cedar Mountain and stopped to see Cascade Falls. We just barely made it before it got dark. For those of you that don't know, Cascade Falls is the start of the North Fork of the Virgin River and it comes through the ground out of Navajo Lake. Then we drove home and by the time we got home we were pretty tired Sydney was laughing at her own face, I guess she thought it was funny?

No A/C

Last night our A/C quit working.


It's already 85 degrees in here and it's only 11 in the morning. OH THE LONG DAY AHEAD...

They should be here to fix it sometime today.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

One AWESOME Weekend

Here are a few pictures from our weekend in Salt Lake:

Somebody ate a blue flower from Lucas' birthday cake...

Here is sweet little baby Terek being his adorable self:)

A couple of little monkey's hanging from their indoor jungle gym.

Logan bonded with Tagg. (I think he might just want one...)

Darth Vader attacking all of the children around Anisa's house.

A Crazy, Happy 4th of July

This was one crazy 4th of July for us this year. We stopped by Kanarraville on our way home from our rafting trip and caught the tail end of the Williams Family Annual BBQ. (No pictures).

After going home we went over to Ron and Debbie's to clean up everything. Then we hurried home to shower and go to the fireworks. We went to the Fireworks with Lucas, Shellie, and Legacy; Josh, Melanie, Tanner, Corbin and a bunch of people I don't know. While at the fireworks, Shellie and I talked our hubby's into pooling their cash so we could get a giant snow cone. We tried Dragonblood. I was not impressed, but Legacy sure liked it!

After the fireworks we went to Josh and Mel's house (just like last year) and set off fireworks. It is so much fun to go to their house to set off fireworks because they are seriously some of the funnest people ever! They always have something yummy to eat (like banana cream pie) and oodles of fireworks.

It was one VERY LONG DAY!!! It started at 6 am just north of Twin Falls, ID and ended around 1 am in St. George.

She's a True Rafter Now!

We recently went on a rafting trip on the Snake River in Hell's Canyon, Idaho. Needless to say it was a learning experience, and Sydney has now floated her first and probably last class IV rapid. It was a great trip the water was clear and fairly warm, the canyon is beautiful and the river is wild. it was a long drive but it was worth it I think.

SPOT

As everyone has heard, Logan will be rafting the Grand Canyon in November. That means there will be two weeks of absolutely zero possibility of communication.

Welcome SPOT!

We have looked at this a couple of times but with the pressure of November coming fast upon me, I made a purchase with my hard (and slowly) earned Malibu Money (the money I earn at Malibu Cleaners). I bought the device, but made Logan pay for the service plan.

This is a really cool device. It will send me text messages that tell me he's okay, or if he needs help, or if 911 has been called. These texts also tell me where he is. It also tracks him, sending GPS coordinates to Google Earth every 10 minutes (when tracking mode is on). That way I can see his progress on Google. I cannot communicate with him, but just knowing his hasn't drowned or frozen to death gives me so much peace of mind!!!

Look What I Made!

A while back I found an amazing tutorial for this bag. I waited till I got the courage and found the perfect fabrics. I ended up making it from dark denim and apple print. This is going to be my new practicum bag for when I go into elementary schools. I also am totally in love with the giant button. I don't know if I like where I put it though. This was a lot easier than I thought it would be and it kept me busy while the hubby was away:)

Rafting in Green River

We went camping with Ben and Brittney Laidlaw, Camille and Matt Campbell, Cash and Adam over near Green River to raft the last little bit of Grey Canyon on the Green River.

It was really fun! It rained and the water was chilly, but it was still fun.

The couples (except Logan and I) left Saturday night. The other four of us stayed and got rained on.

The next morning the road was really muddy and we almost slid off the road and into the river and died. I am being a little dramatic here, but it scared me a lot. Maybe that's because my window was the one that was on the edge. It took us forever to get the mud off Logan's tires enough to drive down the freeway. They must make a killing at the one over priced carwash in town.