Larry and I flew to Arizona on Saturday. I was a little worried about it because the temperature was projected to be 85 degrees. I decided to be brave and go anyway. I took two big bottles Gatorade plus four bottles of water. It ended up being the perfect amount of liquid. We finished the last bottle of Gatorade as we were driving home from the airport. We left my house around 10:30 and took off from the SpFork airport an hour later. To drive to Marble Canyon takes five and a half hours - we flew there in just over one and a half. The views were incredible, as always. We saw a lot of snow in the mountains when we were at 11,000 feet. We also saw this lake that still had ice covering it. Larry asked if I wanted to experience weightlessness. I said sure. Oh my goodness, it was a bit scary. I imagine that's what it feels like when your plane is taking a nose dive.
We always have plenty to talk about when we fly, and the headsets Larry has makes it so much easier. Going down I got the headset with the loose microphone. It always wanted to position itself right at my chin. It was hilarious. After we got back, Larry pulled it out of the plane to fix. Thankfully, he had another set I could use for the trip home.
Since we had been on this hike before, we knew what to expect and were a lot more agile. We got to the spot where we stopped and realized we were a short 20 minutes from the end. On that trip we ran out of daylight so we had to turn around. This time, we had plenty of sunshine and good weather.
Once we landed the plane (which got a little interesting because another plane had just started to taxi down the runway) we rode the scooters over to the nearby restaurant and had a yummy lunch before starting the hike. Larry had a hamburger with fried greens (that actually tasted yummy), and I had a taco salad. One thing about Larry is that he doesn't mind sharing. It's been an adjustment for me to share food (and possibly germs), but it is WAY more convenient. After a quick potty break we got back on the scooters and zoomed to the trail head.
The shape of this rock reminded me of Rex, so I had to get a picture.
This particular area is called Cathedral wash because of the slot canyon on either side and the dry river bed at the bottom. Most of the hike is accessed by walking on the wall rims. Only near the beginning and end do you actually walk at the bottom. This time down, I felt comfortable enough in a few spots to find places to scramble up by myself. It felt very empowering and Larry was proud of me. At one point, I was too exhausted to get myself up so I said "Daddy come help me". He happily did. Another point he boosted me up, and then I helped him up. Team effort on full display during this hike.
Every once in a while we would spot a tiny lizard scurrying along the rock. I was lucky to capture this one on video. Don't blink though, or you might miss it. We could hear the river before we could see it. It was so amazing to come around a bend in the hike and there was the river. It was mighty and glorious to behold. We never saw any rafters going down like the video above showed. Larry agreed that it would be a fun thing to do. I don't agree. White water rapids scare me to death. My fear of water is alive and well.
There was a group of biology students from Oklahoma. Their instructor told us he grew up in Moab, so when his administration gave him permission to take the summer students on a biology trip he knew they needed to come here. It was especially nice that one of the gals in the group offered to take our picture.
This rock was the perfect rock to sit on and contemplate the meaning of life. I was feeling so many deep feelings of gratitude. My heart was near to bursting. I never thought I would enjoy these types of adventures.
We spent about 30 minutes just relaxing and enjoying this area. We had packed snacks (applesauce, apples, shortbread cookies, jolly ranchers, and almonds) so we sat and ate while soaking up the sun (but not overdoing it).
Then, it was time to head back. As we were leaving we both commented on the fact that we will probably never go there again. So, naturally, I had to take a million pictures going back. In this picture there is a small arch in the background. Make the picture as big as you can and see if you can spot it.
Larry doesn't take nearly as many pictures as I do, so I have a lot of him. LOL. This was at the very end of the hike. We created lots of fun memories and I'm thankful I was brave and did it.
The only thing Larry forgot to bring on this adventure (it's always something) was the bike lock for the scooters. I was saying a silent prayer the entire hike that they would still be there when we returned. Thankfully they were. After a quick potty break at the nearby gas station, we were on our way home.
We've taken Larry's small plane out so many times over the past few months that I had forgotten how spacious this plane is. Here is a picture of the back of the plane with the scooters on board.
On our way there we had a headwind of about 40 mph. On the way home we had a significant tailwind and we got close to flying 200mph. It was glorious. There was only one really HUGE spot of turbulence where I felt super nervous for a nano second. Larry said it was caused by the wind burbling over the high mountain we had just cleared. My ears did much better on this trip, and I was thankful for that. It was also overcast on the way home, so I could take off my sunglasses.
On Tuesday my boss said that she had brought in a yummy treat for us to enjoy. They are called Kolaches. There is a store in Provo (on Center Street) that makes them. Over the years, I've noticed that in the mornings this store always has a line out the door and down the street. It was fun to finally be able to try one. The funny thing is, they taste just like my homemade rolls. Meaning, I don't think they are all that amazing. I guess a lot of other people think differently. The celebration was for one of my coworkers that just finished her first semester back at college. She is in an architecture program at UVU. This program is super intense and she just takes one class at a time. It's been super stressful to her, so it was fun to celebrate her accomplishment on this day.
A neighbor and I are trying to get out and go for a walk a few times a week. While we were walking last night another neighbor's dog was so excited. One thing led to another, and pretty soon we were meeting their Russian tortoise. His name is King Punga. I thought he was SO cute! The owner said he is around 20 years old. If I ever get another pet I would like a small tortoise. He loved, loved, loved being on the grass.
Last Saturday Larry and I had the most amazing adventure! It zapped me of so much energy, but it was worth it. Totally and completly. We flew out of Spanish Fork airport just before noon, and flew to this remote place in Nevada. Larry had investigated it a few weeks before, so he knew exactly where we were going. When we went into land, the cows decided they wanted to take over the road. So, we had to circle around and try again. It was hilarious.
We had a big walk/hike from where we parked the plane to where the cave trail began. It took us longer than we thought it would (about 90 minutes), mostly because of me and how out of shape I am. Larry was so patient with me. I told him a lot about the California wagon train in 2001 because it felt a lot like that experience. I also WAY overpacked my backpack - it was SO heavy.
Once we got to the trail it was a scrabble to get to the top. At first Larry had me go first, which was hard. It was much easier when he picked the trail and I followed. We stopped a few times on the way up to enjoy the beautiful scenery. It reminded me of the scriptures and how people would have to go out into the wilderness to survive. It was that remote.
Once we got to the cave it was all worth it. It was SO beautiful and amazing!
There were bats in the cave!
I had asked my neighbors son, Eric, about this particular cave before we went. I was able to do some research into some of the things that we saw. He explores caves ALL the time with a few buddies that survey and map caves. He told me to that Goshute has: Anthodites, Aragonite, Bacon, Bubbles, Cave Pearls, Chandeliers, Columns, Coralloids, Cupulas (hypogenic), Draperies, Flowstone, Folia, Frostwork, Helicities, mammilaries, Moonmilk, Popcorn, Rafts, and Raft Cones, Rimston, Rimstone Dams, Shelfstone, Shields, Sodastraws, Spar, Splattermies, Stalactices, and lots more.
He told me that many of these cave formations he had never seen in person, so it was an amazing cave to go into. The only other cave I've been into is the Timpanogos Cave in American Fork, and a rideable cave tour we took in Missouri. I hit the jackpot when I asked him about it. He had just visited one week before.
Before leaving I snapped this photo. I think it's incredibly beautiful, and I can't believe I did this super hard thing.
Larry and I were starving once we were finished. It was about 6pm by the time we got out of the cave. We walked down to the plane and then flew to Wendover. We've been there before and they have a great little Mexican restaurant there. I wanted to just fall asleep in the booth. I feel bad for anyone that had to see my dirty self. The flight home was incredible! It was completely dark. We flew over the Salt Flats and we could see bonfires and people having parties. We were both super wiped out when we flew into the airport just after 10:30pm. It had been a full and delightful day.
Every spring I have birds building nests all over the back porch. It drives me crazy because of all the poop that accumulates. This year they discovered my dryer vent, and one persistent bird started making a nest inside. I tried to discourage it by running the dryer whenever I could hear it scratching around in there. Out of desperation, I finally asked Larry if he would come over and help me fix it. He was so kind to help me out. He did all the hard work of pulling out the vent and then carefully chipping away at the stucco to get the entire frame of the vent out. He said the vent was put on the house before the stucco was installed. It was tedious, but he did a perfect job. It was fun being his assistant because I could take pictures like this:
He also brought me over some of my favorite candy. Before he left for the night, he and I shared the entire bag. I was so grateful that he was willing to help me, and that we had so much fun doing it. Hopefully I will have no more problems with birds.
I worked a little bit on some fair things this week. I went and got all the extra shirts they had from last year. I've been slowly handing out the extras to friends/family. I had to determine how many extra we had from last year, so they can order the ones for this year. I think it's going to be pretty fun. I'm a bit worried about how tired I might be. It seems like fair days are long. But, it will be a good experience for me to see such a large event happen.
This week has been a more relaxing week than the past three weeks. I'm always so thankful for a contract job, but it's nice not to feel the pressure to quickly finish it. This week I finally got around to cleaning out Rex's habitat. I keep thinking that I need to get a bigger house for him. He is still growing and getting so long. This week I made a visit to one of our vendors that provides milk at work. They had a dozen quail eggs and I knew Rex would love them. He first had to stare out it for 20 minutes and then he dived right in. His naturally stoic face makes me laugh so hard.
Luke has been begging for a hair trim for a few days, so we got down to business and made it happen. I am so glad that I can do it and not spend money on going to a stylist. The times are probably getting limited in him allowing me to do it. To be funny, we buzzed everything but one small section in the middle. Except I didn't quite do it straight, so we were laughing and laughing. It was so funny. Now if only Peter would let me buzz his hair. Then we would have a BIG party!
The boys and I got out of the house together this week. It was SO nice to spend time with them. I am thankful they were willing to spend time with this 'old momma'. I've been spending A LOT of time this week working on a 1099 contract that I got from Backstage, so it was especially nice to get away from my computer.
Sorting books at the library is SO entertaining. I giggle more on my shifts here then on most days. I think next week I'll take $5 in cash so I can buy a few books I've had my eye on (not the ones shown below).
The other day Peter wanted to see how flexible he is. He can still do it, and he was so proud of himself.
