Desert Dwelling


Thursday, July 3Disclaimer: I should have written more while I was there, because apparently my muse for this trip got left behind in Utah . . .

It was difficult to stay focussed at the office knowing that I would be leaving that afternoon for my getaway to the Salt Lake desert to visit with my family for a few days. But I was very excited to leave--mainly because I got to ride the bus and light rail again (like the old days--just kidding). Fortunately there were now fights, smelly drunks, or screaming babies--I did have to stand for most of the ride, but it's nice after having to sit in my office chair all day.

I fortunately didn't have to sit next to the chatty lady in front of me, so I relaxed to the random tunes on my mp3 player and read about various running stories and profiles of athletes in a special edition of Runner's World that focussed on the Olympic Trials being held right now in Eugene.

It was nasty hot in SLC when I touched down. But everything was nice and cool in my dad's lightning truck, at least until he dragged a Mustang. I think I said something like, "Yeah, way to leave that cheap American car behind." Then I remembered that I too was riding in a Ford . . .

Fortunately my parents have a cool basement, so I was able to sleep comfortably (on an air mattress) every night I was there.

The guest list for our family event included: Mom and Dad (who now live in Daybreak (South Jordan)); oldest brother Matt, his wife Elaina, and there three children, and who were in the middle of relocating from Atlanta to Keizer, OR; me (sans wife and kids--sorry guys); youngest brother Jamin and his girlfriend, Emily, both presently living in North Carolina; younger but oldest sister, Maren, and her husband and two kids, who live about 45 minutes south of my parents; and youngest sister, Megan, who is currently living and going to school in Rexburg, ID.

Friday, July 4
I actually slept in for once. That doesn't happen at home, with two active boys who like to wake up early every day. That morning we drove a few miles west into the mountains to visit the Bingam Copper Mine, also known as the world's largest hole-in-the-ground. I wasn't sure how to react: on the one hand, the mine produces so many metals and materials useful for our society, but on the other hand the process is totally destroying the mountain and its surroundings.

That afternoon we drove down to my sister's house in Springville, where she entertained us (with her board games and the Wii, hooked up to a projector for larger-than-life visuals) and fed us. When the night settled in, we drove into Provo (and past the MTC--wow, haven't seen that place in almost 15 years) to watch some fireworks from Cougar Stadium, where apparently Hanna Montana was performing. I don't like fireworks so much, mainly because of having to sit in traffic for so long trying to get home.

Saturday, July 5
My highlight for the trip was when we all drove up Cottonwood Canyon to the Brighton Ski Resort to go hiking. The entire group made the 2.5 mile round trip (and 700 feet of elevation gain--topping out around 9200 feet above sea level) to our destination of Solitude Lake. It was fun working together to get the entire crew safely up the mountain. Upon returning home, my dad grilled some of the best salmon ever.

Sunday, July 6
I walked with Ethan and Aurora (nephew and niece) to church. On the way home with Aurora and my dad, she told us about the time she and her mom were caught outside in a lightning storm and she was struck by lightning. But it only blew her aside about 10 feet and she was fine. She then swore us to secrecy; well, at least we weren't supposed to tell her mom . . .

Monday, July 7The gathering had started dispersing by now, but Jamin, Megan (sister, note wife), and Jamin all drove over to the community outdoor pool for it's grand opening. I felt special to be a part of that history.

Tuesday, July 8
I had to wake up early again so my mom could take me to the airport so I could commute to work (for half the day). It was difficult to return to work that day after so much fun, but at least I was eager to return home to my happy family in Salem again.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Partied Like It's 1999

Image
1999 symbolizes my "freedom" time: I was a college graduate, gainfully-employed, virtually debt-free, and single/childless. I pretty much did what I wanted and didn't have to report to anyone or commit to any thing. This past week felt like I had stepped backwards in time, as Meg decided, on a whim, to drive to Salt Lake City--with kids in tow--and stay with my parents for a week. Since I wasn't part of the road trip, you'll have to encourage her to share any stories , although she has confessed to me that she's done with blogging. Here are the highlights of the back-in-time party that was this week: Exercise : Besides my daily 11-mile round trip commute by bike to the office, I went on three other bike rides around Clackanomah County, swam at the pool twice, and ran once. Cleaning : Organized some of our outdoor living space, cleaned the house from top-to-bottom, washed the G20, cleaned my bike, and manicured the outside landscape. Sleep : Every night wa...
Read more

Hiking the Timberline Trail

Image
I don't think I've been on a true backpacking trip before. Back in high school, my friend Bart and I planned a multi-day trip to Carl Lake, but we ended up turning around after one night of camping at Cabot Lake because it was raining so much and we'd rather stay at his family's cabin instead. I also hiked up to Moraine Lake as a scout leader, on the way to South Sister, where we camped in preparation to summit Oregon's third tallest peak, but we left all of our gear at the lake on the second leg of our climb. That was back in 2001. I first learned of the Timberline Trail by reading a brief summary of it in, of all places, Portland Monthly. Sure, it was 35 miles farther than I had ever backpacked before, and it involved two more days and nights, and I would be going solo. But the summer of 2016 is all about change and new beginnings for me. Day 1: Timberline Lodge to Ramona Falls I slept in Tuesday morning, as I was up late Monday night making my final preparat...
Read more

A Wild Black Sheep Chase

Image
It all started with a tweet. The tweet guided me to a blog. The blog inspired me to craft an e-mail. The e-mail led to a phone call. And the phone call led to my agreeing to trade my 1993.5 Infiniti G20 for a 2010 Black Sheep commuter bike (1 of only 13 in existence). All of this happened within 24 hours. From New Bike An informal part of our agreement to move to Portland was for me to get rid of my car, since I had committed to biking or riding the bus to work--and I never did drive the G20 once we moved to Portland, except once every other week or so to keep the fluids moving through the car. I had posted my car for sale at the G20 enthusiasts' site , but I didn't get any substantial bites, nor did I do much to promote its sale (Meg would like me to remind you that I took a year to sell my del Sol after buying the Maxima ). So when I saw a blog post about New Belgium's car swap at the Tour de Fat , I called Meg and proposed the idea to her. She thought it sounde...
Read more