Almost Wordless Wednesday

I like Natalie and Jesse's Wordless Wednesdays so much that I think I might just start that as well! After this week, it will be a true Wordless Wednesday. I am the young one (the true baby) with my older sister (that will be turning 40 in a few weeks! I should also mention that she is not my oldest sister--she is the sister just above me). Ha!

The Pre-show Viewing of Pirates 3

I saw Pirates 3 Thursday night!! Before it opened! It was pretty good, but don't use me as your best critic. I am easily entertained. It answered a lot of questions from 2 and gave me some resolution too. Make sure you stay to the very end of the credits for an even better resolution. So I recommend it!

Homesick No More

A couple of weeks ago I was feeling kind of homesick . . . homesick for MY mountains in Idaho! And then this past weekend I got to go home and go to my mountains! It was marvelous fun!

My mom, sisters, a niece and I continued our tradition of getting together for a sister's 40th birthday. This year it was Jill's! (Check out the birthday girl on the four-wheeler with me--the pic without the helmets.) And this will be the last one for a while---because I am the next to turn 40 . . . in 13 years!

We went to Robyn's cabin in Cascade, Idaho and enjoyed some R & R. We had cake, opened presents, reminisced, cooked and ate a Dutch oven breakfast, rode the four-wheeler everywhere, played Catch Phrase, shot bee-bee guns, went to dinner at Tamarack Ski Resort and then lastly, went to some hot springs. It was a jam-packed weekend with no time for anything but fun.

Just so you all know . . . I should have grown up with a four-wheeler. I monopolized it!! I loved it!! I can just think of all the times I could have taken it around the roads in Warren where my dad's cabin was. Dad! You denied me!! :o) I could have found that hermit my dad tells me stories about running into on a road out in the middle of the wilderness. I would like to know what a real-life hermit looks like. Grizzly long beard, overalls, covered in dirt??? Guess I will never know.

Anyway . . . the other exciting news for the weekend is that I was able to scan photos from the photo album my Uncle Doyle let me look at!! Truly. It was a family history miracle. There were pictures in there that I could never have dreamed of. Ya'll will have to take a look at my family history blog here in a bit to see some of the pictures that were in the album. This is my kind of family history work---since most of my ancestors are already found. I have one line to work on, but gathering pictures and stories breaks up the frustrating dead-end researching at which I am not quite adept.

Oh! And I got to see some of my favorite wildflowers right there in my sister's cabin's front yard: Trillium!

What are Men to Rocks & Mountains?

Ha! Guess where the line is from! Yes. Pride & Prejudice (fondly also known as P&P). That describes my weekend perfectly: to the activity Friday night and the two different versions of the movie that I have watched this weekend.

Jen and I went on a maiden and mini backpacking trip Friday night. We hiked up to Rock Creek Campground--a 3-mile hike from Rock Canyon Park trail head. It was so beautiful. And fairly difficult! I got into a pretty good groove after about 1 and a half miles--I had an energy boost or something because I didn't have to rest as much. We took along my little trail book--but it was awful! It talked about taking the left fork for the last half mile but there were so many forks! And none of the left ones looked promising. But we ended up getting to the right place when we saw a primo camp-spot . . . sadly taken by some other people. (Next time we will have to leave earlier to get it.)

We arrived at a fairly decent spot around 9:30 at night, set up my tent and immediately got my new Jetboil backpacking stove boiling some water for a backpacking meal--Beef Stroganoff. Pretty good--it wasn't too nasty, except for the last bite in my bowl that was pure salt and pepper. Yuck! Ewww. Word of wisdom: don't drink your meal down to the last bite unless you have been diligent about stirring it while you eat it. Anyway. We got tired pretty quickly so we went to bed right after dinner. A bit later, it started to rain on us a little bit, so we scrambled outside to get the rain-fly on my tent and then throw our packs in the tent with us. It didn't rain again. Good gravy. But . . .

About an hour and a half later I woke up to the sound footsteps and the light of a flashlight on our tent. It kind of freaked me out, but I was still half asleep and half awake so I couldn't be sure that I wasn't dreaming it so I just shrugged it off. And nothing more happened. I told Jen about it when we woke up in the morning and we were glad that it had rained some to cause us to bring in our stuff so this random guy couldn't swipe it and also with the rain-fly on my tent he wasn't able to see inside the tent so we were glad for that too. We ate our breakfast of oatmeal (yes, I got to use my Jetboil again!) and packed up. Just as we were about to throw our packs on and head out, this random guy appeared on the trail and just stood there and stared at us!! But to no fear on our part . . . because it was our friend, Sid! I immediately asked him if he was the one that walked around our tent that night and shined his flashlight on our tent. And it was him! When he heard that Jen and I were going to go backpacking (just the two of us) he and a roommate (who bailed) decided they were going to hike up in the middle of the night and freak us out!! Sid said he wanted to shake our tent and really scare us, but he chickened out when he couldn't be sure that it was us in the tent! What a crack up!

So we hiked out and then went to breakfast at the Village Inn! It was a fabulous maiden trip: backpack was awesome, Jetboil was awesome! New Thermarest that I got for Christmas was marvelous, but the slope we slept on was not. That was one more added bonus to bringing the packs in the tent--we were able to prop up our feet some so we didn't slide too much. (Yeah, yeah, yeah. We probably could have found a better camp-spot, but we were tired and didn't care too much to hike further in the dark.)

We've got another backpacking trip planned soon! Yay!! I will SO be ready for Havasupai!!

Direct my Paycheck to REI Please

Earlier this week I received a mailing from REI announcing their Anniversary Sale that was beginning this weekend. Oh my goodness! My dreams have come true and everything I have wanted and needed for my trip to Havasu Falls in June is on sale!!

So yesterday, a few of us that are hiking into Havasu Falls together went up to SLC to go shopping at REI. I dropped so much money there. It was awesome! I was mentally and financially prepared for it though so all is still good. I don't regret anything!!

I bought a new internal frame pack, the Jetboil Group Cooking system and the companion single cup, a bunch of backpacking food, some Smartwool hiking socks, a Petzel headlamp, and some biodegradable Campsuds. Then I exchanged my awesome new hiking pants that I bought back in January or February at the Patagonia outlet for a different size--some a little more roomier and comfortable. I am set for anything fun this summer. Now to only buy a lightweight tent and sleeping bag . . .

The Rest of the Cali Story

Okay. So everyone has surely been patient enough with me for the past few days. Thank you!! I have a project (that must go unnamed until after May 20th) that I feel obligated to work on during every free minute that I have in my possession. I have to get it done by May 16th!! And once you know what it is that I am working on, you will be astonished that I essentially finished it in 3 weeks. I worked on it a bit before I went to visit Jesse in California and then I started again on it a week ago--so it adds up to 3 weeks of total time that will be spent on this project. So anyway, my true purpose in writing today is regarding my trip to visit Jesse in southern California.

First, I flew on JetBlue into Long Beach airport. So awesome! Long Beach airport is a crack up; it is seriously right out of the 1950s!! I promise. Have any of you seen the new version of The Parent Trap with Lindsey Lohan? Remember when she flies home from camp and her dad is there in front of the Napa Valley airport?? Long Beach looks exactly like it!! One photo is the front of the terminal where you drop off or pick up the passengers. And then the other is the back of the terminal with the portable that serves as the waiting area for gates--I took this picture from the ramp when I was getting on the plane. And yes!-That means I got on and off the plane straight onto the tarmac. And you guess what else!! The luggage carousal was outdoors with only a little tin roof to cover it. There were birds flying around the advertisements and carousal. Seriously, what a crack up! What a great start and ending to my fabulous trip.

Jesse picked me up and we drove straight back to her place and just caught up on everything--of course she went right for the juicy stuff from the beginning: boys in my life. Sadly, that particular juice is kind of bland. :o) And the cutest thing!! Grace, her 18-month old daughter would laugh and giggle right along with us throughout the entire conversation. So darling.

Wednesday morning, we woke up and left for Disneyland! I was so excited. $63 to get in. Wow. I thought their market was for families! But Jesse says they have some really good packages that make it a little more affordable. We went on a ton of rides and enjoyed a load of food. Jesse sent me on the Indiana Jones ride and then also the Star Tours ride (that one actually sent my stomach for a little loop!). I was just like one of the little kids there because I haven't been to Disneyland since I was 8 years old! Some of it did come back to me--like the jungle boat tour--I remember going on that ride with my dad, mom and my sister Jill. I specifically remember the elephants spewing water. Little deja vu for sure. We were so tired by 6:30 that we went home--we didn't stay for the parade or the fireworks--if they had them at all. We just went home and enjoyed a little chick-flick--Memoirs of a Geisha--while her husband was at a baseball game with his deacons quorum.

Thursday morning we slept in and then we watch another chick-flick while Grace took her nap and then we went to the beach! It was really quite chilly by the time we got there--3:00. I didn't put any sunblock on and it was fine. Grace was so cute though--she just played in the sand while we hung out. At one point Grace picked up handfuls of and would dunk her face into the sand. It took both Jesse and I to clean her face, eyes and eyelashes of the sand. Jesse and her husband, Cori, cooked a yummy dinner of steak for me and one of Jesse's friends that also happened to be in town.

Friday we went to Hollywood Blvd. Nope. We didn't see any celebrities, but we did see a bunch of stars and one of my favorites--Tim McGraw!! The pic is the in the preview blog entry. We saw the Kodak Theater and the Chinese Theater. And we even enjoyed a little French cuisine in an outdoor mall there. And then we shopped along Rodeo drive--as if we were rich!! We mostly window shopped except at Tiffany's. We went in a ogled at the diamonds there. Truly--diamonds really are a girl's best friend. :o) (Men can have their dogs.) Anyway, we shopped at Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, Lush, Anthropology (just for you Natalie!!!) and a bunch of other fun stores. If only we had thousands to spend and if I had a larger luggage piece than my carry-on size. Oh well. We watched my last chick-flick, that I brought along, that night to a dinner of pizza and yummmmmmy ice cream.Oh! And I loved the Poppies so much!! And the Cala Lillies. Jesse had some growing there in her apartment complex. I have never seen them growing like that!

And then my trip was at an end. I think I could like the LA area . . . if and only if I had enough money to live there, travel to Utah for skiing every other weekend, and I am sure I could think of many other reasons why I would need a load of money . . . Ha!


Thanks so much for such a fabulous trip Jesse and Grace (and Cori). Phenomenal hostess for sure. :o)

Teaser of an Entry to Come

So I have been kind of tired and quite busy with a project in my evenings to prevent me from writing a blog entry about my TRIP TO VISIT JESSE!! Quick and dirty summary: Wonderful. Magical. Relaxing. Fabulous. I will have to write a full entry later, but for now enjoy the little teaser photos!! Here is a pic of Jesse, Grace and me in Disneyland. Me and Tim McGraw on Hollywood Blvd.