Chalk Creek Cabin

I had the immense pleasure of going to a friend's cabin with a bunch of our friends. We drove up to Coalville, Utah and then from there drove an hour up a very bumpy and very 4-wheel-drive required, dirt road. John, Jed, Jana and I were all over this cabin-activity!

The stars were amazing!!

A little tree tipping in the morning.

And then the 4-wheeling was so super fun. Poor Jana ate my dust .... and exhaust. Check out her face!!

Shooting guns has always been a favorite past time of mine... I actually hit the target a couple of times with the 22 ... not the 9mm.

On the way home we drove through this creek like 8 times!! It was so perfect. Jana took the video of us and we totally splashed her at the end of this video. :o)

Officially the Summer of Doom

I have officially named this summer the "Summer of Doom". My health was doomed! My dreams of becoming a decent road biker were doomed! My goal of re-achieving a normal gym routine was doomed!! Everything active was doomed. Why?

I've been sick .... twice.
Had to take two separate medications (prescriptions = expensive) to get rid of an ear infection.
Sprained my left ankle in June.
Re-injured it a week later.

And now.... the cherry on top:
Just sprained my right foot ... stepping off the shuttle in the airport parking lot after returning from Seattle.
I'd thought for sure that I had broken it. I had a protrusion on the top of my foot. I had to hold my leg up while I drove home from the airport because I couldn't stand to even rest it on the floor of my car. It ached all night long and I couldn't walk on it. But thankfully, as time has passed on, its healing has progressed remarkably. I can walk on it!
So I have been to the doctor three times this summer.
I have had two sets of x-rays done: one for my left foot and ankle and now one for my right foot and ankle - both within a month of each other. I have two cankles now!!! Ugh.
My Flexible Spending Account money was all used up with my prescription drugs and now everything is out of pocket from here on out.

I realize I am actually very blessed ... with normally good health. I haven't been to the doctor for six or seven years. So this year is an anomaly. Big time. Meh. What to do now but RICE??? (R - Rest it, I - Ice it, C - Compress it, E - Elevate it). Sigh.

The Seattle Times

Oh beautiful Seattle. I think I must be good luck for the weather in Seattle. It rained the day I arrived and the day I left but was beautiful in between!

My mom and I had a great time in Seattle - visiting our cousin, Ruth Ann. She took us into downtown Seattle and specifically to Pike Place Market. I can NEVER get over the flowers there!! And then one of my old roommates, Elke, and her two children came to visit and have lunch with us while I was there! I should have been smarter and taken a picture with her. But alas - hindsight is always 20/20. It was such a delight to reconnect with Elke and see how things have been for her and her family.

Then Ruth Ann took us to Issaquah, Kirkland and Bellevue. My parents used to live in Issaquah and Bellevue.... many moons ago (like 35 years ago). And my mom had not been back since.

Friday and Saturday and Sunday morning were spent at Ruth Ann's cabin on Marrowstone Island. We walked around and window shopped in Port Townsend; gathered sea shells from the beach by her cabin (I couldn't get over how many dead, baby crabs there were along the beach!); ate fresh crab to our hearts' content; and hiked around Fort Flagler State Park amongst gigantic ferns.

Saturday was Ruth Ann's birthday so we took her to dinner at the AJAX Cafe which was super fun! They do not have a single matching dish, flatware or cup in the place. There are hats all over the walls that you can wear while eating dinner. And there was live entertainment. Love it!

We also caught a crab in Ruth Ann's crab pot! It is a first for me - not first attempt - but first successful trip. When we started out to go retrieve the crab pot, we couldn't see it so I was beginning to wonder if I was bad luck for crabbing! But we found it and we had a crab in the trap!! So cool.

Wordless Wednesday - Leavin' on a Jet Plane for...

All in the Name of Shaking Things Up

During this past week I all of sudden felt an urge to make a change, shake things up, freshen up, whatever other similar phrases you can think of. Appearance-wise anyways.

First I went shopping and bought a ton of clothes... all part of the "I need a new appearance" mentality. I needed a new wardrobe. Clothes to work in. Different ones. Except for one shirt - it will be my "bummin around the house" shirt - which I bought at The Buckle.The following four tops are from the Banana Republic (hopefully I look as good in all these things as the models do):

I actually got this one in a really dark teal-type color.And I got this in black.

This is my favorite one from BR!

The following two are from Ann Taylor (the sweater is my favorite!):

Secondly, I had an appointment to trim and color my hair... and some weeks ago I saw a girl with really cute hair - that was a bob. And so I chatted it out with my hairdresser and we decided to . . .Yes. We cut 7 inches off my hair. Wham-bam. I was in a little shock. I might still be. But I am getting use to it. And I have gotten nothing but compliments... which is good - it will speed up my recovery and build up my confidence again. :o) I think it is growing on me. And I'm excited to keep experimenting with it to see how to style it best. So! All this in the name of shaking things up! Did I do a good job? :)

Star Gazing

I think I've started another tradition: go star gazing when there is a meteor shower and take my ice cream bowls to make some home made ice cream. This year I also brought along my dutch oven. We didn't see a whole lot of meteors, but I sure had fun steam-rolling a lot of people and of course the desserts were divine and the company superb!

The ULCER Rookie

Yup. That's me. The ULCER (Utah Lake Century Epic Ride) Rookie. I rode the ULCER this morning. Not the full 111 miles, or even the 67 miles. The 33 miles. Yeah, I don't think I'll do that again: pay the registration fee, get the annoyingly large t-shirt, drive all the way up to Thanksgiving Point.... just to ride my bike for 33 miles - I can do that from home. Next time I do a century ride, it will be at least the 67 miles. 33 miles was just a little anti-climactic. I was one of the first ones back (to the finish line). I think all the people that normally do the 33 miles don't ride as fast as I do - but don't get me wrong - I don't set a race pace (20 mph). I normally ride between 15-19 mph which was classified as the medium pace. Live and learn... and use the too-big t-shirt for canyoneering.

Garden Progress

I am long overdue for a progress report on my garden! So - overall progress: Fair

• Tomatoes are doing okay...
• Peppers have plateaued to roughly the size of a golf ball - maybe a little bigger
• Cilantro turned into a ugly, dead-looking weed so I yanked it up ages ago
• Basil nearly died but it has perked up in the last week or two
• Chives plateaued for a looooong time, but are finally coming around
• Strawberries have done extremely well!
• Bugs... well, they've discovered my roma tomatoes, but not my other ones and they tend to find the ripe strawberries just before I do, but I always find them before they eat the whole strawberry

I have eaten 5 or 6 strawberries from my garden and they are to die for!

Pine Creek Canyon in Zions

So I think I've decided that Zions National Park is probably my favorite place - all because of canyoneering. Lindsey has opened my eyes to the hidden beauties of canyoneering in Zions' slot canyons (see here and here). And she did it again this weekend when we did Pine Creek.

There really are no words to describe it - so I'll leave it to the pictures to describe the canyon.

Except I do have to tell you this part: Camille was hilarious for the swims. To her credit, the water was quite cold and rank/rancid/putrid/stinky. Camille would scream and whimper (and even kind of flail) when she swam through the water - very entertaining. I'm hoping to get the video of her swimming from Bryan to post on here.

Until then, I guess you'll just have to enjoy these pics!