St. Memorial George Day

Memorial Day weekend marked my first time ever going to Zion's National Park in St. George.  My friend Terrance had never been either so we planned a day and went for it.

Since we wanted to get an early start in Zion's, Terrance and I decided to go down and spend the night with my aunt and uncle.  Jan and Frank took us on a lesser-known Petroglyph hike that night.  The area near their condo has a lot of little hikes and sites BYU has used for geological digs.  There is a lot of stuff just waiting to be found.  We started off walking up the standard tourist walking trail.  Then, Frank took us off-roading down among the rocks and cliffs into the hidden stuff you have to be an adventurous local to know about.  We saw some AWESOME history down there!!  Each Petroglyph we found prompted theories and questions about what the people were doing and thinking as they scratched the surface and marked the rocks.  Pretty neat stuff!  I'd never seen Petroglyphs in person (Disney's Pocahontas being my only source) so I was fascinated.

The next morning, Terrance and I got to the BIG GUNS --- Zion's National Park.  We decided on various hikes and just took off.  The park is closed to traffic so you have to take park-provided shuttle into the park, then pass through the entry gate, and THEN take another shuttle to the individual hikes and formations.  Lots of work, but well worth the waiting.  AND...it was nice to sit down and be out of the sun in parts.  I was surprised at how un-busy the park was on a National Holiday, but I wasn't complaining.  Of course the busiest hike in the park was Angels Landing (but you DEFINITELY will not catch me doing that one).  Other people on the shuttle who came from that hike said they could only take a step or two before having to stop because the path was so crowded.

It was really nice to wander and hike at our own pace, and just enjoy and take pictures any place we wanted.  The first hike we did was called the "Emerald Pools".  It's one waterfall broken up into three separate sections.  You walk under the first waterfall, on top of the second, then to the third..

1st section

1st section

At the second section, there's a little pool about ankle-deep at its deepest point and then flows out and over the rocks to form the first section (the one you walk under).  On this one, I lost my balance trying to walk over the pool on a log, and got one ankle full to last all the hot day.

between 1st and 2nd section of the waterfall.

2nd section -- here is where it flows over the rocks to
create the 1st section

2nd section -- this is right where I decided to dunk one foot

I think the last section of the hike and waterfalls is my favorite.  On this one, you actually hike down into it.  The rock walls open up to, what feels like, a little oasis.  There's a little beach on one side beside a lake, and on the other area there are huge rocks to climb on, and that's where there's a knee-high bundle of rocks with water flowing over them back down the mountain to the first two waterfalls.  My favorite spot of the day!!

That tree was determined to grow

From the shuttle

One of the other hikes we did was Temple of Sinahwava.  This was the easiest "hike" I've seen.  It was a paved walking road the whole way to a gathering spot.  You can get water gear and keep going through the river to the actual Temple of Sinahwava, but we didn't plan to do that.  The walk was nice and cool, but still really pretty. 

From the shuttle

Overall, the trip was AMAZING!!  I want to go back again soon -- maybe next summer!

Time to Catch Up

Little One sternly reminded me that I needed to do some blog updates.  Here's a run-down of the past 12 months.  (I'll try to do a post on each of these...at some point)

May 2014 -- Baby Brother married

June 2014 -- Summer yard and garden fun

July 2014 -- Got to visit all the East Coast Lind families

August 2014 -- Spent lots of time with new family

September-- Got to be a Wedding photographer

October 2014 -- Sports and time with Keri

November 2014 -- BYU Football

December 2014 -- Gettysburg Christmas

January 2015 -- Experimented with fancy foods

February 2015 -- Professional Cooking Classes

March 2015 -- Made LOADS of new friends

April 2015-- Grad-a-ma-nation

May 2015 -- Adventures in Zion's National Park

June 2015 -- Wedding Season

June 2015 -- Craft Central Station 

My Bucket List - Let me elaborate #4

Travel to India, ..., ..., ...

fascinating since childhood, intriguing now, adoring forever

In my young mind, the culture was nothing but colorful, the landscape extremely foreign and exotic, the people naturally happy, and the food perfectly spicy.  The more I learned, the deeper my intrigue grew.  On the first day of fifth grade, we were each assigned a country to do a big project on.  We were to work on it all year and present it the last week of school.  My whole class wanted me to get America because they figured I'd give them all the juicies on Hollywood, NYC, and Coca-Cola.  Lucky for me, I pulled my favorite country out of the hat instead.  From Bollywood to Chicken Curry, from Sari to golden bangle, it is beautiful to me.  To this day, I have a deep pocket of dreams about India, though I may never get to visit the land of colors.

Called to serve the people of........

I have been called to serve in the Munich Germany/Austria mission.  I report to the Provo MTC on July 14th.  My mission was announced on February 13th and my mission president will begin serving July 1st.

I'll Be Home For Christmas....eventually

This year's trip home was the worst travel experience I've EVER had. Early Friday night I found out that my flight for Saturday was canceled. Nobody heading to the East was going anywhere!!! The weather was horrendous with DC receiving record snowfall (3+ feet) and highest windspeeds EVER. When I called the airline to transfer my ticket, I was on hold for 3hrs, two separate times; not to mention the 6+ other times I called but refused to wait longer than 20min. I was beginning to worry when it looked (and sounded) like the weather wouldn't allow me to get home till after Christmas. I was told that they could get me a flight out early in the morning, but if I got stuck in some airport, I'd have to pay for my own lodging. No thank you, I'll stay overnight for free right where I'm at. In order to guarantee me some kind of flight before Christmas, dad went ahead and purchased another ticket online so all I had to do was get the refund for my original one. Once again, the call call-hold music and I became well acquainted and finally, 2hrs later, I got through. I had a flight home!!! It wasn't a direct flight, but at least it would get me home by Christmas. I was scheduled to leave Sunday at 2pm with a layover in Chicago and an ETA in BWI at 10:30pm.

......OR SO I THOUGHT......

Everything started out perfectly. I got to the airport, checked my bags quickly, got through security super fast, and found the gate easily. I had my book, music, and Sudoku puzzles to keep me company so all was well as I waited for 2hrs for the plane to arrive. It arrived on time and we left 5min early. The old man on the seat beside me would not stop talking the entire 3hrs to Chicago!! I pulled my book and iPod out when I thought we was finally sleeping, but 2min later he popped his head forward and started talking again. Finally, we landed in Chicago where I was scheduled for a 2hr layover.

.......THAT'S WHERE THE FUN BEGAN......

I found the gate and sat down to wait out the 2hrs. Not so fast! 1hr into the wait, the loudspeaker proclaimed that there's been a gate hold on all flights heading east and so it'd be an extra half hour before we'd get going. Okay, I can handle that! I'd finished my audiobook and turned off my iPod to watch the Steelers vs. Packers game. The gate down the hall from us was apparently watching the same game, but our TV had a 5 sec delay from theirs. In the final milli-seconds of the game, where the game winning catch was caught by mere toes, we heard the other gate celebrate, but weren't sure if they were a gate-full of GreenBay or Pittsburgh fans till our TV showed us that indeed the Steelers were a dominating presence.

...A BRIGHT SPOT MAY COME EVENTUALLY...

2hrs later, we were still waiting. The plane sitting at our gate was waiting to take off so our plane wasn't going to be leaving any time soon. 3 1/2 hrs later and I'm still not on my way home. 4 hrs later and our plane had finally arrived. I had an "A" boarding pass and was soooo happy to get an aisle seat with no one sitting in the middle. Definitely a plus in my not so fun day of travel. There was a lot of turbulence when we finally got in the air and that just made me nervous. Take-off and landing are my least favorite aspects of flying because I don't like that feeling of my stomach lurching up and down unpredictably (hence why I don't like rollercoasters). I'm fine when we're in the air, but the ups and downs are not fun for me...at all.

......THE END IS HERE AT LAST.....

After circling the airport for an extra 20min, we finally arrived at the gate at 2am. 12 HOURS AFTER THIS TRIP BEGAN!!!!!!!! I was about to kiss the ground, but decided against it for reasons of sanitation and I was just too tired to get down there. I was cranky, tired, and definitely not wanting to be on a plane again until at least July. Our bags changed carousels 2 times before I finally saw my bright blue suitcase crawling along the conveyorbelt. Baby Brother found me wandering around and guided my half-dead body to the car where Mom and Dad were sleeping, "anxiously" awaiting my arrival. Finally, yes FINALLY, I was almost home. 1 1/2hrs later (15 hrs after my trip began) we pulled into our driveway and all three of us crawled to bed. At that point, I was too exhausted to care that I slept in my clothes, on top of my blankets, holding my book, and still wearing my glasses; I was just glad to be home...at last. 3am on Monday.

"I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS, IF ONLY IN MY DREAMS"...almost happened to me

Dial-up is My Enemy

Had post of cross-country roadtrip (with pictures and stories) all ready to go when my grandparents' dial-up stopped and the computer crashed. This is the "I-don't-want-to-write-that-whole-thing-again" version

WEDNESDAY 12th - Dad and I left PA early and made it all the way to Springfield, Illinois before nightfall. Drove 700 miles. With my navigation skills and dad's good driving, we didn't have any wrong turns. Discovered that my car gets 31 mpg. Such a good little car! Brother had blown fuse in the car so we had no radio or air-conditioning at all

THURSDAY 13th - arrived in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Nothing to see the whole day so my form of entertainment was looking at the license plates of the passing cars and trucks. Whooppee!! (no enthusiasm present) Saw the National Headquarters of Cabela's in Sidney, WY which is the most po-dunk town you'll ever see (emphasis added). Drove about 850 miles. I fixed the blown fuse and reconnected the broken wiring...Eeezy Peezy!!!

FRIDAY 14th - left Cheyenne and made it to Rexburg, Idaho around 6:30pm. Favorite part of the drive was seeing Palisades Lake near Ririe, Idaho. BEAUTIFUL!!! Hit the biggest and juiciest bug ever. SPLAT!! Rode up to see the Rexburg Temple after dark. Camera battery was dead and so I didn't get pictures.

SATURDAY 15th - Saw Peterson do the triathlon. Started early in the morning with a 1/2 mile swim, then a 14 mi bike ride, and finished with a 3.1 mi run. Met his sister, brother-in-law, and their kids. Developed a little, giggly, blonde shadow. He finished in under 2 hrs and broke his own record from the previous year. No accidents. Mom and Baby Brother were planning on coming up and going to Yellowstone and Lava Hot Springs, but my brother didn't want to so dad and I ended up just going down to SLC. We wanted to go to the TV museum in Rigby, but it wasn't opened yet. Drove around and saw the town. Really nice! Ate at Artic Circle (dad's favorite fast food) before leaving Idaho. Made it to grandma's by 4pm. Saw the house my parents lived in when I was born. Took Baby Brother to IKEA (still don't know why he wanted to go there). Ended the day by watching The Lawrence Welk Show with grandma and grandpa; just like the old days. Felt sick

SUNDAY 16th - Went to church. Helped Baby Brother move in to his apartment because he just couldn't wait to get there. I think that he just wanted to get away from my parents....you know, independence. Still sick

MONDAY 17th - Cleaned the car out. Did some Watercolor. Helped dad clear weeds, shrubs, and trees from around the building my grandpa owns so someone will rent it. Got eyes checked. Made dinner with Aunt and watched "Sabrina" (starring Audrey Hepburn) with grandma. Still sick.

Palmyra

I spent the past two days in Palmyra, NY with the Young Single Adults from the stake. It was quite a fun trip and a great time getting to know people I've never met before. We met Friday morning at the Stake Center and began the long 5 1/2 hour trip with a convoy of 5 cars. Between the 5 cars we played "get to know you trivia", "scattergories", and some other fun time-passing games over the walkie-talkies. We were lead by Bro Cox who happens to be a military man so he was quite official in his leadership and the convoy made it without a hitch...and he's really good at leading so no one gets lost and we're not driving bumper to bumper going 45 mph on the freeway. I occupied myself alone in the backseat with The Work and the Glory Volume 4 and Sudoku (if you're surprised then we need to spend more time together).

When we arrived in Palmyra we first went to our hotel in Rochester and then scurried over to the Hill Cumorah for the Pageant. Bro Cox wanted to be sure that we made it in time to save good seats so we arrived 5 1/2 hours early!!! While killing time with Phase 10 and reading, I happened to glance up and thought I recognized a girl passing up ahead. I DID! Tiffany was there with her family. Oh it's great when the LDS world is so small that you find people you know in a gathering across the country from where you met. The Pageant itself was phenomenal! The weather cooperated too and I didn't get a single bug bite or sunburn. PERFECT!!! My favorite part of the Pageant happened towards the end when Joseph Smith is reading the Book of Mormon to the saints and as he mentions the prophets in it, they are brought on stage and take their recognizable poses. That gave me chills. After the Pageant, we caravaned back to the hotel where everyone in my room was already in REM cycle the second their head hit the pillow. I was too - a welcome change from my night-owl status I've had since coming home.

Saturday started at 8 with a trip to see the temple and go to the Sacred Grove. The sky threatened rain but I wouldn't let that stop me from enjoying the scenery. Car 4 - for that is the name we were given - was ready to move on after walking through the Grove because we didn't take the tour. (I've had enough tours for awhile after spending 6 weeks doing nothing but) The three of us loaded up and headed to the "Grandin Press" where the Book of Mormon was first printed. While waiting for the rest to come join us from the Grove Kiely and I found an antique shop to get lost in as the skies poured buckets and barrels. We were ready to go after that, but the rest of the group was still stuck in the Grove. We waited 20 min before they came and we headed home. I am so grateful for riding up with a car who didn't want to waste time wandering without a plan so we went home. The ride home was treacherous as the rain just came down harder and harder. Some of the group opted for an extended trip up to see Niagara Falls...they didn't get home till 6am Sunday. Glad I didn't take that option!

Looking back, I'm so glad that I took this opportunity to travel to some historic church sites and enjoy the company of strangers who have now become my friends. All I have to say to that is "Car 4 checking in, and checking out the prospective ECs" ;)

London Adventures

Shakespeare on Wheels

We took a mandatory 3 day trip down to Stratford to see some of the Shakespeare sights and to watch some of his plays. Along the way down we stopped at a couple of other Historic sights including Coventry Cathedral, Kenilworth Castle ruins, and Warwick Castle. Coventry Cathedral is an ancient Cathedral that was bombed during World World War 2. The original building was then left alone without any efforts to restore its former glory. As we walked around the ruins we even saw bits of the original stained glass shards still in their window frames. At the top of the Cathedral two of the beams from the celing fell and formed the Cross and so they too were left just as they fell. Alongside these ruins lies a new, modern Cathedral of the same name. Inside are magnificent stained glass windows and modern religious sculptures that simply take your breath away. The two Cathedrals side by side really give the impression of stately strength and historic value. Inside the ruins is a plaque which sums up the Cathedral's existence perfectly. It reads "The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former." Our second stop was at the Kenilworth Castle ruins. This castle was owned by Robert Dudley and he used it to woo Queen Elizabeth I - which didn't work by building an entire wing just for her to live in when she visited. He went bankrupt after she left and the castle slowly deteriorated. Attached to the ruins is a restored garden that contains many of the patterns that signify courtly love. Before reaching Stratford we made one more stop. This time at Warwick ("Warrick") Castle. This 4 HOUR stop was ridiculous and everybody hated it. What it is is a sort of Renaissance fair, theme park built onto a caslte without all the rides, booths, and attractions. Really pointless. We watched a bird of prey flying as well as a Trebuchet exhibit - the only exciting parts of this adventure - and we couldn't wait to get back on the bus. When we finally made it to Stratford we checked into our B&B
guesthouses and then prepared for the Royal Shakespeare Company's performance of "Winter's Tale." The performance was....interesting. It had a modernistic approach that I didn't understand or appreciate. There were, however, really cool technical effects that blew my mind. Sad to say, I did fall asleep during this performance because it just didn't attract my attention. Our second day in Stratford was more for exploring. We took a tour of the historic Shakespeare sights in the morning visiting the Birthplace, Nash's House, and Hall's Croft as well as the school that Shakespeare attended and his actual grave sight. Many of the sights didn't allow photography and a brave member of our group asked why (now you'll know why many places don't allow photography). There was an instance where someone broke into the house and stole only certain items. The thieves seemed to have a "shopping list" knowing what was most valuable to steal. Anyway, after that we had free time until the optional tour of the Royal Shakespeare Theater. The little group I went with (containing only Kadish, Lang, and myself) had so much fun. We first wandered the historic streets taking in the sights and boutiques then found a little cafe for lunch. Afterwards we wandered some more and then rented a true Shakespeare rowboat (named "Beatrice" for Shakespeare's "Much Ado..") All of the boats were named after Shakespeare's female characters. We had the boat for a half an hour before the tour. We rowed all along the Avon taking turns at the actual rowing and singing true "Rowboat songs" such as "Row Row Row Your Boat" and then advancing to the more elaborate as we floated under a weeping willow singing "Kiss the Girl." Classic! The tour of the theater took us upstage, backstage, and inside all the technical areas of the theater. Really fascinating and intense. That night we saw the performance of "As You Like It" in the RSC theater. It was a lot more entertaining and less sleep-full than the previous night's. Our third and final day in Stratford started off with visits to the Anne Hathaway Cottage and Mary Arden's farm. We also stopped in Oxford where I visited Christ Church Cathedral/College where they filmed much of the Harry Potter movies. There wasn't too much to see in the city of Oxford but, yet again, we had 5 hours to kill. (Definitely a cop out for our instructors so they don't have to plan anything). Ridiculous but I made the best of it by wandering through the streets and visiting the famous "Eagle and the Child" pub where C.S. Lewis and Tolkien frequented with the other "Inklings." Let's just say, I couldn't wait to be back on the bus for 2 hours. The week had its highs and lows but overall I'm glad I'm here!