Moab trip cont'd

BIKING: There has been interest in riding bikes so for anyone who wants to rent...Poison Spiker Bicycles has daily rentals for $40, that's the cheapest I could find, you can reserve them and I would suggest it (435) 259-7882. You can get rentals cheaper at the ORP at the U, but you would have to rent them for multiple days and haul them down, then its way more expensive.

If you are going to bike you should bring closed toed shoes (tennies are good), shorts, biking shorts if you have them, a breathable t-shirt, a helmet (if you don't have one you can get it with the rental), water bottles (at least 2), sunscreen, sunglasses, gloves (i have a few pair if needed), food (energy bars or pbj).

CARPOOLING: Anyone who can drive and is willing to drive please say "I". This will help me plan carpooling because yes, we should carpool for sure.

I also need an accurate count of who is coming, please say "ME" if you are planning on attending. :)

Here is the list of everyone going so far: Ben, Rae, Josey, Amanda, Andrea, Garrett, Cendy, Katie, Pete (Ben's bro), Desi (Rae's sis), anyone else is invited, who did I forget?

Cendy, you can park in our garage.

Moab Trip April 8-11

Okay, many people have asked for details and a gear list. Here it is...

Ben and I will be leaving Wednesday morning by 7:30am so we can be in Moab by lunch time. We will secure our campsite (its 4 wheeler weekend so its going to be busy) then we will most likely go on a hike.
Thursday will be bike day, please reply if you want to rent a bike or have your own and want to bike with us. Depending on who's coming will determine where we go. For those not biking you will do arches and hike the delicate arch then we will all meet up in the afternoon and see Canyon lands.
Friday will be climbing day and everyone can do this, we have enough stuff and we will most likely hit up wall street or the ice cream parlor (I think thats the name) Friday night we want to travel to goblin valley and camp around there and Saturday morning either hike Little Wild Horse or play with the goblins, then we will leave about 1:00pm on Saturday to head back home. Friday is still up in the air a little so, there are other options for play that day.

Here is the gear list, if you don't have any of these things, let me know and we will find it:

• Sleeping bag
• Sleeping pad
• Tent (we have some and can share)
  
• tennis shoes/hiking shoes
• water bottles
• backpack/daypack
• shorts
• pants
• t-shirts and longsleeve shirts
• sweat shirt/jacket (it will be warm in the day and cold at night)
  
• socks (clean pair for each day)
• sandles or flip flops
• toiletries (we will try and get a campsite with a bathroom but no garuntees)
• towel/face towel
• pj's and underwear :)
• swimsuite in case we can poach a hot tub
• hat
  
• sunscreen
• flash light or headlamp
  
• pillow (optional)
• any gear you have (bike, climbing shoes, harness, stove, lantern, etc)

We can either go in together on food or fend for ourselves, I would appreciate some feedback on this before Monday the 6th so I can plan and go shopping at Costco if I need.

If you are going to bike let me know, I can tell you the best places to rent and what you will need to bring for that. Ben and I want to do two rides, one advanced and one intermediate...so just let me know who wants to do what.

This is going to be fun. I'm excited. Just respond to this post or give me a call. 801-520-6658.

Saturdays events

Yesterday we took part in a long standing outdoor gear tradition in Salt Lake, we sold and bought at the Black Diamond swap. This is a parking lot teaming with Subarus, Tacomas and beard laden men, dogs on leashes of webbing and carabeaners and lots of old and new killer deals. If you haven't attending this wheeling and dealing event it is a fun thing.

We (Ben, me, Mike and Mieken) set up some camping chairs and threw out our unused stuff in hopes someone else could find some value in it. We sold my old Yakima bike rack, some ski poles and pants and some skis and boots for a friend. We made sold enough to buy a few items and come home with cash. It was a good haul after all. Most exciting I have some more cash for the fork...

Heelers really heel, go figure

www.dogbreedinfo.com/articles/dogwalk.htm

So we have had some issues recently with our puppies. Apparently they do exactly what they were bred to do, they heel things that run from them. This desireable trait in this active bread is amplified when there are siblings living, eating, sleeping together. They work as a team to heel and without training to hone their skills, they heel people and other dogs and anything that moves.

I found this cool website when researching our puppy breed. This particular page explains how to walk your dog and use it as a tool for training. I have been doing this such walk for a while with the puppies and I see it's benefits. I have also read a book by Cisar Milan, "The Dog Whisperer". As much as his title makes me gag, he does understand the canine and he has great words of wisdom to help creating a happy life for your pup. The biggest mistake we all apparently make is to humanize our animals. They are not humans, they do have emotions, but not like we do and their reactions to this world do not come from the same place ours do. So, remembers you dog is a dog, not a human.

Anyway, I have made a new resolution to make sure our puppies get at least one long and vigorous walk/run a day and hope to fit two in, they need as much exercise as I can give them. When you see me or pass me on the street, ask me how this is going. If you all hold me accountable it will be easier to reach my goal.

If you are a dog owner, check out this website, it was very useful.

Cold ride

This obviously isn't me, but it gives you a good visual of the freezing nature of the following story.

Friday I went on a road ride up a little canyon next to our house in Heber. Needless to say it was a good ride, uphill about 9 miles. It was a bit chilly, understandably because it was about 8:30am and it's still winter up here. But not so chilly that I was turned away. I decided not to wear a second layer of tights because it was sunny and looked so warm. So finally I got to my ending point up the canyon, time to turn around. So we all know that after you go up you must come down right? Well, I started coming down and very quickly all the appendages that were not thicker then a couple inches started to freeze. My computer clocked me at 55 mph at a couple points and going this speed in that temperature was probably the coldest I have been in years if not ever. It was so cold it was painful, I pedaled as much as possible to keep warm, but it didn't help much just kept me from going numb. Near the bottom I just started to groan and make funny noises, somehow that it supposed to help.

So when I got home and undressed, my toes were completely numb, my fingers were stiff and in pain, the skin on the front of my legs was red for at least an hour after and the tears streaming from my eyes ware practically frozen to my face. It was a great little ride, but I hope our world starts warming up. I'm ready for spring.

My love...

My husband is beautiful. Do you ever just look at the man you love and realize he is just amazing and really really good looking? He's got the face of a model, if he fixed his teeth of course, but I guess that is why you have photoshop eh? Anyway, he is beautiful. (He's the one on the right)

He is also very smart. He figures people out after just spending 5 minutes with them and he then has this way with social strategy. He is my management guru, I go to him with all my work issues and he has great advice and can usually see things that I can't. He is a born leader and in all his jobs seem to rise quickly to managing people. It's amazing how that works. He not only rises, but he gains the respect of everyone he works with and they all will work hard for him.

And have you ever seen Ben climb? He's a gifted athlete and can pick things up right away. He has started to telemark ski and he is better then most people who have been doing it for years. Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know how great my husband is...

random streams of thought...

Today is one of those days that remind you why we live in Utah. The sun is out shining on the crystallized snow making it look like the sky has flipped upside down and the stars are sparkling in all their glory under your feet. The air is dry and crisp, easy to inhale (here in Heber anyway, don't know what the Salt Lake valley may look like right now) easy to exhale and is like a fresh cool drink of water to your lungs, it's cleansing and pure and makes your body go "phew". I was just outside for a while with the puppies and they fell the same way. They were running around in the snow, jumping, wrestling, digging, the happiest I have seen puppies in a while. They seem to have an instinctual switch inside them that gives them joy when they are free to just run and play.

Maybe that's why we like the outdoors so much, because there is an instinctual switch that begs us to be in nature around our beginnings and around other life forms that may be more sensitive then we humans are to mother nature and God himself. I would think that a pine tree is somehow more connected to God then I because the tree automatically fulfills the measure of its creation, whereas I may not. I hope to and strive to, but may not if I choose otherwise. Or does that make me closer to God, more like Him then the tree. I am given the choice therefor when I do choose to follow Him and fulfill the measure of my creation or the potential of my creation then I am closer to Him because I have consciously made the choice. So the question is, who is closer to God, the automatic and the choice less or the choosing. That is what separates us from nature anyway, the ability to choose, agency.