Eastbound and Down...

I can't really be sure if eastbound is one word (hum...) and I am too lazy to pull up a style guide. My apologies to those with an editing eye.

It's the 5th of July. We are officially taking the day off. I slept in until nine and I took a nap at one. And if it's any indication, the children do not even care. They have been thrilled to laze around as well. We were supposed to start swimming lessons first thing this morning, but it seemed like too much work to drive the 2 miles over to the aquatics center.

Our travels over the past month have been so wonderful. I think that I may have gotten five years back on my life! There were moments when I felt like I was breathing again. While we have chosen to live in this little valley it has always been our travels that have kept my perspective in check. I think that Jeff and I have needed a real vacation for a long time. It was either that or pack up everything and move. I think that this will hold us over for a little while longer.

Jeff and I went back and forth on whether or not to take the kids. I am so glad that we did. I went absolutely over the top with preparations, but it never felt like too much once we arrived and I am thrilled to report that we had a wonderful time with them! They were so good. And by that, I mean, seriously we have well-behaved kids. They can't even remember any of it. It was like the Twilight Zone, but at least I feel better about exposing them to how the rest of the world lives.

I was able to read The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, on the plane to Baltimore. If you haven't read this book--where have you been? Actually, I was given the copy and told it was good and I had never heard of it. Without a doubt, I will tell you that this book is in my Top 10--maybe even Top 5. It was that good. I thought about it the entire trip. I am going to read it again before the end of the summer. I can't wait to discuss it with other readers.

I wasn't sure what to expect with each of our destinations. Neither of us had ever visited any of these cities previously and I purchased all of our hotel and car reservations from Hotwire. That's not really a plug for Hotwire. I think that we got lucky with some of the hotels. Baltimore is a fun city. There are a lot of family things to do! And the food is fantastic.

Chaps Pit Beef is a Guy Fieri (DDD) locale. It was excellent. I wish that we could have gone back because once we were educated about the power of Cheez Whiz on one of these sandwiches I think that we would have had an even greater experience. I know what some of you are thinking, but it cannot be denied. I ate my way through four states and I know what I know. Here's a look--slather it with horseradish sauce and those pickles that are straight from heaven!

Yeah, it's a double-wide trailer that has been converted into a restaurant. I knew that it was going to be good when I saw there were several police cars and fire trucks in the parking lot.

We stayed in the Mt.Vernon section of the city. It was a lovely part of town. The original Washington Monument stood just to the northeast of our hotel. After one was commissioned in this city they asked the creator to make one in D.C. There are several historical monuments and some beautiful Gothic-style cathedrals on this end of town.

What you can't see in this picture is that we are soaked with sweat. It was about 90 degrees with an approximate humidity. My hair looked like a hot mess! It always takes me a couple of days to get used to "tasting" the heavy air.

The National Aquarium is awesome. We've been to several around the country, but this one is really amazing. Jack loves sharks--pretty much anything that can be linked to a prehistoric era. He was so excited to see everything! I think that their favorite part was playing with all of the puppets and dress-up outfits in the children's area. We played there for almost an hour!

Jack snuggled every "aminal" (he gets the sounds mixed up) and then put them all to bed. He made sure to let the other kids know that they were not to be disturbed!

This fun bird was walking around in the Amazon Rainforest exhibit. It was letting Jack pet it, but then it bit Lachlan. It was so funny! She wasn't hurt and it motivated both of them to see if they could get it to do it again. The bird had apparently been down this road before--as you can see below, it finally chased both of them off.
I think that there was less humidity in the "rainforest" than outside!

We went to the Dolphin Show. I haven't been to one of these in over a decade, but I always seem to enjoy them. I should let you know that I have been working on my photography in manual mode. I'm still not very good, but I wanted to take the majority of these photos this way so that I can get better at changing settings faster. I didn't use a flash with any of these so they are grainy (800ISO)--and I noticed that when I raise the ISO that my camera adds funky pixelation and/or red dots and streaks. It makes me crazy. I don't know if it is just something with the Nikon or if it is operator error.

Jack would look at Jeff and say, "What?!" "That dolphin is crwazy!" He's really into noises associated with bodily functions. This laugh is when the dolphin spit some water on the trainer.
I love when Jack gives you the "number 1" instead of the "thumbs up."
From the windows of the aquarium you can look out over the Inner Harbor. The kids could see these dragon boats and they HAD to have a ride. It looked a lot more fun than it actually was--they had boat cops that kept you from travelling out of a designated area. It also required an extensive amount of effort on the part of the pedalers. The dragon boat weighed about 2 tons and it felt like you were trying to pull an elephant behind you on your bike!

Here we are breaking the rules. Lachlan was supposed to sit in the back of the boat. And as the boat cop reminded me shortly after witnessing me taking this picture, "do not stand up in the boat!" Jack kept saying, "this would have been more fun if we were in the purple dragon." Hum. I'm not so sure.
Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland. It really is beautiful. The glass building on the right is the atrium of the National Aquarium.

Random General Chaos

Jack bawling because he got his leg stuck in a hanger.
Screaming because of the "pain."

Don't worry son, I'll make sure mom gets those hangers up off of the ground.

The time from my first official bike race. It's about 39 minutes slower than I wanted, but it was uphill in a 20mph headwind for the last 8 miles. I finished. Goal accomplished.

Batman. "Flying" off of the front steps. The wings are on his arms. If he swishes them back and forth "they will cut you." Consider yourself warned.

"Whoa, mom. You're feekin' me out." He's really into saying the word "freaking". Don't judge me.
Lachlan at the entrance of the "chicken palace".
If we ever face foreclosure we can live in this--I'm pretty sure we can fit comfortably.
I attended the groundbreaking for the new College of Agriculture building on the Utah State University campus. It was kind of a neat moment for me. I took a picture so that I could pay tribute to the old Alma Mater. The new building will stand where the old Merrill Library stood.

Men at a Yard Sale

Jeff and Bruce went to a yard sale.

We drove home from AF with this toilet in our trunk.

Dear Becca,

I love you so much. I miss you so badly but we can never live close enough for them to frequent a real relationship. Otherwise, I will end up on an episode of Hoarders and you will have a basement full of old computer parts and Bruce will forever have curry on his breath.

We just can't live like that...

Love Always,

Your Best Friend, Rosa.

Kolob Canyon

Jeff and I decided last month that we would like to hike the Kolob Canyons--without the children.

And so we did.

The Kolob Canyons are the Northwestern portion of Zion National Park. Judging from the quality of the ranger staff at the visitors center, this is a seldom utilized portion of the park. If by any chance, this blog happens to come across the desk of Ken Salazar or one of his Interior deputies, you may want to look into a staff change. It would greatly improve the reputation of this area.

Staffing issues, aside. It is a pretty interesting place to spend the weekend. We tried to find a campsite on Friday night, but everything was full so we hiked the Taylor Creek Trail. It was just an easy 5 mile loop. We actually crossed Taylor Creek 115 times over the course of 5 miles. Yeah, we counted on the way back because it started to feel like 500 times. The trail was beautiful. I'm taking a photography class and so it took us forever to get up the trail because I kept stopping to practice my manual settings. I love photography, but sometimes thinking about aperture vs. shutter speed gives me a headache. It just doesn't come naturally yet, so I have to think about every little detail.

Practicing my "blurs"--see, I'm not horrible.



Low depth of field photographs are always my favorite. Always.

This picture was taken by a crazy woman with a Kokopelli flute. What is it with hippies and the desert? I have never been able to figure it out.

It's always interesting to take a break from the kids because when we leave I think that I won't even let myself think about all of their quirks for a couple of days--and then I find myself hiking along thinking, "boy, Jack would love to see that huge lizard or hold that neat frog." You see stuff from such a different perspective as a parent--and you can't leave it behind. It's like a shadow that constantly follows you. It is nice, however, to actually go somewhere and know that you won't have to stop for a thousand breaks. And it is a huge relief to know that neither Jeff or I are going to have an "accident" that will call for a complete change of clothes and an hour of bawling. Shoot, I didn't even cry on this hike--trust me, sometimes I even amaze myself.

We reserved Campsite #6 on the LaVerkin Creek Trail for Saturday night. We should have asked why nobody wanted that site, but headed out early on Saturday morning. The hike the night before was so pretty we really expected the same kind of scenery on Saturday, but this trail was very different. The map at the trailhead stated that the hike to the campsite was 6 miles with an elevation gain of 800 feet. I remarked to Jeff that the sign stated "strenuous"--I reminded him that I don't care for hikes that have to be measured by the number of times I cry on the trip. He stated that it was only marked "strenuous" because of the distance to the end of the canyon.

Tip of the Year: If the trail is marked "strenuous" it is actually "strenuous" because it is rocky, steep, full of raging rivers, deep sand and a thousand ant hills. Distance doesn't have ANYTHING to do with it. Oh, and that 800 feet, it's marked from the top of the trailhead straight down to the campsite. It doesn't tell you that you will climb 800 feet and descend 800 feet SEVERAL times. You really should get a Topo map. Really you should...

The hike to our campsite can be described by saying (with the longest sentence ever) that we descended down a cliff face, climbed up the other side and followed the steep ridgeline for over a mile then we skidded down the cliff face for another mile. Then we hiked through a barren wasteland filled with flooded out trees, gigantic squirrels (as big as cats), and creosote bush. Next we followed around another set of cliffs, through Timber Creek a couple of times and then down another cliff face for another mile. For the record, I was one unhappy camper at mile five. Picture: "Put your head down and power through..." By the time we got to campsite #5, I finally gave out and sat down on a rock. We ate some lunch and talked to some other hikers on their way out.

Our view for lunch. This was definitely the best part of the trail.

It was at this point that we discovered that "Bear Trap Falls" one of the premier destinations (and the one thing we really wanted to see) was only accessible by hiking for over a mile in the river (LaVerkin Creek). LaVerkin Creek was raging. We decided then that we were not going to walk in the river and around snowdrifts to see the falls. So after lunch we headed to our campsite--it wasn't too much further except to say that you had to cross the river to get to it.

Okay, so this picture doesn't do it justice. This picture isn't even close.

And here's the part that I hope Ken Salazar is reading: Would it have been too much to ask of the ranger staff to mention that you had to cross a knee deep, fast moving river to actually camp IN THE CAMPSITE?

Fortunately, I still had my whits about me--so I didn't even have a breakdown--I just said that we should go get a hotel room in Cedar City. And then we hiked out--or should I say--We hiked UP out of the canyon. And on the way out, Jeff said, "I am in the worst shape of my life." And the whole time I was thinking about how I am probably in better shape than ever--which is why we can probably do this kind of thing without tears. So basically, I can never let Jeff get back into shape or I will have to suffer. Hum. Something to think about...

Still love you, buddy. Even though you tried to push me off of Angel's Landing... ha.ha.ha.

Back at the car--six hours of hard hiking and twelve miles later. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the only part I forgot to put sunscreen on was on that deep v-necked part of my chest. What an idiot!
Tired. Doggies.

Postscript: We really did have a fun weekend. A big thanks to Aunt Carrie for giving our children probably the best couple of days of their whole lives. Lachlan was thoroughly disgusted to see me when they arrived home. She wouldn't even make eye contact. Jack just burst into tears. It's okay. I always cry when I have to come home to you after spending the weekend with Carrie, too. I know the feeling.

Grandma Carver's 87th Birthday

My grandmother, LuJean Hinchcliff Carver, turned 87 last month. I volunteered to make her a book that contained memories of her children and grandchildren. These kinds of things always tend to take a lot more time than you originally anticipate...this was no exception, but the end result was really neat. My aunts, uncles and cousins wrote such fun things and I was able to scrounge up enough pictures to make it visually interesting. I'm so glad that Suz and I spent the last six months organizing all of our Judd Family pictures--those pictures saved my butt with this project.

I created the book using the "Blurb" program. The books are easily put together. If I would have had half a brain I would have loaded all of my pictures into Picasa before I started so that I could have edited them as I went along--oh, well, live and learn. As it was, I loaded them and then realized that some of them had "problems" and then I had to pull them and make the fix in Photoshop and reload them. Not a horrible inconvenience, but not very efficient either. I hate that I work at a place that has made me so aware of inefficiency...good, but lame.

Someday...maybe in the next part of life I am going to make books for a living. After I create stuff like this I think that I really blew it by getting TWO degrees in Agriculture. WTH-- was I thinking?! Oh, well, I suppose that maybe someday I will need to identify a number of various internal parasites in order to win a million dollars...then I will be a rockstar!

Sheesh, my blood sugar must be low or something...let me save you from this drivel of regret by telling you that Grandma Carver LOVED her book. She wrote me the sweetest note and let me know that she "will hold these memories sacred forever." Isn't that wonderful? I feel so honored to be a part of her life.

Would you like to see the book?

Check it out here: Grandma's Book

Pictures from her birthday party:

My mom browsing through the memories with her mother.
Three generations. Me, My mom, and Grandma.

My Aunts: Susan Deans, Nancy Judd, Pat Madsen, Karma Bateman & their mother.

Grandma Carver and her children: Jim and Alan Carver added to the picture.
The Judd Family with Grandma.
The whole birthday party crowd. It is always so fun to see everyone. I wish that we could have had the whole day to visit in the sunshine. This will always be one of those special memories for me.

Jeff's Crepe Cake

I was so disappointed that I didn't have some beautiful raspberries to garnish the plate. It was a Sunday afternoon by the time we got around to putting the finishing touches on it. Can you believe how beautifully it cuts??! I never would have imagined it.

This cake is not for those of you watching cholesterol or for anyone on any other arterial disease prevention program. In fact, I recommend that you have a slice and then chase it with a baby aspirin--BUT, I will say that eating it is a pretty damn fine way to go out of this world.

I'm only including the link to the recipe. It looks really hard, but it isn't hard, you just have to be patient and give yourself plenty of time to finish it up properly--hopefully, with some tasty berries. Postscript: I didn't use the Kirsch, I substituted almond extract. I'm always nervous about putting in a flavored alcohol that I am not familiar with...

Recipe Link: http://creampuffsinvenice.ca/2007/06/17/the-real-crepe-cake/