Havasupai!

Last month I had the awesome opportunity to take eight of my Sunrise girls to Havasupai Falls, along with one of the therapists, my boss, and a female teacher. I was particularly excited to be involved because I’ve wanted to go there since I was a freshman in college. It’s a 7 hour drive from Hurricane (so about 8 hours for me), and then about a 10 mile hike to the campground. We stayed in Kingman, AZ and then drove the last three hours to the trailhead. We sent most of our gear down on mules and carried daypacks for the hike. It’s actually in the Grand Canyon so it was cool to be down there. I’ve always wanted to hike the Canyon but didn’t really know I had it in me. The hike down wasn’t bad at all, but I definitely got some blisters and a workout! It took us about 5 hours and the sun was just setting when we got our tents up. The next morning we hit the trails for Moony Falls, about 2 miles away from camp. We had to basically climb down the side of a cliff to get down. There were chains to hold on to and cave-like tunnels to brave. I put myself between a girl terrified of heights and one failed to mention claustrophobia. You’d think that’s a bad mix, but it was great cause it made me totally forget my own fear of heights! Win!

The water was the most clear, blue, cool water I’ve ever experienced! You could see right to the bottom of the river. I felt like a teenager again! I was climbing cliffs and exploring caves, swimming against the current to see what lurked under each waterfall, and jumping off rocks into the rushing water. I couldn’t have been happier! I spent most of our time at Moony Falls with one of the girls I haven’t been super close with before. We picked our way down the river, slipping on rocks and floating the deep parts. When we got tired we went back for our books and found the perfect little rocks in the middle of the river to plop down on! It was heaven. Pure Heaven!

Havasu Falls was a lot like Moony but much easier to get to. There were more caves to explore and the pools were deeper so we did more jumping and swimming. I also got to prove my swimming chops to the guys, which is always nice.

That night Krista (the teacher) and I slept under the stars. It took forever to fall asleep under that beautiful canvas.

The hike out was more painful because I already had blisters, but I ended up hiking with a girl who was hurting too and we agreed we just wanted to power through and go! We pulled way ahead of the group and held up our lead until the last 2 miles when the guys started running and came within view. She turned to me and said, “I’m tired, and I would love a break, but I am NOT giving up my first place lead! I will not be passed by the guys!” A girl after my own heart! Spurred by her conviction we booked it the next half mile until we hit the switchbacks. If you’ve ever done Angels Landing, you’ll get this reference. Those switchbacks are like the Wiggles from Hell! About halfway up I started to struggle and let my girl go ahead at her own pace cause I thought I might barf from exhaustion. I was so tired I had to stop every few steps and the guys passed me, but I finally made it! (I was happy to hear that my little hiking buddy got to the top first, even with the guys running!) It felt so amazing to realize I hiked about 25 miles in three days and had just reached the top! And I did all 10 miles in 4 hours 15 minutes! I felt so powerful, so strong, and so, so very sore! As I walked to the car to wait for the rest of the group I caught a look at my shadow. With my pack on and limping as I was, I looked like Richard III in a bandana!

Havasupai, with its lush green foliage and cool blue waters is strikingly beautiful, and I think is special because it isn’t accessible to just anyone. You have to want it. You have to earn it.

More pics to come!

My Happy Place

Our Jackson trip was so amazing! It was so cool to be back in that special place and get to share it with my sweetheart. I took him all over town. I showed him my favorite used bookstore, the Browse ‘n Buy thrift shop, the really cool eco-friendly library, and of course all my favorite places to eat! I took him to Bubba’s BBQ for breakfast and the Caddilac Bar. I was most excited for Josh to try the little hole-in-the-wall where I fell in love with Thai food!

Josh approves!

Teton Thai Green Curry on a warm Summer evening is heaven on a plate! Unfortunately it’s been shi shi-ed up and moved to Teton Village, about 20 minutes away, but we found out it’s still the same recipes and everything, so yes, we drove out to the Village for Thai. And it was delicious!

On our last night in town we met up with Bekah for Sidewinder’s: our favorite little sports bar. They have the best stuffed pretzels and BBQ Chopped salad in the world! And it was so great to hang out with Bekah and catch up! She’s the one who helped me get to Jackson so a lot of my great memories are of her.

It was great to see her!

I know everyone rafts the Snake when they go to Jackson but man it is EXPENSIVE!! I had no idea because I always went with people who worked as river guides so we just all pitched in a few bucks for the raft rental. Josh and I have both done it before so we decided to just play in the river. Fortunately I worked with locals so I took Josh to a little rock beach where the current isn’t too fast. We made some friends, met some dogs, and enjoyed the river.

I think the best memories of our trip were created at our little campground. This is the view from our spot!

When we pulled into Jackson we went to the Visitor’s Center where they recommended the Gros Ventre (pronounced Grow Vaunt) campground and told us to watch for a herd of bison reported to be moving through. We kept our eyes peeled but we didn’t need to, because the herd was literally crossing the highway!

The next night, while Josh was building us a fire, I was brushing my teeth a few feet away. Suddenly we heard a rustle in the bushes behind me. I shined my flashlight and watched a full grown bull moose trample through the brush and head straight for me! I slowly backed away, knowing full well how aggressive a bull can be. Josh started to edge towards the 9 mil he had just loaded. Mr. Moose passed within a yard of me and slowly lumbered up the ridge, and out into the meadow beyond the campground. My heart was pounding, my eyes straining to catch any hint that he might charge, and all my senses keenly aware of my surroundings and situation. I about wet myself!

That night we watched the most beautiful thunderstorm move up over the Tetons. When the lightning struck, those mountains lit up so grandly they looked even more purple and majestic than in the day. The storm came within 2 counts of us so we scrambled into the car, just in case, and just watched the storm chase itself across the Gros Ventre. It was so incredible!

Then we realized our tent was leaking. Hence Josh’s state of the art…er draining methods the next morning!

We thought about toughing it out, until we had everything almost dry and saw another storm rolling in. We ended up coming home late that night.

In efforts to escape the storm, we visited the Museum of Wildlife Art. You know how I know I married the right guy? We spent the morning looking at paintings, picking out our favorite artists, checking out the super cool kids art studio, and watching a video of the artist creating this painting of a bull Bison emerging from his dusty herd. It was fantastic.

It felt so good to be back in that special little town. It brought back so many sweet memories of my kids and all the fun things we did, and of course Justin, my trusty vanmate. As I look back on that Summer I remember vividly how much my choices were guided by my Heavenly Father and the protection, guidance, and growth I gained from him in Jackson. I cried as we drove out of town, but not so much out of sadness for leaving, though those tears were there too, but out of gratitude for my experiences there and the joy of including my sweet husband in my happy place!

We're Taking the Yellow Brick Road...All the Way to Jackson

Hello out there!! I'm still here! I just went on a Summer hiatus. Ever since my summer of '08 in Jackson Hole, I make a list in late May of all the fun things I want to accomplish before the end of August. This year the list was particularly long so I decided to forgo blogging for the Summer.

But now we're on...

VACATION!!!

So I thought I'd document and then catch up on Summer later.

Josh and I have been looking forward to this rare week off for such a long time. It's nice to get some away time together. But we have a lot on the docket for the next 5 1/2 days! We wanted to see some family and spend time in Northern Utah since we so rarely do, but we also wanted to really get away and after a lot of thought and research, we decided it was time to return to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I'm so excited to share my favorite place in the world with my sweetheart!

We set out from Cedar yesterday and got to Orem in the afternoon. Josh went to my dad's house to snag a nap while I spent a couple of hours with my cousin Kiara and her little boy, Kai. We hung out at the pool and then chatted at her house until Josh came back for me. Kiara and I grew up together and rarely get quality time to talk and catch up so this was really nice.

After Grammy Venturi's funeral a couple of weeks ago (a whole other post) Josh and I talked about what a wonderful homemaker she was and how much we both want to be better cooks, so I set a goal to cook at least once per week (which we consider quite a feat since I work at least 3 nights a week). We also want to broaden our perspectives by learning different styles of cooking. Thus, we asked my dad to teach us how to cook a pot roast. I grew up eating my dad's delicious Burgundy Pot Roast with mashed potatoes, homemade gravy and roasted vegetables on a wintry Sunday afternoon, followed by fresh chocolate chip cookies hot from the oven. Yeah. That's what WE did for family home evening last night! It was so much fun to watch my dad light up over seasonings and wine discussions with the smells of my childhood filling the kitchen. My dad loves to teach anything; cooking, golf, how to properly throw a football or light a campfire, and the Gospel, among other topics. He seems really happy when he's sharing his own knowledge with others. And it was delicious. I think Josh got a real taste of what my Sundays were like as a kid!

Today we meant to get up early, but now that prospect seems laughable. And actually, I did get up at about 6:30 am to do Haela's hair for her first day of school, which turned out cute...and then I went right back to bed!

Anyway, my computer has been making a funny sound when I open it so we had an appointment at the Genius Bar at Fashion Place this morning that we almost missed. But we did get in at the last minute, thank goodness. The "Genius" helping us was just lovely! He wasn't condescending at all! I just love it when smart people are still nice to me when I ask them for help! We stopped for some See's samples and headed up to Kamas to hang out with my mom and Richard and their rescue dog, Glacier. He likes me :) Tonight we'll have dinner and enjoy a nice evening with them. They live in this great house up in the mountains that feels super homey. We like being there and are excited to spent some time there!

Tomorrow we set out...for Jackson. And I just can't wait! It's like I'm going home!