Goblins and Aztecs

My man and I escaped for a weekend to go camping

down south. I have never seen goblin valley so that was our

first stop. But because we love it and because we could,

we decided to be spontaneous and add a few more

adventures to the trip before we came home.

Our fist night was spent in the campgrounds at

Goblin Valley state park, I cooked some steaks and we

ate in the company of some giant beetles and dragonflies.

The night was sooo hot and it only cooled down to 93

around 3 in the morning. We were so uncomfortable

we drove up to green river where it was generally

20 degrees cooler to sleep the rest of the night.

The next day we took a hike up a slot canyon just outside

of Goblin Valley state park. I love slot canyons because

you hike a majority in shade. This was an awesome hike.

We were surrounded by the most fascinating rocks.

I wanted to take home more than my little sample....

maybe enough to tile a fireplace would do the trick:)

Painting petroglyphs with water. love it.

Then to the valley of the goblins. I wanted to photograph

them in the golden light of sunset but the clouds were too

thick. There goes star trails as well. But the cloud

cover did make for an interesting ethereal atmosphere

though.....not bad.

Dinner in goblin valley, breakfast in Green river.

Im getting better and better at cooking over a fire or on

our Coleman stove.

We then decided to drive down past Moab to

take a hike to see some famous Aztec Ruins.

The hike was delightful, it had just rained in the area

the night before so the ground was still moist and

the air much cooler. I loved seeing all the Indian

Paintbrush that lined the trail. It reminded me of a

book that was read to me as a child that

taught me the flowers name and the

legend around it. I will never forget it.

The main house in the ruins is called house on fire,

can you see why?

We got a late start because the trail head

was further away then we thought so the lighting

wasn't the best when we got to the ruins. But I did

the best I could.

Sorry there are at ton of pictures if me...

Reece got sick with a bad cold because of our late nights

dealing with how hot it was,

so he didn't feel like a photo shoot. (It is so strange

to think of someone getting a cold when where

we were was sooo hot, but the poor guy got one)

On the way back to Moab we stopped off at recapture lake

where we took a dip to cool off and have a little cookout/

picnic for dinner while watching the sunset.

A storm was rolling in that would drop its rain the next

day.

We decided to relax and stay the night in Moab and not

push though the night to get home. So we got a

banana split then a motel room with air conditioning

and cable. We watched dog shows till we passed out.

Yes dog shows, whenever I have the remote we end up

watching animal planet. Its how it is, and Im glad that

Im with someone who will enjoy it with me.

The next morning we had the most scrumptious breakfast

at the Jailhouse Cafe. I had a pesto, roasted tomato,

mozzarella cheese omelette with a ginger pancake and apple

butter on the side, Reece had the eggs Benedict like usual.

All very tasty. The rain was starting while we were

dining and it made for pure joy. Feeling the cool

breeze as we sat on the covered porch, smelling the

rain..... I was in heaven.

Thanks sweetie for the adventurous

weekend. There were some tougher spots

but there were also some splendid

splendid moments, and I couldn't think of

anyone else that I would want to spend them with

more than you.

Latest Scramblings

Been scrambling up a lot of mountains lately. One to fulfill

a new years resolution, and the others to just see the

beautiful state I live in and to keep with being active this

summer.

The first Mountain scaled being Mt. Olympus in SLC. Yes,

the mountain of the Gods. One would think we scaled it to

be recieved at the summit with ambrosia and nector but

no....all we got was trail mix and sweat (and maybe a little

bit of tears). Instead of getting more and more heavenly

the close we got to the heavens, it actually got more and more

like "another place". A hot place. We were sweltering. (it

was the first day that UT got up to the 100's in temp) and

all of us except for my dad became all of the seven dwarfs

except for Happy (dad got to be Happy, dang it!) at one time

or an other. I was probably Grumpy longer than anyone. Kate,

Reece, and I all became Dopey around the time we crawled

through the doors of the closest 7eleven eight hours later,

zombie-like moaning for our life giving slurpies. Its not that

we are out of shape.....well maybe a little....but mostly I guess

it came down to expectations, dont make our mistake

venturing out on this hike looking for a quick 2 hours up

2 hrs back hike. Go expecting an elevation gain of 4000

ft in 3 miles one way and more than half of that scrambling

up large rocks. Then you should be fine. I think.

The second half of the hike the trail was lined with wild

roses, maybe we should have stopped to smell them more.

My next hike was just up the street in American Fork

Canyon. We hiked up to Sliver Lake. Beautiful hike,

not to hard but not a simple jaunt either. And again

let me say, beautiful hike. I loved it. This is one

I will do often from now on. Walking through forests of

aspens, passing reservoirs and lakes, wild flowers....

delightful.

Boating

Thank you to the Dearths for taking us out on the Lake.

It has been a long time since I have been on a wakeboard,

boy was it fun to be back at it again. The water

was cool but not so cold that you were

shivering while waiting for the boat

to swing around.

So refreshing and wonderful company.

thanks guys.

Oooo It was so fun to board with Kelly at the same time.

Something that I have never done before.

We will have to practice a routine, I think we could

be amazing.