Moab in October

We spent the week before last at our place in Moab. The whole week. SOOOOO nice. We saw friends Jon and Kathy in Grand Junction, Kathy in Moab, and met up with my very old friend Kelly that I used to know from high school. My cousin Milissa and Christian were staying at their place in Moab too so we were able to ride with them and go out to eat at Sunset Grill and watch movies with them. That was fun. I always wanted to have an identical twin.

A couple of pictures from hikes in Arches National Park.

And one of us on the Porcupine Rim trail - before the crash.

Rested and relaxed. Wounds are healing nicely. Can't wait to go back again.

I'm OK

To all those concerned about my crash: yes, I am fine. My first thought when I hit the dirt was not "am I hurt?" or "is my bike broken?" but "did Drew get that on tape?". You can't really tell it in the video, but I went off a ledge about 1.5 feet high. When I landed I must have been a little bit sideways, and was unable to correct because of the sand at the landing place. It didn't hurt very bad at the time, but later that evening the gouge on my forearm started to really hurt. I also have a wicked purple bruise on my hip. Oh wait, that bruise is from the crash two days prior to the one we have on video. Guess I better slow down.... Nah.

The bike is fine and I am healing, but I have not forgiven Drew for just standing there watching me.

Lucy riding on the Porcupine MTB Trail

Here is a short video clip of Lucy tearing it up on the Porcupine Trail in Moab UT during our vacation. I am wearing a helmet camera and filming her as we zorch down the trail!

Vacation in Moab UT October 2008

This past week Lucy and I left Salt Lake City for a week of vacation in Moab UT. Unlike any other vacation this one was quite unique. With no activities planned the two of us ventured down to Moab with Flower (the cat). The weather along the Wasatch Front had hints of Winter in the air as we headed to the Southeast corner of Utah.

We left on Sunday morning and the clouds and inclement weather gave way to clear blue skies and beautiful temperatures in the mid 70's.

We spent the week hiking and mountain biking on the local trails. During a typical day we would roll out of bed after 8 hours of sleep. If we were lucky we would just catch the sun rising over the La Sal Mountains. Stumbeling towards the coffee pot we would jumpstart the day and plan our adventure. Monday we hiked Negro Bill Canyon. Tuesday we mountain biked the Soverign Trail. Wednesday we took a guided tour through the Fiery Furnace in Arches Natl' Park. Thursday we drove over to Fruita CO and mountain biked on the Kokopelli Trail along the Colorado River. That evening we had dinner in Grand Junction CO with some friends before returning home. Friday and Saturday we mountain biked in Moab and worked on the condo. Sunday afternoon we returned to Salt Lake City with our batteries recharged ready to go back to work. We had a wonderful time in Moab and enjoyed our time together. With our hectic schedules and disimilar hours it was nice to step out of the conga line and relax. We are already looking forward to our next vacation in February 2009!

How dare it snow when I'm trying to collect seeds.

As you can see, it snowed today while I was at a seed collecting workshop at Red Butte Garden. I was properly bundled up so I didn't get too awfully cold. I was able to collect 17 types of seeds to (hopefully) germinate for planting next spring in our new back yard. We still need to put in the arbor and sprinkler system before any plants or grass can go in, but hey, it is fun to dream. The seeds I am most excited about are from a clematis plant that covers the arbor that is behind Drew and me in one of our favorite wedding photos. It will be so cool if I can this plant to grow in my yard on the big arbor we are putting up to block the view of the neighbor's cinder block garage. The instructor (seen here in front of Hummingbird Mint) said that this clematis blooms profusely in the fall and is vigorous and easy to grow. I have had poor luck with clematis in the past, so vigor and ease is a good thing.

Another great trip to the desert

I'm recently back from another stint as drill-site geologist for the Utah Geological Survey's West Desert monitoring well drilling project. This time around: super fall weather, interesting geology, and wild horses!

Here was one of the drill sites. This one is about a one hour drive on gravel roads to the Border Inn where I was staying. Way out there. The rocks in front are Cambrian-aged dolomite. Very cool to drill through and hike around in.


















And this not-so-fabulous hotel room is where I get to stay sometimes when I'm out there.


And here are our facilities. Just kidding.
I went for an evening hike. Overhead were F-16 fighter jets practicing their bombing targets. I was hoping they did not have me in their sights.

At Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge I get to stay in this very nice new bunkhouse all by myself sometimes.


So all in all, a great trip.

The Moose is Loose

We saw two moose, up close! Since today was the only day I would see Drew over the course of 11 days, I took the day off from work so we could play. Not only did we have a great ride up in Park City, but we saw two moose. We were coming down John's Trail, in and of itself a great time, made all the more beautiful by the bright yellow aspens, when Drew noticed two moose off the side of the trail. There was a bull with BIG antlers and probably a cow, I guess. In the photo the bull is on the left and you can kind of see his rack. The cow is the dark patch a little farther away on the right. They were only about 30 to 40 feet from us, and they did not appear at all bothered by our presence, so we stopped and watched for quite a while. The bull even made little grunting noises, and Drew claims he could smell them, although my nostirls were burned by Drew's sweaty jersey smell. J/K. Really, really cool. What a lucky sighting.

The little blurry picture is my accidental picture I snapped as I was falling down while trying to take a picture of the fall colors. That is the closest we'll get to an action shot of me for a while probably. :-)