High Uintahs

I love the summer backpacking season. When it's totally hot in the desert it's totally cool in the High Uintahs. We are so blessed to be able to load up the pack and be at the trailhead in an hour. Long lake was our destination since it was a pretty short hike. We took Sugar Pie and she had a blast. My pack was only about 20 pounds as you don;t need to pack water due to it being everywhere. Much, much better than Havasupai. My pack there was 30 pounds and every bit as painful as it sounds. Lance's was 60 though so I should just shut up. He's so sweet carrying some of my things too. Sug gets off easy, all she carries is a stick too big for her.

Havasupai and Oatman

We just had the most awesome hiking experience in the Grand Canyon. 20 miles round trip into the Havasupai Nation. It was absolutely beautiful. The water is a lovely shade of turquoise green and the falls are very powerful it feels like a hurricane when you're underneat them. It's also so loud that you can't even hear anything but torrents of water. I was so sore after hiking the 10 miles in that I didn't know how I was going to hike out. I had planned on taking the helicopter out but my wonderful friends Asher, Halen, Tim, and Hope, would not let me. I'm sure glad in retrospect that they "encouraged me " to hike out because it would have felt like I cheated otherwise. We had so much fun playing in the water it was a little cold but you get used to it after a while I only wished I could have played in it more. We hiked out just as quick as we hiked in I was so surprised. After that we saw the Burrows in the ghost town Oatman there were babies and they were only 2 weeks old so they couldn't be fed the carrots.

Hot Lemonade Cave Dreams

We set out on a hot dry afternoon to hike Neff's Canyon. It was blissful until the rain started pouring down. We found a small cave big enough for one person , if your lucky, but we were able to squeeze three people in. We still got quite a bit wet but it was extremely exhilarating. I love adventure, it is so awesome to be able have a nice little rainy hike in the afternoon even though it feels dangerous. We waited it out for awhile but decided to trek out in the sheeting rain. We made it fine and it was well worth it. Although I never found the hot Lemonade Shack at the end of the trail, maybe it was there because we never made it there. We did enjoy some cold beer though.

Hostile Takeover

There has been a takeover in the garden while I was gone. Not only by weeds but also by some native plants that I planted a couple of years ago. I have been trying to get rid of them all year with no success. I've tried weed killer (2 different kinds) and pulling them, that's hard though because you don't want to squish snails. Don't ever plant Evening Primrose or Four o'clocks. I hope anyone who I have given them to will forgive me.

Bittersweet

Well, It is over, the long awaited floating house trip with our dear Becca and James. It is so sad when you are so excited about something for months and then boom, it's just over. I'm glad that the time went pretty slowly while we were there. We stayed in Escalante canyon (my favorite area) the whole time. The first 3 nights were in a tributary called Willow Creek and the last 3 were in Davis Gulch. Wilow was a bit breezy and I was blown across the canyon while just trying to float. It was so scary I thought I was going to tip over and the only thing going through my mind was Lance saying "wear your life vest", I had to be rescued by boat. Davis Gulch was intoxicating (literally) there was so much beauty there I thought I might not survive.

We spent our days lounging on floaties, eating, drinking, kayaking, and fishing. Lance and I hiked into Davis Gulch and it was definitely the highlight of the trip. There were Prickly Pear blooming all over. Also, some Indian Paintbrush, Yucca, and Purple Sage to name a few. It was such a splendid time of year in the desert, I so regret not hiking into Willow. Next time. Sugarpie had fun swimming after her stick and James had fun putting her in her place. All in all it was a refreshing time in the desert and it is also really good to be home in my garden during my favorite time of year.

Chicago Shopping

Today we got cancelled in Chicago at 8 in the morning so we decided to go into the city. It was so much fun. I hadn't been there in a few months and I really love this city. We started with an early lunch and a cold Goose Island, a good local brew, at a delicious Thai restaurant. We then strolled the streets on such a picturesque sunny day. We went to Saks Fifth Avenue got mini makeovers and sprayed ourselves with exquisite fragrances. What a girly day, I think we all need it once in a while. We then began to shop at all sorts of boutiques and of coarse H and M since it's one of my favorites. We tried on pretty dresses and many other silly things. Oh, how fun my job can be!

Part Time Yay!

Finally after 3 years I have been awarded the elusive part time. I can't believe I have stuck it out this long. It's so awesome I won't have to get trips dropped or picked up anymore and I'll have a better chance of getting the trips I want. This just makes the most amazing job all that more amazing, and It's just in time for Summer!