The Sink up Uintah Canyon

This week, one of my girlfriends is out visiting from California. Since I don't get to see her often, I decided to take a day off and spend time with her and our other good friend.

 

We decided to escape the heat of summer and go up to the mountains. Ashley K knew a cool spot that neither of us had ever been to, so we went there. Its called The Sink because the water comes down the mountain, but then disappears into an underground tunnel.

They talked me into taking Sage; she had a blast. 

Ashley K and I have been friends since we were young and she was my best friend growing up. 

Ashley N and I have known each other pretty much our entire lives, but we became good friends in high school.

They are both amazing women and I am blessed to call them friends. They are two, of the few people, I feel I can be myself around without worrying about hiding or offending.

 

We walked through the small cave, but after the 2nd opening, it was pretty dark and we didn't have a flashlight with us. 

We also hiked up the water fall. Ashley K was kind enough to help me with Sage in a few spots. That dog has endless amounts of energy. 

It was a gorgeous drive and a beautiful hike.

But the best part was spending the day with my best friends.  

Camping

We both love camping. But some years, its just hard to make it happen.

 

While I was working for my uncle at the fair, Josh mentioned he might try to go camp one night. I begged to go with him, and we decided we could make it work.

 

Then, on his way home from work, it started to pour. So we decided to wait a week.

 

I can't believe its been FOUR years since we went camping last! FOUR YEARS!

 

I dug out our camping tote, only to find the lighter inside had melted and a bug spray had leaked. Pretty much every thing was ruined. So I threw it all away and bought all of the essentials. There is still a few things we never had, but want to get. I also splurged and bought myself a new sleeping bag, which I love! (Thanks Kim for lending me yours so I could realize it was just what I wanted, even though I never got to actually use yours.)

 

Friday afternoon, I went up to Yellowpine and found a spot. I took Sage and most of the supplies with me. After Josh got off work, he joined us with a few things I couldn't fit in the car. We set up the tent and roasted hot dogs and s'mores for dinner.

 

The next morning, we decided to go fishing before it got hot. Josh ended up catching 4 fish and I got three.

 

We left Sage's chain at camp, so all we had was her leash. That was a bit of work for an easily excitable dog. When Josh was trying to reel in one of his fish, she fell in the lake. She did not act happy after that. She also tried to lick all the fish while Josh was unhooking them.

 Each day, a chipmunk would show up in this tree and chirp at us for a pit. I tried to get a picture, but he moved right as I hit the button. He's hard to see, but he's in the 2nd to top branch on the left, but the other branch blocks him. We ended up seeing a ton of chipmunks because one of the neighboring camps had set out sun flower seeds. Each time we went by there, there was at least 3 or 4 chipmunks on the rocks stuffing their cheeks with sunflower seeds.

 

Each night, Sage would dig a hole to sleep in. The first two were right next to each other. Also, on the last morning, we gave her our left over English Muffins we didn't eat. She ate the meat, egg and cheese, but then buried the muffins. And she buried each half in a different hole, it took her forever!

 

I saw this deer right next to some one's canopy. They weren't in camp so they missed it.

 

Two of Sage's holes.

 

Sage and I took a walk Sunday morning and saw a small herd of deer.

 

The view from the back of our tent (where the big window is).

 

I still can't believe we haven't been in four years. But we are busy trying to plan another trip in a few weeks if Josh's work schedule works out. 

Crazy Weather & Quick Life Update

If April showers bring May flowers, what does April snow bring?

 

Towards the end of March, winter finally seemed on its way out of here. I even wore sandals for a few days.

 

Then, on April 9th, I woke up to well over a foot of snow, and it was still coming. When I went out to start my car, I couldn't even get the doors open, they were frozen solid. Since Josh was away for work, I called my supervisor and told her, "if you want me at work, you'll have to come get me."

So she did. And then we got stuck. Luckily I could hear my landlord on his tractor, so we called him and he came and rescued us.

 

That night, I came home to find the snow had stopped, but not melted.

 

Nor did it melt the next day. Sigh, at least its pretty.

 Then, it snowed again on the 15th. Again, we got about a foot. By this point, we had gotten more snow in a weeks time, then we did all winter.

 Tuesday, the 16th, was by far, the WORST! I knew it had been snowing all night again, because the power flickered off a few times during the night. I got up, plugged in my hair straightener and then went to look outside. Just as I turned the front room light on, the power went off. And didn't come back on. I threw my hair stuff and makeup in a bag, put on a hat, and decided to get ready at work.

 

Ha ha.

 

Almost the ENTIRE basin was without power that day. For me, that meant spending the entire day answering the back up phones at work and explaining that because of the severe weather, power was out everywhere; but our guys were out there working on getting it back on.

 

At noon, I realized, I would never get my hair or make up done. It was a long day for everyone. I feel so bad for those who were without power, all day. And I felt bad for the linemen who were out in the storm trying to get it all restored. Some areas were without power over 12 hours.

  

Then, to round off the crazy week, I had a jury duty summons on Wednesday. But after answering phones ALL DAY on Tuesday, I was actually pretty excited. I had never been chosen before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. But I knew it would be a lot calmer and quitter then Tuesday.

 

In the end, I didn't get chosen. Which I guess is a pretty big deal since I was #3 on the list.

 

Training for the new job is going well. I even had to do one thing by myself one day when my coworker called in sick. I'm also learning that I picked a good time to leave Facebook. With all the training, I don't have time to get online much anymore. And when I get home at night, I'm too exhausted.

 

This weather is also making it hard to train for a 5k. A month, or so, ago, Vanessa, Josh and I signed up for the electric run in Salt Lake City in September. But I wasn't too stressed because September feels forever away.

 

But then, Vanessa told us about a Mud Run 5K in Roosevelt in July and we decided to sign up for it too. Now I'm feeling a little panicked I won't be in good enough shape. I detest running, but also, I don't want to be the wuss that walks the 5K.

 

So Josh found a plan online that was couch to 5K in 15 weeks. But by that point, it was only 13 weeks until the first run. But its not like I'm going from "couch potato", so I wasn't terribly worried. I decided to just skip the first 2 weeks and start there.

 

Then it snowed. And melted. And Froze. And repeat. That made it pretty much impossible to run outside. So I've been trying to run with my Wii Fit, but I know, its not the same thing.

 

Finally, last Sunday, I ran outside for the first time. Somebody, please shoot me. I thought I was going to die. Josh told me I did pretty good, considering it was my first time running AND the wind was blowing. He said it was much easier when the wind isn't blowing.

 

And he was right. I ran again yesterday. This time no wind. And I did much better. Maybe I can do this after all.