Lake Blanche June 2011

Stela, Rebecca, and I join up with Mike, Chas, and Sam at a cabin up in the Cottonwood Canyons. It's a pretty cool place but we were the first to use the summer cabin which is buried in snow during the winter. This means there were plenty of spiderwebs, dead bugs, and mouse droppings to be found. We paid our dues by helping to clean up the place and we camped in the living room with a wood fire going in the fireplace. The neighbors had a zip line that we took advantage of as well. The next day some of us hit the Lake Blanche trail and after a few hours and a vertical climb of 2500 feet we got to the iced over lake. Due to sudden warm weather the rivers and waterfalls were gushing but it got snowy the higher we went. Poor Rebecca was only wearing flip flops and the snow and elevation change didn't sit too well with that. She's all smiles while on the zip line but I'm not sure if we are friends anymore because I chose the hike. However, it was certainly very beautiful up there.

Bridal Veil Falls June 2011

In all the time I've been in Provo, I've never done any exploring by the famous Bridal Veil falls in Provo Canyon. So, Ellie, Stela, Rebecca, and I set out on an adventure. It was a gorgeous day and there were plenty of people hiking up. We got to where the official trail ends and promptly ignored the sign in the picture. We got pretty high before we were satisfied with the day's work. One more sight in Utah to check off my list I guess.

Phoenix April 2011

Nadine and I decided to pay Jeremy a quick visit in Phoenix which included a nice hike up Camelback mountain, a D-Backs game, and Downton Abbey. His lordship Jeremy took us to a cool vegetarian Indian restaurant where we ate what I would describe as General Tso's cauliflower. Flat Stanley made the trip too, thanks to our nephew Sawyer.

San Diego January 2011

What better time than January to get out of Utah and head to San Diego to spend time with family. Jeremy, Nadine, and Melanie joined me for the weekend with our Aunt Celia. We spent some nice moments together including Tarot, piano, hiking, sunshine on the beach, and the farmer's market. While at the market I got a memorable exposure to Kale when Nadine bought a green drink with Kale as a dominant ingredient. I've been eating Kale pretty regularly since.