Hike: Mt. Timpanogos

This past weekend my wife planned a fantastic date for the two of us. She isn't the biggest fan of camping. She knows that I am so she decided to go out of her comfort zone and plan a camping trip as a surprise for me. We started out by renting a tandem bike from Outdoors Unlimited on BYU campus. We rode for about an hour and had a blast. If like riding bikes and you've never ridden a tandem bike it's a real treat. Very different balance than a normal bike but just as fun if not more so. Luckily there were no accidents along the way. Afterwards we grabbed some things at the store, ate out at Wallaby's and headed up the canyon. It was late when we got up there so we basically just set up camp, made a fire (of course) and went for a starlit stroll. In the morning I got up and made another fire (of course) and we had a simple breakfast then headed up to the trail. Here are some pictures of our adventures along the trail. We didn't go to far. Both of us got tired pretty fast. I'm just plain out of shape - as you can tell by the dearth of "Bike:[insert title]" blog posts. Serena however, has dance classes during the week and she's on her feet all day at work so I can see why she was tired. Anyway, we made it up to the second falls, had lunch, then came home via the Alpine Loop which was just beautiful. The leaves were starting to turn colors and it wasn't too warm. I gotta say, my wife couldn't have done better!

More: Thursday Nights

In my second post I mentioned that I am a nerd and used to role-play and such. Well, if you saw what I did on Thursday nights you might think that I’m even more crazy. Well, here’s your chance. The local newspaper decided to show up a couple of Thursdays and take some shots. Here is a link to the story: http://heraldextra.com/news/local/article_1eb93ed7-7b91-5c52-90f0-64933e6e540c.html. I’ve been doing it for a long time but left for 5 years or so while I went to Brazil on a mission then got married. But now I’ve been going back most Thursdays for some good  exercise and a chance to let my nerdy side out. It’s lots of fun most days and I always come home wiped out. Good stuff! If you’re more interested in the group or are thinking, “What in the world is he actually doing?” The link for the combat society is this: http://www.belegarth.com. Check it out!
P.S. I’m in the first and second pictures. This first one is better – I’m totally dominating.

More: Cystectomy

For those who have the stomach I thought I might share a little of myself. Inside and out. This post is to share my first surgical experience during which I wasn’t asleep. I have a had a cyst growing on my upper right cheek that I felt might be good to get rid of. I think it was making one of my eyes all squinty in pictures. I couldn’t take it anymore so under the knife I went. I was going to put a video of the first of the twins coming out – there were two cysts next to each other – but it would have to go on YouTube to do that so never mind. However, there is a picture of the surgery tray after all was said and done. Lastly, me! This is the bandage for the first day. I need to keep it on for one day then I can use normal Band-Aids. Underneath there are a total of 7 stitches. The nurse said the doctor is OCD about his stitches which I found strangely comforting. The pictures:

More: California and Redwoods

For a long time I’ve heard about the Redwoods. I’ve seen pictures on TV and in magazines but never been there in person. When I was in junior high one of my best friends gave me a bookmark from the Redwoods. (I collect bookmarks). The reason I say all of that is because I’ve wanted to go for a long time and this week I finally got my chance.  My wife and I went to Oregon to visit one of her old roommates with a bunch of her friends. My condition for going was that we came through the Redwoods on our way home. It’s not really “on the way home” but I really wanted to go. I’m so glad that we did. First of all, two 16 hour drives in three days would not be fun. Second of all I love California so the more of it I can see the better. Lastly, and most importantly, I had my breath taken by the beauty of God’s creations. We had basically one day in California so we had to make the most of that day. I think we did. I became insignificantly small at Big Tree, claustrophobic as I drove through a Redwood, gloried in the sea while I walked a coastal trail, saw whales from Klamath Overlook, and huffed and puffed along the Boy Scout trail to a magnificent small waterfall in the middle of the redwoods. I left with only one desire. To come back again and stay for much more than one day. There is so much to see that it couldn’t be done in a week or even a month I think.
Coming from Utah things grow once a year, if that. In my house things tend not to grow at all. Anyway, in the Redwoods things never stop growing. I have included pictures below that are proof of that very fact. The first picture is of a couple of spider webs that were above the trail. They were supported by strands anchored to trees 20+ feet apart. I was amazed by the tenacity of those spiders.

This next pictures is a perfect example of the cycle of life. A huge redwood fell on the side of the path and its decaying remains became the fertile ground for other plants and trees to grow on. It’s fascinating to me that the roots just wrap around the tree, defying what I always saw other trees do – grow in the ground.

Behold the glory of the Redwoods! This is a view of the forest from the Boy Scout trail (the only one I had time to go on). These towers held me in awe as I walked through them. The fact that they only need the moisture from the mist, they are fire retardant, they live for 20 human lifetimes and make me feel insignificant because they are absolutely massive.

This little waterfall was the reason that I took the Boy Scout trail and I think that it was worth it.

More: Oregon and Crabs

This past weekend my wife and I went to Oregon with some friends to reunionize with some of my wife’s old roomates. We camped at the Beverly Beach campground which was quite nice, for a campground. While there we had a grand old time. The first day we went crabbing, a unique experience. There are various reasons why it is such a unique experience. First of all you do it right off the side of the dock, no boating required. Second of all your catch can and will catch you back if you aren’t careful, thankfully I don’t have personal experience with crab claws. Thirdly, you can take your catch to a local greasy spoon and have them cook your catch for you while you eat. However, you don’t have to have any expertise with the sport for people to be in awe with you and think you are the shizzle, which I thought hilarious because we really had no idea what were doing. They will ask you all sorts of questions like you know everything so of course we played the part and imparted all three facts we knew about crabbing like they were the greatest pieces of wisdom heard since Confucius or something. I know that crab is delicious and many people love crab cakes or crab salad. But if you’ve ever had crab out of the shell it’s quite a different experience. It’s hard! There is a lot of work for very  little meat, but if you ask me it’s totally worth it. These Red Rock crab weren’t really huge, as seen in the picture, but boy they tasted good! I think I had four by myself. So if you ever get out to Newport, OR go to the dock, rent a crab trap and throw it in a couple of times. Loads of fun!

Book: The Two Swords

As a teenager I participated in what many people would think the nerdiest of nerdy activities. I role-played. Not like what you’d find at a sales training course or in drama class. No, this was the parent-feared Dungeons and Dragons style of role-playing (frightened gasps). I enjoyed it. When I was role-playing I was with my friends having a good time. It was also a whole lot safer than trying to get to know girls as well as a better way to use my imagination than coming up with the newest prank or crazy stunt.
Since that time I’ve started to expand my interests and try new things. However, I haven’t stopped enjoying fantasy books. From the Dungeons and Dragons multiverse I was introduced to the world of Forgotten Realms, a place full of magic, wonder and adventure. Forgotten Realms is also a world that many authors have used as the setting for their books. A friend recommended to me to a series of books written about a character that many fantasy readers know and love: Drizzt Do’Urden. Drizzt is a good hearted warrior whose unfortunate ancestry is drow elf, a race known for its choatic cruelty and merciless mannerisms. He leaves his deep underground home to escape his heritage and wanders a land full of prejudice and danger. Many are the books that describe his journeys, The Two Swords being the last of them. Throughout the books we get a look into what I imagine is Drizzt’s journal or personal musings. I think that perhaps these musings are why I like these books so much.
In The Two Swords Drizzt is basically on his own fighting behind enemy lines to help in whatever way he can to support his friends who are under siege from a huge army of orcs. During one of the interludes or musings Drizzt discusses Guilt and Responsibility.

Guilt.
Is is the easiest of feelings to conjure and the most insidious. It is rooted in the selfishness of individuality, though for goodly folks, it usually finds its source in the suffering of others.
What I understand now, as never before, is that guilt is not the driving force behind responsibility. If we act in a goodly way because we are afraid of how we will feel if we do not, then we have not truly come to separate the concept of right and wrong. For there is a level above that, an understanding of community, friendship, and loyalty. I do not choose to stand beside Breunor or any other friend to alleviate guilt. I do so because in that, and in their reciprocal friendship, we are both the stronger and the better. Our lives become worth so much more.

How great is that? Here I am reading a book that has a fun story and great action and I get a profound tidbit that I can use to make my life better. And what I believe R. A. Salvatore, the author, is trying to say is that to really understand right and wrong and appropriate behavior we have to get past our own selfishness. We must rise to a level that transcends independence and move towards interdependence. We see this fact in our everyday lives. Families, commerce, nations – these all need strong communities to survive. If that community does not survive then neither do we. Now even if guilt isn’t the driving force behind responsibility it is a good start, only if it is just that, a start.  How can we move from guilt to the “understanding of community, friendship, and loyalty?” I’ll leave that up to you to figure out. I just hope that we all figure it out because our world needs it.
Drizzt and his companions eventually win the day and all ends well. And, just like the rest of the Drizzt stories, I closed the book and excited to read more. Rumor has it that there will be. During an interview the author he said he had something in the works (http://www.rasalvatore.com/podcasts.aspx?selection=0). If I peaked your interest and you like fantasy books I highly recommend any of R. A. Salvatore’s books. I haven’t read all of them but those I have are well written and very entertaining. There you have it folks: R. A. Salvatore’s book The Two Swords.

What This Is All About

I’ve been thinking about blogging for a long time. I guess what’s taken me so long to start is that I’ve been trying to decide what it is that I want to write about, what it is that I have to offer. I’ve started posts and written down ideas down ideas but none of it seemed to really fit. I finally realized that I’m not writing this blog for attention and especially not fame. I want to blog so people I care about can have a way of seeing what’s going on in my life. I’m not super good about calling people on their birthday or sending out a family newsletter each year. My family can attest to that. So this is my attempt to make myself more accessible to those that I don’t frequently talk to, family and friends.
So here I am, naming my blog Books and Bikes because I like to read and I like riding my bike. I enjoy those things so I’ll write about my experience with them. I promise you this: I won’t stick to just books and bikes. I’m gonna write whatever I feel like writing. If you get bored, let me know. If I say something that makes you angry or sad, let me know. If I don’t write enough, let me know. If you don’t really care, I don’t mind. I feel this urge to create and to express myself.
One more thing. One of the reasons for starting now is the hope that it will help me to be consistent in riding over the summer and help me meet my goal of losing 20 lbs. I know, I know, everyone is trying to lose weight and whatever. I told my wife that I’m going to take pictures along my rides and post them along with an update on how the weight goal is going and how much fun I’m having. I might post more frequently to talk about, I don’t know, books. We’ll see. However, that’s only for the summer so don’t worry. After that you’ll probably get a lot about school and nursing and whatnot. Whatever happens, you’ll be able to learn a little bit about me and what’s going on in my life. Enjoy!!