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!