Moab Trip Prologue...

It's tough to describe how much fun we had in Moab.
Between Arches and the Town, we had one of the best Utah experiences yet.
The problem for me comes in how to effectively blog this mess so that all of you can enjoy it.
So here's the plan:
I'll do one post for each day of the trip. From 5-24-07 to 5-28-07.
Sadly, most of my pictures are from our hikes.
But I'll try to be descriptive as best as I can.

Right. Here we go.

A Visit from Grandpa!

This past week has been crazy.
Lis' and I have been cleaning up and making preparations for Amelia's arrival.
Grades have finally come in. (...and I'm the All-A Kid, once again.)
I've been offered a Research Fellowship for the Fall Semester. My mentor and I plan on researching the EU's use of economic sanctions. It should be very interesting.
As a final note, my Father-in-Law has come to visit us for a couple of weeks.
Vince is so thrilled.
We've been to the park, the pool, the playground...all of Vince's favorite places.

Yesterday, the four of us took a trip on the train to the Gateway Center:

Here we are, waiting for the train. I love the fact that TRAX is so close to our place. We can just hop the train downtown or South to Grandma Cheri's. It's very convenient. As for Vince, he could ride the train all day. Add that to a day with Grandpa and his happiness goes through the roof.





We had lunch when we got there. Vince had a huge slice of cheese pizza and a PB&J on top of all that. Truth is, he's been eating like a horse! We think he's getting ready for another growth spurt.






Afterwards, we went to the Discovery Gateway for chance to let Vince enjoy the exhibits. In this shot he was busy enjoying the Ball Beehive, his favorite.







The museum had a mock supermarket where Vince made a culinary masterpiece: a bologna, turkey, cheese, lettuce, tomato and cherry glaze donut sandwich on white.

Here's the Master at work...




...and the finished product upon completion.








After our trip to the store, we went outside to the Life-Flight helicopter exhibit. This was the coolest part of the museum.

Here, Vince and Grandpa take the controls. There was an intercom between the helicopter and an interactive "control tower" that allowed people to talk to each other. It was pretty squared away.



Here, Vince and I go through the Airborne jump commands as he prepares to exit the aircraft. He gets such a kick out of playing paratrooper. :-)







Even Kevin got a kick out of the chopper!








From the helicopter, we went to the media exhibits where Squirt and I took a shot at weather anchoring. They're right. TV does add twenty to thirty...um...pounds to the frame! ^_^;;






Vince and I also took a shot at being talk radio DJ's.








After our busy day at the Museum, Grandpa treated us all to some Ben & Jerry's ice cream.







All in all, it was a great day.
I just hope our trip to Moab will be just as fun as today!

Little Cottonwood Canyon Hike

Happy Mothers Day!

Vince and I thought the best way to reward Lisa was to get out for a few hours.
It worked out pretty well. She cooled out with some "low-stress" TV watching.

Vince and I, on the other hand, took a hike on the Temple Quarry Trail down Little Cottonwood Canyon. The weather was perfect! The trail ran alongside LCW Creek, which was thick with Spring runoff. This made for some beautiful hydraulic scenery and an overall great day. :-)

Onto the pictures!

A shot at the Trailhead. The Temple Quarry Trail is actually a small paved part at the start of the LCW Creek trail. Apparently, the early Mormon settlers used the rock from this area to make the big temple downtown. How about that?





Here's a picture of Squirt taking a break near the creek. He desperately wanted to take a dip, but changed his mind when he realized how cold the water was!






The flora got a bit bushier farther up the trail. Here, Vince enjoyed the view of the creek on the right while I paused to take this shot.







And this was the view!
No foolin, that large rock on the opposite bank is the size of my house in H.P.






Vince found a little "rock garden" on the North bank that served as the perfect place for lunch. PB&J, as usual! This was the first time I ever changed him on the trail. No problems.






Mountain bikers are a weird lot. They made this little shrine we found on the side of the trail. There weren't any names or dates or anything, but the presence of flowers and a bike chain makes me think that someone who used this trail may have died. Don't ask me what the stick, rocks and Mardi Gras beads are for.





Overall, this was an awesome hike. Considering that it was a helluvalot cooler in the mountains than in the sweltering valley, I think Kimosabe and I might be frequenting this trail a bit more.

A Tribute to my Wife

I 'd write you, Love, but cannot do it;
For, when I take my pen in hand,
I see your face and can't withstand
The impulse to quit all and woo it.


Happy Birthday Lisa.

More photos from Antelope Island!

Courtesy of our friend, Meg.
She took these of Squirt and I on the trail.

After lunch on Beacon Knob.










In this shot, Vince and I took a break from the wind by ducking behind this rock. It was a perfect lean-to formed by being caught in the wind for thousands of years!





Both these photos were before our stop on the bench.

Thanks, Meg!

"Galapagos of the Inter-Mountain West"

That's the best way for me to describe Antelope Island.

Yesterday Vince, Meg and I hiked the White Rock Loop.
The weather was perfect. We couldn't have asked for a better day.

While on the hike, we saw plenty of wildlife.
Pronghorn, Bison, Antelopes, Coyotes...
The mammal spread was awesome, but the birds were the best.
Gulls, Pelicans, Quail, Cranes...I think we even saw a variety of Ibis, too.

Sadly, there was only one hangup.
Brineflies...Swarms of them.
These things were only about the size of a pinhead.
But they got in our ears, our noses, our hair...it was crazy.
Fortunately, we didn't let those bugs bring us down.
We continued our journey, enjoying the beautiful scenery.

By the time we finished, we were tired and happy.
What did we do? We went to McD's where Meg and I put back all the chub we lost on the hike and Vince tore through the Jungle Gym the whole time.
7.5 miles later, and he still played on the gym.

Ok, on to the photos:

Here we are, rarin' to go at the trailhead. It was really breezy and cool in the morning.
You see that mountain behind us?...







...This is the view atop it.
The parking lot is barely visible, but there was a really great view of Buffalo Point (the hill) and White Rock Bay.






When we got to the park around noon, we were all pretty hungry.
However, we agreed to have lunch on Beacon Knob, the highest point of our hike. The view was beautiful and we even got to see a herd of Pronghorn grazing it up.
Where is Vince's hat? During this picture it was in my hand.
You see, the wind kept blowing it off and he wouldn't tell me. At this juncture, I had just searched a very large brown field laden with very large brown Bison chips for his very brown hat.
Yeah, I would've stapled it on his head if I could have.



This lonely little bench gave us a place to sit before starting our final leg of the trail. Even though we had smiles on our faces, we were still pretty beat.



Overall, I had a great time. I think we all did.

But I did learn some great lessons, though:
1) Bug Spray all around. Regardless of my predictions for insect bites.
2) Vincent must be changed at least once during these long hikes. No if's, and's or buts.
3) Sunblock must be re-applied at least twice.
4) Not thirsty? Drink anyway.
5) Tom, put a damned hat on that bald head!

Summer's here!

I'm loving every minute of it.

Lis, Vince and I went out for ice cream to celebrate.
It was delicious.









On another note.
My last final turned out to be a cinch.

No, it was my history final that turned out to be the judge.
(Yeah, I'm a little nervous about that final grade.)