Red Rocks Tatistics

PROVO
# of times Rachel or I had been to Provo on purpose before this: 1
Coolness rank of the Velour Theatre, of all the concert venues I've been to: 1st
Distance we were from Joshua James: 10 ft
# of happy songs Joshua James sang: 0
# of happy songs Joshua James knows: maybe 0

Time that Rachel and I left Provo headed south, with no plan: 11:45pm

SOUTHERN UTAH
Time we rolled into Green River State Campground: 2:30am
# of songs we sang en route: however many songs you can sing in 2 hrs and 45 minutes

# of arches in Arches National Park, according to brochure: 2500
# seen by us: 31

Max temp for trip: 82 F
Min temp for trip: 28F
% chance of precipitation, according to weather service: 10%
Actual chance of snow: 100%
Waterproof rating of green A-frame boyscout tent: 0
Chance of us taking sodden tent with us when we fled to the car at 4:30am: 0%
Number of people at Dead Horse Point in a snowstorm at 5:45am: 0

Sketchiest food eaten: Shiny fried chicken that we bought at a truck-stop and ate on top of the world.
Least sketchy food eaten: Pumpkin apple sage soup, followed by warm gingerbread with butterscotch sauce, at Hell's Backbone Grill.

#1 way that traveling with Rachel is different than traveling with other Ashby sisters: Rachel will never ask to eat.  In fact, Rachel will sometimes make you miss breakfast to go back and clean up your soaking wet tent.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS

At a concert, furtively watching our March Madness hopes and dreams growing more distant with each refresh of Chris's iPhone. Chris sympathetic, but actually not.

Leaping from red rock to steeper red rock;  pausing to feel the tread of your boots grab hold; continuing to run upwards, feeling strong and happy and free.

Learning that no matter how slowly you eat, Rachel will eat slower.

Finding out that taking jump photos with someone you just met will make you feel like you've known them forever.

Filling up our water bottles from a spring flowing directly out of a red rock wall.

Actually meeting up with Chris in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, with no cell phone reception when Plan A had failed and we had no backup plan.  Seeing him drive by and giving chase when we realized he hadn't seen us and was headed out into the dark Utah wilderness.

Being awoken by Chris, his first morning on scene: "ADVENTURE IS OUT THERE!"

Testing Viv's theory about flash floods with our campsite in Goblin Valley.  Apparently she is correct.

Hide and Seek in Goblin Valley.  Some random guy helping me cheat by pointing out which way Rachel is headed.

Somehow managing to get Dead Horse Point, Delicate Arch, Little Wildhorse Canyon and Calf Creek Falls- some of Utah's most famous sights, all to ourselves.

Reviving the song lyric game.  Haven't you always wanted a monkey?

Driving from Escalante to Nephi like madmen shot out of a cannon (how's that for a Beth mixed-metaphor?), trying to catch a showing of the Hunger Games. Getting in for free because we were late, and the movie theater computer couldn't handle that.

Finally taking a shower after 5 days, 9 hikes, 28 miles on foot, 900 miles of road trip and 1 muddy blizzard.

some things going on..

Signs

Sometimes when Chris is out of town, I kind of let things...go. Things like going to bed at regular hours, taking showers, doing laundry, washing dishes, cooking, bringing in the mail...things like that. I figure that I'm the only one parenting from sun up to sun down, so don't judge.  But, in the past this has occasionally resulted in me making rash decisions about buying/rearranging furniture, pet ownership, adopting small Korean boys, and about how many vampire-themed books are acceptable to read in a day. Plus, you can only go so many days with no pride before it isn't funny anymore.

So this time, with Chris scheduled to be gone for three weeks, I decided to take the bull by the horns and get a hold of myself.  Proactively.  I have things to do.  I have children who look up to me. I have a job. I write for the Glenn Preschool newsletter, dammit, so keep it together girl!

And I have.  For the past week I have gone to bed by midnight every night.  I have exercised.  I have said my prayers twice daily, and read my scriptures. My kitchen is clean, and my mailbox is empty. I have played the piano and done the crossword.  I have registered for a continuing medical education course. I have appointments to go visiting teaching tomorrow morning.

But.  It is lurking. Nighttime Carrie is there, and she doesn't like being ignored. And if you look closely, you can see the telltale signs that things are about to crack wide open:

1. Last night I figured out how to stream Vampire Diaries to my iPad.
2. Today I opted to sleep in for an extra 15 minutes instead of taking a shower.
3. I am messing around writing a blog instead of finishing my charts from Wednesday's shift.
4. I took a nap today, from 4-5pm. Now it is 11:39 pm and it feels like the night is just getting good.

And finally,
5. I bought chocolate covered almonds at Costco today.

Don't let me adopt anything.

Banff in the Boonies

When I saw that I was going to be out of town during the week that the Banff Film Festival was going to be in Davis, I frantically started trying to figure out where else it was playing in northern California. When I clicked on the listing for Downieville, I figured it wouldn't be anywhere near Auburn since I'd never heard of it before.

Google Maps quickly confirmed that Downieville isn't near anything. 

But to my surprise, as I zoomed out I saw the nearest town was North San Juan, which is just past Nevada City, which isn't that far from Auburn. I knew I wanted to go. Real bad. Somehow I convinced Claire, Gordon, Mom and Sarah to go on a crazy trip with me.

Lunch on the Yuba river

We thought we could make it to a graveyard that Thaddeus Constantine Hix may be buried in...

Nope.

Welcome to beautiful, miniscule Downieville

This sign is old - the 2010 census reports the population is 282

Note the mine entrance on the left

Claire shows off her fantastic horseshoe-throwing form

As do I. Just look at that arc.

Behold the mighty Yuba Theatre

I'll just end by saying that one of the prizes raffled off was moonshine.

He might have a point.

Chris:  I have a crush on Patty Griffin.  She's so sultry and morose.
Me: I can be sultry and morose.
Chris:...I think you're confusing 'sultry' with 'sleepy'.

uh, no thanks.

some friends in the ranchos started  a "mops" group  (moms of preschooler-s) and have been rallying people to be in it. i was thinking about it till i found out:
#1 there are dues to join
#2  they asked if everyone could show up to a certain woman's house on sat to start working on their float for the parade.

aah, i'm out.

Memories and Miscellany

OK, I know this was just on Facebook, but I love this photo and I want to see it when I look back on the blog in years to come. Here are some reasons why I love it- feel free to chime in.

1. This was a summer of hiking for the Forest Service, and the best my legs will ever look.
2. When I look at this picture, I think, "This sums up my childhood." Then I realize that I must be at least 22 here.
3. The look on Mark Porter's face. OK, Mark in entirety in this picture. What Xena party doesn't need a soulful Mexican troubadour?
4. The fact that Viv and I had the same friends, although I'm 8 years older.
5. Matt's chest straps. And blue flannel shorts. (??)
6. The fact that Nathan was off screen wearing denim cut-offs and rainbow suspenders. And nothing else.
7. What we lacked in costume supplies, we made up for with weapons. Available weaponry was not the problem.
8. Whatever is going on with Vivian's hair. Jen's too.
9. The utterly comfortable, completely affectionate relationship that we had, and still have, with the Porter boys. Who says we didn't have brothers?!
10. The fact that the time elapsed between me saying "Let's have a Xena-Warrior-Princess party", and this photo was less than 24 hours. Hey, our friends know a good idea when they hear one.
11. As Claire pointed out, that fur lined bow is awesome.

Now, in other news...
Theo has a new superhero alter-ego named "Lightning of the Zoom Zoom."

One of my patients today told me, "You're pretty enough to be a nurse!" Um,...thank..you?

Chris turns 40 in two days.

 I had a flashback today to when I tried to call Bill Nye the Science Guy to ask him to be our med school commencement speaker. By mistake I called a different Bill Nye, who was in his upper eighties from the sound of it. He was very nice and wheezed out, "oh, no, you want the OTHER Bill Nye. I'm not the Science Guy." Apparently the OTHER Bill Nye is very expensive, so that didn't really work out.

OK, that's all I got.

Worth it- a poll

What items or services do you think are worth the extra money? As in, what types of things do you find yourself willing to pay the premium price to get the name brand or top of the line? What name brands are just that much better than the knock off?

CG: Maybe I shouldn't have read everyone else's answers first...but, ditto on outdoor sporting equipment, Breyer's ice cream, and cheese. I am also coming around on children's shoes, chocolate,and kitchen knives (not that you could tell from my knife collection.) Couches? Airline itineraries, if flying with kids.

BL: ingredients for food (but only as high class as foodmaxx goes), classic movies (unless you can watch them on youtube), getting better seats at a play (but not necessarily at a concert), shoes (at Salvation Army). So basically i am at a phase in my life where i buy cheap stuff so it doesn't matter if it is lost/wrecked/eaten. I don't think i have paid the premium price for anything. I have an inkling that i don't believe in doing so.

SA: good shoes from Roxann's berkinstocks they don't hurt my feet, ghirardelli chocolate chips, concert/play tickets, dish soap it's crazy the difference it makes in my opinion, I'll pay extra for a flight if it means leaving at a decent hour. When I was in San Fransisco a few yrs ago I spent the money for taxis it was worth it to not be lost any more or have to try and figure out which bus/buses to take. I've also payed full price for clothes I always look for a sale of course but if I find something that fits I buy it.

CR: Bras, Breyer's ice cream, car care (including gasoline), Tillamook cheese, knives, contact solution, toilet paper

VT: Winter outerwear, Britax car seats, dish soap, huggies diapers, Ghirardelli chocolate chips, and, as proven recently by Carrie and Rachel, tents.

RA: Ah yes, tents. Camping gear in general definitely goes on my list. I would also say good toilet paper (it frustrates me when my roommates get the cheap stuff), hair conditioner, deodorant, and last but not least, milkshakes. There’s no going back to normal milkshakes now.

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can i order someone to write a blog? can i have that super power? i would almost always use it for good...