# 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.
that was completely epic. i am exhausted. and i want to eat pumpkin apple sage soup right now. that picture at the end is one of my favorite pictures ever. hey rach, paint that up for carrie for her birthday, will ya? with the caption, "adventure is out there".
ReplyDeletemmmm, truck stop fried chicken. And you're wondering why Rachel never asked to eat.
ReplyDeleteThat's true...we ate the chicken on the first day and she never asked for food again.
ReplyDelete