triplesee

more trip.... #?

so... the whole write what happens on your trip, while you are on your trip... it didn't workout. (did you notice?)

BUT, we are home and i really need to get down on paper what we did everyday- (because i don't have the picture to prove it- more on that later.) if you are sick of vacation talk... well, maybe i will recover from my vacation soon and start getting life going.... but for now:

Sunday (july 6th)- We hit a fast sacrament meeting and headed to LA... and hanging out with scott and karen. I like them both, but i think karen wins. sorry scott; maybe you will be as cool as your mom with a few more years under your belt... hehe. Scott did come with us downtown to check out the justin's favorite record shop, Amoeba. Justin was in his personal happy place. We left only four cd's and a record richer. (He had much self-restraint.) Then dinner at a GREAT thai place just a few blocks away- i wish i could remember what it is called.... brain thinking.... thinking... "honey, what is the place.." "Toi Thai" (he does my best thinking for me.) We spent to much time having fun in LA, so didn't think about the night... Hence the first (and only) night spent in the car on our road trip.

Monday started with foggy windows and a goal of not sleeping in the car again.  So... we drove with the goal to get away from the city. Well, Justin drove and i slept. We ended up in a San Luis Obispo on Morro Strand Beach State Park (no dogs on the beach)... not bad, wouldn't recommend it though if you are trying to get away from people. (While we were looking for a place we did find Montana de Oro State Park (campground full). This was beautiful and we would have loved to explore, but once again no dogs on trails in CA state parks... who runs the show must hate all animals. Oh wait except horses... yes horses are allowed, but no dogs. Go figure.) That night i made the announcement that i wasn't going anywhere until justin had found me a place to stay for the next few nights... So we headed into Morro Bay and sat outside there library on our laptops for a couple hours.... throwing out the door the whole "lets' not make any plans" part of our trip. I know. I know... but i didn't get to put my chair down (kona was in back seat) so i couldn't sleep at all... and I WASN'T going to TRY to sleep in the car again if i could help it.... We did have great pizza that night and did some laundromat time. we breathed so hard the night before that tons of our gear was wet.... or maybe it was the leaky camelbac... but i personally think it funnier to remember our clothes being soaked from our breath.

Tuesday we woke from a dryer toasty induced deep sleep to find ourselves surrounded by fog. I loved it, but wanted to try to camp at Montana de Oro State Park, so right after instant oatmeal, we headed up and spent some time on their beach waiting to find out if they had any openings... no luck. You see in CA you have to reserve anything and everything through ReserveAmerica.com and that must be done two nights prior. And as stated i wasn't moving until i KNEW i had a place to sleep. We did meet tons of nice people at Montana de Oro State Park... one older couple told us about a dog beach.... and that is how we spent the rest of the day. Not busy at like the beach in San Deigo, but loved it.  and oh look.... maybe... yes some pictures finally...

 my husband likes to take funny pictures of me... or it is me that is funny looking in the pictures?!?

oh and for those of you who haven't seen me in a little while... i now have short (chin length) reddish hair with funky chunky highlights...  that is until next week...

two cute boys! kona loved to run and chase the waves and any bird who got within fifty feet....

oh how i love this one.... i don't think a friendship could have lasted through a month long roadtrip with anyone but him.

playing with ocean soaked dog... smelly. playing with fun lenses.... good. great, and wonderful.  shouldn't something be priceless now?!?

i am a sucker for feet shots... still not sure about this paw shot...

more  blah, blah and blah to come... maybe tomorrow... maybe.

I am a Foodie! aka. nerd

Friday July 11
I just had the best lunch of the trip. We stopped in a small town on the one called Point Arena. Anyone heard of it?!? Small... think hippy with a sprinkle Well we drove through and i saw this bakery painted bright pink and green.... so fun and just perfect for a small town cozy bakery. I wanted to go in and just look around.... oh was it worth it. we had an amazing pizza with just the right amount of sauce, cheese, bacon and fresh tomatos! the crust was a treat unto itself. And then the lemon poppyseed pound cake.... heaven. I wish i would have had taken a picture before i ate it! i guess the best way to convince you this place is good enough to hop in car and drive from where ever you are is to tell you i only took the computer out to tell you... all my favorite people... to come and experience this goodness called Franny's Cup and Saucer.

road trip #2

Sunday July 6

I was doing so good at getting some details down every day.... then i we made it to Hoon and Kari's home in San Diego and it all fell to pieces. But no fear! I am back and ready to write. Well, back at least. By the way.... did anyone else think justin left everyone hanging? when he read it to me I said, "and!?!?" I was really caught up in our story and then... flat. like that stupid to be continued junk... grrrr... ok. i am over it.

Thursday, was the day of driving. Remember that mountain we were going to hike in the morning? Well, we woke up to even more flies and icky insects. you say to yourself, "self, if they are going to be camping for a month they better get use to bugs..." and you and yourself would be right. but i am utahn. we don't have real bugs in utah. our dry hot/cold extreme climate kills them. so when i ate breakfast and i got no less then three gnats in my cereal and my dog could find no peace and my husband is trying to put on a good face, but not all together succeeding I said enough. no hike. we were out.

so we drove. and drove. and drove. first to st. george. two hours of driving on a bumpy dirt road did me in. now i don't mean to sound all negative.... because it wasn't. i love driving with justin. we talk about the most random things. i am so grateful for my husband. And the Prius makes a pretty awesome rally car. just needs a little more clearance. we stopped at st. george Target, because who can not feel great after walking through target. Target sets the world right again. A much needed rest on the lawn of the Dixie Flyers and we were ready for the worst part of the day...

I made it to Vegas (love driving the virgin river gorge) and then let justin take over for our drive through hell. i don't understand why that part of the drive is so hellish, but really it tested us. I was almost in tears when we stopped at a park in victorville, ca. you may think i am exaggerating.... but think back to your last drive to CA and remember the drive from vegas to bakerfield. ok. stop. i don't want you to get pulled down into the depths of despair. in fact, i am done talking about it.

we decided to take the scenic route and drove through san bernidino national forest. did you know mitsubishi had a cement factory?!? apparently they do, right outside the this particular national forest. highway 18 which drives through the NF was steep and beautiful. Big Bear Lake and the surrounding city reminded me of Park City with a lake. I could spend time there. Heading down the other side of the mountain is Rim of The World Highway. It lives up to its name. I was very glad i wasn't driving just so i could look around.

we finally made it to Hoon and Kari's home around 9 and first order of business was a shower. After that i felt alive and all was well. We stayed up late talking and catching up. These are good and great and amazing people. They even introduced us to a new show, "America's Best Dance Crew" on MTV.... or something like that.... and all the new shows on HGTV.... we may need cable when we get home.... 

The next day, the fourth, was fun. I really felt like i was on vacation. A little tv time, some pool time, and great food with good people. Have any of you out there grilled a pizza before? It was yum. The fireworks at the nearby lake ended a great night. ( i know. five short sentences about a whole day. it was that good!)

On Saturday we spent most of the day on the Dog Beach. It is a leash free beach and my boy LOVED it. So many friends to play with Kona didn't know what to do. He was very well behaved. He stuck pretty close to us. I couldn't tell if it was because of the sheer number of dogs or because that is just how he always is when aren't at home. If you are in the market for a dog, this beach is a great place to see how they act. Crazy amounts of dogs running around in EVERY shape and size.

If you love hamburger and shakes and are in the San Diego area Hoodau's was amazing. with in walking distance from the dog beach it was the perfect late lunch. home to shower and relax with more tv... yes this vacation has a little of everything; including dinner in the Hillcrest district at an Lebanese restaurant. Thanks again H and K for showing us around and opening your home. We had a great time!

road trip #1

We finally left! We are no longer at home... and this has been what is going on....

Tues. July 1.
Yesterday we headed out on our big cowabonga cool road trip. Yes, it was around five thrity, but it was yesterday. I was my fault- (i know no one expected otherwise) i was applying to one of my favorite scrapbooking companies design teams. Hambly screen prints are amazing. And i entered a contest with Scenic Route.... Oh ok enough with the scrap talk. I am on vacation.

when we finally made it I-15 we only drove a few houurs south before taking hwy 89 to Bryce Canyon area. We had camped near here one other time with our good friend Katie long ago while we were dating.... we fell in love with the area and becuase i had made us so short on daylight we thought i would be a good place to stop. Our old camp ground was taken, but we easily found another that was just as beautiful. Perfect temps during the night and our new tent (Black Diamond Vista) rocks my socks. Perfect amount of room for the three of us.

i know my husband is on vacation... this morning i made a comment that made him strip down BUCK naked... and it had nothing to do with X rated stuff.... just...  he is crazy.... and HOT!

Wednesday July 2.
i am wondering if i should write this during the night, after all the excitement of the day. not sure if it would happen then, so much goes on at night. last night being a prefect example. we talked to a ranger in jacob lake, AZ- weird dude. who said anywhere between here and there, pointing to two points on the map, was fine to camp in.... now you can't give us choices like that... (we had a hard enough time trying to decide if we both wanted the windows rolled up or down yesterday.) our gps in the car shows twenty million service roads between here and there!  eck.

i made the suggestion we just take the service road that loops back into hwy 67 ( the road to the north rim of the Grand Canyon) on the road we are sure to find a place to lay the tent. well after going 9 miles an hour for an hour i was ready to just put the tent anywhere, but i was in charge of driving and justin in charge of finding the perfect location. to say the least i really need to be careful when i use the word perfect around justin. after a small philosophical discussion he started driving (the prius apparently isn't a off road vehicle and i am not careful enough. who knew. don't even think it mom.) we decided to take another side road and found a beautiful area! (it was a good thing, i don't know if the prius would have made it up the next rocky steep hill in our path.)

i started warming up the precook pot roast (we had frozen before left and it had thawed perfect to just throw in a pot with the rest of the corn. i am a camp cooking genius... or so i tell myself.) and j started setting up the tent... just as he finished putting on the rain fly the sky roared and tore open. we were going crazy trying to get everything we might need in the tent.... justin spilled part of the roast trying to get into the vestibule and i kept dropping things in the mud as i remembered one more thing we would need for an early night... "fast" thinking didn't keep us dry, but when i finally got into the tent all i could do was laugh. this is what i get for waiting for the perfect place to set up the tent!

in the end dinner rocked, but we ended up having to open a can of soup to supplement the lost meat (kona enjoyed the human dinner.) and the night was fun. read my book and stuff...

during that day, we hiked in red canyon just outside of bryce canyon NP. drove into the NP and saw a few of the sites. kona isn't allowed on any of the trails... frustrating.

Thursday July 3, reporting on the events of the previous day.  Sub-commander Justin reporting for High-commander Chain.

Wednesday has had a lot to do with searching.  Searching for a friendly place, for a bit of shade, for someone that knows something, and for a huge flyswatter. 

The day started off well in the beautiful forests outside the Grand Canyon.  Through the night the rain tuned on and off a bit, but the morning was clear and the skies blue.  We really had a great spot.  Oatmeal with blueberries for breakfast, tear down camp, and we were off to see the Grand Hole-in-the-Ground.  The drive there was almost more stunning than the attraction at the end, with dense pines and aspens lining the winding road.  I thought it seemed like American Fork canyon plus extra trees minus rocks.  Nichole pointed out that it reminds of Montana.  I agreed. 

The Grand Canyon greeted us the way Bryce had and other National Parks will:  "We hate your dog. We don't want him to have any fun and neither will you."  So we showed them.  We walked him along the rim of one of the side canyons called Bright Angel until there was an obvious sign stating no dogs and plenty of people to rat us out...then we took him back to the car which was parked in the shade with a bowl of water and went back to hike along the paved, crowded trail to the lookout point.  The canyon definitely is grand.  Huge and quite pretty...I really wasn't expecting the variations of landscape and color.  I guess my preconception could be blamed on my distrust for the casual outdoor viewer - "Hey, Maybel!  Cummun lookit this here big hole!  Whooee, the wunders of nachur..."  But, yes, I was impressed, and I wanted to hike down in.  Not this time, but we've agreed to make it another trip sans Kona. 

This, the intended focus of our day, ended at about 11:30.  What to do now?  After a bit of a hunger-induced married spat, we decided to check out Parashant National Monument, a couple clicks west of the GC (the term clicks in this narrative is relative.  I have no idea how far a click is).  Turning to the rangers at the GC info desk offered no help beyond a humble admission that the rangers there were clueless.  Back in Jacob Lake, our favorite weird forest ranger told he doesn't know much either, but he could at least point us in the right direction - a little outpost 30 minutes west of Kanab called Pipe Spring, named for...a spring.   A spot of food was in order before that, though, so we stopped in Kanab for lunching at a little mexican restaurant that I can't remember the name of.  The tostada was the bomb, as well as the green enchilada...much better than the peanut butter and jelly alternative. 

In Pipe Spring the ranger, though also a Parashant tenderfoot, was able to at least give us some clues and advice about the area:  Desert Wasteland, Rough Roads, Try Hiking Here.  He almost talked us out of it with stories of tires shredded by volcanic rock.  He seriously made it sound like driving on a sea of obsidian.  As we debated he offered that we would be fine on such-and-such certain roads, so try them.  And we did.  And they were an hour and a half of rocks and washboard in the brushy desert until we came up to the mountain that we planned to hike, Mt. Trumbull.  It's an old shield-form volcano, perfect for a quick morning hike.  We parked at the base of the mountain to set up camp, where Nichole found the leg bones from an unfortunate woodland creature.  As she announced this to me the cicadas in the trees went silent all at once, dark omen style.  At this point the already present and irritating insects made their move.  These were fat, mean, obstinate flys bent on chewing our flesh and sucking the jelly from our poor dog's eyes.  This is no overdramatization.  Our only tool to keep them at bay while we ate was a fire and thereafter we could only sit in the tent and watch them fly around us until the sun set.
________

our digital camera went kaput the day before we left- so picture will come but one roll at a time.

oh and i entered the monthly contest at Scenic Route and was selected as one of the winners. check it out here.

last but never least! if you have any suggestions of places that are a must see on our drive up the coast we would love to hear from you... even if you already told us. loves