Uphill Battle

The worst part about having a wall of windows in your office is that you can see the great weather you are missing out on. Instead of sitting in my office debating about all of the things I could be doing outside I decided to take a stand, I declared Wednesday a half-day. [shocking]

I checked a few webcams at the mountain resorts, checked the weather forecast, sent out a text to a trusty friend, checked in on a few projects, and coworkers, and then I closed the laptop, shut my office door behind me and didn’t look back. I hadn't planned on it but I used this hike as an opportunity to break-in my new hiking/canyoneering shoes (bought for my trip to the Narrows this month). They were a little big out of the box but I had to put them to the test sometime, right? They were spot-on. Perfect shoes & well worth the money.

I love to hike Bald Mountain at Deer Valley in the early spring and late fall so it was a natural pick for this leisurely Wednesday trek. Jesse and I drove up to the Silver Lake Lodge and started a “quick hike” that would allows us enough time to get back down the valley for our separate meetings that started at 6:00 PM. Our intentions of a quick hike were modified due to one of us having a leg day at the gym the day before and the need to just have a relaxing time in the mountains. Jesse had his camera and needed some time to get inspired; he is not one to take the same picture that he knows everyone else has taken. [He’s quite talented behind his new Canon camera]

On a quick side note, one thing I like about Jesse is that he is an avid reader of blogs and always has the best talking points. He shares some great stuff through Google Reader and I know whatever it is it won’t be a waste of time. I can only relate it to being the exact opposite of those people that insist on emailing FWD’s that involve a quiz, a chain letter, a mystic story, or some extremist message (you know the type). If it’s not interesting it’s not going to complete his sentence of “So, there’s this blog I’ve been following and they were saying…” Case in point, after not taking too many pictures he shared a quote from a photography blog about how “no matter where you are, there are 10 great pictures within 10 meters.” Truer words.

Any way, by the time we made it to the top of Bald Mountain there was no way that we were making it back to the car, let alone Salt Lake City, before 6:00 PM. We had fun taking pictures and talking about the upcoming trip to the Narrows. I don’t think my 2-megapixel iPhone really compared to his digital SLR but I still put forth a valiant effort.

The weather allowed for us to be conveniently lazy in our descent, not too cold and just enough of a breeze to remind us a storm was rolling in. In typical fashion we were starving and ready for some good food. With our combined short-term memory loss of what is good to eat in PC we ended up pitting a Blackberry and an iPhone against each other for a final destination (also the name of a movie we couldn’t remember).

After scarfing a bucket of chips and two dishes of salsa we were quickly stuffed by our main dishes. Needless to say, we were happily pregnant with food babies. With the late return to the city we both missed our 6:00 meetings, I missed an 8:00 softball game (sorry guys) and opted to go see Observe & Report (the mall cop movie with Seth Rogen). Sadly, the movie was barely worth the $1.25 but we still found moments worth laughing at. If anything, I have an appreciation for the daily routine of a mall cop. I will gladly take a frustrated afternoon locked up in my office, looking out the window, instead of patrolling the Valley Fair Mall as a rent-a-cop. Then again, I will gladly take a half-day the next time the weather is nice and I can manage a few hours on away from my desk.

True story.

What I did this Summer (take 1)

Sure, the retelling of "what I did this summer" usually happens when you get back from vacation and stand in front of your elementary school class. A bag of sand, a few seashells and a postcard "wishing you were here" all splayed in front of oohing and ahhing classmates. A silent tension, everyone vying for who did the coolest things while away from the confines of the classroom is a highlight of the fall term.

I figure if I wait until September I will forget the best (mis)adventures of the summer so here we go with round one. Memorial Day weekend officially kicks off all things summer. Somehow growing up we always ended up leaving California and coming to Park City, Yellowstone, or the national parks in and around Utah. Now that I live here I want to return to California but since Hunter is up from Houston (& I just went to CA) we stuck it out close to home for Memorial Day weekend. Here is what I learned over these fine 3 days of summer vacation:

-Bonfires can potentially be ruined by friends inviting friends of friends and having said individuals consists of tools, posers, sheltered bubble children, and those that want their lives to be as “exciting as the Hills.” How could I forget, there are also those kids that still communicate exclusively through insider mission stories (WTF?!). In this situation one must use patience as a weapon of choice and wait out the needy, they will find shiny objects elsewhere.

-Enjoyment of particular bonfires can be maintained by ignoring passive aggressive people that feel entitled to attention and act out like spoiled children when they don’t get what they want. Bonus points to the whack job that couldn't stay behind with a swine flu cough and camped out at a nearby picnic table coughing for all the sympathetic ears. This sickly individual sure could gobble a charred brawt when it came time to eat though, she had a magic gullet.

-Events that are spontaneously planned should still be planned enough to include a destination and communication to the socially infirm (see friends of friends of friends) so they can make it to the mountainous destination without having to run red lights in a game of vehicular follow-the-leader.

-It’s OK to expose posers for what they are. Especially when the dinks can’t even talk the talk to begin with. Example: whitebread, flatbrim hat wearing Utah rappers that barely have fireside cred let alone street cred (Yo, yo dawg. Next time leave TightyWhitey & Crew off the guest list).

-Trips to Park City for the Alpine Coaster/Slide can be derailed by surprise guest appearances by girlfriends of friends of friends that exhibit unjustified demands and socially aggressive behavior. Good thing this one was kept in check from the click of her 3-point seat belt. Too bad the nagging could be heard throughout the stillness of the Aspen trees at PCMR. Auditory deflection can be used to block out sniveling tantrums, some people are as transparent as scotch tape (Caution: it's OK to put baby in the corner in this situation).

-When there is a possibility of defaulting to a bad dining destination one must fight passive aggressive behavior with matter-of-fact statements like: “no” and “we shouldn’t waste our money there.”

-Shopping with great people can make the outlets fun, if not completely entertaining.

-Doing expensive things with cheap people can be trying at times (especially when expensive starts at the "anything over $10 level). Red Rock Brewery trumps the Baja Cantina at PCMR any day of the week, suck it up and pay the extra $5.

Lessons all worth learning, I just wish they weren't so "trial and error" while Hunter is in town from Houston. Next time the pesky people come swarming I will pack my repellant. Deet works on people too ya know.

Catching up...

...because I've been lackadaisical in updating my blog for the latter portion of the summer. It's been busy and I have fallen back on my mobile photo updates on Facebook to keep track on what has kept me ocupdao.

I put together a quick slideshow to carry you up to speed on what has caught my eye and kept my attention in the past few weeks. Too bad I can't upload it to Blogspot due to technical difficulties. That's what I get for not posting regularly and having too many photos in a slideshow I guess. I will post on FB and see if that works.

To make up for it I will post something above and then try to upload the video later but here are a few pictures worth posting:

My visit to the dump (aka the Journey concert when you take the wrong offramp)

The Alpine Coaster in Park City, Utah - worth every penny

This is a form of suicide for your knees - yes, I'm a pansie but made record time.

I made it out on the water at least once this summer
(I didn't quite master the wakeboard but I'm still smiling)

The Mollies adding some culture to the Apple Store @ the Gateway (check them out in iTunes)