Petunia - October 1, 2009

For our date this week, we went to a Utah Jazz preseason game. (Free tickets - thanks to coupons from the Miller Motorsports Park! and the Jazz won!)

As usual, it was difficult to find a FREE parking space downtown. We finally found one near Pioneer Park.

This pretty piggy was hanging out along the street just people watching. She just looks so happy!

Her sign says "This little piggy went to market... Petunia - Chris Waddell 2002 - Donations support art & music in the market."

The statue sits outside Uffen's Marketplace - some residential space and space for an indoor marketplace. I've never been by there in the daytime, so I've never been inside Uffen's Marketplace.

Perhaps a date for another day!

Backcountry Beard Contest and NEW SNOW - September 30, 2009

Backcountry is sponsoring a beard-growing contest. You have to be clean shaven and can only trim the upper lip and neck. It goes from October 1 through December 18th. There is an "over achiever" category, "under achiever" category and "weird beard" category. The prizes include skis, boards, and clothing. We'll see how I do...

First snowfall on the Utah foothills!!

Mountain Biking at Solitude - September 29, 2009

James took advantage of the last 'warm' day before the first winter storm and went mountain biking at Solitude after work.

Looks like he picked a beautiful day.

Nebo Loop - September 26-27, 2009

This week it is supposed to get COLD! Tuesday's high is forecast to be 85-degrees. Wednesday's high is forecast to be 54-degrees and rainy. Who knows what weather like that will do to the fall leaves, so we decided to explore the Mt. Nebo scenic byway, which is famous for its fall colors.


Saturday morning I participated in a Stake Relief Society 5K. I walked and it took me 46:50. Pretty good for only walking 20+ minutes on five different days in the week prior! It was impressively organized with race numbers, police assistance and various husbands and children along the route for encouragement and direction.

After showering and grocery shopping and doing dishes and making lunch... we left at about 4 p.m. and slowly, slowly worked our way through Utah County traffic to Nephi. The turn-off to the Mt. Nebo loop is only about 4 miles from Nephi. We drove about 4 miles up the highway and turned into a canyon that promised camping.

At the end of the road was Bear Canyon Campground. Beautiful little campground with three group camping areas and one 'single family' camping area. The single family area had a parking lot for your vehicle and then you wandered across a bridge to all the campsites.


The first campsite even had furnature!

The middle campground is Cottonwood Campground. Which is where we camped for FREE!

We found a pretty campsite next to the creek, where we could watch the leaves swirling on the water.

And cook dinner (teriyaki chicken & pineapple sandwhiches, grilled corn & zuchini).

And pitch the tent in a secluded, leaf-strewn nook next to the softly flowing stream.

And in the morning, it was off to see the fall colors.

First Stop: Devils Kitchen

A little further on, the Mt. Nebo overlook.

Mount Nebo, rising to 11928 feet, marks the highest point in the Wasatch Mountain Range. This majestic mountain was named Mount Nebo, 'Sentinel of God', by early Mormon pioneers after the biblical Mount Nebo overlooking Israel. It is the centerpiece of the Mount Nebo Wilderness, inside the Uinta National Forest.

And our final stop: Maple Lake

We wandered out through Payson and Spanish Fork before finding the freeway and home again, home again.

All the maples in the lower elevations were a beautiful red/pink and the aspens were all still bright green - see the green stripe of aspens above the lake and below the pines on the mountain? And the higher elevation aspens were turning yellow. So, if the leaves survive the cold weather this week, this would be a fun drive to do again!

New Tire - September 25, 2009

I have been lazy, and I haven't ridden the bike to work for about two months. Partly because it was too hot, but mostly because I didn't want to ride home again after a 10 hour day. But in the 2 1/2 months I did ride to work, I put a fair number of road miles on the tires. But the low tread on the tires can't be all my doing!

James has been riding after work a couple days a week and has REALLY noticed the lack of tread. So with his employee discount, he was able to get a beefy mountain bike tire for about $20. And with our little budget, he only bought one. I had to take pictures because the difference in the tread was so huge!

We're hoping to replace the front tire (which is just as worn as the old back tire) in a couple weeks.

Now James can't decide if he wants fall to last a little while longer - so he can put his new tires to good use - or if he wants it to snow and snow a lot and snow right now...

The Dew Tour - September 19, 2009

Since the 2002 Winter Olympics, I occasionally get emails from the Utah Sports Commission with current volunteer opportunities. About a month ago, they emailed that the Dew Tour (skate boarding, BMX biking and FMX motorcycles) was coming to SLC and they were looking for volunteers. James was willing, so we signed up to help on Saturday for a shift.

On Tuesday (15th) we went to the Energy Solutions Arena for a volunteer orientation and learned that:
• We should wear closed-toe shoes, pants/shorts appropriate to the weather and plan to wear a volunteer t-shirt.
• We should come 10 minutes before our shift starts.
• We should NOT bother the athletes.
• We should turn in our credentials when we leave.
And we got a tour of the venues. Everything else (where we’d be working, what we’d be doing, etc.) we would learn at the beginning of our shift.

On Saturday we got to spend our time at the outdoor BMX venue. We were to help “load” the bleachers with spectators. Lots of different seating types (VIP / Reserved / Grounds Pass / Gatorade Free Flow Tour) and they all had different spaces.

James and I were to seat Gatorade Free Flow Tour spectators in their section of the Reserved bleacher and try to keep the Grounds Pass people from sitting in the Reserved section of the bleacher and seat them in their own rows. We tried. Mostly everyone had a good seat and people came and went, so we never had to be mean.

We were given lots of bottled water, pizza at the end of our shift, got to keep our bright blue volunteer t-shirts and had front-row access to the events. Pretty fun!


James watching the athletes warm up.



Self Portrait.



Playing with the camera during warm-ups, I discovered “auction mode”.



some video of warm-up



more warm-up video



The athletes waiting for the sound-system to come back on-line so we can start the competition. Took half an hour to fix it, so they occasionally dropped into the course for more warm-up.



Love this photo – check out the crowd, and especially the athlete’s shadow! In the foreground are the handicap section (closest to the venue) and the media section (closer to the bleachers).

The MTV 2 station had a guy named "Dirty" doing the anchor stuff, "Hey, what is up everybody! Dirty here at the Dew Tour BMX venue....." He kept messing up his lines - at a different place every time. He was providing some serious entertainment for me - everytime he'd mess up he'd laugh, call himself a name, blame lack of alcohol and try again. When he finally, finally got through the entire segment, the whole bleacher behind me erupted into cheers and he took a bow!



I spent about an hour inside the Energy Solutions Arena at the skate park directing people into sections, so I took one picture. I thought the biking was MUCH more fun.



We were done at about 4 p.m. so we wandered through temple square on our way to the car.



It was still early, so we drove up to Brighton to see if the trees in the canyon are changing colors yet. The bushes are starting to turn orange, but the aspens are still green. This cow moose was near the parking-lot at Solitude.

Beautiful day.

I ♥ my Handy Man! - September 13, 2009

I don't remember the exact day that my driver's side headlight blinked out. Sometime early this year. No problem. Husbands are wonderful. So, sometime early this year, James bought two new bulbs and went about changing both headlights. Wonderful!

And then, on the passenger-side headlight, this teeny-tiny piece snapped off. Not wonderful. The bulbs are held in place by a spring that hooks into a little metal u-shaped piece. The little metal u-shaped piece was now gone. But, it looks like the blub-housing screws out pretty easily, so maybe we can purchase a new little housing and all will be well.

I did some calling around to the dealer. No, they only sell entire headlight assemblys for above $200. Reeeaaaalllly! I called some parts-stores. They said to call the dealer. I called some auto parts junk yard type places. They might be able to find me the entire headlight assembly for around $100-150. NO WAY! NOT WONDERFUL!

So I spent the summer riding the bike to work and driving (occasionally) without the passenger-side headlight working. Mostly during daylight hours, but occasionally I'd run to the store and it'd get dark. And inevitably, some wonderful stranger would helpfully let me know that my passenger-side headlight was burnt out. I always smiled and said, "Thanks! We'll get that fixed."

Today, my handy husband fixed my headlight - MacGyver style! Just a quick trip to Lowe's for J-B weld and a hacksaw, rummage through the house for a paperclip, rubbing alcohol, rubber gloves and some toothpicks...


And poof! Let there be light.


Thanks Handy Man!