My New Life as a Criminal

So I was geocaching in Riverton today . . . Chris and I stopped for a cache and noticed a police officer passing us on the other side of the street.   (I'd like to mention here that I was parked legally and not looking for the cache on private property.)    I noticed the officer turn around and come back in our direction, but thought little of it since we weren't doing anything suspicious-like except for looking funny at a street sign.  We got back in the car and continued on to the next cache.  I looked in the rear view mirror and noticed that the officer was following us.  I thought about when I had last changed the registration stickers on my license plate.  June.  Wasn't that.  It was daylight so I didn't have a headlight out.  I wasn't speeding.  OK, must not be following my car.  I turned a couple of corners and he was still behind us, but then disappeared.  Phew!  Then suddenly, a different officer appeared and started to follow us.  I made sure I was going the speed limit, and turned on my turn signal exactly 3 seconds before turning down a small side street.  Sure enough, he followed.  I turned again onto a dead end street and he didn't follow.  Phew!  But. . . . I looked in the mirror again and saw that he had parked at the corner.  Hmmm, strange.  We continued on toward the cache.  When I looked back again, I saw that there were now two police cars.  He called for backup!  The two cars headed in our direction.  We got out of the car.  (I wondered if they were going to aim their guns at us and tell us to put our hands up or get back in the car.  I think maybe I watch too many cop shows.)  They asked us what we were doing (and, I think, took their first good look at us), then at the same time, all four of us said, "Geocaching."  We all had a good laugh as they told us that there had been some drug activity in the area that they had first seen us and said that my driving was "suspicious."  Here they are calling in the results of their chase and probably giving this little street the most excitement they've seen in a while.  The cache is near the tree on the right, in case you were wondering.

First Time on Snowshoes!

Why didn't anyone ever tell me how much fun showshoeing is?  I'm hooked!  These photos are from the area between Guardsman Pass and Solitude in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Thanksgiving at the Deli-Subs 2010

Thanksgiving with the Deli-Subs is one of my favorite holiday traditions. 

I've been hearing about Mom Bread's new coupon shopping hobby for quite a while and finally got to see her in action.  We got 10 jars of spaghetti sauce, 10 boxes of pasta, 12 cans of green beans, and maybe some other stuff (help me here, MB) for 74 cents.  Amazing!

I was very prepared to see a lot of rain during my visit, but the weather turned out to be more Minnesota-like than Seattle-like. 

Here's Baloney with Flat Stanley, who was also visiting for the week.  They are melting snow on the wood burning stove because the power AND the water were out.  It was very pioneer-like (except for the hum of the generator).

Pickle went to get eggs from the chickens and found one that was frozen solid.  He was way excited to crack it open and see what it looked like inside.

Their new house has a kids' dream kind of backyard.  They went sledding on their hill, and even made a jump.  They also used their sleds to haul wood for the stove.

Ready?  Go!

Thanksgiving ended up being pretty quiet as most of the guests were snowed in at home.  Those of us who were there had a Foosball tournament.  Who knew Mom Bread was so competitive?  Dad Bread was the champion.

Happy 29th!

Top Ten Sunday: Titles for this Blog Post

10. I Got Sunburned on Halloween in Utah

9. I Just Hiked 10 Miles Through the Mud Just to Sign my Name on a Piece of Paper in a Plastic Box

8. I Just Hiked 10 Miles Through the Mud!

7. I'm Really Going to Miss These Socks

6. When a Crane Falls Off a Barge in the Great Salt Lake, Put a Cache On It!

5. That !@$# HikingSeal

4. It's Not Insanity If There Are 4 Other People Doing the Same Thing, Right?

3. How to Tell When a Geocaching Hobby is Out of Control

2. What's the Best Escape Method for Knee Deep Quicksand-Like Mud?   (Alternate Title:  Why I Am Typing This Blog Post Right Now Instead of Still Standing in Said Mud)

 

1. There I Was at The Wreck of the Hesperis

Welcome to Winter

I have been loving the unusually long fall we have had this year.  I enjoyed it so much that I started to think it might last forever.  Yesterday. I left the house on a blustery morning and headed for the hills.  Much to my surprise, I encountered the first snow of the season.  Looks like winter is here.

Wordless Wednesday

Strange and Unusual

This clip from Beetlejuice was running through my head all day. 

Here are some of today's sightings that brought it to mind . . .

A display of rockets through the ages outside of the ATK plant.  I was amazed at how huge they were!  The picture doesn't really do justice to their immensity.

The Golden Spike isn't especially strange or unusual, but I think it's a little strange that I have lived in Utah for my whole life and never gone there.  Also interesting to learn that when building the tracks, the two companies actually passed each other and went a couple hundred miles before backtracking and making the tracks meet.

Spiral Jetty . . . Robert Smithson's 1970 art project out in the desert.  Apparently, sometimes it is under water and not visible.  Right now, the water is quite a ways out so we had a great view and could walk right out to it. 

How often can you walk around on salt?  (Sometimes you just have to take a foot picture.  Right, Danielle?)

The red color in this part of the Great Salt Lake is caused by some kind of algae.  I think the whole scene looks other-worldy.

This is the remains of an old oil well near the Great Salt Lake.  Although it has been capped, it is still seeping.  There were many puddles of fresh oil around.  I stood in the same place too long and had to pull my foot out of the oily mess it fell into.  Yuck!

The canal that brings this water suddenly drops 50 feet in elevation, creating this really cool waterfall.  Standing next to its spray was a perfect place to be in the heat of the day!

The owner of this place collects antique tractors.  There were a bunch of them, representing many years of tractor history.

Guarding the church doors?

 

Always Expect the Unexpected . . .

I spent a lot of time in high school at the "U" on the mountain, but never made it to the "H," even though I went to Highland.  So when Chris suggested we go find a cache there tonight, I thought it was about time I made it up there.  Better late than never, right?  I did my research . . . if you count asking "What am I agreeing to?" as research.  A 0.2 mile walk with one little steep part on the way to the H sounded like a perfect evening walk.  0.2 miles is a lot farther than it used to be, and it seems, one little steep part= a mountain.  I should have expected this . . . Things are never quite as expected when geocaching.  We ended up finding several unexpected caches, and catching some great views along the way.  No ankles were broken in the dark, and I climbed a mountain.  That's right, a real mountain (not to be confused with the hill now known as Daphne's Mountain in some circles). 

The view from the top

The view from the top looking the other way.  Brian showed his mountain goat genes as he jogged, yes that's right, jogged up the mountain to this one.  There was much talk here about  Peaks Above, Peaks Below, Peaks Below Peaks Above, and Beany Babies.  Strange. . .  

I love a good sunset.  Note to self. . . Always carry headlamp, even for .2 miles at 6 pm.  You just never know.

We eventually made it to the H Rock.  You can almost see it in the background.  Turns out the cache wasn't really at the rock anyway.  Good thing we went the other way.

Because we don't learn lessons very quickly, we stopped on the way home for "a quick cache in the rocks."  We knew what we were looking for.  I'm pretty sure we turned over every rock in the place at least twice before Chris started moving them to the side.  We knew if we gave up, we would find ourselves back there moving all of those same rocks again so we kept going.  Eventually, the darn thing turned up. . . It wasn't anything like what we were looking for.  Imagine that.  Good thing there were three of us to work on the putting all the rocks back where they came from project.

Can't wait to see what the next adventure is!

Summer's Last Hurrah

The days are getting shorter, the air is getting colder, school has started. . . Fall is upon us once again.  Labor Day always feels like the last moment of summer to me.  I decided to make the most of it by getting out of the city and going camping at Strawberry Reservoir.  As I lay shivering in my sleeping bag the first night, I resolved any doubt that summer was definitely behind me (and, now that I think about it, ahead of me, in just a mere 172 school days).  It's time to break out the long sleeves and the serious sleeping bag.  Sigh . . .
Other than the chilly first night, the trip was perfect.  Much fun was had, many crayfish were caught. . .

Here's the part where I said, "You catch the fish, I'll take pictures."

Here's the part a couple of minutes later where I realized everyone else was having all the fun and got in on the action.  That's right. . . I caught crayfish, with my hands, and we ate them for dinner!

many geocaches were found, and much scenery was viewed (most of it made possible only by Chris's 4-wheeling Saturn).

That kind of four-wheeling comes with consequences.  Fortunately, they were minor and mostly involved a lot of dust.  Chris suggested having a car-cleaning event for Labor Day.  I thought it was a great idea as my car was in dire need of some attention and hers was covered in the dirt of many mountain paths.  As the day went on, I learned that we have very different ideas of what cleaning the car means.

Daphne's usual version of cleaning the car:
1. Drive into self-propelled car wash.  Read a book while the machines do their thing.  Remind self to remove antenna next time, if it's still there.
2. Vacuum floors and throw out trash.
3. Remind self to wipe down interior surfaces later.  Promptly forget.
Time required: 10 minutes

Daphne's rarely used, more intense version of cleaning the car:
1. Wipe off all inside surfaces unless they are hard to get to.
2. Wash all windows inside and out.  (Baloney, did you have anything to do with the shoe print on my back window?)  Hope there are no streaks.
3. Vacuum floors and throw out trash.
4.  Hose down the car.  Use soap.  Rinse.  Debate about whether to bother with wax or not.   (usually done while feeding quarters into the machine at the car washing place)
5. Completely ignore dings and scratches.
6. Smile and feel proud of self.
Time required:  35 minutes

Daphne's super-intense version of cleaning the car used only today:
1. #1-#3 above (Use Q-Tips for cleaning hard to reach places)
2.  Hose down the car.  Scrub with sponge.  Rinse.
3. Wax on, wax off.  Try not to miss too many spots.
4. Rinse dirt from floor mats.  Marvel at mud flowing off of them.
5. Clean carpets in the front, and try to remove Diet Coke stains from seats.  Decide back carpets are fine since they are covered with floor mats and nobody ever sits back there anyway.
6. Armor-All all plastic and vinyl surfaces, inside and out.  (yes, Armor-All is a verb)
7. Frown at dings and scratches.  Wonder what ever happened to that bottle of touch up paint and consider getting another one someday.
8. Smile and feel really proud of self.
9. Tell car not to get used to it.
Time required:  2 hours


Chris's version of cleaning the car:
1.  Wipe off all inside surfaces especially if they are hard to get to. 
2.  Wash all windows inside and out.  Don't leave any streaks.  I mean it!
3.  Hose down the car and scrub it a lot, until it has completely forgotten all dust it once had.  Rinse with a filtered low pressure sprayer to prevent water spots.
4. Wash all floor mats.  Spray with hose first, use carpet cleaner later.
5. Clean all carpet and upholstery.  Roll eyes at the Super-Sonic guys who didn't get it nearly as clean as they should have.  Losers.
6. Buff out all scratches caused by branches on 4-wheeling adventures.
7. Wax on, wax off.
8. Armor-All all surfaces, including tires so they shine.
9. I lost track of the rest of the steps here but I know there were a bunch more.
10. Decide it could look better but is good enough for today.
Time required: 6.5 hours 

Look at those shiny Saturns!

Dog Lake and more

This weekend brought many hiking adventures.  The first was Dog Lake via Millcreek Canyon.  This destination has been a source of confusion for me for a while now because I had been to Dog Lake before but none of the descriptions about how people have been getting there lately matched where I had been.  Turns out there are 2 of them. . . One that is more of a Dog Pond, on the way to Lake Mary:

And one that is more of a destination kind of place:

Glad I got that one figured out, and glad I found a great new hike. 

The other adventure that was captured on film was the route to a geocache in Big Cottonwood Canyon via an old rail line. 

 I can't really describe how complicated it was to get there, but it involved more stickers than I have ever seen in one place before,

climbing through scrub oak, fighting off man eating vines, scrambling up rocks, and climbing up this big woodpile:

This is me on the nice flat, open path we took on the way out, with my best, "In an hour I will think this was an adventure but don't ask me now" scowl.  (I'm sure there is some life lesson to be had in the always taking the hard way there and the easy way out plan.)

It was very cool to see the ruins of the old rail line and interesting to think about how much easier it was for me to get there than the pioneers.  They were some seriously tough folks.  I'm happy to report that I now think it was an adventure, and am almost ready to go tackle another one. . . Maybe.