Glen Canyon Dam

This is undoubtdedly one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.

Lake Powell in the distance

Look at the teeny little cars next to the drain pipes (four gray structures on the side of the concrete). When the dam overflows the water thunders through those...they are easily bigger than the vehicles to the left of them..

On The Road Again

Beautiful Red Rock


Right outside of Page, AZ (and more bug guts)
Arizona side of Glen Canyon

Believe It Or Not

All of these photos were taken in separate places--not in immediate succession....you get the point...

Arizona

"Entering Arizona & Indian Country Beautiful Scenic Area Bring Your Cameras" (Plus some smooshed bugs on the windshield)
"Arizona The Grand Canyon State Welcomes You" (and more bug entrails...)
Chili's for lunch in Flagstaff, AZ. We bought and decorated a chili pepper for the benefit of the children's hospital.
Jon's says "We are getting married" and mine says "I heart Jon Dunn". If Flagstaff only knew the value of these pricelesss art works they would be on ebay in a snap.

Scenic New Mexico

Wind Power, baby!
Oil derrick--saw lots of these
In case you can't read it, this yellow sign says "New Mexico, Land of Enchantment"
There was a nasty storm and we drove right through it.

Oscar

My grandparent's cute (and well fed) little pet, Oscar.

Sailing

So the below pics are from Lake Sommerville in Sommerville, TX. We had a great day sailing with aunt & uncle Bob & Diane Wallis from Houston. Their boat, aptly named “Finally” was very cool and we really had a great time. We met them at the marina and had little (translate no) wind out to the center of the lake, but we drifted calmly and it was pretty hot which gave us all the more reason to jump overboard and cool off. We visited and ate snacks and drank Tecates and carried on just generally had a really fun time. At one point while in the center of the lake we bailed out to take a cool dip only to be surprised by the fact that we could touch the bottom with our feet! Now that was a slightly creepy sensastion, especially since we were all hanging on to this massive boat floating right next to us. We were scraping rudder for a bit but got turned around and were on our way again. Returning back to the marina, we had significant wind and the boat tipped sharply to one side. It’s a very unnatural sensation and I haven’t been on a boat like that for ages. Suffice to say I was a little freaked out and hid out in the bough of the boat until Aunt Diane convinced me that we would not tip over like on a smaller pontoon Hobie. I’ve jumped out of an airplane and own and ride a Harley Davidson and the boat freaked me out. Go figure. (And I’m a good swimmer, too!). Makes no sense. But we eventually made it back to the marina, shuffled into town and had some great Mexican food at the local joint (we drank a margarita the size of my head) said goodnight and gave goodbye hugs, jumped in the new truck and made our way back through the rural cotton fields in Robertson County.

Sunset at Sommerville

Love The Gov

Well, I have been a bad, bad blogger. No posts in over a week. However, we are full steam ahead into the wedding planning and a lot has been going on. First of all, I bought my dress last week. Sight unseen since they actually had my size & color in stock at Bridal Corner in North Ogden. I am going Saturday morning to be fitted. Now that is progress.

We have also been talking with wedding coordinators Lori and Jon Woodbury and as it stands they will be handling several aspects of the organizing. Yeah! Less stress for yours truly.

And finally, I have little time and will get back to the photo blogging of the TX trip because I’ve got guest lists to edit and passport renewal forms to tackle this evening. BUT, I felt compelled to share my experience this evening. I had the honor of finally meeting Governor Huntsman and The First Lady, Mary Kaye. (And of course an entourage of various staff including Mike Mower the Governors PR man. They were in the studio to chat with Doug Wright on the call in program “Let Me Speak To The Governor”. Afterward, they hung out and visited with the Nightside crew for a few minutes, and it was revealed to all even more how ultra cool The Gov is. The interview will likely be posted on the Nightside website in the next few days, and when it is I will link to that audio so all can enjoy. Aside from being a top legislative official, he is a very sincere person and exceedingly gracious. He is not only an avid rock fan he is a musician himself (piano/keyboard-- the coolest instrument for among other reasons it’s the one I can play). Oh, and on the air he challenged any other state’s governor to a rock music trivia contest. I suspect he won’t have any takers.

Just another in a long list of reasons to love The Gov.

Update, you can hear the audio of Huntsman on Nightside on this page. Unfortunately I can't link to the specific interview but scroll on down there and you'll find it...you should already be surfing this site anyway...

TX II

Wow, where to begin. What a great trip we had. It felt like we were gone for a month—in a good way-- when really it was merely a week. We arrived in Austin around 4:00 PM after our plane was delayed for 2 hours. Boo! We could’ve slept in. Oh, and might I add that I had been in the ER with my mom all night the night prior. She up & decided to have appendicitis that day. I got the call at work from the doctor at the Instacare who said they needed someone to come and take her to the hospital pronto. I didn’t want her to have to take the dreaded ambulance ride, so I tore out of work early & rescued her. Well, sort of. Eight hours later, much physical pain and administrative ordeal she was safely out of emergency surgery and in her hospital but her appendix had actually ruptured by the time they got her in the OR. Good grief. The recovery was not as simple as it could have been, but I am happy to report that she is doing much better now and we are already planning a camping trip to the Wasatch Mts. for next weekend. But alas, I digress.

So we got to Austin and headed to San Marcos to my Aunt & Uncle’s house. I regret that we didn’t really get any pics with Gary & Gini (sorry guys) so we’ll have to make up for that next visit. They took us down to the San Marcos River where it winds through town and we floated from one of the falls to a point downstream that was not too far, but just enough to give us a taste. The water was brisk, and we saw a few fish, a lot of college kids (Texas State U), 'Frisbee Dan', and a few of Uncle Ace’s fellow Lions of the San Marcos Lion’s Club.

Afterward, we cruised back to their house, and proceeded to visit with their neighbors, and then….dinner! They really know how to treat folks like royalty. It had everything to do with an early birthday celebration for me since Gini would be leaving in the morning to visit her family in Arizona. Uncle Ace busted out the filets and lobster! I have some great pics of him goofing around with the crustaceans prior to putting them in the pot but I have chosen not to post them here as I figure it would just piss off my animal welfare friends. I must say I have to agree with Alton Brown in terms of getting over the whole ‘hurting’ of the lobsters. They are just great big insects. Perhaps I’m fooling myself, but regardless, they sure were tasty.

The next day, (my birthday!) we headed into Austin for a brief tour before splitting to Rudy’s BBQ Sauce for Jon’s radio cohort Michael (well, ok he’s actually the host) and we toured the Texas A&M campus. Along the way (and earlier in the day on our way to Hearne) we were enlightened by many a college tale from Uncle Ace. When we went to College Station he was able to point out several of his old haunts, on & off campus. Gig ‘em Ags!

Back in Hearne we started the evening with a pitcher of margaritas. Yeehaw! My birthday dinner was great. Mary’s El Alamo Cafe, owned and operated by Mary, a long time resident of Hearne and kind friend of my grandparents. It’s home style Tex Mex, and the chili rellenos are really excellent. Can’t beat the prices either! I was presented with a cake and candles, the whole she-bang. I am such a lucky, lucky girl. I think they even sang to me but I don’t recall as I was heading into a food coma & was undoubtedly half in the bag. After dinner we retired to Wheelock Street, and the day ended. The next day we were slated to meet my other Aunt & Uncle, Diane & Bob (from Houston) at Somerville Lake where their beautiful sailboat is moored. Stay tuned for that excursion, along with pics.

Our Trip To TX Part I

Here is is folks, the Texas State Capitol Building.



Upper left hand --here is a crop duster that almost took us out.



Above: Abstract: "Crop Duster Over Cotton Field"

Below: Rural area outside of Hearne, TX. It's all cotton fields, baby!! (And yes, we pulled over and stole a handful right off the plant)...hemp schmemp...



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What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been

For those who were anxiously awaiting news from the road, I'm sorry that I wasn't able to post while we were out there. Well, technically I was able to but we didn't really have much time and the last thing I wanted to do at the end of a full day in the car with JD, a gatorade, and some crappy AM radio stations was plop in front of the computer. So stay tuned as I will attempt to recount the highlights (and of course some of the lowlights) of our journey to Austin, Central, Northern, and West Texas, through New Mexico & Arizona, Kanab Utah, and finally Northward home to the S-L-C. Hail Zion!