Adventures with Poo and Bob

I'm getting all this down now, because I'm getting old, and someone will ask what we did in a few weeks, and I'll forget something. But I really enjoyed my aunt and uncle visiting, and we had a pretty busy and tiring week. Here's what all we did:

• Saturday: Their flight was about 15 minutes late, but they were lucky to miss the storms that were all around Atlanta. They had crying/screaming children on both flights, and they were pretty tired, so we just picked up some groceries. They agree that Alberston's is outrageously priced.
• Sunday: Went to church, then drove around some sights in the city. In the afternoon, we took the tram at Snowbird Resort (Hidden Peak; 11,000 ft). It was 96 in the valley, but 62 at the top of the mountain. Some snow drifts were probably still 4 feet high. Several skiers were riding on the tram (I guess a few turns are better than no turns).
• Monday: Showed them around the university. They went to the Natural History Museum and then took the bus downtown to the Gateway Center while I did a little work. Stopped by a rock shop for Bob on the way home.
• Tuesday: Went downtown while my car was at Midas since they screwed up my brake job. Mainly did the Temple Square stuff (assembly hall, tabernacle, conference center, Joseph Smith Building, Beehive House, 26th floor observation deck of the office building).
• Wednesday: Had a nice morning hike to Donut Falls in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Very pretty, but since the streamflow was so high due to snowmelt, the hole was completely obscured. Drove over Guardsman Pass (great views!) into Park City, where we poked around the shops downtown and stopped by the outlet mall.
• Thursday: Went to Antelope Island on the Great Salt Lake. Waded in the lake (the brine flies were crazy). Poo and I hiked to the top of Buffalo Point. She said it reminded her of the Caribbean with the blue water, white (salt) beaches, and rocky hills. We saw two antelope, and several hundred bison, with several crossing the road directly in front of us. Drove to Promontory to see where the golden spike was laid connecting the transcontinental railroad. Was basically a museum and a bunch of replicas, and not really worth the hour drive through the middle of nowhere. There was an ATK rocket factory nearby, and they had a display out front that was worth looking at for 3 minutes. Poo and I went to the rehearsal of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir that evening. They really are amazing, and the orchestra was just as great!
• Friday: They went to an arts/crafts festival in Sugarhouse while I did a little work. We then caught 21 at the $1.50 theater to beat the heat. Bob made burgers and baked beans for dinner. We had corn on the cob several times this week, because they said it was the best they'd had in a long time. It was from Smith's. We then went over to the party at Leigh's house where she had a great view of the spectacular fireworks in Sugarhouse Park.

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Last Saturday's hike:

I took my first real crazy hike in the Wasatch Mountains. About 14 of us set out to Lake Blanche from Mill B/Big Cottonwood at 7:30 in the morning. The trail was steep and rocky but manageable. Even though the trail was about 3 miles one way, that wasn't enough for them, and we set out for Sundial Peak. We had to do some crazy stream crossings, scrambling, quasi-rock climbing, and trudging/sliding through steep snow fields to get there, which I didn't find fun at all. Unfortunately I didn't make it to the peak (either the real or false one... no one knew so the group split). I was completely worn out by the time we got to the last little section, and by seeing what they had to do, I don't think I would have felt safe anyway. There were some awesome views from that high up, though. And I met a girl (someone's friend) who went to grad school at UNC, but said she would root for NC State over Duke or Carolina. I knew she had to be from somewhere in the southeast when she looked at my cap and asked if I went to "State" (no one out here would have any clue what that meant). I was only moderately sore for the next two days. :-)

Now only a week and a half until mom, dad, and Kelly visit! I'll get all the pictures up sometime.