Crescent City to Patricks Point

 Crescent City was beautiful. I would love to spend time there again someday. Our actual bike trip started on Sunday June 29th. Not my favorite day to start a trip but we hit up church first. We got all dressed for biking. Packed up camp. Biked 2 miles to church and slipped our skirts on over our biking shorts.

 I was actually a little embarrassed about my Keen sandals until I saw lots of other people with sandals on. We fit right in!

 At church all the locals were very friendly and wanted to hear all about out trip. The thing I hated most about Day 1 was telling everyone well it's our first day. I was so happy when we got that out of the way. Looked a little dirty and ragged. It gave us some credibility. Back to church and how everyone seriously just wanted to tell us about the giant hill to get out of Crescent City. We drove over the hill, we saw it, we knew what was coming. The dreaded hill was 8 miles long. Pretty much up the entire time. Not steep uphill but uphill. It took us a good hour and a half to get over it. Now before you judge here is lesson #1 on this trip . . . . . there is no such thing as an easy/gradual hill when you are pulling gear. You hit the hill and all momentum is gone. You gear down and go slow. I found that if I tried to bike hard up a hill I was just wasting tons of energy. So long and slow it was. But we made it.

This is one of the gorgeous views after the hill. There is a lot of gear on that bike. I honestly don't know of anything I would leave behind if I did it all again. We seriously only brought what we used and needed. I even accidentally left my flip flops in Crescent City and still survived the week.

We passed creepy Paul Bunyan on day 1 of biking. We stopped to give our legs a rest.

 There were lots of hills on day 1. It was hard and I was exhausted. We went a little over 60 miles. I thought I was pretty crazy when we finally finished for the day. 7 more days like that would make this a very long week. Don't get me wrong, I had fun, but on day 1 it was hard. I was tired. I don't think I was quite mentally prepared for it, but I am happy to report that for me each day got better and more enjoyable for me as we continued our journey.

Patricks Point State Park was beautiful!

 We stayed at the hike/bike camp which does not need reservations and only cost $5 per person. You seriously can't beat that. You also can't beat a warm shower after such a long day.

 The views were breathtaking.

I came home!!!

I love summers and I love road trips. It is just hard when all my trips run into each other, but it is also more affordable. So I haven't been home in three weeks. That's a long time. I am EXHAUSTED. But man I had a great time!!!!!

Amber and I drove out to my parents house on Friday June 27th. Long boring trip through Nevada.

 Moki did what I wanted to do the whole way......sleep.

 On Saturday my Mom joined Amber and I on our way to Crescent City. We stopped in Redding and dropped Moki off at my Aunt Virginia's house. How awesome is my aunt? She took Moki for two weeks so I could try and kill myself.

How awesome is my mom. My Mom drove us so she could take the car back to their house. I had never been to Crescent City and it was quite the drive. I was feeling great about the trip all month but the closer we got to being dropped off the more nervous I became. I wasn't worried about it being hard (I figured it would be) more about just two girls carrying all their gear on bikes for 8 days. There is a lot that could go wrong. Seemed more and more crazy the closer we got to the drop off point. I was also very excited.

 The first night we stayed in a little RV campground. It was nice and quiet. Free showers and WIFI. Perfect for what we needed and a step above some of the places we stayed for sure. Setting up camp was the first thing we needed to do.

Once we unloaded the car my mom just left us there. Like it was not even a big deal! I love how my mom is just smiling in this picture. I was sad to watch my car drive away.

After we set up camp we set out to explore the city while it was still light. It is definitely a fun little coastal city.

 It was great to ride our bikes without any gear on them. Amber took this shot.

 We enjoyed the evening despite knowing what the morning would bring.

And thus the real journey would begin.

Summer Solstice

 Longest day of the year!!!! Actually it is past midnight but you get the point. I love how light it is in the morning and I love that it stays light so late. It is my favorite time of year for oh so many reasons.

Do you ever have those days where you are just antsy and bored? That was me last Sunday. I was going to eat everything in my house if I didn't get out of there. So Moki and I biked to the Provo River Trail and enjoyed a beautiful Sunday evening. She ran and played and I followed slowly on my bike.

It is seriously so beautiful in Utah right now. I am loving it everyday.

 I have been busy biking everyday so I try to take Moki on my errands if it isn't too hot. She makes me laugh.

 I biked around 140 miles this week. Not too bad. I went on a different route everyday and just enjoyed all the beauty in Utah county.

 We had a little snow episode mid week here. Crazy weather. It was freezing. I biked on Wednesday after the storm. It was clear and gorgeous but still really cold. I wore sweats the rest of the day when I got home.

 I finally finished my patriotic wreath. My ward made these last year. I paid to participate and then didn't make it. They gave me all the materials and they have been sitting in my closet for a year. I finally decided to just take the time and make the wreath. It's super cute and I really like it.

 Jana and Michelle were having a lake day and they were nice enough to invite me. It was fun to hang out. All our crazy dogs loved it. I love that Moki has been exhausted but man she wreaks like dead fish. Super gross. It was kind of like a dog park.

 The kids just played and played. This is Jana's mini me. This girls is so cute.

I asked the kids to sit and pose. Ben and Jana were taking care of the jet skiis and all these kids were just hanging out in the parking lot. Dirty, sun burned, and tired.

 I told them to act homeless so I could take a picture. Benji was super concerned about why he should do that. I told him I needed to post about it on social media. That was enough to get him to be in the picture:) I wanted to put a kids for sale sign or something.

Yes they are all sitting on gravel. So funny. These pictures make me smile.

Not much else to report. I am trying to do a little housework everyday, a little reading, visit the temple once a week, one outside activity a day with Moki, and bike lots. This week I also got to help a co-worker move and play in two soccer games. It really is the best time of year!

Summer finally

Summer finally happened. Let me tell you it was long overdue. In fact I actually worked the 1st Monday of summer because I have to collaborate some in the summer. When my alarm went off I was sure that it was the CRAZIEST idea I had ever had. Never again!!!!! But I have worked two Mondays and only have one more to go so it isn't all bad.

Summer started with a bang. The last day of school Moki and I hiked the Y in the early morning to celebrate.

 I finally went to the doctor for my jammed finger. It is not broken. Just swollen and inflamed. I am supposed to wear this 24-7. That has been very challenging for some reason.

After I got that first day of work off I was off biking and playing the rest of the week. I think I took this picture the last week of school. I was at Jana's and caught a beautiful sunset.

I biked over 100 miles my first four days of summer. I also got to hike MT. Olympus again. This time Sam, Amanda, and Andrew joined me. I will say that this hike is rated strenuous. I have hiked quite a few hikes in Utah with this rating but this one is one of the more difficult hikes. It is actually a true strenuous in my opinion. The last mile and a half are seriously straight up hill. I gave myself a turn around time and so I ended up booking it to the top. I really almost threw up I was going that fast. It was rough. Moki was with us too she just didn't make it in the pictures.

Andrew enjoyed a little nap on the hike. Love this sweet boy.

 I actually only made it to the saddle and that was 10 minutes after my turn around time. The view was amazing.

 Mandatory selfie at the saddle.

Utah really is beautiful. I realize these next few are pretty much all the same.

 So many different colors of green.

 Sometimes I really love where I live.

 Definitely worth the view.

Moki and I booked it down, but not without incident. I had to stop and use the bathroom, except there was no toilet paper. It was a definite emergency. I think it happened because I pushed so hard on the way up. Yeah that was awkward but what do you do:) After the hike we went back to Sam and Amanda's and swam. That was heavenly.

The first Saturday in June Amber and I biked in The Little Red. An all womens bike ride. We biked the century, it was 103 miles for us because we missed one turn. That happened at mile 90ish so it was not very fun. Overall though it was an amazing biking day. Pre-race photo with the big bad wolf. The theme was "carnival" and so that is why he is dressed up.

 This ride is in Cache Valley and you always bike into Idaho. We decided to actually stop and get a picture this year.

This is around mile 75 and we are still smiling!!! Overall we had a great day on our bikes. Shout out to Ben and Jana for letting my psycho dog spend 24 hours with them. It is times like this where I wonder what I was thinking when I got a dog.

The first week of summer I clocked over 200 miles of biking with the Logan ride. I was pretty exhausted by the time Sunday rolled around. I also found time to hike or walk Moki everyday. It was a very active week, just how I like them.

This week I have been at girls camp. I don't have any pictures since phones aren't allowed. I was lazy and didn't want to take my nice camera. We go to a beautiful camp up above Fairfield Utah. I got up and exercised every morning this year so that was a bonus. So weird that this is my third year going to camp. I was kind of dreading it because I have been busy but once I was there I really enjoyed my time. I am guessing I will be done with camp for awhile because I got a new calling so it was fun to have one last hurrah with the girls and leaders. The leaders I serve with have become my really good friends. It has been really hard to know that I am moving on and they all get to hang out still:( It's the first time I have really experienced those emotions and it was hard at first. I know the Lord knows me and has a plan for me. I am sure there are lots of things I get to learn in my new calling. I am also excited to make new friends because the women I am working with are also amazing. I really am excited to get to know them better!

Guess who was in town this weekend.

 Jennie!!!!!!!!! I can't even remember the last time I saw this girl. She needs to come around more. It was fun to sit and chat with her and Jana just like old times. We missed all are other Oroville peeps.

I put both pictures up even though they are practically identical because it is so exciting!!!

Holy Heat Wave

It really is rough when you go from 70 degree weather to 90 degree weather over night. Man it is hot. I enjoy the heat, especially compared to rain, but I need a pool or lake close by when it is this hot.

Last week it started to warm up a little bit. Mostly it was just nice and I was able to do lots of fun things outside. I pulled Moki up the canyon twice. She ran part of the way and we stopped to let her swim. It is really hard to pull 80 pounds behind my bike. I mountain biked one day and she got to run. This was a much better option.

 The down side was we went a little early and she gets so hot with that fur of hers. I loved that she could just run and I didn't have to worry about her. It would have been perfect if she could have swam somewhere.

Moki and I went up north after work last Thursday and attempted to hike Mt. Olympus with Sam and Andrew. We ran out of daylight and so we didn't summit but it was fun to try something new.

 Jana let me borrow her kid packer and it was awesome. Andrew did great and it was a fun evening. I will have to try to get to the summit at some point this summer.

 Amber and I have been wanting to practice touring before our trip this summer. Memorial day weekend seemed like a great opportunity. We wanted to see how fast we could go, what gear we are missing, and how many miles seem reasonable in a day. We biked from Provo to Layton, 88miles. All in one day.

We decided that was too many miles. It was fun. But we were wiped out and there was no way we were biking that far the next day. We camped in her brothers backyard. It was a good weekend adventure. Thanks to Ben and Jana who watched my dog. The downside of having a dog is you have to beg people to watch her.

 Memorial day was mostly spent biking but I made it home in time for Dan's Barbeque. I had to bust out Moki's festive bandana for the occasion.

 Today I went to Lagoon with our 9th graders. It was really really hot, but super fun. For some reason there were not a lot of schools there and so we never waited more than 10 minutes for any ride. We rode all day non stop. It was great. On the way out I remembered to grab a picture. The ironic thing is that we didn't waste our time on the Ferris wheel, but I like the shot.

Here's to hoping it cools down just a little bit for the rest of the week because I really have no time or place to swim.

Signs of Spring

The weather in Utah this time of year is crazy. For example it may snow one day and then be 75 degrees the next day. I am not convinced the crazy weather is done but we have had several nice days in a row. It is magical. I love this time of year. Warm weather, stays light later, lots of yummy fruit available, and countdown for school to be over. (yes I ate all those cherries in two days!)

I am in survival mode at school. I take a nap almost every day after school. This week I didn't on two days and I was very proud of myself. Moki usually naps with me.

Last weekend Moki got to run in her first official 5K. She was in heaven!  There were lots of people and lots of dogs. Two of her favorite things. She got good exercise and tons of attention. It was a lot of fun. We had to document the milestone when we got home.

 Dan had a birthday. Dan, Anthony, and I all went to PF Changs. Other than the price it was really good. I don't eat there very often and I was reminded why. That place is expensive!

 Moki has done so much better in the dog trailer. A co-worker suggested I take her somewhere fun every time we go in it until she likes it. Then she will associate it with the good times. On Wednesday I had to force her in the thing. I biked to the Provo River Trail and then let her run for 3 miles. Then we stopped so she could swim. She was crazy in the water.

 On the way home she got to ride in the trailer with the sun roof open. That is a privilege. She did awesome on this tip and seemed to enjoy it.

 We got a lot of funny looks. It turns out people aren't expecting to see a dog in a trailer. It was pretty funny.

We had family dinner on Sunday. I love getting to see one of my favorite little guys. We went to the park and played. He loves being outside, loves balls, and loves Moki. He is just so fun!

Then he came to town again on Thursday. My lucky week. He hung out with just me for a little while. We discovered that he loves watermelon. He is just so cute.

 With the warmer weather I have been able to bike to work the last three weeks. That is a great way to start my day and a great way to save money. Why is gas so expensive right now? Seriously so lame! Other activities I want to document but didn't take pictures of: 1st bike ride ever with Jana, we enjoyed the Murdock trail Friday evening. It was perfect weather for biking. Today I biked with Rachelle up the canyon pulling Moki. We stopped and hiked to the top of bridal veil falls. The canyon is amazing right now. Then Amber and I hiked up Rock Canyon. It was a very active Saturday. Just how I like them. Moki came on both adventures and has been asleep all evening. She is worn out. I ordered a few more decorations for my bike themed room. They are adorable. Love them. I am anxiously awaiting the start of summer break. This teacher is TIRED!