Nalette’s Invade Mormon Town
May 31st, 2008It’s been quite a while since an update (which is becoming a normal trend now and days) but a lot has been going on out here in Mormon Town the past few weeks so I suppose I can fill everyone in.
The most significant headline to start out with would be my family coming to Utah last week to visit me. That’s right the entire fam: mom, dad, Amy, and Laura all made it out to the wild west last Sunday to get some insight on where I live and what I see on a daily basis. They ended up getting here on a Sunday so after they went to their condo (200 yards from mine) we immediately started the Utah tour since I would have to work the next 2 days (but took Wed-Fri off). They rented a Jeep Commander and of course I was going to drive so I could show them around. We started by going down through Park City and then through Heber to Provo Canyon. Going through Provo Canyon is really pretty and the fam loved it. Towards the end of Provo is Bridal Veil Falls, a very large waterfall that attracts quite a few people. What’s cool about it is that you can basically hike up to where the first fall hits and go in the pool it creates. We weren’t really prepared for rock climbing (shoe-wise) so that didn’t happen but we did hike up a little and took some good pictures. Which by the way are right here.
After Bridal Veil we continued on through Provo Canyon and into the city of, you guessed it, Provo. Provo is the biggest Mormon spot in all of Utah and it is also the home of Brigham Young University (the Cougars). We didn’t do any stopping in Provo as there really isn’t a lot to see other than the university so we continued on course to hit I-15 to go back north. We took I-15 up to Draper and stopped at PGP so I could show the fam where I worked, since I had my ID badge and I have hand print access we were able to go into the office even on a Sunday.
After a few minutes at PGP we continued north to I-215 and then started to head east toward Big Cottonwood Canyon (BCC). BCC is one my most favorite canyons in Utah as it goes up very high and goes through a national forest, its quite amazing. We went all the way to the top to Brighton Ski Resort where we took a few pictures, the family was amazed as there was still quite a few feet of snow at the top (in mid-May)! After BCC we continued north east on I-215 where we picked up I-80 which takes you back to Park City. I-80 goes through Parley’s Canyon which is a fair to medium sized canyon that I drive through everyday to get to work. About mid-way up there was a random traffic backup, we soon learned that this was going to cause a major kink in our dinner plans that night. Apparently, some guy went off his rocker in Park City and led the police on a chase down Parley’s, then back up, then down again, and then on his way back up he purposely slammed into a back of a semi tanker carrying ethanol killing himself on impact. As you can imagine, this was a big deal. They closed I-80 COMPLETELY in both directions for about an hour and then reopened the west bound side but kept the east side closed, so we ended up having to get off at the exit that takes you to the Mountain Dell Recreational Area (see pictures as I have been there a few times). Essentially, we ended up going on a 80 mile detour to get back to Park City when we were only 10 miles away to begin with when we got off the freeway. In hindsight, it was a good idea for us to not wait for them to reopen the freeway because that didn’t happen until midnight that night!
Monday and Tuesday I had to work so the family was trying to take advatage of the great weather those days. On Monday they went back to BCC and went hiking and on Tuesday they went to Antelope Island in the middle of the great Salt Lake where the girls went horse back riding. Finally, on Wednesday I was once again able to join them on their adventures but unfortunately, the weather wasn’t so great. We did a lot of shopping Wed. and Thurs. and on Friday we had decent weather so we went back to Provo Canyon to try and go to the Timpongos Caves, some of the biggest caves in the region. The caves were closed due to the unbelievable amount of snow fall we received this winter but we were still able to go hiking up Mt. Timponogos where at the top there were 4 waterfalls cascading down the side of the mountain, quite stunning. See pictures in the album.
Anyway, it was great to see the fam as it had been since Christmas and luckily I will get to see them and the rest of my family and friends in just a few more weeks when I head back to Michigan for vacation in mid-July! Check out the pics, here’s that link one more time: Nalette’s Invade Mormon Town.
Switching gears to Detroit sports, how about them Red Wings? Those guys are unbelievable, even machine-like. If they can pull the away victory today there is no way in hell they are going to lose game 5 in Detroit, which would mean that I’m subtly implying they could potentially win the Stanley Cup again and in Detroit. *knocks on wood* Too bad other Detroit teams can’t take notice of the heart and determination of the Wings, *cough*Pistons*cough*Tigers. By the way, where the hell was Tayshaun Prince the entire series against the Celtics? That guy was a complete no show. I am, however, going to give HUGE props to Rodney Stuckey, Jason Maxiell, and Antonio McDyss who all played great in the conference finals for the most part. It makes me happy to know that those two young players (Stuckey and Maxiell) will be around for quite a while and hopefully will be able to take off where our starters leave off once they retire or move on. Too bad our starters couldn’t follow suit (Rip doesn’t count in that comment because he was money the whole series).
I can’t forget to mention one more thing. How about the season finale of LOST? How awesome is this show? I think the single greatest thing Billy and I accomplished this winter was watching every episode of LOST on DVD so we could be ready when new episodes started again after the writers strike. This show is both awesome and frustrating as everytime one question is answered ten more arise. I’m not going to get into the show and the finale since not everyone watches it but I will say if you have the time, go rent seasons 1-3 on DVD and get down on that you will not be dissapointed!
Finally, I wanted to touch on one more thing. I don’t usually write about my dieting and exercise habits, but as many of you know I have lost some weight over the past year and a half. To be exact, 72 lbs. (265 to 193) and 14% body fat (34% to 20%). I decided recently that since I have thinned down a bit that it would be a good idea to start trying to pack on some lean muscle. With that in mind, I have jumped into the world of supplements head first. I have been doing a lot of reading online in bulletin boards and muscle and mens health magazine websites to find out the best stuff to do. I ended up getting GNC Pro Performance Amplified Creatine 189, Muscle Milk, and a mens daily multi-vitamin. I am new to all this so I am continuously reading more reviews about different creatine and protein mixes so I’ll keep you updated on how this new adventure goes for me.
Whew, if anyone is still reading, congratulations, this is the biggest blog post I’ve ever written I think. I’m going to make an effort to update more often, this should be easier since its now summer and the weather is good and I can go out and do more stuff, so keep checking back!