Great Basin National Park - the middle of...

NOWHERE! Don't get me wrong, it was fabulous, but when even Andy says he wouldn't live there, you know it's in BFE. Andy says it reminds him a lot of the Ruby Mountains...evidently there's a lot of nothing in Nevada, except for in the mountains. The colors were gorgeous, for you leaf peepers, we were flying low up and down the road into our camp and didn't get the red, but I'm including some yellow. All the leaves had pretty much dropped off the aspens by the time we left Monday morning.

We had some great hikes, one up from our camp to an old tungsten mining town with a lake at about 10,700. We will go back sometime and climb up and over the ridge to another lake, but we don't think we can take Sarah on that one.











Sarah was happy though, that we found snow - her favorite thing.









We also hiked up to Lexington Arch, which was a shorter (but steeper) ascent, and that's where these other shots were taken. It was REALLY windy at the arch, but the canyon up there was amazing!












The glacier is on Wheeler Peak (13,000) feet roughly...it's in the middle of the park. Looks like a good hike - in the SUMMER! It was so cold up there that they'd already closed the campground. We also practiced our "professional" photography... so there were LOTS of pictures taken in 4 days, but we won't share them all.






We celebrated our anniversary (Andy cooks a mean steak, and Dee sent sangria!), and then the next day was Sarah's birthday. She got bacon - that was a SERIOUS treat. She NEVER gets people food from us.

Here's the damage report: 1) the pump mechanism on the duel fuel lantern has finally gone caput, 2) there's a major leak in the air mattress - the good one, but at least it waited until Sunday night to appear, 3) very sore calves for a couple of days (mostly the downhill), and 4) the Coleman chairs officially went in the garbage when we came home (mechanical failure). Other than that...awesome trip. Back to school was a reality check on Tuesday (for me, we came home Monday morning for Andy's Bio class), but now that the week's over, I'm not sure where it went.

Anniversary Edition

I know that this is belated for some, and premature for others, but I'm doing one shout-out for all the October anniversaries:

Scott and Kim Keene
Bill and Cathy McCullough
Carl and Susanne Medley
anyone else my mind is blanking on at the moment...

Some of you might not realize that I'm a collector/packrat/someone who keeps momentos and stuff...(the title depends on your point of view). Anyway, Andy and I have been talking about going through all our old photos. So I went in the closet where that stuff is and realized...WHOA - there's a LOT of stuff in there. Christmas pictures of everyone, cards from special occasions, invitations to events, lots of ticket stubs, napkins, and other memorabilia. I could do an entire blog just on that stuff. But it did make me a little teary (not a shocker)... So here are some pictures from our wedding... Many of you were there, and for those who have met us since, yes, that really is us...

Yup, if you were at our wedding and under 35 (with a couple of exceptions) you should be somwhere in this shot... we have an 11 x 14 hanging on the wall.Look at that handsome bunch of guys...

I get 2 Moms...

and a really great Dad! (He maintained his sense of humor about the hotel, the road, the golf course...)I don't mean to brag, but what a family...(where's Justin, anyway?)This was worth all the other stuff...Andy and I wanted an outside wedding (hence October - Phoenix, remember?), at sunset...picky, picky!

The other great event was Leona's birthday, 90 then - 101 this year - for which we sang...Other notable October birthdays...(I'll try to make this a habit...)
Ivy
Mike (another great dad)

and, Sarah

Back from the land of busy...

Hello - is there ever enough time? Today, as Andy and I were doing a "big" clean, he remarked, "there's really not enough time to work a full job and keep the house clean, huh?" Truer words were never spoken. It was a good day, tho'. Andy let me sleep in and took the pack for a big bike ride (they LOVE that phrase now). Then when I woke up and realized he was gone and had taken my paint (more in a minute), I geared up and rode to the fire station. He very sweetly helped me paint the CERT signboard (I've been promising for 3 months to get that done...see? never enough time). Then I rode home and when Andy got back, we decided to clean house. A big clean involves dusting everything (except blinds - that's its own job), cleaning granite, bathrooms, sweep (for dog hair), vacuum (for all small dust), and mop. We've got this house down to 4 1/2 hours...and then the dog shower so she can come in! I temporarily misplaced my retainer...and had flashbacks of 6th grade. But, all's well that ends in the retainer case soaking in mouthwash.

Anyway, got an email from Mom and Dad by way of Michelle and Jarvis (Brethour's surrogate parents/grandparents). Katie got a Women in Business award from the city of Pasadena! Way to go Kate! I think this is a great shot of her and Mike.

Speaking of family, Andy and I are looking forward to Brooke's wedding in March. The only difficulty with coming to Phoenix is all the people we should see....

Don't you just love weddings? Here are some pics I found recently. We have been digging out some old pictures to load on the computer, so I'm including some classics - see the Compatible Dyad - oldie but goodie!

Gotta go - there's a bathtub calling my name!