Introducing... Ephraim

So my parents moved from my hometown of Thatcher, Arizona and moved to Ephraim, Utah for a new job opportunity at Snow College beginning this last semester.  For my last week of vacation of my fellowship, I went to check out the new place and fortunately my two sisters came at the same time!  We had lots of fun including the BYU game, picnics, driving up the canyon, hiking the S, checking out all the good eats, and meeting all the very friendly people of the town.  Such a quaint cute place.  We're glad my parents left one small town only to arrive in another small town.  I also spent a day in Utah Valley with fall festivities at HeeHaws and hiking to Lake Blanche with friend.  So glad to see family again!

Hiking with Sariah

This girl who spent 6 weeks with me in Hawaii finally moved back from London to LA and we've had some fun much needed adventures recently.  Back in October we rode the Palm Springs tram part way up San Jacinto and then proceeded to hike to the peak, about 11 miles round trip, with an elevation of 10,834 feet.  I LOVE being in the mountains!  We made a few friends along the way and made record speed, getting back just as it got dark.

Then in early November, we hiked to the back of the Hollywood sign.  Shoot, this was a piece of cake compared to hiking San Jacinto!  Half of the trail was even paved, definitely not what I was expecting.  We worked up an appetite to eat the famous Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles in LA afterwards.

Havasupai

This place is INCREDIBLE.  I've been wanting to go here for YEARS and we finally made it happen!  A group of 20 of us all went together for 3 days, mixed between Utah and California peeps.  If you don't know much about Havasapai, it's an area on an Indian reservation at the bottom of the Grand Canyon with incredibly clear water and lots of waterfalls, gorgeous to say the least.

We started our hike down Wednesday night around 3 am and made it in record time.  We had to wait at the village for at least an hour for the rest of our gang to come straggling in.  Then we hiked another mile or so to the campsite, set up camp, then spent the rest of the day at and around Lil Navajo Falls.

That night Stephen and I BOTH got stung by baby scorpions.  That was first time in ALL of my time growing up in Arizona actually seeing a scorpion, let alone getting stung by one.  I felt something sting me, Stephen thought I was imagining things then a few minutes later found the little guy in my sleeping bag!  Then 15 minutes later same thing happened to Stephen.  The next night a giant tarantula almost got us!

Day 2 was spent at Havasu Falls and exploring some old quartz mine caves.  We almost had a casualty with one of the guys almost having a giant beam fall on his head and a near attack of a swarm of Africanized bees after throwing rocks at their beehive.  Boys will be boys-- no excuse!

The last day, we hiked down the treacherous rock face to Mooney Falls and hiked about a mile downstream in the water jumping off little waterfalls and throwing mud at each other.  That evening we pack up and hiked out (some other wimps took the helicopter out) and made it back just before sunset, again in record time!

The Parents

The end of February, my parents came for a weekend to visit and approve of my living and work situation :)  I think I passed their investigation.  Ok, I kid.  They came out for a few days, so I gave them the grand tour of Redlands and the hospital where I work.  On Saturday, we took the aerial tram to the top of San Jacinto Mtn, which is just outside of Palm Springs.  I've never before been in a tram that rotates around.  A 360 degree view was nice, but not when the person standing next to you keeps leaning on you because she won't let go of the rotating handrail.  Don't worry lady, if you fall, I'll pull you back in.  We took a short leisurely hike, had some lunch, the headed back down.  Couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous day!

My parents even got to attend my YSA ward and meet Stephen, so that made them some happy campers!

Utah Bucketlist

As you may or may not know, I just spent a little over 2 months in Utah.  I spent the first part of that studying for my Boards (which I passed and do not have to worry about again for 6 more years... booyah).  And I spent the rest of the time basically dating it up and mountain biking/hiking to my heart's content.  Basically I was a bum for a good month AND I LOVED IT.  I actually really miss that lifestyle.  Now I'm working like a dog.  Anyway, I had a TON of things I wanted to do while I was in Utah and although I did quite a few things (as evidenced below), there's still quite a few I have yet to do.  So here's my bucketlist over the last month or so:

#1 - hike the Y

#2 - Utah State Fair

#3 - Bees Game

#4 - bike the Provo River Canyon Trail

#5 - bike Lambert Park

#6 - Oktoberfest at Snowbird and ride the ski lift

#7 - walk to Utah Lake

#8 - Antelope Island (saw deer and bison!)

#9 - RS Broadcast at the Conference Center

#10 - bike Big Springs

#11 - hike Squaw Peak (saw wild turkeys!)

#12 - hike to Donut Falls (saw a moose!)

#13 - explore some ghost towns

#14 - bike Deer Creek Reservoir

#15 - feed the fish at Bridal Veil Falls

#16 - walk around Silver Lake

#17 - hike to Lake Blanche

#18 - Dinosaur Museum

#19 - BYU Football Game

#20 - hike to Stewart Falls

#21 - bike Lambert Park (again) (hey, it's my favorite!)

#22 - Gilgal Sculpture Garden

#23 - tour the State Capitol Building

#24 - hike to Ensign Peak

#25 - Eva's Bakery (fortunately for you I didn't include ALL the many other places I had to eat at)

#26 - hike Gobbler's Knob

#27 - Spanish Fork Reservoir

#28 - LOADS of family time

I'll have to save hiking Timp, the Bonneville salt flats, Golden Spike National Historic Site, and the Spiral Jetty for next year!