Day 638: Good times in the high desert
Jun. 15th, 2008 09:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nagi_schwarzSo Friday was sort of a loss. I went into work but ended up not writing memos as much as reminiscing about high school with Kacee and other random things. After work I came home, had a nap, and was generally useless. I hung about, read, and attempted to be other things until Justin and his friends came down. There were four of them - Josh, his fiancee Annamarie, Avril (Justin's friend from work) and her very recent fiancee Taylor. They didn't stick around long, just dropped off Justin and headed to the hotel. We hung out on the sofa and just chatted - we had to get to bed early so as not to be entirely exhausted for our hiking trip.
We were awake pretty early for a Saturday - around six - to have breakfast by seven and meet the others by half seven. Mum made us fresh crepes with fruit and sausage (which Dad couldn't have) and then we buzzed on out of there. We drove up to Hurricane and then on to Zion's. I almost missed the pass onto the route change, but I swung around pretty quick, and we made it. We parked my car in Springdale to save us the $25 entry fee and then crammed into Annamarie's car. (Justin and I had packed the infamous red cooler full of water bottles and apples for the crew.) We took the shuttle up to the appropriate trail head, and then we did it - hiked up to Angel's landing. We were there early enough that we had shade. Most of the time we talked and bantered. We climbed into a little cave for pictures. We laughed a lot. The last half mile to the actual Angel's Landing was hardcore - chains to get us up sheer rock faces. There was a lot of pausing and panting, plus human traffic jams. Still, we made it, and took pictures to commemorate it. When we got up there, I thought, I'll bet whichever angel landed there turned to the sky and said, "All right, who's idea was this?" once he saw the path down. But it was cool. It was a lot easier on the way down. Poor Avril's knees started to hurt, so she and Taylor paused. Annamarie really needed the bog, so Josh hoisted her up on his back and trotted her down. We all made it to the bottom of the trail (for a total of five hours hiking) in time to catch a shuttle back to the bottom of the park. We crammed into the car - which made ominous rattling sounds near the back tires - and then Justin and I were dropped off at my car. We sat and ate our apples while the car cooled off, and then we headed into Hurricane for food. On the way down, we noticed a white car pulled over and some dude was changing a tire. Right about the time Justin recognized Josh I remembered that Annamarie's back tire had sounded funny. Justin gave them a quick call, but Annamarie said they were fine, so Justin and I - covered in red sand and parched - had some junk food at the local Burger King, and then we headed home. He showered first, so I napped, and then I showered while he helped Mum with some tasks around the house. (Ordinarily Mum doesn't need outside help, but with Dad down and out she can't do everything.) We went to see Kung Fu Panda while the others rested at the hotel. The film was awesome - really good kung fu, awesome animation, and a heck of a lot of fun.
Afterwards we came back to our place to have food. Mum went all out to make us peach soup, tacos, and slice up a watermelon for us (there were assorted food allergies between all of us, so we had to do the best we could with a non-murderous meal). We had fun, and chatted, and then we cleaned up.
And then came the laser tag. It was awesome fun. I sucked hardcore and got killed a lot - because people tended to gang up on me. We kept attempting a competing couples game, but some of the hardcore laser tag nerds were there, so we ended up getting thrown in with them. (When I was on their teams, I was bait while they ran around killing everyone else.) We also played glow in the dark golf, and I noticed that some of the players at clueless comedy (the Saturday night improv show) are some of the same players from off the cuff, so I think I'll go along sometime with friends. I saw my friend Derrick's little sister working there (she wasn't sure it was me because I had short hair). Last time Justin and I were there, Derrick's little brother was working there. He's on a mission now, though. We also played some of the arcade games (frog race, punching ball) and won enough tickets for us all to get some dinky toys. I got a cheap plastic fan because I wanted one to have around this summer. Justin and I were both exhausted afterwards, but it was a heck of a lot of fun. ($17 bucks for two hours of golf and laser tag is a great price.)
Today we went to Church. Justin and his friends had to bolt after sacrament, and I took Dad home so he could rest. Then I went back with Mum. After church, Mum and Dad went to see our friend Brother Peck who is going in for heart surgery tomorrow. I stayed home, took a nap, read, and wrapped Dad's gifts (as Father's Day was the same day as his birthday this year). It was a nice lazy day. I finished the second in the Wyrd Museum series. Mum, Dad, and I all had supper together, and afterwards Shaz came over, so we celebrated Dad's birthday and Father's day. We chatted and I crocheted.
Overall, I had a really awesome weekend. It was simple fun, and I enjoyed myself.
I'm ready for another week of work!
We were awake pretty early for a Saturday - around six - to have breakfast by seven and meet the others by half seven. Mum made us fresh crepes with fruit and sausage (which Dad couldn't have) and then we buzzed on out of there. We drove up to Hurricane and then on to Zion's. I almost missed the pass onto the route change, but I swung around pretty quick, and we made it. We parked my car in Springdale to save us the $25 entry fee and then crammed into Annamarie's car. (Justin and I had packed the infamous red cooler full of water bottles and apples for the crew.) We took the shuttle up to the appropriate trail head, and then we did it - hiked up to Angel's landing. We were there early enough that we had shade. Most of the time we talked and bantered. We climbed into a little cave for pictures. We laughed a lot. The last half mile to the actual Angel's Landing was hardcore - chains to get us up sheer rock faces. There was a lot of pausing and panting, plus human traffic jams. Still, we made it, and took pictures to commemorate it. When we got up there, I thought, I'll bet whichever angel landed there turned to the sky and said, "All right, who's idea was this?" once he saw the path down. But it was cool. It was a lot easier on the way down. Poor Avril's knees started to hurt, so she and Taylor paused. Annamarie really needed the bog, so Josh hoisted her up on his back and trotted her down. We all made it to the bottom of the trail (for a total of five hours hiking) in time to catch a shuttle back to the bottom of the park. We crammed into the car - which made ominous rattling sounds near the back tires - and then Justin and I were dropped off at my car. We sat and ate our apples while the car cooled off, and then we headed into Hurricane for food. On the way down, we noticed a white car pulled over and some dude was changing a tire. Right about the time Justin recognized Josh I remembered that Annamarie's back tire had sounded funny. Justin gave them a quick call, but Annamarie said they were fine, so Justin and I - covered in red sand and parched - had some junk food at the local Burger King, and then we headed home. He showered first, so I napped, and then I showered while he helped Mum with some tasks around the house. (Ordinarily Mum doesn't need outside help, but with Dad down and out she can't do everything.) We went to see Kung Fu Panda while the others rested at the hotel. The film was awesome - really good kung fu, awesome animation, and a heck of a lot of fun.
Afterwards we came back to our place to have food. Mum went all out to make us peach soup, tacos, and slice up a watermelon for us (there were assorted food allergies between all of us, so we had to do the best we could with a non-murderous meal). We had fun, and chatted, and then we cleaned up.
And then came the laser tag. It was awesome fun. I sucked hardcore and got killed a lot - because people tended to gang up on me. We kept attempting a competing couples game, but some of the hardcore laser tag nerds were there, so we ended up getting thrown in with them. (When I was on their teams, I was bait while they ran around killing everyone else.) We also played glow in the dark golf, and I noticed that some of the players at clueless comedy (the Saturday night improv show) are some of the same players from off the cuff, so I think I'll go along sometime with friends. I saw my friend Derrick's little sister working there (she wasn't sure it was me because I had short hair). Last time Justin and I were there, Derrick's little brother was working there. He's on a mission now, though. We also played some of the arcade games (frog race, punching ball) and won enough tickets for us all to get some dinky toys. I got a cheap plastic fan because I wanted one to have around this summer. Justin and I were both exhausted afterwards, but it was a heck of a lot of fun. ($17 bucks for two hours of golf and laser tag is a great price.)
Today we went to Church. Justin and his friends had to bolt after sacrament, and I took Dad home so he could rest. Then I went back with Mum. After church, Mum and Dad went to see our friend Brother Peck who is going in for heart surgery tomorrow. I stayed home, took a nap, read, and wrapped Dad's gifts (as Father's Day was the same day as his birthday this year). It was a nice lazy day. I finished the second in the Wyrd Museum series. Mum, Dad, and I all had supper together, and afterwards Shaz came over, so we celebrated Dad's birthday and Father's day. We chatted and I crocheted.
Overall, I had a really awesome weekend. It was simple fun, and I enjoyed myself.
I'm ready for another week of work!
