Bike & Hike

Here we are with our new road bikes... including the nice shorts.

I took Jesse on a 3 1/2 hour hike up Tuacahn split and we had a good time. Beautiful scenery. The last picture you can see St. George and how high we actually climbed.

Trip up to Northern Utah & New Road Bikes!

We went up to Provo to visit my sister, Rachel, and Jonny, and Jesse's sister, Sarah & family this weekend. It was a nice break from the Saint George heat.. On our way home we had to go on a detour because of dust storms. The picture shows the freeway (I-15) that was closed with the dust storms. We also got new road bikes a week ago! I'll post pictures of that after we take them.
Later

Rock Climbing near Idaho Falls

This is Jesse and Tom at the top of the "Hot Potato"... so
named for the black rock that cooks in the sun... and Idaho
has somethingto do with potatoes... Tom, Hannah, Jesse,
and I tried rockclimbing over Memorial Day weekend.
(5-26-07)Jesse belaying Tom

I guess Tom picked a tough spot to climb... here is his first attempt.

and his second..Jesse climbin'

Tom, Jesse, and Hannah trying her turn at climbing

She's not even 3.. is she really climbing?!
My 2nd or 3rd attempt and I made it to the top!Thanks for taking us climbing, Tom!

Niagara Falls & The Trip to Canada

Here we are in New York at Niagara Falls (7-20-07). It was pretty
crowded, so we couldn't really get a picture without all the other tourists...

Here are Kurt & Ashley at the Falls
The entire family in front of their old
church building in Timmins, Ontario Canada.
Baby black bear cub we saw by Carol's CottageWe arrived at Sorensen's Camp (on the border
of Quebec and Ontario) on July 22, 2007.
Here I am floating down the Kipawa River..
We also rode around on Skidoos.
This is me with Oaks and Claire.
Here we are at the overlook of Grand Chute Falls.
and I actually had the guts to jump in (off that rock to the left)!
Jesse finally caught a fish with the
spear gun the last day we were there.
Sabrina and Lilly - so cute!
Jesse and me with Lake Temiskaming behind usAwesome family reunion, thanks Terrel and Janet!

Wildlife around St. George

I work at Fitness Ridge (a fitness/weight loss spa) as a hiking guide and at the front desk, and this week while hiking, I have seen more wildlife than I ever have here in the desert! Tons of bunnies and ugly jack-rabbits, little lizards, yellow-bellied birds... A couple months ago I saw a couple baby turtles on Paradise Rim. A couple weeks ago I saw a rattlesnake all coiled up on the Slots hike. But this week, on my drive home from the front desk at night, there was a huge owl in the middle of Santa Clara Drive by the farmer's market. I also saw a TARANTULA(!!!) and a yellow striped snake (garter, maybe?) on the Saddle hike, and a horned lizard (aka horny toad lizard) on Third Ravine (the gap behind Green Valley). The picture below is the lizard. Desert wildlife is cooler than I thought it was... except maybe the GIANT spider...

Mountain Biking on Gooseberry Mesa Trail

This bike trail was awesome.. I just wish Jesse and I were in better shape... and better skilled for it. We went on Labor Day (9-3-07) with rented bikes (thanks Terrel!). We both struggled but it was really fun and I definitely want to do it again... one day. Ashley has pictures on her site, as well as the ones below. We went with Ashley, Kurt, Jimmy, Berlyn, Dryden, Austin (a friend of the Slemboski's), and McKay. There were a few times I thought I was going to face-plant - I am surprised I didn't fall off and get hurt!

This first picture was while we were waiting for McKay to show up in the morning... Berlyn was helping Claire ride her bike in front of the Slemboski house.

Here is Jesse with a big smile. :)

The next few prove that I wasn't the only one walking with my bike... though I'm pretty sure I walked more than anyone.

Jimmy

Ashley

Berlyn

Here is McKay!

This is me ready to be DONE. We left pretty
late in the morning so it got kind of hot.

This last one is a really pretty view off the plateau
towards the end of the ride. So beautiful!Thanks for showing me the ropes in mountain biking!

Here it is!

So I finally gave in and made a blog. I guess I just like looking at everyone else's and it made me want one of my own! Enjoy!