Provo River

My brother Jeff was in town for the 24th of July holiday.  We were lucky enough to go on a bit of an adventure on the 23rd with Jeff and JB.  We kayaked down the Provo River.  Before meeting our group we were able to check out Bridal Veil Falls.

Jeff was a little more adventurous than myself and climbed up the front part of the falls.

The river was absolutely beautiful.  We hit a few small rapids that got my heart racing.

My favorite part was passing all the people that were out fly fishing...may have to add that to my bucket list.

After our adventure on the river we had dinner at Texas de Brazil a Brazilian Steakhouse at City Creek.  I took a picture...but almost everyone had their mouths full of yummy Brazilian meat so I will spare you.  If you get a chance to go I would recommend it.

July 20th = Anniversary Dos

Last Friday was our second anniversary.  It is hard to believe that it has already been two years.  I can't help but reflect on all that we have experienced together and look forward to the path ahead.  We celebrated our Anniversary this year in Twin Falls Idaho.  We were up in Idaho for a family reunion and decided to sneak away for a night on our own.  

Our first stop was Shoshone Falls, one of the falls that Twin Falls is named after.  Shoshone Falls is sometimes referred to the "Niagara of the West."  Not quite as breathtaking as Niagara but still very impressive.

Next stop...diner at Elevation 486 overlooking the canyon.  I enjoyed the Grilled Idaho Trout with coconut rice and Seth enjoyed the Idaho Pork Tenderloin drizzled with Fresh Apricot-Jalapeno-Mint Sauce with an Idaho Spud on the side.  One word...Delicious.

During the course of our dinner we saw two people base jump off the bridge in the background.

After dinner we headed to the new Batman movie.  We heard about the Colorado shootings on our way to Twin Falls and it was a little unsettling to walk into the theater.  The movie was a nice end to the trilogy and we both enjoyed it.  The next morning we checked out Perrine Bridge.

Here I am shaking the hand of I.B. Perrine the namesake of the bridge.  We learned he was a main developer of Twin Falls...Seth someday hopes to someday see a statue of himself once he has become a famous developer.

Seth may or may not have spit over the side of the bridge just to see where it would land...and he may or may not have encouraged me to do the same.

We walked on each side of the bridge and every semi that passed made the whole bridge shake.  It made me a little nervous.

After checking out the bridge we headed back to the campsite to finish up the reunion.  We were very impressed with Twin Falls and hope to return sometime in the future to hike along the canyon and kayak up the river.

Four corners & Mesa Verde

Thursday, June 28^th

After visiting the Aztec Ruins we drove to Four Corners (Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado). There wasn't much to see at the For Corners besides the big monument. We saw signs for Indian Fry Bread and were quite disappointed when the stand was closed.

We consoled ourselves with some yummy Mexican food in Cortez, Colorado where we spent the night.

Friday, June 29^th

Our first stop of the day was Mesa Verde.  Seth and I both went on family trips to Mesa Verde when we were four or five…but don’t have many solid memories from the place.  The park was absolutely beautiful.  

     

We were able to secure tickets to visit the Balcony House and the Cliff Palace.  The tour of the Balcony House was first. We had to climb a 30 foot ladder to get in.

We found out the infant mortality rate was about 50%...they lived on a cliff after all.  Our ranger was a bit of a curmudgeon...I don't blame him there were some fairly annoying tourist videotaping the entire tour and not really paying attention to the cliffs.

We had to climb out a tunnel and up three more ladders to get out of the Balcony House as well. It was a tight squeeze through the tunnel.

Our next tour was of the Cliff Palace. This is what I think of when I think of Mesa Verde.

We made a stop by the Post Office for the park…hopefully many of you got post cards stamped from Mesa Verde. Then we visited the Spruce Tree House. We were able to climb down into a reconstructed Kiva.

I am very grateful I don't have to grind my corn and wheat the old fashion way.  The ranger told us that some of the rock came off in the grinding and wore down teeth enamel.

On our way out of Mesa Verde we pulled into the Burger Boy Drive In for lunch. Then we continued our drive to Salt Lake.

We had a wonderful time on our road trip.  Our favorite part was seeing our friends and family all along the way.  We found it fascinating to see the trees of the East start to thin out and disappear as we headed West.   The change from humidity to dry heat was also very pleasant.   We love being back in Utah but our hearts still ache for South Carolina.