Canyonlands

SOAKING in the rays. Love it.

And then it happened. It had been several hours since my last hot compress. So I insisted that we stop for a break to get the goup out of my eyes. While I was in the bathroom, Scott was re-packing the back of the car. ( I guess it's a guy thing... boys LOVE to pack and re-pack...) So anyway, when i came out of the bathroom, I threw my towel in the back and Scott shut the hatch. Keys locked inside. And that was it. That was the beginning of our 3 hour wait.

AAA failed us.

Without phones, cards, or any snacks, we waited in the desert for what felt like eternity, not knowing if/when anyone was coming. AAA was super elusive and non-committal. Scott had to get a little nasty. Finally the guy in the yellow truck came, but he couldn't get it open. Then his buddy came. Tried, and failed.

AAA told us the next nearest locksmith was in Richfield, 1.5 hours away. It was getting dark and cold, and the shop where we parked was closing. They gave us 1 final call before they closed for the night at 5pm. We called a non-AAA guy in Moab (for the 1,00th time!) who FINALLY answered! So 45 min. later he rolled in, and popped that sucker open in less than 2 minutes. The first 2 guys admitted that they have some practicing to do. Can you imagine if Gary (the lock whiz) hadn't answered his phone. We'd a been camping without a tent! And this is why it is called Canyonlands:
All in all, a GREAT weekend away!

Arches

We got to Moab and dropped our stuff off, then went straight to PASTA Js, Scott's favorite! It was my first time, but that Manicotti was goooood. The bus boy took this picture and as he was handing back the camera he enthusiastically said "Wow, that is a GREAT picture!" We took one look at it and thought "why is he lying to us?"

I was surprised Scott didn't tell our waitress, "Hi, we are happily married, she has pink eye." Everywhere we went it looked like I was just crying, and Scott was keeping his distance from me so he wouldn't catch it!
Scott's dish looked suuuper yummy!

In the morning we went to Arches for the sunrise. LOVELY every time.

This photo has been digitally enhanced.

Turret arch.

The North Window Arch Maybe my favorite part of the whole trip was chatting with my love up in the North Window Arch for about an hour as the sun came up. Double arch. We did a bunch of little hikes neither of us had ever done before, so that was fun!
Stay tuned for some pics of Canyonlands National Park and the story of how we got ourselves into

the biggest predicament of the year!

Doctor's Order

So Thursday night was rough. My eyes hurt and I just assumed I had a lot of "sleep" in them. But then it got stickier and greener and I knew it was pink eye. I called my sister to find out what to do. She said hot compresses were my best best. And lets just say, hot compresses saved my life this weekend!

Long story short, I went to work, got razzed for being there infecting everyone else, and went on my way to the Insta Care. They told me it would cost at least $140 so I told them "I guess my body will have to heal itself." Then I left.

Back at work, my eyes were getting worse. They got more itchy, sore, pink, puffy and goupy throughout the day. So then I went to a normal doctor which cost $30 and got 3 prescriptions, and a note that said I may return to work/school/church on Monday. BUT, he also said that "It would be helpful to be in good weather- it will help your eyes heal and your body feel better."

So we took the doctor's order and went to Moab, Arches, and Canyonlands National parks! I could be sick on my couch, or I could be sick in the great outdoors, so we chose the latter :)

I wish I'd taken a picture of my eyes at their worst state. This pic was taken about 4am when I was sooo bored in the hotel room. I would walk around just saying "Ouch. My eyes are HURTING and I am scared! They are glued shut!" And then poor half-sleeping Scott would reply "It's okay babe, you are going to be fine. I know it's hurting, you're okay...." all through the night...

We just did a two day thing, so we've had Sunday home to rest up and finish my healing process for work tomorrow. And BTW, we have now paid off the value of our National Parks Pass. They cost $80 and we would have spent $95 by now with our entrance fees just since December. YAY.

Snowshoeing Excursion 2011

Saturday found us up AF canyon for a snowshoeing excursion! It was Scott's first time, and I hadn't been in a few years. We are still looking for activities that help us embrace the winter months. Maybe the most exciting part of the day was discovering that our

National Parks Pass

(Thank you John and Christina!!!)

works for the Uintas! Now we can not only climb for free in the summer, but get into the High Uinta entrance up near Kamas for FREE!

Scott put plastic bags around his feet to protect them from the cold.

It was so fun to set up Scott's old roommate Benj and Merideth from work. They seemed to have fun together :)

And of course we had fun together:

We LOVED borrowing these Costco snowshoes from our friends. They were perfect!
Near the end of the hike we found ourselves in a bit of a blizzard. Scott and I were like "AH my face is FREEZING OFF" as we ran back to the car with snow and ice literally accumulating on our faces. Meanwhile, Merideth and Benj were pleasantly chatting away as they calmly trekked back to the car. Scott was like, "UM did you not get the memo we are being FROZEN ALIVE?" Oh to be on a first date again :)

Scott's entrance for next year's Banff film festival: