My Ridiculous Tuesday

So... Several friends I've told this story to think it's hilarious. I thought I would share it on here (although it's probably not as funny as if I told it).

Last Monday I was going to bed pretty early and I decided not to set my alarm for the next day. I figured I would wake up at my normal time, no problem. Well... Tuesday morning I end up waking up at 10:30. I felt so groggy and blah from sleeping so long and couldn't believe I slept in so late on a weekday. I was moving pretty slowly around my apartment, getting ready and all and by the time I was ready it was noon. I decided that I might as well just stay in and work from home, since it would be so late by the time I got to work.

I took my laptop and set it up on the desk, plugged it into the Ethernet (so I could have faster connection than wireless), made myself some tea, put on some tunes, and opened up my unix window. I opened up the program I was working on and wrote one line of code before delving into an intensive internet surfing session. After an hour or so of looking up ridiculous stuff I deemed it time to eat lunch.

So I fixed a sandwich and took a journal article into the living room. I thought that maybe I could get some reading done while eating lunch, then I wouldn't feel so bad for slacking off the past hour. Of course, I thought that my reading would be enhanced if I turned the television on (great logic, huh). I flipped though a little bit until one show caught my eye. I've never seen this show but heard about it. I watched the first episode and was drawn to it, so drawn that I had to watch the second episode.

Yes, my friends... It's true... I ended up watching an eight (yes EIGHT) hour marathon of:

THE BACHELORETTE!!!!

I'm not proud to admit this; but I was TOO emotionally involved in the show to turn it off! It was so ridiculous... I got no work done at all. At one point, around 5 or 6 I deemed that I wouldn't get anything done that day and thought I could escape and go for a hike; do something somewhat productive. But I felt guilty for leaving my apartment where my journal article was. AND, I had to see who Trista picked!

So sad. I never watch reality tv crap and I know why now; I would become addicted!

Skiing In June

Typically, every ski season I'm done by April; then my focus turns into hiking and backpacking and getting down to southern Utah. That was the same situation this year, by early/mid April all my ski gear was stowed away in the reckless fashion it usually is. Even though I'm done by April, skiing in Utah goes on much longer; thanks to the greatest snow on earth. Snowbird usually stays open as long as they can, which is typically into June (sometimes even July); but both years I've been here they closed in May (one year due to low snow year, the other due to a very HOT Spring).

This year is ideal for late skiing. We've had a bitchin snow pack (Alta got over 700" this season) and it's been an atypically cool Spring. Thursday at work Clint and Betsy were talking about going up to Snowbird since they received 8" of new snow the previous day. Even though I said I was done with skiing for the year, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to say I've been skiing in June! Fuck, I've never even been skiing in May.

This morning I checked online and saw that Snowbird was only one of two ski resorts in the U.S. still open, the other being A-basin in Colorado (although Snowbird's 104" base depth looked quite impressive compared to A-basin's 33" base). Pulling up to Snowbird I was amazed by all the snow still there in June.

It was a great morning but felt very surreal to be skiing in June! We took the tram up to 11,000 ft Hidden Peak and had our choice of either skiing in Little Cloud Bowl or Mineral Basin Bowl (the only two lifts operating... but my favorite two lifts in the resort). The snow was very different than the waist deep Utah powder I'm used to skiing, but it was soft and really fun to ski in; although south facing Mineral Bowl became a bit sticky as the day wore on.

At the end of the day we had the option of riding the tram back down to 7,000 ft (which is what Snowbird recommends), or skiing to the base ourselves (considered "backcountry" conditions by the resort). We skied down the Gad Valley and it was so surreal as we were the only people in that section of the mountain. In some sections it looked as if they drove a truck through the snow, but there was definitely still plenty of snow for us to get down to the car.

Shit... It looks like this year I'll be able to say that I've been skiing in July, if this keeps up!

Memories of Megan

So... Megan is moving away from SLC (for the second time). It's always sad when a friend moves away and being a grad student it's something that happens quite frequently and I should be used to it (ironically though Megan isn't a grad student so SHOULDN'T be moving). Anyway, I thought I would compile a list of my favorite Megan memories / stories.

1) Right before she moved away from SLC for the first time a couple years ago (it was one of the first times I met her) we went on our first hike with Lis. Among some of the ridiculous moments of that day the one that stands out is "My family come from Miami" incident.

2) When Megan moved back to SLC a few months later she fell madly in love with me. Not knowing much about each other, Jenny set us up on a hike in Neff's Canyon. Megan has a Moose hat and she wore it the ENTIRE hike. One of the most ridiculous things ever.

3) I wrote a short story about Megan because she wanted me to. To this day it's one of my favorite stories I have ever written. That also sparked a big creative burst (I was in quite a drought) and went on to write several more stories I'm proud of within a short period of time.

4) Even though I wasn't there, the story about the three-centers is a classic (made even more classic by Sameera's claims that "I was there... I was driving behind you" a couple years later).

5) Megan was responsible for my favorite quote of 2007 (and possibly of the decade)... "I have to get my mouth ready". I giggle every time I think of that. HILARIOUS!

6) For our birthdays in 2007 we had a sleepover birthday party. We played games and our pinatas hooked up in Megan's bed. Steamy night for sure.

7) Megan had never heard of Slush Puppies. She thought they were just called Slushies. I told her I would google it and she said "it's going to say... 'did you mean Hush Puppies?' ". Needless to say, I was right.

8) Our last hike together: "I've been on this hike three times... three times"

9) The hiking game we made up (which we only played twice... but can't remember the name to save our lives)... It was basically exactly like rollerderby, except completely different.

10) The email from Megan's mom this week, which states: "Who is this new Pete guy with all the photos??? You and Greg didn't break up did you??? Just wondering..... Love, mom". Too funny!

I'm sure there are plenty of other things that I am forgetting here. Too bad Megan has to move, but at least Julie is coming to replace her. Megan doesn't think she can be replaced; but we'll see... we'll just have to see. But seriously, Megan has one of the sharpest / unique sense of humors I know and I for one will miss her quick wit.

Should Be Working, Blogging Instead

Since last post I've taken two great trips down to southern Utah. One to Moab with Jenny for four days and the other to Escalante with Sebastian, Sameera, and Dina for a weekend. Both were excellent trips! I'm thoroughly convinced now that southern Utah is one of the most gorgeous places on Earth; I simply cannot get enough of the place.

On the way back from Escalante we were discussing our best and worst trips we've ever taken. Everyone had lots to chose from for their best trips, but no one could think of anything for their worst trip; including me. I'm so thankful that I've had so many great trips; especially since I've moved to Utah. Knock on wood of course! Don't want to jinx myself for future trips.

I also feel so grateful that I live in such a beautiful state. People travel from all over the world to visit southern Utah and for me it's just a few hours of driving. Plus I have the beauties of mountainous northern Utah right at my door step. I'm just trying to explore as much as possible while I'm here cause I know when I move I'm going to terribly miss all the wonders of the west.

What Am I Doing?

It's a beautiful Saturday; the sun is out full blast and the temperature is comfortable and some of my friends are out hiking antelope island. Yet... Here I sit in my office all afternoon, diligently programming tracers into the model I'm using. What gives? Well, earlier this week I was having dinner with Jenny and she is going to conference in Moab next week. She asked if I wanted to go and stay in her hotel room and go hiking when she's not in sessions. I told her "no way" since I was just in Orlando for a week. But then I got to thinking that if I work THIS weekend and NEXT weekend then I would totally make up for the four days I will be gone. Thus, here I sit.

I've actually been more productive today that I normally am on weekdays. I'm SO excited about Moab too. It's nice that I have a job where I can take off middle of the week and make up the time. Lately I've been getting very excited about summer and all the trips I've been planning. Here's a run down of the trips I plan to take this summer:

1) San Rafael Swell in spring
2) Return to Needles District of Canyonlands (spring)
2) Glacier National Park (July or August)
3) Teton National Park (July 4th weekend.... CROWDED, I know)
4) Uintas backpacking trip to Ottoman basin and summit of Cleveland peak (sometime in July or August)
5) Wind Rivers backpacking trip to Cirque of the Towers (on way back from CMMAP conference in August), probably a solo trip since I'll be driving back by myself
6) Uintas backpacking trip to one of the many destinations I want to go to (Deadhorse Lake, Allsop Lake, Kings Peak, and so forth... prolly August or September)
7) The Annual Wind Rivers backpacking trip over Labor day weekend (destination to be determined)
8) Wasatch backpacking trip up Thunder Mountain and Hardy Lake (prolly September when it starts to get cool)
9) And I want to make it up to the Sawtooth's in Idaho or the San Juan's in Colorado.

OMG... this is a lot and I hope to do most, if not all of it. My advisor will be traveling a lot this summer so I'm sure I'll be able to take plenty of three day weekends (but working A LOT during those four days). This list doesn't even include all the day hikes I want to do in the Wasatch and Uintas. June is going to be the red headed step child month... Because it will be too hot at that point to go to southern Utah yet still too snowy in the mountains up north to do any backpacking trips. Oh well, I'll just work a lot that month I guess.

Back in the Grind

Coming back from Florida I was instantly thrown back into the world of numerical modeling. All week I scrambled to submit my diagnostics for the SAM model so they could be ready for the super simulation we are doing soon. But hopefully all is well with that. Yay for Fortran!

But the week provided some ridiculousness as usual. The surprise twist of the week is that I adopted another cat. Yes, I have two cats now and that officially puts me in lesbian status. I'm fine with that. I'm not fine with getting a third cat though because that would put me in old maid status. Not cool. Her name is Pandora and I got her from Jen and Brian. Right now she is still getting used to things, but she has warmed up to me. Her and Nico are still a little eh with each other. There have been a couple cat fights but overall they are coexisting in the same space. Should be interesting.

Saturday I helped Trevan move his massive Sea World size fish tank from Provo to SLC. My Element officially smells like an aquarium. After that I did a short hike in the foothills then met a big group of people at Bombay House. It was SO fucking good! Sunday (today) I went up Grandeur Peak with Sebastian and Sameera. As always, hiking with those two is ridiculous with lots of laughs. Even though Grandeur Peak is a foothill, it's not an easy hike (at least the route we did... the standard route from Millcreek Canyon is quite easy), as it gains 3,300 ft in just 1.5 miles. Yes, my friend, that is freaking steep! My legs are feeling it and I'm happy about that. It's a great hike to do to get in shape for the bigger and better peaks.

Week in the Tropics

Currently I am sitting in the Orlando Airport waiting for my flight back to SLC. For the past week I've been down here for my brother's wedding. It was a really fun week. We went to a bunch of parks and relaxed and just had a lot of fun together. It's not often that our family gets everyone together so I really enjoyed it. The wedding itself was very nice; it was supposed to be an outdoor wedding and unfortunately the weather yesterday was awful here so it had to be moved indoors. Shame because the garden it was supposed to be in was beautiful. I'm so happy for John and Shelley, they make such a great couple!

I guess on the flight home I'll continue to watch Planet Earth on my Ipod and maybe nap. I'm always bummed at the end of vacations, but looking forward to getting back to Salt Lake. Always nice to get back to some normalcy.