The Parents Escape

This week, Karen and I celebrated our 20th anniversary -- almost 5 months late.

We had our 20th on June 13th, but we had other trips and activities planned this summer, so we put our anniversary trip on hold.

I did actually celebrate with my wife on our anniversary; I'm not an idiot or a clod.  Although I don't remember right now what we did.

But this week was the real celebration we were looking forward to.  We rented a small two-bedroom home in LaVerkin, UT, halfway between St. George and Zion Nat'l Park.  On Monday, once the girls were off to school and we'd squeezed in one more workout at the gym before we started the vacation calorie binge, we headed south!

Can I just say, that though I love, love, LOVE my daughters, it was so fabulous to get away without them, just Karen and me, no schedule, no constant questions about the possible hikes and their respective lengths, no choosing restaurants with 5 tastes in mind, only 2, no listening to sighs when we are amazed AGAIN at the sheer majesty of every vista we see.  I love them dearly...but it was really good to be away from them.

And it was simply spectacular to be alone with the woman I STILL love after 20 years together.  I've given her plenty of reasons through the years to give up on me, but she's stayed by my side, even when I wasn't very fun to be around.  I'm so grateful for my gracious, supportive, always-game, beautiful, determined partner.  And so very glad we got to spend almost 5 uninterrupted days together in one of the most fabulous places God created.

Our first day in Zion, we embarked on a hike we'd never done during our previous trips to Zion (mostly due to the extra bodies tagging along and their unwillingness to tackle it).   Angels Landing.

The top of that craggy monolith is where we were headed.  It's about 2.5 miles of hiking to get there, climbing almost 1500 vertical feet from the valley floor.

It's only more intimidating as we grew closer.  We'd have to take a winding trail up the side of this cliff...

before we head into a narrow canyon.  As we scaled the cliff, we glanced back down to see from whence we'd come...

And we were only just beginning.  After a gentle climb through a narrow canyon, full of shadowy fall beauty...

 

we approached Walter's Wiggles, a series of short, tight switchbacks carved into the mountainside. 

Once we reached the top of those, it was time to scramble over a lot of rock, in some pretty narrow places, with sheer drop offs always reminding us that one misstep and we'd really be landing with the angels.

 

We finally reached the summit, and...wow.

 This is how it looks to climb 1500 feet and gaze on indescribable wonder.

We stayed for a while, and ate a small lunch.  Incredibly, the top of Angels Landing is thick with chipmunks, and these chipmunks are brave little rodents.  They've evidently learned that the people who make it up there bring food with them, and so the little guys are fearless.  Five or six at a time would surround us, getting within inches of us, climbing on our packs, trying to get to the baggies we had our food in.  They were even brave enough to brush up against us.  It sounds kind of cute, but it was actually more creepy.  We kept expecting them to run up our backs, or get into our packs, or jump into our hands and steal our food.  We were not fans of Chip & Dale.

But we were fans of this awesome view.  

It was a perfect day.  About 78 degrees, just a gentle breeze at the top, and clear skies as far as we could see.

We made it safely back down, and decided to head into St. George for dinner.  Once we got onto I-15, traffic was stopped for an accident, so we stopped, too.  Unfortunately the semi behind us didn't stop quick enough...

Ouch.

Both Karen and I were fine, but our poor car was badly wounded.  It was the semi driver's fault, so unless his insurance does something underhanded, we should be able to restore her to her former pristine glory.  And even if his insurance is shady, our insurance is good, so we'll be fine.

I did get a good bump on the head. 

Merely cosmetic.  But noticeable enough that Karen feared it would look like she was abusing me.  Well, she wasn't really afraid of that, but I threatened to tell that story to anyone who asked.

No one asked.

Big fun on our first full day of celebrating 20 years!

Flying Squirrel

On Halloween, my good buddy Pete kidnapped me for an unknown adventure to belatedly celebrate my birthday.  After picking me up in the morning, grabbing coffee (a necessity for ANY adventure), we made the trek up to Ogden, UT.  Along the way, we talked about a lot of stuff, except about where we were headed.

Pete was familiar with my sincere disappointment several years ago, documented here, that Utah weather harshed on my skydiving groove and prevented me from experiencing the wonders of falling several thousand feet.  So, he decided to unharsh my groove by taking me to an indoor skydiving experience.

 

There would be unruly weather in the specially designed wind vortex, only the glorious sensation of free falling!  And also, none of the uncomfortable binding straps of a parachute, as described in the skydiving fail.

Sweet!

After watching a short training video and getting tips from my wind-tunnel buddy, Ben, I was ready to hop into my suit.

Stylish, yes?

Next, I added goggles and ear plugs, as the vortex of wind is bracingly loud.

Add a helmet to keep my noggin from splitting open should I fly into the plexiglass walls...

 And I'm ready to fly!  First some instruction from trainer, Ben.

What you can't tell clearly from the above picture (but which is quite evident in the video below) is the instructor Ben is wearing fleece footie pajamas with dinosaurs on them.  It was Halloween after all.  He informed us that he was dressed as a paleontologist.

Ben was one of my favorite things about the whole experience.  You couldn't help but be happy and enthusiastic around Ben, and even more so as he sported the dino-laden sleepwear.

So, I was ready.  Ben stepped in first and helped me as I leaned in to fall into the forceful updraft.

And next thing I knew, I was flying!

It was quite a rush.  Not really scary, just exhilarating.  It's a strange thing to float like that, and I never had the sensation that I was going to drop or fall.  It was just extremely fun -- like a roller coaster on steroids.

Here's the video...

Awesome day with an awesome friend!  Alas, Pete could not share the experience as he is still recovering from shoulder surgery.  Greater love has no man than this:  that he would take his friend to indoor skydive even though he is on the injured list.

Thanks, Pete, for being Bullwinkle to my Rocky.