Our First aTIMPt

After looking up at Mount Timpanogos for my whole life, I finally climbed it and made it to the top, and…it was fantastic.

I spent my whole life thinking it would be too hard for ME to climb. Most of my brothers have climbed it many times. I am sure I had an opportunity to climb it, but never took it.

My newest hobby is to sign up/pay for/commit to doing things I think that I am not capable of and then find a way/make preparations to do them anyway. So far it has worked out very well and my life had taken a much more entertaining/satisfying turn.

So on January 1, 2011 Steve and I sat down and made a list of all the things we were going to do this year and a calendar of when we were planning to do them. Climb Timpanogos was the last thing on the list, also the most difficult (I mean really not that difficult, anyone can put one foot in front of the other until you get to the top, then turn around and do the same until you get back to the car). The list consisted of things like…a 65 mile Bike Race, 100 mile bike race, Triathlon, a series of hikes, and then...Timp.

Well, we actually DID do all those things and felt great about it. See, naturally I am a very lazy unmotivated person, who spent the first thirty years of my life avoiding all the things that seemed scary or hard to me. I have discovered that when I do things like this I feel good. Then I get a little bit of momentum and want to do more, and more. As long as I keep doing stuff and keep up the momentum, I am super satisfied with my life. When I slow down, I have less fun and get bored and sad.

Anyway…we looked forward to this climbing trip for months and months. I stared up at this mountain for so long and visualized what it might be like to scurry along the rocky ridges. I wondered what the rock lines along the top would look like up close. I wondered what the view would be like from the top. I had always heard about the old metal "shack" on top at the peak. I wanted to be inside the shack.

As the date got closer we started hiking more and more. I found it to be very enjoyable. When I was a teenager I hiked some at girls camp and even recreationally a few times, but I never understood why people enjoyed it. It was always super hot and my legs and lungs just burned the whole time. It was not fun for me.

This time around I guess I am in better shape because I never felt the burning in my legs or lungs and we usually avoided the hot times of day. So generally, hiking has been much more enjoyable (except when I saw snakes).

The few days before this hike I was SO excited. It felt like I was going to Disneyland! I was that excited. I had such a good time buying snacks to eat and packing my backpack.

As usual, the afternoon/evening before I got the worries and lost my appetite and started feeling sick. This happens each and every time I attempt to do something awesome.

We dropped the kids off at Grandma Karen’s for a fun sleepover and headed back home to be in bed my 8:00p.m. We both swallowed an Ambien at 7:30 p.m. and were more or less asleep by 9:00 p.m.

We woke up ready to go at 3:30 a.m. took a quick shower and headed toward Kohler’s grocery store located near the mouth of American Fork Canyon where we were meeting the rest of the climbing party which consisted of us, my brothers Ryan and Scott, our friend I grew up with Dan and The.Davies. A cop stopped to talk to us in the dark parking lot. He asked if we were hiking to the Y. I guess he is used to BYU students and got mixed up. We all got a good laugh. BYU has a lot of over-age students, especially on the football team. But seriously. . . If a cop ever asks you why you are loitering in a dark parking lot, tell them that you are assembling for a hike.

We planned to be on the trail at 5:00a.m. The early start was mainly related to getting a parking spot at the trail head. This is one of Utah’s most popular hiking destinations and from what I hear it’s required curriculum if you are a BYU student. We really hoped that at 5:00a.m. we’d be early enough to get a spot. It seemed ludicrous that anyone would be on the trail before that.

We all piled into our adventure Odyssey and headed up the canyon. We didn’t see many other cars along the highway so we sort of assumed we’d be some of the only people up there. We took bets on how many cars would be in the lot when we got there. Some said five, some said 15. The lot probably only held 70-80 cars. We turned the corner into the pitch black parking lot and found it to be FULL of reflective car lights. Every spot was full. All of them. Not a spot left to be had. Seriously?!! We were hoping that it was late enough in the year and that everyone had lost interest in hiking. Nope.

Steve dropped of our group and went with my brother Ryan to find a spot to park in down the canyon. We waited for them for about 15 minutes in the freezing cold. Luckily they found a spot only .4 miles away from the lot.


Once we were all together again, we suited up with our headlamps, hit the pit stop, paused for a photo and set off up the pitch black trail. There was only star light and a crescent moon.

I wondered what it would be like hiking in darkness.

I was afraid it would be confusing and dangerous. In actuality it was a real kick!
It turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the whole adventure. In fact as the dawn broke, I was disappointed that it was over.




It was so awesome to be part of the breaking dawn. I guess I have never done this before. We started to notice a little bit of “not darkness” just in the corner of the mountain horizon.





Every minute after that the darkness faded ever so slowly, yet steadily until we no longer needed the lamps.

We had been hiking in total darkness, only hearing the water around us. When the light came and illuminated what we had not yet seen, the world around us, it was simply breath taking. The deep mountain scenery was marvelous.
You really have to see it to believe its beauty and splendor.


The light increased and finally the sun started to move on the tops of the mountains we were climbing around on. At one point I looked up and noticed this…
The mountain top all ablaze and drenched in morning sunlight. Could anything be more beautiful?

Just before the sun rose on us, meaning we could see and feel the sun on our faces, not just see it in the sky, we hiked through a little meadowish type place and found this guy/or girl.
My guess is that this person slept all night like this. All I can say is that I hope this person isn’t any older than their early 20’s. If I slept like that for more than an hour, there would be some serious complications afterward. That being said, I am sure I’ve had a brother or two spend a night like this in the mountains. Maybe even right here in the same spot. That’s what I was thinking when I passed by this person.

One of the first obstacles we came across was this snow field.
It looked like a snow field anyway. Really it was an ice field. It was an avalanche area obviously. It was full of broken trees, rocks, branches and various other mountain related debris. I was excited when I first saw it and Steve took my picture.
I took one more step and immediately slipped and fell on my face. You would have thought I’d learned my lesson after stepping in the snow at Snowbird on the 4th of July. Nope. I guess some people just can’t be taught.

After my little spill, I re-evaluated how I was going to get across this thing. Others were obviously doing it, so I took notice to see how. There were toe holds that someone smarter than me and armed with a shovel had carved out. This person was obviously larger than me and I could barely reach each toe hold, but I managed somehow, as did every other person in our climbing party.
It was nerve racking, but we made it. We paused after that feat for a second breakfast. That had to be the coldest spot on the mountain we had encountered with a constant down draft of cold wind coming off the snow. Why we stopped there I don’t know. At the bottom of the snowfield there was a snow cave carved out by the snowmelt run off.

As we were eating our breakfast another climbing group came upon the snow field. There were four horses and riders. I wondered how in the world they planned to get those horses across the snowfield since I had barely managed it myself.

The first rider hopped off his horsey and without much thought started to cross. He seemed to have better luck than me.
I snapped a picture because I was so impressed. Just as I was about to start feeling like an idiot for falling and being so careful and nervous while I crossed, the unthinkable happened. The horse lost his footing and started to slide down. It was 50-75 feet down the ice sheet which ended into a snow cave. Not a place where a horse could really be “okay” if it slipped.

We all started to scream and gasp in horror. We all kind of lurched up to help, but immediately realized there was nothing we could do. Somehow, that horse managed to get a hoof into the ice and pushed itself back up. He slipped and clamored all the way back across the ice. It was just about to go down again when it got one hoof back on dry land and managed to muscle its way back onto the land. I have never felt more relieved.

The horses then proceeded to take the safer route which was off the trail, but also off the ice.
You could walk down and around the ice, like the Davies wisely did. I hope I never have to see a 1500 pound animal sliding down an ice sheet ever again, I’ll tell you that.
And…big props for the horse who kept it’s cool under the pressure. She was shaken when she got back on the land, but they calmed her down instantly with a “Whoa girl!” and a pat on the snout (do horses have a snout?)
Anyway…we would have given them a major round of applause after their amazing accomplishment, but we didn’t want to risk spooking the horses.

The trail changed a bit from the dirt path to a very rocky trail as we made our way up. Here’s a look back at the long semi steep ridgeline of rocks on rocks on more rocks.
Steve on rocks.
Kristin on rocks.


A look back at the rocky slope we'd just hiked.
The trail wound and zig-zaged through all kinds of ecosystems. Just as soon as we got used to the terrain, it would change.

Now we’re back on a path through a field of timber and wild flowers. Also, that's the straw from my Camelbak.

Then down through a snow run-off area. This was a really cool ice shelf.
You could have camped under there. It was big!

We stopped to take a look at the map and evaluate where we were and what elevation we were at.
I just finished reading “Paths of Glory” by Jeffery Archer. A great read by the way. It’s historical fiction novel about George Mallory who may have been the first person to summit Everest. Anyway…I read a lot in that book about high elevations and how slowly you move when the air is thinner. I was anxious to see what this was like. It’s hard to relate unless you experience it. At this point in the hike, I was still fine. No oxygen limitations. I was always so curious to see what our elevation was. Luckily my brother Scott had a GPS do-dad and would periodically check our elevation. IT was super cool. I guess I need and altimeter. Christmas is coming…

Sunrise.
It was light long before we had any sun on our faces. It felt so warm and good when it came.

Here’s a cool photo of the trail zig-zaging up the mountain.
It was fun to see the other hikers in a more lofty place and think…I’ll be there in a few minutes. Then after being there to look down on the poor suckers lower down the trail. It was especially cool to see when it was still dark. All you could see was little lights bobbing around from headlamps worn by hikers above us.

The higher up the trail went, the more mountains you saw. Now I really understand what they mean by a “mountain range.”
You always just assume that over that mountain is another city…but really it’s a whole network of mountains with tiny cities interspersed between the mountains.

Here’s the back side of the north “face” of Timpanogos.
I’d never seen her face from this side before. Looks like a pyramid.

Pounding the pavement.
Boots, wool socks, under armor, perfect pants.

Another eco-system. Beautiful wildflowers.
Some of the best I’ve seen. Topped only by wildflowers in the Albion Basin and near Lake Solitude. The rock wall as a backdrop though is hard to beat. Beauty at its finest.

Our first view of the summit.
Celebration. It looks so close….too bad it wasn’t.
Together we can do it.

In the Timpanogos Basin which is a huge meadow in the midst of this beautiful mountain range, we came across a scout troop who had camped here. We found out later that they were scouts from my brother Randy’s troop. What a majestic place to camp.



Here’s just some random beautiful/interesting shots to remember.

The trail.
Going up.

Yep.


Here’s a look back at the meadow as we were exiting it. Beautiful.



Our first look at the year round snow fields. Not glaciers, but close. Some years they do actually all melt away, according to the Ranger. But most years they don’t melt all the way, certainly not this year.

Just a 500 foot drop on each side.
The ledge was a good two feet wide though. Totally safe. Glad this wasn’t anyone in our party standing there though.

Here they are…and we didn’t even have to travel to the Alps to see them (although someday we will).
MOUNTAIN GOATS. (look closely they are at the top of this ridge) This was a big part of the reason I wanted to do this hike. I was promised that we’d see some prancing around on ledges narrower than my pinky finger. Sure enough.
They danced around jumping from ledge to ledge like Chinese Acrobats. I was hoping to have a closer encounter with them, but it never came.

And we have the saddle. Here are the Saddlers.
Most of them anyway. The view (behind us) is pretty spectacular, but you can’t really see into Salt Lake County from here.

You have to go a little higher for that view. We sat here for about 40 minutes and ate our lunch. Just as we were ready to leave my brother Ryan arrived ragged and out of breath. We waited for him to rest and eat his lunch, then we headed back up the trail.

This was what I was waiting for.
Rocky rills at the top of the mountain and me scurrying up them. It was finally happening.
I was so excited. I was wearing the mittens because my hands were quite cold and we had to use our hands to climb up the rocks and boulders at the top.


My brother’s Scott and Ryan were a few minutes behind us and I noticed Scott as he began to climb up the “Chimney”.
He took a photo of us from below too. Maybe someday he’ll give it to me.

If Steve looks scared here shimmying along this thin little trail at the edge of the mountain, it’s not because he was.

It really wasn’t that far from the saddle to the summit, but it was farther than we thought it would be. Mainly we just had to move slow and take a lot of breaks.
This was the part where we really noticed the elevation. We had to take air-sucking stops about every 50 feet or so.
It was rather exhausting, but fun at the same time. I was getting so excited to be so close. My energy level was pretty low however and I’ll admit that I got to the top on fumes and adrenalin.

So close you taste it.

But we did make it. WE. WERE. HERE.
YES WE DID!!! Here’s the view to prove it.

It may not seem like a tremendous accomplishment for all those including my own family members who have done it time and time again, but it was to me. A few years ago I never dreamed I would be here ever in my life. Now…I came, I saw, I conquered. And…I won’t say it was easy, but I certainly wasn’t as hard for me as I had always feared. It just goes to show you that you just can’t let all your little fears rule your life. You’ll never do anything interesting.

Here’s the 360 view.
Looking to the East Emerald Lake (or slush)directly below us on the summit. Utah Lake and
Utah Valley.

Impresive views.

Wait a minute...is that me sitting on the tippy-top of the mountain and talking on the phone?
Yep, it is. I am what I am. Four bars up there by the way.

Here we are at the Summit Marker.


Kristin.


Steve.


Here’s a cute baby we saw at the top.
She was seriously cute. Like seriously. She wasn’t the only kid at the top either. If you can believe it, there was a six year old girl and a three year old boy at the top. For reals. I thought that was a real accomplishment and started to wonder if I could get my kids to the top. After much thought, I am sure I could. It’s the getting them and myself back down that would be the hard part.

It’s the way down that is so incredibly difficult and long and horrible.

Here I am living my dream of being in the shack on top of the mountain.

It was not what I expected it to look like. It was more of a gazebo than a shack.

Here is our names in the log book of climbers.
For the record…I was the first in our party to arrive, not that it matters (it matters). Steve just beat me to the book.

As you can see from this photo, there were a lot of people on the summit.


Here’s a look back at the trail leading to the summit.
It’s cool to look back and see the ridge line, we stared at for hours as we were hiking up, from the top.

The Summiteers.
Dan, Steve, me and My brothers Ryan and Scott both made it too. I was super proud of Ryan. He’s old you know, but he absolutely made it TO. THE. TOP. I bet he’ll do some more hard things in the near future. Like the Salt Lake Half Marathon.

Dan was all worried before the trip that he would slow our group down.
If anything, he led our group. I think he maybe forgot that at nearly 7 feet tall, his legs were nearly double the length of ours. So he only had to hike half as fast as us to keep up. I only overtook him just before we reached the summit. Turns out that at twice my body weight, it takes more air to move a body that tall. He had to stop more frequently to gasp for air in the very tallest altitudes.

I just couldn't get enough of looking back at this dramatic ridge line.


It really was so majestic.


Lastly, here I am at the top of Mount Timpanogos.
I really wanted a picture of myself at the top with all the lines in the background. And…I got it, because I went there.

After spending a half hour or so on the summit we made the trek back down. We saw this fossil of a sea shell just after we started down.
Really a sea shell. Clear up here? Makes me wonder about what this place must have looked like a billion years ago.

Here’s a cool look back at the trail we had descended.


Oh. Be Careful!
No one we knew.

The ice shelf again.


Here’s the Davies hiking in front of the ice shelf and our new friends behind them. We leap frogged with the guy in the green shirt and the guy behind him the entire way down.


Here’s where I wished we were at the bottom.
But we were not. But the trail was pretty. Shortly after I took this picture I walked into a branch that was at my shin level. I won’t lie…it hurt. Bad. But I didn’t realize how bad it hurt until a few days later when the bruise came.

There were lots of water and waterfalls.
I didn’t care to see them at this point. I just wanted to be done. I will say this though…they were beautiful, and even though I hiked passed them in the morning, I didn’t see them in the darkness.
In fact, I had no idea how big and how many of them there were.

In fact, I was shocked at just how much water there was on the trail. I remember there being some water on the trail in the dark, but I had no idea how much there really was. It was like we were hiking in the middle of a good sized stream for about a half mile.

Hiking the last two miles were psychologically disturbing for me. I had already gotten back to the place where I felt like I was when I started, the place where we were when the light came. See, we hiked for about an hour and a half in the dark, so I never actually saw the terrain at the beginning. Nothing looked familiar when we came back through. There was no way to gage just how far we were from the trail head. It felt as if we had been hiking forever! We had been hiking forever. We were approaching 11 hours on the trail when I really started to get frustrated that this was not over. I realized then that we likely had at least an hour’s worth of hiking left.

I was tired, hungry and my big toe was banging on against the front of my hiking boot. I stopped to tighten my laces, but realized then that I should have done that two hours previously. I was worried about my big toe and its nail…

So since we had no choice we just kept going. And going. And going. Then, something good happened. Aspen trees.
Aspen trees were down low. I knew we must be getting somewhat close. We’d been on the trail 11.5 hours at this point. I started to pick up my pace as the end was in sight and my toe really hurt and I wanted to stop moving. Here’s Steve near the end.
Doesn’t he look determined to finish.

Here’s my “I hate everything about my life right now” smile.
This was at about 11 hours and 45 minutes.

And then…it happened! I saw the trailhead sign. Just another 50 yards, then sit down. I high fived the trail head sign at 5:38 p.m. It had taken us 11 hours and 58 minutes to complete the hike. Also…I hadn’t used a restroom in 11 hours and 58 minutes. I am not sure how that is possible considering the amount that I drank on the trail, but I really never felt a “need” until about 30 minutes before we finished. I took care of my business as Steve ran the .4 miles down the canyon to get the van. We all sat around in sheer relief and waited. Most of us sat.
Some of us laid right on the ground. Oh it felt so good to be finished.

I took my shoes off, but didn’t dare to look at my toe so I left my socks on.

This is Rio, the dog.
He hiked with us most the way up and down. He was the most delightful dog. He was wearing these little dog shoes. I didn’t notice them until I got to the summit. I guess the distance and ruggedness of the terrain is too much for dog paws, so he hikes in little boots. It was fun to have him around. You can’t tell from this photo, but he had a little pack he was wearing, like he was a little pack mule.

So here we are again, at the bottom, at the end of a grueling, yet extremely satisfying day.
I’ll admit that I grumbled mostly to myself and Steve for the last hour and a half, but as soon as it was over, I was all better. It was such a great experience. It was all I expected and hoped for and more. The only thing I was surprised by was how warm it was at the summit. I was expecting severe temperatures, but it was balmy.

This has always been one of the most impressive peaks to look up at. Now, I am even more impressed with its beauty and majesty. Can’t wait for next year, who’s in?

Post-Script: After our 15 mile hike to the nether reaches of oxygen (11,749 feet) we paid some pretty serious consequences. Mainly my big toe on my left foot.
Yeah, it’s probably going to fall off. Who needs big toenails anyway? Answer: Everyone. Every toe needs a toenail. I know that because I have lost several in the past and it really hurts for a long time. Also, here is my massive bruise after my encounter with a tree branch.
Yeah, it hurts.

Before we picked the kids up, we stopped at In-N-Out. We were so hungry, but after riding in the car for 45 minutes we could hardly move anymore. We shuffled into the restaurant like 95 year olds. I couldn't wear shoes--but they still served us.
The food made me so happy. Happy enough that I was able to pick up my children from their grandmother's house. I knew when I laid eyes on Alyssa that she had Pink Eye. Grandma thought it was a reaction from getting some sunscreen in her eye, but in my heart of hearts I knew--and it was (we found out the next day).

We drove them home, bathed them and put them to bed. That may be my biggest accomplishment in my six year experience as a parent. I can't believe I pulled that much responsible parenting off after the day I had on the mountain. I truly felt like a champion.

Steve’s post-script: I have eaten at In-N-Out hundreds of times and have eaten at fast food restaurants where they issue you a number to pick up your food thousands, maybe tens of thousands of times. And NEVER before have I been issued number one. Here it is.
Happy hiking everyone. I finally got it. I’m number 1.

(Back to Kristin) After spending the whole day on the mountain…That’s what Steve wanted you to know.

San Diego

Steve and I have been long awaiting our trip to San Diego. The time finally arrived and as scheduled Steve left leaving me with the kids for one additional night before I left town.

After packing, dropping of kids at my brother Randy’s house and not doing a good enough job leaving the house clean, I was out of time and headed to the airport.
I had a quick flight to Vegas for a quick layover then an even quicker flight to America’s finest city, San Diego. That’s how it was supposed to go anyway. It actually happened like this…

I began my quick flight to Vegas by reading “Paths of Glory” by Jeffery Archer. It’s a historical fiction novel about George Mallory who may or may not have been the first person to summit Everest. No one knows for sure because he died on the mountain. His frozen body is still up there. (I highly recommend this book. The most worthwhile book I have ever read. I should mention that I haven’t read that many books.)

Anyway…I was sitting next to this couple and as I glanced out the window at takeoff I noticed the man next to me was reading a book related to climbing too. So naturally, I questioned him about it. We struck up a wonderful conversation about mountains and rocks. Turns out he and his wife were just rounding out two weeks of vacation. They were in Utah and surrounding states hunting rocks, gems, and minerals.

I told them about Alyssa’s obsession with rocks, gems and minerals. They were very impressed and gave me a nice piece of blue agate they had found in a remote area of Wyoming near Kemmerer to give to her.
Also, they instructed me to take it to a rock shop to have it cleaned and buffed. We ended up talking the entire ride and exchanged e-mail addresses. Alyssa will be very excited to receive her rock.

Upon landing in Vegas I bid farewell to my new friends. I went to check out my flight, which was supposed to be leaving shortly. Nope. Apparently there was some problem with air traffic control in Kansas City and my flight was delayed just three hours or so.

Since there was nothing I could do, I helped myself to a comfortable airport chair near a Wheel Of Fortune gambling machine. For the next three hours I listened to its sound effects of the big wheel spinning and the fake audience getting excited and then let down when there was a bad “spin”.
Someone did end up winning about $100 though, so that was pretty exciting. Mostly I just read my book. I really enjoyed the uninterrupted reading time. I also had the pleasure of eating an $8.00 Subway turkey sandwich. It was a very magical time. I really feel like I found myself there in the Vegas airport.

I finally did get to board my plane and fly off to San Diego shortly after 8 p.m. We had planned to have a lovely dinner somewhere, but by the time I actually got there everything was closed. So I settled for eating a yogurt Steve had gotten for me to eat the next morning for breakfast. He didn’t get any spoons though so I ate it with a coffee stir stick provided by Marriott. Thanks JW.

The next morning I was excited to live my day in solitaire. Steve was in classes all day so I just planned to be by myself.

I swam in the big pool. I lifted some weights in the workout room. I read. I ate. I shopped. I napped. It was all so wonderful and relaxing. I was eagerly awaiting 5 pm when Steve and I and his group of Intermountain peeps were planning an exciting evening which included a water taxi to Coronado Island and dinner at the Hotel Del Coronado.

However since this was the trip of supposed to do and not actually…I woke up from my nap and decided to go sit out by the pool. I noticed that I had no power in my room. No lights, no TV, no AC. I didn’t know if it was just me or the whole hotel. I went in to the hall and discovered it was pretty dark too. Plus the elevators were not working. A staff member pointed me to the stairs. Obviously not used by guests unless there was an emergency.

Once downstairs I got a text from Steve saying the power was out to the whole of San Diego county. That’s when I started to worry. Where was my next meal coming from? I had no food storage or lanterns or any kind of provisions in my room. No stores or restaurants could be open if the power was out.

Shortly, Steve came out of his conference sessions and we soon met up with our group that was supposed to be headed out to Coronado Island. We decided that leaving would not be wise when we saw all the streets were totally gridlocked. Cars everywhere, not moving anywhere.

After some debate, which included the idea of being amongst the first to begin looting and generalized rioting (which I must admit was my idea) the groupthink took us into the nearby Gas Lamp District in search of…I don’t really know what the group was really after I just knew that this girl needed her some food to eat before it all got snatched up. As I feared all the stores and restaurants were closed up. Most of them had security behind the front door, which sent the message that any looting would have to be done by someone braver and more intent on doing it than me.

We got to Ralph’s (aka Smith’s) and found it to be closed tight. The only thing that was open were some bars. We really weren’t ready to throw in the towel on that one yet so we decided to go back to the hotel to see if they would provide us with some food.

On the way back we noticed a grungy little deli that had a line of people buying stuff inside. I was thrilled. I was starting to get very nervous about my next meal and possible a few more meals following that. When I saw I could buy food, we jumped at the chance. I bought two smallish sandwiches. In the spirit of hoarding, I also got some chips, bananas, ice cream and sandwich cookies. I figured that much food would hold us for 24 hours if needs be. This nice haul of snacks cost $18.50 cash-only. I’m sure the cashier made the price up—but he did surprisingly provide change for a $20.

We shamelessly took our haul back to the hotel. Most of our group didn’t have the same kind of panic reaction I did. (I worry a lot) They didn’t buy the provisions when they had the chance. They were optimistic that the power would come back soon and we’d get out the the Hotel Del or somewhere nice after all.

Steve ate a pint of cookies and cream ice cream as we walked back to the hotel.
It WAS melting. I would have done the same—but my Twix ice cream was extremely sweet even by ice cream standards, so I could only force about a quarter of it down my throat at 5:15 while walking quickly through the Gaslamp Quarter.

As food was becoming such a precious commodity, I tried to get some of Steve’s auditor friends to finish my ice cream with no takers (yet). With the ice cream, we probably had more than enough calories for the day already. But food panic started to set in. I did just read the Hunger Games and Katniss would definitely have shoved all the ice cream she could find down her throat.

We were relieved to be back at the hotel because the city was just…nuts. Traffic around the whole city was total grid-lock.
It was obvious that with no power in the whole city meaning no stoplights or gas stations that could pump gas that there were going to be a lot of angry and stranded people.

The hotel was all abuzz when we got back. It had been quiet and very calm when we left. This time all the guests were out of their hot rooms looking for the same thing as us. Food. It was dinnertime after all. We decided to take up residence in the pool area. The same idea everyone else in the 3000 room complex had. Also, in the spirit of hoarding, we managed to conquer enough lounge chairs to accommodate our group.


The hotel also began to offer discount hamburgers to guests. Those who elected not to participate in the deli grunge opted to get in line for hamburgers.
Our group took turns standing in line for food while the rest of our group did our best to hold on to the lounge chairs.
Jen started looking at me with "Hungry Eyes" so I quickly handed over my ice cream.

The line was long when they got in it, but later it got longer, then even longer than that.
Our group probably waited 2 hours for food, many others in line later than them must have waited 4 hours for the opportunity to buy food.

We sat in the pool lounge and ate and talked and wondered how long this emergency situation would last. We heard rumblings that the power outage was not limited just to San Diego, but to parts of Mexico, Arizona and New Mexico. We heard it might be a long time. More than 24 hours before power was restored.

We also heard it might be related to some terror plot. It was very difficult to gage what was really happening. No way to know for sure. Cell phones weren’t reliable making any calls. Most texts were going through though.

After several hours I did get a call through to Randy who told us what was happening, and when power might return. We learned it would probably be the middle of the next day. I felt okay about that since I knew we had enough food to last that long.

After several hours together talking and laughing and sharing conspiracy theories about what was causing the outage we decided to go back to our rooms for the night, but not before we settled our conspiracy theory that there was a real-life Ocean’s 11 happening on some Indian Casinos.

We were lucky because our room was on the 3rd floor. But the others in our group were on 11 and 21. I was glad not to have to climb stairs for an hour to get to the room. Steve was kind enough to go to our room to get me a few things during our evening by the pool. I’m not sure he would have been so willing had we been on the 23rd floor.

At around 9:00 p.m. we decided to call it a night and head back to our rooms.
Here is the view of the city out the front entrance of the hotel.

We made it back to our room and looked at the skyline.
Mostly black. The only light was the red lights on the tops of buildings, you know, for safety.

Here is the Coronado/Harbor View.
Mostly just lights from boats.

We also heard a lot of police and fire sirens in the city.

On our way back to the room, we heard rumors that there were some live outlets. So Steve got his charger and we searched the hotel for the alleged outlets. We found one in the gym, so we spent about 45 minutes charging Steve’s dead phone.
There we were, Steve sitting on a Reebok Step and me lying on a yoga mat, eating our (very soft) Hagen Das ice cream bars rationed to us by some hotel employees in the lobby. In the food shortage, we both managed TWO ice cream treats in just a matter of hours. Way net positive calories for the day—probably even more than a fancy restaurant would have been. Leave it to me.

Steve found that cell calls didn’t work, but the mobile internet did. San Diego 10 had the best news updates.

Our room was very dark so I just laid down and went right to sleep. I woke up in the middle of night to use the bathroom and tested the light and found it to be operational. What a relief. Steve woke up shortly after that and saw the TV had a red light on. He turned on the TV to channel 10 (which on our TV was channel 11—go figure). Their local news anchors were dressed and reporting. . . on the opening day NFL game played the night before (not the historic outage).

The next morning the TODAY show was reporting from the Gas Lamp District, the same place I would have looted if I had been brave enough. The power outage affected 6 million people in California, Arizona and New Mexico. It was caused by one employee’s error in moving some equipment and caused what should have been a minor outage in Yuma Arizona, but for some reason it had a domino effect on the power grid. Also, it was the 6th largest outage ever.

In all, it could have been much worse. I did however get jipped out of a fancy dinner and the Hotel Del and I DO expect the universe to make it up to me somehow.

The following morning I spent in the pool again taking advantage of the large pool which I had all to my self. Steve surprised me by joining me. He was supposed to be in some additional conference sessions but because of the power outage and airport closure, many of the speakers were not able to make it to San Diego in time to speak. So he came and swam some laps.

After our pool time we went on a 2 hour Harbor Cruise on the Cornholer.
I mean Hornblower.
The boat looked a lot like this.

We took the cruise with Steve’s friend from work Jonathan and his wife Heather. Some how I didn't get a photo of them with my camera. Oops.

The boat trip was rather interesting, especially if you were a senior citizen. We did see an awful lot of navy ships.
The USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier had triumphantly returned that morning. It was pretty exciting to see it. I got a picture the day before of another ship coming in. All the sailors were on deck in their white uniforms and the tugboat was spraying water out.
I won’t lie, it was a pretty patriotic moment.

Here are some other highlights of the boat trip.

A new boat being built.
They build it right on the harbor and shove it in the water when it's done.

Hosptital Ship.
The Mercy, she helps in disasters like Earth Quake in Haiti.

An America's Cup Race Yacht.
Pretty Cool to see.

We were promised Sea Lions too.
Here they are, a little of the gross side, but sea lions none the less.

The trip got even better when we bought a refillable souvineer cup.
Between the two of us I bet we had a dozen DP refills.

We went right under the Coronado Bridge.
Pretty cool. It's very big!

After we got off the ship we found this monument made after the famous photo.
We just had to it.

After the cruise I took the group to the Greek Island Café as recommended by Bob and Hana who have sworn up and down for years that this was the best Greek food around.
They were right! It was tremendous! They had Fiery Feta which was their creation of feta cheese, cayenne pepper, tomatoes and other delicious spices. Holy Cow.
It was one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten.

After lunch, we shopped around a little in the Seaport Village which I actually really enjoyed. I normally don’t care for little shops, but these were especially quaint. According to our Harbor Cruise Master, Seaport Village was designed by Disney Imagineers. No wonder it’s so perfect. We bought some souvenirs there and were very happy with our purchases.

The next stop on the agenda was San Diego Old Town.
Here we are waiting for the light rail train to get there. We had to transfer trains and it was kind of a pain to get there, but I had never been before and wanted to see it this time around.

The trip did not disappoint. It was very interesting and unique. I wish I were BIG.
Get it?

Lots of shops to buy cheap junk and lots of restaurants. We hoped to have dinner here, but weren’t all that hungry. We decided to let our appetites ripen and kill some time by visiting the Mormon Battalion Visitor’s Center.
It may have been the best part of our trip to Old Town. They have a brand new building and a brand new interactive exhibit. If you haven’t been there, it’s worth the trip and that is coming from someone who is totally uninterested in the olden days. It was hilarious and interesting and just plain fun. A must do.

Plus, they gave us some coupons for dinner.
We ate at a fine Mexican restaurant called Miguel’s.
The food was really tasty and the portion was actually quite small. Since we shared a dish, we weren’t stuffed and got a fresh piping hot tortilla from a neighboring restaurant and ate it as we walked back to the train.
We went back to the hotel Happy, full and exhausted.

For our last morning we wanted to make sure we fully enjoyed the fabulous pool, so after stopping by a coffee shop for a Belgian Waffle and Bagel, we took up residence in the lounge chairs and read and enjoyed the sun and sea breeze.
It was wonderful. I wished we'd had a whole day to do just that, but I really was starting to miss my kids at this point and I was ready to head back home to them.


We said good by to the beautiful pool and pool area that had been our home for the last three days and headed to the airport.

We had a longer than expected layover at the Las Vegas airport. We found this advertisement. Only in Vegas.
If we'd had more time, i'm sure Steve would have insisted I take him there.

We finally arrived home at around 11:00 p.m. We were supposed to be home at 8:00p.m. It was frustrating, but nice to be back with my kiddos.

They ran out to greet us and dragged us back into my parents house as fast as they could. They had a surprise for us. It was a....Salad. All with produce they picked from grandpa's garden.
Grandma even let them cut up the veggies. They were so happy as they watched me eat it.
Nothing like a mid-night salad.

They were so excited about the prizes I had promised them. I was equally as excited to present them to them. I had found at Seaport Village some little lady bug necklaces that came in a lady bug velvet box. AND...I found an identical glass "Lady Bugsie" to replace the one Alyssa had lost more than a year ago. She had requested this be her prize,but I told her there was no way I'd be able to find her a glass lady bug like the one my dear friend Amy had brought her from Cape Cod. As fate would have it. I did. No child could have been more happy with any other gift.


They deserved the prizes too, because both of my kids got the stomach flu and threw-up while we were gone. Isn't that so sad! My sweet sister and law and brother along with my mom took care of my sick kids for me. I am so grateful to them.

Timped

She Will Be Mine

Oh yes, she will be mine.

See you in the morning.

*Timp of the Nogus

Okay friends we are just days away from setting of on the expedition of all expeditions 14 miles to the Top of the Timpanogus. On September the 24th, assuming the weather holds, we are planning to meet at an undecided location close to the mouth of the canyon and carpool into the trail head parking lot.

Take a deep breath and sit down....We are planning to meet at said undecided location at 3:45 a.m. So plan to go to bed early. Take an Ambien if you have one.

Plan to bring warm clothing if you are not planning on wearing it to begin with. My brother Jason had a very near death experience up on top of the mountain while hiking there early in September several years ago. It was snowing and blizzard conditions up toward the top. They started in with Hypothermia and decided it was a GOOD idea to take a nap up on the summit during a blizzard. They were only wearing shorts and T-shirts. Luckily one member of the climbing party had enough sense to get them down the mountain before they froze to death. They ended up dumping their backpacks so they could wear them as hats.

So, lets not be stupid folks. Do a little research and decide what you need to survive. Hat, heavy jacket, maybe some gloves. Probably long pants. Wear whatever you like, but don't expect me to lend you anything warm if you decide not to bring any. I am very selfish.

Plan to bring about a gallon of water and as much food as you can carry to eat. Also bring a head lamp if you got one. If you don't, probably go buy one. I got one at Wal-Mart for less than $10.

Along with your sturdiest shoes you may want to bring a change of socks and some bandaids in case of blisters.

I am not that experienced a hiker, so if there is anything else I haven't mentioned...don't hold me responsible. I'd advise you to watch some YouTube Videos of people Climbing Timp so you know what to expect. They were very helpful for us.

So far the climbing party consists of:

Steve

Kristin

Ryan

Rick

Angela

Brad

Georgette

Dan

There may be others but I've only heard rumors. If you want to join us, anyone is more than welcome...Just leave me a comment here and I'll put you on the mailing list. This is going to be GREAT!!!!

*Credit to Angela Davies for the clever blog title.