Just a quick update, since I have spotty Wi-Fi and absolutely no cell signal where we’re staying. In fact, we went the whole day in Capitol Reef National Park and it was liberating. We spent yesterday exploring Bryce Canyon National Park. It was spectacular, but more to come on that later. Today we hit Capitol Reef Park, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and Petrified Forest State Park. We had an exhausting day clocking in over 30,000 steps and countless miles. Tomorrow we head northeast to Canyon Lands National Park. When I have better internet and more energy, I’ll write about each of the parks.
After a wonderful two wonderful trips and a week to recover, I’m finally feeling replenished. Both of our July/August trips were soul-soothing and nurturing. Admittedly, I had a much harder time leaving Utah than I did leave the Keys. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to leaving my oldest son behind. Thus, in leaving Utah, I left a big piece of my heart there. My goal was to write every day, but I found myself, selfishly, wanting to savor every last minute with my airmen. And even once on the plane home, I found myself cherishing the visit and not wanting to share my feelings. Lest that feeling of deep internal happiness and peace be lost upon sharing my feelings.
My mom warned me halfway through the trip that I should probably take it easy because it was going to hit me like a truck when I got back to Florida. Naturally, she was right. However, there were so many trails to hike so many new vistas and waterfalls to explore, I couldn’t hold it back. After all, the Rockies weren’t going to climb themselves. Of course, this is probably why it took me over a week to feel replenished.
I planned our last two days out west to be action-packed. On Friday, we took it pretty easy comparatively and went back to the Hill Aerospace Museum. We had gone the day before, but Jake wanted to explore it with us. This quickly became one of our favorite spots. Unfortunately, they were assembling an F-117 stealth fighter, so the fighter wing was still closed. All the more reason to go back for another visit when we head back that way later this year. It was fun to take in the history of the Air Force with my man in uniform. It was even more fun to see kids react to him in uniform.
Afterward, we headed back on base to grab lunch at the BX and hang out at his dorm. The BX was nice because it offered variety at the perfect price point. Once we had our lunch, we enjoyed some vintage Simpsons episodes as we ate. The boys were itching to play COD against each other, so they spent the next hour or so playing Xbox. As a mom, I’ve never been so gratified to watch my boys play Xbox. Perhaps because they’ve been apart for so long or perhaps it was the big smiles on their faces. Either way, I was one happy mama. For dinner, we went back to our favorite Rovalis before heading back to the Airbnb. Sadly, I had to pack us up, so we were ready to leave the next day. The highlight of our Friday night was a dip in the hot tub.
I woke up Saturday morning to my alarm followed by a text that Jake had made it to our AirBnB. Fortunately, for me big brother was willing to risk life and limb to wake up Goalielocks. Truly, it was nice not to have to face that epic task. Once everybody was up and ready to go, we packed our cars and headed south to Big Cottonwood Canyon. Jake wasn’t able to hike with us to Donut Falls, so I wanted to be sure he saw the Canyon before we left. This time we chose a hike up the Willow Lake Trail, which was just a few miles west of Donut Falls. As expected, Jake was blown away by the natural beauty of the canyon.
Jake and I stayed together for much of the hike. Goalielocks quickly sprinted ahead, while the Mayor not so quietly complained ahead of us. On this hike, we gained about 1,600 feet. The hike started at nearly 7,000 feet above sea level. My calves hated the beginning of this hike. Jake and I stopped multiple times to stretch our calves. Admittedly, I also needed to take a moment to let my heart rate drop a bit. This hike was through a beautiful birch and conifer forest with views of the surrounding peaks everywhere you looked. When we got near the top, it opened up into a meadow of wildflowers with a backdrop of the forest and mountains. As I told Jake, the view did not suck.
We finally made it up to the lake where Goalielocks had made friends with a mama duck and her ducklings. It was incredibly peaceful at the lake. The trail was never crowded. Since we were now up over 8,500 feet, the temperature was cool and the gentle breeze felt wonderful. After making the effort to climb to the lake, we hung out for awhile taking in the scenery. Next time I’ll bring a blanket and some snacks as there are plenty of spots near the lake to enjoy a picnic lunch. Naturally, the hike back down the mountain was much easier and enjoyed it together. Hiking Utah and enjoying nature with my boys and Melody was my favorite part of the trip.
I booked a red-eye flight, so we could spend all Saturday exploring the area with Jake. As a hockey family, we made the obligatory pilgrimage to Pure Hockey and the local rink in Murray. I found an awesome brewery just south of Pure Hockey for us to try for lunch. We had an amazing meal! I can’t tell you how much we enjoyed supporting the locally-owned restaurants and stores. Anyway back to lunch, I ate the best BBQ wings I’ve ever had. We finished off our day, with a tour of downtown Salt Lake City including Temple Square, the Capitol building, and the mall. By the time, we headed to the airport, we had seen and done a lot for one day.
As the time of our departure drew nearer, my heart grew heavier. I couldn’t help lamenting that this incredible trip was about to be over. Honestly, I drew it out as long as I could by hanging out at the cell phone lot for as long as we could. When it was time to say goodbye, my heart was full of joy and pride, but also a little broken. I don’t suppose it will ever get easier to leave one behind, but I am blessed that he is in a great place. He’s got a wonderful job, boss, and community of support surrounding him every day. Reluctantly, I boarded that plane back to Florida and then spent all of last week recovering. Thankfully, I’m back to my regular routine.
Here’s a list of our day’s activities:
*I read The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath
*Vinyasa yoga with Jennifer at Open Heart Yoga Studio
*I went for a two mile run. Yesterday, I ran a mile.
*BBG 2.0. week 10 day 2: Cardio and yoga
*It’s tough to be a parent, especially in this environment. I am lamenting the start of a new virtual school year.
*Goalielocks has his first official practice this evening. The new season has started. Party on!
Another day, another adventure. Such has been our trip here in Utah. I love it here. Every day we spend time exploring the surrounding national forests, canyons, and mountains. Each trail gives us a special gift. Whether its a realization about life, a pretty view, or shared memories. Regardless of the adventure, everyone has taught me something or given me something in return. For example, our first hike here taught me that you should save the hard hikes for after your body acclimates to the altitude. Meanwhile, the hike to Donut Falls showed me the beauty and vastness of God’s creation.
Yesterday was no exception. We got a late start to the morning, which was fine because the temperatures have cooled down a bit since the 100s over the weekend. Also I knew the trial we were headed to had a lot of shaded areas. Lastly, we all needed to get some rest as Tuesday was a very busy day. My day started with an early trip into Salt Lake City to drop Melody at the airport. Fortunately, the drive was super easy and I got another hour of sleep once back to our AirBnB. Yesterday’s adventures included the Green Pond Trail near Snow Basin and the Hill Aerospace Museum. Both of these stops on our adventure tour were well worth the time and effort.
The Green Pond Trail is an easy to moderate trail near at the base of Mount Ogden. You do gain about 400 ft in altitude throughout the path, but it is a gradual ascent. The trail itself starts at an elevation near 6,000 feet. Honestly, this probably would have been the best trail for our first hike. Indeed, it is an excellent trail for mountain biking and for kids just starting to hike. Throughout the trek, the meadows and forest surround you. You can see the mountains through the canopy of the trees throughout, which makes for a beautiful vista. Overall, the hike took about an hour and burned nearly 600 calories.
Afterward we headed to the Hug-Hes Cafe in north Ogden. Since we’ve been here, I’ve been trying to take them to local spots. This one reminded me of Perkins as it had a bakery and a simliar lunch and dinner menu. Overall, the food was very tasty and inexpensive. This restaurant is also famous for its giant sugar cookies, so naturally I picked up three for the boys. Post lunch, we headed to Target to pick up some more snacks and a lot of water. We’ve already gone through more than 40 bottles of water throughout our hikes. Thankfully, they recycle here. I wish they had refill stations at or near the hikes as that would be much more efficient.
Once we had our supplies in hand, we headed to the Hill Aerospace Museum. It was awesome! We got there later in the day, so we didn’t have enough time to take in all of the exhibits. Consequently, I’m hoping to go back there today or tomorrow. Also the fighter wing was closed and the boys really want to peruse that exhibit. One thing that I loved about the museum is that it is staffed by retirees, who served in the Air Force and really have a passion for the history of aviation. Naturally, we also stopped in to the gift shop where I bought a rosewood model B-24 that will be displayed in our family room. They did have some wonderful sketches of the planes, but none featuring the B-24 on which my grandfather was a flight engineer.
As for our evening, we went back to the dealership to finish up the paperwork for Jake’s new car. That took way longer than it needed to, but this is always the case. For dinner, we headed back to In-N-Out burger so Jake could try it at last. After enjoying their burgers two nights in a row, we have all decided they need to come to Florida. Their burgers are phenomenal! We spent the rest of the night chilling at the AirBnB and were all in bed early. Today promises to bring more great adventures in the great outdoors.
Yesterday our adventures took us to the Snow Basin Resort, which is on Mt. Ogden. After a busy day Saturday, we all overslept. Consequently, we got a reasonably late start to our day. I was a bit worried that the heat and altitude would again be too much for us. Fortunately, I was wrong. We took the gondola up to the ski lodge, where the hiking trail to the summit of Mt. Ogden begins. Technically, you could hike up the entire mountain, but we were not about that life yesterday.
The scenery on the way up Mount Ogden was beautiful with mountains, valleys, and even a lake in the distance. It was a bit hot on the way up as the gondolas are fully enclosed. Once we reached the top of the ride, however, the temperature was significantly cooler, and there was a gentle breeze. The ski lodge was beautiful, with beautiful amenities and A/C. We took a brief respite in the lodge before heading up to the summit. Admittedly, I was quite nervous that this hike would be as challenging as Saturday’s. I think we were all pretty nervous.
Thankfully, this hike got off to a much better and more leisurely start. It wasn’t until the mid-point of our ascent to the summit that it became challenging. First of all, there were a lot of loose rocks on the trail, which makes it hard to find your footing sometimes. This was particularly true on the fringes of the path. Second of all, we were at an elevation of about 8,000 feet, which is a challenging environment for people not accustomed to the altitude. Nevertheless, I still felt much better throughout this hike than our first hike Saturday. The scenery throughout the entire hike was impressive. Moreover, while there were plenty of people and dogs on the hike, it remained quiet and serene. There was an incredible sense of peace on the mountain.
This time we all made it to the end of the hike. The summit of Mount Ogden did not disappoint. As you looked east, you saw the Great Salt Lake and Ogden. We even saw where we had hiked the day before. As we looked to the West, we saw the lake, national forest and several mountains. A top the summit, it was breezy and comfortable. Goalielocks found the perfect place to soak in the majesty of the mountain, while we finished the hike. Naturally, we all felt a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in completing the hike. While this hike had some difficult points, it was well worth the views afforded at the top of the summit. We will be going back.
Afterward we headed back to the AirBnB to change, so we could head to the mall and grab some lunch. Comparatively speaking, the mall was rather lackluster to our malls in South Florida. Nonetheless, it provided a good indoor activity when the heat of the day was at its peak. We also explored several cool stores and boutiques that we’ve never seen before, which was fun. For dinner, we headed East to Taggerts, which has been an institution in the Morgan Canyon for over a century. The service was quick, my soup was delicious and the burger didn’t disappoint.
We ended our day by dropping Jake back off at base, so he could be ready for work today. Our night ended comparatively early last night because we were all utterly exhausted. In fact, two of the three kids traveling with me are still sleeping. It’s almost 11:00 am here, so I’ll probably wake them up in a few minutes. However, after all of our activities over the last two days, I’m glad they’re sleeping in and catching up on some rest.
*I finished The Song of the Lark, by Willa Cather last night. Tonight I’m starting North & South by Elisabeth Gaskells.
*We are headed to Pineview Reservoir for some new adventures
*I’m going with Jake to buy a car tonight.
*Morning and afternoon meditation
*The truth is I’m looking forward to another day of adventure.
*We’re heading back to 25th Street for dinner at a cool burger place.
*Today my hubby sent me the best picture of my sweetAnakin.
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Last year was full of major milestones for our family with Jake’s graduation, start of college and the Mayors’ completion of elementary school. It was a lot of big changes for our family, so much so that I completely forgot about this year’s forthcoming milestones. Yep, this year Goalielocks will finish middle school and get his learner’s permit. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot! Can somebody stop time?
Last month, we completed the choice program application for his high school program. Like his middle school program, he’s looking to continue in the medical choice program. I still can’t believe that he’ll be starting high school. It’s absolutely insane, but the scarier part is that he’ll be driving.
Its scary enough having one teen driver in the house. Honestly, I’m not sure my heart, stomach and pocket book can handle another teen driver. I hope my neighbors are prepared as well. I have a new respect for what my brothers and I put my parents through when we were first driving. Moreover, in South Florida you have the added worry of your teen driver having to contend with elderly driving and other crazy South Florida drivers. In good news, once you learn to drive here, I’m pretty sure you could drive anywhere and feel comfortable.
Meanwhile, I started my 14 day vegan meal program that I purchased off of Groupon. The meal plan from the Vegan Garden comes with 14 breakfast and 14 dinners. Tonight’s breakfast was a chocolate muffin, which was very yummy. If I hadn’t bought it as a part of a vegan meal plan, I wouldn’t have known it was vegan. My dinner was a great dish of spaghetti and “meatballs.” Fortunately, the spaghetti and meatballs were absolutely yummy. In addition to being flavorful, the dish was filled with protein. I complimented these meals with a vegan protein shake for lunch. After my two-week meal plan is over, I’ll give you a full review and run down on the Vegan Garden meal plans.
Tonight’s song performed by Simon and Garfunkel is “Mrs. Robinson.” I had to choose a song with the legendary Paul Simon as he announced his farewell tour today. P..S. The pics are some of my favorites of the boys and my dad from our trip to Norway. My dad taught my brothers and I how to drive as well as Jake. I hope he’s ready for his new student Goalielocks!
It was back to a life in the box for me as we headed to Coral Springs for the Mayor’s two games. It’s never dull in the sin bin that is for darn sure. I wasn’t that too busy in the first game, but the second game was different. The first game we got off to a bit of a slow start and ended up losing 5-3. Certainly, it would have been nice to win that one as it would have sealed a state tournament berth.
While the Hubby headed back north to take Goalielocks to his practed, I stayed in Springs with my Mayor. We grabbed a quick bite in between games at McDonald’s for him and Dunkin for me. I needed to ensure I had my pre-game coffee, so I wouldn’t mess up the mojo. I had drunk my morning coffee at home instead of the rink per usual, so naturally that’s probably what messed up the morning game. It’s a good thing us hockey moms aren’t superstitious or anything.
I grabbed my coffee and some oatmeal. It was my first time trying Dunkin’s oatmeal and I have to say it was pretty darn good. Fortunately, both McDonald’s and Dunkin are close to the rink, so we had no trouble getting back to the rink in time. As we waited around for the game to start, we were discussing our path to the state tournament. If we had won in the morning, we would have qualified. Since we lost however, our team’s fate was in the hands of another team. Needless to say, it is always better to be in control of your own destiny.
As the zambonis took to the ice, I headed over to my place in the sin bin. As they finished cleaning the ice, both teams and referees were ready to start the game. I looked around and there was no score keeper to be seen. Both referees tried to reach someone unsuccessfully to find a score keeper. Consequently, yours truly ended up being the scorekeeper.
I have to say, I truly sympathize with the scorekeepers now. There’s a lot going on and the whole thing isn’t setup for a lefty. The refs said I would start the game and not to worry about the penalties and such, but that wasn’t exactly accurate. If you didn’t put the penalties up, you had to do the backwards math yourself. No thank you! Additionally, ladies there’s a reason men don’t like to read instructions. Most of the time the instructions are poorly written or leave out key steps – as was the case with adding penalties to the clock.
Fortunately, I had mostly figured it out (penalties included) by the end of the first period. I am pretty sure, however, that the score sheets are made for people with 20/20 vision and super small and perfect writing. Sadly, I fall into neither of those categories, which made filling out the score sheet quite the adventure. By the third period, we were on run time, which made my life a bit easier. Meanwhile, the Hubby is texting for updates and getting radio silence. There was no way I could text and score keep all at once.
We ended up winning the game 9-1, but we lost one of our players in the process. Late in the first, one of our D-men was checked and flew head first into the boards. Can I tell you how scary that was? From where we were sitting in the box, we could tell he was out cold. Unfortunately, he ended up having to be transported to the hospital with a concussion. It was certainly a very scary situation. Thankfully, his mom just updated all of us and let us know that he’s home and will be okay. Thank goodness!
Post game, we ended up watching another U-12 A game as it would decide our fate. Like I said, it is always better to decide your own fate than to leave it in somebody else’s hands. It was nerve wracking and up to 23.7 seconds left in the 3rd it looked like our season would end early. Only at 23.6 seconds, the Panthers scored a goal and sealed our fate. Our squad is going to SAHOF!!!! I couldn’t be happier for this team. They work so hard and play so hard for each other that it is fun to watch. Even on their worst days, they have each others’ backs. I freaking love these kids and families.
Anyway, we’ve been home for almost 3 hours and my toes are still frozen. Once that cold gets in your bones, it sure does not want to leave. I’ll be making myself some nice chamomile tea to try and warm myself up. Tonight’s song performed by PitBull, JLo and Claudia Leitte is “We Are One.” The Mayor and I listened to this song as we drove back to the rink and it is the perfect song for him and his team. Plus the hockey dads will like the samba dancers.
One of my favorite commercials, is the Snicker commercial featuring the Brady Bunch’s Marcia Brady. Marcia is so hangry that she’s morphed into a big, mean biker dude. As soon as she takes a bite of her Snickers bar, however, she turns back into the sweet all American girl we know and love. I’d be lying if I said I was any different. I would also be lying if I said that food makes me happier than coffee. I run on Dunkin.
As cranky as I can get when I’m hungry, my younger boys can be absolute curmudgeons. They’re like an 80 year old man going through puberty. Quite frankly, it’s ugly. Like the sour patch in the commercial, he goes from sugary sweet to dastardly sour.
When we were hiking on the Vindhellavegen section of the Kongsvegen, the Mayor had become hungry. As we hiked the Sverre hjornevik, one of the most picturesque parts of the trail, the Mayor’s hangriness started to peak. One problem… The trail was wide enough, but was gravelly in places. If one were to fall of the side of the road, one would fall into a rocky gorge. It wouldn’t be a good outcome.
The Mayor felt the entire mountainside from Borgund to Husom should know of his discontent. He was not quiet in sharing his displeasure. Jake and I trekked to the bottom to see Husom and take pictures, while the Mayor, Goalielocks and the Hubby waited on some benches up the hill.
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We finally made our way back up the trail, which was much steeper on the way up than it had been on the descent. The Mayor whose hangriness has reached a new level of ludicrousness was beside himself. His antics were annoying Goalielocks and Jake, leading Goalielocks to ask the Mayor if he could be any louder. This wasn’t not a good question to ask. The Mayor started to scream, shout and clap as he did a jig a la GOB from Arrested Development. Out of breath, I had to stop hiking because I was laughing too hard.
While the Mayor was attempting to annoy his brothers, the rest of us ended up in hysterics because it was truly the funniest thing we’d ever seen. This, of course, only made it worse. It wasn’t until he saw my iphone recording that he started walking normally. As soon as we got back to the Borgund Stave church and museum, we got him some food. We couldn’t unfurl the wrapper off the muffin quick enough. Once the food was on board, my sweet angelic Mayor was back.
Vacation planning for families is no joke. With a trip like that you can’t just plan things willy-nilly. When planning a big family trip, especially overseas, a lot of careful planning and consideration must go into it. We took over two years to plan the Norway trip given the cost, length of travel and number of people going. My brother took point on the itinerary booking the Norway in a Nutshell tour. Meanwhile, we booked a car and mirrored their stops.
Renting a car in Norway was fairly easy and was reasonably priced through Hertz when booked with our AAA discount. Driving in Norway was fairly easy and straight forward. The roads were significantly narrower and full of roundabouts. In stark contrast to South Florida, Norwegian drivers were adept at the roundabouts and very congenial drivers. I didn’t hear a horn once. Norwegians are serious about their speed limits with speed cameras littering their road ways. Thank God for Waze and its speed trap warnings. Waze and Apple Maps worked perfectly in Norway.
Food is ridiculously expensive in Norway no matter which route you take. MacDonald’s set us back $60 in Bergen and that was fast food. The lodging, however, was reasonably priced. Hotels were nice as they often came with a complimentary breakfast that was quite impressive. Our hotel in Trondheim, the Radisson Blu, had one of the most incredible hotel breakfasts I had ever seen. The Air BnB’s worked perfectly for our family in Oslo and Bergen. It was great to stay in the neighborhoods of these cities and away from the tourists. Near our Air BnB in Bergen there was a great local coffee shop that had the most incredible coffee and treats.
As I look to our next big trip, a couple of things I will keep in mind. First, under no circumstance will I accept a compact car at the rental counter- no way, no how. Secondly, the car was nice as it gave us a great opportunity to see the Norwegian countryside and cities, but it was slow going. Next time, I think we will look to combine car, train and boat to see more of the country. Thirdly, I will take out a second mortgage to cover the cost of food. Lastly, when abroad it is not necessary to eat enough pastries to make up for the last two carb free years. #lessonlearned
The road trips in Norway made for some priceless family moments withstanding the many frustrations we experienced. And by many, I mean three. We ended up in a compact car for the trip. Unfortunately, this didn’t afford the boys much leg room. You can imagine three boys (18, 13, and 11) trying to fit in the back of a compact car for 7 plus hours. Unfortunately, there is no room for manspreading in a compact car.
For the younger two, the trip was particularly difficult as each boy felt the other had more leg room. The argument got so heated they even broke out math: proportions. Damn freaking proportions. I couldn’t help my laughter when one began shouting at the other that their legroom was greater in proportion to their size ergo he should be able to have some of said legroom. I should point out that this was all occurring as my husband was driving on rainy, mountain road or deep within the bowels of a 15 mile long tunnel.
With the confiscation of their phones, the fighting subsiding and they started to enjoy the scenery. This was true of every drive we had in Norway. Nonetheless, we were always thrilled to get to our destination and out of the car.
When we got back to Oslo the second time, Goalielock’s and the Mayor’s toothbrush were nowhere to be found. The joke was we would have to drive back to Stavanger to get them from the hotel where we left them. Who wouldn’t want to do the 14+ hour drive to Stavanger and back? Of course we were joking. However, we had to chuckle when they woke up the next day to ask when the hubby was heading to Stavanger. Fortunately, we found the missing toothbrushes, which “saved” my hubby a trip.
There is no greater gift we can give our children than wanderlust. Wanderlust is the strong desire to travel and explore the world. Through travels and adventures our world is broadened and brightened. The opportunity to see how others live and how similar we all are is a powerful experience.
I saw this in my own kids as we traveled throughout Norway this month. At first, my younger two were obsessed with their one McDonald’s trip. They were concerned that Norwegian food would not be to their liking and they’d starve. Fortunately, they did not starve.
As luck would have it, we landed in Stavanger on the last day of Gladmat Fargegata, the largest food festival in Norway. For dinner that night, we explored the different vendors at the festival. We tried pizza, spicy tacos, waffles and Pakistani food that was absolutely delicious.
They finally cashed in their McDonald’s trip at our first dinner in Bergen. They had sweet potato fries and jalapeno poppers that were out of this world. While the chicken sandwich I had actually tasted like chicken. They quite enjoyed their trip to Norwegian McDonald’s and were hoping for at least one more. We did not give in to their continued McDonald’s craving. Mostly because we wanted them to eat local Norwegian cuisine, but also because the idea of spending $60 to eat at McDonald’s made me cringe.
My younger two are quite picky eaters, while my oldest Jake is up to try all of the local fare. We tried a number of sampler platters that showcased local foods like reindeer, whale, mussels, king crab, caviar, fish soup, pork, sausages, duck, and steak. We didn’t like everything, but at least we tried it. The Mayor had king crab and caviar in Bergen, which he liked quite a lot. Goalielocks even tried mussels, whale and reindeer, of which he liked the mussels the most.
By the time we left Norway, their palate and their worlds had opened up a bit. They enjoyed the Norwegian cuisine, their way of life and especially the Norwegians’ love of dogs. Now we’re back home wishing we could be back in Norway, but also looking forward to our next adventure.
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The daily prompt was lust, but I felt writing about wanderlust would be better than writing about my lust or desire for Norwegian pastries.
