the rest of the story

I've definitely waited to long and all interest has been lost - except a friend reminded me I never finished this story. Well, I went through the nudie-scanner and was told I needed to be checked out. eep! It turns out the lady needed to pat...my HAIR! It was a very respectful pat. No cupping of the scalp. Gloves worn. etc. etc.

I documented my hair do that morning. It is a french braid with a little extra fluff thanks to being slept on the previous night. And now you know the rest of the story.

okay, not quite as cursed as i thought

But, still cursed enough to hopefully never own a house on a septic tank.

So, yes, the yard was dug up, but for now it's not as bad as I thought. For now at least.

I was told that the main pipe from the house to the septic does need to be replaced, but the blockage is cleared.

So only the shower needs to be sanitized. And there is a medium sized hole in the front yard. It could have been a lot worse. Mmmhmm.

i swear i'm cursed

The septic demons strike again.

But at least the tank was easy to locate this time.

ugh.

It all started with a clogged toilet, that backed up into the shower, which resulted in the front yard being partially dug up.

Wait, you say. Isn't it Thanksgiving?

Why yes.

So the bathroom will be out of commission for at least all day tomorrow. Maybe more.

But in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I will instead give thanks that at least the guy who came out was able to locate the tank access, so the entire yard will not have to be dug up.

And thankfully the backup occurred after I had showered for the day.

awesome.

excuses excuses

So, its been over five weeks since I posted anything.

First, it was because I was finishing classes.
And then I said it was because I was packing. I moved out of my apartment, and into a friend's sister's house. (Yay! for a real house!)
Then, I travelled cross country with a kitty. Thankfully he was quite good, and I didn't have to go to jail for animal cruelty.
After I hiked through the Grand Canyon.
Then I did laundry because I don't like luggage-y smelling clothes.
Now, I'm slowly putting the Utah house in order post-renters. My room and bathroom and the wash area are done.
Yesterday I helped the wee-one, Alejandro, learn to like grass.
I've now started on the books and the dishes.

And that's today's status.

As I write there's a little black kitty snuggled up against me.


Later you will here about the books I've read, and the canyons I've hiked.

Until then, adieu.

backpacking: part 2

Here is the final installment of the Amethyst Lake adventure.


Horrible self-portrait. This is what the cold lake water did to it, though, very curly.


The puppy who we tired out.


Blue-green lake we camped by.


Down hill action shot.


Crossing one of the many boggy areas. From left to right, you see Eric, Steph, Jim, Mel and pup-pup in there somewhere. This was the typical line-up until I decided I was not using the great outdoors one more time as a necessary. A thought that I had never thought would cross my mind did: An outhouse is a luxury!


Where the trail paralleled a river for a while on the descent.


Leaving/Entering the Wilderness area. In this instance: leaving.


Meadow pictures





The aftermath. I didn't even try to count all the mosquito bites!

backpacking: part 1

I got to go backpacking for the first time in eleven years with friends Melanie and Stephanie and their husbands. Oh, and Sunny! the border collie pup.

We went to Amethyst Lake, in the High Uintas. The husbands picked the route. They did warn us that the second half raised in elevation quite a bit in a short distance, but we paid them no heed.

I have a very hard time going up hill. I tried to not complain. I like to think that I didn't too much.... However, when we came to a lake that wasn't Amethyst, but was nice, I decided that I was going no further. Yet, this turned out to be a good thing, because we found a great campsite that was out of the way, and some ready-made rock furniture that the llama bearing ranger told us we needed to disassemble upon departure.


Amethyst Lake



Mel at the Lake
She and Stephanie got in their skivvies and went for a short swim. I sat and took pictures of said swim. I did dunk my head into the water, but that was cold enough for me. Notice the snow in the first picture!


Trees






The scenery was glorious! It was very difficult in choosing which angles to take the pictures at, for no angle did anything justice.

quotations

Well, my adventure has begun. For my fearless readers, I will someday post pictures from my summer adventures. But, my week journey that will encompass 12 states. For entertainment purposes, I am dragging along my friend Kate.

A fun introduction to our adventure:

When finding out that a road changed names upon crossing an intersection:

"Bastards."

This will be a fun journey!


Her side:
In my defense we had gone around three times and half the circle is one name, and the other half is another name. You think you're going somewhere, but you're really not. And, our map didn't have those street names anyway.

Kate is hungry.

I shall leave you now.