haphazard musings

And we're back.

Back to our regularly scheduled program.  I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend - we sure did, but that's later.  Last time, I was telling you about the trip to Utah. For a recap, scroll down. I do believe this is the last post on the topic.  I bet you are all pretty excited. :)

After rafting, we headed into Salt Lake City for the afternoon and evening.  We started out at the Great Salt Lake.  If you have never been there it is an odd site.  Beautiful, but oh so unique.

  

I kind of like it in the sepia tone also...

 

According to the Great Salt Lake radio station, the water there can be 8 times as salty as the ocean.  Its pretty thick.  It can only support life in the form of brine shrimp and brine flies.  They were nasty and covered the beach.  Its really kind of weird to be at such a vast water source that is so barren and dead really.  We walked out to the edge of the water - no way was I going in - not at all.  It just looked stagnant - and it is.  While there are rivers flowing into it, nothing is flowing out.  The only way for it to drain is evaporation.  

Interestingly, there is an island in the middle of it - it is about 42 square miles.  Its huge!  Its called Antelope Island.  That's where we went.  It is home to a buffalo ranch since the 1890's and that's about it.  It also has big horn sheep, antelope (obviously), and bobcats.  I know how the bison got there (on a boat - they are not indigenous - there was a sign).  But what I want to know is how did the big horn sheep get to an island in the middle of the lake?  I would guess that they didn't swim...hmm...any ideas?

Anyway, here are a few more shots (you can click on them to see a bigger version).

    

The pronghorn antelope and a "beach" scene.  Both of these are looking across the lake toward Salt Lake City.  If you make the one on the right bigger, you might be able to see some of the downtown buildings just to the right of center.

    

Like I said, beautiful!

So then we went into the city for dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse - this was our fancy night out - meaning it was expensive and it was the only time we did that. : )  It was all you can eat.  Steak, pork, chicken, shrimp, and pineapple - basically anything you can grill!  The pineapple was definitly my favorite - we are going to try it at home.  Basically, you take fresh pineapple, roll it in brown sugar and grill.  Basically, its what I think Heaven could possibly taste like.  You have to try it.  There was a huge buffett loaded with side dishes and desserts.  Plus the waiters came around and cut you off a piece of meat.  Its called Tucanos.

    

Next we walked around the downtown and viewed all the Church of Latter-Day Saints buildings.  Awesome in size and beauty, but unfortunatley, they remind of a song by Andrew Peterson - All Things New.  It has a line - Rise up o sleeper, awake.  Anyway, just listen to it.  It fits.

   

   

   

Ok, so I have a slight obsession with architetcural details like that awesome fence.  Seriously, it was beautiful!  Also, I love fountains.  I have like a hundred pictures of various fountains.  I just love the way the water looks when its caught in motion.  I love seeing the individual drops and seeing the splash frozen in time - whoa sorry, getting caught up. : )  Also the building has a reflection of the tabernacle with the rosey sunset.  Kinda cool!

So, that's the last post from Utah.  What a trip.  Happy Times.

#82 - Day trip.

Last Friday, I went with the United Way director in McPherson to Dodge City to meet with some other United Way directors.  Since everyone has asked, according to the GPS we took along, it takes 2.5 hours to reach Dodge City from Mac.  So yes, it was a long day.  We had some time for business talk and I was able to come away with some new thoughts and ideas.

However, that is not what this post is about.  This post is about some of the sights I saw there.  I have never actually stopped in Dodge other than at the McDonald's on our way to somewhere else.  So this was a little bit of an adventure.

We had lunch at the restaurant inside the Boot Hill museum, it was pretty good.  Boot Hill, by the way, was the local cemetery for people who died with their boots on...meaning in a gun fight.

And then we toured the museum a little.  Boot Hill is all about the Old West life style.  Apparently back in the day, it was a huge boom town for three reasons:
1) buffalo - over 800,000 or something like that were killed by the 1870's;
2) the Sante Fe Trail - major pit stop for trail riders;
and 3) cows - yep.  Dodge was know for the longhorn cattle that came up from Texas.

  

The museum was dedicated to the days of yore.  Whatever that means.  But it was kind of fun. :)   Unfortunately, we missed the shoot out.  Everyday at noon - they have a shoot out.  Now that's my kind of fun for sure!  So watch out if you ever go there, for Ed Masterson, Wyatt Erp and the infamous Billy the Kid.

I love old stuff...this piano rocks my socks off.  And that lamp, which used to be a  gas lamp has the most beautiful painting on it.  I would love one of those.

 

That kid sized buggy is too funny.  I love it.  Then there was this amazing bar.  Look at that woodworking and it was the actual bar from one of the original saloons.  There is also another one of those gas lights.

It was definitely an interesting day.  If you are looking for a fun day trip, I would recommend it.  We enjoyed our time.  Plus it wasn't very expensive.  So you should check it out sometime.

Well...

perhaps you are tiring of the African trip, but please note, the need to post these stories rather than other more current thoughts and observances, only alludes to the un-exciting-ness of these miserably hot summer days.  How can fun and exciting things happen when no one wants to leave the house I ask?  Anyway, on to the tale!

In case you need to be refreshed, our last stop was Durban the big port city.  We then traveled to the interior of the country - to the Drakensberg mountains.  They stretch for 620 miles north to south across the country.  They also are home to the country of Lesotho (Le-sue-too) we also visited a village there. 

If you recall, I like to take sun pictures.  I really like this one.  But then I like the second one too, just after the sun went behind the mountain.

 

Now back to the story.  While in the Drakensberg region, we stayed at a hostel that was literally in the middle of no where.  The pictures above were taking outside the door of our room.  Yep a clear view for miles in all directions.  It was the only place to eat for farther than we could walk - luckily they had great food.  I became addicted to grilled cheese while I was there by the way - its CHEAP and realatively fillings.  For some reason it just tasted better in Africa.  Wierd, huh?  We luckily had a little time to rest while at this hostel.  Every where else was run, hurry, run, but here is was the slow life for sure.  We spent an entire afternoon poolside (yep they had a pool too) and just caught up with one another.  It was so relaxing.  But the next day was not.

Let me tell you what.  The next day was some seriously hard work.  We literally climbed a mountain.  Didn't know I could do that, but we sure did.  According to the guide, we reached over 9,000 feet.  But we started around 3,000 feet high.  So the guide to us this is an easy hike, anyone can do it.  No worries. 

He lied.

Big time.

So we were hot and sweaty in the blazing sun, suffering from slight alititude sickness (headaches & dizzieness) and basically rock climbing part of the way.  Oh yes, I have never been so sore and exhausted in my life.  I wish the pictures could do it justice.

   

        Before - ah smiling faces.                                                        Going Up - can you see where we are headed?

     

      Where we've been.                                                                       Where we're going - like I said, rock climbing.

While it may seem like a quick trip, just looking at the pictures, it took about 4 hours to reach this point.  The top.  Its called the amphitheater.  The valley is open on one side and enclosed on the other three creating a theater effect.  Unfortunately, I could get it in one shot.  They don't make wide angle point and shoots. :) Then we began our journey to the waterfall.  Turns out that even those it is one of the world's tallest waterfalls, it is only ranked as that about 6 months of the year.  Yep. 

IT WAS DRY.

Completely.

Six months of the year the river and falls are completely and utterly dry.  That's why is 2nd only 6 months of the year. Bummer, but I must say, the view as seen above was beautiful nonetheless.  Looking back now,  despite my ridiculous exhaustion at this point, I remember think whoa...God is so cool.  He created this.  And here I am complaining that I had to climb it to see it.  So, now that I can say it with a true heart, thank you for the chance to witness YOUR creation in a whole new way.  God you are good.

It took another 2 hours to get down.  Yes it was a lot faster - this is why:

   

 
We went straight down.  There were three sets of ladders to climb down.  It was possibly the scariest thing I have ever done.  I am not terribly fond of ladders in the first place, so the idea of climbing one that was chain, on the side of a cliff, with 30 mile an hour winds was not my idea of a good time.  Nope.  But I made it.  I even went first.

That pretty much wraps up our trip to the Drakensberg mountains.  On our next flash back, we will be taking a horse trail (but not on a horse) into Lesotho.  Until then happy travels.

Flashback Tuesday?

Well, I've never heard of flashback tuesday, but that's what its going to be today.  I am working on a fun project at home.  It has to do with all my favorite photos!  So here are some from my trip to Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, GA with my mom back in college.  Ok, so really that wasn't so long ago - 3 years.  But man a lot has changed since then.  We had a great time, I really hope we get to take some more mother daughter trips in the future.

  

On a beautiful Southern plantation...wish I could remember the name.  I just love this photo, but I can't decide which is better: sepia or color.

 

I was absolutely in love with the trees.  They are called live oaks.  Apparently they grow year around, unlike ours here that only grow in spring and summer.  Either way they are hundreds of years old.  I love old stuff.

 

And oh, the gardens.  We were there during our spring break - so March.  And everything was already blooming and beautiful.  In that last photo, that tree actually blooms in three, yes 3, colors (red, white, pink).  The tour guide said it was one in a million - well no she didn't, but it was some really fancy statistic anyway.

I hope you enjoyed our trip to Charleston.  Mom, will you pay for the next trip too, or am I on my own?