Since We're Back

I figure that, being back in Utah now, it is an appropriate time to share the following pictures / events from before the move.

Item the first: Hikes!  My sister Mandy and I went up Big Cottonwood Canyon to the Mill D trailhead back early May (I think).  This trailhead leads to both Dog Lake (~1.5 miles) and Desolation Lake (~3.5 miles).  We had planned to go to Dog Lake because we didn't have a lot of time, and began our trek up towards the lake.  About 100 feet up the trail, we met the first patch of snow, followed by more dirt trail, followed by another snow patch, etc.  Eventually we got to a point where everything was covered by snow that was at least 3 or 4 feet deep.  The temperature up there was perfect--nice and cool, but not too cold.  Unfortunately, hiking through snow is significantly more difficult than just a trail.

Nothing there to provide scale, but trust me, it was deep.

After arriving at the junction where the trails to Dog and Desolation Lakes diverged, we decided to turn around.  And it turned out that hiking downhill in snow is even tougher than hiking uphill.  About every eighth step, we sank five or so inches into the snow.  

After a couple more months, Mandy was back in town and we decided to go hiking again, and make it one of the lakes.  Kelli didn't have work that day, so she came along with us for an extra fun sibling activity.  No snow on the trail this time, which was very nice.  After arriving at the junction, we decided to push on to Desolation Lake.  It was a beautiful day and the trees were gorgeous--perfect conditions for a morning hike.  We all got a little tired towards the top, but were really happy when we arrived at the lake.

We only saw one other person up at the lake, but he was crazy enough that he was worth it.  Dude seemed like a pretty outdoorsy fellow--was toting around a large backpack that looked well provisioned--but had disobey several posted signs that prohibit pets (because it's a watershed area).  He had his dog with him and tried to keep it hidden as he packed up.  He didn't stick around long once we arrived.

We had a great time together and loved being up there.  And for now, this is where we finish because it's almost 11:30 which is like 1:30 for my body clock.  Not to mention that we had a long day yesterday (more about that in Sunday's post).  More mountainy stuff to share, and it may show up tomorrow in a super special Thursday post.

A sampling of Ohio restaurants

In the approximately week or so that we have been in Ohio, we have had some opportunities to eat out.  This is where I share with you, the reader, the results of said opportunities and my reviews of the food / restaurants.

Unfortunately, there were no Robin burgers on the menu.
(Image h/t Charlie's Bird Blog)

Red Robin: (Yes, this is not just an Ohio place--in fact, I have lived many years within the vicinity of a RR.  But we still ate here in Ohio, so there.)  Many moons have passed since my previous visit to this place (maybe as an 8 year old with gma and gpa?).  We went while mom and sisters were still here as a partial celebration of mom's b-day and as a thank you for their help.  They have a huge selection of burgers and other foods that I didn't pay much attention to.  My pub burger was tasty, but not as good as Jess's Whiskey River BBQ burger.  Fries were pretty good, but flipping hot.  A little on the pricey side for weekly excursions by students, but a fine celebratory location.  They also came and sang for mom and brought her some free ice cream.  And then when our server found out about mom's chocolate allergy, she brought out a large cup of vanilla soft serve and let us keep the first chocolatey sundae.  Woohoo!  Great service, very happy wait staff, and pretty good food.

A slider
Image h/t Wikipedia

White Castle: *shudder*  We have one of these close to our current place of residence, and I had heard of them before, so we decided to give them a try last weekend.  We got a bag of 10 cheeseburger "sliders."  A slider is a burger about the diameter of a hockey puck, and itty bitty guy that is so greasy it makes the bun soggy and causes the burger to slide right down your gullet.  I think we both plan to avoid this restaurant in the future, and I would happily suggest that you do, too.  Don't feel bad about not having them in Utah--you're better off for it.

This is Moose, who looks just like
Raising Cane, the restaurant's mascot.

Raising Cain: This is a chicken finger joint that has locations all over the US, but mostly in the South.  Closest locations to UT are in Nevada and Colorado, but we have several scattered throughout Columbus.  We came here at the recommendation of some friends in the ward, and were rather pleased with the food here.  The menu is simple, kind of like In-n-Out.  Basically you choose how many chicken fingers you want, and whether you want them on a kaiser bun or with toast on the side.  My sandwich was delicious, with moist chicken that was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.  The fries were ok, but nothing special.  Crinkle-cut, they seemed a lot like the crinkle fries you buy frozen in a bag and cook at home like tater tots.  Jess got the fingers with toast on the side, and the toast was pretty amazing.  Thick bread, yummy garlic butter and spices on it.  Mmm.  They also have a special Cane sauce, which seems like fry sauce plus some garlic powder, salt, pepper, and perhaps a couple other seasonings.  Not quite as good as Wingers (sticky fingers win), but 3 or 4 bucks cheaper per plate.  We'll probably be back.

Cuzzins: We found a fro-yo shop here that is self-serve like the billions back in Provo.  A little less selection of flavors (I think they had 8 or 10 vs 14 or 16 at other places), but still tasty and still sold by the oz.  42 cents per oz instead of 38, but still reasonable.  We scored a sweet coupon from the local paper that got us a free yogurt last night, which was awesome.  Jess indicates that we'll definitely be back.

We plan to continue to explore the local food, and there are plenty of cool places to choose from nearby.

Mov-ed

We've finally arrived in Ohio, and things have been kind of crazy--mostly with finding places for our stuff, finding new stuff to find places for (see Jess's posts about couch, washer and dryer, end table, etc), exploring Columbus, and getting settled in.

Because we spent the week before the move packing, the week of the move driving, and the week after finding places for stuff, blogging took a back seat.  Had I been a truly prepared blogger, I would have had some posts in the pipe so that it wouldn't have appeared to be any different from normal.  I am not a truly prepared blogger. But this post is essentially a notice that the posts should be back on schedule (Sun and Wed nights) starting Sunday.

That is all.

Dive! Dive!

As I mentioned previously, Jess purchased a pass for an exploratory dive lesson at Dive Utah for me for Fathers Day.  We bought another pass for my brother as a graduation / birthday / getting caught up on whatever else we owed him gift.  Dive Utah was offering to extend the same special price to anyone else who wanted to come along with us, so my sister joined us, too.

Once we arrived, a nice guy named Doyle had us fill out some release forms and then took us back to a classroom where he explained what SCUBA stands for (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) and that the most important thing in SCUBA is to just keep breathing.  We got our equipment, hopped in the pool, and learned how to clear and breathe through the regulator, how to purge the mask, and how to equilibrate the pressure so your head doesn't feel like imploding.

After learning the basics, we swam over to the 12 ft deep portion of the pool, where we hung out underwater, tossed little dive toys at each other (harder than you'd think underwater), and enjoyed the fact that we were breathing in a place that previously was only accessible with the price of intense inner ear pain and aching lungs.  A very cool experience in all, and something that I think I'd like to pursue later in life.  Only bummer was that I felt a little dizzy when we were all done.  Small price to pay.

Here's the video summary:

(From The Life Aquatic, one of my favorite edited movies. My apologies about the poor video quality.)