Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon-Red Canyon

Zion National Park-South Campground

Zion National Park-Emerald Pools and River Walk Trails

Zion National Park-Angel's Landing

Zion National Park-Kolob Canyon

Southern Utah

We decided to do a road trip despite the gas prices. Crazy you say? Yep, we know. It was either expensive plane tickets, hotels, rental car, and spending money for wild adventures in Hawaii or some place exotic OR a road trip near our house. We went on the cheap-side the ventured across the Utah country side. It was well worth it. Here's a play-by-play on what we did.

Day 1: Drive, drive, drive down the I-84 to I-15. Drive some more. Snack. Drive again. Sleep at the Econo lodge.

Day 2: Get up at the crack of dawn, literally. Drive into Zion National Park via the Kolob Canyons Road interance. Ooooohhh's and aaaahhhh's come from our gaping mouths as we look at the beautiful scenery before us. Drive out of park and back into it via south entrance. Get camping spot set up in the South Campground. Cool view. See pictures. Take shuttle up to Angel's landing hiking trail (5 miles up hill the WHOLE way, last 1/2 mile is a scrambler/rock climber). Make it to top, yeah, and head back down to the Emerald pools trail (2-3 miles total, easier than angel's landing). Get back on shuttle and head to Riverside Walk trail (easy, heading to Narrows region, 2 miles total). Phew, too much walking on a VERY hot day. Feeling coated with salt and dirt about now so we head to the showers at a local bike shop and then make a little din-din before zonking out hardcore.

Day 3: Can't do Narrows hiking trail because the river is running to hard and fast so we head outta Zion for Bryce National Park via the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway. Show up in Bryce to realize it is a small area to look at and hike around. We take a minute to check out the visitors center and very quickly head out to see what's before us. Bryce is an area of HooDoos so we hike into them by the Navajo trail, Queens trail, and Rim trail (easier, about 4 miles or so total). Gerry tired of hiking by now and is looking forward to changing it up to biking soon. We decide to jet outta Bryce after a few hours and some lunch to make another long haul over to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. Drive through Capitol Reef National park on the way, cool enough. See Anasazi State Park Indian ruins to get out and stretch. We realize the back roads through rural Utah are taking FOR-EV-ER to get through (having to slow down to 30 miles per hour in every small town) and have to hotel up in a sketchy place called Green River. The only thing green in that town was the paint on the walls and the bed spreads in our hotel.

Day 4: Drive a little bit and find ourselves at the entrance of Arches National Park. VERY, VERY windy today. Sand blowing in our eye-zes. Make our way around the park by hiking several small trails to see every arch imaginable. Made sure we hiked 3 miles up to Delicate Arch, very cool. People say it's supposed to fall over in the next few years. Bummer! Bored with hiking and really want to bike with Moab nearby. Drive into Moab (all of 5 minutes away), find a camping spot, eat lunch, check out Slick Rock Trail. Finally a little mountain biking. Meet some really cool people from Seattle and hang out for awhile, talking with the sun setting.

Day 5: MAY 14th my 28th Birthday!!! We start out early and complete the Slick Rock mountain bike trail. It was a challenge for me but of course it was a piece of cake for Gerry. Could have something to do we me not biking hardly at all for the past 2 years or maybe Gerry is REALLY GOOD! Finish by noon, have a beer with a fellow biker we met on the trail (he's from Whistler, good connection for when we venture to Blackcomb on another road trip), and take a little breather. Drive up to Manti La-Sal National Forest, realize it's still snowing up there and decide NOT to camp there. Drive into Canyonlands National Park and check out many different views from scenic pullouts. Try to set up camp there but no luck, full for the night. Find a 4x4 trail and decide to give 'er a whirl. Over 20 miles later over the Shafer Trail Road and now 8:30 at night. We still don't have a place to stay. Hmmmmm, so we hi-tail it back to town (Moab) and proceed to walk into at least a dozen hotel lobbys to find they all have no vacancy. With a little help from a hotel receptionist we score a room (expensive too, ouch!) and try to find some food. Sleep very well tonight.

Day 6: Bike Klondike Bluffs trail in Moab (about 10 miles or so) and decide we are tired and ready to head north. As we drive we get all excited for our nice bed at home and the thoughts of petting our puppy again so we keep going till we reach Boise, at 9:00pm. Pick up dog from friends house, get home, unpack, shower, hit the sack.

And that's all folks!!! This concludes the dialogue of Poe Vacation 2008!

Am I really that old?

Yes, alas I am. Some of you may argue that I am mearly a youngun but I sure am feeling old. 30 is creeping up REALLY fast! AND the body just doesn't gear up like it used to, the bruises and scars don't go away as fast, and I actually think I am going to take up drinking a caffinated beverage just to get my sluggish rear going in the AM.

Thank goodness some things are looking up in my old life. My hubby surprised me with a beautiful ring that I have been drooling over for the past 5 years. Now, you gotta understand, I'm not much of a jewelry person so for me to love a single piece of hardward for this long is just not normal for me. Gerry kept asking if I still liked the ring year after year and I reassured him I did. I even found it on the cheap side on overstock.com, to Gerry's delight. It showed up via the UPS dude just before we left on a road trip to southern Utah.

Here's a picture of it. Isn't it b-e-a-utiful!

Internship Graduation 2008

I love the version of the ISU internship graduation. Instead of gowns, bad speakers, and blah, blah, blah....we do a dinner at my clinical coordinators house. It takes about 5 minutes to say our pleasantries, give gifts and hugs, and clap. Then we move on the the fun stuff like chocolate fondue, dinner on the patio, and evening jokes around a bonfire (of sorts). BTW, my clinical coordinators house is HUGE and she's a really good cook too. This definitely makes it even better. Here are pictures of my fellow interns (Angelette missing in action).

First Thursday

Boise always seems like a little town somewhere in an unpopular destination (Idaho). I think that's what all those who live in Boise want everyone to think. It's this hidden little gem (no pun intended, for those that don't know Idaho is known as "The Gem State"). Now that the Californians have discovered this great place they are bound and determined to make it just like California. This is good and bad. There are HUGE houses springing up everywhere that nobody can afford but they sure are fixing up out downtown area. This event called "First Thursday" has hit the street a few years ago and has become this great and very fun thing. Here are some pictures of the events that happen downtown Boise the first thursday of every month. It's full of food, art exhibits, shopping, dance shows, live music, etc.

I'm Done, I'm Done!!!

I thought this day would NE-VER come but alas it finally has. Yes, I am done with the RD internship and now will stop talking about it forevermore. What an adventure this year has been. Some very unexpected turn of events and many new understandings have come out of all the effort this internship took. Here's a quick re-cap....

End of July sometime 2007 - we move from Colorado Springs to Boise. Very sad to leave a great group of friends behind.

End of August - start internship, wow what did I get myself into?

Middle of October - hired on at the VA hospital, yippee! Didn't expect to stay in Idaho. We were going to move right back to Alaska in August of 2008. Guess God has other plans for us.

Beginning of November - start clinical rotation and it's a blur until February.

December-Januaryish - visit family and friends in Alaska, ahhhh thank goodness
a break!

February through May - finish up all rotations, learn alot, realize I REALLY LOVE clinical nutrition and long-term care, realize I don't fancy working in community health, can hardly wait until I am finished with "slave labor" and will be paid for my efforts.

May 5th, 2008 - DONE WITH INTERNSHIP!

Present Day - Must study for biggest exam of my life!

So here's to being done with yet another hurdle in life. I am so close to finishing up school FOREVER I can taste it. Wow what a day that will be to work, make money, save for a house....hmmmmm choices are good! Goodbye internship and so long. So sorry newly accepted interns....suckazzzz!

The countdown is almost over!

We're down to 1 more week folks!!! OMGosh, I am THUPER EXTHITED! You know what is even better? I forgot that I had a personal day to use this semester so I took my very last day off and will be done May 1st! I have many plans swirling around in my noggin for the near future. First I have to go a graduation, ugg. At least it only requires a dinner at my clinical coordinators house. No pomp, black gowns, or boring speeches. Then I will turn in everything from the internship on monday to say final goodbyes to fellow interns and ta ta to the internship FOR-EV-ER (spoken like the kid from the movie "Sandlot")!! To kick off my summer, Gerry and I are heading to southern Utah for some white water rafting, mountain biking, and hiking through Zion, Bryce, Arches, Canyonlands, and Moab. We'll keep you updated and post pictures of our roadtrip!

How many more weeks?

2 MORE WEEKS!!! It's so close I can taste it. Mmmmmmm, and it tastes sooooo good! I am done May 1 with rotations and a few more detail like graduation and last day of class stuff after that. Can't wait till it's all said and DONE!!!

3 More Weeks!!!

Woo Hoo!!! It seems like the weeks keep-a-flyin' and I get a little more giddy each time another saturday shows up. Aaaaahhhh, I get two days break and, oh yeah, I only have 3 more weeks before my life is back to being mine. Well, almost. I still have to study for a really nasty board exam but let's forget about that just for a moment. I want to revel in the thought of fininshing up the internship and having the whole summer break to do what I will. So, it's not really going to be that way but at least I can imagine! Here's to finishing yet another life goal and moving on to what God has yet in store for us!

Guess what...only 4 more weeks!

Yep, only 4 more weeks until I am finished with this internship. I am REALLY trying to be patient but it seems that a bit of "senior-itis" has fallen upon me.

Let the count down begin...

Somebody put this on record...I only have 5 more weeks of this internship!!! Let the count down begin as things get to winding down. I am done May 5th and can hardly wait!

More card ideas!

I just love Stampin' Up!

I don't know about any of you, but when I need some down time I either go running in the hills with my pup or get lost in another craft project. For some time now I've been such a NUT about Stampin' Up! Have you heard of it? It's company that sells all kinds of gismos and gadgets for making cards, scrapbooks, decorative boxes, albums, you name it. As I am into making cards and scrapbooking, it's perfect. In fact, today I went to a "stamp camp". This is where a demonstrator makes examples of cards and cuts out all the paper n' accessories then you assemble them and voila...you have a cute card to mail to someone. Anyhoo, here are some card ideas for any of you interested.

Pictures of my truck blunder

Truck blunder

I know that most of you reading this have had a blunder with your vehicle once in your lifetime. Well I had my first major blunder (and probably not the last, unfortunately) and I almost cried. So here's the details of my very silly and retarted accident. I pulled into an alcove, that I thought was the entrance to a gas station but was not, so I was forced to pull a tight u-turn around a pole. This pole happened to be a billboard pole that had an electrical box attached. Unfortunately I didn't see the box and it scratched a huge gash along the bed of my truck. Now I feel VERY stupid! Thankfully our insurance is covering all the damages and our rates won't go up. Phew. So, check out my handy work.

Wondering where I've been???

So I know it's been about a month since I've written anything and for that I apologize. It's been a busy month. I was in my second round of in-patient clinical rotations and it was a doozy! My brain is pooped and ready for a siesta! On top of all of this I got sick. No just once or twice, but THREE times! Yes, I said three. First I got a strange bacteria infection that acted much a like a cold but wasn't. About 3-4 days after I got better, I then got the Rhinovirus. This time it was a cold, but I'm guessing it was a super-version of the virus because I still have it. Some where in the middle of having a cold, I caught a nosocomial infection. (I got it in the hospital) It was either the Norovirus, very nasty, kills most elderly and stays around for a long time OR it was gastroenteritis, also very nasty but lasts up to a week. Luckily, I only got gastroenteritis and had some lovely nausea, vomiting, and, yes, diarrhea. Fun stuff. I gotta be honest, I'm ready to not be sick. All this makes me question how healthy I am, or not! I know I've been under a lot of stress but come on! I guess it's a little reality check that I need to start working out again, dust off the vitamins above the fridge, and take a chill pill! Now this said, I think I should go take Jasper for a run. It's a nice day and who knows if its gonna rain tomorrow! : )

Poor puppy!!!

Yesturday our puppy, Jasper, was in the back yard doing what he does best...playing! When I went out to get him he had discovered a way to escape and I found him bounding around the empty lot behind our house. The sneeky little guy had sniffed his way out by a little crack between the neighbors fence and our spruce tree! I brought him back in and found that his right, front paw was bleeding. Oh great, I thought! Good thing I had just contacted a vet the day before. Alas, he cut the skin between his paws pretty badly and needed some fixing. This is what he looks like for the next week. Poor pathetic puppy!

A weekend full of Estrogen!!!

Last weekend a bunch of us girls that attended Ecola Bible School in 2000-2001 got together for a weekend to reconnect and have some fun. Many of us are living in different places, are married, and some even have kids. Many of these gals I haven't seen in SEVEN YEARS!!! It was a great time of encouragement. It was a great time to talk remenisce about the "good ol' days". It was just a great time! Enjoy the photos.

A new addition to our family!

Hi everyone! We finally did it....we got a dog! After much diliberation about whether or not we should pay big bucks for a pure bread boxer or dachshund, we decided to save a poor soul at the Idaho Humane Society. Alas, we now have a mutt that is 100% who-knows-what. They say he's a border collie/pitt bull terrier mix but we're guessing that's not the case. Your guess is as good as ours when it comes to his little guy but he sure does have personality. He came with all sorts of bonuses too, like vaccinations, kennel/potty training, tags, etc. He's fit right into our routine and we love him all ready. So everyone, here's Jasper!!!