Rim-to-Rim

You know that moment when all of a sudden, out of the blue, you and your best friend have the same days off work so you feel the NEED to go on a fun adventure? Well Chris and I had that moment. And decided to take a spontaneous trip to the Grand Canyon...and hike rim-to-rim.

We didn't have much time to prepare for this endeavor so we simply ran to the grocery store to get some goods, packed our bags and made a plan that went like this: drive to the Grand Canyon and then hike. After a quick post-work nap we left at 1am on Wednesday for our grand adventure.  During the drive I learned a few things about my husband, #1 he knows every word to every Celine Dion song ever written and has the vocal chords to attempt to hit them and #2 he has a theory that if you sing as loud and as ugly as you can then you will sound exactly like Guns N' Roses and can sing along to any of their songs (I tested this theory and he's on to something big). When we came to the crossroads of the sign that said "North Rim <- South Rim ->" we took a wild guess and decided to start at the South Rim, just because.

Thanks to a time zone change - which we totally forgot was going to happen or we would have slept in longer than 1am - we arrived at the Grand Canyon just as the first light was coming up. It's a little surprising, because you're driving in a fairly flat desert--and then suddenly--the world drops off in front of you. It was amazing to watch the sunrise, especially since all the other tourists were sleeping--giving us the opportunity to feel some solitude. We then headed to the backcountry office right as they opened to see if we could get a permit to camp inside of the Grand Canyon at some point that weekend. As you can well imagine, those permits are hard to come by and we had no such luck. This lead to our decision to spend the day seeing sights around the visitors center, and then begin hiking the next morning across the canyon in a day.

Snapped this photo just as a thunderstorm rolled in.

We had fun playing tourist, but definitely felt like we were missing something as we stood at the edge of the canyon looking down. It felt too "Disneyland-ish" and void of the awe factor we had been expecting. Knowing that we needed more out of our Grand Canyon experience we went to bed early to catch a good night's rest before our big hike the next day.

Our alarms woke us up at 3:30am so we could take down camp, catch the first shuttle to the trailhead, and start hiking down Bright Angel Trail by 4:45. The descent into the canyon was spectacular! The farther we hiked, the larger the canyon became, and we finally felt like we were really seeing it. We hiked. And hiked. When we felt like we had to be at the bottom of the canyon there was another canyon wall to descend. When we finally got down to the Colorado River we felt a pang of longing, as we know we will never really feel like we've experienced the Grand Canyon until we've rafted it (mark my words--one day it will happen). The bottom of the canyon was stunning with the black granite, refreshing creeks, and a surprising amount of shade.

It wasn't long after we got to the bottom that we realized we should have planned our trip better, or rather at all--as going south to north meant that about a quarter of our hike was downhill and the rest was going to be uphill. But an uphill battle wouldn't stop us as we continued on. We hiked. And hiked. Annnnnnd hiked. We saw a lot of pretty things along the way, but mostly we just dripped in sweat and thought about how smart everybody else was who we met who had trained for this hike and had daypacks instead of full overnight packs. Since we hadn't planned our hike in advance, we carried all our camping gear to stay at the North Rim. Let me tell you - the size of your pack makes a big difference.

As we approached the north rim we were blown away with how different the terrain was from the south rim. We were no longer in Visitor Center chaos of the desert but had entered a much less populated and beautiful Aspen forest. We were lucky to be able to walk up and get a tent spot in the "hiker/biker communal site." After a quick dinner we crashed and slept like rocks throughout the night.

"We made it!" thumbs up.

Chris threw together the video below, pretty much summing up our big hike.

                                   

When our legs wouldn't move in the morning, Chris opted to take the shuttle back to the south rim to pick up our truck. During his long drive I made fast friends with some neat hikers who were in the communal site. When Chris got back we drove to Page, Arizona, where we had a big all-you-can-eat Chinese dinner and found a campsite near Horseshoe Bend. We were too tired to set up our tent so we just laid our sleeping bags in the truck bed and crashed like we had never slept before.

When Saturday rolled around we once again woke up at a ghastly hour (though slightly later than the previous two days) and drove to Horseshoe Bend to see the sunrise. Our tired legs hobbled the longest quarter mile we have ever experienced to the overlook. Once again our planning, or lack thereof, shone through as the sun rose in the opposite direction of the Horseshoe Bend overlook! Regardless,  it was a scenic and peaceful morning. We met a sweet couple from Japan who Chris offered to take some pictures for. The husband then gave me a small pillow to sit on so I wouldn't have to sit on the cold hard rock, and then insisted I keep the pillow (which had tags in Japanese!) when we left. It was such a kind gesture, and was a wonderful reminder of how little acts of kindness can brighten somebody's day.

When we were done taking pictures we limped back to the truck, began singing a mix of Celine Dion and Guns N' Roses, and headed back home (where we agreed that upon return we would do nothing other than eat and lay in bed for the foreseeable future).

Remember to pray and remember to play,

But really just remember to plan your vacations,

Mr. & Mrs. Our-Legs-Ache-Andrew

Crusin' around California

After spending a great Easter weekend in Fortuna, Dani and I headed down to Rancho Cordova to visit Dani's Grandpa Goss. It was great to meet him and listen to his fascinating stories from when he met and dated grandma, his time in the military, his travels, and teaching.

Monday morning we met up with Dani's cousin Camille and went ziplining through the redwoods. It was a first time for both of us and we had a blast! It was a lot of fun hanging out with Camille too and getting to know her.

The next day Grandpa took us to go visit grandma's gravesite. She passed away in 2010, but Dani always had a special relationship with her as she grew up. Having been born in California, Dani was grandma's "Little California Girl." I really enjoyed getting to know and spending time with Grandpa Goss.

Our next stop was Stockton, one of the areas where I served as a missionary. We stopped by to visit the Zunigas, a family I helped to teach and baptize. When I met them in 2012, the mother, Cynthia, had been less active in the church, and my companion and I baptized her husband and their oldest daughter. Now Edgar, the father, has baptized his two sons when they turned 8 and blessed his three youngest daughters! It is the greatest feeling as a returned missionary to know that your converts are continuing to be faithful to the gospel.

The Zuniga family

We had dinner with the Lemon family! They were also converts in Stockton, and have now been sealed in the temple. They are hilarious, and it was so good to catch up with them.

The Lemon family

On Wednesday we went to the Sacramento Temple and did an endowment session. I love it there! I got to tell Dani about my fond memories of attending with companions, members, and my mission president. We also visited the very first person I baptized, Jody Smith. She likes to tease me because I was so nervous that I forgot to say "Amen" before I immersed her in the water, making it so I had to "double-dunk" her after I got the baptismal prayer right the second time.

Jody Smith

Thursday Dani and I hung out with Victor and Nancy in Jackson. Victor was the ward mission leader there, and we quickly became friends and have continued to keep in contact. Victor showed us around his current project - restoring the historic Preston Castle with several other volunteers. It was an industry school for troubled boys years ago, and now it is being brought back to life.

At the top of the tower with Victor

Us with Victor and Nancy

That night we headed over to the Gomm's home, near Placerville, another one of my favorite areas. Sister Gomm made us a fantastic dinner, and we loved spending the evening talking with her around the table. Friday we went to Orangevale to visit Courtney, a college friend of Dani, and meet her adorable six month old son.

Sly Park

Years ago on my mission in Placerville I found a hippy cafe that I thought briefly, "That would be a fun place to take someone on a date." So after a stroll down historic Main I took Dani to Cosmic Cafe to enjoy dinner. Since Dani loves eclectic cafes so much it was a perfect evening. Following our date we visited more with Brother Gomm and learned from his incredible spiritual experiences. We left their home with a greater resolve to better ourselves as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Mark and Audrey Gomm

We headed home on Saturday, passing through the Sierra Nevada mountains and Lake Tahoe. As we took in the incredible scenery, we were agonizing over the fact that we were unable to hike the PCT this summer - but at the same time were somewhat glad we weren't trudging through several feet of snow that is still on the ground. We had to stop and take a picture at the crossroads (or is that crosstrail?) for the hike of our dreams.

It was an amazing week filled with happy reunions and quality time spent with family and friends. It felt great to have so many of my friends from my mission meet Danielle - and it was equally wonderful to meet some of her family. We finished our incredible week with General Conference on Sunday, and are working to catch up on the sessions we missed on Saturday.

Moab to California

Chris handled another busy week in the office and really loves learning from dad. Instead of just going on fun hikes by myself while he works, I started to get some pre-season work hours in at the river company's warehouse. We both had some long days, but it feels good to be working hard and saving up for school.

On Tuesday was Utah's republican caucus, and despite Moab's dominant liberal population, we had a good turnout. Chris mentioned it was almost like a church function because he saw so many people from the stake. With the way absentee ballots work, neither Chris nor I had ever been to caucus, so it felt good to participate in the election process.

The line was out the door!

Early in the week we went climbing on Wall Street and brought Jacob along. That boy slayed the routes! We were so impressed with his ability to complete intermediate climbs - especially since it was only his second time climbing. After a year of not consistently climbing, it also felt good for us to come back and do better than we thought we would.

Jacob toproping Lacto Mangulation - 5.10b

Much to Matthew's disappointment, both he and Olivia were too small to fit any of the climbing gear we own and therefore were unable to join us on the climbing adventure. We tried making it up to them by taking them out for a hike on Wednesday. Chris told us of this secret hike in Arches that goes out to a giant tunnel arch. It's an amazing hike, and barely anybody knows of it as it's not listed in any of the Arches pamphlets and doesn't even have a trail marker by the road. We spent hours hiking, and bushwhacking, as Chris lead the way on this hike he himself had only done once before about 6 years ago. Well, we never actually found this mysterious and secret tunnel arch. Nonetheless we still had a lot of fun hiking, and the kids absolutely loved the sand hills. Even though we never found our intended destination, we had a blast on our journey.

Matthew's bouquet for me - watch out ladies!

No joke - the piles of sand in Olivia's shoes.

Friday morning Chris and I woke up early and hit the road for a full day's drive to Fortuna, California - the start of our week long "Chris's Mission Tour/Meet Dani's Grandpa Adventure."

We spent Easter weekend with a couple that Chris had baptized three years ago (Saturday marked 3 years to the day!) that had moved north after their baptism. They have two of the sweetest girls we know. We had the greatest morning just chatting with all of them at their home as they got caught up with Chris and I got to know them better. In the afternoon we attempted to go out to the beach, but a storm a couple days earlier had gotten rid of all the parking spots and it started to rain. Instead they took us on a tour of the Redwoods and the Avenue of the Giants. Standing next to those giant trees is an easy way to feel small! The father had grown up in the area and he was the best tour guide we could have asked for. We had a nice evening with the family at home. On Sunday we went to church with them and stayed long enough to open Easter baskets with the girls (They even made Chris and I an AWESOME Easter basket). After that we hit the road to spend the next couple of nights with my grandpa in Rancho Cordova.

Our Easter Basket :)

Exploring an old railroad trestle 

See the fish up there? That was the high water mark from the 1964 flood that took out entire towns in Humbolt County.

Drive-thru Tree!

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew