I'm a lifetime member of Weight Watchers and they're doing their Lose for Good Campaign. For every pound lost, Weight Watchers will donate up to $1 million to help feed families. Great campaign...oh and if I blog about it, Weight Watchers will make an additional donation. Great cause...I think so.
Disclaimer: I really did have a fantastic time on this trip. It was alot of fun and I'm sure that I'll probably end up doing this hike again. Spending a weekend in southern Utah is never a bad way to spend a weekend, especially when you're with your fiance. However, the hike was super hard and I'm still sore and I'm apparently still wallowing a bit in the misery. Oh, and the canyon walls are incredibly beautiful and breathtaking...you just don't get to enjoy them much because you're too busy worrying about not breaking your leg.
On Friday afternoon, I flew to Salt Lake City to spend the weekend with my fiance Tim. We had big plans to head down to Zion National Park to hike the Narrows. We got up Saturday morning, headed to Target to buy hiking snacks, and then drove down to Springdale, Utah. We checked into the Bumbleberry Inn and then spent the afternoon walking around the touristy shops and spending some much needed time together. We met Tim's friends, Ryan and Tara, and then headed over to Zion Adventure Company to pick up our sexy hiking shoes.
Then we ended up at the Wildcat Willie's Ranch Grill and Saloon for dinner. My steak, potato, and squash was delish, but I think I was the only one who had great food. We ended up back at the hotel to plan our trip.
I should probably mention that in order to hike the Narrows, you have to have a permit. The group we were planning on going with only got 7 permits, so our little group had pretty much decided to do the Bottom-Up hike. However, at the hotel, we changed our minds and ended up making the decision to do the entire hike. Let me show you the description... "Walking the entire length of the Narrows can be a rewarding—and grueling—experience. Under favorable conditions, the 16-mile route from Chamberlain's Ranch to the Temple of Sinawava takes an average of 12 hours to complete. Even for well-conditioned hikers, this makes for a long and strenuous day. Because Chamberlain's Ranch is a 1 1/2-hour drive from the Temple of Sinawava, either two vehicles or a shuttle is required. A backcountry permit is also necessary. Permits may be obtained at the Zion Canyon Visitor Center the day before the hike." Yeah...this was what we were doing...
On Sunday morning, we woke up at 5:30am and made the 90 minute drive up to Chamberlain's Ranch. When we arrived, the temperature was 47F and was chilly. I was not looking forward to tramping around in 60F water with it being this cold. However, I figured, why not...
Tim was awfully chipper and was ready to go. Apparently, blueberry muffins are a great pre-event breakfast for him. I, on the other hand, do not eat muffins.
We started our hike through a meadow with some cows. It was probably my favorite part of the hike. We came across a rundown cabin and decided to take some pictures and I broke out the trail mix.
We hiked for awhile until we got into the canyon. Probably, you could have followed us since I was leaving a nice trail of raisins along the way. I don't eat raisins ever...blech.
Once we got into the canyon, things got a bit dicey. I'm apparently an ignoramous because I really had NO idea what I was getting into. You get to "hike" (except its not really hiking...not sure what to call it) through the river, which is covered in boulders and slickery rocks and ankle breakers and really really rough terrain. Oh and did I mention that there are shear cliffs on both sides of you.
We walked and slipped and hiked and snacked and fell into really cold water...and we know how much I love to be wet...NOT.
We hiked about 9 miles or so and I was feeling pretty good. My feet were sore from all of the unstable surface "hiking" but I wasn't too tired. We stopped for snacks at Deep Creek and relaxed for a bit.
We didn't have alot of time for pictures because we had to keep the camera bagged up so it didn't get wet, but we did manage a few.
At one point, I was walking behind Tim and a very sharp pointy tree branch got caught on his backpack. Of course, it flew back smacked me in the mouth, busted open my lip and caused a gusher. I was so startled that I started to laugh. Tim turned around and saw that my lip was bleeding alot. He told me to rinse it off in the river. I told him to hand me a water bottle instead. Once we got it cleaned up, it didn't look so bad. However, I did end up with a puffy lip. The branch hit me so hard that it knocked my visor backwards and my sunglasses into the river. Thank goodness Tim saw them...they're my favorites.
We kept hiking along and it was finally warm enough for bathing suits. Silly me...I wore red clown shorts and a red top... I look fantastic!
We met up with the other people from our group at around mile 11. They had hiked from the bottom up. I was feeling good and ok until about that point. I think at this point, I started whining. My toes were killing me and my right shoulder was really sore. Oh and did I mention that I really hate being wet. We were walking through water almost the entire time by this point. I was tired and cranky. Oh and did I mention that walking on big rocks and boulders that you can't see is awfully fun...
We hiked passed 12 Foot Falls.
We stopped at Big Springs to rest. I mostly just wanted to keep going. I was ready to be done. It was especially great to hear that we had 4 more hours to go.
At some point, Tim said, "If I step on one more freakin' rock..." Of course, a few minutes later, he stepped on a rock and fell down. I started cracking up and he was laughing as well. Probably the people behind us thought I was incredibly rude, but it was really funny. Mostly, we were just delirious and ready to be done. Tim says he looks like a psychopath in this picture.
Finally, we made it to the end. It was maybe the longest, hardest "hike" of my life.
My feet were so trashed. My big toe on my left foot was black (until I did surgery on it this morning) and the rest of my toes are dark red. Mostly though, my feet are just swollen.
So, while the hike was really tough, there were some high points. Probably my favorite was all of the time we got to spend doing this...
Oh, and did I mention that Tim has already committed us to do this again next year. We may have to have a conversation about that.
My dad and I at the Pocatello Endurance Festival. We did the 50 mile ride. I came in first out of the women (there were only 3 of us). I think my dad came in 2nd maybe?
My mom and dad at the Pocatello Endurance Festival. My mom ran the 1/2 marathon while my dad and I were riding. She hated it...it was 4 loops. Can you tell?
My nephew Cole and I. I won't get to see him until Christmas so I'm sure he'll look LOTS different.
Here's a picture of Naughty Simon and his favorite toy. He obviously loves it.
My mom and I at the Lewiston 5k. 
Another picture of Naughty Simon just because he's cute...
So, I was sitting at work and realized that I have lots of summer pictures that I didn't get around to posting and I figured since I have some time right now, I might as well get around to it. So, here's some of the fun times that happened this summer that haven't been documented yet.
One Saturday afternoon, apparently on July 11, Tim and I drove up to Bear Lake to have yummy cheeseburgers, onion rings, and fresh raspberry shakes, because that's what you eat when you go to Bear Lake. We drove back up to the summit and had lunch overlooking the lake. We got some good people watching done and decided to take a few pictures. This is one of my favorites!
After lunch, we drove back to Logan through the mountains...like offroad. Good thing that Tim has a big land tank. We stopped and decided to do some shooting and I got to shoot the big cowboy gun. I have no idea what the name of this gun is, but it was a big one. I also got to shoot the AR and another revolver, but no pictures of that.
Here's a random shot of me being goofy...
And a random shot of Tim and I...
On August 1 it was time to head back to IL. Definitely a sad day in my world, but much better than usual because Tim drove back with me. 
First, we had to drive to Salt Lake City to leave Tim's truck at the airport so he had a way to get home after his flight back. Then we headed over to Park City where we thought about stopping at perhaps the busiest McDonalds I've ever seen in my life, but we ended up at Arby's instead since there was no wait. Then it was on to Wyoming.
Then Nebraska...the longest state ever...
I caught a nap or at least a lie down in my seat break for a bit. Of course, Tim had to take a picture of this.
We stopped in Grand Island, Nebraska for the night and crashed at the local Holiday Inn with lots of very young wedding guests and alot of very odd people. The next morning we left there and made it across Nebraska and headed through Iowa. The bad part about driving back to IL is that the speed limit gets slower and slower. 75 mph in Wyoming and Nebraska, 70 mph in Iowa, and 65 mph in good old Illinois.
We stopped at one more rest stop in Illinois and then made it to my apartment at 5pm Sunday. Not too bad for two days of driving across the country...oh and we both had smiles on our faces.
Well, I'm totally late in posting this. Things have been pretty hectic crazy busy in my world, but on July 24, I got engaged. Here's a picture of the ring for all those who are dying to see it.
We haven't set a date yet, but we're thinking June 2010. I'm sure there will be lots more details to follow.
