perfect day

So camping was a blast.  I didn't tell you readers about it, but now you know.  I'm going camping... yesterday


Lars and I have been wanting to go up camping for a while now and the event with the Party Planning Committee that I got really burned at wasn't exactly what we were looking for, so we drove near a city in Utah called Kamas and entered the national forest to do some fun stuff.

It was a little bit of a process, but in the end, it worked out quite well.  We didn't know how many people were going to come until the day of, but we had plenty of food (in fact, we bought extra in Kamas and didn't touch it) and then made the drive.  Our campsite that we wanted to go to was already reserved out and we were too late to make reservations for the others (5 days advance notice?  What?) so we drove up in anticipation that we'd find one.  We did.  It was slightly hilly, but honestly, who cares, right?

A tinfoil dinner ("hobo dinner"), some hot chocolate, cobbler, and some guitar playing later and we headed off to bed.  KB and the girls in one tent (Yes, she has a nickname on the blog now) and the boys in two smaller ones.

Breakfast in the morning was simple.  We were going for simple cleanup so muffins won.  We didn't even touch the bagels.  We drove up to Mirror Lake (where we wanted to camp, but it was full) and walked around the lake.  It was fun.  There was a group with 3 iggies (Italian Greyhounds).

Then it was heading home (with a stop at Dick's Cafe in Kamas) to meet KB's family.  So I should explain that KB is somewhat obsessed with two things: Sprite and Benihanas. We met three sisters, a brother and each of the spouses.  10 of us, being loud, somewhat ignoring the chef... it was great.  I had a great time with them and from what I've heard, they kinda liked me too.  Awesome.

The evening ended with a walk around Temple Square.  What a perfect evening.

Oh, and one more picture of KB and I.  You know, for good measure.

ouch

So this weekend, I did a bad thing.  I was so good all last weekend up until Friday.  I forgot sunblock and boy am I paying the price.

We did a campout near Morgan (the city.  Yeah, I know.  It was confusing all weekend) starting on Thursday and going through today.  But my misfortune would bring me to my knees on Friday and I came home early.  I drove late Friday night and got home around 11:00 to tend to my sun-scathed wounds.

But here's the really cool part.  Everyone kept saying that I should try this trick to heal a sunburn.  I figured that it couldn't hurt (too much) so I'd give it a try.  To be honest, I'm a little impressed and I think I might keep doing this in the future.  Now mind you, I've read some articles online that make it sound like you put it on and, magically, it's like you never were in the sun to begin with.  THAT is a little too far-fetched, but it worked on me.  My burns don't hurt.

So if you haven't already used the link from above, here's the trick:  Vinegar.

Yeah, you read right.  But read it again if you'd like.  See?  Still what you read before.

I was shocked.  All I did was take a shower in somewhat cool water (Come on.  I can't take a hot one with a sunburn), dried off, and them sprayed on the magic concoction (Can a concoction consist of one ingredient?) and I feel great.  I feel the burn, but the burn doesn't hurt.  I can tell my skin is a little upset, but it's like it was screaming at me, and I just walked out of the room, shut the door and put in some headphones.  Yeah, it's probably still screaming, but honestly,  I'm already jamming out and dancing in the living room.  Awesome.

So the weekend was okay.  I need to be diplomatic because I honestly don't know who reads this thing (cough.  Just my mom) but I feel like there was a lot of planning that went on, but the planning wasn't really organized in a way that made it clear to everyone.  The camping was great.  The spot was gorgeous, the pond was "stocked" with fish and we even had rented port-o-potties out there.  Meals were hit-and-miss though.  Some of the ingredients were missing for some meals, others were perfect pseudo-camping style meals.  I think that the planning people were great and they put a lot of work into this, don't get me wrong.  I just think there were a few miscommunications about activities and meals.

Sadly, by Friday, I was already hating life due to 3 hours of sleep and skin like unto a fried fish, so I called it quits and didn't stay for the boating planned for Saturday.  Oh well.  I guess I can learn to wakeboard some other time.

complex variables

Take one of these:

Add a couple of these:

Put them in this:

Subtract this:

And then for good measure, put this at the end:

And what do you get?

You got it.  Awesomeness.  

By the way, White Pine backpacking trip was a success.  We went up Logan Canyon on Friday morning, hiked (4 miles) to the camp ground, spent the night, came back down and made it in time for the demolition derby.  It was my first one ever and it WON'T be the last!