Shelley's Wedding and Shoshone Falls

In a super whirlwind, tiny ceremony in Idaho, my beautiful baby sister married her sweet man. I found out about this wedding about a month prior. Originally planned for June, the wedding was reconfigured to be parents only as his mother is ailing and they wanted her to be a part of their celebration. Two weeks later, I received a call that the invite list now included siblings. Holy crap! I scrambled to buy a ticket with a little bit of freaking out about the price and schedule and layovers. After a minor melt down calmly readjusting my thoughts, I found what I needed and booked it.

In no time at all, I was falling asleep on a red eye flight to Salt Lake City. Emily picked me up in the morning, we brunched, picked up a cake and began the journey north. The wedding was held at Kelton's parent's farm in Burley. It was a three hour drive of fields and farmland and snow flurries. We stayed at the Marriott, all four girls in two adjacent rooms. So much noise, so much sass! Anyway, Mom made lasagna and brought pumpkin pie for dinner at the farm. We overwhelmed his family with wildly told stories about Shelley and how she was the cutest kid ever. Kelton told us funny stories about growing up the youngest of seven. I'm ever glad to have been first.

Wedding day Anne, Emily and I woke up at an uncivilized hour to go check out Shoshone Falls at sunrise. The falls are about 45 minutes west of Burley. We piled in Anne's little Beetle and drove down the road singing our favorite late '90s and early 2000s jams. So much talent, you wouldn't believe it. We arrived at the falls just as the sky was lighting up. The falls are part of a reservoir on the Snake River. It's an incredible spot!! We found every available overlook and angle to take pictures from.

On the drive back, we stopped at a super tall bridge spanning the gorge cut by the river. The bridge is called Hansen Bridge. Fitting, no? It's super rad! We walked along the rim of the canyon with Emily joking that Anne is Jon Snow with her black mane of curls spilling out over her puffy winter coat, black of course. So many "Winter is Coming" jokes. (Game of Thrones, if you've spent the past decade under a rock.) Anne doesn't read my blog. So, Lord Snow, Em and I enjoyed the heck out of that place taking pictures and hoping we didn't slip on the snow dusted rocks and fall to our deaths. Ok, it maybe wasn't actually that slippery, but it really was that far.

The three of us made it back with time for everyone to shower, do hair, makeup, dress, and freak out that Shelley had disappeared. She returned to frenzy of activity. Anne did hair, Emily did make up. I moved stuff to the room Shelley and Kelton were staying in that night. I'm the hired muscle, not the one with artistic talent, obvi. Anyway, Anne and I took pictures while Emily helped Shelley into her dress. She looked stunning. The makeup was lovely, the hair impressive, but Shell glowed, and it had nothing to do with either.

I had the honor of driving the bride to the farm (add cheauffer to my list of skills!) and we set up first look pictures. Kelton came out looking dashing in a black blazer, kilt and tall black socks. We made him turn around and wait for the arrival of the queen...I mean bride. The first look was everything we all hoped for. He had an "allergy attack" on seeing her, immediately bursting into tears.  Soooo sweet!

A friend of theirs was ordained just for the ceremony. Jordan, like Kelton, wore a kilt and tie. He did a fantastic job. Wayne sang "Can't Help Falling in Love" by Elvis Presley as everyone walked down the aisle. Jordan gave a sweet and heartfelt sermon on love and commitment. Anne was photographer and took about a million pictures. They're lovely, by the way.

Afterward, family photos were taken and we went to a nearby daycare facility for lunch. It sounds weird, but it's really just a large warm space. Warm was important since I could see my breath for the full ceremony. Kelton's siblings had prepared a wonderful taco bar and decorated tables in a fall theme. There was a huge cake topped with flowers and a Deadpool silhouette that everyone said was yummy to go along with it. Shell and Kelton cut the cake. She stole the first bite and made a giant mess of Kelton's nose giving him the next taste. He was planning to be sweet, but she deserved the cake face. It was all smiles. The gluten intolerant girl (me) cut and passed out the cake to everyone. It disappeared remarkably fast. Dad gave a heartfelt toast. Shortly there after, everyone packed up, gave hugs, and went their own way. Short, sweet, beautiful.

Em and I drove back in a bit of a blizzard. Utah/Idaho snow is dry and easy to drive in. So I did just fine!

Exploring the island paradise of Lana'i

Lana'i is a tiny Hawaiian island near Maui. It has one small idyllic town located in the center of the island. Paved roads radiate out in only three directions. Despite its small size, it's a wonderful place. People are friendly and welcoming. There are no chain retailers, gas stations, or restaurants anywhere on the island. The exception to this rule is the two Four Seasons resorts.

We took a friends trip over a three day weekend. At first it seemed that three days may have been too many for such a small place. Most people explore it as a day trip from Maui, if at all. In the end though, none of us was ready to leave. We rented an Airbnb, one of the few on the island, and a 4x4 Jeep via text message from a guy named Bart (sounds legit, right???). I was a little apprehensive that the Jeep would actually be at the airport, but there it was, sitting right out front.

Our first stop was the Lanai Cat Sanctuary. Hawaii has a major feral cat problem. This facility rounds up the strays on lanai, spays/neuters, and provides the cats with a safe, comfortable life. There were 593 cats in residence when we visited. Most were super friendly, which is uncommon for feral cats. The constant stream of visitors petting them and playing with them helps a lot. The goal is adoption, but the rate is low. Instead, most of the animals are kept fed and free roaming in a giant pen with cat beds, hideouts, baskets, and any number of places for cats to curl up. They're given shots and cured of diseases. Mike's goal was to pet them all. I bet he made it close to half. They loved him!

Next we followed a rich red dirt road to a 4x4 road leading to the ruins of Kaunolu Village site. Here was a historical loop detailing a typical Hawaiian village. There was also a big cliff (60') at the top said to test the might of warriors and the morals of criminals. If one survived the jump, he was declared innocent of the crime. It was nice and windy up there. Mike's shirt was protecting my shoulders and blew off the edge but stuck to the rock part way down. He climbed down to get it. YIKES!!

We checked into the Airbnb where the neighbor suggested a visit to the cultural center up the road. We walked and realized it looked pretty dark. I opened the door and looked around, setting off the alarm. The door was locked, but hadn't shut properly. I promptly shut it and we waited for the police to show up. Instead, one of the curators let us have 30 minutes since it was closed for the weekend. He was a wealth of knowledge. We really enjoyed looking around and learning about the island.

That evening, we went to Sweetheart Rock to watch the sunset. It was lovely and is a nesting ground for some sort of awkward ground bird. I say awkward because we almost stepped on several in the dark on the way back. The first seemed damaged waddling very low to the ground. Turns out, that's just how they are. hmmmm... We took a few minutes to explore the gorgeous Four Seasons resort and made guesses at the room rates for a night. None of us was even close. I looked up a random weekend in January and the cheapest I could find was $2550 for two nights. YIKES! The best part about that whole thing was realizing how amazing the stars are from Lana'i. I stopped on the side of the road away from all the lights and we spent some time searching for usually obvious constellations. It's AMAZING when there are just so many stars that the few brightest don't seem so obvious.

Day two was a trip out to Shipwreck Beach on the northeast edge of the island. There are about two miles of dusty dirt road leading to the beach with the best view of the wreck. We parked and walked another mile or so in toward the ship. It's a cool old hulking mass that was run aground in 1954. From the beach, both Maui and Molokai looked close enough to paddle to. Also near the beach is a big rock with a ton of petroglyphs. Some are clearly very old. Others look to be a bit more recent... Or maybe really recent.

Once we got back to town the rain started to come down. It absolutely poured! This meant no Munro Trail or most of the loop we'd planned for the day. We'd already been warned the 4x4 roads were too muddy for most of it to be passable. Instead, we showered, ate and went to the newly renovated theater to see the latest Thor movie, because he's super pretty (this might have only been my reasoning:)) We followed the movie with dinner at Lanai City Bar and Grille which was clearly the fanciest place away from the resorts. They had live music. It was clean and fun with good food.

When we walked back home, there was lightning all around. I LOVE lightning storms, but I haven't lived anywhere that has them since I left Utah. It's just not very common on O'ahu or Western Washington. We piled in the car and drove out of town looking for the huge herds of deer that roam the area at night. We found them! They were very shy of our headlights and their glowing red eyes were a bit eerie as they scattered. We stopped the car at a clearing and watched the lightning storm in silence.

The last day was the Garden of the Gods. This is what I'd been most looking forward to. It's this bizarre lunar/Martian landscape in a huge wildlife preserve. There are big round, red rocks everywhere. The dirt is a swirl of colors from a pale mint green to purple to the abundant rust red. Long grasses swirled in the breeze on hillsides on one side of the road. It's a beautiful place and it was all ours. We saw one other Jeep. The road was pretty smooth, but had one section that was really muddy from the night before. It felt a little like surfing to drive in it.

Frisbee in the park, playing on the jungle gym and swings, and some moose tracks ice cream rounded out the day. Gas for the Jeep was $4.68 per gallon at the solitary gas station. We returned the car and amused the TSA folks in the one room terminal by playing Heads Up, where a word lights up a phone screen placed on the "it" person's forehead and everyone else has to hint or act it out. My favorite round was dance moves. Utterly hilarious! A 30 minute jumper flight had us home in no time. What an amazing trip! Rachel, Brad, Camille, Thomas, and Mike, THANK YOU for the adventure!!!

H3 Triathlon

Last month I completed my second triathlon this year! Maybe that's nothing for seasoned triathletes, but for a girl with the exercise routine focus of a gnat, it's pretty great. Usually I want to do EVERYTHING. I love trying new things: CrossFit, aerial rope, rock climbing, hiking, running, Olympic weightlifting, Biking Body Guide (BBG), triathlon, etc. I like it all. I want to do it all. Unfortunately there are two little problems with that. First, I still have to go to work to pay the bills. I can't just play all the time. Boo. Second, my body won't stand up to doing everything all the time. So, right now, I'm enjoying triathlon.

Anyway, the H3 Triathlon: Race to the Base is a one way race that starts with a 1500m swim at Ala Moana Park, which is suuuuuuper flat and lovely. Next participants hop on their bikes for a 26 mile ride up and over the H3 interstate to Kaneohe. Once complete, shoes are swapped for a 10K run on Kaneohe Marine Corps Base. So, 33 miles(ish), no big deal.

The swim went so well! I felt good and was a little faster than normal. Hooray! I was swimming next to a friend and lost her at the halfway point, so I spent the whole time going back trying to find her and trying to pass the sprint length swimmers. Turns out, she was right behind me. Sneaky. I love this picture coming out of the water, I look like I know what I'm doing.

Mike, being the gem he is, waited for me (Men started the race 5 mins early). We hopped on our bikes and rode together most of the way. He went ahead part way to the top and waited. At the top, we stopped and took pictures, had some water and a little snack. Then we went through the tunnel which was SUPER windy, but really cool! On the other side, the wind still blasted us, but the views are amazing! We stopped several times for pictures before continuing down to the base.

The run was pretty much pure misery. I think I mentioned in the last one that I do not enjoy the transition from biking to running. I feel weird, like my legs don't work. Two miles of flat and beautiful were just as hard as the second two miles of up and over hills. The last two miles felt easier because we were back to flat. Mike stayed with me the whole time, chatting away to keep my mind off of my cramping legs. He really is the greatest. This picture reminded me that I run like a T-Rex.

We crossed the finish line together; Mike with a big smile, me looking miserable as usual. Ugh, my pain face is impressively bad. Haha! Once again, I finished right in the middle of my age group. I feel really good about that.