The 'lympics

So, the Olympics are over and now I can sleep at night! No, not because the worry and stress was keeping me awake, just the volleyball broadcasts. Only us truly dedicated fans stayed up til 2am Friday morning watching the men’s indoor semi-finals. And it was worth it, although it almost wasn’t. What’s up with giving up 8 points on missed serves when the 5th game only goes to 15!!! I haven’t yelled at the TV in a long time but all the sudden I felt like I was coaching again!

How about Misty and Kerrie? Who doesn’t love them? Nobody gets more excited about winning than Kerrie, right!!!

And Todd and Phil… Did you see when they were both wearing their Oakley sunglasses with no frames in them? That’s gotta be annoying but I’m sure the huge amount of money they get by keeping the glasses on the entire game helps them get over it!

So sad the indoor women lost. Well… if you consider getting Silver a loss. I’d say it’s mostly a win, but I’m sure the Brazil women would say otherwise.

And I sure wish they had shown the entire Men’s volleyball gold medal match. Even though I knew the outcome before I watched the game I was still so tense. I can’t believe Lloy Ball is still playing! He was at his first olympics when I was first being introduced to the sport (the wonderful, fabulous sport)! He’s such a great setter… he’s got good hands!

And you know what they say about a guy with good hands?...

No really, do you know? Cuz I don’t!

Bear Lake

I had the opportunity to go up to Bear Lake this past weekend. I forget what a gorgeous lake it is, it’s so clear, and blue, and big. Sadly I forgot to break out the camera and snap a lot of pics but I did get a couple great shots of the sunset on Friday night.


I’m often baffled by the beauty of this earth. And by the calm and peace that comes from looking at a sunset. Why is it that you can’t be upset while looking at a sunset? Maybe it helps me put everything in perspective. Maybe my brain doesn’t function properly while I’m looking at something beautiful.


...Maybe that’s why I have a hard time talking to cute boys! ;)

Southeast Asia: 13-14 June, 2007 Halong Bay

I’m way overdue on posting pictures from last year’s trip to Asia but I’ll continue to do so until I’ve overwhelmed you with pictures and commentary that will drive you to pull out your passport and book a trip to Asia. Of course, then you’ll get to the part where you need to book your flight and you’ll sigh in dismay at the $1200+ cost just to get there. So, I’ll allow you live vicariously through my blog, as that’s what I’m also doing this year. Stupid airline fees!

So, Halong Bay is a few hours drive east out of Hanoi, Vietnam. It’s right near the border of China. And, if I haven’t convinced you by the end of this post, it is SO worth the drive. Heck, it’s even worth the $1200 flight there, honestly. Ok, I’ve talked myself into it. Anyone want to go? (Yes, I'm a sucker for an adventure!)

Accommodations: Chinese Jonque (“Junk”) Boat.

These boats are anything but “junk”, though. Each boat has 3 levels. The bottom level is where all the guest rooms are. Each boat has 10-12 rooms that each have 2 twin beds and a bathroom w/ shower. I thought we would’ve had to share a bathroom, but no, this is high class right here!
The middle level is where the dining room is as well as the kitchen and crew’s quarters. The top level is an open deck for sunbathing or jumping off of into the water. Allow me to illustrate…

And boy is the eating fabulous… if you’re a seafood person… and you have a strong stomach.

I like my share of seafood but I have a hard time with legs, eyeballs, tentacles, those sorts of things. But, you gotta eat to survive. So I took my time and… lost a lot of weight. (You can only try not to think about what you’re actually eating for so long before the stomach starts to get queasy!)
On to other things… We took a short (but steep) hike to Sung Sot Cave (Cave of Surprises).

It felt like you were on another planet. The ceiling was what I’d imagine the surface of the moon would be like if it were 10 feet above your head. It was strange, but cool!

Please don’t be offended but Lake Powell has nothing on this place. You’re cruising in and out of islands on your fabulous boat. The ONLY advantage Lake Powell has is that it’s fresh water. Halong Bay is part of the ocean so it’s rather salty and takes some getting use to. But I tell ya what, I could get use to this real fast!

Some Vietnamese live in Halong Bay in “floating villages”…

I can imagine you’d hear this conversation a lot…
“Honey, run to the store and get some milk.”
“Mom, I can’t, the boat’s out of gas.”
“That’s what the paddles are for, it’ll only take you 2 minutes, ya wimp!”
(Someone please translate the above conversation into Vietnamese.)

Laundry would be a pain… but not a bad lifestyle I can imagine!

These pictures just don’t do it justice. I’ll just have to show you. Pack your bags, let’s go!

The above picture was taken from that tiny little building on top of the rock in the picture below.

Now I realize why it’s taken me so long to put this post together. I get too “homesick” for the place.

At night all the boats anchor in bays to avoid any storminess from the ocean. It’s a beautiful sight with all the boats lit up!

And sunrise the next morning was beautiful. We only stayed one night in Halong Bay but I would recommend a couple nights. Like I said, I could get use to this!

Silver Lake

Last weekend I was invited to go on a hike with a couple friends to Silver Lake up American Fork Canyon. The trail starts at Silver Lake Flat and it was quite a bumpy ride in my 4Runner to make it to the trailhead. (Sorry if anyone got whiplash! Please don’t sue me!)


The hike was a little steeper than I thought it would be. I don’t remember it but apparently I’ve hiked this before with my family. We use to spend quite a bit of time up American Fork Canyon but I remember everything except this hike.


The view from the halfway point was awesome! You can see Timpanogos in the background and Silver Lake Flat in the foreground. (Remember, that’s where we started hiking.) Silver Lake Flat was really empty, it use to be a great fishing spot when it was full!
After an hour and a half of hiking we made it!

That’s me, Cindy, and Mandingo. The lake was SO beautiful and there were lots of people swimming. We didn’t know people went swimming in the lake so we weren’t prepared but if (when) I do it again I’m wearing my swimmin suit! It was the perfect hiking day. Big, puffy clouds kept floating overhead so the sun wasn’t burning hot.

We ended up hiking all the way around the lake on the shoreline. That was the toughest part of the hike as there wasn’t really a trail and we had to find our way over some large boulders. On top of one of those boulders we found a 19-year-old fisherman and chatted for a while. Ok, so it turned out he was really 27 (what a tease), and he didn’t catch any fish while we were there although he claimed to have been reelin ‘em in all day long.

It was a fabulous day and a fabulous hike. Thanks, ladies, for the good time! I’m glad we didn’t run into any bears (well, real ones, anyways)!!

Chocolate

Just a few quick thoughts for today:

Whenever I think about exercise... I wash my mouth out with chocolate!

I take what life offers, which is why I carry a spoon (in the hope that it offers something delicious and spoon-sized)!