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Hyrum’s Hooligans

Last weekend Jason and I stayed a night at Hyrum Reservoir near Logan with some family and friends. Although we spent a chunk of our time in the outdoors, our situation was too cushy to be called camping. No tents were pitched or campfires lit. It was more like a comfortable cousin to roughing it.

The cabins faced the reservoir and offered an excellent view of its placid waters.
The gaming was intense and nonstop. Jason and I called it quits at 2:00 in the morning. Drew, Jeremy, and Adam didn't stop rolling until 5:00 AM.

My brother Drew arranged for the rental of two little cabins on the shore of the reservoir for our group. The cabins were situated in a quiet spot right on the edge of the water that was not only ideal for taking in the serenity of the surroundings but also for putting plenty of space between our rowdy band and the other campers. Though not equipped with plumbing, the cabins had bunk beds, ACs, power, and fridges. They weren’t overly roomy but they served our purposes well. We put the kids to sleep in one and used the other for playing board games all night long.

Jadon was very intent on building a wooden dam on the beach that incorporated every stick he could find.
When pale skin is this plentiful it must be time to head to the beach.

The midnight hour may have belonged to board games but the day was all about cooling off in the water. Too much spring runoff meant the reservoir was bloated and nearly overflowing but its beach still had a strip of sand wide enough for the kids to play on. While the kids engineered sand structures the adults entertained themselves by sadistically daring each other further and further out into the frigid water. Peer pressure eventually convinced most of us to swim to a distant buoy that marked the boat-free area around the beach. Those that made it to this bobbing obstruction displayed their supremacy by riding that baby like it was a bucking bronco. That slippery unbalanced bugger wasn’t easy to hold onto but I managed to climb aboard long enough to prove my awesomeness. Yeehaw!

The buoy wasn't just a few breaststrokes away but the distance was swimmable even for the unseaworthy.
Jeremy straddled that buoy like a pro. He must be very practiced.

It was a fun little overnight getaway filled with plenty of board games, cheesy poofs, and soakings. Thanks for arranging it all Drew.

Rachel July 2, 2011 No Comments

Shoot Em Up!

Laser tag is a standard in any nerd’s repertoire and, therefore, always a diversion I welcome. That goes double if the celebration of my birthday is in question.

We tagging veterans got to play for an extra half-hour while everyone else received instructions on how not to die.

Jason planned a great geeky gathering for my birthday this year: a 2 hour outdoor game of laser tag featuring a couple dozen of our friends. Awesome! He doesn’t deserve all the credit for this unique and nerdy idea though. A couple months ago one of our friends celebrated his birthday in a similar manner and Jason and I had such a great time crawling through the bushes and firing on our buddies that he thought my birthday would be a great excuse to do it all over again. He was correct.

Wendy, Chuong, and I look like we are either licensed to kill or preparing to make some dork fetish film.
Watch out for these hardened predators!

We held the party at Mt. Timpanogos Park with the games starting just as it was getting dark. The park cleared out shortly after night set in and we soon had the entire area to ourselves. I’m certain that that desertion had nothing to do with park goers feeling like they were getting swarmed by an armed nerd herd.

Nothing says geek like a group of adults strapping on headgear and sneaking through the night like the fate of the free world depended on them.

It turned out to be the perfect evening for our tactical operations. A nice breeze, along with the thick layers of sweat covering our poorly conditioned bodies, kept us cool as we attempted to regain some of our youthful magnificence.

Aimee is a seasoned expert. Her laser can do more damage than a shopping trip on Sunday.

I may be growing another year older but hiding behind rocks and sprinting across the grass made me feel a lot like a little kid playing kick the can in the warm summer twilight. There’s nothing like a little nostalgic childhood regression to counteract the effects of time.

Oh yeah! Whoever said strapless was sexier didn't consider that beautifully belted headgear.

Many thanks to all the friends who eagerly let go of any semblance of maturity and embraced the pain of unwanted exercise for the glory of the game. The night just wouldn’t have been the same without you as a target.

Rachel June 29, 2011 No Comments

Officially Never Summer

A couple months ago I whined about the boarding season ending. It turns out that that bellyaching was a bit premature.

That tiny dot is me. I look like I'm contemplating the majesty of the universe when really I'm just contemplating that slushy black diamond and if I can make it down without toppling. And no, you don't need to adjust your computer screen; the snow really was that dirty.

It’s summertime. The unmistakable smell of grilled meats wafts through the air intermingled with the melodic chirping of birds and yet Jason and I went snowboarding a week ago at Snowbird Resort and the snow was still incredible. It may be hard to believe, while mosquitoes nip at your skin and flowers bloom underfoot, that just 45 minutes away the landscape remains sheathed in white but that is the glorious truth.

Although there is still an enormous amount of snow up at Snowbird, the canyon is definitely melting. Little Cottonwood Creek, a normally docile stream, was a tumbling and churning mass of chaotic whitewater. Nearly at the flooding stage, it ripped by us at 600-800 cubic feet per second. See the comments section below for a link to the You Tube clip we took of this bad boy.

This year Utah’s hefty winter turned into a very rainy and cold spring. The relentless precipitation has resulted in some record-breaking water levels and frequent flood threats. But those bemoaning our flow situation are looking at the glass half empty as far as I’m concerned. We may have some streams running amuck but I got to go boarding in the middle of June on 150 inches of snow. Surely my boarding pleasure is worth a few overflowing riverbanks. 🙂

Since "The Flying Tomato" is already taken perhaps Jason should start calling himself "The Flailing Parsnip."

The day we spent at Snowbird was beautiful. The snow was pretty slushy by the afternoon but it was sublimely warm. I just wore a thin shell jacket with all the zippers undone and my temperature fluctuated between perfect and uncomfortably cozy. Despite the unseasonable powder supply the slopes weren’t crowded at all. Apparently, the fact that it’s officially summer has some people confused about the state of their peaks. All the more snow for me.

After boarding we grabbed some grub at the Birdfeeder and enjoyed our meal in the pleasant sunshine. I decided to get a chilidog-not a common food choice for a Rachel. The chilidog was extremely messy but it tasted pretty fantastic after hours of boarding. It should be noted that my pants are unzipped here because of the heat not because the chili was already causing havoc in my GI tract.

Lots of slush and lots of sun: the best day of spring boarding ever! I am thrilled to report that Snowbird is scheduled to remain open for a few more weeks. Snowboarding in Utah in July! I am salivating at the mere thought.

Rachel June 21, 2011 2 Comments
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