Grand Canyon Professional

What makes me a professional of the Grand Canyon? Is it because I graduated in Parks and Recreation? Is it because I interned there every summer since High School? Is it because I was born and raised in the Grand Canyon valley? I’ve done none of those things, so probably not. HOWEVER! I did just finish my first jaunt there this weekend. It was a quickly planned trip. Less than a week really. But what was built in 7 days will last a lifetime (soft music playing). Hannah of the dietary tech persuasion mentioned that she had reserved a camping spot near the entrance of the North Rim for Friday and Saturday nights. Having never been there, I immediately jumped at the chance. Within a day I had covered my PCMC shift for Saturday (holla to Amanda) and taken Friday off work (which was tricky mind you). With some more finagling, Jenessa was able to come. Dear Jennie had already made plans and was sadly missed and thought of often. And though Christers had also been invited, she was unable to come. And then the last tragic casualty of the weekend, Hannah’s friend got sick and couldn’t come last minute. So it was the 3 of us. May it also be noted that I don’t camp a lot, or hike a lot. I’ve definitely wanted to do it more, but I am still inexperienced. I chose to go with two girls who had been doing both their whole lives. So I was definitely the hatching in this situation. But you couldn’t find anyone more eager to learn.

Day 1, Friday June 8th:

It was decided I was driving. I have never driven longer than about 1.5 hours anywhere, so new experiences were just rollin in. I had packed and was prepared physically and mentally for the journey. I had even made a playlist for the drive with requests from the other two. Jenessa had to work that morning, so she and Hannah rolled into my driveway at about 10:30. My mom was quickly reassured that they were experienced campers and knew what they were doing. Then we were off!! The glorious thing about this location is that it really is a pretty straight shot from I-15. We stopped in Cedar to pick up groceries and soldiered on.



Hannah ready for the trip



Jenessa ready for the trip

I must say that Utah and Arizona are definitely deserts, I can validate it now. We drove in arid nothingness for a really long time. I saw an awesome sign on the way though. What more could you want in a rest stop!!



At that stop, Hannah decided to call a fellow she had met from Kanab. Their first date meeting was a trip to Cabellas. In November. She hadn’t talked to him since. But she decided it would be fun to call him and have him bring some hick friends to our campsite. We got to our campsite at Jacob’s Lake, which was pretty much a dinky pond.


There were two of these guys hanging around the pond



Jenessa brought a spacious 6 man tent, and we set it up.

Just as we started getting dinner together (lemon and rosemary chicken with couscous and grilled peppers), Marc showed up. Sans friends. This guy was fabulous entertainment for the evening. He loves Kanab, farming, and girls. And Hannah.



 

 Anyway, we were tired from diving, shooed him home, and went to sleep.

Day 2, Saturday June 9th:

It was a pretty rough night. It was incredibly windy and we all almost suffocated as the tent was blowing in on us. I woke up about 8 times, and finally was up by 5:30 AZ time. I tried to sleep until 6:30 when we all just got up. We had out oatmeal and bananas and were on our way. You can see from the pictures that I am clearly the most inexperienced one. They brought exercise shorts, skirts, and tops, I brought jean shorts and a tee shirt. They brought camelbacks and dried fruit leather, I brought a fabric string backpack and an enormous Nalgene bottle. Anticipation was in the air as we got closer to the park entrance. And yay for us, it was unofficial Be Outside Day, so we got in free! We drove another 50 million hours into the park and stopped at the Visitors Center and Lodge.

We went to the scenic overlook which was a tiny “hike,” Bright Angel Point, and then worked out our attack of the National Park.

Next up was Uncle Jim Trail. In theory an easy 5 miler, which meant for me lots of strenuous ups and downs. I either hid my extreme fatigue well, or the other two are just very very polite. It was beautiful though. Honestly, I had imagined just one long jagged cut through a canyon. It is enormous!! Full of majestic views!! (In an email, Hannah had said this trip would be full of majestic views, and Jenessa mentioned it about as often as she mentioned her latest trip to Hawaii. Which was about every half hour like clockwork.)

We took a break for some PB&Js, fruits and veggies. Traveling with other nutrition folk kind of curbs your appetite for sweets and junkfood….. We had wanted to go to a Ranger presentation, so we went back to the lodge and did a 3ish mile hike to the campground and back. At one point Jenessa was on a jutting ledge and I had to be a mother and demand that she had gone out far enough, and to come back in. The Range presentation was on geology, which I thought was be fascinating. It met 67% of my expectations. It did teach me somewhat how it was formed, but left me with more questions than I started with. I’ll present you with it now.

To know how the Grand Canyon was formed I would say to you: DUDE, the Grand Canyon rocks. DUDE, geology rocks. DUDE stands for : deposition, uplift, downcutting, and erosion. I would Wikipedia it if I were you.

After this fascinating display, we went to another small hike to see Angel’s Window and yet another overlook. It was beautiful though, as everything there was. We walked out onto Angel’s window and it was more windy than anything else I have been to in my life. See video.

I discovered a fear of unrestrained heights recently, so I had a bit of a hard time letting go of the rails at these places. We were planning on doing one more hike that day, but we were all pretty tired and were covered in a thin layer of grit. I had unfortunately tried to put more sunscreen on over my grit, and created smudged legs that look like I had rubbed charcoal on them. Plus I was driving some pretty tight, windy roads, causing tension that drains all life out of you. Our last stop on the way home was to a final overlook. It was recommended by Hannah’s dad, apparently easy to get to. It was on a dirt road, which is a little tricky for a Hyundai. 13 miles took about 45 minutes. But it was probably the best view we had. Most majestic view.

On the way home I feared that since it was 8:00 and we had had no dinner, that we would maybe be cranky (an unjustified concern). So we listened to the unquestionably hysterical Jerry Seinfeld’s “And I’m Telling You For the Last Time” live standup show.

That lasted us the entire ride back to camp and is still as funny as the first time I heard it. In the darkest and pitch blackest of night, we made bean, cheese, and veggie burritos. It is amazing what you can make with a small gas grill and burner. While we waited for the beans we cook, the three of us consumed an entire bag of Santitas chips and salsa. So hungry, and everything looked so delicious. In theory we had decided to play games and braid each other’s hair that night (only kind of kidding), but we just zonked out. We couldn’t be bothered, you might say.

Day 3, Sunday June 10th:

We had talked about visiting church for a few minutes on the drive home, but when we got up at 7, and realized that church started at 11, we decided not to wait and just packed up and left.

Driving home was more excruciating then driving there, because I was dirty and tired, but we listened to Jerry Seinfeld again and it helped. We stopped at McDonalds and were the worst customers ever. Meaning, we used their bathroom and ate our own PB&J’s standing around my car in their parking lot.

But all’s well that ends well. It was a great trip, full of majestic views. I can’t tell you how grumpy I was to return to work on Monday. But I have ONE week until I leave for Germany and lots to get done. And by lots, I mean everything. I haven’t done a single thing to get ready….

 

I Don’t Really Get Why Everyone Loves the Beatles, They Are Overrated

When I hear that statement, I just about want to explode. I am a dietitian, I love food, but nothing gets me as passionate as talking about the Beatles. It would be pure bliss to run a Beatles museum all day every day. Honestly. So when I hear that statement from anyone of any age all I hear in my head is “Oh, you just need to talk to me. I can help.” This is not being snobby, this is a fact. A well documented fact. Gravity makes things go down, apples have lots of fiber, your body is made up mostly of water, and the Beatles are the most successful, prolific, and influential band of all time. Sorry Led Zepplin, Rolling Stone, and Who fans. That’s just how it is. Note to people my age that think this: just because you wouldn’t put their album in your iPod or CD player does not mean that they are not in there already in spirit. They changed the foundation of music, the music scene would not be where it is today. Beach Boys, Aerosmith (Steven Tyler), Maroon 5, Springsteen, U2, Green Day, Queen, Food Fighters (Dave Grohl), David Bowie, Oasis…. HERE and HERE have more lists.  These bands/musicians are pretty massive themselves and they then influenced more groups, influenced pop, country, r&b. Anything you listen to now is the way it is because of the Beatles. Even if a group you listen to may not cite them, they will see the influence in the studio. The Beatles were pioneers in the recording studio. They created techniques still used today. Any music critic or musician worth his salt would agree I would wager.

The Wikipedia article I linked to lists other phenoms in pop culture because of them. They didn’t just change music, they changed our culture for a time. Talk to people around for Beatlemania. This is why I find them so fascinating. Not just their incredible and unsurpassed talent for writing music, but how these super young boys created such a phenomenon that Bieber fever hasn’t even come close to. They could write simple songs (I Want to Hold Your Hand) and complex ones (A Day in the Life) that were of equal quality. They were really only truly active as a band for about 10 years. Look at what they produced during that time. 20 number 1 hits, 12 albums in 7 years. When their music was released on iTunes 2 years ago, in the first week they sold more than 450,000 albums and 2 million individual songs worldwide. That’s 40 years after they broke up!! So though I understand that you may not personally like their music, think they are just too old to listen to, they do deserve some respect.  Just go through their discography and tally the songs you know, I think you'd be surprised.  Plus, how cute are they??

Why I, Susan Reese, Love the Olympics

For anyone that really knows me, this statement can’t come as a surprise.  I have loved the Olympics since as long as I can remember.  The first time I remember watching it was when I was 10 and it was held in Atlanta Georgia.  I remember my mom exclaiming that Muhammad Ali was lighting the torch and having no clue who that was.  But my most vivid memory from those games was the night that Kerri Strug did the second vault even after she injured her ankle during her first, and won the United States its first ever team gold medal.  It may be super lame, but that moment made quite an impression on me.  Honestly, I still watch that video and tear up.  I flag this story and will refer back to it later.

When it was announced that Salt Lake was hosting the Olympics in 2002, I was downtown with the rest of the city watching a jumbo-tron.  Some guy with an accent announced that we were awarded the Olympics and everyone went bezerk.   Balloons were up in the air, hugs were shared, it was quite a moment.  I remember thinking how fun it would be to volunteer since I would be 16 years old (never did that, fyi).  A million years later after all the construction, the games were here and it was definitely one of the coolest things.  I went to the village with my parents one night and we went through the metal detectors with some Eastern European athletes.  It hit me that the eye of the entire world was focused on our little city.

The next games were held right as I started college and my new roommate and I tried to bond watching swimming on the basement TV of Deseret Towers.  Four years later I threw an Opening Ceremonies party during the very time I was graduating from college.  It was a perfect sandwich to my ungrad education. 

The past three games (Turin, Beijing, Vancouver) I have watched almost every single minute.  I watched the Today show recap in the morning, I would watch the minute I got home from school, I would eat during the small break on TV, then do homework with it on in the background.  I don’t have cable, so I don’t watch the more obscure sports, but I will honestly watch anything.  The bobsled was a pleasant surprise this last Olympics.

The main point of this already long post is to try and pin down why and what exactly causes such excitement in me.  I think it is three-fold. 

1)      I love that this has been going one since ancient Rome (kind of).  We have these ceremonies and pledges that have been done since the beginning.  It is kind of cool that we still do these rituals and seeing how every country does them a little differently.

2)      The fact that our country, nay the whole world, comes together for 2 weeks.  Our country doesn’t really do football or the World Cup in the same way other countries do, so we don’t have a unifying sport that we come together and cheer for against other countries.  Everyone is so pro-America in our great nation during that time, it’s awesome!  And, generally speaking, how respectful everyone is to the host nation, and others during that time.  I love unity.

3)      And finally, I just love that Olympic Spirit and those moments that you will remember forever.  Like Kerri Strug.  Honestly, when else would someone run super fast, flip over a piece of wood, landing hard on your feet on an already sprained ankle?  She did it for her team and country! 

Or what about watching Michael Phelps win all 8 gold medals in 2008?  Especially the one where he won by like 1/10 of a second?  Or the relay one where his teammate totally lapped the Australian on the fourth lap?  I mean seriously, what is more exciting? 

Last games we watched Shaun White do the most gravity defying trick on a flimsy piece of plastic having already won the gold medal!  (Too see the actual NBC footage, click HERE, it's awesome!!)

If you want to get pumped, just watch those Visa commercials narrated by Morgan Freeman (the one on the top is the best).

Of course with the good comes the bad.  There are the times when countries refused to come, people were caught doping and got medals taken away, and obviously the scariest being the time that hostages were taken.  But I tend to overlook that and remember how amazing they are and how much I love watching them.

This year I will be hosting my Opening Ceremonies party, not sure where or who with, but I’ll do it even if I’m by myself!  And since I am a bit of an anglophile, this year is going to be the best ever in London!  Summer that is, Salt Lake in 2002 (and possible 2022?) dominates of course.  Let the countdown begin!

Mondays, The Blues-days

It's Monday here in West Valley City, and I'm bored at work.  They are the hardest day of the week, hands down, and made worse by the fact that I am usually very busy right up until I have to leave.  Oh sigh....

Tomorrow may not be any better, I am getting at least one suspicious mole removed.  But if they end up taking more and I feel terrible, I take the whole day off!

PS I haven't forgotten about the Olympics Post.  It will certainly be Olympic sized!!

Cake Status: Complete

Day 1: Pureed fruit.  Total time: 2 hours.

Day 2: Making the blackberry/blueberry, kiwi and apricot layers.  Total time: 5 hours, active time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Day 3: Making the papaya and strawberry/raspberry layers and 7 minute frosting.  Total time: 4.5 hours, active time: 2 hours.

 Would I make it again?  Yes.  Tasted like rainbow sherbet.