Ramblin' Rachel

I guess the weather is going to start turning cooler b/c I've woken up the last three mornings and I've been freezing. I actually had to put on my bathrobe!

What is it about Target that makes a person spend a TON of money? I went there to look for Dexter: Season 1 and ended up not finding it but buying two pairs of shoes, a pair of khakis, a belt and some snacks b/c I have an unhealthy addiction to Archer Farms snacks...my arguement is that all of it is organic! Hahaha.

Wyatt, my nephew has four teeth now and he can saw "Dada", he's really growing up. In other big news, my best friend Angela is moving back home from eight long years in Mississippi and Texas. She'll be home on October 1...how cool is that?

I haven't been to the movies in a while, but a couple of weeks ago, I really wanted to see the movie "Superbad", it was around 10pm on Friday night, and so I called Annie and we went to the midnight showing. There were a TON of people there, not to see Superbad but the new Halloween movie. From what I heard about the new Halloween, they should have seen Superbad, it was HILARIOUS. I laughed the entire time and it is definitely a movie I will buy on DVD. The characters are believable and there are so many memorable quotes.

I found a website recently that sells old nick shows on DVD. I'm going to buy "Doug" and "Rocko's Modern Life", I think I'm going to buy Meghan the entire series "Are you Afraid of the Dark". She LOVED that show, and as a kid the only books she would ever read were the "Goosebump" series.


I'm going to keep this blog updated more, now that the weather is getting cooler.

On a side not, I have become a reader of leasure again...Oh how I've missed books. I dusted off my library card and have been reading some great books, which I will be reviewing here.

Insomnia

Have I shared my deep love for all things CROCS.
I hate wearing normal shoes now. I was watching Bill Maher the other day(it was on the tv...I would normal NOT watch him.) He was ranting about Crocs and how America has become a country of casual dressers, and before long we will all be wearing diapers to the mall. Now I am definitely a jeans and t-shirt girl, I can't help it, I love to dress comfortably when I'm not at work. Maybe it's b/c I wear suits all day at work.

Remember a few years ago a cartoon on Comedy Central called Bob and Margaret?
I loved this show, it's about a british couple, he's a dentist and she's a podiatrist, I have recently become obsessed buying it on dvd. Well it's not on DVD...the first season is on VHS! Can you believe that VHS! They but all those crappy shows on DVD now, but not this show. My favorite Who's the Boss only released Season 1 on DVD, that's it! I guess this means I have crappy taste in tv...LOL.

Check out this talented blogger.

I love reading other peoples blogs. I was recently on my old english sheepdog forum, and someone posted a funny ebay story. It was a real auction and the lady was selling a pack of ebay cards that her children stashed in the shopping cart. It was hilarious! I don't have children, but I have two young siblings and I remember when Meghan and I were you too and I could relate. Check out the story that accompanies the auction.

I'm selling a bunch of Pokemon cards. Why? Because my kids sneaked them into my shopping cart while at the grocery store and I ended up buying them because I didn't notice they were there until we got home. How could I have possibly not noticed they were in my cart, you ask? Let me explain.
You haven’t lived until you’ve gone grocery shopping with six kids in tow. I would rather swim, covered in bait, through the English Channel, be a contestant on Fear Factor when they’re having pig brains for lunch, or do fourth grade math than to take my six kids to the grocery store. Because I absolutely detest grocery shopping, I tend to put it off as long as possible. There comes a time, however, when you’re peering into your fridge and thinking, ‘Hmmm, what can I make with ketchup, Italian dressing, and half an onion,’ that you decide you cannot avoid going to the grocery store any longer. Before beginning this most treacherous mission, I gather all the kids together and give them “The Lecture“.
“The Lecture“ goes like this…
MOM: “We have to go to the grocery store.”
KIDS: “Whine whine whine whine whine.“
MOM: “Hey, I don’t want to go either, but it’s either that or we’re eating cream of onion-ketchup soup and drinking Italian dressing for dinner tonight.”
KIDS: “Whine whine whine whine whine.“
MOM: “Now here are the rules: do not ask me for anything, do not poke the packages of meat in the butcher section, do not test the laws of physics and try to take out the bottom can in the pyramid shaped display, do not play baseball with oranges in the produce section, and most importantly, do not try to leave your brother at the store. Again.”
OK, the kids have been briefed. Time to go.
Once at the store, we grab not one, but two shopping carts. I wear the baby in a sling and the two little children sit in the carts while I push one cart and my oldest son pushes the other one. My oldest daughter is not allowed to push a cart. Ever. Why? Because the last time I let her push the cart, she smashed into my ankles so many times, my feet had to be amputated by the end of our shopping trip. This is not a good thing. You try running after a toddler with no feet sometime.
At this point, a woman looks at our two carts and asks me, “Are they all yours?” I answer good naturedly, “Yep!
“Oh my, you have your hands full.”
“Yes, I do, but it‘s fun!” I say smiling. I’ve heard all this before. In fact, I hear it every time I go anywhere with my brood.
We begin in the produce section where all these wonderfully, artistically arranged pyramids of fruit stand. There is something so irresistibly appealing about the apple on the bottom of the pile, that a child cannot help but try to touch it. Much like a bug to a zapper, the child is drawn to this piece of fruit. I turn around to the sounds of apples cascading down the display and onto the floor. Like Indiana Jones, there stands my son holding the all-consuming treasure that he just HAD to get and gazing at me with this dumbfounded look as if to say, “Did you see that??? Wow! I never thought that would happen!”
I give the offending child an exasperated sigh and say, “Didn’t I tell you, before we left, that I didn’t want you taking stuff from the bottom of the pile???”
“No. You said that you didn’t want us to take a can from the bottom of the pile. You didn’t say anything about apples.”
With superhuman effort, I resist the urge to send my child to the moon and instead focus on the positive - my child actually listened to me and remembered what I said!!! I make a mental note to be a little more specific the next time I give the kids The Grocery Store Lecture.
A little old man looks at all of us and says, “Are all of those your kids?”
Thinking about the apple incident, I reply, “Nope. They just started following me. I’ve never seen them before in my life.”
OK, now onto the bakery section where everything smells so good, I’m tempted to fill my cart with cookies and call it a day. Being on a perpetual diet, I try to hurry past the assortment of pies, cakes, breads, and pastries that have my children drooling. At this point the chorus of “Can we gets” begins.
“Can we get donuts?”
“No.”
“Can we get cupcakes?”
“No.”
“Can we get muffins?”
“No.”
“Can we get pie?”
“No.”
You’d think they’d catch on by this point, but no, they’re just getting started.
In the bakery, they’re giving away free samples of coffee cake and of course, my kids all take one. The toddler decides he doesn’t like it and proceeds to spit it out in my hand. (That’s what moms do. We put our hands in front of our children’s mouths so they can spit stuff into them. We’d rather carry around a handful of chewed up coffee cake, than to have the child spit it out onto the floor. I’m not sure why this is, but ask any mom and she’ll tell you the same.) Of course, there’s no garbage can around, so I continue shopping one-handed while searching for someplace to dispose of the regurgitated mess in my hand.
In the meat department, a mother with one small baby asks me, “Wow! Are all six yours?”
I answer her, “Yes, but I’m thinking of selling a couple of them.”
(Still searching for a garbage can at this point.)
Ok, after the meat department, my kids’ attention spans are spent. They’re done shopping at this point, but we aren’t even halfway through the store. This is about the time they like to start having shopping cart races. And who may I thank for teaching them this fun pastime? My seventh “child”, also known as my husband. While I’m picking out loaves of bread, the kids are running down the aisle behind the carts in an effort to get us kicked out of the store. I put to stop to that just as my son is about to crash head on into a giant cardboard cut-out of a Keebler elf stacked with packages of cookies.
Ah! Yes! I find a small trash can by the coffee machine in the cereal aisle and finally dump out the squishy contents of my hand. After standing in the cereal aisle for an hour and a half while the kids perused the various cereals, comparing the marshmallow and cheap, plastic toy content of each box, I broke down and let them each pick out a box. At any given time, we have twenty open boxes of cereal in my house.
As this is going on, my toddler is playing Houdini and maneuvering his little body out of the seat belt in an attempt to stand up in the cart. I’m amazed the kid made it to his second birthday without suffering a brain damaging head injury. In between trying to flip himself out of the cart, he sucks on the metal bars of the shopping cart. Mmmm, can you say “influenza”?
The shopping trip continues much like this. I break up fights between the kids now and then and stoop down to pick up items that the toddler has flung out of the cart. I desperately try to get everything on my list without adding too many other goodies to the carts.
Somehow I manage to complete my shopping in under four hours and head for the check-outs where my kids start in on a chorus of, “Can we have candy?” What evil minded person decided it would be a good idea to put a display of candy in the check-out lanes, right at a child’s eye level? Obviously someone who has never been shopping with children.
As I unload the carts, I notice many extra items that my kids have sneaked in the carts unbeknownst to me. I remove a box of Twinkies, a package of cupcakes, a bag of candy, and a can of cat food (we don’t even have a cat!). I somehow missed the box of Pokemon cards however and ended up purchasing them unbeknownst to me. As I pay for my purchases, the clerk looks at me, indicates my kids, and asks, “Are they all yours?”
Frustrated, exhausted from my trip, sick to my stomach from writing out a check for $289.53, dreading unloading all the groceries and putting them away and tired of hearing that question, I look at the clerk and answer her in my most sarcastic voice, “No. They’re not mine. I just go around the neighborhood gathering up kids to take to the grocery store because it’s so much more fun that way.”
So, up for auction is an opened (they ripped open the box on the way home from the store) package of Pokemon cards. There are 44 cards total. They're in perfect condition, as I took them away from the kiddos as soon as we got home from the store. Many of them say "Energy". I tried carrying them around with me, but they didn't work. I definitely didn't have any more energy than usual. One of them is shiny. There are a few creature-like things on many of them. One is called Pupitar. Hee hee hee Pupitar! (Oh no! My kids' sense of humor is rubbing off on me!) Anyway, I don't there's anything special about any of these cards, but I'm very much not an authority on Pokemon cards. I just know that I'm not letting my kids keep these as a reward for their sneakiness.
Shipping is FREE on this item. Insurance is optional, but once I drop the package at the post office, it is no longer my responsibility. For example, if my son decides to pour a bottle of glue into the envelope, or my daughter spills a glass of juice on the package, that’s my responsibility and I will fully refund your money. If, however, I take the envelope to the post office and a disgruntled mail carrier sets fire to it, a pack of wild dogs rip into it, or a mail sorting machine shreds it, it’s out of my hands, so you may want to add insurance. I will leave feedback for you as soon as I’ve received your payment. I will be happy to combine shipping on multiple items won within three days. This comes from a smoke-free, pet-free, child-filled home. Please ask me any questions before placing your bid. Happy bidding! :)


Wasn't that a hoot! Well the author also has a blog.

http://mom2my6pack.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

You need to see these movies!

I am a self proclaimed movie buff...I love going to the movies, watching them at home on dvd, or on tv. Probably my favorite movies are: Sense and Sensibility, Gosford Park and Life is Beautiful but there is a series of movies that I always go back to for a big laugh. The are they Christopher Guest movies (This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, Best In Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration) These movies are considered to be mockumentaries or fake documentaries. All of the movies are improvised by the cast. The same people play in all the movies and you come to love the actors. Please, please, please go and rent these movies, you will love them.

The Truth is....I hate these commericals

Who else hates those Truth cigarette commericals? I seriously want to throw the remote through the tv when they come on , or at least START smoking b /c of them! Who are these people and why don't they just go away.

I Love These Quotes!

Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.George Bernard Shaw

Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice.W.J. Bryan

The talent for being happy is appreciating and liking what you have, instead of what you don't have. Woody Allen

I think men are afraid to be with a succesful woman, because we are terribly strong, we know what we want and we are not fragile enough.

I like being a strong independent woman, and to be honest, I was never afraid to be on my own. Dido Armstrong

I am a woman above everything else. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Courage allows the successful woman to fail-and learn powerful lessons-from the failure-so that in the end,she didn't fail at all.” Maya Angelou

“Women are like apples on trees, the best ones are on the top of the tree. The men don't want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and don't want to get hurt. Instead, they just get the rotten apples from the ground that aren't so good but easy. So, the apples at the top think something is wrong with them, when in reality they are amazing. They just have to wait for the right man to come along, the one who's brave enough to climb all the way to the top becuase they value quality.”

I forgot what it was like to be genuinely happy

Wow, it's been a while since I've blogged. I have been so down for so long and haven't been myself, which is scary, b/c if you know me you know that I am a really upbeat person. So this depression crap has been for the birds. Today is the first day in two months that I didn't feel like sleeping all day or just sitting around like a zombie. It's like the clouds opened up, and the sun shined down on my face. So those of you who have been worried about me, please don't be anymore. I feel great, the weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I have something to smile about now. Thanks to everyone for their advice and words of encouragement!

Now back to your regularly scheduled blogging

My new motto

I read a new motto for people in the funeral industry and I really loved it, so I'm going to start using it as my own. In fact, I even used it today at one of my funerals.

We serve the living, while caring for the dead.

BSC

I'm so embarrassed, but I watched the Babysitters Club movie twice on Sunday, it was on HBO and I hadn't seen it in years. I forgot how much I loved that movie. So it got me thinking about all my old babysitters club books, and how I sold them in a yardsale! Man I wish I still had those books! I would do anythng to reread Logan likes Mary Anne right now. You see in elementary school, Angela Dobbins, Brandy McClanahan, Jennifer Stover and I would play the Babysitters Club at lunch. I was Mary Anne Spier, Angela was Dawn Shaffer, Brandy was Claudia Kishi, and Jennifer was Kristy. I can't remember if we had a Stacey McGill, maybe it was Kristin Martin???? Anyway, we loved these books and I devoured these books as a child. I remember they came like five books to a set. I would get these books from everyone at birthdays, Christmas, Easter or my Nana wouldl just pick me up some when she saw the latest set at the store. I've been perusing ebay and they have many sets available and strangely enough, I'm not the only person interested in these books.

It's funny how a seemingly obscure thought in your own mind that you thought no one else would dream of having, isn't actually that obscure at all.

WTB...it's back!

Tonight while watching Man vs. Wild I noticed that a station called the ION channel and it was playing classic shows like Mama's Family, The Wonder Years and my favorite of all time Who's the Boss?. I'm so excited b/c those jerks at Nick at Nite took it off for more Fresh Prince reruns. I swear Will Smith must be CEO of Nickelodeon b/c The Fresh Prince is on constant rotation. Anyway back to ION, this channel is a great start, but what I'd really like to see is a classic Nick station playing the old favorites from the 90's that my friends and I liked.

I love Who's the Boss soooo much, I even used to have a WTB t-shirt, but have no idea where it went. Man I wish I still had that shirt....

and the way I feel, I wanna curl up like a child...

Something has happened that I thought never would. I am obsessed with the Diddy (or whatever he's choosing to call himself self) and Keisha Coles song "Last Night" it's my new jam. I play it constantly...I can't help myself, I sing it all the time, everywhere ...at work, in bed, in the shower, etc. I just want to dance, and i usually do....It's driving me a little mad. Especially b/c this music is usually not my thing, but darn it, the beat is too catchy and as Blues Traveller says the hook brings you back. So true. I'm trying to break up the monotony by listening to the Geto Boys "Damn it feels good to be a ganster" If that songs sounds familiar it's b/c it's from the movie "Office Space" I've been on a little Office Space kick lately too, I don't know what is wrong with me, change in diet, lack of sleep, or maybe I have PMS.

One the Big Screen

My old chum Sari-Sar invited me to the movies on Sunday, but not to see one of the many current films. She invited me to a classic film festival. We saw a favorite for both of us...Gone With The Wind. I have seen the movie many times but never on the big screen. What a treat! It was great seeing it with an audience, laughing at Scarlett and Rhett's memorable lines. Outright laughing out loud at Mammy's facial expressions and little jabs at everyone! That movie definitely takes you on a range of motions, I swear at the end I'm always so bummed with Rhett leaving Scarlett and such (I hope I didn't ruin the ending for anyone!)

Something really funny happened at the end though, at least for me....this one lady a little down from us was literally sobbing the last 30 minutes...I mean pull it together lady, jeez!

Hot weather and all the rest

So it's been hot as heck outside lately, I swear I hate summer weather, give me mid 70's all year long and I'd be happy.
I have a serious problem, in the evening when I get home from work I eat dinner and immediately procede to fall asleep on the couch until about 8 or 9pm, hence I'm not sleepy when I "try" to go to bed. So I stay up late, wake up tired and the whole vicious cycle repeats...it's torture. Tonight I'm determined to stay up with no naps until bedtime. So far so good.

I love peanut butter and jelly, especially lately with my new improved organic/natural peanut butter. It's weird having to keep peanut butter in the fridge b/c the oil separates from the butter and so it doesn't make for an appetizing appearance so the refridgerating it keeps that from happening.

The apple iphone is all over the news and web. I am a self confessed gadget lover. I love my ipod, my kickass digital cameral, etc, etc, etc. I really want an iphone, but i don't want the hefty price. So I think I'll wait until the second generation iphone comes out. By that time maybe someone besides AT&T will be selling them and be a little less expensive. I've been a faithful sprint customer for four years now and had to leave them now, they've been a great company

I really want to go see a concert. I haven't been to one in years and I missed The Who this year in Indianapolis. Next year Rusty and I have talked about going to Bonnaroo (A music festival in TN) We will definitely be going VIP b/c I can't see myself using a porta potty for four days (*FYI Michael saw a porta potty on his trip to Montana called a Honey Pot. LOL I thought that was too funny to not share. )There are so many great bands that go to Bonnaroo that it should cover my concert fever for years.

I have to admit it, I always have been and always will be a dork!

It's true, what the title says, I always have been and always will be a dork. I was a dork in high school and unlike then I have totally accepted and am proud of that fact. I would like to emphasize one of those points. I have a deep love for DVD commentaries, in fact once I watch a movie, I then watch the dvd commentaries of the film along with the stars, or directors or sometimes producers. I don't know how it started or with what movie but I have seen dvd commentaries on every single one of my dvds...sometimes I enjoy the commentary more that the movie itself. Just one of those little details into the psyche of Rachel Fischer.

a guilty pleasure revealed.

So I've been listening for over a year and I'm in love. In love with Mr. Howard A. Stern.....yes the shock jock, Howard Stern. I've had a sirius radio for over three years now and when I heard stern was coming to sirius last year, I was excited. I had occasionally seen his E! Network show and thought it was pretty humorous, but this was going to be a little different...NO censoring on satellite! This would be howard no holds bar and I couldn't wait. January 2006 came and I was hooked. Howard, Robin, Artie, Fred, Gary (Baba Booey) were great. Everyone seemed so comfortable and relaxed, and their show was without a dull moment. Whether it was stern interviewing celebrities, porn stars or the occasional "wack packer" you couldn't turn the channel and several times I was late for work b/c of a bit on the show. One thing that I totally misunderstood about Stern was I thought he was just a perv who liked to talk to porn stars and mentally challenged people, but there in lies his genius. He's actually a nice guy, sweet guy. You don't expect to like it but you do b/c stern is just that good. So if you haven't heard him check him out on sirius. There is a three day preview of sirius for guests so you can check it out....you won't be disappointed.

Oh also, besides Howard, my hero Martha Stewart has a channel on Sirius...how cool is that.

Organic...what's the fuss all about???

Well b/c of my recent trip out west, I've decided for a lifestyle change. Ever since mortuary school I have gained more weight than I would have liked and am trying to slim down. I have decided to go the organic and Mediterraneanroute. One thing i did notice in California that everyone does the organic thing. So on my return home, I went to the grocery store and decided to buy as much organic as I can and try new things. So I bought organic natural peanut butter, soy milk, organic nonfat yogurt, granola, etc. I am really enjoying everything, expect for the soy milk so Jennifer at work (who's very well versed in the organic revolution) said to buy just regular organic milk with no hormones. I am trying to eat breakfast every morning and am not eating as much fast food. Maybe once a week. As far as the Mediterranean diet goes, I'm eating a lot of pitas, hummus, olives, olive oil, feta cheese, etc. According to what I've been researching, one needs on a Mediterranean diet is a staple of olive oil, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, and very little red meat, dairy, but some cheeses are ok in moderation. They also stress the fact of several little meals throughout the day. So far so good, and I'm not starving myself. Plus at work, everyone has joined the biggest loser contest....so besides the best funeral home in general we will also be the best looking funeral home around....LOL

My man list

My good friend Sarah created "The Man List", I loved the idea so much I decided to rip her off and create my own list.

1)Robert Redford

I have loved this man since I was 13 and I saw the film "The Way We Were" that Mr. Redford stars in with Barbra Streisand. It's a love story with a sad ending, which seems to be the running MO in most love stories. In this one, in case you've never seen it...Barbra's character has been in love with Hubble (Redford) since college. He was the golden boy that everything came easy to with the classic american good looks, brains, athletic ability, etc. Katie (Streisand) is smart, but has to work very hard to stay in University. She's political and cares about people and injustice in the world. Somehow a few years later, they fall in love, marry and things start to fall apart, of course they don't stay together. It's so tragic it's wonderful!

Anyway, Redford to me is the epitome of classic good looks, brains, style, etc...I love everything about him.

2)Christian Bale

I have loved him since way back when he was in the film "Empire of the Sun" and "Little Women" with Winona Ryder. But my favorite role of Christian's is the sexy serial killer Patrick Bateman in the movie "American Psycho". He's just so darn good!

3) Hugh Grant

Forget about the whole Divine Brown thing, Hugh Grant to me is charming, handsome and hilarious...

4) Julian Mcmahon and Dylan Walsh

If you've never seen Nip/Tuck you don't know what you're missing...these guys are great.

6) Jonathan Antin

I don't know what it is about him, but I think he's awesome.

6)Jared Leto

But only in the My So-Called Life years, he was so good looking you could almost call him pretty.

7)Matthew Mcconaughey

Pre-naked bongo drumming, winnebago driving, kinda gross Matthew, there was the "A Time to Kill" and "Contact" Matthew, that's how I prefer to remember him....

8) Brad Pitt

I'm totally Team Jolie, so I am loving how much in love Brad Pitt looks, to me he's never looked better.

Bad Blogger

Hey everyone sorry I haven't been a very good blogger lately, especially towards the end of my trip. I do have good reasons though. The weather! It was rough going on our way back home and we actually got home a day early so we could recoup. I'm sorry for the lack of photos, but believe me you would not have been interested in Nebraska, Iowa or Indiana. Wyoming was a total bust because it snowed the whole time and I couldn't see any sights!

In closing I want to thank everyone for checking the blog and the prayers, phone calls and support. I could really tell I had people who cared about me, I wished I could have taken everyone with me, but I don't think we would have had enough leg room *especially since I had to bring back all that beer* LOL.....just kidding Dave!

I think I'm going to keep this blog up, just change the name of it...keep on reading.
Peace

What's that Smell??? I think it's the Lake

Day 6

Today was a day of leisure if you will, when we left Sparks ( little town outside of Reno) the only plans we had were to make it to the Great Salt Lake and Salt Lake City anything beyond was just good luck b/c Salt Lake City was 450 miles away. Nevada loves their gambling...please let me explain, we stopped to get gas in a little town that had three or four casinos and the gas station had a bigger gambling section than it had for the gas station! Speaking of gas, I can't help but notice something is up with Chevron. EVERY where we have gone, Chevron gas is at least 20 cents more expensive than other gas stations! Below is the mountain range we drove past in Nevada on our way to Salt Lake, the temp stayed in the 50's ALL DAY today and it doesn't look like it's going to get warm until we reach Ohio or maybe Illinois. Aren't these mountains beautiful, the funny thing is that along this mountain range we passed at least Five prisons and if that wasn't scary enough the DON'T PICK UP HITCHHIKERS signs were.


Oh and thanks to Annie, I finally saw my first tumbleweed. It was blowing across the road and Annie alerted me to it. But I didn't have time to take a picture.
The drive aside from the mountains was pretty uneventful and we passed the time by listening to our last book on tape. These have been a lifesaver and really helped to pass the time. Approaching the Great Salt Lake was interesting, according to my travel book the lake had a strange smell. Well I figured it was an exaggeration. Well it wasn't! The only thing that can live in the lake is a decaying bacteria. The smell, can only be described as a mix of skunk and other pungent materials. Annie says it wasn't that bad, but I thought it really smelled. We pulled into the lake visitor center and to my surprise were asked to pay five bucks to park. Now I try not to be a judgemental person but I couldn't help but notice that the crowd at the center was NOT there to see the lake. All the people were young, wearing black, had died black hair, some had mohawks, etc. Apparently there was going to be a rock concert. We walked across the parking lot passed the crowd over to the lake. We discovered that you cannot walk out across the sand near the lake without sinking so I will bring a little of the lake home with me on my Nikes.
Below are some pics I took. The lake, is quite beautiful.

Salt Lake City was just a few miles down the road. The city was the recent host of the Winter Olympics. It's a really lovely little place with a lot of attitude. Downtown was easy to drive around and it seems like everyone's a walker there so Annie and I parked the car and headed out to a destination I've wanted to see the entire trip, The Mormon Temple. Brigham Young choose the center of the city square for his temple and it took forty years to construct and this is where the LDS is headed. On our way to the Temple, a man asked us for a quarter, we quickly said no and headed on our way. Which was the opposite way he was going. Two blocks away and we saw him again. I had a weird feeling and we quickly walked into the courtyard surrounding the Temple where many people were milling and a peaceful feeling washed over me. The surrounding garden and fountains were very relaxing. My first thoughts looking at the Temple was, "I thought it be bigger" It is a little smaller than I expected but it really is a beautiful building. The Tabernacle where the famous choir is located is just next to it, but some of the men in suits were around talking to people and I didn't want to deal with that so I took a few pics of the temple and we left.


Of course it started raining when we were leaving, so that and the fact that Cheyenne is over 400 miles away we decided to crash in the surprisingly busy Evanston, Wyoming. My mission tomorrow is to find David's beer, b/c I fear coming home without it. Until next time. R

A few more pics

Here's some more pics I didn't have a chance to post....Lisa I know you and Michelle are wanting more pics!

The Lodge we stayed at in Colorado.

These next pics are of the pod that goes into the Arch in St. Louis, the first is the outside and the second is the seats and space on the inside, which isn't very much!!!


Center of St. Louis


Getting ready to hit the road




The Summit





Hey Wyatt,what do you think of my pictures?????


Well everybody's a critic! More soon, now it's off to Salt Lake City.

Truly Breahtaking

Day 5

Once we left the Grand Canyon we went through Vegas but didn't stay just ate and left. My thoughts on Vegas, it's dirty and I can tell it's not really my kind of joint. I can totally appreciate the great hotels and enjoyed seeing those. But I had more important places to be, California was calling.

The drive from Vegas to California was ROUGH it was 110 degrees and miserable. The scenery was beatiful through the mountains into California but before that all it was was dry desert with no life whatsoever expect for the crowded Highway full of people from California headed back home.

California is such a strange place. In the beginning all it was was joshua trees and sage brush then it turns into beautiful rolling hills full of wheat to farms of pecans and artichokes.

We stopped for the night in Pasa Robles, Ca. and ate at this really great restaurant with flat screen tvs in each booth. I can't remember the name but I will post it soon. We made an early night and got up early this morning. Our first stop was a tour of the vinyards surrounding the area...and something really strange happened. We saw a man using the bathroom on the side of the road. I hope they use a different fertilizer on the grapes!!!

The moment of truth, we reach Highway One in Cambria and I get my first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. It was beautiful, the fog was hugging the coastline and it was a crisp 60 degrees.

All along the coast there were turnout points and I definitely took advantage of the great photo ops.

Pfieffer Beach in Big Sur was cold and windy but beautiful and it is definitely God's country. I even saw a sea lion on the beach, but I think she was hurt, no worries though, help came and hopefully she will be just fine.

Once we left Big Sur, it was on our way to San Francisco and Sacramento. I was still feeling fine and decided to press on to at least Reno. Everything was going great until Tahoe. Now the weather had been cool all day on the coast and even in San Francisco, but I was not ready for the rapid temperature drop to 32 degrees and the blizzard conditions on the road way, it was so scary and I didn't think we'd make it. But we did and now we're in Reno and I need to rest. More pics soon...we're headed home!

That Big Canyon sure is awesome!

Day 4

After we left the Colorado we were on our way to The Grand Canyon and Las Vegas but things got a little sidetracked so we stopped in Arizona about an hour outside of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The trip there was hot, yes but soo beautiful, I have never seen those colors in WV that I saw driving through Utah, Arizona and Nevada.

Still green
The terrain changed from greens and browns with temperatures in the 50's and 60's to Temps in the 100 + mark.
We drove through Utah for a bit and will be driving back through on our way back home.

We didn't do a whole lot on day four but drive and look at scenery. In case you were wondering about the food on the road it all depends on where you eat. In the mornings we eat the usual continental breakfast, but even I'm getting sick of the bagel, cream cheese and hard boiled egg routine. We did eat at a legit "road food" joint though, Ben's Cafe or something like that, it was terrible!!! The food was underseasoned and just not plain good and the service sucked too.

This was taken at a roadside stop we made, I climbed on top of a large rock and took these pictures of the valley below.

Once we reached Arizona, services got scarce. At one point there wasn't a service for about 60 miles!!!

Finally we reached the Grand Canyon, the park lies way back into the Kahbib National Forest and there is a fee of $25.00 week pass for the Grand Canyon National Park. There are tons of little cabins close to the rim, from what I've read these cabins are booked years in advance. I totally understand why, the views are unbeatable. I had so many expections of the Grand Canyon, it's something I've wanted to see my entire life. It did not disappoint. The shear magnitude of the canyon I cannot describe with a few photos. But I'm going to try


Tomorrow my # 1 Desination PCH 1 and Big Sur, CA.