We're selling Pepper...
10/26/2010 - Posted by Nicole - 0 comments
's kennel. This was the way a text message I sent to my mom came across yesterday. She called later, after reading the entire message and scolded me for freaking her out! Oops. Sorry momma :)




Yesterday we listed Pepper's old kennel in the Summit Daily and decided to include a cute picture to go along with it and convince everyone that it's worth purchasing. Pep hasn't used this kennel in quite some time (or maybe ever) because it is WAY too big for her, so she was none too keen to get in it. Therefore we did what any good dog parents would do and bribed her by placing little bits of turkey Hansel and Gretel style leading into the kennel. Then we shut her in there and snapped a quick pic. 


We now have a cute ad and she's (likely) not scared for life... Dogs only have a 7 second memory, right?


Blizzardy McBlizzardville
10/26/2010 - Posted by Nicole - 0 comments
For the past few weeks we have been sitting around wondering when winter was going to arrive. Mike started getting a little stressed last week when we heard that we were almost 2 weeks behind our snow fall totals at Copper compared to this time last year, but I calmly assured him that winter would not forget us. And then yesterday morning we woke up to this:



The previous night's evening rain shower had transformed into this beautiful stuff called snow!! Unfortunately, the storm caught everyone in Summit a little off guard, or as Mike put it "with its collective pants down." So Pepper and I stayed hunkered down all day sitting back and watching the beautiful snow pile up outside our door. It is magnificent and I think it's safe to say that winter is here to stay! 


Epic Fail... except for the sunrise
10/23/2010 - Posted by Nicole - 0 comments
Last week, Michael and I embarked on what we thought was going to be an epic adventure through Zion National Park. He had to attend annual training for the Reserves in southern (and I mean southern) Arizona at Fort Huachuca for two weeks. He left on October 1, I finished my last day of work at the preschool on October 8, and then drove all the way across Colorado and New Mexico to meet him. 


We had a good time at Fort Huachuca where we visited the Kartchner Caves and Coronado National Monument on the US/Mexico border. 


 The border... yikes! I'm not gonna lie, I was a little sketched out by being right along the border especially since Michael spoke with a border patrol agent who told us that there are always scouts hiding in the hills! Border patrol= a very intense job!!

Kubla Khan in Kartchner Caves

We spent a week together at Fort Huachuca and then headed out toward Zion via the Grand Canyon. My family had an epic adventure at the Grand Canyon when I was a kid (and by epic I mean HORRIBLE!) so I was very excited to go there and leave with a better taste of the beautiful canyon. 

We arrived on Saturday afternoon after literally driving all the way across the state of Arizona so we caught a glimpse of the canyon and then set up camp for the night. 



I'd never been car camping and let me tell you, it's the way to go! You have all the benefits and conveniences of your car but still get to sleep out under the stars. 


Sunday morning we woke up before the crack of dawn, layered up, and went to the rim to watch the sunrise. I thought I had seen some beautiful sunrises before, but this was simply majestic. What a perfect way to celebrate the Sabbath Day by basking in the glory of the Lord's creation!






Just magnificent!

You may be surprised that that was the extent of our Grand Canyon experience, but it was. We would definitely like to go back and hike the North Rim, but it's always good to leave wanting more. 

So, we hopped back in the car and continued our drive to Zion National Park! Before we got there, we drove across the Lake Powell Dam, which is both beautiful and sad at the same time. It's crazy to be driving across the desert and find such an immense amount of water. What an anomaly. 



Eventually, we made it to Zion, which is one of the most beautiful National Parks in the country. 




Our intention was the meet up with two of our friends from NOLS, Dane and B, and drop a slot. Zion is a canyon system made up of numerous vary narrow canyons called slot canyons. When we were at NOLS we spent a great deal of time "dropping slots" which basically entails climbing to the top of a canyon system and then climbing back down through the canyon through a series of rappels. The one we had selected, Behunin Canyon, had about 11 rappels with the largest being a free-hanging 165 foot rappel! We were super stoked until we woke up Monday morning to rain!! Slot canyons can flash flood during a large rain storm within minutes and they are not a place in which you want to be caught! We thought about staying around to climb, but unfortunately most of Zion is sandstone which just crumbles when it's wet, so that wasn't an option either :(

With heavy hearts, we decided to forgo trying to drop the slot and got back in the car to head home. On Monday we drove across the state of Utah and the rest of Colorado racking up four full states and over 2,000 miles for this little road trip! The best part of the drive back was that we drove through Green River, Utah where we had stayed the night during our NOLS course. Even though Green River literally consists of only two gas stations, a state park and an RV park, it was very exciting for both of us to return to a place that was the start of our epic journey in the canyons. 


I guess we'll just have to try again next time...


NOLS Part 2- Backpacking in the Winds
10/21/2010 - Posted by Nicole - 0 comments

After getting all of our gear packed, we loaded busses that took us out into the Wind River Mountain Range in Wyoming for 10 days of backpacking. 

(Please note: my backpack becomes much more svelt over the course of the next 94 days as I became a much more efficient packer thanks to NOLS)

Once we were dropped off, we held a few short classes on topics such as "How to use bear spray" and "How to wipe in the backcountry" (but we won't go into that...) before staggering our start times and heading off into the wild unknown. Our first camp site was simply breathtaking:



In fact, almost all of our campsites were absolutely gorgeous, but one of the most interesting things we learned in the Winds, besides how to read a topo map and find routes through confusing terrain, was how to cook in the backcountry. This was a concept that hadn't occurred to me prior to NOLS. But out there, we cooked everything from cheesy fried bagels to pizza. 

Our first meal- cheesy cashew pasta

Cheesy pizza with sausage (a NOLS favorite)

Yummy backcountry brownies

And of course, oatmeal cookies



Last December I wrote this post with more details about our travels in the Winds. 


Why My Husband Rocks
10/14/2010 - Posted by Nicole - 3 comments
I've never done a post like this before, but I saw on a fellow blogger's website that she dedicates one day a month to declaring to the world why her husband is awesome. Well, mine is pretty cool, too, so I thought I would share a few of the things that make him great.


Number 1- He ALWAYS makes me laugh- even when I don't want to. 


Number 2- He takes me on awesome adventures.


Number 3- He lets me pack as much as I want. 

All of these bags were for the two of us for one trip- this was in the pre-baggage fee days.

Number 4- He's an Aggie.


Number 5- He proudly and humbly serves our country and safely returned from a 15-month deployment to Iraq. 


Number 5b- He looks GREAT in uniform!!!


Number 6- He's really strong, Ms. Parrish.


Number 7- He let us adopt sweet Pepper Dog. 


Number 8- He's a good cook. 


Number 9- He doesn't get mad at me for doing stupid things like driving our truck into a snowbank. 


Number 10- He loves it when I take pictures of EVERYTHING!! 



Well, most of the time any way.

But the biggest reason my husband rocks is because he's my best friend. Through all of our ups and downs, and the craziness of life, he stands beside me. We are truly sole mates. I love you, Bub!







NOLS Part 1- Getting together all of our gear
10/13/2010 - Posted by Nicole - 0 comments
As promised, today I am starting my multi-part series on our NOLS adventure which (insanely) began over a year ago! I am currently stuck in a hotel room in Sierra Vista, AZ while Mike finished up the last of his 16-day Army Reserve career course, so I figured I should get on it. 


As I got to thinking, I realized that instead of jumping right into our trip, I should start with the tedious prep situation that preceded leaving for Lander. As many of you remember, I broke my right arm just 6 weeks before we were set to leave. 




We then spent about a week trying to decide whether or not to even go to NOLS. Luckily, after much prayer, debate, and talking with family, we decided to go balls-to-the-wall and give it a try. I was even able to train prior to the trip since my awesome Daddy lent me "The bionic arm" from his bicep surgery. You can see it on my right arm here on the Mohawk Lakes Trail. 



So once we made the decision to go ahead with NOLS, we had to get all of our stuff together. Were I going on another long-term backpacking trip, I prepare much differently knowing what I now know, but at the time, all we had to go from was the packing list. So we began setting out all of our things in the guest bedroom.


Notice how shiny and new all of our things are. They definitely do not look like this any more. Also note things that were totally unnecessary like our ski helmets near the head of the bed. Ridiculous, now, I know, but at the time, we thought we'd be shredin' during the winter section. 

We also spent a lot of time preparing our boots by sealing them with Nik-Wax and I even spent some time traipsing around the house in mine in order to properly break them in. 




Once we got to Lander, we spent two days getting all of our gear laid out (known as "exploding") in a couple of bays at the Rocky Mountain Headquarters. It was a total organized mess, to say the least. 

Our group gear for the backpacking section. Note the orange vests which we had to wear because it was hunting season. A few years ago a NOLS-y got SHOT! during a backpacking section reportedly because he was wearing a fur-lined vest that confused a hunter. Check the next blog about our backpacking adventure to see whether anyone on our trip had a similar experience. 


The whiteboard outlining all of our needed gear. We used this each section to make sure we had everything that we need. 

Our gear before the "explosion" began

Mike going through all of his stuff


All of my gear for backpacking laid out 


Going down the list with Kai

After two days of going through everything and getting all packed up, we were finally ready to hit the road and spend 10 days backpacking through the Wind River Mountain Range in Wyoming. Check back soon for pictures and stories from that part of our adventure.