BeaUTAHful Anniversary

To celebrate our 22nd anniversary, Chuck and I decided to head back to one of our favorite places - Utah. Can I just say how much I LOVE this state?! It has some of the most amazing geological features, mountains, rivers, and scenery. We kept hearing about Moab and thought that would be an awesome place to spend a weekend together.

This is the view we were greeted with while driving into town! 

After the gorgeous 6 hour drive, we found our rental property and walked around the downtown area. Then we drove 30 miles outside of town to a place called Dead Horse State Park. We heard it had spectacular sunsets. It did not disappoint. We spent two sunsets out here overlooking this massive canyon.

First thing the next day we went straight to Arches National Park. We had no idea what to expect but were super excited to see and try it all. We figured we would do the Big One first - the Delicate Arch. After finally finding the right trail, we began our trek. We never checked to see if it was an easy, moderate, or difficult trail until we finished it 2 hours later. Of course we jumped right into the hardest of hard. The picture above is actually a trail, it goes all the way to the top of that rock ledge and then some. It's very difficult to tell the steady incline, but our legs sure felt it!

This is the rock ledge that was in the top right hand corner of the above picture. It went on and on and on. It was a beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky. We had to keep reminding ourselves we were in the desert and that shade was a luxury.

This is the final part of the trail. Around the corner and to the right, the Delicate Arch awaits. That is, if you ever make it past this tiny, life-threatening path that plunges hundreds of feet straight down on the left. Walking up was fine because I could hug the cliff face. Walking back down on the other side was almost the end of me. My legs were so shaky I don't know how I was able to physically keep walking. Chuck kept telling me,"Just look at the wall. I'll guide you down." I did and he did. But that was just the beginning of doing all kinds of things I didn't know I was able to do. This was the weekend of doing hard things. But the reward and payoff was soooo worth it! 

TADA!! The Arch is MASSIVE! And BEAUTIFUL! It was definitely worth the hike! 

Another, closer angle. 

We drove to a picnic spot and enjoyed a nice, shady lunch. 

Right behind our picnic table was this little cave. Chuck couldn't resist climbing up it. It was the climb back down that was tricky though. It wasn't super tall, but it was very slick with no place to hold on to but too high to jump down from. This time it was my turn to help him. I verbally guided him down by telling him where to place his feet (as I recorded it on video). 

Our next hike was in a place called The Fiery Furnace. We had to watch a special video at the Visitor Center and answer a few questions before paying for a permit to walk through this amazing place. They have to keep track of all the hikers here because there are no trails. It's just a maze of rocks that seems to go on forever. And it was the highlight of our whole trip. 

The Fiery Furnace was as hot as it's name. There is no direct way in, you just start walking. We came to a huge grouping of boulders and just started climbing. Remember that phrase our family coined years ago, "It's not an adventure unless mom is scared." Well....it was a true adventure! 

This place just blew our minds! There were crevices so narrow we had to squeeze sideways to get through them.

Or shimmy our way through Ninja Warrior style.

This was the day I became brave. 

It was so serene and quiet. We felt like the only people there. There was a sense of awe all around us. I think we passed only 4 other people the whole 2+ hours we were out there. It was a little dicey water-wise. We each only had one bottle of water left for this hike. We could have used like 3 more. It was HOT. And we had no idea how long this hike would take us or if we would ever find our way out of this maze of boulders and cliffs. It was the ultimate off-road adventure for us. We felt a huge sense of accomplishment walking out of there 2.5 hours later.

That evening we went out for a special dinner and back to the Sunset Place.

It was every bit as romantic as you think it would be.

A nice fellow sunset watcher offered to take our photo. 

I thought it ironic that at the same time, a photographer was there taking wedding photos of this sweet new couple as we were there taking pictures on our 22nd wedding anniversary.

The next day we spent the first 4 hours paddle boarding down the Colorado River. We had THE BEST TIME EVER! There were only 3 of us and our guide. We even did paddle board yoga! We went through some level 1 rapids, through which we mostly paddled through on our knees. Chuck tried the last set standing up and fell. He fell off twice and I fell off once. I was shocked that was all. I was expecting alot more falling. Unfortunately, I don't have my pictures of that developed yet. We had to do an old school waterproof disposable camera in order to capture this incredible occasion. When I get them back, I'll be sure to do another blog with those pictures. 

After lunch, we headed back out to Arches National Park and thought we would do a few easy hikes. We managed to walk the path to Balanced Rock and the North and South Windows (below) before calling it a day. 

Just to walk up a simple path took every ounce of our energy. Now we know why. Come to find out, it hit 104 degrees that afternoon and we felt like we were dragging. We were exhausted! We didn't even eat dinner. I think we were in bed by 6:30. 

We stopped for a little walk on the bridge over the Colorado River the morning we left for one more moment in the shadow of those beautiful mountains and rock formations.

And as per tradition, our song for this year was: Perfect, by Ed Sheeran. I think it sums up our love for each other and appreciation for our time together in this Perfect place!

Chloe the Pirate

We've had a running joke going for a while now about Chloe's future occupation. I think that I could never forget something as funny as this, but like all things, the memories and how they began fade with time. I definitely don't want to forget this hilarious tale involving Chloe and her grown-up job.

As with most of my stories, this one begins at the dinner table. I think Chuck was out of town because it was only Bennett, Chloe, and I at the table. Chloe was sharing her hopes and dreams and had just declared that she thinks she might want to be a pilot when she grows up. 

I don't have any idea why...maybe he was chewing when she said the word, maybe he was up to his usual antics, but Bennett immediately said, "You want to be a pirate?" like he genuinely thought that's what he heard.

I could not stop laughing. The visual image of Chloe as a pirate just hit me full on and I lost it. Chloe, of course, thought we were laughing at her. Literally, there were tears streaming down Bennett's and my face. His comedic timing is impeccable as always.

Because the kids used to watch VeggieTales when they were little, I already had her theme song picked out:

We are the pirates, who don't do anything

we stay home and lie around

and if you ask us to do anything

we'll just tell you: we don't do anything.

This is also very apropos because Chloe's favorite thing to do is lay on her bed and read. She has spent a large chunk of time this summer doing just that. I have no problem with it because kids need down time from their hectic school and after-school lives and reading is an awesome activity. But...sometimes she can become a little hermit-like. She readily admits that she really doesn't like to do anything. Thus, the perfect life song for her.

Gavin's New Baby

So...this happened the other day.

Gavin bought his first car (second actually, we gave him his first one, but this is the one he chose all on his own and spent his own money on). So grown up.

When we moved to Colorado, his beloved Popemobile was unable to move with us. It would have died or fallen apart before we left the state of Minnesota. He's still salty about this, and who could blame him. Everyone loves their first car - warts and all. So he's been without a car for over a year now. That's a big deal to a kid his age who values his independence. 

Once he came home for the summer and got a job, he knew he'd be able to take out a loan to buy his car. He was very specific from the beginning about what type of car it would be too. Only a Volvo would do. He really wanted Popemobile II, but that was not to be, unfortunately. Every time he found a white Volvo, it slipped through his fingers. But then he came upon this little gem. I actually have car envy. It's a loaded 2006 Volvo SE with only 116,000 miles. It is in immaculate condition and it was in his price range. 

Sadly, the bank wouldn't give him a car loan for a car older than 10 years, but they would give him a personal loan with a much higher interest rate. Well, Grandma and Grandpa would hear none of that. That knew Gavin to be one of the most responsible 19 year olds around and offered to give him the loan he need, interest free. The beauty of families. Now everyone is happy. 

Thoughtful

I recently bought this adorable little magnet and placed it on the front of the fridge. All the fam ooohed and ahhhhed over it thinking it was THE BEST. Even Chuck, who isn't always the quickest person to noticed little details like this, actually commented on it. 

That's why I was surprised by what he did the other day. I'm sitting there at the island eating breakfast. Chuck is puttering around in the kitchen. Then I notice him get out a tablespoon, fill it with water, walk over to the fridge, and then ever so gently and tenderly begin to water this magnet.

I thought is was the cutest, sweetest thing in the world. I couldn't stop giggling. 

In between fits of laughter, I told him that it didn't need watering, that it was completely fake. But thank you for the compliment thinking that I've been able to keep it alive this long (I DO NOT have a green thumb). 

He said he thought the bottoms of the tendrils were looking a little dry and needed some water. How sweet is that. Even though the water ran straight down the front of the fridge after he 'watered' it, he still didn't know it wasn't real. 

What a thoughtful husband I have. 

Glenwood Springs Vacation

Last year, our 'vacation' entailed moving across the country and then moving Gavin across the country to settle into his first year of college. There wasn't much money or time left to take a break from life. But that's okay. We made both of those opportunities awesome adventures and made the most of exploring our new surroundings. Truth be told, living in Colorado is like being on vacation all the time. We get to look out and see those majestic mountains any time of the day. And most places we want to go hiking are within a few short hours from us. Not having a vacation last year wasn't a huge disappointment.

So it was with much anticipation that we headed off to Glenwood Springs, deep in the mountains, for this year's vacay. In true Mallott style, it was all about the adventure....hiking, kayaking, and as much time spent outdoors as possible.

On our first day, we chose to drive to Aspen, eat lunch there and visit the famed Maroon Bells. We had yet to visit this well known town and it was only an hour away from our destination, so we decided to make it our first stop. The town itself was quaint, but way too over-priced to really enjoy it. A few miles outside of town we spotted a little hiking spot that didn't look too busy. We made a mental note to check it out later. After eating lunch and meandering through town for a while we decided it was time to get our hiking on. For some reason, we weren't able to figure out how to get to Maroon Bells. So we decided to check out that side of the road hiking spot. Boy, did we hit the jackpot!

After parking and grabbing all our gear and heading back into the trees, this is the first sight that greets us. We instantly knew this was going to be an epic hike. I can still hear the sound of that rushing water. Ahhh....so peaceful. 

The trail itself was gorgeous....everything we love about hiking. Not too steep, a path of pine needles to tread upon. The tall pines giving us the perfect amount of shade. It felt like room temperature outside without a drop of humidity. Not alot of scraggly bushes. Plus, we were the only ones there. 

Then all of the sudden, the path came to an end and we were treated to the unexpected sight of this gorgeous lake. And just to one side of the lake was a huge boulder field. My people had a hey day! They scattered in multiple directions climbing their little hearts out.

Gavin at his perch.

Bennett high on a hill.

Chloe on her boulder.

After aimlessly bouldering we realized we had no idea where the trail was anymore. We were officially "off-trail". This is one of the hallmarks of a Mallott hike. This picture above shows what we walked out of after finally locating the 'lost trail' again. It was a mess. Bennett, per the usual, was paranoid about poison ivy the entire time we were off-road in the bush. Thankfully, there wasn't any. But you can be sure that he didn't touch one green thing the entire time. 

After coming back down the hill, we came back to our starting point and decided to off-road it again. The river was calling our name. If there's danger involved, my boys are all over it. This log spanning the raging rocky rapids was calling out to them: cross me. So of course they did. Chloe and I sat on the side and watched. It never called my name.

Chuck, on an adrenaline high after his ominous river crossing.

Once all the boys made it to my side of the shore, we just sat on the rocks like lizards soaking up the sun, listening to the roar of the river, and taking mental pictures of all the beauty around us.

We sat in hushed revere.

And that was just the first day!

This was the historic hotel we stayed in while in Glenwood Springs. It's called the Hotel Colorado. It was built in 1893 and has been a cultural icon in the town for 125 years. As such, it didn't have any a/c - but it did have window fans, so that was nice. We were really excited about staying in this place with so much history but the current owners seemed to have remodeled in the 80s and left it as is. Architecturally, it's stunning. It's decorating left much to be desired though, unfortunately. However, that did not deter us because it did have the MOST IMPORTANT THING and that is: 4 beds. No one had to share (except mom and dad). We were able to look past the mauve paint, hunter green carpet, and lack of a/c save for this one amazing feature.

The entire next day was spent at the famed Hot Springs Pool. It had two pools, one that was more like a hot tub that was set at a constant 104 degrees. The other pool, slightly larger, was at a meager 90 degrees. It was 95 degrees outside the day we visited. You do the math. 

The excited bunch of people ready to spend the day playing in the pool. Even I swam. I'm not a huge fan of pools, but these were hot springs. There was all kinds of minerals in the water and it wasn't cold - which is my biggest complaint of pools aside from the chlorine that itches my body. 

One of the best parts were the slides. They had cold water, which we actually craved after a while, and were super fast and fun! 

Since the pool was getting a little hot, we decided to take a break in the middle of the day and go to the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park

It was high atop a mountain. The only way up was through the gondolas. Again...no a/c and 95 degrees. But it only took 20 minutes to get to the top.

However, the views were breath-taking. This is the Colorado river that we would end up kayaking down the following day.

Only crazy people ride this ride. We did not!

And a lovely view of our hotel without a/c. It's the one with the red tile roof.

One last view before we descended into the caves.

They took our picture upon entrance to the lovely 54 degree cavern.

We had THE BEST tour guide. She was hilarious. She sang parody songs, danced, and was just a riot. Our favorite part of the tour was when she turned out all the lights, put on a black light and drew designs on the cave wall with flashlights. The phosphorescence on the cave walls glowed purple with the design. Super cool!

This is what you look like when you are told that the gondolas are not operating at the moment due to high winds and lightning. We stayed in this line for an hour. That was fun.

So many crazy pictures were taken to help fill the time. After surviving the unexpected delay, we realized we were starving and headed to a fantastic Thai restaurant (that we went to twice in 3 days).

We then headed back to the hotel to play some cards and wait until night-fall. Our plan was to go back to the Hot Springs and sit in the super hot pool and gaze at the stars. Unfortunately, during the long wait, two of us got really tired. And there was a live band that wasn't there during the daytime hours. And the pool was FULL of people. We did not factor any of that into our relaxing, fun evening of gazing at the stars. I don't think we saw 1 star. We lasted maybe 30 minutes. I got way too hot and dizzy and had to sit out the rest of the time. Bennett was paranoid of mosquitos. And Gavin just wanted to go to bed knowing we were requiring him to get up extra early tomorrow for a hike. We were super fun people. 

The following day we got up early to do the Hanging Lake Trail. This is a very famous trail that is a must-see for the area. Parking is very limited and in the middle of the summer you want to hike at the coolest part of the day - which is early in the morning. Thus, the reason for getting to the trail at 7:30am. It was already full. 

I just love the morning sun against the mountains!

Here we go, ready to hike one of the most strenuous trails we've ever hiked (save "The Bubble Mountain" hike in Maine that Chuck, the boys and my Dad did). 

This is exactly what the trail looks like the whole 1.2 miles up. Add to that an elevation gain of 1000 feet within that 1.2 miles and it's a killer. It took us an hour to get to the top. Lactic acid was burning every muscle we had. You can't carry enough water. We had to stop multiple times to catch our breath. I didn't get a picture of the very top, but once you reach the summit, it's stairs carved into the cliff face with a rod iron rail for you to hang on to for dear life. Steep is not an accurate enough word.

The sights along the way were beautiful if you were able to take your eyes off of the rocks in front of you long enough to look side to side.

This is almost at the top. We're on the steps carved out of the cliff face here.

TADA!! We made it. Such a pristine lake. Worth all the huffing and puffing. Plus, there was a bench we could sit down on...so that was nice.

After hiking another 45 minutes back down (with shaky leg syndrome) and everyone's ankle's in tact, we drive through the beautiful Glenwood Canyon just admiring it's sheer cliff faces on all sides and the beautiful Colorado River winding through it. We head back to the highway and take several different exits checking out if there are other things around to explore. 

We stumbled upon a rafting company. We had planned on going white water kayaking the next morning as we left to head back home. But we thought we'd check out their prices to see if they were better than other places in town. Turns out they were. We booked our kayaking trip and went in search of lunch. 

It's really unfortunate that we didn't bring any cameras on the kayaking trip because it was THE BEST part of the entire trip.  Chuck and Chloe shared a double kayak and the boys and I each had our own. We put in at the part of the river where the rapids were only Level 1 or 2. But even the level 2 rapids gave us a huge adrenaline rush. We continued on down the river with the Rafting groups. It was nice to have a guide close by incase things got hairy. We could have done this all day long. It was that much fun!! 

We slept in the next morning and drove straight to Chuy's in Denver for lunch. The perfect end to another Mallott vacation. 

Caramel Corn

Gavin introduced us to the deliciousness that is "The Mix" bag of popcorn. We all devoured it. I happened to only devour the caramel part though. He was noticing this trend. He knew how much I enjoyed this little snack. So he took it upon himself to secretly order me my very own bag of "Just the Caramel Corn" from Amazon. He checked the mail religiously every day waiting to give me his surprise. I cannot even describe how touched I was with this precious gift. Gavin has always been so in-tune with my needs and mood. He was so happy that he thought of the perfect gift for me. And I was happy that he even thought to do it. Now we're both happy with our very own bags of popcorn.