We spend nearly a month with Brian and Barb Gundersen. They were delightful traveling companions. THANKS FOR PUTTING UP WITH US!
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Great Wildlife
We were able to see so many types of exotic wildlife (for us anyway - some of these critters are pests in their native habitats). While we have seen many of them in zoos, etc., to see them in their wild state (most of them anyway), was a memorable experience. In order: the kiwi, sea lion, iguana, emu, wombat, Tasmanian devil, platypus, echidna, koala, wallaby, kangaroo, brumbie, devil lizard, coral, nemo, ibis, shark, dingo and fruit bat.
Anderton\Gundersen New Zealand-Australia Expedition
Our trip to New Zealand and Australia turned out perhaps even better than expected. It seemed that everywhere we went the weather cleared up or cooled off, and the experiences just got better and better. Some general trip impressions: 1) not that I have been hired by the Down Under Chamber of Commerce, but a GREAT place to visit - the people are warm and gracious, the cities are clean and beautiful, there is no sense of overcrowding, and the pace is relaxing, 2) kudos to Princess Cruises, we had a wonderful time with the cruise portion of the trip - especially the entertainment, 3) that is one LONG flight there and back - and good luck sleeping in economy, 4) interesting foods, 5) memorable "adventures" at every turn, 6) what nice people we met, both the locals and the tourists, 7) very touching experiences with our four Sundays of church attendance, 8) there are some wacky animals in the isolation of this corner of the earth, 9) unique native cultures, and 10) absolutely stunning water and beaches. (March 5-30)
Walmart
I was returning a couple of items to the Walmart in American Fork, Utah on my recent trip and was in a hurry. I grabbed the white Walmart bag and the receipt, and hurried in, only to find 10 people or so already in line. I waited it out, so as to not waste all the effort, and finally it was my turn. I walked up to the return counter, a little exasperated with the delay (now I was really late). I grabbed the corner of the white bag to dump out its contents, and with the flip of my wrist (I was returning two small towels), out sprang my dirty clothes from the trip in all their glory. Whoops, wrong white plastic Walmart bag. The clerk asked if I had a receipt.
A Misundertanding
At one of my hotel stays on my last trip, I called and asked for a wake up call. My phone rang at about 4:30am and a voice asked, "Well, what exactly are you doing with your life that is positive?" I guess they misunderstood me.
Kitchen Light
For some reason, the kitchen light ceased to operate (something inside of it went pop), so KR went shopping and picked out a new one. We followed the instructions carefully, and when we turned it on, it actually worked! Ta da....... Note: the crooked position of the glass thingies was before adjustment, they are straight now.
Utah
After dropping Katie off in Spokane for her return flight, I kept going into Idaho and eventually found my way through Montana, Idaho again, Utah, Nevada, Idaho again, Oregon, to Seattle for a legal seminar, then back home. I call it the great Utah circle route. It was great seeing the Provo gang (and watching Megan cut four heads of hair) and the folks in Morgan. Talk about a lot of snow...I have never seen as much snow on the ground in Morgan as they have right now. And while we were at Church on Sunday, we came out to a snow storm and several new inches on the ground. I drove back through Nevada to avoid the storm and took some pictures of the recent earthquake damage in Wells, Nevada. (February 19-27)
Katie Gets a Tuneup
Katie was in town for the removal of her wisdom teeth (thank you Mark for the professional courtesy of your Wenatchee dental brotherhood) and some other procedures. Mark also helped her out on the latter with some appropriate breakfast food. (February 13-19)
Chatterbox
Emmett stayed with us for a few days last week, and has that kid every become a talker! It is fun to see his personality develop. I kept pulling out my pen and jotting down his random thoughts. A few examples:
He saw some "cool" wheels on a car, and after telling me how cool they were, there was a pause and "Jesus created wheels on cars so we can get around". He had been listening at Church!
I took him to Denny's and, while he was eating his cheese sandwich with applesauce, he looked around and declared "this is such a quiet restaurant - I like it".
I was helping him on with his shoes after preschool and he put them on backwards. I suggested he take them off and switch them, but got the response "it's ok - with these shoes it doesn't matter".
"My daddy's name is Mark and my mommy's name is Laurel - that is a great name".
As we were pulling up to the house, he asked "can I do garage bowling?" I told him sure, then he paused...."is that my special treat?"
He made sure he pointed out the Denny's bathroom location to me, just in case he "needed it". Then he said in total seriousness "when mommies go potty they read magazines". Emmett, I think that is a universal rule.
The Clip-on Tie
Oh, the lonely life of the clip-on tie. They are loners. No roots. Few friends. Several months ago, I was in one of my favorite exclusive men's clothing stores, Walmart, and saw some of these scorned survivors of a more enlightened age on a sale rack. I thought..."Miniarms, those would be easier to use than choking yourself with a noose every time you go to a Church meeting". So I became the proud owner of two magnificent clip-on ties. They are also perfect for traveling. Easy care, and they slide right into the side pocket of the suitcase. What could be more efficient, I thought? While in St. George, I wore one of my new ties to Church. After Sacrament Meeting, as we were leaving the chapel, I heard the booming voice of the Branch President, "Did someone lose their tie?". As I was turning my head to look, I snickered to KR...."who would be dumb enough to lose their tie in Church". But as I got a good look, I thought to myself, "that looks like my clip-on". I glanced down....sure enough, no tie. Now you know the rest of the story. Clip-on ties do have their shortcomings.
Westridge Snow
The snow just keeps coming to Wenatchee. It is by far the most we have had at any one time since we moved here. We have about had enough of this!
Zions to Provo and Home
Back to Provo. We left St. George this morning and headed back in kind of an indirect way (shock). East through Hurricane, Zions NP, to Mr. Carmel Junction, then north through Orderville (didn't see a whole lot of order there) to the Escalante turnoff. Soon after you make that turnoff, you go through Red Canyon. It was a clear, cold, beautiful day and the rocks were glowing. Escalante seems like an interesting, nice place.
Isolated. But the area is gorgeous. They have a new high school. Would
be rough to bus to road games from here. Home of the Moquis. Just north of Escalante, the Escalante River swings east on its way to Lake Powell. We entered into one arm of the Grand Staircase-Escalante NMT
(I believe one of Clinton's giant Utah land grabs) and down into a
magnificent canyon area carved by the river and its tributary creeks. It
covers a huge area, all the way to the small town of Boulder. From
Boulder to Torrey, the road crosses over the Boulder mountains and a
9000+ pass. The east side of the range is covered by some of the largest
aspen groves I have ever seen. Must be glorious in the fall. But the
best part of the up and over is the view. You can see forever to the
east...over all of central Utah...Capitol Reef NP, the Waterpocket Fold,
the Grand Staircase down into Lake Powell, the canyons of the
Escalante, the Burr Trail, the Henry Mountains. And no people. We finally rolled into Provo around 5:00pm, having
seen more little Utah towns than we really needed to....but it was fun!
The Matt Anderton's and the Dover's met us at Applebee's and we had a
nice dinner, then spent some time at Amy's visiting. We were up at
4:00am on the 16th to catch our flight. (January 15-16)
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