westward hoe!

haha.

highlights:

* camping on antelope island, in the great salt lake, home to the largest herd of buffalo in utah. i was continually compelled to silently (and sometimes, to my partner's chagrin, loudly) sing 'home on the range.' often. although the salt lake smells rotten (i didn't know this - did you?) and is teeming with brine flies (constant buzzing), experiencing the buoyancy was quite a thrill - and a welcome relief from the 100+-degree temperatures.

* the mormon tabernacle choir. amazing. pure, angelic, encompassing, chilling.

* steamboat springs, colorado, and heeding locals' advice to camp there, at the tip-top of the mountain. we wound our poor little four-cylinder rental eight miles up the gravel road and whoa, was it worth it. up there, all alone, we felt like the double rainbow was just for us

... and the sky cleared and continued a show through sunset. for us.

* coming across (well, after driving down, through, over, between) tucked-in sights

* meeting up with friends, who happened to also be in colorado, on a five-week music-playing holiday. with them, we cooked, camped and took a two-hour side-trip to central city, a teeny town full (i mean this) of casinos. we made sure our time here, however, was brief - because we hadn't budgeted a gambling spree (but still allowed ourselves a little play) and because new belgium brewing was begging for a visit.

* so we went. and saw how our favorite beers are brewed.

and came away with fresh growlers of fat tire and 1554, determined to enter utah with 3.2-PLUS beer 

* arches national park in utah. amazing.

*zion national park. we stayed here for three days, the longest stay of all stops on our trip - partially because we fell in love, partially because our campsite was incredible (next to a brook for dish/hand-washing - yes, with environmentally friendly soap, steps from the virgin river for afternoon dips, and positioned beneath 'the watchman' mountain). mostly (?) we stayed longer because, after driving 2100 miles in less than a week, we were reluctant to get back into the car and start driving again. so we missed the northern rim of the grand canyon (a mere 85 miles from zion - although the park ranger assured us it was a three-hour drive each way), and we missed hoover dam, which would've been really cool, considering we followed the colorado river for so long on our journey. would've been neat to follow to its conclusion.

at zion, we also walked the virgin river's 'the narrows,' quite a beautiful and humbling experience.

i'm grateful i was able to travel with a like-minded companion who prefers smaller, scenic highway routes over interstates, spontaneity over a rigid schedule and tents over cushy beds (do they clean those bedspreads after every stay? and the carpet? is it ever cleaned? and have i told you my *young* niece once found a used condom under a bed in a 3-plus-star hotel room? it's true; i was there).

* also of note (although, for some reason, i didn't get pictures): saltair. sooo cool. wish i would've explored more.

i use parentheses a lot (right?!)

colorado

gulp

summer

i love summer.

the weekend's cedar point trip was thrilling. i'm not sure thrilling is even enough. when i wasn't screaming (lost my voice), i was delighting in other enthusiasts' screams. maybe that's why i didn't take any pictures. none. i meant to, i wanted to, but i couldn't be bothered with a camera when i have all these roller coasters to ride. 

our group was happy, our lodging was convenient and close, our time was plenty, our skies, sunny. hip hip hooray for road trips and amusement parks.

i spent a few extra days in chicago, playing with my sister, and came home to my fabulous bike, pimped. thank you, brothers.

lucky me.

sky show

the sky put on quite a show for me this weekend.

thanks, mama earth ...

summer food

i love the simplicity and speediness of little summer meals. fortunately, my stomach *typically* doesn't want a big meal, and fortunately fortunately i have a plethora of juicy fresh nutrient-richness at my fingertips. i love my orange tomatoes best. i can say that here, where my okra and peppers won't overhear.

chairs

i'm sanding down these wonderful chairs i got FREE from my brother-in-law. his friend found them in a house he bought, was going to toss them, and said brother-in-law snagged them, instead, for me, knowing i'd love them. and i do. i especially love the enormous seats and curve of the back legs.

as much as i would've liked to keep the original, peeling, rustic-looking patina, i had to do some sanding because the old, dark stain was transferring itself from chair to person.

and, as you can see, the detail is much too intricate to fully sand (for my impatient hands, at least). plus, i love the look with some of the darker finish still adhering, anyway.

"aren't my chairs gorgeous? NO! don't sit on them! they'll stick to you!" um, no. chairs are for sitting, and once these are fully finished (now they need a few coats of a matte varnish and then i'll attempt to recover the seats in this - which i had to special order, but at 55% off), they'll charm my seat off.

to be continued with these lovely ladies.

pigs, pickling

this weekend, i went to ey farms and looked at all the (cute when little, scary as adults) pigs. there are hundreds.

and some chickens ... did you know, when a chicken is clucking, she's just laid an egg?

and then separately, very separately, i pickled more vegetables. batch one was a bit sweet (over this i worried) and in need of a bit more spice, but still good. this time, i added a jar of peppers and a jar of cucumbers to the mix - along with added spice and virtually no sugar.

i love vinegar.