Capitol Reef

So part II of my birthday present was a trip to S. Utah. We chose Capitol Reef because neither of us had spent much time there and because GKepi had given us some brochures from her recent trip and it looked like an adventure.

The first day we were there we hiked a rather challenging trail for me called "The Frying Pan". It was well worth it though because of the amazing views once we got to the top. Sara slept pretty much most of the way until I stopped to feed her every hour or so.

The next day we did the Grand Wash trail and we drove part of the scenic route through the park. I had a good time checking out all the rocks in the wash and found some really interesting geodes, petrified wood, and some kind of white powdery mineral that was possibly gypsum.

Some other sightings were lots of volcanic rock throughout the park, a really fat pheasant that could hardly fly above the ground, many lizards, mangy looking park deer, an amazing little yellow spider pictured with the yellow flower, and a Mormon Pioneer wall that had our last name on it from 1888.

I think all three of us had a wonderful time basking amongst the red rocks and sunning ourselves like lizards and we're sure to go again soon.

It's My Birthday

I had a memorable 31st birthday thanks to my wonderful husband Dan who went all out for me today. He even took the day off work to spend with me, which is a huge deal! We went out to Cracker Barrel this morning for a Southern breakfast, or at least it always reminds me of home mostly because they have grits.

Then he gave me a NEW MOUNTAIN BIKE!!! I'll have to take a picture of it and post. It's the nicest bike I've ever owned, it even has hydraulic disc brakes. We went mountain biking in Diamond Fork. It was such a beautiful trail that I had never been on before. I haven't ridden a bike since I was about 3 months pregnant so it's almost been a year. I was sucking wind a little or a lot, but Dan was very patient with me and we had a great ride together. I think it was also officially the first outing we've had without Munkey Belle. Thanks to L and S for watching her for us.

Dan cooked me a superb birthday dinner of Chicken Parmesan and Alfredo from scratch. I'm so so lucky to be married to someone who can cook such tasty treats.


We had a little get together with everyone.


Thanks for coming all, and special thanks to G-Kepi and GTDD for driving down here and for the excellent Champagne.

Thanks L for the cake!

Before everyone had cake....

After everyone had cake...

Thanks again baby for a great day. I love you lots!

Artfull food at the Munkey house

These are some artfull food preparations that I've had recently. I'm so glad Munkey Daddy cooks for us. It's always a culinary adventure. I'm looking forward to my birthday dinner on Friday. I requested Parmesan chicken and Alfredo, one of his most tasty dishes!

Thank you to Munkey Nanna for getting us the Cooks Illustrated magazines. We've tried many of the comestibles they write about and the articles are fascinating, we don't just look at the pictures. Well, I do but Munkey Daddy reads them. One of our favorite recipes has been the hummus. We make and eat lots and lots of it.

Sara's Page has moved

FYI, Sara's Page has a new link. We wanted to make her URL more discreet. No one will ever guess who she is now :)

The Gull Invasion

It's funny, growing up near Florida I associate Sea Gulls with the beach. It's odd to open your front door in Utah and have a flock of them just outside eating away at the newly sown field in front of the house. I took Sara outside so she could hear Gull noises. Now I guess she will grow up seeing them here and will be surprised that they are also at the beach.

Our Walking Trail

The view from my walking trail in Diamond Fork on the forest service road. We walk it several times a week. Usually we see lots and lots of deer and the occasional blue bird, robin, and magpie.

Spring is arriving

I took some shots from the front yard of the first hints of Spring. The snow is melting on the mountains and we have some Hyacinth and Daffodils brave enough to bloom. I planted these earlier this Winter when I was about 5 months pregnant. I can't wait to see my tulips this year that I also planted.



Also if you look close here you can see the Wind Farm in the cleavage between these two mountains or otherwise known as Spanish Fork Canyon :
And some closer drive-by pics of the Wind Farm still under construction:

I Heart Wind Turbines

I have a new obsession, besides Sara. It's kind of a strange one too. I love windmills, or now-a-days they are called wind turbines, which is a term that more correctly describes that they are used to generate electricity rather than grind grain, as their original predecessors were used for. Ever since I moved to Spanish Fork, with its hurricane-like winds that come out of the canyon, I have wondered why there aren't any wind turbines here to take advantage of it. Now I won't have to wonder or wait any longer.

Currently there is a huge Wind Farm going up at the mouth of the canyon. There are at least 8 or 9 turbines and they are so extraordinary. I get to drive by them when I go to Diamond Fork to hike and sometimes I drive to Diamond Fork to hike so I can drive by them. It almost causes me to have a wreck because I want to stare at them as I pass by. I should probably just pull over for safety and lust over them on foot. I've seen lots of other people do the same thing in the oncoming lane. They slow down and crane their necks to really take in the whole spectacle. That stretch of road has probably become a lot more dangerous from the people that are rubbernecking. Then, I noticed the other day, you can also see them from our house and I was elated.

Wind turbines aren't very common sights in the U.S. unfortunately, so they are still a novelty to many. It's funny to see people stare at them as if they are looking into the future with childlike curiosity. It warms my heart to think that these giant monolithic turbines in our own back yard are the ambassadors for what could be a energy revolution and reinvention of how humans harvest energy from the Planet.

The wind turbines themselves look like friendly neighborhood additions, representing all that is clean, pure, good, and responsible. Contrast that with coal mines and coal burning which makes me think of dark, dirty underground places, and suffocating air emissions, which you certainly wouldn't want near your neighborhood. Oddly enough, at the other end of Spanish Fork Canyon from the wind farm, in Price, there is a huge emission belching coal plant and mining operation. The stroke of irony is, one end of the canyon represents our industrial revolution beginning and doing things the way they've always been done in our recent generations, and at the other end of the canyon with the turbines, salvation from the old way for the future generations. I'm so proud to have these turbines in our neighborhood and I'm so happy to live somewhere where there are forward thinkers who have decided to usher in the wave of the future right here in Spanish Fork.

Not everyone feels the way I do about wind turbines. Some people think they are more evil and heartless than Dick Cheney. It made me sad to read the 2006 Spanish Fork City Council meeting minutes I found on the Internet regarding this proposed wind farm. One woman was concerned about the turbines devaluing her property. She also sufferers from dizzy spells that are aggravated by any kind of motion and she would not be able to walk in her neighborhood any more if she could see them. She then said something to the effect that she moved here knowing about the trains, the busy highway going into the canyon, and the high-tension power wires, but no one told her windmills would be erected. She then goes on to say if she'd known she would never have moved here. Yes, I'm thinking, sounds like a chapter straight from the Inferno. I bet no one told her about a myriad of other things that also move in Utah such as all the Sea Gulls or pesky falling snow. I want to find out where she lives and personally offer to move her to some paradise on Mars, without windmills and trains (just Martians and spaceships which would probably still aggravate her motion illness not to mention the dizzying trip to get there).

Apparently this was disgruntled-peed-in-cornflakes citizen night at the council meeting because there were a rash of other complaints. Most people felt like the big friendly turbines would be unsightly and noisy (apparently they might make some sort of clicking noise that could be heard above the actual wind coming out of the canyon which tends to make a hurricane-like noise).

I only wish I had been at that meeting, way back in the coal era of 2006 (In which Utah was, and still is, the 4th largest coal producing State in the Nation). Would people actually prefer to get energy from coal? Would people prefer that mankind continue to die and get black lung from mining coal for greedy mine owners who don't care about safety, only the big fortune they are making? Coal mining is so archaic, reminiscent of the dinosaurs from the era in which it originated and it's time for us to evolve.

Would these citizens prefer the smog laden air to perhaps a clicking noise or some dizzying wind turbine action? I think it's interesting that people are so against indoor air pollution these days, such as smoking in public places, but it's OK for our air quality to be so bad that kids can't even go outside for recess at school some days here. Our whole nation is smoking coal, and it's time to put the big Nicorette patch over it and kick the habit. Maybe these citizens would prefer nuclear power, yes, that sounds better. Big piles of nuclear waste. That is sure to raise their property value. They could then advertise trains, power lines, and terrifically hot nuclear piles as selling points to potential home buyers.

Perhaps I'm being a bit dramatic but it's time to change our thinking about how we live and where we get our energy from. We have been metaphorical teenagers in our care of the Planet for too long. Not caring about the consequences as we lived only for today and making plenty of mistakes. It's time to start living like much wiser adults and learning from the mistakes of our youth as tenants of the Planet. To start caring about not only today but tomorrow, and maybe even the next day when it will matter most, even when we're no longer here and another generation takes over. If we just teach one generation, by example, to take care of the planet and to not repeat or continue to make our mistakes from the past, the benefits could last hundreds and hundreds of years into the future. What better gift could there be?

I hope we are able to opt for some of the power generated from our local turbines. I am happy to live next to these clicking, motion provoking, property-devaluing wind turbines, if that is what they turn out to be. They might also be the future of a different more conscious mankind that recognizes the value in taking care of the only place we have to live and that makes these wind turbines invaluable. They represent what we always wanted to be when we grew up and became wise and conscientious. They also represent clean air for my daughter Sara's lungs and maybe when she is my age, she will no longer be a coal smoker and it will seem so strange to her that anyone ever smoked coal, because it was stupid.