Moab - Day 2

Okay, so I'm a slacker. I've got to finish the Moab trip. It was nice that every morning I could get up and run. I would run about 3-4 miles. It was fun. Today was the Delicate Arch hike. I was looking forward to it since last month when we came down with the Scouts it was super windy and Jake didn't quite make it to the arch. Everyone did great. We all had our hydration packs. What a beautiful site. We hiked around the arch for more than an hour. Jakey discovered "A view rarely seen". After our morning hike we had lunch at Devil's Garden. This is where the infamous "challenge" is. JJ is such a great climber. Well, one thing's for sure. If I wait to tell about something it turns out pretty short (and boring IMO).

Almost caught

It was a beautiful day this morning. Driving to work, sunroof open, XM blaring at almost full blast.
Stupid tractor pulls out in front of me. Slow down to 30. Not fun. So when the double lane hits just before the freeway onramp, the TL goes off. Before I was halfway up the ramp I was going 90+. Got on the freeway and noticed a motorcycle WAY back there. I slow down as I see him speed up. He got close enough that I realized that it was UHP. So my FUN drive ended up being a normal 70 mph drive into work. The radio was still blasting, and the sunroof still open but not quite as fun as it could have been. Oh well. At least no ticket. I better get that radar detector NLJ told me about.

Tax the Fat People

I just LOVE reading KSL comments. Today there was an article about whether you would rather lose your job or lose 75 pounds. I thought the article was rather un-news worthy but again, the comments ROCK.

We interrupt this broadcast.....

I know that I'm in the middle of Moab trip but this was just too hilarious to pass up. Many of you know that I like to ride my new bike (had a good ride this morning in fact). Well some bonehead city councilman in Utah thinks that it is a really good idea to put a tax on cyclists. Who put this guy in office? As always the KSL comments are very entertaining. I love reading the comments MORE than the actual news item itself. Right now there are only 7 comments but I'm sure there will soon be more. Now, back to my story telling

The Gang! Much better than being in the car for sure. 

The Windows 

Moab - Day 1

Because the Davis' are soooo good at getting up early and getting going, we didn't make it to Moab until late in the afternoon. We checked into the cabin and then headed for Arches. We decided to go somewhere simple. We went to the Windows section where we hiked the both Window arches and Turret Arch. We finished off the night at Double Arch. This is JJ's favorite. We had dinner at an all you can eat pizza place (Zaks). Okay food. Tired!

Spring break - Moab, UT

For several years, the Davis family would spend Spring Break in Moab. If you are not familiar with this part of the world, you really need to make a trip. For the first few years we would camp. It was fun trying to stuff our Honda Accord with all of our camping equipment. Then we got our first SUV and we still were always stuffing it with every piece of camping equipment. The last year we went we stayed in a small cabin located in town. This allowed us to leave things like the tent, chairs, and sleeping pads at home. We really enjoyed the cabin experience.

Then came the building of our house and for the past 4 years we didn't make it down to Moab. This year we determined to continue the tradition. So a few months back, I searched online and determined that the 2 room cabin at the Moab KOA would be a good choice. We had invited the entire Draper family to come with us but only Tim and Bailey ended up going. In order to be comfortable we drove seperately but once in Moab we all piled in the Ascender.

The kids were out of school all week so we left on Wednesday morning (okay it was noon before we rolled out of here) and came back on Saturday night.

I'll break it up for each day.

Thou shalt not ...

Conversation between Mom and daughter:

Daughter: "Mom? You know how when you go somewhere and you take something that doesn't belong to you and you don't ask? That's stealing. Right?

Mom: "Yes, honey."

Daughter: "Mom, who stole my lamp and mirror?"

Add background: Marcella is helping a friend decorating a parade home. In the past couple of days several items from our house have been borrowed to decorate the home (including Olivia's table, lamp, and mirror). Obviously, Mom should have asked before the heist.

Recent trips

So I've been a bit busy the past couple of weeks. Last week I was in Orlando teaching a class. I was able to spend time with a couple of clients on Monday. I also was able to dine at one of my favorite sushi bars, Amura. I highly recommend it. The course kept me busy but I was able to swim and bike (albeit a stationary one) each night.

After returning to Utah, I got to see Jake play in the last hockey tourney of the season. It was a big one with teams coming from California, Idaho, and Colorado. They did okay (going 0-2-2). I was glad I was there to see him play. At the same venue, there was a small triathlon that was being held. I think it was just a Sprint one but it did get me excited.

This week I spent a couple of days in Reno working with my good friends Davd and Dave Jr. Carlson. They have a small engineering company, Aqua Hydrogeologic Consulting. I have known and worked with them for several years now. They have me stay at their home and we work in a nice office upstairs.

The rest of the week I was back home working with the Bureau of Reclamation down in Provo. I did stop by to show NLJ the new commuter car.

So, here is the best comment I heard at the airport this time. After checking in you must take your tagged luggage over to the TSA folks for further screening. Here is the conversation I overheard:

TSA guy: "Sir, is your bag unlocked?"
Clueless guy: "Huh?"
TSA guy: "Is your bag unlocked?"
Clueless guy: "What do you mean?"
TSA guy: "Is your bag unlocked?"
Clueless guy: Blank stare.

2nd time in my life

The other night I went to put the grill cover back on the barbeque, and I thought I had stepped on a sticker/thorn. I reached down to pull it off my toe and I realized that it was a bee. Scared me a bit (I hate bugs) but I'm pretty sure I squashed him. The rest of the night it was stinging pretty good. I'm not sure how much of it was mental. That was just the second time I've ever been stung. The first time was a few years ago on a trip to Kauai. We were getting ready to go whale-sightseeing and a stupid hornet/wasp stung me on the leg. Ouch.

Some of my favorite things (and feeling pretty good)

- my iPod mini playing Daniel Powter
- my Gel-Kayano Asics shoes
- my Under Amour workout gear
- my new Gap socks
- my Radius toothbruch
- my new O'gio work bag

Tonight I had a great bike ride for about 8 miles or so, did 10 minutes of rowing and then swam a mile in about 30 minutes. I felt great. Maybe I can do this triathalon thing after all.

Cars, cars, cars

Okay, I have a few minutes and so I wanted to record in the annals of time my experience with car industry. Now, one thing you may or may not know about me is that I have to study something from EVERY angle, every possibility before I sign on the dotted line. It doesn't matter what I'm buying, I have the need to know 1) that I'm getting the best and 2) I am paying the lowest price. I'm sure it drives my wife nuts some times. When she wants something, she just buys it, no worries, no hesitation.

So, a couple of months ago, my partners and I decide that we are all going to get new cars. How exciting! How TIME CONSUMING! Now, I really don't know too much about cars. For the first 13 years of our marriage we were a single car family. When we finally had to break down and get another car I ended up getting a Dodge Neon mainly for the fact that my brother-in-law Ryan had just bought one. Pretty boring eh?

Now it was time to get a new car. A good friend of mine, Norm, bought a Volkswagen Passat. I thought that was a very nice car. Since I had no idea of anything else, I decided that is what I wanted. I drove both the 2.0T and also the 3.6 liter model. Both were nice cars. I didn't really like the dealership we went to. Sales people

I started talking to friends and family and these are the cars that I ended up taking a look at.

Acura TL

Infiniti G35X

BMW 330xi

Volvo S60

Cadillac CTS

Lincoln Zephyr

I have to say that the Lincoln and Cadillac didn’t interest me one bit. They try to be in the same class as the rest of them but they fail miserably. The interior wasn’t very nice (seemed a bit cheap), not very many features, and certainly not the power the others had.

One of my partners really wants a Volvo. I had a friend in high school that drove one. I remember coming home from Logan one year (from a basketball camp) and we drove most of the way home going 110+ mph. You can’t do that any more. Anyhow, the Volvo (at least the S60 we drove) was a bit too small. The other thing I didn’t like was that if you wanted any extra feature it was fairly pricey. Cross that off my list.

My friend Matt, owner of ScoobyTuner, told me to go drive the BMW and I would like that the best. He was right. I drove the all-wheel drive beefy engine version. It was a fun ride. Marcella loved it too. I had never been in a car where you could accelerate getting ON the freeway (going 100 mph). The problem was, I just couldn’t see myself driving this car. Too me, it has an image that just isn’t me. Cross that one out.

That left the Infiniti and the Acura. I really liked both. The G35x was faster but I didn’t like the interior as much. In fact, I was really bothered by the interior. The buttons for the power seats were in a goofy spot, the control panels were lit with outdated orange lights. The rest of the controls were not easy to figure. But I liked the drive. I liked the style of the car. I could drive one.

Everything that I didn’t like about the Infiniti, I loved about the Acura. Honda really knows how to make cars. Sure it wasn’t as powerful as the G35x. But heck, it gets about 6-7 mpg better. That’s a plus. And is rear-wheel drive THAT much better? If you talk to the BMW people or Infiniti, they will tell you it does. Well, I figured since I wasn’t actually a professional car driver, the front wheel drive would work just fine for me.

The Acura has an outstanding transmission. By far the smoothest of all of the cars. The seats are VERY comfortable. Easy to manage controls. My favorite part has got to be the stereo system. The Acura comes standard surround sound DVD audio. If you haven’t heard of this OR heard this you are in for a treat. Truly remarkable sound. It comes with a 3 month subscription to XM satellite radio. I’m learning to enjoy that. If I’m the only one in the car, the music is loud. It reminds me when I was a teenager and when my parents were gone, I would pull the big speakers out and face them a couple of feet apart. Then I would turn up the music and lie in between the speakers. Nice, eh? Give DVD audio a test (whether in a car or at home). You’ll love it.

I got my car from Mike Hale Acura. There are two Acura dealerships in Utah. I also worked with the one in Vegas and the one in Boise. The price wasn’t good enough for me to get it out of state. I felt in the end that the MH folks gave me a fair deal. Of course I read tons of pages on-line. Consumer Reports, Edmunds, and
a number of others. I read on-line forums. Anything that I could to see what kind of deals other people were getting. I think you could safely say, that for a couple of weeks I was pretty obsessed with getting a new Acura.

Well, I was going to write more but I figure this is long enough. It was fun shopping for cars. I felt like I was in control, I was calling the shots. The salespeople didn’t bother me. I felt like they had to work for my business.

Anyhow, it’s been a couple of weeks now. I enjoy driving to work and back. I have washed it once but the weather has been pretty crappy lately.

Wanna ride?

Jeffren Chavis - Mormonise Me

A friend (and recent newbie to the blog world), Sean showed me this website that generates Mormon names. Quite funny.

My new commuter car. 

Tell me, is there anything more spectacular? 

Dad and Gimpy. JJ is the epitome of a Boy Scout. Now if we could just get him to do his Eagle project. 

Here's the Sknny Guy (notice that there is still a bit of snow in the park as well as on the mountains in the background) 

One of my favorite arches, Double Arch. 

Golden Arches

No, I'm not talking about McFat. Last weekend, we took the scouts (11 year olds - 13 year olds) down to Moab for a couple of days. We camped at a group site at Dead Horse Point. It had a pavilion, running water and flush toilets. Nice. We did a couple of nice hikes, both in Arches National Park. The first one, took us to Landscape Arch (one of the longest arches in the world), to Wall Arch, Partition Arch, Navajo Arch, and then to Double O Arch. It's about 4 miles round trip and there was lots of climbing. I love Arches and so do my boys. It was a good experience for many of the scouts. Later that night during the campfire, the Scoutmaster talked about "A Scout is Brave". I had to give the spiritual thought and I spent a few minutes talking about patience. Our troop has really changed over the past couple of years. When JJ first started there were 3 other scouts. We had 21 scouts on this campout. It was great. Each troop was in charge of their own meals and the leaders (yes there were 7 of us) did our own thing.

The next day we did the Delicate Arch hike. This is about a 3 mile hike and it was beautiful. I'll post pictures. We are so lucky to have this in our own backyard. It is always fun to meet people not only from other states but also from all over the world. I talked to people from Germany, England, New Zealand, and Australia.

We are going back down in a few weeks as a family. For several years we went down for Spring Break but building our house and getting our yard in and all of that crap has kept us from enjoying one of our favorite places. I look forward to returning and I'll post the highlights of our adventures then.