Traffic for 2005 June 12 (entry 0)

(8) Sun Jun 12 2005 11:48 PST Coupon Capers: We got to the cabin Friday night at 7 pm. After dinner and turning on the cabin heaters, we went for a sunset walk at the lake. Then we snuggled in bed while watching X-Men on the laptop.

Saturday morning we met Joe and Louise at the gate and hiked the ridge trail. Well. Utah truly is blossoming as the rose this year. Thanks to all the rain/snow we are still having, many parts of the trail were completely submerged in mud and water. So the hike required a lot of trailblazing around the muckety-muck. We balanced across many a log, the only casualty being a muddy sneaker from when Louise fell in the mud once.

Toward the top there was still lots of snow, which was hard enough we could walk on it. I felt like Legoals in Fellowship. Joe, Louise, and Susie all fell in the snow at one point or another, I believe. On the way back down we saw a moose! It was neat. I ran ahead of everyone to take a picture, and, well, Mr. Moose didn't like that. He stared me down and eventually left, leaving me in one piece. Meese are very agressive, you know. I did get my picture at least.

Back at the cabin, to my surprise, was my mom and dad. I was surprised to see them there, and didn't get a chance to prep Joe and Louise for the ocassion (my father's a bit loopy). He loved Louise's accent.

It started pouring when we got back to the cabin. We made it home just in the nick of time. Susie reminded me that I had prayed the night before we'd have good weather for our hike; I suppose praying in specifics is far better than praying in generalities if you want your wishes granted (ie, praying for world peace).

Driving Joe and Louise back to the gate, we saw some deer. It was a good weekend for sightseeing. We had fun talking with Joe and Louise, and learning all about them. I even discovered Louise's weakness--Twizzlers. Every time we took a break on the trail she didn't need water, just Twizzlers. Back at the cabin I surprised them with the chocolate flavored ones, and now the bag is empty.

Last night Susie and I got home and discovered that we were too pooped to poop. We are still so sore from hiking yesterday. So we went out for dindin. Susie got a free coupon book at work, as it is for the calendar year 2005, which is now halfway over. What a gimmick. I remember being little and having my parents tell me that toys just weren't made like they were in their day. Well, I am here to tell you that coupons are no longer what they were when I was a lad. Every single coupon is just a ruse to make you spend more money. For example: buy 1 entree and six drinks, get the seventh free; come in for a free suprise; buy two entrees get free banana pudding. Yikes. We finally found a true buy one entree get one free to Thai Chili Garden, so the decision was made for us. I love their peanut curry.

Next weekend we are going to go to the SLC temple since Susie's never been, and then do the cabin thing again for Father's Day. Then the fun ends, as the next weekend we must pack and move. The summer of John is coming to an end.

Comments:

Posted by Kristen at Mon Jun 13 2005 13:15

If you get in between a moose and her baby, she would have trampled you half to death. There are a lot of moose walking around in AK eating you flowers in your yard. They loved my mother-in-laws' berries.

I thought our family was the only one that said dindin.

Posted by Kristen at Wed Jun 15 2005 07:52

My work handed out yesterday what I suspect was that same coupon book you got for free too. The only restaurant I want to try is Costa Azul since it is a true buy one get one free.

Posted by John at Wed Jun 15 2005 09:19

Oh, yeah, we did use that coupon. Costa Azul is owned by the original Cafe Rio owners. They sold out three years ago and their non-compete agreement just ended. It's almost as good and you don't have to wait in line!

I really liked their mango salad.

Posted by John at Wed Jun 15 2005 09:20

If you ever use the coupon for Pizza Factory, let us know what the "surprise" is.

Posted by Kristen at Wed Jun 15 2005 09:47

I know, I read that. How lame.

Posted by Joe Walch at Wed Jun 15 2005 16:43

I enjoyed the hike. Louise and I took a couple of days to recover from the pounding from walking, but now were stronger than ever!

Posted by Rachel at Thu Jun 16 2005 16:18

"too pooped to poop"--did you mean cook? :P I saw some deer in Cambria.

Is praying for world peace actually un-specific? I suppose one could pray for peace in the Balkans, peace in the Middle East, peace in East Africa... but it seems more generous to just pray for world peace. I don't think the problem is in the vague-osity. Good weather for a hike is actually likely to happen, whereas world peace isnt... anytime soon. We mortals keep screwing things up :o) But I think it's still good to pray for it. We have to want it or it will never happen.

Posted by Susie at Thu Jun 16 2005 17:08

I think John was thinking more along the lines of praying for something that is more likely to happen than world peace. I guess as long as you pray.