Things I miss

There are a few things that I have been reminiscing about that made me who I am today. I remember that we only had cartoons on Saturday morning so my sisters and I would get up early to get a jump start with these guys. They really jumped the shark once the Wonder Twins showed up with their stupid monkey Gleek.




As I got a little older I used to love Thundarr the Barbarian in his post apocalyptic world. Joined by his companions, the wookie looking Ookla the Mok and the Original Princess Ariel. He even had a Sun Sword that was so much like a light saber even I at 10 years old could see they ripped it right from Star Wars.



The classic Schwinn Scrambler with fiberglass mags. I wanted one of these so bad but I probably couldn't afford one today.




Who could forget Bill?



Another thing I used to love was O'Grady's potato chips. They were so good I would save up all my paper route money, have my mom take me to the store to get a bag. Then I would hide it in my room so that I would not have to share with any of my siblings. Sorry sucka's





The Land of the Lost was another big favorite. I watched on episode on youtube the other day and the acting was absolutely horrible but in the 70's we didn't know any better or Burt Reynolds and Charleton Heston would never of had a job.

One show that I watched with my older siblings was Logan's Run. I remember being scared to death watching that show. I was and still am in love with the female co-star Heather Menzies, she was great.



There are probably lots of other things that I have forgotten but these all made a lasting impression on my memory. Feel free to add your own.

Red Mountain

About twice a year I get myself psyched enough to ride the Red Mountain Trail. I never go with anyone else because I don't want to hear them complain like little girls the whole time. The trail is kinda rough, check out this first pic.

It's like riding up a flight of stairs with loose bowling balls on it. The bad part lasts for about 2 miles and it will put the hurt on you in a hurry. As soon as you are thru the worst of the climbs you get to the sand. David Hasselhoff and the Baywatch girls thinks that the sand up there is deep.

After the suffering has subsided you end up looking into Snow Canyon. The canyon literally starts at your feet and opens up in front of you.

The way that the white stone fades into the red sandstone is absolutely beautiful, I took this next picture to try and show the size of the thorn that I had to pull out of my rear tire . What you can see better is the interesting way the red sandstone left stripes on the white stone as it erodes away.

That thorn was a monster. You can see that I had to get out the pliers to pull it out. Thank goodness for tubeless tires and Stans miracle formula.

This shot is looking back towards Pine Valley Mountain from the other side of Snow Canyon.


Did I tell you that this trail is rough?



Up on top is a huge area with exposed capstone around the outside edge and a sandpit in the center. This is what the top of the Red Mountain looks like. On the left hand side of the picture, if you look really close, you can see the Black ridge and Bluff street right below.
Due to time constraints I did not have enough time to ride out to the lookout over Ivins/Tuacahn. Maybe next year. On my way back it actually started to snow, it didn't last and I made pretty good time. By the time I was done my hands and shoulders start to ache from all the maneuvering that is demanded by the terrain.

All in all it's a great ride........ don't ever ask me to take you.

Court and Cake

I had to attend traffic court today. I gently rolled thru a stop sign in Ivins about 3 weeks ago and was apprehended by Johnny Law. Ivins does not provide their own court system for traffic citations so I had to head over to the Washington County Courthouse to take care of the odious business.
The ticket reads that I must appear later than five days but no later than 14 days from the offense. I forgot all about it until today. As one who does not spend a lot of time around the Utah Justice system I always find it interesting what kind of degenerates you find there. There is the drug guy, the DUI guy, the Bail bondsman, the small claims court group, the kid who has his Mom with him, the lawyers and other human debris.
Most of the people are completely confused as to what they should be doing and where they need to go. I was in that category, Washington County residents should know that the government is not wasting any money on proper signage at the courthouse.
I thought to myself, "who knows the most about this process and can tell me what to do?" The answer.....26 year old drug guy. He has been there at least a half dozen times and knows all the ins and outs. He told me just where to go to handle things quickly. It turns out that unless you want to dispute your ticket you can just go strait to the cashier and pay up. In case you are wondering what a stop sign infraction with late fees will run you in the thriving metropolis of Ivins, $132.
My good deed for the day, showed an old man how to turn off his cell phone before going into the courtroom.

Next topic, my wife broke her pattern today and made Texas Sheet Cake. She did this because she is totally awesome and loves her man. She does not particularly enjoy cake the way I do so this was all for me. We called the Jackman's next door to ask if they would like to help us devour the delectable confection only to find out that Anne had made Picnic cake from my mom's recipe. Could I be so lucky, two cakes on one day. My karma circle must be very small, I help out Old Man Cellphone and two cakes show up. I wonder what I would get if I did something that actually took some effort.
Both cakes were completely delightful and right now at 8:51pm I am feeling a little queasy . I'm going to have to ride 50 miles tomorrow to pay for overindulging.