Running Away to the Desert (Again)

Learning: A four-day weekend surrounded by two four-day weeks is just about the right pace for me right now.

Last week, Qualtrics (and all of SAP) decided that in the face of hard times, they would turn Memorial Day weekend into an extra long weekend by giving us Friday off as well as Monday. It was pretty cool to be given that extra unplug and unwind time, and I'm extremely grateful for a company that is not only financial stable but also is attentive to and acting on the extra needs of employees in these tough times.

With this extra gift of time, we decided to high-tail it to the desert, along with approximately half of the state of Utah. Fortunately, the desert is pretty big, so there was plenty of space for all of us. The extra van in this photo is my parents', there wasn't actually a traffic jam of VWs on the dirt roads. Although... that would be pretty epic if it were the case.

We're self-contained in our van, so we don't need campgrounds (although flush toilets are awfully nice when you can get them). So we just headed down the Burr Trail in Escalante National Monument until we found a secluded (and ecologically responsible) side road to camp on.

There was a large sandstone hill-rock-thing down our dirt road that Ben immediately vowed to conquer. We had, of course, packed along a set of three unicycles so that he and WanYing had a few to choose from for whatever camping unicycle needs might befall them. We like to stick to packing only the necessities while camping - beer, hot dogs, unicycles, sleeping bags.

I got to play photographer for the unicycle slickrock adventures and it was a blast, except for the part where I got totally freaked out trying to climb down the giant sandstone mountain and my children had to talk me down. Yes, I was scared to walk down the same slope my son carried/rode his unicycle down. I stand by my self-preservation instincts.

Here are some of the choice unicycle shots and movies:

It had been years since we had hiked to Calf Creek Falls, so we decided it was time to make the trip again.

Here's Sasha on our last trip to the falls :)

And here's another one from the way-back machine! Thank goodness the kids can hike 6 or 8 miles under their own power now!

It was such a lovely hike - hot on the trail, cold at the falls. The trail was busy, but not so busy that you felt like you couldn't find your 6-foot bubble. And the dogs loved it.

I'm pretty sure this is the same place as where I took Sasha's photo 8 years ago!

On Sunday we decided to try a new adventure and drive to Spooky and Peekaboo Slot Canyons. This meant driving 26 miles down a dirt road, which didn't sound so bad until we discovered that the road was essentially one huge washboard. It was astoundingly awful and I have pledged to Steve that whenever he wants to upgrade the van's shocks, I will not stand in his way.

Deeply awful drive that it was, the hike more than made up for it. The 1.4 miles to the slots themselves was super beautiful and a total unexpected bonus to the day.

Like everything else, the slots were busy, but traffic moved through pretty well except for one chokepoint where we ended up waiting 30 minutes for a family to navigate one of the 12-foot drops.

The slots were the perfect level of adventure for us. Plenty of squeezes, a few drops to navigate, a few climbs to get over, but nothing that required a rope. I can see why these slots are so popular!

I am so grateful for the time and space to get away with my family. The freedom of running away to the desert, where we can experience adventure and move our bodies and still do it in a way that is safe for ourselves and the local communities is a huge blessing.

I'm sure we all have a bunch of figurative steep grades and sharp curves ahead in the coming weeks and months. I'm just grateful that last week we got to enjoy these literal ones on a family adventure!

Selling Out (and it feels so good)

We used to be cool. Well, actually, we used to be occasionally really hot, but we did it with style.

You see, we used to have a swamp cooler. For those of you who do not live in incredibly dry climates, you will be unfamiliar with the concept of an evaporative cooler (or, as it is generally known, a swamp cooler or "swampy").

Because it is so very dry in Utah, it is possible to cool one's house with a giant fan sitting on the top of one's house that blows air through a big pad that is consistently dampened with a small hose that runs up to the top of your roof.

Now, I know that those of you living in humid climates cannot envision a world where adding more humidity to your home in the summer actually cools it down, but the whole scheme works very well. The evaporation of the air after it goes through the wet pad is enough to cool off the house pretty effectively, except for a few weeks in the depths of summer that are simply too hot or too humid for the swamp cooler to be effective.

We've always liked having a swampy because we like having the windows and doors open and there's a certain novelty for us to use this simple, effective cooling method.

There are also downsides, such as having a hose always pumping water onto your roof (there are inevitable leaks). Plus it's loud and the constantly blowing air adds to the dust in the house (and there's already plenty of that since we live in a desert). Plus, there are times we simply had to retreat to the basement or a movie theater or pool to escape the heat when it got really bad.

So, I just wanted to let y'all know that this week we sold out and got AC. There are many reasons - primarily that if I'm working from home for most/part/heaven-knows-how-much of the summer, and if our summer activity choices are limited, then we want to ensure that our house is reasonably comfortable. Life is hard enough right now, we don't need to add sweltering indoor heat to the equation.

I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. I miss open windows (not that we still can't open windows, but since it's been in the mid-90s for the past few days, why would we!?!?). And we all kind of freak out about how cold the air and floor is around the vents. This morning, Ben came downstairs, and remarked that it must be a cool day since it was so cool inside, and then was flummoxed that when he went outside it was hot. The transition is hard for all of us.

But I have faith that we'll all, eventually, acclimate to a cool interior no matter how hot the summer gets. We're brave like that.

Knitting as an act of Faith

Last week I finished a new knitting project - a summer wrap! When I purchased this beautiful cashmere merino wrap kit, I had visions of wearing it over a sundress during summer concerts as the evening chill descends on the mountains. The colors are lovely, the yarn feels great; it's simply a lovely piece.
 
As I started knitting, however, it became a little act of faith and hope that there will, once again, be sundresses and parties and concerts and get-togethers. Maybe not this summer, but someday.

And when those things do return, believe you me, I will be looking good in my handmade wrap!

It All Takes Shape

The last two weeks have brought astounding construction progress. We just finished week five of construction and are so very pleased about how it's all coming together. Seeing walls come up, roof come in, and even a porch being built makes it all feel so real, and we love how it looks!

Between work and school from home, construction decisions, and all the work Steve has been orchestrating in the backyard, we have been a very busy family! Granted, we're not nearly as busy as the builders (and for that we are grateful!).

When we left you two weeks ago, we had a giant concrete slab.

And at the end of the week, we had trusses and plywood!

Here's the view from the back, including the framed-in sunroom and the start of the patio

Then at the start of this week, the roofing supplies arrived!

Here's the sunroom from the inside

And the completed roof from the top! I love the angles and interest this project is adding to our house!

On Wednesday we had a finished roof

And Friday brought our porch!

We love how it's all coming together - you can see that the overall outline is coming together so well! There's a bunch of unfun (that is, unspectacular) work coming in the next days - ordering siding, electrical work, etc. But I guess that after two such dramatic weeks, a quiet week is ok.

Oh, and as a bonus (as if the rest of this fabulous progress wasn't enough!), Steve has orchestrated a massive backyard reconstruction. He's pulled out a bunch of old bushes, done a ton of cleanup, and on Saturday we planted new bushes against half of the fence in the back yard. We're getting new fence on the other half in the next few weeks, and then more planting to come!