New Zealand: Act 3

Well, since I FINALLY downloaded the pictures from the last few days of my international adventures, without further ado, here they are (along with limited commentary) for you to view.

Friday, September 11: For me the best day of our trip! We took a trip inot the Waitomo Caves (means water caves) where I did my first repelling 120 feet down into blackness, rode a zip line, jumped into freezing cold water, hiked and swam through the freezing cold water, learned that the glowy part of a glow worm is there poo, and climbed over 2 waterfalls to get out! AWESOME! Much thanks to Annie for finding this and convincing my sissy self to go.

Saturday, September 12: The second best day of our trip and the second to last day of our trip. The three of us headed to the Hamilton, NZ Temple early in the morning. Rachel headed in for a session, and after a little re-arranging the members of the Temple Presidency held a special baptismal session for just me and Annie! Plus, believe it or not, we met a temple worker who had been to Burley, ID! Just goes to prove the theory that ALL roads lead to Burley!

After the temple, we met up with Annie's friend Doug, who drove us around and helped us find fried Mars bars! They were delicious...I'm just sad we only found them at the end of our trip!

Saturday night was the much anticipated Rugby game--New Zealand All Blacks vs South Africa (they're some sort of deer). It was my first rugby match ever, and I'm officially in love. In love with the pre-game haaka, the game itself, the amazing thighs of the players, and the players...wow!

Sunday, September 13: After attending church with Doug and his family, we drove back to Auckland to view the largest Maori carving. It's pretty big, not to mention full of detail and immensely awesome! Then, it was a LONG flight back to LA...a layover that seemed longer, and

then we were welcomed back with the best hugs ever from my roommie Kira!

What a great trip! I can't wait to go back...there's so much we didn't get to see! Any takers for round 2?

Australia/New Zealand Take 2

Okay, so I officially stink at updating this and holding to my word. But, alas, here are smore pics and comments about the trip of all trips.

Thursday, September 3: Whale watching allowed us our first views of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House from the water. While we didn't see any whales, we oohed and awed over cute dolphins, were guided around the ocean by our hunky captain James, and only lost one breakfast into the barf bag.

Friday, September 4: A breakfast of an Australian favorite--toast with veggiemite (yucky, as described by my face below), then on to the Sydney Wildlife World where we saw kangaroos and pet koala bears, and finally on to the Harry Potter on the world's largest IMAX!

Saturday, September 5: Our last day in Sydney. We strolled and shopped the local market at the Rocks then closed the day with a walk halfway across the Harbour Bridge (it was cold!)

Sunday, September 6: Back to the airport for a much quicker flight to New Zealand.

Monday, September 7: We caught the ferry from Auckland, across the harbour to a darling town called Davenport. Davenport offered great views of the city, fun shops, a view of the Maori legend volcano formed island, and tunnels created in the hillside for artillery and scouting against enemy ships.

Tuesday, September 8: Bring on the Tarlton's Underground Antartic Experience with penguins, sharks, and sting rays. Then a quick shuttle ride to the airport to pick up our rental car. First time driving on the other side of the road, we only got lost once and had NO wrecks. (Aren't you so proud Dad?!)

Wednesday, September 9: Welcome to Rotorua: Geothermal Hotspot of New Zealand! We hit up Hell's Gate, a plethora of stinky sulphur pots and then took our own mud bath and sulphur spa in the "healing waters." After our tour we made our own Maori carvings (okay, I didn't actually make the gun) and then participated in a Maori Village feast and dance followed by sightings of the infamous kiwi bird.

Thursday, September 10: An awesome hike through the New Zealand forests, a pretty drive to see some lakes and get a closer look at the New Zeland ferns, and a ride up the moutain for dinner looking out over Lake Rotorua and the city.

Okay, only a few days left to blog about...hopefully sooner rather than later!

xo

The Land Down Under: Part 1

Drum roll...

Finally! A new post! After several comments from friends and family about not posting for a while (okay, 3 months) I decided I should probably sit down and jot a few lines about my recent adventures. There definitely has been a lot happening in the craziness I call life and suppose it will most likely take a few posts to get everything in...so, here's your practice in patience (as if you haven't been waiting for at all right?).


I guess we'll start with the big trip...


Saturday morning, August 29, 2009: Start out with a haircut ('cause I'm gonna be gone for 2 weeks!), final packing details, load up and head to the airport. Fly to LAX, grab our luggage, pay $5 after being guilted by the lady at the airport offering directions, find the right terminal, check in at Air New Zealand, board the really big plane at 7 ish pm.

Sunday, August 30: Fly...for a long time...

This was actually a surprisingly nice flight. More leg room than expected, lots of movies (although I only watched one before falling asleep...for almost all of the 12 hour flight), and decent enough food for airplane food. Nice work Air NZ

Monday, August 31: We finally land in Sydney, Australia! We take a fairly ghetto shuttle to our hotel--right in the heart of the city, check into our fancy hotel, shower, and hit the city.

Darling Harbour...gorgeous day, great view of the city!

Piermont Bridge connects the 2 sides of Darling Harbour

Tuesday, September 1: My favorite day in Sydney! We visited the Hyde Park Barracks (where they used to keep the criminals sent from Europe), St Mary's Cathedral (impressive), the Royal Botanical Gardens (beautiful), caught our first glimpse of the Sydney Opera House, and witnessed the delightful talents of Ben Folds at his concert in the Opera House (can I say amazing?!)

Wednesday, September 2: A little R & R on Bondi Beach. On our way to catch the bus however, we ran into some sort of military ceremony where we saw military representatives from all over the world including the good ole USA and some awesome gentlemen from Papa New Guinea wearing what we fondly termed the "fuzzy wuzzies"

The military guys from New Guinea in their traditional garb...awesome right?

Bondi Beach...beautiful, but a little too cold for me and my swimsuit!

Here's to Installment #1. Stay tuned for part 2 to appear shortly...I promise!

Big Girl Backpack

Sometimes in my life I am forced to eat my words and swallow my pride...actually, kind of a lot of the time. For example, I swore I would never live in Utah, yet, here I am a resident of Salt Lake City, UT for over 2 years now.

Or, in my formative years I balked at the idea of eating raw fish in the form of sushi. Never would I participate in such a disgusting food trend. Well, until I actually did try it and now want to eat it on a weekly basis.

Then there's the fact that I professed I would never wear leggings. They were a fad; I hate fads. Then, I bought a pair, wore them, and actually liked them.

The list could go on, but in the past 2 years I have been living the hard reality of this truth. In my younger years (up till about age 10) I loved camping. So much in fact that we would pitch a tent in my backyard and sleep out there for weeks on end. (I now understand what geniuses my parents were on this plan...kick the kids to the backyard and have a night of absolute peace and quiet.) Then somewhere around the pubescent stage of life I began to hate the idea of spending a night in the great outdoors. This detest for camping stayed with me for years...through high school and even on to college. In the later years of college I began to reconcile this and even began to enjoy the outdoor activities (that did not involve sleeping in a tent), but in my stubborn way would not admit this to my parents.

When I moved to Salt Lake I realized what a myriad of adventuring there was to do in and around the state and decided I wanted to become an avid outdoors woman. This declaration did not come without some teasing from my parents, but when they saw I was serious about it I think they were quite joyous about my re-found love.

So, over the last couple of years, I worked to add to my collection of gear (it kind of takes a lot of stuff) and sought out occasions to adventure in the wilderness. Then, for Christmas last year Santa delivered a most desired present...a backpack! And not just your everyday, haul around your books sort of bag. This was a woman's isoform outdoor pack designed to mold to my body and carry all the essential items I may need for a week (or more) in the wilderness.

To put this good backpack and gear into use, last week, after quite a bit of preparation, my parents and I took off on my very first overnight backpacking trip. Here's how the week played out.

Monday night I drove to Burley, arriving around 1030 pm, to find my parents divvying up food and still packing. After hours of adjusting, re-adjusting, packing, and re-packing we headed for bed around 2 am.

Tuesday morning was an early start considering our late bedtime and after enjoying a warm shower--my last for 4 days--we loaded up the jeep and headed on our way. We decided to take the "scenic route" through Sun Valley (where we saw our first wildlife--a fox attempting to hunt and kill a badger, beaver, or river otter...we're not sure what his prey was...until we almost hit both of them with our jeep. Luckily they escaped, although not sure the eventual fate of the fox's prey.), over Galena Summit, down to Stanley and along the Salmon River to Challis. According to my dad, this is some of the most beautiful scenery Idaho has to offer.


Four and half hours later we arrived in Challis, ID (population around 900). After a stop for some grub and to hear stories of mom playing b-ball and getting her rodeo on in Challis back in "the good ole days" it was back on the road. We hit a dirt road 8 miles outside Challis and 2 hours and 50 miles later we reached the trailhead at an altitude of 8,450 feet.


Our last decent photos as we exam the map of trails.


Dad and Mom geared up and ready to hit the trail!

Our first day's hike was to take us 4.5 miles into Cathedral Lake. We estimated with breaks and all it would take us between 2 and 2.5 hours to arrive at our destination. So, about 4:30 we took off. We hiked and hiked and hiked some more. After about 2.5 hours of hiking I was wiped out and not feeling like we were getting close to any lake sitings. My initial thought, We are so much slower than I thought we would be! Eventually we hit a cutoff we assumed to be to the lake. Another .5 a mile and we came to a sign: Harbour Lake 1 mile, Terrace Lakes 1.5 miles, Mirror Lake 1.5 miles. No Cathedral Lake. We pulled out our maps and, much to our chagrin we had passed the cutoff to Cathedral Lake 2 miles back! Luckily the split in trails was right near a babbling little stream so we decided to make camp there and make a new route for the next day.

Campsite numero uno

Day 2 of our trip consisted of a short 2 mile round trip day hike to Heart Lake where my dad decided to test his fishing skills (he did catch lots of fish, they just weren't anything to be excited over) and Mom and I read our books and tried not to be attacked by the plethora of mosquitoes infesting the area. When we arrived back to camp we loaded up and headed uphill to our next site for camping. It was a steep climb of just over a mile with a 700 foot elevation gain. But, it was worth it to see the beautiful falls at the outlet of Wilson Lake and to camp in between 2 gorgeous lakes (Wilson and Harbour Lakes) where our fire pit was already made and there was even a log to sit on! (The things you cherish when in the wilderness.)

Day 3 was a rest day...at least for me. After 2 nights of not sleeping well I took only a short hike and spent most of the day reading, sleeping, and enjoying the sunshine. We all took a little time to clean up though, doing some laundry in the lake and even going for a bitterly cold swim (50 degree water my friends is cold) in attempt to wash away the build up of dust, sweat, suncreen, and deet on our skin. We also met some of the savvy, hardcore trail crew members working on clearing some trails in the area who came from Minnesota, Florida, and Vermont to spend there summer working for the SCA (Student Conservation Association). Nice people. The highlight of the day though, was showing off my newly acquired McGyver skills to my dad by starting, tending, and keeping a fire going. Impressive, I know.



Wilson and Harbour Lakes from above. We camped in between the 2 lakes. Great spot!

Friday, Day 4, was our last day in the Bighorn Crags and while I'd had a great time I was glad to be going home. We woke up early, took down camp and loaded up our packs (which were lots lighter considering all our food was gone). Our hike was just under 7 miles to get back to our jeep and after what seemed to be never ending ascents and descents we finally arrived at the trail head 3.5 hours later.

So relieved to be back at the "You are here" part of the map.

Final Stats:
Total Miles Hiked: 18
Highest Elevation Reached: just over 9100 feet
Hours Driven: 17
Total Mosquito Bites: too many to count

Life in the Klutz Lane

When I was growing up I took ballet and jazz lessons. Starting at the age of 3 until I was 15 I attended classes sometimes up to 4 or 5 days a week. As a teenager, my mother told me (and lots of other people) she attributed that fact that I wasn't a complete klutz and that I was still living to dance. What she was really saying is that dance lessons had trained some of the awkwardness and poor coordination right out of me. Not entirely though. And, much to my dismay, it has done nothing to help with the ridiculous situations and seemingly endless occasions where minimal common sense, lack of observation, and poor memory reign abundant.

I was reminded of this idiosyncrasy of mine--if you'd like to call it that, although perhaps conundrum is a better word for it--on Sunday night. I had been working the night shift for the last several days and was scheduled to work Saturday through Tuesday nights. To say night shifts are not my favorite thing, would be a gross understatement. I don't mind the actual work on nights (I mean, I am posting on my blog right now...at work...in the middle of the night...) but I hate my life when I work them. All I want to do is sleep and lay in my bed before I go back to work. Sociality is non-existent when I work nights and getting to the gym is worse than pulling teeth without numbing. The night shift just isn't very conducive to Erika being a happy, extroverted, kind, or mentally with it girl (the last one being a small problem considering the fact I'm a nurse and hold people's lives in my hand!). But, I digress.

Saturday night I worked. I came home Sunday morning and slept. ALL DAY. I had to work Sunday night, so I skipped church and wasted away the beautiful sunny day sleeping and laying in my bed. Our home teachers were coming that night so I dragged myself out of my cozy and blissful slumber at 4 pm and hurried to shower, eat, and get ready before they arrived. They came, gave us a nice little lesson, boosted our self-esteem, and promised to send Jeremiah's roommate to replace our front porch lightbulb later that week. I chatted with my roomies (Corinne, Megan, and almost roomie Rachel) then headed off in the pouring rain to report to work.

I got to the hospital early. Very early. 20 minutes early. A rare occasion for me. So, I bought a diet coke and a bag of cinnamon bears from the cafeteria to share with my pod partners (the other nurses I would work with that night) and mosied upstairs. My name was not on the assignment board. My name was not on the schedule. I looked in the schedule book. I was NOT supposed to work. Blasted.

Typical Erika moment. (Seniors have theirs; I have mine.) Of course I would do something like this. I would show up to work when I don't even have to. It couldn't have been a Saturday night when I would have been more than happy to go home and find something fun to do. This was Sunday night. What can you possibly do on a rainy Sunday night? I'd slept away the sunshine, missed church, and would be awake for the WHOLE night because I'd been dreaming all day. I was left with little else, but to return home, chat a little more with the girls and then watch episodes on Hulu until 430 am when I was finally able to sleep...until 230 pm Monday.

And you know, it would be one thing if this was a rare occurence, but these sorts of things happen to me all the time. For instance, in March I missed my flight from Seattle to SLC. I wasn't late or in the bathroom. I was sitting in the terminal, 100 feet from the gate, facing the window where the plane was boarding. They paged me overhead; then they gave away my seat.(It does help me feel better that at least I wasn't alone on this one and my 2 friends were with me.) You can't script things like that. It's purely dumb. STUPID in all capital letters.

Or, take the time I backed out of the lean-to my landlord calls a carport and knocked the side mirror off my drivers side door. Which then had to be taped to my car to hold it up until I could replace it.

Then there was the day in college when I resorted to using dish soap in the dishwasher because we were out of dishwasher detergent and I thought it would be fine as long as I just "used less." Let's just say we had a repeat of the bubbly floor scrubbing scene in Cinderella.

Oh, and let's not forget the double date I planned with my friend Natalie when I used my "secret trick" to reheat the rolls in the oven with a wet paper bag, then forgot about the rolls and caught the oven and rolls on fire.

And the morning I locked my keys in the trunk of my car @ 530 am in Burley. Where I don't have a spare key. Where the lock smith lives 45 minutes away. When I had to drive back to SLC because I was on-call at work. And then I never got called in.

The list could go on and on and on. I'm sure you could probably list 10 things similar to this...even if you barely know me. My mother and father could take pages; which is why they're not allowed to comment on this blog post.

Friend Dates

Much to my father's dismay I have never been much of a dater. I mean, I go on dates, it's just that around the 2nd consecutive date I somehow seem to lose favor with the idea. I date around (not in the skanky way people!), I just can't seem to find bliss in the long term dating relationship. I've tried. I've analyzed myself, and I just can't seem to figure out what my problem is. I could be a very interesting case study for some psychology major out there...and I could definitely use some insight for myself too.

However, regardless of my inability to participate in an extended dating relationship with a member of the opposite sex, I am really good at friend dating. I love it. I'm addicted. I go through withdrawals when I miss out. I could go on friend dates daily...with the same friend even! No matter my flaws in the romantic dating department, I flourish in the friend dating
arena.

And why wouldn't I, or anyone else for that matter, love friend dates? Unlike romantic dating, with friend dates there is no fuss. I can call and arrange the friend date or the other person can.

There is no time frame; we can arrange to get together the day of or a month in advance.

I don't have to worry about what to wear, how to do my hair, or what my friend will think of me.

There is no limit on how short or how long our friend date needs to last-any reason to cut it short is acceptable and not "blowing them off," and if we're having a good time we can stay out until the wee hours of the morning.

I can say anything without worry of unkind retort, feeling dumb, or killing the conversation.

It doesn't matter if I'm taller than my friend which means I get to wear my high heels if I want. I never have to worry about the follow up. I don't have to wait for anyone to call, email, text, or facebook me. I can call the next day or the next week. I could put a nice card in the mail if I really wanted to...it might even be more appreciated!

I always feel good after a friend date. Always.

Friend dates are perhaps one of the greatest things of the civilized world. They were probably even great before the world became civilized, come to think of it. Every week I try to make sure I have at least one friend date. I feel very fortunate that I have some really great friends with whom I can friend date often.

These peeps are my top 5 favorite friend daters at present. My life would be officially lame, dull, anti-social, and fairly miserable without them.

Rachel, aka Twiggy, is the girl I call for sushi, movies, concerts, staying in, going out, talking, laughing, crying, desserts, and everything in between.

My haven from work, Michelle keeps me busy when the rest of the world is working in the middle of the day.

Perhaps my best friend dater ever. Angie says it like it is and helps make me brave during our weekly friend dates. Plus we always eat really well on our dates!

My go to girl for all things advice. Chrislyn always knows just what I need and makes time for me even with her new hubby!

He'll make you laugh until you cry. You might even pee your pants. Joel's the boy you call for an all around good time. The best guy friend a girl could ask for!

TGIF 4 TOFW

Last weekend I took a very memorable trip to Pocatello, ID. I know, many of you are thinking there's not much that's memorable about Pokey, ID. Well, let me tell you, when I roll into town, there's always something memorable.

It began with a 2 hour drive with my long time friend (actually she holds the record for longest friend ever in my life...23 years and counting) and pseudo sister Corinne. We jammed out to some old school music that took me right back to being 14 and going on Young Women's road trips. Hairbrush in hand and Celine blaring through the car, there's nothing like it.

We arrived in Pocatello to meet our mama's, see my grandparents, and await the arrival of the Randall ladies (also known as my adopted mother and sister here in SLC). When all were gathered together we took off for the best mother-daughter weekend event ever--Time Out For Women Pocatello style!

It was phenomenal! The music was inspiring; the speakers were funny, charismatic, witty, endearing, and memorable; the seats were awesome (2nd row...thanks Chrislyn!); and the Mini Dome (oh, I think they call it the Holt Arena now) was FREEZING! in JUNE!

We had a great time at the event and even more fun laughing, joking, shopping (of course we did, Rachel was with us!), and eating. A few highlights of the weekend include:

1. My grandma trying to pawn off another purse on me. "Well, dear, if you want it you can have it. I'm getting tired of this one. And, see, I brought 2 with me."
2. Eating space burgers at the Tasty Treat. Yum.
3. Watching Debbie rub shoulders with Michael Wilcox and Chris Stewart. She has connections with EVERYONE!
4. Squishing 8 people into Colleen's SUV.
5. Terri counting in the men's turned women's restroom. "There are only 10 stalls and 24 urinals in here. No wonder men get out so fast!"
6. Eating Buddy's famous salad dressing and pizza.
7. Grandma succeeding in giving me yet another pair of shoes.
8. Getting my 2nd birthday party for turning 24.
9. Having mom's homemade cheesecake! BEST EVER!
10. Grandma forgetting. Yea, just forgetting.
11. Setting up my new tent in the living room with my dad.
12. Being hugged by my grandpa.
13. Driving back to UT with the Randall Ladies...okay, sleeping through the drive.

Well, as you can see, definitely a memorable weekend in Pocatello. You can all take back your thoughts on the matter now.

Oh, and special thanks to Chrislyn for having a job that makes us all better and gives a chance for a time out!