Geocaching: The Joy Is In The Hunt

Centerville's Parish Lane and in the distance, the south end of the drought ridden Great Salt Lake. My GPS Reciever marking the location. This small forrestation on the trail commanded a solem silence.

I love Geocaching. My latest caching experience came yesterday while seeking a cache on the Parish Canyon Trail. My readings told me it was a mere .43 miles to the cache and I started off on the trail. It didn't take long to realize the trek would be much longer as the switchbacks were almost doubling the distance. After an hour of hiking, I had come very close but couldn't make it all the way to my destination as the impending darkness forced me to start the return treck. As I made the descent I was amazed that I wasn't enraged over turning around after coming so close. It didn't take long though to come to a conclusion why. I was so happy & content. The heart pounding hike was exhilierating and solitude of the mountinside was thereputic. I felt so good about just being out for the hike that I couldn't feel bad about not reaching the destination. And that's why Geocaching is such a great activity. The joy doesn't come from trading a penny whistle for a yo-yo in some tupperware on the East bench. It's the opportunity to meditate and enjoy the outdoors afforded by the hunt for that cache.

WireLESS is WireMORE

There's nothing more relaxing than lounging in a hammock and there's few things more enjoyable than surfing around and blogging. I'm lucky enough to be able to do both at the same time. Right now I'm in my backyard with my daughter, Emma, relaxing in the hammock whilst I blog. Soon mom will be home and she'll occupy her hammock chair and we'll all swing the stress of the day away. Right now it's 89 degrees, probably a good 8-10 degrees cooler here in the shade. The sky is blue, the sun is bright, my kid is happy, everything's all right!

Search and Rescue

Turns out I was right about a search, and about Lori Hacking. Watching the news that night I learned that a search and rescue team from cache county was scanning the area around the "B".

SLC Skyline

Just 350 feet below Ensign Peak is Knoles Mound. It bears no historical significance but is a great place to see downtown SLC and is close to the park gateway.

The larger of the two streets, running due south from the capitol (under restoration), is State Street (a.k.a. US 89) and follows the entrire length of the valley. State Street (as all streets laied out by the settlers) is aligned precisely with magnetic north.

Other lanmarks seen here are the Salt Lake Temple (of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), The City/County Building, and the LDS Church Office Building (the tallest building in Salt Lake City).

Celebrating Pioneer Day

In Utah, Pioneer Day (July 24th) is akin to a national holiday. It marks the day the Mormon pioneers arrived at the Salt Lake Valley in "The Day's of '47". With the holiday approaching, Emma and I took a short geocaching excursion to a historical monument marking the spot where pioneers came to survey the land and plan the city. This park is the gateway to the trail and monument.

Dance Dance Dance

I've been fortunate enough to retain a tri-stake LDS group as clients this summer. We DJ'd our second of the three dances on Saturday and things went quite well. I brought on Zack to help run the show and prepare for next months dance. Zack was a ton of fun to have around and was incredibly helpful.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself this month too. The kids were more loose and ready to dance to anything that had a beat. The leaders were willing to jump in with the youth and that made all the difference.

We added a new pin spot to jazz up the mirror ball (it was so cool!) and brought out a Salsa CD I'd purchased for those of the Latino persuasion. We were caught with our pants down last time when we had no salsa and learned there was a real interest for it. I came prepared the second time, but I was still shocked when no one was dancing to this stuff! I was dumbfounded. So we bought a new CD and never played another song from it all night. You can never tell!

Doug's alter ego "The JeepCruzer" turns on the patriotic flare over the July 4th weekend. 

What a day for a parade!

Wow, who knew being a part of a home town parade could be so much fun!  For the second year in a row I was an announcer in the Centerville parade and I had a blast.  I played music, talked up the participants and even garnered an advertising deal with the deli across the street when they offered me free cookies to plug thier refreshement stand - I couldn't resist. 

I think the regulars who occupy the spot I announce from were preturbed I was there.  I think they're used to thier traditions and for the second year in a row I have either booted them from thier spot or changed the dynamic of the occasion for them.  I felt some real friction at first.  Luckily by the end of the parade, I seemed to have won them over. 

I think they, at least most of them, enjoyed knowing what the background of the different entries were and that sentiment was echoed by several others.  It made me feel good that people not only enjoyed the service but enjoyed my style as well.  I had fun, and I hope that with the reviews we got, I'll be there to do it again next year.