Visiting Sanpitch

It was quite an eventful week!

At first, though, I was disappointed that they had me switch cubicles at work. Next week, a new intern will be starting, and they want me to work with him, so they want my space to be by his. But I have loved my cubicle for the past two years, because when I lean back, I can see the tops of the windows and see the weather, and during the winter I can see if it's dark. I'm sad to lose my windows, and my new hallway/aisle is very narrow. Oh well. At least I will no longer be by the noisy ancient-looking missionary, who calls his wife at least three times a day, frequently yells at his computer ("You dumb thing! Arr!"), and constantly mutters to himself ("Oh, wow, wowowowow").

I will miss the tops of the windows.

 Wednesday evening was my final installment of June goathead eradication for the year. I found nine places this month where I had to pull them up (seven in North Salt Lake, one in Bountiful, one in Sugar House). This week's was by a gas station/convenience store, so afterwards I went and got a cookie with patriotic sprinkles. I was hoping they would give it to me for free for beautifying their property.

My parents left to go pick up my nephews, so I was left alone in the house. But I myself left as well. My YSA ward had a three-day outing to Sanpete County. I was happy for this, because that's one county I've never been to. My generous mother let me drive her car, since I didn't think my 1995 Legacy would make it that far.

Before we left, we were warned of a news article about a fugitive running loose in Nephi, where we were passing through. The suspect was 5'11" and 168 pounds. Guess how much I weighed myself at that morning?

You can ignore how filthy the scale is, thank you.

We stayed at a place called Pheasant Run Outfitters near the town of Fayette. It consisted of a "clubhouse" with a recreational area and some bedrooms, with a larger lodge with bedrooms. I've been in different rental vacation homes, and this one was one of the more poorly designed. For example, the serving area did not have a sink, one bedroom had doors only to the outside and to a bathroom, and apparently there was a small fire in the kitchen because they had wood paneling by the stove (or something like that). The steps were such that I was sure someone was going to trip sometime. But I guess you can't be too picky about such places.

Sanpete County looks a lot like other Utah places.

 A lot of the time was just relaxing, playing games, and eating. Since I had no data and the WiFi was spotty, I didn't track any calories at all on Friday. Oh well, my year of calorie counting is almost over.

As people were drinking soda, bottled water, and other things, it got me thinking about the last time I drank various beverages. I'm pretty proud of my record. The last time I drank:

• Gatorade: yesterday
• Fruit juice: wassail and cider at Christmastime
• Soda: December 24, 2015. Unless Slurpees count as soda, in which case it was last August.
• Root beer: July 22, 2015.
• Bottled water: 2012? 2011? (Bottled water is economically and ecologically unfriendly.)
• Pepsi (caffeine free): summer 2009
• Coca Cola (caffeine free): elementary school? Maybe junior high.
• Mountain Dew: elementary school
• Caffeinated soda: first or second grade?
• Energy drinks: never
• Tea: never. That doesn't count herbal teas, which aren't tea at all. And it doesn't count that caffeinated Clif Bar I bought in 2014 and didn't realize it until after I ate it.
• Coffee: never
• Alcohol: never. Unless you count accidentally swallowing mouthwash.

I initiated this game of Telestrations. Someone drew this for Great Salt Lake...and then the next person thought it was Jesus and Peter walking on water.

People kept leaving the door open, so this fast-moving arachnid crawled in one night. Then I identified it as a camel "spider."

On Friday, I took a few people to Yuba State Park, because we were really close, and I had never been. Someday, I might make it my bucket list to visit every state park in Utah, so this one is off my list. Now I understand why I had never been. Maybe it would be better at a different location in the park, but I was not impressed with this Painted Rocks beach. I got in the water, and it was very muddy and I kept sinking. At the deepest part of this portion of the lake, the water was only to my shoulders. I tried to swim, but most of the time it was too shallow. When I did swim, I only dared to backstroke, because I didn't want to drink too much mud. But it was good to get it off my bucket list.

I made it to the other shore by swimming, walking, and crawling through the water.

I walked to the top of the little hill on the right.

 A group of us went to the Manti Temple. As we pulled up, a cow was galloping across the temple lawn. It was entirely charming and hilarious. We watched as the cow crossed the roads and some kids on bikes chased it. It made my day that I first saw it on the temple grounds; it wouldn't have had the same effect if I had seen it elsewhere first.

 I loved the pioneer designs and aesthetics throughout the temple, and I liked the murals. When we got out of the temple, there was another herd of cattle roaming the town and stopping traffic. We also saw a deer and a dog crossing the road before we left town. The Manti Menagerie.

It's difficult to take pictures on your phone when it's bright outside.

 On Saturday, I was able to knock another state park off my bucket list as we went to Palisade State Park. This one was way better than Yuba. The water wasn't muddy, and I could do a lot more. We rented paddle boats, canoes, and paddle boards, and I did some of each, though paddle boarding was mostly on my knees. The lake's rules are that you have to wear a life jacket if you go past the docks, so I did a decent amount of swimming, though I had a life vest so I didn't have to worry about sinking. I wanted to be ambitious and backstroke across the lake, but I couldn't go in a straight line, so it would have taken forever.

I hadn't planned to go the whole time, since my job was ending in August and I didn't want to take the time off. But since my job got extended to December, I felt I could go the whole time. And I'm glad I did.