A couple weeks ago, we were sitting in the Morrill's living room. Meg sighed and announced that she needed to get away, she needed some sort of vacation. Thus was born the idea of a 4-day extravaganza.
On Thursday evening we somehow managed to cram 4 people x 4 days worth of stuff into the trunk of Meg's poor Accord. And off we went, arriving at the trailer in Manila after dark. We were greeted by two gnomes and Jesus staring at us from a window ledge. The "trifecta" would continue to watch over us from there during our stay, except for the short stint they pulled in the fridge at one point.
The boys, of course, were bound and determined to get the old record player working. And they did. And we listened to "Hot Rod Hootenanny" for about five seconds before turning it off again.
Day 1
We drove to the marina and got our boat rental set up for the next day. We were introduced to the "wakeboarding boat" we'd be taking. A bright blue monstrosity, which affectionately came to be known as "The Blue Dart." (We're so mature.)
During the afternoon we did a bit of sightseeing.
That night we ventured over to the Daggett County Rodeo, which was quite the experience. Everyone in town got all "gussied up" to come to the big event... but once they got there they refused to cheer. It was the most docile crowd of cowboys I've ever seen.
Day 2
We all woke up early, eager to get our boat out on the Gorge at 8:00. The temperature was perfect, the water was crystal clear, and only rarely was another boat to be seen. After some fishing, we headed back to the dock and picked up a wakeboard.
Throughout the day, both Steve and Dalan would bust out the wakeboard. Dalan was eventually almost able to stand up on it. :)
Eventually Steve biffed it hard enough to decide to call it a day. He got back on the boat with an array of scratches, bruises, and a bit of a headache.
We turned the boat back in at 6:00. Over the course of the day, we all went from using 30 SPF to heaping helpings of 70 SPF, but still wound up a bit toasty.
Day 3
To start off Steve's birthday, we headed over to Red Canyon Lodge and got ourselves some horses to ride. We did a half-day ride and after 4 hours of sitting in the saddle, we were all sore, dirty and ready for some relaxing.
I rode Shaker who had some digestion issues. Dalan became very attached to Mabel, so much so that he made her a theme song that dealt with her going back to the stable and not being allowed at the dinner
table.
Meg got Foxy, who gave me very little trouble. But poor Steve got to deal with Tiny, who was ginormous and actually mowed down a tree during the ride.
That night (after an afternoon nap) we found a gorgeous little campsite to cook dinner. We had marinated chicken... and we meant to have some potatoes with it, but they became victims of a tragic cooking accident.
After dinner, we made pies and stuck a few matches in Steve's since birthday candles were not available. :)
Day 4
We crammed everything back into the trunk and headed to Jordan Commons. We all had a date with the IMAX theater and Batman. It was an incredible movie, though, obviously not one I'd take kids to. Hands down my favorite part was Heath Ledger as the Joker. It was a phenomenal way to wrap up a fun vacation.
