So back for Sheldon’s birthday I bought us tickets to go Cross country skiing (in March) through the BYUI student activities. Honestly I was pretty worried it might be cancelled because we had been having warm weather and it seemed like all the snow had melted. Snow is important for skiing you know…
We had faith that the event would go through. So, Friday night we packed our lunches. I only really had peanut butter jelly sandwiches, granola bars, and little oranges to pack. We were ready.
There were only 5 people on the trip with 3 volunteer leaders. So 8. It was a fun little group. We all got fitted for gear and packed into the student activity van. We took off to Mesa Falls, in Targhee National Forrest, that is only about an hour away from campus. Not too bad. Best part is that the tickets were $10 each, which easily was better than renting the equipment and the gas to drive there. I highly recommend taking advantage of the outdoor adventures offered on campus.
Much to our surprise when we arrived there was PLENTY of snow. Funny how elevation has that effect.
It was a beautiful place. We overpacked warm clothes because we didn’t know what to expect so we brought heavy coats, gloves, and even snow pants. But we didn’t need all that. Throughout the ascent we began shedding layers. I quickly realized what a workout it would be. Soon we made it to the trail and signed in. This is where the back woods part of the skiing adventure began. There were lots of trees and slush/ice as obstacles along the way.
Little by little we learned the tricks to stay standing along nature’s path to the falls. But to be honest we all fell. A lot. It was pretty common, even for the volunteer leaders.
After so much wedding planning, Sheldon and I needed a fun all day activity for the two of us. It was a good quality date, but also quite the workout!
Well I had my own little scary moment. I was getting pretty good at riding the little bumps in the route, until we came to one that was particularly close to the edge of the cliff. I lost balance and fell, and my heavy backpack was dragging me down with it. I felt so clumsy and helpless there. The only thing between me and the edge was a thin little tree that would have caught me had a have fallen down even a few more inches. Stuck and scared I just sat there for a minute to gather my strength and balance again. Needless to say, I stayed very far away from the edge the rest of the trip. That sometimes required I take the long way around.
I think what kept us going was the hope to see the waterfalls, and also to have a lunch break. They kept looking at a tiny little map saying its only another mile-ish. Which was said many times… until we just decided to stop for lunch and skip seeing the falls. OOPS! I think the leaders got us lost. Oh well, it’ll have to be a hike trip in the summer.
Anyways after lunch we were all just ready to be done and were all tired. My legs especially were giving out and arms were shaking. Yet I was determined to make it back. Sheldon was my awesome support the whole time, he kept me going when I didn’t think I had the strength to make it back. But we did. We all made it back alive. I think they decided it was about 8 miles that we ended up doing total.
That evening we went to Idaho Falls and joined a few others from my ward to volunteer at a local soup kitchen. We made chicken noodle to give to the people there.
After all that hard work, we celebrated the Birthday of one of Sheldon’s best friends. We met up with a bunch of people at Texas Roadhouse. Food has never tasted so good!
We always like being busy and packing our short weekends full. We don’t have too much time together, so we have to enjoy the time that we get. This was a very full weekend, so it was a very good weekend!
Less than 40 days until the wedding!
Not a Perfect Knowledge 