Stormy Weather

We've gotten some rain the past couple days and the mountains are finally turning green (it's only May 22, they sure seemed to be in a hurry to get pretty). Emily's at a surgery, watching "Mrs. Robbins" get her tonsils out. The surgeon is a friend of the Robbins, but the center it's being done at does let nursing students watch, but not family. Emily couldn't wait. She's been so excited about this. Kitye might be in some pain for a while. Emily had the same surgery done when she was 19 and she finally talked Kitye into it because she's had the same problems that Emily had as a teenager: sick a lot, lots of throat problems, etc.

On Saturday, Emily went to the Provo Library to study for her finals, so Grace and I went on an adventure. We drove up Provo Canyon and decided spur of the moment to go up to the Squaw Peak lookout. There's a trail that leaves from the parking lot and I was hoping it would go out to the peak itself. It doesn't, but it's a nice hike anyways. I carried Grace for about 20 minutes or so up this trail until it was obvious the trail wasn't going the way I wanted. So we climbed up to the top of the nearest peak and spent about 10 minutes there, way up above everyone else. Cascade mountain behind us, Provo/Orem below, and grasshoppers, butterflies, and flowers all around us. The peak was just large enough to pitch a tent on and then it went down on all sides. Here's a map of our little hike.

That evening, the three of us went on another hike. There's a cool looking canyon above Orem we've always talked about checking out, but never did. Exploring the foothills of Orem, we found the trailhead and went for it. Sorry, no pictures, but here's another map. There's some neat cliffs and gorge you hike through. The trail goes on and up Mt. Timpanogos, but we just went up and around the gorge section and on top to get a great view of Orem from the top of the cliffs.

Now we're both done with school and are just getting ready to leave for San Francisco. We signed a lease for a 3-bedroom apartment in the Presidio. We didn't get it through the school, but through the Presidio itself. It's even cheaper than the 2-bedrooms through the school, but we're responsible for utilities this way. We're working out the details of moving out. As of now, Emily will probably move out with Mike and Kitye and most of our stuff around June 10. This will let Emily scout out garage sales and stuff while Mike is there with the big car to get furniture set up. Mike and Kitye will get to see Nathan before his school starts and he'll get to spend a couple days with them in San Francisco. I'll keep working here at school until around the 20th or so, and then drive Elvira out there with the last of our stuff.

As for bikes, I feel pretty confident in going with the Motobecane Fantom CX. I've read a number of good reviews of it on bikeforums.net. I can add fenders and racks to it if I want to, and set it up like I want it for commuting and riding through the city. Part of me wishes it had mechanical disc brakes, but not too big a deal. Now I gotta decide what color: Yellow, blue, or gray. I'm taking recommendations, before I order this thing and start having more fun riding around.

(A guilty pleasure Emily and I like to enjoy is keeping up with or passing professional-looking cyclists on their couple-thousand-dollar bikes and gear, while we pull the kiddie-trailer)