Vacation...?

Note to reader: This is a long post, but then, it has been a long few days.

So Suzy and I decided to take a break from work. Suzy has was given a promotion at work and has been going non-stop for the past few weeks. Some days she will leave a few hours before I do and then get home many hours after me. Then there is me, well, I just go to work every once in a while and goof off. We really wanted to go to camping and so we make plans to spend four days at what I call "the property," some land above camp Mia Shalom that my father owns. My little brother was getting back from the mission and we had plans to go camping with him and my family. As time approached (last Thursday), I found out that no one was going to the property any more and that it would just be Suzy and I camping high in the mountains for four days. Not that I would mind camping with Suzy for four days straight, but we would get pretty bored. All that there would be to do is to cut and move fallen trees. We finally decided to camp there one night to help my dad clear out some of the trees and then to meet up with some of my family members to hike some slot canyons just outside of Hanksville.



Sunday:
We picked up a few camping things from my parents and my little sister, she want to camp with us. We got back to our house around 10:00 pm. Munchkin (what I call my little sister) went to bed and so Suzy and I followed suite. Munchkin slept downstairs where it is a nice cool temperature. Upstairs it was pushing 90 degrees and took until about 3:00 am before it cooled off enough for Suzy and I to fall asleep. Let's just say that it was a long night, actually you could say that it was the worst night ever.

Monday:
I wanted to get an early start but that backfired as it is rather hard to walk up early after going to bed at 3:00. We didn't end up leaving until about 9:15 am, 30 minutes later we were a mile south of our house trying to find a way through Provo. I ended up asking a public safety volunteer if it was even possible to make it to the freeway.

An hour later we were heading up Fairview canyon when I noticed the engine temperature to start to rise. Keeping an eye on it we continued to drive until it hit about 260 degrees, just before entering to danger zone. I could hear a hiss when I shut the jeep off and after looking under the hood I found the culprit. The radiator overflow reservoir had a small hole and radiator fluid was shooting out like a rocket. Not being able to do anything (as we all know that it is stupid to take the cap off the radiator when it is hot), I just watched and the jet stream turned to a mist and then stopped. Refilling it with water we continued on, at the top of the mountain we were pushing 260 (155 to 200 is regular operating temperature). I pulled over and to my dismay, I had forgotten to replace the radiator cap. A nice whole was burned into the mat on the underside of the hood. There was a huge puddle underneath us and an eight inch wide strip of water trailing behind the jeep as far as I could see. Fixing the problem we continued on having to stop one more time to cool down.

About 3 hours off schedule we arrived at the property. There we cut and moved trees. Made an awesome fire that withstood rain showers every 45 - 60 minutes, and made delicious s`mores. All in all, it was a good day.

Tuesday:
Well, if Sunday was the worst night ever, then tonight was the second worst night ever. Three people on a Queen sized air mattress on a slight hill does not make for the best night. Driving down to Hanksville was almost totally uneventful. We stopped at Huntington to get some radiator fluid. About 75 miles later we overheated again and guess what?!? I forgot to put the cap on again. Thinking that maybe that was the problem, we added water and radiator fluid and we continued on our way, only to watch the temperature gauge jump up 100 degrees in about 15 seconds. We let it cool back down, added a some more fluids and started off. Again it jumped 100 degrees in about 15 seconds. This happened one more time, just when I was about to be totally unsure as to what we were going to do two guys pulled up and asked if they could tow us. They then towed us 35 miles into Hanksville. That wasn't the most enjoyable time for me. For some reason, going 55 miles an hour without power steering or power brakes just doesn't make for a fun time.

It is now about 4:00 pm, we were suppose to meet my mom and two brothers 4 hours ago. We tried and tried and there was no answer. They were about 20 miles outside of Hanksville on a dirt road with a mini van, we had not clue if they were stuck or not. Anyways, back to the jeep, the thermostat had burned out and wasn't letting any liquid into the engine to cool it off. The mechanic, the only mechanic, in Hanksville said that they would order the part and that it would be a fairly easy fix and would be done quickly the next day.

Suzy, Munchkin, and I now walked 2 miles into town to see if we could get any more luck with my family. No luck. We were about to ask someone to drive us out to the site (it was about 6:15 pm) to see if we could find them. My dad was still in Orem and concerned because he had not heard from them since 11:00 am and was sure that if we were 6 hours late that they would have come looking for us. I tried one more time on the cell phone as Suzy asked local if they could take us down to the desert. I got through! But cut out shortly. I tried again and made a connect. My mom said that a squirrel had stolen the keys, one brother was running the 18 miles back into town and that if they could get through the sand pit they would come get us in about 30 to 60 minutes. That was the call, not really sure what was meant by that, I decided to pass on the knowledge to my dad that contact was made and that they might be alright... I think. 30 minutes later they showed up. An hour later we were setting up camp inside Hanksville.

It turns out that an animal had taken the keys. They had left the keys on the tire, in case we showed up and then went to canyoneer. The keys were found about 50 feet from the van laying in the dirt. That could have ended much worse then it did.

Wednesday:
Breakfast was delicious and we were back at the mechanic's shop at 9:00 am. Apparently the part wasn't going to show up until between 10 and 11. So we took off and hiked Angel Cove Slot canyon. A fun hike consisting of 4.5 (.5 = the girls rappelled down a 50 foot ledge and the guys climbed down it) rappels. The rappels were as follows: 70 feet, 85 feet, 50 feet, 50 feet, and 90 feet. Inside the slot canyon Munchkin had the unfortunate event of running her head into a patch of spiders. The patches of spiders ranged from 8 to 20 inches across and contained hundreds of spiders. Just us just say that a few screams were heard when first contact was made :) The spider patches were very interesting, we'll post some pictures soon as this post is already way to long as it is.

Hiking out was hot and steep. Munchkin decided to kick a cactus and canker sore medicine was used to numb the area. Suzy at this point had had too much sun and was not feeling the greatest. Nonetheless, she did great and we did the whole canyon from start to finish in 5 hours, 34 minutes, and 34 seconds.

Back at the mechanic shop we found out that the part never showed up and the jeep was now lying in pieces in the shop waiting for the missing piece. with our only ride heading back to Provo, we decided to go as well and to just come back to save the jeep later. I will be heading back to Hanksville next week to rescue my jeep and probably climb a few desert towers while down there (I thought that it was a good excuse to go back).


So, the question is, was this really a vacation to recuperate and take a break? Probably not. But how often do you get back from a "vacation" felling more tired then when you left?