un·con·ven·tion·al (ŭn'kən-vĕn'shə-nəl)

Last summer was the epitome of unconventional...and so while the topic of summer and unconventional are on my mind, I thought I would share. I really miss last summer, not being tied down to anywhere or anything, being in a different and amazing location almost daily, made every day full of wonder and excitement. I realize that everyday can be that way no matter where you are, but being at home in the grind of daily chores, jobs, and other responsibilities, make it a little more challenging. We do have small and medium scale adventures on the calendar, I think I am just getting antsy.

One of our options this coming weekend is to partake in a popular summer activity I was introduced to a few years back and is one of many on our growing list of 'unconventional activities'. It is called "one man rafting". This requires a (one per person) $10 single man blow up raft from Walmart (Walmart=mandatory), you, and a river. It's just you and that raft, where you end up and the condition you are in when you get there is all up to you, and your ability to paddle that $10 raft with your arms, solo, down a river, through rapids that hopefully scare you a little/ lot. Where this sport origionated I can't say, but it's one of many activities passed on from Dan Loveridge (who could possibly be one of it's founders) who then went on to teach Mike everything he knows. If we go, we will go to THE spot...which is located on the Snake river near Jackson Hole, Wy. THE spot is the home of two sets of rapids that are a one man rafters paradise. Big Kahuna the first of the two, can range from being a class II to III rapid, and Lunch Counter the one following, ranges from class II to IV, depending on early or late season. Weather this is safe, or a good idea...I won't comment on, but it is definitely a rush and hours of fun can be had by all, weather you are a participant or just spectating.

If the Snake river doesn't work out this weekend, we have an awesome backup plan, the destination...Moab, which will include one hut, one four man raft, a river, swan diving off of a medium sized cliff, hippies, and plenty of sunshine. Wherever we end up, I have no doubt that our summer is going to be full of conventional and unconventional fun, and we'll try and capture all of the little bits and pieces of it that we can, so you can catch a glimpse of our version of true down home unconventional fun!

*Notice: Everyone survived however it was a little traumatic.

Gratitude

The state of being grateful; thankfulness.

I experienced this (state of gratitude) while I was out running this morning, which is unusual because of the strong feelings of dislike that I have for running. An overwhelming feeling of gratitude overtook me as I was on my rout down the old white church road, and was drawn to the smell of the early morning, fresh cut hay, and horses lingering in the air, all while running under the shadow of the mountains AND getting to watch the sun come up over Mt. Timpanogos. I am grateful.

Kristen

For the Book of Remembrance

I have to say that even though it was a Loveridge family reunion of sorts (Parents Carl and Donna, five brothers Mike, Jim, Rick, Dave and Dan, five wives, and 14 children) our trip actually felt like a vacation. I am not feeling like I need a "vacation" after returning from this vacation! Although we didn't hike any mountains, raft any class 5 rapids, or bike from Durango to Moab, (typical idea of a good time for a Loveridge) I felt like we experienced a different kind of good time that was chill, unscheduled, unstructured, and RELAXING. Every family got their own condo in the most amazing place right across the street from the beach in Oceanside, CA.

We kicked off the trip with the world famous Camp Pendleton mud run, which only makes sense that everything we do has to start off big. A 10k with 5,500 other runners, going through reeking mud pits, over 4ft walls, crawling through pipes and more mud pits on your belly, is the only appropriate way to start a Loveridge reunion...it was really the most entertaining run I have done thus far and I hope to do it again. That said, everything after that was pretty chill. Bonfire on the beach, kids content for hours digging holes and skim boarding, seals in La Jolla, more beach, swimming and hot tubing, Old Town San Diego, Disneyland, and a special treat (drum roll) watching T.V.!! (We haven't done that since before we left for Alaska last summer), and Creighton and Karac got to experience a Padres game while Mike and I long boarded to the pier and stuffed our faces ;D

The whole week was a lot of fun, and I have to say that Mike has an amazing family who are ALL fun to hang out with. The sister-in-laws are the best, what are the chances of having four super cool chicks as sisters? It is always a pleasure to hang out with Mike's family and I can't wait to see what the next "reunion" will entail!

It doesn't get any better!

This put a smile on my face today...;)

"Spectacular, Spectacular"

Grand Gulch, what can I say except that it is quite grand! My thoughts were: you park in the parking lot, hike in 5 miles, chill for a day, and hike out….It was really more like this: we were driving in a rain/slush storm as we were nearing the trail head, the sun comes out as we are getting our packs on, about to start walking away from the car it starts looking bad again, get our rain gear on, start hiking in the sleet and hail, 15 min. later sunny! The hike in, was beautiful in a way that I did not expect. I was thinking plain Utah desert, sagebrush, tumbleweed, blah would be the scenery, with the ruins being the only attraction. On the contrary, for where we were, it was very green and lush, plenty of beautiful wild flowers and trees, and at times you didn’t feel like you were in the Southern Utah desert, it felt more like the mountains.

Hiking in was great (four miles), we found the best camp spot ever, with ruins, and some disgusting looking brownish red drinking water , just a rocks throw away! What could be better? Maybe not better, but just as good was the cake and (frozen) ice cream Mike packed in with him for Donnas birthday present. We ate until we were ready to puke (at least Mike and I did), Donna shared her birthday present with us!! (Thank you Donna), and we all hit the sack early for what I have to say was one of the best nights I have slept in a LONG time. I am always freezing cold (usually no matter what, where or when) so I brought my -20 sleeping bag, and also my new deluxe, light, extra warm and poufy sleeping mat. I guess I was more comfortable and toasty than the rest of my fellow campers because I thought I heard complaining going on around camp in the morning;)

The part I didn’t know about was the 12 miles we were going to hike on day two. I thought all of the sights were right there at mile four when you got there, my bad. It was beautiful, warm, and a joy to be outdoors enjoying the ruins and beauty of the canyon. We only ran into a couple of people on the trail, but other than that, it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. We explored to our hearts content, ate brownies all day long, and had a great time. Even without a heavy pack on, hiking 12 miles is tiring, so we were a little beat when we got back to camp. Mike and I gorged ourselves AGAIN, as we watched Carl and Donna split a pack of Ramen. We shared with Donna, but because of allergies Carl couldn’t partake. Had another good night sleep, got up, packed and out of there all on schedule. Hiking out was a little harder because it was all up hill, and besides our small detour having to scale a cliff with our packs on to get back on the trail…everything was amazing. I love backpacking and the feeling of knowing I can push my physical abilities to the limits (not saying this was all that hard) however; I am looking forward to our week in Oceanside kickin it on the beach.

*If you would like a more historical and informative take on Grand Gulch you may want to check out Mike’s blog here http://mikeloveridge.blogspot.com/