Why I decided to hike Nebo

Well, I was a bit lazy with this journal Thursday and Friday and Saturday. Oh well. Not much happened until yesterday. Work and Frisbee and hanging out with Becky and Wayne on Thursday. Aunt Sharla called up and asked if we wanted to come over for food on Saturday. I felt obligated to say yes. I really haven't seen her in a long while and I feel guilty about that. But I roped Becky and Wayne into going with me, and then I asked Laura after Frisbee if she wanted to come, and she said yes. Friday I worked on the newsletter a lot at work, and then didn't do much of anything in the evening—watched "Legends of the Fall" on TV. Hung out with Mike. Played Civ3. Went to sleep late.

Yesterday morning I woke up just in time to join the ward for our hike up Stewart Falls. It was a light hike. Mike and I grabbed breakfast at Gandalfo's on the way up (and thus made everybody wait for us), and then the hike ensued. There were about 15 of us, I would say, including Angela, Lori, Jilleen (back from Oregon), and Luke. I brought my camera and got some pretty good video and pictures. Jilleen and I hung out a lot, snapping photos for each other and climbing up areas no one else really wanted to go. She got herself stuck pretty good at the waterfall, though, trying to follow some people and accidentally climbing up the wrong way. It was pretty fun, and I wish I had worn clothes more conducive to rock-climbing. We also walked the whole way back with each other (everyone else ditched us while we were climbing) and had a pretty good conversation about things. Mike was waiting a little upset waiting for us in the parking lot, though, because everyone else had left and neither Jilleen nor I drove.

After Stewart Falls I went home and did a few chores and cleaned up. I was a little late picking Laura up, and I was a little late picking Wayne and Becky up, but we got to Sharla's house in plenty of time. After the meal, we went over to Aunt Mary's to say hi (she doesn't remember me or Becky) and also to stroll along the stream in the back. That was a lot of fun. We tried to teach the dog how to catch a Frisbee and got a little wet and talked a lot. And then we made our excuses and left for Provo. When I got back, I proposed that we all watch a movie at my place, and everybody agreed—on the condition I help Wayne reinstall Windows while we watched. So I dropped them off to get their stuff, and Laura and I went over to my place. Becky and Wayne soon came over, and I started working on Wayne's computer. I gave Becky and Wayne some cash to get ice cream, and Laura and I played a little fusbol while waiting. Then we watched "Gattaca." It was the first time Laura had seen it. She liked the movie. She got the part where the guy committed suicide—I didn't understand that until the second time through. I also saw something I hadn't seen before—the symbolism of the medal the guy wears—finishing second, and it's a picture of people swimming, which parallels Vincent's swimming with his brother. I'm not sure what all to make of that. Anyway, Wayne and Becky left right after the movie, while Laura and I stayed behind and looked at some of my pictures—mostly stuff from freshman year and my mission. We didn't get through it all before it was midnight and she had to leave—I had almost forgotten about that aspect of being a BYU student. I drove her home, and at the doorstep I asked her about her Labor Day plans, and suggested that if she wanted to do something, she should give me a call. No sooner had I said this than she asked me if I knew anything about trails on Mt. Nebo (which I don't) and if I wanted to hike it.

Not much worth mentioning happened today. Except for the munch and mingle after church where Big Jake made us all spaghetti. And also the fact that Mark was home when I got home from church, so that was exciting. He got sick in Boston, otherwise he would have been out here sooner. Actually, he missed a Radiohead concert on account of being sick—why, I asked him, did he not send me the tickets. And yes, he did drive out with Krista. And yes, his '93 Camaro rocks. We went to 230th ward prayer to say hi to people, but almost no one was there. That ward has changed so much. It's hardly recognizable and doesn't seem like a lot of fun. I'm glad we ended up in the 229th ward. Mark did kind of seem like a fish out of water tonight when all the 229th ward people came over after 229th ward prayer. Mostly played his guitar the whole time, but he met a few new people.

Now I'm starting to look out info about hiking Mt. Nebo. I really should get to sleep, though. I called up Laura and we decided to start at 8:00. That's early.

Posted August 31, 2003 (11:10 PM) | Comments (1)