Fiona lives to drive another day!

About 2 months ago, while I was cruising 5600 in West Valley, a Little Cesar's pizza guys was waving a sign at the sidewalk and I thought, "Um, pizza sounds good."  For those 2 seconds I failed to notice traffic had completely stopped!  I slammed on my brakes, but still ran into the hitch of a giant truck in front of me!
(explicit!)
Anyway, I felt like a complete idiot.  Luckily it did NOTHING to Spencer's (nice guy) pickup, not even a scratch on the hitch.  Unfortunately, the hitch pierced my bumper cover, bent the steel bumper itself, and crunched the radiator.  What a soft civic!  Spencer was very sympathetic and asked if I needed a ride.  Luckily, piano class was only 2 miles away.  I just had to get there before I ran out of radiator fluid!  Poor Fiona was useless!  I actually contemplated trashing her, until I talked to my car insurance agent who recommended to have her towed back to Heber to a local garage, ran by hispanics who love hondas and sponsor the demolition derby every year.  Instead of buying new bumpers, they just "straighten" out the old ones.  Oh, and they'll just move the license plate over 3 inches to cover the hole in the bumper cover!  They did have it for more than 2 weeks (not the fastest guys ever), but their final price couldn't be beat!  About 1/3 of what the dealership quoted me!

So why do I hold on to this old car?  What are the virtues of an old car?  Cosmetically, it's seen better days.  The engine is pretty weak.  Sometimes the locks don't work (so I just quit using them altogether).  It's hard to see around big trucks.  But then again, we don't plan on holding on to it forever, maybe just another season or two.  The engine may be weak, but it's sound!  It's very cheap to drive.  Filling the tank is so easy on the wallet.  I'm not paranoid about things bumping up against it.  I can fit anywhere and turn on a dime!

Maybe I hold on to it because it's symbol of how simple my life used to be.  With everyone else, it seems that the bigger their car, the more complicated their life. You know, soccor practice, back-up camera, pre-school, car payment, working in Park City, expensive maintenance, and it goes on.
I can't hold on forever.  The kids are growing up.  We'll have more kids and schedules and play dates and schools and activities and everything that goes along with life.  Whether green civic gets a new owner some day or takes a trip to the dump, I'll look back fondly and remember to keep it simple!

See, you can barely tell anything happened.  They didn't even need to move the license plate over!

Moab Mud Season!

This is our favorite tradition!  Sure, it's evolved over the years since the kiddos arrived, but it's still a good time!  No more super long hikes, no more sneaking into campgrounds to shower, no more 2-man tents.  Now we sleep in a VERY large tent, in a REAL campground, that I called ahead and RESERVED!  Yes, we're getting soft.  This campground was pretty sweet.  It's at the confluence of Courthouse Wash and the Colorado River, just outside of Moab.  There was green grass, cottonwood trees, and cool pictographs right across the highway!  Anna and Dallin were in heaven.  They were truly free-range children with rocks to climb on and campground hosts to harass.  We really felt like we were in paradise (ironically there was a brand-new Marriott next door).  Oh well!

The trip was a blast.  The weather could've been better... little wind, little snow, a few clouds, but the kids were behaving, slept all night, and ate "better" than normal.  Our first day in Arches was fun, but a little windy, which picked up as the day went on.  I had to hold on to Dallin at Delicate Arch to keep him from getting blown away!  Arches turned into a giant sand storm, so we bagged it early.

The next day was cold and rainy.  We drove out to Needles overlook, which ate several hours and we killed the afternoon at the Moad Rec Center and their indoor pool!  It's no "Kamas Pool" but it worked.  Then we went to the library and read books for 2 hours!  By then the skied cleared and we headed back to camp.

We spent the next day in Arches again and was able to hit all the spots we missed before.  It was cold, but we dressed accordingly and there was hardly anyone there!  Anna and Dallin were BOTH able to hike on their own (mostly)!  Dallin kept saying "hi" and waving to everyone we saw.  It was so cute!

I was sad when we had to leave on Friday!  The weather was clearing in Moab, although Island in the
Sky was complete clouded over.  We tried to drive out there on our way out of town, but couldn't see a thing!  Not to mention there was 4" of snow on the ground.  By then, we were anxious to get home.

I'll miss these off-season road trips.  Within the next 2 years, Anna will be in school and we'll have to take trips at the same time as everyone else!  Spring break and weekends!  Blah!  We'd better enjoy this while it lasts!