Antelope Island State Park

Hello!

Yangkyu and I just came back from a week long trip out to Utah and it was amazing and wonderful in every way imaginable. We spent the first two days near Salt Lake City visiting a childhood friend of mine and then ventured to southern Utah to hike at Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park.

You guys. The views are incredible. If you have never been or if you have never considered going out West to see the national parks, you must reconsider.

I'll get around to posting pictures from southern Utah in the coming days. I also have a bunch I took on my phone which I have archived in my Instagram stories.

Today there are a few photos from Antelope Island State Park. I realized I don't have many photos from here because I was trying to enjoy the company I was with instead of being behind my camera all the time to find the neat scenery and moment to take a photo of. But if you'll bear with me you'll actually see a tad bit more of me because I just couldn't pass up on the chance to be actually be in the photograph (thanks to my friend's 10 year old who took them!)

 // I mean... what a great shot.. wouldn't you say? // 

So the first day in Utah, we went to a place called Causey Reservoir. I think if I lived near there, I would take Lady with me during any free time I had and paddleboat with her, kayak with her or just lay out in the sun and enjoy the view. There were families, children, dogs and but it was quiet and cozy and not crowded. My kind of vibe. We went on a Sunday and I think that was as "crowded" as it gets which wasn't crowded at all. To think that you can just drive a few minutes over to a reservoir with your dog to have an outdoor experience on the daily just really started the wishful thinking of wanting to move out to Utah. Oh and people also cliff dived. Scary but cool!

Our second day was a quick hike inside Antelope Island State Park. It was funny because we saw pictures of bison and wanted to see one pretty bad and my friend's kid pointed them out from far away. So not only did he dabble with photography, he spotted animals out for us as well. Budding photographer/wildlife guide? Maybe? Perhaps? 

Antelope Island State Park is located in Great Salt Lake about 41 miles north of Salt Lake City. There are hiking trails, bike trails, camping grounds, a bison roundup which occurs in the fall (I believe) and a marina where you can kayak and sailboat as well.  I've read that you can also swim in the Great Salt Lake which is saltier than other bodies of water and allows you to float. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?) we didn't get to do swim, but we did lightly touch the water from the Great Salt Lake and hike the Buffalo Trail, which was a quick and easy introduction to hiking in Utah. There is a $10 entrance fee per private vehicle. It is also dog friendly (must be on a leash).

 // These are the kinds of moments I live for while taking pictures. It's my favorite candid photo from our hike. I love the positioning of the three on our way down and the backdrop. //

There are other animals that reside at Antelope Island State Park aside from the bison, like antelopes! We got to see them as well. There are also insects as well - lots of little flies that'll get in your car once you roll down the windows or open your car door and also brine shrimp all along the beach. My friend had mentioned them before we got to Antelope Island but didn't realize what I was stepping on until she mentioned them again when we were in the beach access area. They are evvverrrrywhere.

 // I always wanted to take a photo on an open road with no cars. Photo bucket list check! Again, the work of a 10 year old. I was telling Yangkyu that if he still has an interest in taking photos a couple of years down the line, that I may want to give him my first DSLR. I don't shoot with it anymore and it's definitely old (discontinued even, I believe). Other point and shoot cameras may have better quality so maybe he won't like it much. I never thought I'd want to give away my first DSLR but if it's as meaningful as starting a kid off on an interest in photography, it would be completely worth it. //

After venturing around Antelope Island State Park, we thought our little 10 year old deserved ice cream with two scoops. We ended up going to In-N-Out where he had a shake and a free hot cocoa! Double score! This day was also his last day of summer vacation. I hope he had fun as much we we did.

Thanks for reading along. I hope you'll come by again and see our posts from Bryce Canyon National Park and also Zion.

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*While I was out in Utah, I did have meat. It was hard to avoid and I never want to make it difficult for others to accommodate my needs. While down in Zion, I did have a veggie taco but it was so unappealing and didn't taste all that great. Normally I would just end up skipping a meal or eat a light snack but because of all the hours of hiking we were doing and eating at abnormal hours, there was no way that I was going to skimp on a meal as it would've tired me out completely. I'm currently going back to my diet of meatless meals but I'll be honest and say that it is actually harder! But it's not so difficult where I'm stressing. I'm also still learning to not be so hard on myself. 

Celebrating 9 Years

Someone once asked me a long time ago what kind of guy I would like to marry. I said a guy who made me laugh. I was told a guy who makes you laugh will surely mean the most unhappy marriage. 

Being a bit less confident with myself, I thought I needed to change my outlook. But no matter how I sliced it, I wanted to be with someone who made me laugh.

Yangkyu, I'm so glad it's you. 

Thanks for all the laughs. Happy 9 years.

So many different things going on around here I feel like my head is going to spin

Hello and happy Monday!

I've been up since 5 am getting all the doggos ready to start their day. One of our guest dogs, Loki, left a few moments ago and Spootie and Clover will leave tomorrow. It's only a bit past noon but I feel like an entire 24 hours has passed since 5 this morning.

After Spootie and Clover leave tomorrow, Piri's Place is taking a break for a little over 2 weeks. We've been full force since July so the rest is very much anticipated. During our break, Yangkyu and I will be away in Utah for a week and the other week, Yangkyu will be back at school and inbetween his classes and homework and work schedule, we'll be spending as much time with Lady, taking her out and about so that she can enjoy the sights and smells outside the comforts of our home. 

We can't wait for all this to happen.

There are a few other things happening right now around the house.

For one, we have a new shed being putting in. Our old one which was rotting and deteriorating was torn down last week but unfortunately work has been delayed as there was some sort of communications mix-up that happened on the side of the contractors. Delays with order supplies and also a mistake over at The Home Depot has put a hold on what was supposed to be a 1 day job. We now need to wait about a week until supplies arrive. Sigh.

We really wanted the shed to be done before we leave for Utah and our contractor who originally said he can work on it during the week we are out, said he will try his hardest to get it done this week. I'm not sure how all that is supposed to work if he doesn't have the supplies and with rain and thunder in the forecast but perhaps we'll see a stroke of a miracle to have things work in our favor. 

Our contractor was also supposed to clean up his work area last Friday so that we can at least have the yard for our guest dogs but that didn't happen. Double sigh. We have another part of our yard blocked off to to make a urine area for the dogs. The grounds are currently being treated so that we can eventually put some fiberglass screen and rocks over it and so for the past few days all our guest dogs haven't had much room to roam. 

So stress level for me lately has seen better days.

Hopefully things will move along and both our projects will be completed without (anymore) hiccups.

Sigh! But a good sigh this time!

Writing this all out has relieved some of the stress. Are you this way? Where you have to either talk or write everything that's been happening and it somehow organizes the mess that is going on in your life  and thus relieves stress and worries? I'm so very much like this. Thank goodness for the blog!

So on top of all this, our wedding anniversary is this week (Thursday!). We normally don't do anything fancy anyway (not really our style) and we always spend it at home with our dogs, with our favorite take out, doing our favorite thing (usually a good laugh over video games). This year though,  on top of the stay at home fun, we decided to go see Hamilton and got our tickets as soon as they went on sale online. Our show is on Saturday. Which reminds me, I probably need to pick up something to wear.... (mentally adds another to do on my massive task list - stress level slightly rises yet again).

Every day this week is some task or another to prepare for our upcoming trip. Lots of coordinating with Yangkyu since I don't drive and any shopping gets done together. A bit slower but we somehow manage to get it done. 

What do you do to organize messes in your life? I'd love to know!
Have a wonderful week!

You're the cutest!

We love Red and Howling over here and when I saw this on Facebook I wanted to purchase the print version immediately. Anyone else agree that this is you? And also you?

You can also get your own copy or any other prints, mugs or collectibles over at the Red and Howling shop. 

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! We'll be spending time with dogs and getting started on a few home improvement projects and finishing up with a couple others as well. So many things are happening around here this month that it's hard to keep up and we're trying to squeeze everything in before Yangkyu starts school again. Busy but exciting. Always a good combination.