11 YEARS

Brandon and I have been married now for 

11 years.  Time goes by so quickly and I 

can't believe I've known my sweet heart for

so long.  

Brandon wanted to mix it up a bit with what

we did for our anniversary.  This would not have

been my first choice of fun but it turned out okay.

We had lunch at one of our memorable

places.  The Spaghetti Factory in trolly square.

We took our time after shopping and just waking 

around before we headed to American Fork were

we went up the canyon to find the Hot Springs.

We got there later then we should have because

of not being able to find the right turn off.

So we started our hike around 6:00.

The hike was easy and fun.  We got a chance

to talk and be together.  

However the hike takes 45 minutes of continually

walking and we took our sweet time and got up

there later then we wanted to.  Right before

the hot springs Brandon decided to walk off the trail

to check out the waters temperature while I

stayed on the trial waiting for him.  Right before

he got back to me I heard what we know as

a Rattle snake.  I had never heard one before

but new that's what it had to be.  I looked

down on the edge of the trail 2 feet from where

I was standing and sure enough  there was a 

Rattle Snake.  Defensive and ready to strike. 

It wasn't very big but later Brandon and I found

out that the smaller ones are more dangerous because

they can't control how much venom to use and 

you could come away from the bite with too 

much venom in you to survive past a half hour. 

And the hike back to the car was at least 45 

minutes.  So I backed away and Brandon tried

killing it with rocks.  I was a little freaked to go any

further on the trail and I was not about ready to

walk off the trail thinking that their could

be more snakes.  Ahhh I hate snakes. 

But we had come all that way and we

wanted to see the springs.  So we got brave

and carried on.  By then the sun was going down.

Even more creepy.  We got into the hot springs 

when it was dark. 

The water around Brandon is like a hot tub.

So nice!  But a little creepy to get in. 

There were other people there which actually

was more comforting.  Being in a hot spring 

so far up the mountain with snakes around and

slimy rocks to sit on was a little nerve racking.

It took a while before I could actually enjoy

myself.  The water was green from all the

sulfur.  

The stars were beautiful.  But it was late, like

almost 10:00 and we still had the hike back

down and we hadn't even set up our tent yet.

So we headed back to the cars and yes I took

the lead with Brandon behind holding rocks

in case we saw anymore snakes.  Thank

goodness for our head lamps.  It was so

pitch black up there.  We saw these young

boys on the way back hiking up using only

the light from their cell phones.  Wow, way

to be prepared.  I could not believe that

even after we got back to the cars groups 

of people were just heading up there.

I guess that is a happening place!

After we woke and cleaned up camp we were

 heading out when we saw smoke.  We got closer 

to realize it was a Search and Rescue trailer on fire.  

They said they were going to be doing a training

exercise.  I guess it did not go their way! 

Looks like they need to work on the training part

again!  

We still had time before we had to head back

so we went to Provo Beach Resort to walk around

the stores.  We watched the Flo Rider for a bit

and Brandon got the crazy idea to try it.   

We had our suits in the car and I thought

what the heck lets do something crazy! 

I'm a pretty adventurous person so I was up for it.

However it is so much harder then it looks. 

Nothing like wake or snow boarding which I'm use 

to but this is so different.  But fun!  And yes you wipe

out hard and it's pretty funny! 

So you start with holding the rope wile

someone pushes you off. 

Then you try to get your balance.  Key word here

is TRY! 

Then let go of the rope.   Okay I think my longest 

time up was no more then 20 seconds.  Seriously

hard.  My last ride before the time ran out

I thought okay I've already smacked my head and 

been dragged up the wave so I'm going to 

just tear it up.  So I was very aggressive and that

is when I did my best.  You really have to just

go for it.  And get low.  Which I did not.  So my

falls always looked so bad.   

I love my fun, sweet Husband!

I love that we can do these kinds of things together

and have so much fun!