Count the Camaro's

Do you just love Chevrolet Camaros? And I mean really love them? Even before the 2009 Camaro turned out to be a transformer named Bumblebee who is an awesome fighter and has a good sense of humor? Really? If you can answer yes to all four of these questions, then the Cache Valley Cruise-In is the place for you. On the Fourth of July every year, Cache Valley closes down main street, so people can cruise in their restored (and sometimes not restored) hot rods. It is quite an entertaining event. Living in Cache Valley for most of my life, I took this event for granted, and only watched the parade of cars a handful of times. Jess had never seen it, and since we were in town for the Fourth, she didn't want to miss an opportunity to see what this event was all about.

The Camaro was by far the most popular car this year. It seemed that every other car was a Camaro, so I invented a game called Count the Camaros. I think I won. I am really good at counting (and I was the only one playing). What follows is a small sampling of the whole.

1...

2...

3...

4...5... (2 for 1)

6...

7...

8...

9...

10...

11...

Eleven Camaros was enough to win the game this year. If you have never seen the cruise-in, maybe that should be integrated into next year's summer plan. I'd be happy to take on any challengers who would think to beat me at Count the Camaros.

A radish as big as my hand

asdf

You might think that I am low on material when I blog about a radish, but you haven't seen this radish. Our garden is kicking out giant radishes, without the use of growth hormones, or even plant food. The soil here is a hard clay, and while many plants are struggling for survival, the radishes are really loving it. We tried to keep up with our radish harvest, but somehow, this one escaped our view, and grew out of control. We actually thought it was a carrot, but it was in the wrong row. And the carrots are still quite small. Compared to other "normal" radishes, this radish is a giant. I've actually grown quite fond of him too, and would think it a shame to eat him. Jess thinks it stems from detachment issues from my childhood, but I wouldn't know anything about that. She is the psychology major.

asdf

asdf

Okay, I know it is a stretch to consider this entry among blogger's elite, but stay tuned when I next blog about our giant potatoes.

Escalante Pictures, as Promised

I don't know why it took me so long to post my photos from Escalante, but here they are. Enjoy!

The surprisingly wet entrance to Peek-a-boo.

Jess and John braving the mud, Nate wasn't so sure.

The brave adventurer.

Nate, Nate, and John exiting Peek-a-boo, about to begin our trek to the next slot canyon.


Nate and Nate squeezing through Spooky. Jessica's salads are paying off.


Hair of gold. Doesn't it look like the heavens are smiling on us?


The Nates and the sand dune.

Jess striking a pose in Brimstone.

Looking out of Brimstone.

Jess and Nate in the desert with Coyote Gulch in the distance.

The wind doing wonders with our hair above Steven's Arch.

John, Nate A, and Nate B entering Coyote Gulch through a precarious crack.

Jess fitting in quite well with her surroundings.

Sitting above one of the many pretty waterfalls.

Question: What is the difference between a natural bridge and an arch?

Stay tuned for the answer*.

Mr. Cool getting a kiss under the natural bridge. Who needs mistletoe?

Water carving through sandstone below trees and ferns in the cliff.

Jess reading the map by Jacob Hamblin arch and hoping that we have reached the end.

Jess and Nate at Lower Calf Creek Falls, where a certain wedding ring was lost...

...and found. Whew! Thanks to Jess for finding my ring.

asdf

Escalante is beautiful country. I hope everyone enjoyed the sampling of pictures I posted on the blog. If you have yet to visit this part of Utah, I highly recommend it goes on your list of places to see before you die.

asdf

*The difference between a natural bridge and an arch is water. Water runs underneath a natural bridge, but not underneath an arch. Oh how my blog is both entertaining and educational.

One garden to rule them all...

I have had several requests to blog about the garden. Okay, actually, just one. But, it was from my most adoring fan, Brian. So, here goes. We have a garden. It is in the midst of weeds that have exploded in the last few weeks because of the unusually wet summer we have been having. It has been great for our garden, but we are fighting back the weeds.

If any of you are wondering about what plants work best in what soil type, don't ask me, unless your soil is an undeveloped light brown clayish soil. That's as technical as I'll get. But radishes and potatoes do amazing in this type of soil. We have already picked a slew of radishes, and our potatoes have exploded. After a scary start, the tomatoes are also doing well. Most everything else is growing pretty good, but some look like they are barely hanging on, like the cantaloupe. Which wouldn't be the worst thing, because then if it dies, I won't have to figure out how to spell it in the next blog about our fruits o'plenty.

If the vegetables were in a race, I'd say the radishes have it, followed by the potatoes, and in a close third the tomatoes. The peppers, beats, zucchini, squash, onions, pumpkin are in the middle running, with the carrots, cucumbers, strawberries and watermelon taking up the rear. It seems the cantaloupe have dropped out of the running. Go banana!


The wind continually beats on our garden. I protected the tomatoes, peppers, and strawberries with cages and plastic. They started out pretty sad looking, but have since more than recovered. Our tomato plants are bursting through the plastic, and I'd say it is almost time to take it off. We had another storm tonight, so Jess thought we should wait. Maybe this weekend, they will feel free again.

So, without boring my faithful blog readers with more garden stories, I'd just like to say that we are excited about eating potato-radish stew this year. Come on over if you want to give it a try.

Escalante, land of the slot canyons

For those of you who have never been to Escalante, you are missing out on some of Utah's hidden treasures. And I mean really hidden. Driving through Escalante, it would appear to be desert. And it is. But is is what lies between the desert that makes this land unique. Water cuts through sand and creates beautiful canyons, that a person would miss simply by looking out across the desert. Some canyons down there, you can't even see until you within a few hundred feet.


Two weeks ago, Jess and I, and my friends John and Nate went camping down in Escalante. We hiked Peek-a-boo, Spooky, and Brimstone Canyons. Then we hiked 4 miles along Coyote Gulch. Then we ended our trip with a trip to Lower Calf Creek falls. The idea was to cool off, but it really wasn't that hot out. It was actually very mild for this time of year, and overcast most of the trip. No chance of rain though, so luckily we were safe in the canyons.



I had hiked Peek-a-boo, Spooky, and Brimstone a couple times before. There aren't terribly difficult, but they are very narrow canyons. Very typical of slot canyons. They all run almost parallel each other a couple miles apart. The bottom of Peek-a-boo had lots of water. We had to trudge through a lot of mud, and get around some tricky obstacles, but everyone was up to the task. Spooky was all dry and not too difficult, but it does get pretty narrow. Brimstone is the narrowest and darkest of the three. We only made it in maybe 50 feet before there was a ton of water. I waded through a ways, then convinced my friend John to come. The water was cold, dirty, and very slimy. But to me, it's no different than playing in the sandbox when I was a kid. This canyon narrows quite a bit and the water gets deeper. I have squeezed through before, but because the water level was so high, John and I decided to turn back after only another 50 to 100 feet. Still, I rather enjoyed the adventure.



Coyote Gulch is this oasis at the bottom of a canyon in the middle of the desert. Above the canyon, it is sand, sandstone, and more sand. There is plenty of cactus and sage brush to go around. Down below though, there are ferns, trees, grass, bushes, animals, springs, and waterfalls. It is very lush and beautiful. I had never been there before, and I can't wait to go back. There are also arches all around. We hiked most of the way through the stream, so we were all happy that we had our sandles. We swam in a couple pools and waded through waterfalls. It is an amazing canyon that extends very deep and very long. You could easily spend more than a day in Coyote Gulch.



Calf Creek falls is a 120 foot waterfall. The water is cold and after about 3 pm, it is shaded. John and I, after much convincing swam through the pool up to the falls. It was a rather cold experience. I was nervous about losing my wedding ring, which isn't usual when I swim, but I took it off and gave it to Jess to hold. After the swim, my brain was frozen and I had forgotten to get the ring back. We all started hiking back, and after about 1/2 mile, Jess froze and said, "Nate, do you have your ring?" I thought she might be joking, so I said no. Then she got really panicked. She had lost the ring. We hiked back to the falls looking down the whole time. She had put the ring on her little pinkie, and it had slipped off without her noticing. Jess was so worried. I didn't think it was the worst thing in the world and tried to calm her down in the event we couldn't find it, but she was determined to find it. We got back to the falls and went back to where we sat and had lunch. After searching around some, Jess found it in some weeds, near where she had reached down for her pack, and where the ring must have slipped off. The falls were beautiful, but losing the ring is a bit more memorable to me.

That was my last vacation before entering the world of the working man.

(I will upload photos shortly.)

New Job

Well, after years of college, I finally have a full time job. I started last Monday, and Friday ended my first full week on the job. I start back up again tomorrow. I mostly enjoy my work, but to be honest, I don't fully understand what my job is yet. I think it will take some time to learn exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. So far, it has been a lot of training and a trial by fire. This next week will likely be more difficult, followed by another week of training. Then I'm hoping after that I'll settle in a bit more.

I've had a month of vacation from the time I graduated and the time I started work. The free time was really nice. I miss it. After my first week on the job, I told Jess I was going to quit, so we could just hang out all day. Jess told me I was just going through growing pains. It's not like I dislike my work. I rather enjoy being an engineer and doing the work. It's just that I like Jess and playing a whole lot more. My goal is to retire in 10 years, once my new book gets on the New York Time's best sellers list. If that doesn't happen, then maybe I'll retire in 15 years.

I guess I already ruined the official announcement in that last paragraph, but yes, I am writing a book. I am keeping it pretty low key, but a few of you may get the honor to read through it and help me make changes. I actually don't suspect it to ever get published, but one of my life goals was to write a book. So, that is what I started to do. Once it gets more developed, I may start to clue everyone in as to the subject of the book. Let me just say, nerds like me will really appreciate it.

Well, work is my latest news. Just before work started, I did go on a trip to Escalante, UT and hiked some slot canyons with Jess and a couple friends. I'll blog about that shortly, and post some beautiful pics.

Risk, the Armstrong way

Risk is the game of world domination. World Domination! So of course, who wouldn't want to play this game. A couple weeks ago, before my nephew Cam moved to Prague, I took it upon myself to teach him how to play Risk. It soon became apparent that he indeed was his father's son. Cam, son of Brian, world dominator.

Brian and I have been playing Risk for quite some time. Whenever we start a game, it usually means that we have convinced someone else to play with us. This person, or persons, is basically a target. Neither Brian nor I really care too much about winning, but we do care about making alliances to beat the other player, and then stabbing each other in the back. The goal is simple: ruin the other player's plan by breaking the front line and conquering as many territories as deep into enemy territory as you can. This effectively undoes many turns of patient battling. It is a delicate science to know exactly when to make your move. More often than not, breaking alliances is usually what causes the innocent third party to end up winning.

I tend to make my move when I have built up sufficient armies in a single territory to break through. Brian will make his move almost without fail when either he senses he is about to lose, or he gets tired of playing and then starts attacking for a final turn of frustrating all my plans. Cam is just like Brian. It was nearing bedtime, and he had agreed with his mother upon one more turn. In his last turn, he did what Brian would do, attack anywhere and everywhere he could. And, being the good uncle, I convinced him to attack his aunt Jessica, rather than try to defeat my superior armies. I have a picture and a video to illustrate how our evening ended.

We do miss Brian, Q, Cam, Jess, and Rebecca.

Conquering the Universe

I am entering a new world. The blogging world. I have been encouraged many times to start a blog, but never really got around to it. Up until now, I think I have had a legitimate excuse with trying to finish my degree. But since I have graduated, and have a few weeks before I start my job, I have no excuse, and thus, I will embark on a blog.

This last week, I have accomplished a lot. I have conquered the universe three or four times over, I have ensured the republic's survival, and now I am on the verge of defeating Apocalypse to prevent a world enslaved by his cruel hand. It is true, since I graduated, I have played a few video games. I think I have undone quite a bit of the education I received in the last few years, but hopefully, not so much that I will be a vegetable at work.

Speaking of vegetables, we have just planted a garden. A big garden. My wife Jess and I are moving to Eagle Mountain, UT courtesy my brother Brian. Jess saw all the space in our new yard and decided she wanted one garden, one garden to rule them all. So, we have corn, potatoes, peas, beans (two varieties), cucumbers, pumpkins, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, carrots, beets, onions, radishes, peppers, parsley, cilantro, watermelon, cantaloupe, and strawberries. Yes, if you would like some produce this fall, please contact us. I don't think we will be short on anything. This is our first garden, and the first time the soil has been worked, so we aren't sure how it will turn out, but we are hopeful. I worked in quite a bit of compost and turkey manure, so hopefully the plants are well nourished.

I am not sure what else to include in this first blog. In fact, I guess I don't really know what to blog about in general. So perhaps, I've yet to find my niche in the blogger world. I'll keep trying, and perhaps something will come up. Enjoy.