Weekend Update?

I've been so busy posting pictures, etc, that I haven't actually said much. If that doesn't matter to you, you may of course stop reading now. ;^) Anyway, Monday, I went with my mom down to Layton, Utah. Why? I will quote: "I'm not subjecting anyone to that bed in there." There's a queen-size guest bed upstairs that Mom slept on for a while when she first moved over to Grandma's house. It killed her back. There's a Select Comfort store in Layton, so we headed down there. The mall parking lot was insane, so I dropped Mom off and parked at a smaller strip mall across the way.

An interesting furniture outlet was there, but it had nothing I wanted. Mostly out of boredom, I wandered into Big, Lots! Yes, the exclamation point is part of the name! Isn't that exciting?!?! Basically, Big Lots is a store where stuff that didn't quite make the grade winds up. Sometimes there are good deals, but mostly it's rather dull. However, I did luck into a laptop computer table for $20. It's one that I'd seen at Office Max for $70, and just wasn't willing to pay that much. If this one is damaged at all, I can't see it. And it's absolutely perfect with my "new" couch. You can adjust the height (though I wish it would go an inch or two lower; it's still a bit high for the recliner) and the part where the laptop sits will tilt to make the keyboard more accessible.

Last stop for that trip was a Thai market not far from the mall. It had several varieties of rice that I'd never tried, as well as some interesting snack food. Banana-sesame chips anyone? They're actually pretty good, but not something to eat a lot of at once.

On Tuesday, I hiked around Gibson Jack again. On the way up, I encountered Dr. Stowe and his wife and a friend. We exchanged hellos. His wife was slowing them down, picking various varieties of grass to take home and identify. :^D I told her I was still on flowers (though I have started taking some pictures of grass; I just haven't posted any of them). Incidentally, that Montina flour I've been using is made from Indian ricegrass. I think I know which grass that is, but I won't post a picture until I'm reasonably certain.

I didn't do much else for the Fourth. At one time it was my favorite holiday, but it currently has some bad associations for me. Short version: it was about this time last year that I realized how much...uh, garbage my mom had been putting up with from my dad. Nothing so dramatic this year, as Dad is actually behaving like a reasonable human being since acquiring Buster, but it will be a few years before I can enjoy the holiday again.

Wednesday I decided to try a new hike close to IF, but it took me so long to get there that I didn't have much time for hiking. Blackrock Canyon. Gorgeous area. To get there, you go out of IF on Highway 26 aka Yellowstone, turn left at a sign for Heise Hot Springs/Kelly Canyon (maybe 20 miles past the last stoplight), turn like you're going to Uprising (sign points to Heise Hot Springs if that's more helpful :^), keep going...past a small ski resort, you enter Targhee National Forest, and the road turns to gravel. Because it was a bit rainy, I didn't drive much over 20 on the gravel, and it's quite a ways to the trailhead. So I got there around 9:30 or so, hiked to the first stream crossing, and decided that was a good turnaround point. There were some logs over it, but there were also mosquitoes. I'll have to remember to wear long pants when I go back.

Thursday...didn't do too much. Wandered a bit with my mom and went with her to the opening concert of the International Choral Festival. There were four choirs. One combined choir from the Pocatello high schools (probably the cream of each high school's choir), and choirs from Australia, the Czech Republic, and South Korea. Mostly it was very, very good. The last two songs from the local group were, well, blah. They shouldn't have been done at this concert. They were not show pieces, or even remotely interesting. And it really ought to be impossible to have a blah, boring spiritual, but the composer/arranger managed it. The Austrialian and South Korean groups only did one song apiece, but they'll get their big night either tomorrow or Saturday. The Czech choir was awesome. So was their accompanist. And they did "We like to be in America" as their encore. [It was also amusing to hear "Joshua fit dee bettle of Jericho...and dee walls kem tumbl'n dohn"; though I'm sure I'd do worse trying to sing a Czech song.]

Today, I went back to City Creek. I went up to where the trail meets with the road, and takes a sharp turn. I suspect that is the trail to Kinsey Peak. I'd like to try that at some point. On the way down, I followed the road far enough to figure out that it came out where I thought it did, so I may see if Jean Luc is up to that road. It's rather rough in spots, but he's getting used to rough roads. Oh, another reason to drive up: currants!!! Currants are getting ripe. I ate one on the way down. Delicious. *grins*