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Wednesday, June 05, 2013

But by the way, I am still on vacation.

We got home from vacation... I have literally thousands of pictures to go through, lots to fool around with. It may be a bit before I get them up. Hopefully soon!
Originally we were going to wander over to montana, and go down through wyoming (Yellowstone), then hit Utah. We changed plans, and while I was disappointed, it really worked out for the best. Idaho, to Utah, to Arizona where we stayed for seven nights. There and back again.
Boise was pretty, Green River, Utah, was not as much. I am not a big fan of the majority of Utah. An incredibly large portion of it is dry and barren, in my limited experience. Let’s just say we went two days of driving without hitting much in the way of civilization. “What? Check your iphone again. There has to be a costco somewhere around here! What do you mean no starbucks?” "Hey Meme, can your little gizmo find an In-N-Out around here for us?" I feel like if I the car broke down anywhere in between Salt Lake City and the border, we’d be pretty much end up dead in a ditch before sundown. “If the buzzards don’t getcha, the lack of water will!” ;-) Anyway. Where there are moderately populated towns in Utah, they are so strewn with mormon churches... or temples... or stakes... whatever they call them, that you can practically feel the spiritual oppression. Did I say practically? Strike that. You can definitely feel it.
That being said-- The national parks in Utah are absolutely stunning. We started with Arches. The landscape sneaks up on you, and all of a sudden I looked up from my Instagram to discover incredible sandstone formations. So, I took pictures. Then some more. Then drank a capri sun and ate some beef jerky. Then took more pictures. That’s pretty much what a great roadtrip consists of...
After stopping multiple scenic viewpoints, we came to what I was looking forward to most-- the part where we start the hike to the Delicate Arch.
Here’s the thing. You know I am not going to be a fan of hiking in hot weather. And you can just imagine how into that my parents are... But we did it anyway, because it was the best option to have a good view. Also, getting up close to it was one of my bucket list of “photos to take before I die.” (Nope, didn’t have that list til three seconds ago... but it was on my “really really want to shoot!” list for sure!)
The hike was murder. But weirdly enough, I loved it. Even though I was carrying my camera backpack. And the tripod. It ended up being unbelievably heavy. I’m out of shape for hiking anyway, but to do it in hot weather with a backpack... part of it climbing up over sheer sandstone... let’s just say I’m QUITE proud of the folks and myself. Coming around the corner to see it was worth every bit. Absolutely amazing-- and fun to take pictures of. My parents feel that I was reckless and risking my life to get pictures from where I did, but I’m certain that’s a very slight overreaction.. ;-) Quote of that day-- “I just don’t like places where if you slip, you’re dead.” Okay, I get that.
We did cruise through Canyonlands that same day- clearly we are not the sort who spend days and weeks in each park, hiking and camping and discovering every cave. Canyonlands was beautiful as well, and a lovely precursor to the Grand Canyon. Fun to get some nice sunset shots there. Red, pink, and purple highlights paint the canyons, and cause them to glow. Very little or no post processing will be needed for those shots!
Highlight of Saturday-- Picking up Clark from the airport. We got caught in traffic going through Sedona (Also beautiful scenery-- it was like arches national park met the trees and landscape of the northwest.), so he had to hang out for a while...
From there to the house in Tucson. Amazing place! There was a pool.... and it was situated in a neighborhood, but sort of at the top of the hill, so we didn’t have to worry about neighbors at all. Wonderful. I brought a stack of books to read, as well as my kindle, but only made it entirely through two books- One of the Sackett books by Louis L’Amour, and, more importantly, Selina, Countess of Huntingdon.
---->>> Pause for book recommendation <<<---- br="">If you haven’t read it, do go buy a copy. Published by Banner Of Truth, and written by the excellent biographer Faith Cook, it is a beautiful way to become acquainted with the extraordinary woman who was a driving force behind the spiritual revival in England in the 1700’s. She touched thousands of lives with the gospel. She was hugely instrumental financially, in building chapels and churches throughout England, as well as great spiritual support and encouragement for the Wesley brothers and George Whitefield, not to mention Doddridge, Venn, Grimshaw, and countless others.  Obviously there were conflicts involved with the Wesley-Whitefield thing, on a couple occasions, and it is a good sketch of those events (1770 Minutes Controversy, to name one) as well. I need to read more books now, to learn more in detail about all the people mentioned on the fringes. She is an aid to conviction to serve Christ in all things, to bear all things, and to never cease in the work of the Lord.
Alright, done gushing about Selina now. Go buy the book.
---->>>Back to the trip<<<---- br="">Sunday was great. We went to Phoenix Reformed Baptist, heard of it because of James White. I never like missing our church, but this was an excellent church. Reformed baptist churches are pretty much the same the world over-- an encouraging fact! If you don’t know who James White is, this is the part where you leave my blog and follow this LINK After you’ve spent several hours over there, you can come back. Clark listens to a ton of his stuff, and I catch a couple podcasts a month. Here is my “I’m a terrible Aunt” confession. Gabriel knows of James White because Rachel listens to him. When he found out we were going to the same church he is an elder at, the little guy got super excited and asked for me to “Say HI to Dr. White for me!!” However, I was looking at Dr. White’s face after the service, and thinking “This man has just preached a sermon, and that means he is exhausted. This would be a terrible time to go say hello.”  (Also, the idea of speaking to someone who is at that intellectual level is slightly terrifying. My brain doesn’t work.. quite... that... well.) So basically, I didn’t, and broke my nephew’s five year old heart. That makes twice in one week... he was already traumatized because he noticed grandpa’s rabbit had disappeared. :( Yes, I do feel terrible. Hopefully it doesn’t come up when I go see them tomorrow! If it does, I will quickly divert to souvenirs... “Hey buddy, I brought you a pop gun!” ;)
On Sunday afternoon, we reconnected with old family friends who moved away years ago. That was a blast!! It’s fun to see people you know and meet new people on vacation- also rare for us, since we tend to be perhaps a tiny bit anti social while in “vacation mode.”
Grand Canyon was breathtaking. Zion National Park was beautiful-- also, nice, because I hadn’t seen a million pictures of it before. It was all new to me, and there was a certain charm in that. Arches and the Grand Canyon looked... well, just like they had in pictures.  
Middle of the night one night, and papa knocks on my door. “Come here, I need your opinion on something.” So, I wander out and see what is going on. He had been studying outside, in the cool of the evening, and noticed a man just down the hill with a flashlight, doing who knows what. We were trying to figure out what he was working on, whether or not he was homeless, and whether or not he was a crook. So, I flipped all the lights off, and grabbed my camera and zoom lens. Just envision the movie Rear Window. I look through, then whisper to papa, “He is burying something... he has a trowel!” After that we woke up mom, to get her opinion. Do we call the cops? Or assume it’s a neighbor doing yard work in the middle of the night... A little creepy!
That’s what we do on vacation, folks.

p.s. In case you were wondering, no, I didn’t get bit by a rattler snake while getting a picture. I really thought that would happen. Nor did I see a black widow-- but I did see a GIGANTIC spider hanging out outside. Horrifying. Also, a bobcat wandered by the house, right by the front entryway. Cool!
Sidenote-- the area approaching Flagstaff, Arizona, was amazing. I mean, so amazing that it was one of the few places I think I would enjoy living. Obviously it would require further research, but at first glance it reminded me of central oregon + western washington. It was also twenty degrees cooler. :)
Also, we went to Kanab, Utah, where a bunch of westerns were filmed. Hurrah for John Wayne.
I have sleep to get, nieces and nephews to see tomorrow, and plenty of organizing to do before I go back to work. Therefore, have a lovely evening!

16 comments:

Rev said...

Wait, so you didn't say a word to my dad?

No wonder he's been so bummed out recently.....;)

Emilie Edwards said...

Ha!
Actually, I said, "I'm Emilie." I think that was the extent of my contribution to the conversation. It came right after my family had introduced themselves.
I guess I could've gone with, "Hello, you have no clue who I am, but my nephew thinks you're AMAZING and I know all these random facts about you because of listening to a few podcasts and attending a debate... Creeped out yet?" :p
I have a knack for creating social awkwardness. ;-)

Rev said...

Thank you for that very precise timeline of how the introductions went :D And I would be crazy interested to find out which "random" facts you would tell my dad you know about him. Like, I'm on the edge of my seat here....

And social awkwardness? Is there any other kind of social-ness? That's the only one I'm at least familiar with...

Which debate did you attend? I reeeeeally wanted to go the Montana debate last month, but it was right in the middle of the week, couldnt really get off work :(

Emilie Edwards said...

Hey now, that was just giving some context! :p
Eh, just the same stuff anyone who listens to him hears. It just has to be weird to have people think they "know" you through a radio/podcast/debate ministry.
Let's see, it was him vs. John Dominic Crossan in 2005-- up in our neck of the woods. It's a little vague in my memory, but there was stuff beforehand at a local church (one that I occasionally go to the evening service for, Emmanuel Reformed Baptist in SeaTac), with Steve Camp doing some random music stuff.

Rev said...

I was at that debate too! It was a great one :) And I do remember the Emmanuel RBC, dont remember Steve Camp being up there though, But I'm getting old and my memory is slipping :/
(Which reminds me, its time for my Ginko Biloba pills....)

Emilie Edwards said...

Yeah, I noticed when I met you how old and decrepit you were.... ;). K actually in real life when I read that I may have rolled my eyes a little bit. :) is it weird that I've heard of the ginkgo biloba stuff?? Haha
Yeah, it's a really good church. Right now I am going to a sort of study with a group from there.

Rev said...

It was the hair, or lack thereof (therein? thereon?) that gave me away wasn't it? ;)
And no, it's not weird at all to have heard of it!

Emilie Edwards said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Emilie Edwards said...

Haha no no. I will admit to thinking you were a James white wannabe though... ;) not a terrible thing, don't worry... :p

Rev said...

People can't tell who's driving the car if we roll into the church together....:/

Emilie Edwards said...

Well that's weird. You guys don't look that much alike!!

Emilie Edwards said...

Also, where did you come up with "rev" as a screenname?

Rev said...

Hahahaha.....weird story? I had no idea it was my screen name for whatever website this is through (Google?) I obviously don't blog much, but I use gmail for my email so I guess it somehow made the connection. Either that or it's Obama and his spy network....

Honestly when I saw my first comment I winced when I saw I was still "Rev". Ugh.

First off, no it is not short for "reverend".

Ok, so, back in the days when I had hair, I was a bit of a forum junkie. And because I was still in high school (read: wanted to look cool all the time), I had to have a cool screen name, right? So I did what every teenage boy does when they make a screen name: Make it the name of their favorite song, but spell it wrong (because that = cool).
What's my favorite song, you ask? "Revolution" by P.O.D, How did I spell it?

-Revolushun-

Done laughing? Ok, we'll continue.

I became a forum warrior, a keyboard gladiator, an internet tough-guy. I was involved in a lot of apologetics discussions with teens and young adults on a particular board. The content was par for the course - relativism, liberal christianity, inclusivism, homosexuality, whatever that Rastafarian faith is called (I almost wanna say "reggae" but that's the music those people listen to...haha) Drug use, etc, etc.
Anyways, I made a lot of posts. So many that people tired of spelling my name wrong (or never tried), and the easiest shortform of my name was "Rev".

And Rev just stuck. It became a nickname I adopted for pretty much everything. Its an easy name to remember, after all, so when my ginko biloba runs out I can still log into my bank account ;) But whenever I have to create a screen name for a particular website, Rev became my go-to, and I haven't changed it.

I should note that that song is no longer my favorite song (it's number 2!) And from now on my screen names will be something "Hier" or "Hiyarr". And I'll leave you to figure out what that means....

Rev said...

Um...sorry for the blog post? :/

Emilie Edwards said...

First off, I vote for the "Obama and his spy network" option. That sounds very legitimate... (Cue sneaky "big brother is watching" music.)
I didn't figure it was short for reverend. Just didn't sound right.
I will admit that I did laugh out loud when I read the Revolushun thing. At the time I happened to be waiting by the gas pump for the tank to fill up, so I think the guy who was on the other side thinks I am a lunatic... so thanks for that! ;)
How did you survive the forum junkie stage?? My heart rate goes through the roof when I read that stuff! so many morons!
Also, when I got involved in "facebook debates" (in my pre-anti-facebook stage), I would post something nice and clear, in a calm tone of typing... then promptly storm out to my papa's office and explain exactly why this person was WRONG!
Keyboard gladiator... nice term.. ha.

Okay, confession-- I am not as into music as I get the impression you are.... So, this is when I admit that I had to go search for that song to hear what it sounded like. HOWEVER I did know that P.O.D. stood for payable on death. (I am kinda proud of me at this point.)
soooo the only thing I can come up with for "hier" is a song by Imagine Dragons, which I seriously doubt is correct!
By the way, you should have a blog. That was a fantastically written comment!

Rev said...

90% of people who know about "Rev" assume it means reverend, so maybe I'm a little sensitive to it ;) The other 10% ask if it's after the drummer from another band, "Avenged Sevenfold" (Don't look them up...just....don't worry about it. Trust me)

I survived the forum junkie stage because the website shut down. LOL. I moved over to another one with a few friends from the previous, but it just wasn't the same. So, I survived it by God's providence. This may have also been prior to facebook discussion threads, during myspace's heyday, so I am right with you with facebook debates! They move so blindingly fast and a believer is almost always finding his or herself 3-on-1 it's difficult to keep track of it all. Best to avoid them altogether.

When you stormed out of Mr. Edwards' office, who would you be explaining your points to?? ;) lol.

Keyboard gladiators.....the internet is filled with them. Hah.

And music. Ya, I'm really into it. Rock music mostly, but I grew up on country and a little bit of 90's christian music that wasn't nearly as fluffy as the modern stuff. And yes, I'm proud for you too!

New favorite song:

"Higher", you were close ;)
(I tried to link it, the site's being picky :/ But you can youtube "POD Higher", maybe turn the volume down too)

Best, most encouraging chorus in a song I've ever heard:

"Higher, a place I've only imagined
Higher, farther than I've ever gone
Higher, it'll all make sense when I get there, all the things I know and the things I don't

Now I need to read your latest post....