Riding in the Rain

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I picked the wrong week to start riding my bike to work.
Actually, I didn't have a choice- my car was in the shop and it sounded better than sharing a car- with our crazy and random schedules.

It's been an incredibly wet year. Everyone's worried about the pending floods that are sure to ruin basements galore when it heats up enough to melt the snow. I rode my bike (and trax one-way) to and from work through the rain for a couple days. It was very wet. And the 100 minute ride home involved climbing a fence (with my bike) trudging through mud puddles in construction sites on busy roads, getting lost and backtracking multiple times, and a $40 bill from the car-repair guy for "having no idea what's wrong" with my car. [This is after I paid him $850 last week for a repair that I "may not have needed."]) Awesome.

Needless to say, my bottom is bruised from the darn bike seat and I'm relieved to have my car back! But I think I'll start biking once or twice a week... when the weather warms up and dries out.

And seriously, it was kinda fun. :) And I'm just really glad that I can afford a $890 bill right now.  It could be worse!

Spelunking

Last Saturday my super cool brother-in-law took us caving caving in the Spanish Moss Cave in Rock Canyon. It was a little scary but mostly really cool! I haven't rappelled down a twisty tight corridor before- I'm used to lowering off a wall or through thin air. So that added an element of fun :)

Asher and Todd getting ready to Spelunk!




After a serious hike/scramble we reached a locked hatch. (Luckily we had the key, ha ha.)
Harrison, the master spelunker setting up the first rappel:



We rappelled down this tight corridor- here's Nat:



Todd coming in after me: (Keep in mind everything is PITCH BLACK except our headlamp light.)



And then we reached this ledge lined with sandbags.



Then descended into the abyss:



It was very slippery and slimy- we got nice and dirty.

Then there's a series of awesome formations all over the walls, ceiling, and floor we navigated along to reach the bottom:





The lighting changes the look of the cave walls:



We had a lot of fun playing with flashes and lights:



And we met Michael Jackson's Ghost:



He got in a fight with Asher:



And then with Harrison:



Luckily, he didn't win. And we climbed, ascended, and hiked out alive. It was so cool! I've got to do it again some time!

More Art

I'm really enjoying this new painting-thing!  I could hardly wait to finish this one so I could start the next. 
I have to admit that I copied a painting I found on http://www.etsy.com/ to create this masterpiece.  The next thing I paint won't be a knockoff, lol!  (Starry Night, and now this.)