Gorge as in Gorgeous

I dislike my bed. It is a bed I stole from my old room at my parents' house and now I have to share it with a big bozo who thinks he is superman.

Michael sleeps like this, except his opposite arm is raised under his pillow in victory. Because that upper arm is completely straight, his extended leg hangs off the end of the bed. That's right, he wants his foot to hang off the bed. Wha?

It really is exactly like this flying superman picture. Michael: Super Sleeper. A man with the power of sleep and the will to repeatedly knee his enemy, I mean spouse, repeatedly throughout the night as he wriggles the fitted sheet off and shimmies to the end of the bed. 

Anyway, I prefer sleeping on the ground in a contained sleeping bag where no one can knee me. So, we went camping. 

I bet you didn't think that this post was about camping, did you? Sarah-face.blogspot.com--always a roller coaster. 

Have you been to Flaming Gorge? It was beautiful and completely dog-friendly, which made the Moose very happy.

It was rainy, but that made the color of the water even prettier. Love that deep blue.

 Pst, Moose. Over here!

Our campground was my favorite part. We were near a river and surrounded by red cliffs. 

Notice the deluxe camp chairs we brought? Metal folding chairs. That is the definition of car camping. I've never seen anyone backpacking with a metal folding chair strapped to her back. 

I did some yoga in the morning. Needless to say, my tree pose was inspired. 

On our last day we hiked around Spirit Lake.

 Nice one, Moose. 

It is fun to get away, just the three of us sometimes. Although, it always fosters excessive amounts of family photo shoots using the self timer. Whenever we use the self timer, we also get pictures like the one below, which documents Michael waiting impatiently while I try to set the 10 second timer and then jump down from the tree stump and over the boulder to make it in time. Are you more impressed with the above photo now?

Flaming Gorge was worth the four hour drive from Salt Lake. That campsite was a happy place. 

Welcome to Miami

Here comes an update about something that happened a few months ago. I am not a live tweeter—I am a post (post) facto blogger.

After our whirlwind trip to Universal Studios to visit Harry and the gang, we visited Peter and Steph in Miami. I now understand why Will Smith was so interested in this city. 

What a beautiful place. Ten points, five starts, two thumbs up. I will say, I do not feel inclined to drive around Miami –who wants to get in a fender-bender with a Bentley after all? I also am not sure I have get away with wearing a sun hat. At least I am naturally tan.

See? Naturally tan.

The food was delicious and the beachy atmosphere makes me what to drink slushy drinks and stop wearing pants.

We visited the Wynwood Walls, a set of murals made of cheap, acryllic paints or spray paint. These works seem to be made special and also neutered by their location in a fenced-in gallery space. They have a graffiti kind of feel to them, but are also obviously controlled and commissioned. 

Every year that I teach online my students debate the dreaded question, “Is graffiti art?” I do not ask this question, but it always seems to come up in conversation. My most frequent response to this question is something like:

I don’t think graffiti is art, because drawing on a train is not the same as painting the Sistine Chapel.

That student is stating a fact—they are not the same—but she/he is certainly not answering the whole question. 


As a side rant, I should probably give you the real student’s response instead of my edited version above. Here it is:

Honestly, I don’t think graffiti is art because drawing on a train is not the same as painting the Sistine Chapel. But thats just my personal opinion!

Thank you, student for expressing your opinions that are personal and for telling the truth—I hate when you’re not honest. At this point, I find the whole graffiti conversation boring (I also want to ban the word “honestly” from the vocabulary of 19-year-olds everywhere); however, when I was walking through these commissioned murals in Miami, I couldn’t help thinking about my students’ discussion. I think I hit upon an important question: How does money play into the status of graffiti as an art form?

I’ll see what they come up with. Like most teachers who pose questions, I hope they will talk about the fines associated with vandalism and the concept of commissioned art work, which always begs the question: If I asked you to do something and paid you to do it, is it my piece of art or yours? I also hope my students will be honest.

Thank you, Miami, for spicing up my online discussions.

I had never been swimming in the ocean in water that was so warm and clear. I’m telling you, pants are for losers. 

While we walked down to the beach, we saw the filming of Ride Along 2 starring Kevin Hart and Ice Cube. Ice Cube invited me to a club, but I didn’t want to ditch my less cool friends. You see, he only wanted me to come based on my insightful blog, which he reads regularly.

Our last night we went on a speed boat ride that sent us around the crazy expensive ocean-side properties. 

 Action shots!

$$$ This one had its own island. $$$

The sunset was free though.

Overall, we had a lovely trip with Peter and Steph. I like seeing my friends frequently, but part of me would prefer if they all moved around the world, so I could  have more excuses to go visit amazing places.

PS - Steph started an online store which is kind of awesome. I have just purchased my first Wrinkled Dreams item of clothing, which means I will soon get clothes in the mail. Honestly, I really like getting clothes in the mail. But that is just my personal opinion!

Florida Adventure: Crazy Luck at Universal Studios

One of the great things about having cool friends is that they move to cool places to do cool things. We were lucky enough to convince Peter and Steph to be our friends and agree to host us in Florida. Thanks, in large part, to Jackson--Peter loves Jackson.

Last month they drove up from Miami to meet us in Orlando. I traveled by broom, while Michael and Jackson used Floo Powder. Nah, we actually took a bumpy plane that got stuck in Phoenix in the middle of the night. But, waking up in Orlando was pretty fun.

See? Exciting.

Universal Studios was impressive. I liked the Hulk Coaster, the Jurassic Park rapids ride, and the NBA City Restaurant.

Hulk Coaster.

Notice the over cast skies - that was Crazy Lucky Thing #1. Go team - no boiling sun for us.

We were visiting on the 4th of July. A holiday. One should not visit a theme park on a holiday. 4th of July is one of the busiest days for Disneyland. For some reason, Universal Studios has a slow day. One theory is the Diagon Alley opening was slated for just 5 days later. Maybe people adjusted their schedules for that? I also think 4th of July is one of those days where people have things to do. Deviled Eggs and such? So, no lines -- that was Crazy Lucky Thing #2.

We knew we were missing the Diagon Alley opening, but we were excited to visit the Hogsmede section and the other sections of the park. Oh wait, they opened Diagon Alley early. With low attendance, it was a good day to test the operations in a soft opening. The Gringotts ride was not open, but that was all that we missed. Early Harry Potter time -- that was Crazy Lucky Thing #3. That may be more of a catching the golden snitch in your mouth kind of lucky thing. 

We visited Hogsmede first. 

It's too bad that it doesn't really snow. It was a pretty magical place.

I ended up with a Chocolate Frog, a jar of lemon candy, a chocolate wand, Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans, some pumpkin juice, and a box of fudge. A really large box of fudge. The fudge wasn't very good, but we bought multiple pounds of fudge.I still have the fudge. 

Jackson got a Helga Hufflepuff card in his Chocolate Frog--figures. 

Such a Hufflepuff. 

That was my favorite store. Yumm. 

The Hogwarts castle was pretty impressive. 

I could climb it. Pas de question.

Rowena Ravenclaw was a little spooky, she kept yelling at us while we were in line. I loved the castle ride. I do feel sorry for the people who got on the ride with Jackson and I, though. We were in a group of four. I was screaming "Expecto Patronum" at all the dementors. Those Muggles would have surely been kissed if it weren't for me. Jackson, meanwhile, was genuinely screaming at the giant spiders and we were both seriously moved when Harry talked about the power of friendship at the end.

Three Broomsticks. Delicious and surprisingly inexpensive.

Diagon Alley was pretty great. After walking by Grimald Place, you walk in through a non-descript entrance that seems like a secret entrance. All you need is Hagrid with his umbrella. You turn the corner and.....

Wow. 

Firebolt!

It was very fun to see the new section. It's about twice as large as Hogsmede with lots of shops. Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes is an explosion of color. The pigmy puffs were a bit out of my price range, but I was tempted by the Skiving Snackboxes. They control how many people can go in the store, so it never gets too crowded -- just the right amount of Weasley-style claustrophobia. 

At Ollivanders, Jackson's birthday present chose him. I like buying presents for people, but that was perhaps the most fun I've ever had purchasing a present. Remember the wand learns from the wizard and the wizard learns from the wand. Are you sick of  my Potterlove yet?

We took the Hogwart's express both directions, which is worth doing, since it is different. The train compartments are charming and a little scary when --spoiler alert -- dementors come on board.

Going through into platform 9 3/4.

Cheers to Harry and Universal Studios. PS- 5 days later there was a 6 hour wait to get into the Diagon Alley section and hour to two hour waits to get into each store. Are you kidding me. CRAZY LUCKY.

Photo credit: Stephanie

Heading to Miami next!

Father's Day Fun

It is very easy to brag about my Dad. He's the best. As a unit, my sister and dad and I are very good at father's day. We always go on a grand adventure. My mom used to claim that it was a second Mother's day as well, since we would all leave the house. Last year was pretty epic with the bobsled adventure. This year, we went to the newly-opened aquarium. First, I drove around town stopping at random locations to through my dad off. Okay...I was lost, but we made it there eventually and my dad was thoroughly thrown off.

I'll call him Bubbah.

   

Poison tree frog. 

Penguin antics. 

"I will call him my squishy."

 Otters were pretty cute. 

 

Shark tunnel. 

The must have known we were coming and bringing our very own Super Dad!

When we were leaving the aquarium something amazing happened. 

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BRACE YOURSELF

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Laura and I recreated my very favorite family photo. I let her drive this time. 

We drove that whale all the way out of Sea World (in front of a cheering crowd) and have spent the last 13 years searching for his family. We are please to announce that our whale friend, George, has found his family in the arctic. He brother, Kevin, is there in the background. George is so happy that Laura changed her outfit and that we lead him home. I, however, do not agree with George; I wish Laura would break out the foam visor every once in a while.