riverECHO

My older sister, Shalyn, will be getting married this summer on August 31st to Randall Eason, a wonderful man that she has been seeing since she was a freshman at Stanford. This weekend was the first of many wedding events . . . the bridal shower. Now, not having gone to many bridal showers before, well none actually, I learned a few things at my sister’s shower.

• As a side note about a month ago my father asked me what date I would be in town for Shalyn’s Bridal BATH! Clearly most men think this event is a time of essential oils, smelly soaps, and luffas, where we all sit around the bride and bathe her. Sorry guys, not the case. No naked pillow fights either.

Picture a room full of beautiful women, all important slices of Shalyn’s life and many of whom I haven’t seen since I left Palo Alto after high school. Lots of presents. Lots of food. A few games including “how well does the bride know the groom.” Lots of laughter. Recipe sharing. And last but not least “Relationship Advice.” This was my learning experience that I wanted to share. Of course we a sexual comment or two, specifically “Lots of Sex!” But the ones that really hit home . . .

• Never forget your sense of humor.
• Never go to bed angry.
• Always kiss good night.
• Every morning, before doing anything else together, hug tightly for 15 seconds, no less.

After just three weeks at home, including two closing weekends at ski resorts, and one very eventful cardboard box derby at Grand Targhee, we got that itch again and headed south in Ron (our van) to Moab for a long weekend of biking in the desert. We camped above the Slickrock Trailhead at camp D9 where we welcomed three different groups of visitors during our stay. Clay and Steph, Shannon and Jimmy, and Gretchen and Martha all joined us for a chunk of the weekend and bike rides. Working in the public library on Friday and Monday, we had lots of time for riding. Slickrock Trail was our backyard playground; we visited the sticky slickrock three times over the weekend. Poison Spider trail was our destination on Saturday, where Clay, Steph, BJ and I encountered beautiful views, a train of brand new Landcruisers testing their skills at off-roading, lots and lots of sand, a turnaround point at an arch, and Lisa’s first over-the-bars experience. We headed to Porcupine Rim, one of our favorite trails, on Sunday with Gretchen, and then to Sovereign Trail on Monday with Shannon and Jimmy. Cool nights, warm campfires, sunny days, living out of Ron, and the ever challenging and exciting bike rides will, I’m sure, lure us back again soon.

It’s been a couple of weeks since our journey ended. Back to our normal lives, the memories are vivid as I suspect they will be for a long time. How can they not when we visited the full range of emotions we experienced. I know that…hang on a minute…

Sorry for the delay, but you’ll remember if we had the chance we had to get in before Goose’s turn, otherwise….

Where was I?

We joined at Lees Ferry for three weeks to run the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. With expectations of tense drama and high adventure, I was not disappointed.

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