UTAH 24/7

So this post is about the State of Utah and some of the great places that you can go to when you visit the Southern end of the state. Rainbow Bridge is located in Arches National Park. It, along with Bryce Canyon and Moab are all 3 places in Southern Utah that you can find things to do 24/7. Moab is one of my favorite locations in the state and I along with my husband, spent LOTS of time at Slick Rock, known primarily for it's UHMAZING mountain biking trails. The dirt samples all look the same, but I assure you they are all very different. A coworker named Wade Bridges gave me the dirt from Rainbow Bridge some time ago. Jerry, my husband, collected the Moab sample while on a mountain biking excursion with the young men in the ward, and the Bryce Canyon dirt was given to me from a guest at the hotel this past year. The publication, UTAH 24/7 is one of a series of books published by Rick Smolan and David Elliot Cohen. They are the authors of The New York Times bestsellers America 24/7 and A Day in the Life of America. The book truly shows Utah telling it's own story in pictures. The thing I love most about Utah is the fact that it has 4 distinct seasons. Southern Utah has ever changing beauty during all 4 of them. For more info on tourism in Utah, www.discovermoab.com as well as www.utah.com and my personal favorite, www.utahvalley.org will all get you started. Be sure to book your rooms in Orem, www.oremhamptoninn.com , drop off some dirt and say hello!

There's No Place Like Home

From coast to coast and sea to shining sea, MY travels have taken me to quite a few places over the last 47 years or so. But one thing is for sure. No matter where my travels take me, it is always nice to go back to the place where the mountains are ominous, the skies are clear and beautiful and the dirt is...well...dirty.

Utah.

Orem is home to so many things....

Orem Owlz Baseball: http://www.owlzbaseball.com/

University Mall : http://www.shopuniversitymall.com/

where this sample was collected

Utah Valley University: http://www.uvu.edu/

Orem Hampton Inn & Suites: http://www.oremhamptoninn.com/

and most importantly, the Ridley Clan: http://www.ridleyclan.blogspot.com/

There's no place like home.

Hog Wild about dirt!

My birthday was this past Monday and tradition has it at the Hampton Inn that our boss takes all of the managers out to lunch for their special day. Our new DOS also has a birthday this week so together we chose where to celebrate. The Timpanogos Harley Davidson Shop located in Lindon Utah has a restaurant inside called Marleys. They serve killer sliders there and the french fries are off the charts good! But, to keep from sounding more like a restaurant review than a report on my dirt, I'll just let you go to the web site and discover for yourself how unique and really COOL this place is. Lance was our tour guide for this adventure and told us the history behind the building. For starters, it was the exact location of the Frontier Cafe, a truck stop that over 18 years ago my husband and I used to clean ceilings once a year. After it burnt down some time ago, the property just sat vacant. Small worlds collide again and now it is the Timp Harley store. Lance also told us that people drive from over 300 miles away just to see this store. And now, I have dirt to add to my collection! It rained the morning we went so it took me some time to dry the dirt out before I could store it in the jar. I encourage everyone to hit the web sites, or go in person to see for yourself how amazing this place is. The food is great, the bikes are "bitchin'" and the staff are both. I asked Lance before we left if the store was the largest Harley Dealership in the U.S. He said no, and I quote, "we never wanted to be the biggest, just the coolest." Well, I for one certainly went HOG WILD!

Meagen's Sandbox

Meagen loved to play in the sandbox in the backyard of our house. These pictures were taken in 1986. In looking at the photos, one would think she was camera shy. My oh my what a difference a few years makes. I love the upclose picture of the sand. When I was web surfing this past week and looking at the international sand collectors website, I saw sand that was star shaped, flower shaped, round, oblong, and many other shapes. There was white sand, green sand, blue sand and even yellow sand. The sand in this photo seems a bit blah compared to those, but, it does have a great deal of sentimental value.

Well, actually, the sand is way cool, but I kinda think that little girl is the best part of the pic!

My stompn' GROUNDS

Born in Los Angeles and growing up in Saugus until I was 11 I have just a few samples from the place I grew up as a child. Loomis truly was my stomping grounds and my H O M E until August of 2003 when I moved to Utah to attend BYU. I met my husband Jerry while working in Provo and together we started our family there. The town that we wanted to live in was an easy decision, however, our choice on an exact house was not! So, in the first 6 years of our marraige, we moved 13 times! The careers that we both had lead us to Juneau Alaska to work in Grandma's Farmhouse Restaurant. Way too cold! The dirt from Juneau is so beautiful and was collected in front of the Mendenhall Glacier. After 6 months, we moved back to Utah and lived in Pleasant Grove. Yes, the same small town that Todd from the show Survivor is from. We then had another opportunity to move to Idaho Falls Idaho where I managed Roberts, a retail craft store. But, missing the four seasons of Utah, we returned after only 4 months and finally settled permanently in Orem. We have met many people along the way and in the midst of all of our travels even managed to raise 3 outstanding daughters! Meagen, Holli, and Madison.

Los Angeles, California
Saugus, California
Loomis, California
Provo, Utah
Juneau, Alaska
Pleasant Grove, Utah
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Orem, Utah