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Carly and I had started planning a big road trip to the Pacific Northwest this summer. Obviously, circumstances in the world, not to mention specifically in the US prevented from considering that trip to be prudent to take this year. My new job started at the beginning of July and so we opted to take shorter trip to Wyoming the last few days of June and over the 4th of July.
The weather in the Salt Lake Valley is starting it inexorable crawl up the thermometer. Saturday saw the highest average temp ([max+min]/2) in May thus far recorded. We decided to beat the heat and get a quick trip to the Unitas where the temperatures were in the mid 70’s. We left Saturday afternoon and went to the Wolf Creek side of the area to avoid what we thought might be a busy weekend. Some of the higher areas and roads are still wet, muddy, or impassable because of snow. Anything below 9000′ seemed fine though. We only camped, ran, and did some exploring.
We ventured out for the holiday weekend. Opting to stay relatively close, we went to the west desert of Utah again. Fortunately, a front was planned to pass through Utah on Friday afternoon and evening and make temperatures very pleasant in the desert for this time of year. Leaving Friday afternoon after packing up the van we got passed Nephi and started to hit some gusty winds and foreboding looking clouds. The clouds turned out to be a dust storm and not much rain. Driving wasn’t too bad though it was a bit dark and the cross gusts kept me alert at the wheel.
It has been a few weeks since the previous installment of this largely pointless exercise. We’ve been doing about the same things, for the most part, aside from the last two weekends. More baking, much more. Caly and I each have healthy sourdough starters going and as a result there’s no shortage of bread around. Various offshoots such as pancakes, pita bread, zeppoles, have been made too.
The days and weeks all sort of meld together. Our routine is pretty similar day-to-day. The only variation is food and perhaps our workout routine. Work, switch midday for who gets the nicer desk, eat, graze, etc. Saturday morning, a lap on Grandeur Peak, a 3200′ hike 3 miles from our doorstep. Miscellaneous house things. It all blends together.
One thing I have considered lately is that these restrictions on normal life seem like a burden and that they are stifling. However, I think this perspective is born from having a healthy dose of privilege to this point. I can imagine that even this restrictive circumstance we find ourselves in is enviable for less fortunate people in the world, pandemic or no. So look on the bright side, things could be much worse, and are for many people out there.