Summer 2020: Days 67-72

I've reached the part of the summer in which sitting outside in the evening to write has lost its appeal. Part of the problem is that temperatures have shot through the top of the thermometer -- four consecutive days of highs more than 100 and lows in the 80s. And, I've just been tired ...

This stretch of summer involved four days of work and two days of staycation. Popcorn had a couple cysts removed Tuesday, and despite staples that need another week before they can be removed, she is a much happier dog. We wouldn't take her out for much activity in this heat anyway, so the timing was good.

Lori's birthday was Thursday, and we picked up Thai food and a good cake from Gourmandise for dinner. Work was relatively mellow for the week, and I was happy to turn off my Zoom and email late Friday afternoon and begin staycation, part 2.

Saturday was uneventful and a little more of a lazy day for everyone. Ben had swim practice, Michael worked, and I went to Walmart in the morning. I played a new video game (Command and Conquer) for the N64 Michael got to work and met up with my high school friends in our weekly virtual happy hour. I drank the last old Newcastle in my refrigerator -- I was saving it for after the pandemic ended, but because that's not happening anytime soon, I opened it before it went skunky.

The staycation kicked in Sunday, with Ben and I going on a long hike to the 10420 Peak above Guardsman Pass. We've done this hike before, but the trailhead parking lot has been closed, replaced by another nice spot about 1.5 miles down the road. We were lucky to find a parking spot, but the change meant an extra couple hours of hiking. Furthermore, part of the original trail from Bloods Lake was closed, so we had to finish scaling the peak from a much more difficult angle. I thought I was going to puke, but we made it to the summit and the spectacular views the hike promised as a reward.

I started to feel better after a few minutes, and we ate snacks and took some pictures. We took a different way down from the actual peak and found the original trail. There's another path we didn't take that I want to next time -- to Lake Lackawaxen, and it doesn't involve quite as much climbing. After scaling this peak three times in four years, I won't be in a hurry to see it again.

On the way back at Bloods Lake, I crossed off another item on my staycation bucket list by jumping in a lake. I didn't actually jump in -- I waded in to about mid-thigh and tried carefully to dunk myself. The bottom at the place I stepped in was full of rocks, and since I'm more of a wader than a swimmer (and I didn't want to get too deep in an unfamiliar lake), I found a space I thought was OK to go under. I was so worried about hitting my head or back on a rock, I didn't pay attention to the rock in front of my left foot that I kicked. I was bleeding a little when I got out, but the dunking felt great on a hot day (and maybe not so cold because I hurt my foot ...).

Ben and I walked back to the car, and we drove to Park City instead of back into the Salt Lake Valley. We endured a long McDonald's line for food, then drove back home. To celebrate our 23rd anniversary, Lori and I took the boys for gelato, which we needed to eat quickly in the 100-degree heat (at 7 p.m.). It was a nice way to cap the day and the weekend.