The Travel (B)log

These are some of the places I've been fortunate enough to visit over the past year.  I love to travel and see/experience different parts of the world.  I have seen a lot of BEAUTIFUL places, but I always come back realizing how fortunate I am to have been raised the way I was, with a good LDS family that fostered good values and provided a safe and comfortable upbringing.  I vividly remember returning from my mission in Russia to our house in Mesa, AZ thinking that we live like royalty.  We really DO!  I didn't understand what I did to deserve such a life.  I will forever be grateful for such a blessing.

Hawaii (oahu), April 2008 – Jordan Hatch, Cameron Bendixon, Jarom Christiansen – lives up to the hype, awesome geography, pristine mountains, everyone speaks english, expensive.  Why didn’t I go to BYU Hawaii?

Havasupai, July 2008 – a bunch o people – have to see it to believe it.  Oasis in the middle of a rock, cool water color, and watch out for locals that cut your hammock down while your sleeping.

Western Caribbean Cruise, Nov. 2008 - (Miami, FL, Rotan, Honduras, Belize, Cozumel, Great Stirrup Cay Bahamas) – Amy Nelson, Curtis Quattrin, Ricky Hacking, Richard Oto, Emily Streed – Rotan: watch out for guides trying to make a quick buck, very 3^rd world.  Beautiful landscape.  Belize: wanted to spend more time there, cave tubing was spectacular and so was the jungle.  Don’t eat the fresh fruit too fast (broke my 10 year no-throwup record). Cozumel: great island for diving, and riding around on scooters in the rain.  Great Stirrup Cay: crystal clear water…and that’s about it.

Russia (St. Petersburg, Moscow, Samara Mission), Arpil 2009 – Brigham Barr, Rich Millar, Ryan McCook.  St. Petersburg is cool, lots of preserved history, the streets are a giant modeling runway.  Moscow: big and dirty.  Red square is cool, Stalin’s tomb is creepy.  Taxi rides are expensive. Watch your back.  Samara mission: what happened to all the members??  Everyone now has cell phones.  Strange to be there not wearing a name tag.  Still love Marx.  Shashliki are still delicious.  And Russian train rides still make for interesting and entertaining stories. 

Subway, Zion UT, June 2009 – big group o people, hiking and swimming through narrow slot canyons.  Easy to get lost.  “subway” part of it is cool.

Havasupai, July 2009 – a bunch o people – flood of '08 reshaped a lot of land and waterfalls.  Sad that Navajo falls is now extinct.

Washington State, August 2009 (click here)

Puerto Rico, August 2009 – Adam Eschenroder, Lance (Ray) Nelson, Ricky Hacking – stay tuned for a post.

The 10 word book review

So, I've been into reading lately. Not hard core, but I enjoy a good book. After all, "Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." ~ Joseph Addison. Yeah, Joe said it, and I believe it.

So here is a list of books I've read this year and a 10 word summary of each:

Ender’s Game - Cool book, super nerdy, innocent kid wipes out alien race
Surviror’s Club - Fall out of plane? Can live. Amazing unbelievable survival stories
Train to Potevka - Russian trains, never know what to expect. Took me back.
City of Theives - Russians survive the unthinkable in WWII, watch the bad language.
Speaker for the Dead (Ender 2) - Cool book, super nerdy, guy tries to save alien race
The Shack - How to describe it in 10 words? Wouldn't do justice.
The Shack (I'll try again) - Very unique, only book I'd consider reading again, besides scripts.
Kite Runner (currently reading) - Good, but will there ever be restitution? Don't be racist.