More Adventures

It wouldn't be summer for Rebecca without tons of hiking, so here are the two latest excursions.

Silver Lake
On Pioneer Day we thought we should "walk and walk and walk" just like the pioneers did. Except we only had one camelpak rather than a whole handcart, and our destination was probably a whole lot more exciting that a desert valley. The trail-head to Silver Lake was up American Fork Canyon about half an hour past Tibble Creek Reservoir. It was about 2.2 miles one way and absolutely gorgeous. There were a couple small waterfalls on the way and the Lake was super clear. It was not strenuous at all; we saw several families with small children along the way.





(Rebecca wouldn't let me post the video unless I posted this picture too)

Mount Olympus

Last Saturday we went with Rebecca's cousins and brother to hike Mount Olympus. We started from the trail head (which is in Murray) at about 7:00 AM. This hike was pretty steep almost the whole way. More than 3/4 of the way up, you come to a gorgeous saddle point where you can finally see the other side of the mountain. From there, the rest of the hike was almost pure scrambling. The very top was just boulders. It was a really strenuous hike but the view at the top was heavenly!

I Passed

This Wednesday I defended my thesis. I was pretty nervous Tuesday night and Wednesday morning since I only had time to do one practice run with Rebecca. My adviser, Dr. Jensen, had me start by giving a brief background of my life and my future plans. I mentioned Rebecca's major being illustration and he interjected that I should say "and she is very gifted. You should see some of her work"... so I did. Then I started the power point presentation and it went smoothly. There was only one question during the presentation I think, so I guess they understood what I was presenting. After the presentation, each professor (there were three on my committee) had a few questions about the work in general. I was expecting hard questions, but they weren't. They were mainly just about my opinions about the work I had done etc. After that I was excused while they deliberated. I came back in and they told me I had done a great job and that I had passed. There are a few changes that they want me to make to my paper, but nothing major.

To celebrate, Rebecca and I went all out for dinner. We went to A&W and even got cheese curds and dessert with our hamburgers since we had coupons! Yep, we were living large! I also surprised Rebecca by taking her to the Spanish Fork Rodeo. It was fun and we happened to get seats right in front of another couple from our ward, so that was also enjoyable. The real celebration will be after graduation when we go on an Alaskan Cruise!