Alpine Road & Timpanogos Caves

I arrived in Utah Wednesday afternoon. We had a great dinner with our friends Steve and Erica van Dijk, who have adopted two beautiful kids (Kalli and Zeke -- who look like birth siblings, though they are not). Then we got to see my sister Sara and her husband Rob for a short hour, and I got to hold my 4 month old nephew "Jazz" (Jasper) for a while!

The next evening, Taylor suggested we go camping up the Provo Canyon along Alpine Road. We drove down to Cascade Springs, and hiked for 1/2 hour (we wished we had longer, but the sun was getting low).

You can see the lovely cascading springs
& the boardwalks constructed to walk over the water.

Cascade Springs has wandering pathways & peaceful landscaping.

Cascade Springs Road at Sunset

We camped at Salamander Flat, and then drove back the next morning. It was a beautiful drive (though I wished we had had more time to hike -- we left too late Thursday night & needed to be back Friday before it got too late).

Mountain view from Alpine Loop Road

As we drove home, we noticed the signs for Timpanogos Caves. If we'd been smart, we would have gotten up earlier for them. Since we didn't have the time then, we woke early today (Saturday, a day later) and got to the area by 7:30 am. We hiked the 1.5 miles to the cave entrance (1065 feet elevation gain -- we need to be preparing for Mount St Helens in August!). Glad we started early!

Outside of Timapanogos Caves

The caves were spectacular. It's been some time since I've seen stalactites and stalagmites. There were also formations that the guide called "cave bacon", and a cave with a sloped area that looked a little like a mammoth caramel fudge sundae.

One of the caves

The Heart of Timapanogos

Cave Fingers

Caramel Sundae Cave

At 48 degrees, the caves were also a welcome respite from the heat. I am not acclimated!

Taylor and I have laughed at ourselves for how much we've been goofing off of late. We've been to two movies (Transformers and Spiderman 3), hiked & camped, bought 3 board games (they were being hawked cheaply along the side of University Parkway), hung out with friends & family -- all in the few days since I've arrived. Are we trying to get in our last hurrah before the baby comes? Taylor has gotten in work, but today his plan to grade for 8 hours has been frustrated by the fact that BYU's turnitin.com is under maintenance (something he wasn't warned about). Since it's so hot, we've talked about going for a walk in a mall. A MALL! Those of you who know me know I like to shop like a cat likes to be dunked in the water. I shopped for some clothes for the first time in years a few months ago and so have no real need to shop for 3 more years or something! But a mall may be the only place to escape the 98 degree weather and still get a walk in!