Utah

Everybody knows
It hurts to grow up
And everybody does
It's so weird to be back here
Let me tell you what
The years go on and
We're still fighting it, we're still fighting it
And you're so much like me

I'm sorry
Ben Folds

Well I am back in Utah. I am well aware I owe you guys a Super Bowl Party recap and and a Vegas recap but it is the night after my first hike, and first full day of classes and quite frankly I am exhausted. Mondays are very different than they used to be that's for sure. There are 7 different hikes and all new hikers arriving go on an assessment hike. Following the hike you are assigned a van for the week and assigned hikes for each day. The first day stop sign hike is a thing of the past. I will give a full assessment of the hike program in its current incarnation in a few weeks.

I did a hike today known as Chuckwalla. It is long and fairly flat although it starts downhill and finishes uphill. Like virtually any hike I would have done today it kicked my ass. I was carrying some leftover Vegas/airline sickness that made breathing a chore. I have to believe my assessment went something like this: Slow like a turtle, wheezy like a punctured set of bagpipes, and sweaty like....well me. I will be hiking this week with one of the slower groups :)

The weather here was simply amazing today, close to 70 degrees and sunny as could be. That's the good news, the bad news is it's going to get colder and wetter come this weekend with lows in the 20's and possible snow. That will not make slow, wheezy, and sweaty very happy. But the sun, the pool, the knee feeling good, the food and seeing everyone here did. We had sausage and egg sandwiches for breakfast, Turkey sandwiches for lunch, and grilled chicken breast with polenta and asparagus for dinner. And with today being Valentine's Day chocolate covered strawberries. All in all a pretty damn good first day back...27 more to go :) Peace and Hearts, Jim