angels landing

dawson has a very granola side to him that not many people know about.  he has been dying for months to go hike in zion and was very distraught when we couldn't go as planned in september because of that government shut down thing.  

now national parks are up and running again, so dawson made sure he put zion on the schedule for the weekend so that i had no choice but to go along with it (but i'm a little granola too so i was pretty ok with it).

we (but really dawson) decided to do the angel's landing hike.  as you can see we were very excited at the beginning of it all.  it might not look that high from the picture, but looks can be deceiving.

the fact that the path was so narrow at the top that they had to put chains on the mountain to hold onto wasn't that comforting.  neither was the fact that the chains looked about 100 years old.

this was the last part of the hike to get to the top of the peak.  again, it doesn't really look that narrow and i wish it did so everyone could be more impressed with our daringness. 

but when you are climbing on chains with a 1000+ ft drop on either side of you, your hands are bound to get sweaty and thoughts of falling to your death are very real (at least they were for me).

it was an amazing view from the top.  i really felt like an angel because i was so close to the heavens (joking).  i'm not really afraid of heights but dawson is so i was very proud of him for being one with his fear and making it to the top without any cursing.

it was also really windy and there were 3 or 4 different groups up there that were all foreign and were speaking in their own language.  after a few minutes i felt like they were looking at us funny and i started getting anxiety.  i told dawson i thought they were talking about pushing me off the edge, so we headed back down.

dang it.  our after pictures still don't do the height any justice.  but just know that my mom, who won't go on the ferris wheel at lagoon because of her fear of heights, wouldn't have made it even halfway up.

big thanks to dawson for making us be adventurous!!!

iAugust

[it's very hard for dawson to keep his eyes open with a flash. don't judge him.]

[name that drive-thru and you win a million dollars!]

[poor dash will wait patiently outside the door for hours without budging, waiting to be let inside.]

lake tahooooeeee

ryan and nicole were nice enough to invite us on an end of summer trip to tahoe.

we knew from our china experience that the barlows were excellent travel partners

so we jumped at the chance to go, especially because we have never been to tahoe before.

it was GORGEOUS.

i have never seen bluer skies or clearer water (or colder water for that matter).

the first day we kayaked around the lake in search of the lake tahoe monster,

but unfortunately (fortunately?) it was nowhere to be found.

we did have fun looking at all the boats though and dreaming of someday having enough money to own one.

after that ryan took us on a hike that was "guaranteed amazing views of emerald bay".

we passed a frail old man and his dog on our way up and he told us he had come from the top and the view was amazing.  

we were stoked and totally ready for our potential photo op!

well an hour later we decided that man was either lying or spiderman in disguise, because there was no way that old grandpa could have made it to the top of that mountain.

we were hiking through some of the roughest terrain i have ever climbed,

literally scaling rock walls, shimmying through narrow crevices, and scraping our legs through giant bushes.

being the adventurous and athletic people that we are, we of course made it to the top,

but at the end of the day we were scratched up, dehydrated, dirty, and only had sub-par pictures to show for it all.

however the company and memories were PRICELESS.

the next day nicole's friend kayla and her hubby dallin joined us from san fran,

and nicole's dad dixon took us out on the boat for the day.

we were all instant besties and had a great time exploring the whole lake.

SOME of us even braved the cold water and cliff jumped in emerald bay!

but all of us got a little bit tanner hopefully.

 

and in case you were dying for a mini dawson/melissa photoshoot ^^^

you are welcome.

(the water in that little cove was too clear and too pretty for us not to take pictures, duh!)

on our last night we went out to eat at an old favorite- CHEVY'S!

there hasn't been a chevy's in utah for years, and we were thrilled to be able to go.

we ate so many of their homemade tortillas when we got there that i'm concerned they might have spit in our food...

but we'll never know so who cares and besides they gave us a free sombrero and dessert for nikki tay's early bday!!!

since it was our last night we wanted to play a game or something instead of going to bed,

so we decided to be 15 again and play murderer in the dark.

now that i am thinking back, that was a horrible idea.

a bunch of young couples, up in the mountains, in a huge empty cabin, late at night...

doesn't that sound like a horror movie to you?  

i'm surprised we weren't picked off one by one by a real murderer,

but somehow we all survived.

before we made the longer than anticipated drive home, 

we went on a short hike to angora lake to partake of some of their "famous lemonade".

ok, i admit it.  

even though i am usually a pure water drinker, it WAS pretty dang good.

a fabulous ending to a fabulous weekend trip.

thanks again ryan and nicole!

(we're hoping it went as well for the barlows as it did for us so we can be invited back again sometime...)

xoxo tahoe