I will be attending a Ren Faire very soon and I wanted to dress up. I am growing from my experience at Evermore and decided to sew my own pants.
I’ve now got to decide if I go with the blue vest or my black cloak (I sewed the cloak 10 years or so ago for a wizard costume)
I’ll be posting pictures from my adventures so you will have to wait until then to see my decision.
Thanks for reading.
The hotel here in Austin looks good.
Waiting down in the lobby for the buses to take us to the conference site. There is going to be breakfast there, but the hotel restaurant has bacon cooking and the coffee shop has coffee brewing. I’m getting hungry.
So far so good, the buses arrived on schedule. And yes they are school buses.
All right I’m not going to bore you with the details of the meeting I’ll summarize later. But we got there at 7:45 for breakfast then went to our sessions. Lunch was nice. It was brisket and/or smoked turkey with potato salad, beans and a broccoli salad. After lunch it was back to the afternoon session for some more training. At 4pm the buses picked us up and took us back to the hotel.
After a few hours break; some of the people were going to go out and get burgers at 6:45pm for dinner, but I noticed there was a Barnes and Nobles nearby so I opted not to cuz well I wanted to go shopping and buy some new books.
So that’s what I did. I bought a couple of the new Brandon Sanderson books and a Neil Gaiman.
Then I walked back and passed by the Cheesecake Factory.
They had a drink I wanted to try the other night when we were there and I did not get a chance to eat cheesecake because I ate too much, so I ordered a whiskey ginger which wasn’t too bad but got a little too much honey taste at the end but the ginger was great and then I had a pineapple upside down cheesecake which was awesome.
I got back to my room by 8ish, and took a shower. I’m waiting for the world cup game to start soon.
Until tomorrow..
Hello again. If you are here reading, welcome.
I’m taking another trip this summer but for work this time. I’m off to Austin for 3 days of IB MYP Math. Let me translate the alphabet soup, The International Baccalaureate® (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP). What’s that you say, well by the end of these 3 days I hope I’ve got a good answer for you. My understanding at this point is it’s a method of teaching with the goal of introducing students to global perspectives, growth mindsets and real world problem solving skills while concurrently teaching your state’s or nation’s curriculum.
Time to board the plane. Next stop Austin.
Sat down for my last breakfast in Utah. I am ready to be home. I will miss the nature trails. The trees grow much taller here and provide better shade. I’m going to also miss the smell. The air each morning had a sweet fragrance to it.
My drive back to the airport was pleasant. All the slow downs were for the same reasons I see in all cities, merging traffic.
Had to stop to fill up the rental before returning it. Price at the Love’s was $3.99. The absolute last gas station, which is in the airport complex, was charging $4.14. The two places are only 3 miles apart.
Now I’m sitting in the airport waiting to check my luggage. Seems there is a rule saying you can’t check your luggage earlier than 4 hours from your flight. I’m less stressed waiting here in the airport than I would have at a coffee shop outside the airport. The only annoying thing is my cellphone reception keeps going in and out so I can stream any videos. I can’t even get the breakfast photo from earlier in the post to upload. I will continue when I can get a better connection.
Once I was able to check my bags everything went smoothly. The TSA check had over 10 agents verifying IDs and the carry on check had a good flow.
It’s close enough to lunch so off to eat, again. Seems that’s all I do on this trip. Hehe 🤣 The burger was very good, the secret could have been the bourbon caramelized onions. 🤤
I walked to my gate and only had to wait a few minutes until the current passengers boarded. Once they cleared, it was my flight up next, but in 2.5 hours.
You, guested it. Time to eat again. Magically an hour disappeared.
This meal was not picture worthy. Now for another 3 hours, and I finally get home.
Oh, I’ve got a story about home. So on Saturday afternoon my Ring system notifies me that someone is in my driveway. I go to check and see my neighbor and hear the tail end.. “no I don’t have his phone number, he has a water leak.”
I check my other cameras and notice water pooling in my backyard. So I called my neighbor down the street that mows my lawn and asked him to check it out. If it’s a big issue just shut the water off at the main and I’ll deal with it when I get home. Guess who gets to play plumber tonight? Luckily I know what the problem is and it’s an easy fix if my neighbor didn’t figure it out. I might just wait until the morning. I’ll have to see how I feel.
So ends my adventure for this round.
I’m home. Took me 5 minutes to fix my water leak. I should just dig up that whole water line. I think it used to be part of a water softening system the previous homeowner had installed. Someday.
Today was my final full day here in Utah and I took a bit longer this morning to decide what to do. With a few searches on Google, I discovered that BYU had a Paleontology Museum that show cased many of the finds that James Jensen, aka “Dinosaur Jim”. Jim was a professor of paleontology at BYU and lead many expeditions to further our understanding of prehistoric Earth. Check out this YouTube video to learn more.
The museum is small, but you can get much closer to the displays than in a regular museum. There is also a windowed section where you can watch students from BYU preparing fossils from previous digs. Here is a small sample of what your can see. Some are casts and others are actual fossils.
By this time, it was a little past 10:30 AM and I decided to channel my inner hobbit and go in search of 2nd breakfast. I ended up at a place called Guru, were I had strawberry crapes with bacon and potatoes.
After finishing 2nd breakfast, I took a short walk around the Provo City Town Hall to catch a few pokemon and to settle breakfast.
I still wanted to see more nature, but I wasn’t up to a major hike. I had tried early that morning to hike up what is called the “Y – Trail”, but I only made it up 0.3 mile before I decided it was too steep for my liking. I don’t care if a family with children had already gone past me without issues and I saw others with dogs walking back down after completing the trail. Sometimes you need to know your limits. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Back to the walk I ended up taking. Using google I found a nice trail that paralleled the Provo River as it made it’s way down to Lake Utah. It was a very wide trail, very popular with other hikers. There was a father and his 2 children, a few runners, and few bikers. I think you can see from the pictures how lovely the trail is.
A strange thing was happening along the trail. It looked like the ground was covered with snow or cotton. The truth was that one of the trees was shedding it’s seeds. I hope you can see the “flakes” in this slow motion video.
After a nice walk one gets thirsty.
I sampled 1 rum and 4 whiskeys. All of them were good, but I only risked bringing one home with me in my checked bags.
I headed back to my hotel and debated if I wanted to go for another walk or just relax. I chose to relax. The weather is wonderful but the sun is still hot and burns. Looking back I should have shortened this trip by one day.
Tomorrow I’m going to explore the Salt Lake City airport before heading back home.
After 2 days of extreme effort for me at least. I normally average 5 miles a day on my Fitbit, but two days in a row with over 12 miles per day has proven to be a bit much for my back. So, today we will be doing a bus tour of Salt Lake City.
The tour by CitySites, was led by Jim, a retired teacher from the area.
The State of Utah was founded by the Church of the Later Day Saints, needless to say much of the tour included stories of their struggles to find a place where they could practice their faith in God.
With all of the stories I’ve heard about this faith, I was surprised to learn the first woman to vote was in Utah, even though Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote. Utah was second but was the first state to actually have a vote. Seraph Young, a niece of Brigham Young, was the first woman to legally vote in the United States.
The tour took us by the stadium used in the 2002 Winter Olympics. You can see the Olympic Torch in front of the stadium. The event raised millions of dollars for Salt Lake City and Utah, because many of the vendor workers were volunteers.
The tour also stopped at The Cathedral of the Madelenie. I really do love stain glassed windows and vaulted ceilings.
We were able to get into the building where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs. We did get asked to leave shortly after because they were closing for a practice session. Enjoy some photos.
One of our stops was the Utah Captial Building. The outside is faced with granite and the inside is all marble.
Here are some pictures inside the capital building.
And after any good adventure, an appetite is worked up. So I decide to try Ruth’s Dinner. I arrived just as the lunch hour rush was ending. This dinner started out as just a dinning car and as the dinner found success it expanded. I enjoyed a limited view outside while partaking of a very delicious chicken fried chicken sandwich.
And with lunch finished I decided to call it a day. I returned to my hotel and enjoyed the Harry Potter movies and a beer or three.
Tomorrow’s adventure is yet to be decided. I will ask the hotel staff tomorrow about mountain climbs I can make in my rental car.
My name is Maethar, and I am a traveler. I have been transported to a magical realm called Evermore. Here are the tales from my journey.
My journey in Evermore started after I stumbled into the Darkenhaven after wandering for a few minutes as I tried to shake off the magic of the unexpected teleportation spell that I triggered while going through my late father’s things. Maybe it was unwise to touch the shining green vial in his old coin purse.
I was greeted by three members of the Dargon Kin. After asking where I was and trying to determine when I was; I was given the opportunity to join their faction. Seeing as I had no friends or contacts in the realm of Evermore, I eagerly took them up on their offer with a quest to prove my worth to the Dragon Kin.
This quest would have me seek out three magical words found in secret locations about the realm of Evermore. I was only given a piece of paper with a clue to each of the locations.
I will not reveal those words nor will I tell you their location. You must do as I did if you are to be found worthy of joining us in the Dragon Kin. Yes, I said us. Needless to say I completed the 3 tasks and I took my first steps into becoming one with dragons.
Now that I was a part of the family, I needed to be sorted into either a tamer or a whisperer of dragons. The fates chose a tamer for my training. This set me forth on a final quest.
10I was tasked with determining who was teaching the baby Dragons naughty words. My tamer leader had narrowed it down to two factions, was it the fairies or was it the pirates. I needed to return with proof.
I decided the easiest way to find the truth was to join both factions. As a member I hoped they would be more likely to tell me the truth.
I had encountered a group of fairies at the Celtic Ruins very near the Darkenhaven, the home of my Dragon Kin. They had been telling “Fairy Tales” with a twist on the ones I had been told as a child. I decided I would start with the fairy faction. Before asking about how to join the fairies, I approached one of the fairies whom I assumed was the youngest, but with fairies it can be hard to tell.
She was more interested in introducing me to her pet fish; however, she did let it slip that she had been teaching naughty words to her fish. This was a good clue, but I need hard proof. I inquired about joining the fairies.
I was sent to the enchanted garden on the other side of Evermore where trees shimmered in vivid colors and statues talked of times gone by. It was there that I met two fairies. When I asked them how one went about joining the fairy faction, they told me I would need to prove my “fairyness” by completing three tasks.
I needed to spread joy, beauty and laughter to the realm of Evermore. I will say no more of the tasks. While I was using subterfuge to join the fairies, I do not feel that I should betray them. Needless to say, each of these tasks did not prove to be difficult although my choice in who to bring laughter may have been unwise seeing as I chose to make a lich laugh. I will say no more, other than I am lucky to still be alive.
With all three tasks complete, I returned to the fairies in the enchanted garden and was welcomed in with joyous chanting.
It was shortly after; I asked the fairies just some general questions of how they treat other animals. Things like what words they might use in the presence of animals, and I was told that naughty words were sometimes taught to baby dragons. I can tell you, after learning this I felt let down. I had assumed it would have been the pirates with their reputation of doing evil things. In the fairy’s defense, the one with the cute nose, told me she sometimes taught the baby dragons bad words in, fairy, assuming that they would never be able to understand her language.
She sadly underestimated the intelligence of baby dragons.
I now had my proof. I returned to the Dragon Kin and let my superior know the truth. She would now have to report this to the mayor of Evermore and he would have a stern word with the fairies.
What of the pirates, you say? Well, during this time I had started the quest to join the pirates. Two of the three tasks, I took on without hesitation; however, the third one proved to be something I did not feel was right. The pirates wanted me to do “field research” on what the other factions in Evermore counted as valuable. I was not to steal anything, but I needed to report to the pirate leader the location of these valuables. The pirate council would then decide at a later date when to lay hold of these treasures. I do not condone stealing; thus I was not able to complete the tasks necessary to be a pirate.
As the night drew to a close, I could feel the magic of Evermore fading and drawing me back to my own world. There was still knowledge I wished to learn; however, I did not have the magical skill to remain in Evermore. The issue with the vampires would have to remain a mystery. I can only hope I brought back enough information that I could puzzle out the clues and deal with them if I ever had a chance to return to Evermore.
THE END
FOR NOW
I really tried to video the drive through the canyon, but the sun was shining right on the car windshield, and I couldn’t position the cellphone holder to eliminate that problem. I really wish I could have videoed the drive, because my focus was on keeping the car in my lane with all the twists and turns. I even missed the stop to get the waterfall, Bridal Veil Falls, that is viewable right from UT – 189. I was thinking of stopping on the return, but some emergency was happening, 3 fire trucks and 4 ambulances.
UPDATE 6-26
While watching the local morning news this morning I learned 2 teenagers fell from a hiking trail and had to be rescued. One was seriously injured. See the complete story here.
My drive through the canyon took me to Wasatch Mountain State Park. The trails I picked were not difficulty because I didn’t want to strain my back anymore. Enjoy the views, a bird, a dragon fly and flowers.
After a good hike, you are hungry. I headed into Midway, UT which was 2 miles from the state park. I picked a restaurant via my GPS in the rental car; however, when I reached my destination, the place was not in business anymore. I did pass a place, called Lola’s Street Kitchen. There was a line which means the place is good or they are slow. I took the chance, found a place to park and joined the line. I decided to go with the daily special, a Baja tuna melt.
After lunch, I walked down the street to a year round Christmas store, Kringles.
I just can’t pass up one of those shops. I bought and ornament and two pair of Christmas socks.
While returning to my vehicle, the clock above the town hall began to play a song.
I then drove back to the hotel. Upon arrival I realized that I am slightly sunburned. I really should have put on the long sleeve shirt. I will for tomorrow.
I’m now resting for my return to Evermore this evening. I’m going with a plan. Watch the shows and pick one quest line to work towards. I’m trying to decide if I help the lich I met last night, search for more information about the vampires or look for the fairies.
It’s June 23, 2023 and I’m starting my first full day of adventuring in Utah. Like any start to a day, your first quest is for breakfast. Luckly the hotel has breakfast included with your stay and it isn’t a continental breakfast of cereal, toast or muffins. The Hyatt House had scrambled eggs, bacon, fried potatoes and French toast along with cereal, toast, muffins… Sadly their coffee was terrible. This led me to try out Dutch Bros coffee. They are a competitor of Starbucks so I went with a caramel mocha. Man, it was hot. I left it in the car as I preped for my drive to Red Butte Gardens and the Natural History Museum.
I tried to capture the drive to Salt Lake City, but my phone was bouncing a lot in the holder I use to attach it to the windshield so I’m not going to share the video. I thought my truck road rough on the highway, but this Nissan transfers every bump and crack. My mustang was only slightly better. I think its just the nature of the beast.
This is one of the coolest botanical gardens I’ve ever seen. There are two parts to it, the portion that is man made and the other portion is just managed natural trails that allow you to go up the face of the hill above the garden.
Here is a quick preview of the garden.
Here are some views along the more natural trails. Can you find the squirrel?
So, I went to just see the dinosaurs, but there is more to the history museum. You learn about geology, types of rocks and the first people to inhabit the Americas.
A couple things you need to know about Evermore if you choose to visit. It is very family friendly. There is a portion of the park that is undead themed so if you scare easily, just stay away from that section. Now for my tips…
First, it is cool. Second, you need to have a plan because there are shows to see, vendors to shop at and then the quests. Third, when you enter make sure you go to the left and find the bulletin board with the map and the person that will introduce you to the system of the park. Fourth, plan on a double visit. There are multiple quests and layers of quests. It would be very difficult to do everything in the 5 hours the park is open. Final tip before I share some pictures, Ride the train after checking out the bulletin board, it will give you a nice overview of the park. Oh, bring a notebook, you can stumble upon elements of quests just walking around. With that said here are some pictures to tease you.
Ok, I should have been asleep 2 hours ago. I’m not sure what the plan is tomorrow. I over did it today, walking a total of about 10 miles. Guess you will have to just check back. 😉
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