Wellsville Mountains

Last Saturday I went hiking with my parents. It was fun, I felt a little like I was a young again, just me, hanging out with the 'rents.

I invited them to hike the Wellsvilles with me, it had been since I was about 14 since any of us had done that hike. Last time it was Jesse, Me, Natalie and my Mom and Dad. I remember a lot of bugs and the beautiful view from the top.

This time we went late enough in the season to miss the bugs, yay! But we also missed the wildflowers.

We drove to the Cold Water trail head in Mendon after stopping to ask directions. We couldn't remember how to get there, it had been too long. I packed my water, granola bars and some candy and started hiking! We stared out pretty solid, but slowed down once we started gaining elevation quickly. My mom decided she was done about 3/4 of the way and my Dad and I hiked on without her to the top. That last bit was seriously steep and we were kinda tired. But we made it!

It was really a beautiful hike, lots of shade and challenging but not killer. I was not being smart that morning and thought it would be a good idea to wear shorts, so I wouldn't be so hot. My shins are nice and scratched now. I love being so brilliant.

Next time I want to start at Deep Water canyon, also from Mendon, and hike up, and then along the ridge all the way over to the canyon. You have to leave a car at each end and it would be a longer hike, but you would enjoy the views for so much longer. Hiking is awesome, and it saved me from doing a long run that I was feeling super unmotivated for that day.

It is such a spectacular view from the top. Amazing. You can see for what feels like forever from there. Those mountains are the world’s steepest range (as measured by the ratio of width to height).

My Dad, view of Box Elder county- West

About half-way up, this is the Cutler marsh/wetland area in Cache Valley

At the trail head

Best Play Dough Recipe

I'm not totally sure where I originally found this recipe but it's a good one. We get out the play dough probably at least once a week around here, Naomi loves it. Today I decided it was time to make some new dough. I do buy it occasionally too but it's fun to make, Naomi helped me measure all the ingredients and stirred them together.

In medium bowl add:
2 1/2 Cups Flour
1/2 Cup Salt
1 Tbs Alum
3 Tbs Oil
Boil 2 Cups water. I do this in the microwave, about 4-5 minutes ought to get it hot enough.

Add food coloring to water. More drops = brighter/darker color. I add to the water and not the mixture as a whole because then it is more evenly distributed- and doesn't end up on my hands when I knead the dough.

Mix ALL ingredients with spoon until a dough forms, dump onto table and knead until smooth.
I've found that on rainy days I need a little more flour, if it's too sticky just add little bits of flour until it resembles a nice big wad of stale bubble gum! Sorry, that's what it reminded me of today:) We also added some silver glitter to the green dough today, it sticks to the dough really well, don't worry that you'll have glitter everywhere.

Store this in the fridge in a zippy baggie, it lasts FOREVER. The last batch I threw out finally because I was sure it had picked up all kinds of gross things over the past month, not because it was stale or whatever.
Ok, have fun making (and playing with) play dough!

What's your blog rated?

www.justsayhi.com/bb/blog_rating
I saw this on a friends blog, I guess I'm safe for the whole family!
So grab a bag of popcorn and snuggle up! I need to work on my story line and plot a little I think..... Characters are ok though:)
FYI: My rating was based on two occurrences of the word "steal."

Favorite Commercial!

Ok, I found it! I didn't think I had a favorite commercial but I was recently reminded of THIS one. It's a goody, enjoy! Let me know if you remember it.