live laugh love with leezanna: August 2011

Cache Valley Century

Am I crazy or what!?!?

I bought my road bike in June. I did a CENTURY (100 miles) ride in August!!!

I'm so proud of myself. It was hard, hot, and sweaty, but the feeling of actually doing it was worth a million bucks. I got invited by my friend Steph on the Wednesday before the ride, and said yes, and on Saturday morning I was on the ride!

We had an overcast morning, with great reststops and beautiful views. But, after about noon, the sun was out full blast burning down on my skin. Riding on hot, black asphalt didn't do much for the problem either. I started at 7:45am and finished at 5:00 pm. I took about 2 hours of rest throughout the day so my time was about 7 hours. I felt slow, but I couldn't have done it without being slow and steady, saving my energy for the last 5 miles of DEATH. I will probably do it again, but not for another year!

Here is the lowdown of the ride

August 27, 2011

The Cache Valley Century is a noncompetative bicycle tour of Cache Valley

in Northern Utah and Southern Idaho. It begins and ends on the south side

of the park in Richmond Utah. Richmond is 15 miles north of Logan and the

park is between 1st and 2nd west on 1st south.

Rest Stops: Century route: 5 stops with an option for lunch at 70 miles or at the finish Metric Century route: 3 rest stops with lunch at the finish 40 Mile route: 3 rest stops with lunch at the finish. All rest stops will be stocked with fruit, snacks, energy drinks and water.

Desolation Canyon River Trip

Brian, Karen, Mariah, Blair, Isaac, Mark, Chalay, Chelsie, Ross, John, Julie, Steve, Josh, CJ, Matt, Ruth, Shelby, Braxton, Nathan, Patty, Erik, Hayden, Kaleb and I took a trip through Desolation Canyon.

We were on the river for 5 days. We rowed, paddled, floated, ate sand, ate real food, drank a lot of water, did some hikes, checked out some abandoned settlements, and laughed.

Blair bought a disposable waterproof camera - hence the 90's look.

Blair, Isaac and I hanging on the paddle boat.

The paddle boat

Hiking to nowhere. It was so hot.

Probably peeing in the river.

Glamour shot on the river.

Getting back from a hike in the desert - had to cool off.

End of the trip, on our way back to civilization!

Paddle boat crew on the last leg of our journey!

The whole crew at the end (pre cleanup)!

BLT Tetons and Yellowstone Trip

So this was my final trip for my internship with the USU Outdoor Recreation Program. I think it was more successful than the first trip, and they definitely liked my food better this time ;)

So, I started out the 'trip' the night before we left by opening nearly 50 cans of beans, tomato sauce and tuna for chili and sandwiches during the trip. My hand was in so much pain, but the end result was great - they loved it!

Here is a pot full of chili - that isn't even all of it.

We drove to Teton Village the first day and took the tram to the tip-top of the mountain. It was beautiful. We then proceeded to the Gros Ventre campground in Teton NP and stayed the night.

The next day we met up with an organization called Tree Fight (http://www.treefight.org/) who are striving to save the White Pine from the beetles that have killed millions of trees across the US. We looked at some trees, took core samples and did a hike to the top of a mountain to check out the damage that the beetles had done.

That night we drove ALL the way through Yellowstone, but first made this stop at the Yellowstone river lookout. The sun was setting and the pictures and the view were incredible. We made it to our Hotel in Gardiner, MT and got to sleep in a quiet room with beds and showers.

The next day we went through Yellowstone to check out some geysers and the animals etc. I didn't take many pictures because there really wasn't much time and the students had the picture department covered! The trip was a success, but I was exhausted afterward.

I also was able to wrap up my internship and finish my portfolio and turn it in, just in time to get my A- grade posted and to finally be finished with my undergrad!!!!

Megan's Wedding

My very close friend Megan got married a few weeks ago and I won't hesitate to say it was one of the most fun weddings I've ever been to. Cheers to the Husman's!