Independence Day Weekend

Our Independence Day weekend started on Friday since Nate had the day off of work. Actually, we had originally planned on going camping after Nate got home from work Thursday, but since it poured rain the whole evening and into the night, we decided to not go. However, we did go on a short hike Friday morning. We followed the North Duel Creek trail up Centerville Canyon (the same one we did in May with the cub scouts for pack meeting). Without the scouts and the time constraints of pack meeting, we were able to go much further this time. The trail climbs up the north side of the canyon before descending a bit to the creek at the bottom of the canyon. It then splits allowing you to either continue up the canyon or go back down the canyon following the stream along the South Duel Creek trail. We continued up the canyon a ways before heading back along the south trail. It was a lot of fun. The trail along the creek was especially nice since it was shady and cool. Later Friday afternoon we went swimming, which felt particularly nice after our hike.

The way the light hit these stalks it looked like they were glowing.

Saturday was pretty busy. We got up at about 6:00 and hurried to the Clearfield City Freedom Run, which started at 7:00. I signed up to run the 5k. I had never run any sort of official race before, but I thought it would be fun to try it. After arriving at the city building where the race started, I picked up my number. Each number had a section at the bottom to rip off and turn in at the end of the race with the contestant's name, age, and other pertinent information on it. While pinning my number on, I noticed that they had my age as being 45. Good thing I noticed, or I would have been very surprised when they announced the race results and placed me in the 45-49 age group.

I was frustrated with the way they started the race. There were two different events, the 5k run and the 2 mile walk, but they started them at the same time and at the same place. They had everyone, both walkers and runners, line up behind the same starting line. This meant that many runners, including myself, got stuck at the end of the line behind many of the walkers. It is hard enough to make your way through slower runners at such races, but it is even more frustrating to push your way past walkers, some of them with their whole family and pushing strollers. Plus, unlike some races, they didn't have a way to keep track of when you crossed the starting line to begin the race, so those at the back of the line had to go a little further while pushing their way through people as well. My other problem was that I couldn't see the finish line as I came up to it because of the way the road curved into it. I probably would have picked up my pace sooner had I known where the finish line was. I came in at 25 minutes 12 seconds, which isn't my best time for that distance, but it is alright. I came in 47th overall, and I got second place in my age/gender division. It was fun to run, and I am glad I participated. Plus, I won one of the raffle prizes at the end: a $25 gift card to Striders (a running store).

After the run, we ate breakfast and drove up to Logan to be with Nate's sister Melissa, her husband Seth and their family. We went on a short hike to see the wind tunnels up Logan Canyon with Melissa and our two oldest nephews, Scotty and Max. The trail to the top was only 1.8 miles (the whole thing was 3.6 miles round trip), but it was a little bit of a climb to get there. I was impressed that our nephews held up so well. It was a beautiful day for the hike, especially since the cloudy skies made things cooler for us on the way up.

The wind tunnels themselves were very cool to see. They were full of holes you could see through and carved out sections of rock you could walk around in.

After our hike, we returned to Melissa and Seth's house where we prepared a potato dish to go with dinner. Then we took a nap since we were tired and still had a good bit of driving ahead of us. After dinner we took off and headed down to Murray to my grandparent's house where we enjoyed some excellent company and some fabulous fireworks from their front yard.