Fabulous Trip to Utah

August 23, 2009

Dear Rosalynde, Gabrielle, Naomi, Brigham, Rachel, Benjamin, and Abraham!
We are now returning from a wonderful few days in taking Christian to BYU for late summer honors and the beginning of his BYU career. You will enjoy his letter that I just received and read.

We left Wednesday afternoon about 2 pm or so. We listened to the Sirius satellite Broadway channel almost the entire way up, except near the end when I was driving at night and we listened to the classical channel. If any of you ever needs a Broadway musical question answered, please give Christian a call. Fortunately, we had an uneventful trip up. We did stop at In’n’Out in Washington, the last outpost of civilization on the way to Provo. I worked on legal projects most of the way. Unfortunately, I did not have enough sense to put away the legal work and have great conversation with Mama and Christian on the way to Provo. Do any of you think I could have given any good advice? I would like to take the drive over again so I could use the time more wisely.

We left Wednesday afternoon about 2 pm or so. We listened to the Sirius satellite Broadway channel almost the entire way up, except near the end when I was driving at night and we listened to the classical channel. If any of you ever needs a Broadway musical question answered, please give Christian a call. Fortunately, we had an uneventful trip up. We did stop at In’n’Out in Washington, the last outpost of civilization on the way to Provo. I worked on legal projects most of the way. Unfortunately, I did not have enough sense to put away the legal work and have great conversation with Mama and Christian on the way to Provo. Do any of you think I could have given any good advice? I would like to take the drive over again so I could use the time more wisely.

Thursday morning came early enough. We were over on campus before 9:00 am at Taylor Hall for Christian to check in for Late Summer Honors. He was surrounded by a lot of bright kids and their parents. We dropped Christian off at his room, and then took him to the bookstore to open his bank account and get a few essential items. We then left him on campus and we drove to Salt Lake City. I met with a client for 90 minutes while mama went to the airport to pick up Eva. On the way back, we stopped at Wal-Mart to get a few more things for Christian, and price the bicycles. Then we went to Super Target to try to find things (file hangers) we did not find at Wal-Mart. Then we stopped at Best Buy to get a printer for Christian. Then we went to a bike shop on Freedom Avenue. I was hoping they would have a 50% of sale. No luck. This year, BYU did not have a sale (like BYU did when Benjamin got his bike.) so Eva and mama went to the bookstore again while I went back to Wal-Mart and got a nice bike for Christian.

I then met mama and Eva on campus. We had a great experience – at least great for me. (Mama and Eva profess to have been a little bit bored – but that might have been coy posturing – how could anyone not have been fascinated.) We went to visit Prof. Granton Campbell, the physics professor that Benjamin assists in research. He raved about Benjamin – in his seven years at BYU, perhaps only one has been as good as Benjamin, and Benjamin was only a sophomore at BYU at the time. Prof. Campbell expects great things from Benjamin. He showed us the beautiful data that he and Benjamin gathered at Chicago. I would like a wall poster of it. He pointed out the phonon waves to us. (Despite all my physics, I was not familiar with phonon waves. This is the Wikipedia definition: In physics, a phonon is a quantized mode of vibration occurring in a rigid crystal lattice, such as the atomic lattice of a solid.[1] The study of phonons is an important part of solid state physics, because phonons play a major role in many of the physical properties of solids, including a material's thermal and electrical conductivities. In particular, the properties of long-wavelength phonons give rise to sound in solids—hence the name phonon from the Greek φωνή (phonē) = voice.[2] In insulating solids, phonons are also the primary mechanism by which heat conduction takes place. Phonons are a quantum mechanical version of a special type of vibrational motion, known as normal modes in classical mechanics, in which each part of a lattice oscillates with the same frequency. These normal modes are important because, according to a well-known result in classical mechanics, any arbitrary vibrational motion of a lattice can be considered as a superposition of normal modes with various frequencies (compare Fourier transform); in this sense, the normal modes are the elementary vibrations of the lattice. Although normal modes are wave-like phenomena in classical mechanics, they acquire certain particle-like properties when the lattice is analysed using quantum mechanics (see wave-particle duality.)) We spent at least an hour with Dr. Campbell, perhaps more. He took us down below ground in one of the best state of the art academic physics labs in the country. He showed us many other professors’ labs, the electron microscopes, laser setups, and Benjamin’s work area, including the power supply that Benjamin rescued from an old Geiger counter, which, with tools, was still scattered across Benjamin’s work bench. I would sure like to be a physics student again.

After our physics lesson, We went to hogi yogi on bulldog blvd for dinner. Since we wanted to hike Mt. Nebo the next day, and since I had forgotten to bring Eva’s shoes, we h hurried over to Big Five to get some shoes. Eva did not think it was worth the cost, but I promised not to buy books this trip so we could get her some shoes. Then we went to see Harry potter and the half-blood prince.

Friday morning, after a generous breakfast from Aunt Pat (eggs and hash browns), and staying late talking, we set of for Mt. Nebo. Unfortunately, Eva started feeling sick with the flu the previous evening at the movie. She was still sick Friday morning, so she did not go hiking with us. We were following the directions from Google – which directed us to exit 252. (There is no exit 252, but there is an exit 250.) So I got off on an exit to far, and cut through Payson, thinking it would be easy to determine the main road going up the canyon. It was not. I went too far. I stopped to ask a lady for directions, but did not trust her on it. I went the way I thought was more likely, but after a half mile, it became clear I was wrong. Of course, Mama appropriately chastised me for being so proud and arrogant. I went back and followed the directions, and they were precisely right. We drove up a very pretty canyon, past Payson Lakes, and on and on! Finally we came to Monument trailhead, and the Google directions were good her. We started hiking at 8,000-9,000 feet. It was beautiful. The air was clear. It was not hot. The trail started steep, and except for two shorter relatively flat places, the trail was relentlessly steep. Mama soon out-distanced me. She cannot hike as slowly as I hike. However, she finally waited for me in a beautiful little valley, and we hiked together through the aspens and pine trees, with beautiful little wild flowers, fragrant grass, and mountain shrubbery. We passed several cows and calves, and they just looked at us in a way suggesting annoyance that we would intrude on their serenity (generally, cows are not smart enough to have those thoughts). We saw only two people the entire way on the trail. I saw no other sign of humans, except one small piece of half-buried trash. So it was very clean. We hiked on together, climbing higher and higher and getting closer to the summit. As we approached the highest elevations, I could not go much faster. My heart would beat, I would work up a sweat, and I became a bit nauseous with associated bowel activity. (I am in shape – how does this happen? I just hiked Half Dome – 17 miles round trip, 5,000 feet elevation gain to 8,900 feet – with Rachel with no problem. Of course I did not bring my hiking pole, which would really have helped.) So Mama went on ahead a bit. I continued on at a slower pace, and ascended a very high peak, which I think is the slightly lower peak just north a few hundred yards from the highest peak. As I got to the top, I saw mama coming back from the highest peak. She had made it within 100-200 linear feet of top, but that linear last distance was extremely steep on loose shall, with a sharp drop off in either side of the trail. The trail was right along the spine of the mountain, and literally just a rounded edge from 3-6 feet wide – perhaps narrower in some places. The trail faded right at the top where Mama was, so she came back to me. However, I think we were close enough to claim victory in hiking to the top of Mt. Nebo. Does anyone want to dispute that? (One can dispute my claim, but Mama’s claim seems legit.)

We sat there a while and just gloried in the 360 degree view. We took some pictures – attached. Then we headed back. It was tough going down – although I did go down quite a bit faster than going up. Still after ¾ of a mile, I stopped to rest and retch, and then continued on. We also met the two hikers. We had a good conversation. One of the them – Dr. Parkinson – has a daughter living in the Glendale Second Ward, whom Mama knows, who had just been to girls camp in Santa Barbara. What a small world. They gave us a bottle of water. (We had brought four liters between us, but we should have brought 5.) They gave us a peach – we had graham crackers and candy – not a great choice. The peach really helped Mama but with my stomach, it did not go too well. But we continued on down – I could tell by the tone of her voice that Mama had some concern for me. But we eventually made it to the truck – and mama only arrived at the truck about 200 yards ahead of me. So I do not know if I was sick from altitude or whether I had a touch of the flu that Eva had.) I want to try Mt. Nebo again. Who wants to go with me? I’ll bring my hiking pole, more water, and some bananas and other better hiking food. We then drove south from the trailhead down into Salt Creek, and then into Nephi and back to Spanish Fork on the freeway.

Benjamin and Christian, you should go on a double or triple date this fall – when all the aspen trees are brilliant gold – by taking a picnic lunch, driving up through Payson canyon, continuing past the monument trailhead toward the Nephi side of Mt. Nebo, stop for lunch and a nice hike at Hell’s Kitchen (a mini Bryce canyon), and continue down to Nephi. It is a very romantic trip. Mama and I had a great romantic time. However, Benjamin, don’t take a girl on a hike to the top of Mt. Nebo, unless you have previously vetted her – if she is like your sisters, she will be tough enough to do it – but if not, it could be a disaster. But if you find someone up to it, you will have a wonderful and romantic time. I had a great time on a date on a hike up the Timpanookie trail to Mt. Timpanogos one year at BYU. But Mt. Nebo would be even more special, because it is the trail so seldom taken. The Mt. Nebo trail was only about 9 miles round trip, but it had a 3,000 foot or more vertical ascent at altitude – it is probably overall steeper than the Mt. Timpanogos hike. Mt. Nebo is a few hundred feet taller than Mt. Timpanogos.

Back in Spanish Fork, mama cleaned up, ate some supper, and went to spend the evening with Aunt Susan. Eva and I watched “National Treasure”, which I had not watched before. It was a fun movie to watch while I was really tired. I guessed all the plot lines, and the guy ends up with the girl in the end after surviving all the harrowing close calls and ingeniously figuring out the clues.

Saturday morning came too soon. We rushed over to meet Christian at 8:30 AM or so to help him move out and to show him his new bike, etc. then he was off to his Squaw Peak hike. We went back to Spanish Fork and ate Aunt Pat’s delicious waffles and picked up Eva. Then we did a few more errands for Christian. We walked through the Harris Fine Arts Center – looking at the faculty art work on display (I was not that impressed over-all. There were a few good pieces.) Then we walked into the Museum of Art for the real treat. There is a fabulous display of Victorian Art. I could have spent a lot more time there, but my body was telling me that it is easier to hike Mt. Nebo than stand around in an art gallery for 90 minutes. After the Victorian gallery, we went into the Religious Art gallery. I loved the pieces, but of course the outstanding piece was a Rembrandt of the head of Christ. It is fabulous – you are just drawn to it. So I bought a print of it for Mama – a late birthday gift – that we will have framed. Then we went outside, found some shade on the grass near the art museum, and took a nap. Finally, it was about 3:00 PM, and we returned to May Hall to assist Christian in moving in – after first finding a very nice man in charge of the process who helped us out at 3:00 PM, rather than making us wait until 5:00 PM. Christian returned just in time from his Squaw Peak hike to help us move his gear in. Eva was a great help to us. Finally, it came time for me to give Christian a fathers blessing before going to the creamery. We had 10 minutes to get ice cream. As we walked in, there was at least a 20 minute wait. So we got 5 brownies for $2.00 instead. We dropped Christian off at his room, and we left for Centerfield.

We made it just in time for Grandpa’s surprise birthday celebration of 90 years. He was very surprised. My Aunt Edna, Aunt Marian and Aunt Louise were all there, together with all the children and spouses. We had a fine time talking and reminiscing and view photos. I am glad we were there. After the dinner, we retired from the church to Grandma and Grandpa’s house where they divided up the football tickets. After logging on to Christian’s BYU account and providing health insurance information, we went to bed and slept very soundly.

Today, we didn’t get up until about 8:30 AM, and we were then soon on our way to La Canada. See mama’s letter for the details. Eva slept in the back seat a good deal of the way. Mama and I got to hold hands for hours as we drove. The sky had many clouds, and we had a few rain drops. The varying clouds made the sky and landscape very interesting and beautiful. I enjoyed the drive until we reached Las Vegas. Then it was bad after that. But we are home now and glad to be home.


That’s all for now.
Love Daddy

PS - trouble uploading pictures. i'll try later.