Wasatch Backcountry

We couldn't have asked for a better day to celebrate two Presidents' birthdays! The sun was shining, we have lots of snow, and the avalanche danger was low. So we decided to take advantage! We had a hard time deciding where to go, but we settled on snowshoeing to Donut Falls in Big Cottonwood Canyon. It's a short hike, but very scenic. The best part was how much wildlife we saw today. There was a huge herd of elk on the mountain by the side of our house when we left with one large buck heading up the harem of females. Then we saw a few moose while snowshoeing and later in the day we saw a bobcat dart across the road below our house. It's amazing that within 15 minutes of the city, you can see all that wildlife and simply "get away from it all." Now for the pics...

Classic one-hander

The Tongue

Leap of FaithMt. Olympus on my shoulderQuiet SolitudeThis is Donut Falls just to the right of the rocks (about 5 feet under the snow)Moose Buddies (see the one on the right too?)

Unfortunately we didn't get pics of the elk or the bobcat, maybe next time...

***PS*** We also went on a SLC photo tour with our friends on Saturday, click on the teaser pic below for more great shots of SLC.

An American Institution

Dan's Home!

My little brother Dan just got home from his LDS mission on Feb. 5th. I am a little slow processing the pics, but here they are finally! It was so good to see him again after two years. We sure missed having him around, and now he's back and better than ever. I'll never be able to explain how much my mission has helped me in my life, and I'm sure Dan is the same way. He was a great missionary and it has been fun to hear about people that he taught while he was in the Philadelphia Pennsylvania mission.

Miles per Dollar?

I heard a good suggestion the other day. That is to start thinking about fuel economy in economic terms, i.e. to think about it in "Miles Per Dollar" or, MPD. It's all too easy to just stick in that credit card on each fill-up and just kind of forget about how much you're actually getting for that money. Some people just pour that money down the drain (or out the tailpipe for that matter) without even thinking twice about how much it's costing them. To other people, they couldn't care less how much it's costing them no matter how high the cost.
Now for some examples using $3.00/gal fuel:

A 15mpg (insert nearly any SUV here) would do roughly 5 miles per dollar.
A 22mpg Audi A4 (which I used to own and loved) would do roughly 7 miles per dollar.
A 25mpg (insert nearly any regular sedan here) - 8 miles per dollar
A 30mpg Honda Civic - 10 miles per dollar
A 45mpg Jetta TDI still only allows you 15 miles per dollar

So next time you're driving down the road in an "economical" car (e.g. Toyota Camry) doing 25mpg, just count mile posts! Every 8th mile post you pass, pull a $1 bill out of your pocket. For you locals, a normal round-trip drive from Provo to SLC (45 miles) costs over $10 in that "economical" 25mpg car! If you drive around town frequently, just try zeroing the tripmeter in your car at the beginning of the day and see where it ends up at the end of the day. You may be surprised. Let's just be glad we don't have the $6+/gallon fuel that other parts of the world have.

Remember, gas prices go up in the Spring! :-)