Follow Up: The Dirty Dash

I know, I know...I've already blogged about The Dirty Dash but that was only with the few pictures that we could take. Since it's not advisable to take a camera with you when you run, they have people taking pictures throughout that you can view later. Some of these were too good not to post. 

This gives a much better sense of how dirty we actually were, no?

Taking the Plunge

The biggest item checked off our bucket list thus far: Skydiving!

We went with my brother and sister in Moab. It was very spontaneous (only a couple hours from the call asking us if we wanted to until we actually jumped) and one of the most incredible things we have ever done! The best way to document this adventure is through pictures...words just don't do it justice.

Wait, are we sure we want to do this?

We had to sign a waiver saying that we wouldn't sue anybody if we died. I think we initialed 20 different places releasing Skydive Moab from any liability. On each item to initial, it reminded us that we were intentionally jumping out of a plane. Don't forget that every aspect of skydiving is dangerous: you are riding in a plane that could crash, wearing a harness that could malfunction, and depending on a parachute that someone could have packed wrong. We read over every little thing that could potentially go wrong. Twice. Here's just a little sample:

Britt and Kurt went first! Here they are all harnessed up!

Then it was our turn!

Hold up...I'm really going through with this?

The little plane we went up in...

Danger...skydiving is a dangerous thing, in case you forgot. 

Before we jumped, we got a little air tour of Moab. It really is beautiful. We chose the best possible place in Utah to skydive. 

Nice view of the Colorado River. 

10,000 feet: check

Harness tight enough to leave bruises: check

Plane door open: check

Nerves calmed....ummmm...

Seriously though, the scariest part of the whole thing is when the door opened right next to me.

And I'm out! The actual jumping part wasn't that scary...the glory of a tandem jump is that he did all the work. All I did was fall! He even got fancy with it and we flipped a few times on our way out of the plane.

Is this not the coolest thing ever? I say it is.

Flying at 120 miles an hour is sweet, awesome, incredible, amazing...words really can't describe just how it feels...experience.

And the parachute has been pulled. 

The ground view of my jump (thank you Kurtis!).

And my landing, which was actually very smooth - unlike Hunter's (more on that later). After we landed the wind continued to gust a little and kept pulling us backwards. The result: my back pockets were filled with dirt. 

And now it's Hunter's turn!

See the baby plane in the background? That's how fast and far you fall.

Again...Coolest. Experience. Ever.

This look says it all: pure joy. 

Some more Where's Waldo: there are two little white specks. Those are us after we have jumped out of the plane and before our parachutes have been pulled. 

I'm the lighter one (bottom right), Hunter is the darker one (top middle). 

A good view of Hunter from the ground.

Annnnnd....Hunter's crash landing. Take special note of the puff of dirt.

Painful? Yes. Right as Hunter and his jumper were coming in for landing, the wind gave out between the buildings so they smacked right into the ground from about 5ish feet up. Needless to say, there was some major butt bruising that took place. He says it was totally worth it though and he would go again, even if it risked similar pain.

We survived!

Would we go again? DEFINITELY! Without. A. Doubt. 

And of course, we can't forget about the little dog. She patiently waited for us at the airport with my parents and siblings. Love her. 

Sneak Peak!

A preview of the next post:

The Dirty Dash

Another thing we have done to kick off our summer was run The Dirty Dash. It is easily my favorite race thus far. I can honestly say that I don't think I have ever been that dirty before. We trudged through multiple mud pits that had consistencies similar to soup, milk shakes, or just dirty water. There were sprinklers on at almost every obstacle, and if not sprinklers then snow makers. We climbed up a rope wall, went through tunnels, jumped over hurdles, army crawled through mud bombs, jumped in the reservoir, went through a lake that was at times waist/chest deep (easily the most disgusting part), and went down a slip 'n slide. Every step contributed to the final mud mess that we became. If you are looking to run a race and want something to break up the monotony of just running, I highly recommend participating in a Dirty Dash. Unless you absolutely abhor being dirty, I am fairly confident you will love every minute just like we did!

It is actually a really big event - there were 10,000 racers yesterday. There were heats that started every 20 minutes all day long. I didn't expect to see even a third of the people that were there yesterday. It was fun to see all the different ways people dressed up and there were some pretty funny costumes. 

Here are our numbers, pre-race obviously.

Before and after shots. I promise Hunter is every bit as dirty as I am, it's just harder to see the drastic change in his already mud colored shirt. 

Doesn't this picture just make you want to go run in the mud? Yes? I thought so.

Don't worry, they provide showers at the end so we were able to successfully drive home without making a complete mess of the car. But, my shower when I got home was still pretty dirt filled. 

This is definitely something we will be doing again - probably as early as September. If anyone wants to team up we could dress up crazy and make a really good time out of it!

The Graduate

My baby brother graduated from high school! It's crazy that he is that old. It feels like just yesterday that I was graduating high school, and college, and getting married - I guess a lot of time has actually passed. haha. This has been a big year for Kurt: not only did he graduate, he is finally taller than me. 

My Grandma, Aunt Pam and her two kiddos were all able to come out for the big event. It was really fun hanging out with them all weekend. We all felt a little old and I think the fact that my parents are about to be empty nester's really started to sink in. Are we really all that old!?!

Here is a picture of the whole fam, including Grandma. 

The siblings + Hunter because technically he is the brother - in - law.

Britt and I can't spend a weekend together without at least getting one picture together. We have to keep documenting the changing color, length, and style of our hair. 

My mom kept all of our high school graduation caps, which definitely makes for a fun picture now! We decided that my cap is overall the best. Not only is it the highest quality of cap, it also has the best dangle. Way to show 'em up class of 2005!

Congratulations Kurt! We are so proud of you and excited to see what the future has in store!

Angel's Landing

We started our summer off with a bang and there are only more exciting (not necessarily more exciting than what has already come to pass but a continuation of exciting) things to come! It is looking like a summer of checking things off the Bucket List. Count on multiple blog posts over the next few days, now that we have a little bit of downtime. 

First on our list: Angel's Landing in Zion National Park.

I have visited Zion's National Park before (seeing as I'm from Southern Utah) but Hunter never had. I couldn't feel good about myself if I allowed us to move out of Utah without Hunter experiencing this wonder at least once. Before my brother's graduation (post to come soon), we had a free day and jumped on the opportunity since we were already going south. Hunter did some research and decided that the hike for us was Angel's Landing. I said that sounded good and didn't really think much about it until right before we went. Little did I know that this is one of the hardest hikes in the park! The hike was definitely worth all the effort we put in and we both loved it. 

We even took pictures so you can get a little taste of the beauty:

There were little chipmunks all over the place. We tried multiple times to take a picture of one and eventually we were successful.

Where's Waldo?

The above picture was taken from the top of all the hikers that were soon going to join us. Can we say crazy incline? haha.

Acting on one of my friends suggestions, we decided to play a game on top. Our game of choice was Battleship. I cannot even tell you how many comments we got. People seemed to think it was quite hilarious that we thought the top of Angel's Landing was an appropriate place to play a game. After losing horribly the first round, I went on to win the best of 3. This game turned out to be a huuuuge hit over the weekend with my family as well (little Leo was a big fan).

I wasn't kidding about the crazy incline and here is my proof. Switchbacks anyone? haha. This picture doesn't even show all of them or the worst of them.

It was such a beautiful hike and I am happy we had the opportunity to go! If we can fit it into our busy summer schedule we are going to try and go hike The Narrows later this year. Angel's Landing was a perfect way to kick off our summer!