Sweet and Salty

I put my playlist on shuffle so yall don't have to listen to the same songs over and over.. well, if you don't like a song you can just skip to the next one.. or put it on pause if you don't want music..
Anyway, we visited the family up in slc again this last weekend.

We got there 7-8ish pm on Friday this time around.  I drove about 4+ hours.. stopped at a McDonalds and got a Reese's Mcflurry and cut up an apricot and banana and mixed it in.. by the time I cut the fruit up.. it was melted under the sun =P.. I also got a fries and apple pie.. and, ended up mixing a bit of those in as well haha.. my brother was saying when someday I am pregnant I'm gonna have the weirdest food cravings.. probably true.. I already do=)  .. probably due to nutritional deficiencies..

Anyway, when we got there they made us some veggie burgers.. I had trouble getting even one of those down after stuffing myself with McD's!  But, it was good... morningstar  ....my mom's bought them before, I think..

(Aquarium-Took forever to capture pictures because of the varied lighting and speed of the fish..I forget the fstops and all =P)

Well, the next day my uncle, cousin and I went to the Aquarium at around noon or so...

Toads n' Frogs.. 

 

 Fishies~

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Cousin tries to get nemo's attention!





    





    

                 
    



Penguin

 Ginormous amazonian roaches... which surprisingly don't freak me out nearly as much as the oriental? roaches we have in texas =P~ 









..then we all had dinner at Bombay Palace/Place/House (I forget) with their friends who are from Houston and Dallas.. not sure if they still live there.. they met on shaadii.com.. we actually met another couple-friends of theirs who also met on shaadii.. It was neat to hear their stories haha

After dinner we all came back to the house and talked for what seemed like hours.

The next day (Sunday) my brother and I took our little cousin swimming and came back in time for our aunt and uncle's 4th of July BBQ get together...

                                       
                   BBQ- 4th of July

..they grilled paneer tikka......and chicken tikka  (the link is the showmethecurry version)... they also had onions and red, yellow, orange and green peppers on the skewers..Someone brought some cauliflower wontons which were a big hit..here's a recipe for veg wonton....can't find a cauliflower wonton recipe =P

   BBQing

We also had indian rice (link-just a website with recipes for different indian rice dishes) ... I think we actually had Vegetable Biryani.... with Raitu/a.... (link recipe is slightly different).. they also served pav bhajii, but I didn't have any =P.. ate too much appetizer paneer before.. oh, they also had corn on the cob.. indian style (spicy) of course.. basically they took a cut lime dipped it in a bowl of spices and salt and rubbed it onto the corn.. was good.. pretty spicy though hehe.




 Raita/u  

After dinner we went out to do some fireworks *_*

Monday morning my uncle, aunt, cousin and I had lunch with their friends again.. I had a couple of spring rolls (twas at pf changs)  and, I tried a lettuce wrap, and a couple of their I think, szechuan green beans and asparagus...and a bit of noodles...
Well, our family in slc fed us well =)....







Oh, I've practice packed the suitcase.. and it seems good to go.. I just need a scale to make sure it's below 50lbs....


still need to measure the hiking pack around and see if it's alright to check that in.. and, I haven't packed it yet..

I'm leaving the oil paints so my bro can paint if he wants... and, I'm just taking my brushes, watercolors and a few other art things back..

I'm wondering if I should pack my paintings in the suitcase or just leave it for my bro to bring...hm...

I booked a ticket with south west.. they don't charge for the first 2 checked in bags=)

I'll be flying from late afternoon till late night though..... oh, well.











Finished the day off with a choco-martini .............................yeh, I know I said I'm not going to drink for spiritual & health reasons... but, I'm just tastin' 'em =P... I am most probably going to quit drinking altogether in the future. 





 Anyyway, here are some pics from the drive back from slc... 

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Dino Naps & Gnats

Paleontology. (Bro collecting some dino bones)

I went to the field Wednesday with my bro & his boss... The drive was a few hours.. a lot of it was on rocky, unmaintained roads on the edge of hills.. There's one point, Bull Valley Gorge, where you have to cross this crappy bridge (piled on rocks, logs and other crap) .. the boss made it sound quite scary.. but, we were fine. 
There is a car/truck wedged into the base of the bridge from the 1940/50's ... they were apparently 3 drunk guys and the drivers couldn't shift gear in time and rolled back... got wedged in and they flew out of the car (obviously weren't wearing seat belts)... they were found on the floor of the canyon.

 Bridge.. the car looks like a scrunched hunk of metal at the bottom of the pic.. click on the pic for a better view.

I did see several arches on the way to & back from the field.


 Gnats swarm my brother..

 I helped or tried to help hammer/chisel rock from dino bones while in the field.. brushed a little and mostly took naps under a nearby bush.. The gnats made being there kinda miserable, and I know if there weren't any gnats I'd have been soo happy and enthusiastic to help... but... I was sweating it up behind a buff, hat and glasses+sunglasses in the about 100 degree sun because of the gnats... I really don't mind heat.. but, when I'm stuffed up behind clothing with a swarm of tiny flies biting at me..  it's not so nice!

 Gnats stuck to one of the guy's arm.

Yeh.... I don't think I'll be going out there again, unless the gnats go away:)
Well, no complaints came out of these lips while we were there.. it woulda just made the experience more annoying..  but, they could tell I wasn't loving it lol..

We were basically in the middle of the desert..  However, there were a lot of desert plants around.  The gnats lay their eggs in juniper plants.. but, I think there are a lot of pros to having the plants around.  There were some neat mud/rock formations at the site like these..

 

We had spaghetti and salad for dinner and cereal and a banana for breakfast.  I made a tomato, romaine lettuce, balsamic vinaigrette and pepper jack sandwich for lunch... and, had another banana and just about a whole bag of cheeto puffs throughout the day... oh, weakness.  Great, now I'm craving cheeto puffs.  I drank blueberry-pomegranate gatorade and 'mango melon' sobe life water... and water.  I also had brought along some rice milk. 

In the evening it sprinkled and there was a rainbow during the sunset.

The guys decided to head back the next evening :)







 On the way back we came across some German tourists who were stuck with a flat tire.  They were renting a giant suv with a lack of tools to change their tire.  Luckily the tools in the truck we were driving fit their suv.. so, my brother's boss and my bro helped them out :)  They wanted to take pics, so I brought out my camera as well heehee.. 
 

So, on Friday my brother went to work & came back early so we could head for SLC for the long weekend.  I actually drove 4+ hours!  I wanted to see how far I could go till getting tired.


Well, this morning my brother came back telling me to drop him off at work because he was heading to the field and would be out there till friday.. he got his stuff together and I dropped him off... when I got back he called and said they're not going after all =P.. apparently they have a lot of paperwork to do back at the office.    There goes my solitudinous week haha..
I am planning on booking my ticket back home tonight.. I'll hitch a ride with my brother and his boss up to Las vegas on the 23rd and we'll fly our separate ways on the 24th.

I've borrowed a suitcase from my uncle up in slc.   It's one of those old vertically dragging floppy ones.. I won't have any trouble fitting my clothes in it.. it's a good size.. but, I'm wondering about my art materials and so on.. hm...
I have a back pack with which I'll carry my lap top.. I guess I'll carry on my camera as a purse... if they still allow the whole purse plus bag carry on deal....
I think I'm allowed two free check-in... so, that will probably be the suitcase + a hiking pack...  I'll have to put my sleeping bag and the sleeping pad in the pack.. and, maybe I'll just stuff some clothes and paints in there... We borrowed the pack and pad from a family friend back home.
They came in handy.

Well, yeah.... I'm obviously looking forward to going home hehe... It's been nice.. but, it's time I head back and earn some moneyz so I can travel less dependently in the future.
My brother has been very generous with paying for food and gas.  I have just enough moolah left to get a ticket back home.

~_y