I Can't Sleep

Don't you hate that? I didn't think I was that tired from the trip, but when I got home from work I just crashed for a couple of hours. Then for a very lazy, lethargic hour I watched the end of the Yankees/Indians game and the Buffalo/Cowboys game. Both were awesome. Both testaments as to why sports are so cool. There is just no telling what can happen. It's completely unpredictable and you can't do anything to rewrite the story because it just is what it is. I was rooting for the Bills to beat the Cowboys and it looked like they were going to, but they really coughed it up at the end. I'm for parity in sports because after going through the last three years with my Raiders, it sucks when you come to every game with no hope for winning. Anyway...I can't sleep. And I think it's because of my huge nap this evening. So here I am...posting.

Utah was really great. I ate about a weeks worth of food in about 2 days or so. Most of it pretty awesome. I can't really complain about any of it. It started with Smokehouse, Cafe Rio, and Coney's Frozen Custard on Friday. Then we had Tucano's and Jason's Deli on Saturday, with a late night Krispy Kreme's run. I loved all of it. As much as I loved Smokehouse, I think Tucano's wins for best eats this past weekend.

I drove up with Dave, Caitlin, and Dave's dad, Greg. I stayed with all of them over at Dave's uncle and aunt's house. Interestingly, I've spent a couple weeks worth of time in total over at the house and over some pretty significant events in my lifetime. Dave and I stayed at their home for a week or so before our first year at BYU while we waited for the dorms to open up. The following summer Uncle Kevin picked me up from the airport with Greg and I stayed with them a couple of days before I went into the MTC. And after the mission, Dave and I crashed at their place again while we had a couple of horrible, anxiety-filled days trying out for the BYU soccer team. And then this most recent trip. I can't tell you how wonderful these people are.

Kevin and Shelly are just the sweetest people with the most wonderful family. A couple months ago I stayed at Dave's grandma's place (if you don't already know this, Dave's family is basically my family and he's more like a brother than a friend so that's why our lives are so intertwined) and it was just a completely different feeling. I think Dave will agree, but there is a huge difference in what it feels like to be in each of their homes and I attribute it to creating a home where the spirit can dwell. Because all of the people involved are wonderful, sweet people. I love them all to death, but there is a huge difference in the feelings of peace and comfort that I have felt being in Kevin's house as opposed to Grandma's house. It's crazy. Grandma and the fam are all members too, but have spent a long time away from the church. But as we said our goodbyes on Sunday, Kevin and Shelly were so effusive in thanking us for giving them the honor of staying in their home. Yes they did. Yes, you're welcome for having me take up your basement, stay in your kids' old beds, use their bathroom, and oh by the way...you're welcome for me eating your food too, including the meal we didn't end up eating because we didn't tell you that we had other plans. Just the sweetest people ever.

We didn't do a whole lot while up there. I didn't even get to see all the people I would have liked to have seen, or visited with the ones we did see for as much time as I would have liked. It's hard to coordinate everyone's schedule. I was really, really grateful for the parts of General Conference that I did catch. I caught the Saturday morning, Priesthood, and Sunday morning sessions and all of it was really awesome. I think I'll do a separate post for my conference musings. Don't worry, I've got the others recorded and I'll be reading them several times. I've got a system.

We did go for a short drive up through Provo Canyon and saw Bridal Veil Falls, pictured above. And we did hit up the Nickelcade for a bit that evening. This had to be one of the highlights of the trip, not because the Nickelcade is so much fun, but because of a scene we witnessed.

When we got to the Nickelcade there was some pretty dirty looking dudes with loads of tickets. The game they were working on at the time of our arrival was the coin game where you drop in a nickel and it falls on one side and pushes nickels off of the other end. Sound familiar? Well, at one of the guy's feet, he had an enormous pile of tickets. I didn't pay much attention to that sight other than to observe that he was just a typical backwards looking Provo/Orem guy. Weird haircut, dirty clothes, and not clean shaven. Some time later Dave spotted them leaving, and I glanced over to see one of the guys with a TV under his arm and his friend with a VCR walking out of the arcade. We laughed, and then I approached the woman behind the prize counter and asked her about them. She told me that they had turned in 40,000 tickets to get each of those prizes. Herself in awe, she then noted that they mark up the big prize items 500% or more from the original price. I asked her how long they had been there and she told me her shift started at 1:30pm that afternoon. They had been there the entire day. Before I could ask, she then said that most people save up their tickets, but they had done it in one day. AWESOME. It was quite a sight to see.

As if this weren't enough, we then began a drive around town reliving old memories. Then the drive turned into a "I wonder how many couples are parked right now making out" kind of drive. Turning into one prime location, as Dave drove us close to the area he remarked, "I wonder if there's a car here...I hope there's a couple in that car..." which then turned into an "omigosh I can't believe what those two are doing." The most surprising make out spot? How about around the temple? Yup. Several cars parked around the temple with lots of steamy windows, but to their credit, they weren't in such incriminating positions as other people might have been that evening.

The weather was a little dour, but a nice change. Although it is nice to come home to 70 degree Fall weather. I don't miss those winters, but I don't mind visiting it for a few days at a time. The more time I spend there, the more I wonder if I can really handle a few more years going to school there. But it was fun.