Hot Springs and Camping

So this year Nathan and I have decided that we really need to take advantage of the beautiful state that we live in, and go out and do as many outdoor things as possible. Last Thursday and Friday we went to the hot springs and camping with our awesome cousins, Tom and Kristie McConnon. This time of year is so gorgeous, and we love being outdoors more and more. These hot springs up Diamond Fork road by Spanish Fork are wonderful, and we can't believe that we've lived so close but have never been before this year!

Nathan and I at the springs, it is so beautiful this time of year,
and that is one good looking couple!

Look, they found sunglasses on the hike up to the hot springs!

Good thing we didn't see any of these at the spring:) Ganga(aka awkward in Chinese)! However, we did have a "ganga" moment. Besides us there were about six Koreans in the hottest of the hot springs (Nathan is pretty good about telling the difference between the different Asian nationalities as he ran into all of them on his mission, taught the Chinese people, and can distinguish the differences between what seem to us Americans as just Asian people). Anyway, as they were getting out, the girl that was with them said something in Korean to her friends, and it sounded exactly like she had said "hot pockets", in the same tone and sort of melody as the commercial does. Well, Nathan just repeats what we are all thinking, and that is the words "hot pockets" from the jingle. She turned around and looked like she thought Nathan was making fun of her, when really he just started singing along to the jingle that she had "started". Anyway, it was pretty funny, you might have had to have been there, but "hot pockets" will now forever remind the four of us of our trip to the hot springs:)

The next day, Friday the 6th, we went camping up Provo Canyon at Big Springs National Park, where you can go into the national forest, camp anywhere you want, and make a fire(within reason of course). It was so beautiful, so green, and we had tons of fun with Tom and Kristie. Thanks guys a ton for some great times!!!

So this was the camp site we chose. It was beautiful, and we sort of scared some other people away from it, too. Here is the story, and another "ganga" moment in two days! Kristie and I saw the area, between a grove of trees, next to the babbling brook, with a fire pit, and lots of soft grass to set the tents up in. It was perfect. This couple was sitting on a fallen log, and when we came up we asked if they were going to stay for the night. They said no, but they looked as if they had been in deep conversation. I then said "You're not proposing are you?" No response, but she sort of tickled his thigh, and he looked embarrassed, and then they left. Maybe he was, maybe it was their first date, we'll never know, either way we got the great spot for camping. Oh well, I put my foot in my mouth again. The picture shows me putting up the tent all by myself! I did a pretty dang good job too as it rained all night(from about 3am to 8am) and we never got wet!

Tom gets a gold star for firemaking! First of all, he made this awesome one at night, and then the next morning, after it had rained literally all night, he had a fire going so that we could make breakfast and of course more s'mores. So here is a gold star for Tom, way to be the coolest!

Just enjoying the fire. Lady came and just sat right down, and warmed herself, too.
It was sooo cute.

We laid out looking at the stars for a while, and though it was cold, they were beautiful. We took a few pictures of us, and when it is that dark with a bright flash going off, I guess it just seems pretty funny:) This was a picture that Tom took and below is a picture that I took. Tom and Kristie weren't even posing really, and I couldn't tell what I'd get in the dark by just lying on my back and putting the camera up, but it turned out pretty good I think.
Tom and Kristie, bundled up lookin' at the stars.

Kristie eating charred marshmallows? We learned that when you put marshmallows in the fire, they end up looking like volcanic rock! It looks like a lava flow too when they are burning. Don't worry, she didn't really eat that yucky one:)

So this was the view of the meadow from our camping spot in Big Springs National Park. It was so green, probably from all the rain that had started at 3am and didn't end until about 8am! Luckily our tents didn't leak at all!