New Hammock!

Thanks for the Christmas gift you gave me Mike and Laura! I really love it! It feels really comfortable! I put it in a really good nice, private, peaceful spot. I have a good view of the mountains and it is a good place for me to read my bike mags.

St. George/Zion/Brianhead/Candy Mtn. trip....

View of part of St. George from the trail.
Some moto and buggy land for Tony if he wants to go there.

Brian Head Ski Resort with melting snow.

Big Rock Candy Mountain with no Lemonade Springs.
Cedar Breaks
Cedar Breaks
Brian Head Peak

Dad collecting rocks from everywhere he goes, even at high elevations.

The Putz and I went on a trip to St. George for me to ride my mountain bike on the Green Valley Race Course again. It was a blast. There was not one soul there and I don't know why. We stayed in Super 8 in Hurricane and watched a few movies on HBO and watched the Jazz game which lasted a long time. The next morning we decided to go through Zion and go home on Highway 89 instead of Interstate 15. When we got to Zion, the fee was(wtf) $25 and dad didn't want to pay it. There was a crapload of people there(lot's of cyclists and motorcyclists on the road, that's where everybody was) too. We turned around and decided to drive to Parawon and go up that canyon and go through Brian Head and to Panguitch and back to home. It was a very pretty drive with all the snow and everything. I was planning to bike at Brian Head this summer sometime and so I am because it got me excited driving through there. We saw Panguitch Lake and Big Rock Candy Mountain on the way home. There were no springs there which they used to call it Lemonade Springs. Anyways, the Putz collected a lot rocks all the way from Hurricane to Sterling. It was fun for both the Putz and I.

2008 Barlow Family Reunion! July 11-13

Well, here goes.....it might actually happen! On July 11, 2008, you better get all your camping gear packed and plan on taking that day off (11th) so you can come down earlier. We are heading up the mountains and camp at the high, high, Skyline Drive. Tony is going to bring his trailer for us to watch movies, play video games in, and for mom and Becky to be "pampered" in. There will be a campfire with a continious fire and everybody bring your own meals. It should be fun. Mike, bring your bike so I can have somebody to ride with, we can do some downhill riding down the Pioneer Trail, then do a climb from Major's Flat to Willow Creek and go down the Maple Syrup and Flume trails. Then hopefully somebody would take us back to camp from the bottom. Tony and family can ride dirt bikes and buggies. Then everybody else can just read a book....wait a minute, go hiking! Hiking around the mountains should be fun and don't get lost! Skyline is such a perfect place to collect flowers so there are plenty of things to do. Like fishing, is one thing we can also do. Talk about outdoor Barlow Family Reunion fun!

Many Miles Of Riding....

Mt. Pleasant Main Street


What an awesome ride! Started from Ephraim and rode along the backroads of Spring City, Mt. Pleasant, and Fairview, then back to Ephraim. It was a beautiful day last Friday afternoon after work with a temperature of 70-75 degrees and I decided to go for a loooooong ride on the road. The last 5 miles back home was brutal because my legs felt like stone on the feet. I got home and my cyclometer said 48.3 miles and rode 3 hours and six minutes. I was dead tired. There was a few climbs along the way and I tried to keep my heart rate below 150 beats per minute so I can ride a long ways. This ride was the last of my base training in early spring and this week I start training hard, I will start mountain biking in the foothills and have 4 times as much fun! Here's a few pictures of the historic ride.


Historic Spring City

Project: tv cabinet for my cabin

I made this cabinet at work(the cabinet shop) during my free time. It's a tv cabinet for my cabin. It's got the tv Mike and Laura gave us a while ago and I bought a Sony dvd player for it. The Manti Telephone Company cable tv is hooked onto it. I can watch tv and movies back there. I watched a movie in it last week and I love it! The cabinet is made out of birch, the same as the mini kitchen cabinets in the other corner of the cabin, I wanted it to match. Now mom wants me to make another one for the basement TV. My next final project for my cabin is the front vintage porch. I have got to really finish that! I will have to do that while my boss is in Aztec, NM installing cabinets so I can have plenty of time to do the porch. I am planning to clear oil the wood porch, the posts, the eaves, and paint the railings and eave railings green. And make it look old fashioned. I think my cabin's going to be really awesome!

Dan, In Real Life...

I watched this movie with mom and dad and this movie is about....well...me. He goes to the family gathering at the parents house in the country, the whole family, brothers and sisters, do a lot of fun things together, and Dan, the black sheep, gets to sleep in the laundry room, always left out and gets in the car and drive off to places while the family do things together. You don't need to watch this movie because you already know about me.

Upcoming Trip: Kick my own ass in St. George...again

Yep, here I go again. I enjoy kicking my own ass so much that I want to do it again...do you mind? I am going to St. George sometime in the month of April and do the Green Valley Race Course again. I love the trail so much. There is still snow in Ephraim and I desperately want to go riding on the dirt! I have been road riding at least 3-4 times a week in the last month and I get bored of it and want to go mountain biking on some fun trails badly. Before it gets in the 90 degree temperature starting in May in St. George, I better go in April. So, in April or never, until next year. This time I am staying in the Super 8 motel in Hurricane(next to St. George) because of the bad motel stay experience last weekend(noisy baseball team). The Super 8 is much cheaper too($50). I am going alone this time, dad can come if he wants, but I am sure mom and Becky don't want to go again because they are preparing the the Park City trips when the time comes. It's always such nice weather down there. A lot of people, but not on the bike trails! When I went there last weekend, I saw only about 6 other people on the trail. Sweet. Fact: I read the newspaper today and St. George, Ut is the second fastest growing city in the nation. Palm Springs, FL is first, Raleigh, NC is 3rd. I can see why. Also, Mrytle Beach is 4th and Charlotte, NC is like 6th. The Carolinas must be a popular place. You are so popular Karen!