4th of july

the the 4th, i ran a 10k race (in my fastest 10k time ever--47:25) in the am. we went to our neighbor's annual 4th of july breakfast, and then we went on a short canyon hike. we rounded it out by going to my moms' for a bbq, water fight, and fireworks. 

a ladies trip to bryce

in july, my mom, sierra, and i went down to bryce np for three days while b and w were in wyoming. we had a great time!

 we saw lots of great sights around the park, and it wasn't crazy hot. that's the bennies of going to a place that--even though in the desert--is high up.

 we went on a mile'ish hike, which was the perfect length for my mom.

 we saw quite a few antelope.

 and tons of squirrels.

 an arch!

 we got dark-cloud rained-out of a ranger program, which was a bummer.

 but that gave me the thought to head over to escalante. my mom had never been there--so it was fun to experience it with her.

 we got back into bryce and had a fun pizza dinner. yes, that is three pizzas for us. we had quite a bit left over.

 mom's t-shirt to commemorate the trip.

 on our last day, sierra and i went on a horse-riding trip down into the canyon. this was an early birthday present for her.

 sierra rode a horse; i actually rode a mule.

 my legs were super sore by the time we got back (it was only about 90 minutes), but it was fun. and going down into the canyon was great. it's so cool looking down there.