Arthur's Court » Utterz http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog thoughts & musings of a would be king Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:02:51 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Black Bear Down – Highway Closed http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/21/black-bear-down-highway-closed.htm http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/21/black-bear-down-highway-closed.htm#comments Sun, 21 Jun 2009 09:28:13 +0000 kingarthur http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/21/black-bear-down-highway-closed.htm


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You don’t see this in Utah that often :)

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Black Bear Down Highway Closed]]> http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/21/black-bear-down-highway-closed.htm/feed 0 Little Family of Moosen on The Alaska Railroad http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/little-family-of-moosen-on-the-alaska-railroad.htm http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/little-family-of-moosen-on-the-alaska-railroad.htm#comments Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:15:52 +0000 kingarthur http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/little-family-of-moosen-on-the-alaska-railroad.htm


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I’m not narrating much because there are people crowding the windows, but on the Coastal Classic Train from Seward to Anchorage we saw a four moosen running around in a field. An eagle was feeding its baby in a tall tree’s nest as well.

Quota Filled: http://twitter.com/…2202300003

The Alaska Railroad: http://www.akrr.com/

Coastal Classic Train: http://alaskarailroad.com/…c1036.html

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Little Family of Moosen on The Alaska Railroad]]> http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/little-family-of-moosen-on-the-alaska-railroad.htm/feed 0 Moose’s Tooth Pizza http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/mooses-tooth-pizza.htm http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/mooses-tooth-pizza.htm#comments Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:38:43 +0000 kingarthur http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/mooses-tooth-pizza.htm


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Mindy ranted and raved about the Moose’s Tooth ever since we started talking about going up to Anchorage. It’s a pub and pizzeria. It was packed when we went after the Coastal Trail bike ride.

After about 50 minutes we snagged our Spicy Chicken Picante & Popeye pizzas. It started to rain and life was good.

Pic from: http://www.flickr.com/…811294961/

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Mooses Tooth Pizza]]> http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/mooses-tooth-pizza.htm/feed 0 Float Planes on Lake Hood http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/float-planes-on-lake-hood.htm http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/float-planes-on-lake-hood.htm#comments Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:52:28 +0000 kingarthur http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/float-planes-on-lake-hood.htm


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Team Moose’s Tooth makes their approach to Lake Spenard and the worlds largest floatplane sea base in the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/…plane_Base)

Photo by: http://www.wildnatureimages.com/…Photos.htm

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Float Planes on Lake Hood]]> http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/float-planes-on-lake-hood.htm/feed 0 Baby Moose on Coastal Trail. http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/baby-moose-on-coastal-trail.htm http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/baby-moose-on-coastal-trail.htm#comments Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:04:30 +0000 kingarthur http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/baby-moose-on-coastal-trail.htm


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Biking just past Point Woronzof on the Coastal Trail in Anchorage, Alaska we came upon a random baby moose chillin just by the bike trail. He’s pretty nice and we don’t see his mommy around so it lets Kamie Jo get very close to it to snap some camera phone pics. Pretty close one! ;)

We’ll get the real pics up soon, but in the meantime, our little guy pretty much was lookin like the photo you see.

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Baby Moose on Coastal Trail.]]> http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/baby-moose-on-coastal-trail.htm/feed 0 Airplanes Overhead – Point Woronzof http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/airplanes-overhead-point-woronzof.htm http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/airplanes-overhead-point-woronzof.htm#comments Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:07:57 +0000 kingarthur http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/airplanes-overhead-point-woronzof.htm


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At a particular point (Point Woronzof – http://www.alaska101.com/…lkBike.gif) on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail you can stop on the rocky beach and watch planes take off from the Anchorage International Airport directly overhead. Listen and you can hear.

We saw about 5 planes take off from there in the short time we were there.

We didn’t get any pics, but here’s some pictures someone else took:

http://www.flickr.com/…265780045/

http://www.flickr.com/…709185972/

http://www.flickr.com/…687691299/

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Airplanes Overhead Point Woronzof]]> http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/airplanes-overhead-point-woronzof.htm/feed 0 Rolling Thunder & Radicle Rainbows http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/rolling-thunder-radicle-rainbows.htm http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/rolling-thunder-radicle-rainbows.htm#comments Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:02:29 +0000 kingarthur http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/rolling-thunder-radicle-rainbows.htm


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I’m up in Midvale Utah and a monsoon-like storm swept over the Salt Lake Valley in seconds. Cars came to a standstill, thunder rose and the lightning strikes ;)

Seriously, though you can’t hear the thunder that well, the sound just rumbled the valley with constant light storms lighting up the cloud covered sky.

The day before there was an amazing double rainbow (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/…ki/Rainbow">rainbow</a>) that crossed the entire Utah Valley. It was so brilliant in color. I had to stop and call Michelle!

The image below wasn’t it, but just wanted ya to get a visual.

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Rolling Thunder & Radicle Rainbows]]> http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/17/rolling-thunder-radicle-rainbows.htm/feed 0 The Power of Love http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/11/the-power-of-love.htm http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/11/the-power-of-love.htm#comments Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:07:50 +0000 kingarthur http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/11/the-power-of-love.htm

Awesome girl. Awesome feelings. Awesome inspiration.

I believe in the power of love!

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The Power of Love]]> http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2009/06/11/the-power-of-love.htm/feed 1 I’ve Been Sky Diving… http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2008/06/10/ive-been-sky-diving.htm http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2008/06/10/ive-been-sky-diving.htm#comments Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:01:57 +0000 kingarthur http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/?p=170 It could have come to mind at any time in my life I guess, but turning 30 just seemed like the right time to make it real.

I had been telling people about my plans for perhaps six months at this point and had several express interest in going with me. So when I finally put out the invitation and the date spots filled up quickly.

When I announced that I was actually going I had many people say, “I hope you don’t die!” or something to that affect. However, I think it’s rather interesting that I never hear that when I tell them I’m heading off to work, in my car, on the road, with other drivers. I mean, we saw two accidents on the freeway on our way up to Ogden that morning. Anyhow, I’d really like to see some stats that show skydiving is inherently more dangerous than driving.

When we arrived we took a very small lesson, perhaps 5 minutes, I thought it’d be much longer than that. Then we split up into four dive teams and the first team tossed on some colorful jumpsuits and strapped on their harnesses.

The first team went up, but due to unsafe weather conditions came down and we weren’t sure if we’d be jumping that day. We waited, played some cards and after about an hour all the rain and foreboding clouds removed themselves from the sky. I think perhaps it was due to Pam’s extreme excitement and countless prayers offered up in our party’s behalf. She wasn’t going to leave without having jumped!

There were several very nervous people jumping with us that day and they all had a great time! I was strangely calm considering we were going to be falling from 13k feet above the ground. In all honesty I did get a little scared. It happened when we were up high and my tandem buddy started tightening the straps, the video jumpers started putting on their helmets and I started to get pushed closer to the open door of the plane.

Once I jumped however, after a split second of adjusting to the fall, I just felt like I was floating, like I was just leaning against a large gust of wind. And perhaps thanks to some showing off for the camera I had lost the fear that just moments before was giving me the shakes.

We free fell for about a minute and then Sugi pulled the ripcord. I did wonder what would happen if my tandem buddy would have been unable to pull it for whatever reason. Once the chute was pulled we did some turns and that’s when I felt the roller-coaster sensation in my stomach. Pretty fun.

All in all, had a blast. Compared to rock climbing my first time though…didn’t hold a candle, though it was good for a little bit of variety. If you’re looking for thrills, perhaps you should go to a theme park. However, if you’re looking to conquer your fear of heights, skydiving is a good option for you. It happened very quickly, but nevertheless a fun experience. It was kind of like the Indiana Jones ride at Disney Land, very good, but altogether over too quickly.

Dangerous? Yeah, probably. Worth it? Most likely. I’d suggest it to anyone who’s thought of doing it but has been scared. Get a group of good friends and do it.

Here’s some audios & pics of me and the group before and after the jump:

I had a neat experience that day as we were driving home and some soft classical music played on the radio. I felt a peace that I can only say I’ve felt most often in the temple. I was going to say something to those in the car, but for some reason I felt alright just enjoying it. It was a beautiful contrast from the feeling of just having accomplished a life goal.

Ive Been Sky Diving...]]> http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2008/06/10/ive-been-sky-diving.htm/feed 4 Motherhood & Imagination http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2008/03/13/motherhood-imagination.htm http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/2008/03/13/motherhood-imagination.htm#comments Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:36:22 +0000 kingarthur http://www.ryanmendenhall.com/blog/motherhood-imagination.htm
It’s so neat to see the creativity of children. They seem to pull straight from the depths of their souls. They are a handful at times, but brilliant! I have so much respect for mothers and each time I get a chance to tend my nephews and/or niece I find a new respect for my sisters, their mothers. Hats off to the mothers of this world who make such a difference in the lives of their children and in mine. I love you Iss. I love you Mindy. I love you Ma!
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