Why I Love Homer Road

Five Reasons Why I Love Homer Road:

1. It's located in the foothills, one of my most favorite places on Earth.
2. There are some pretty massive houses up there.
3. It has pretty views.
4. It's far away from the hustles and bustles of the city.
5. It's a very secluded area.

"What started this obsession?" you might ask. Well, that cloudy morning when I discovered Homer Road I'd just run the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure with other members of our LDS ward. As my mother and I climbed into our car after running three miles, she turned on the engine, paused a second before she pressed on the gas, and said, "Let me show you what's above Beacon Light Road, Abby." 

"Um, okay," I reluctantly agreed. I just wanted to go home because I had woken up early that morning and I had just run three miles, which is a lot for me because I have bad endurance and stamina.

So we made the drive past the wonderful road of Beacon Light to a street called Homer Road. At first I wasn't impressed; all I could see was a little blue house sitting there like it hadn't been lived in for years. I was thinking, "THIS is what Mom wanted to show me?" Then we started driving farther down the road until we approached a monster house. There were four kids out playing with their 4-wheelers. I later learned from my friend Savanna that there was a girl my age who made a living in that house. Anyway, my mother and I ventured up the hill in our little white Lexus and saw some beautiful houses. Finally we reached the end, and there was an even bigger house sitting there. There were two kids outside, and as I looked closer, I realized it was my friend Marin from school and her little brother. I was astonished. 

Mom and I made our way back to the flat road. We disobediently went up private streets to see some amazing homes until we reached the street that led to our home. And that's when I realized I was obsessed with a little place I call Homer Road.

Now, if you live in the area, you may have heard that there was a large fire in the hills, right where Homer is. It spread very quickly from Highway 16 (close to Emmett) towards Highway 55. Luckily it stopped not too far away from where it started. It got way back in the hills, though, too, so several homes up there were evacuated, including the amazing homes my mother and I had seen on that cloudy day. Only four homes burned down, but most of the spectacular homes stayed standing. I am grateful the fire didn't spread to where I live; the smoke was very high in the sky.

  

Here are some pictures from the fire:

A little place I call Homer Road...

...is still standing tall.

Stay strong, my friend.

♥ Abigail ♥

The Hyndman Warriors

Hyndman Mountain

Daddy-O 

Mommy-O

That would be MOI right there.

The top of Mount Hyndman, Idaho's 9th tallest peak

My sweet Nike hiking shoes...except they aren't really hiking shoes.

A for Abby!

Me on the A (Nice belly you've got, Abby.)

Now for the scenic pictures, all taken by me. 

Columbines

The semi-bridge we had to cross.

Aspen tree leaves

People pass by and carve their names/initials into the Aspens.

Sago Lily, Utah's state flower

Hyndman Mountain is located about a half-hour away from Hailey, Idaho. It is the 9th tallest mountain in the state. Its height is approximately 12,070 feet tall. It usually takes about six hours just to get to the top. So, in total, to the top back to the trail head, it's about a 9-hour round trip. Yes, it was long and tiring, but we made it back.

This trip was with just Mom, Dad, and me. We stayed at a cheap, old, scary motel in downtown Hailey. When we pulled in there were men smoking. The stench was revolting. Luckily, our room was a smoke-free room, and it smelled pleasant rather than the other motel rooms. I had a terrible night, though. I couldn't sleep because I was nervous. I won't get into the details of how upset I got, but I only slept for an hour. Otherwise, I was thinking scary thoughts no matter how hard I tried to think pleasantly. Finally, we got up at 5:30 and got out of that motel fast. I was relieved when we were driving down Main Street towards Hyndman. 

Now, I would have taken more pictures, (you: "MORE PICTURES?!") but Dad wanted to get on the road and he was tired of waiting for me to take my pictures and venture down to where he had been waiting for five minutes. 

We didn't quite make it to the top because of all the loose rock we had to climb, but Dad had already been to the top and Mom and I hated the climbing. I may be a hiker, but I am definitely not a mountain/rock climber. It just comes with time and age, though, and for an 11-year-old girl, I'd say I did pretty well. We were only about twenty minutes away from the top, but Mom and I just couldn't take it anymore. We ate lunch on big rocks that were more stable and made the three-hour hike back down. Our feet were literally almost bleeding at the end, so we pulled our sandals out of the trunk and dipped our feet into the nearby creek to wipe the dirt off and relieve our soreness. Then we stopped for dinner and slept all the way home. I am grateful to be back in my own bed with the safety of my home and my siblings and Cooper. Life is good. 

♥ Abigail ♥

The long drive is all worth it.

There is a place far, far away in the depths of I-84 where fun is created and screaming is triggered. The water is filled with bucketloads of chlorine, the food is ridiculously expensive, the lines are extremely long, and the rides are scary-looking at first. But I promise this place is one of the best water parks you'll have ever been to once it's your turn on the rides, once you've eaten the pricey food, once you've gone on the creepy rides. Really, the wait is worth it.

This particular water park has a title known as Roaring Springs. It is the home of the mile-high Avalanche, the endless lazy river, the epic wave pool, and the best magic carpet ride you will ever imagine. I may be using bias, but I guarantee you will have some type of enjoyment on some type of ride. For the population of Idaho, Roaring Springs is quite large. More rides are being built every year, and there is another attraction right next door: Wahooz. 

Wahooz is a fun zone where you can play mini golf, arcade games, laser tag, go-karts, and bumper boats. Although the prices are just as expensive, it is still a wonderful land of enjoyment and pleasure. There are two 18-hole mini golf courses, a racing course that goes up, down, and around, four floors of laser tag, a large pool set up for squirting people with boats, and a huge building full of arcade games where you can earn tickets that get you prizes. Yes, it's wonderland in the middle of nowhere.

So climb into your car on an average summer day, drive the long route to Roaring Springs and Wahooz, and enjoy the summer heat with heavily chlorinated water and bumper boats.

♥ Abigail ♥

Parodies

This commercial is hilarious. Every time I watch it I fall out of my seat laughing. Yes, strange, but I just love to laugh.

Anyway, what really interests me about funny advertisements or songs is that they have a parody, or a comical version of the real version. The Old Spice's parody is a BYU Harold B. Lee Library version. The advertising group at the university made a hilarious video about instead of your man smelling like a man, your scholar studying like a scholar. Again, every time I watch it I burst out laughing. 

Parodies are just as good as the true version.

Wanna see more parodies? See this one. Or this one. 

♥ Abigail ♥

Being Sick

"I cannot go to school today,"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
"I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I'm going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I've counted sixteen chicken pox
And there's one more--that's seventeen,
And don't you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut--my eyes are blue--
It might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I'm sure that my left leg is broke--
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button's caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,
My 'pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb.
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,
My temperature is one-o-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,
There is a hole inside my ear.
I have a hangnail, and my heart is--what?
What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is. . .Saturday?
G'bye, I'm going out to play!"

-Shel Silverstein

Yes, I have a horrible cold that will not seem to go away! I've had it for a little more than a week now, and the coughs and runny noses are getting worse. When I breathe in deeply I instantly start to cough because of all the phlegm in my lungs.  In fact, when my sister came to town for her job interview, she and I had a sleepover in the king bed in the guest room, and I coughed almost all night. Finally, Meredith got out of bed at 5 AM and went to sleep in my bedroom for the rest of the night. Soon I left the room with Cooper and ended up falling asleep on the family room couch. It was a rough night.

Last night was just as horrible. It was midnight when I went to bed; I was extremely tired, but I guess watching Intervention all day got to me. I had nightmares, and when I woke up I went into the guest room (which is now her room since she has a job here) to have another sleepover with her. 

"What are you doing here?" she asked when I walked into the room. Somehow she had been awake.

"I can't sleep. I had a nightmare," I replied. This is usually my excuse for climbing into someone else's bed, but this time it was true.

Without any hesitation, Meredith let me onto the other half of the wide bed. Whenever a cough suddenly came out, I would hold it in so hard that my face would turn red. Does that kill brain cells or something? Anyway, I finally fell asleep for a few hours until the coughing started again, this time worse. I would accidentally cough into Meredith's face, when I held it in a little peep came out loud enough to wake my innocent sister up. She got really frustrated after about ten minutes of this, but she didn't say anything. Finally I left the room, and now here I am! I actually don't feel that tired, but my coughing is just out of control, and yet my throat isn't even sore. It's just because of all the stuff in my lungs that is sort of clogging up my breathing pipes. I hate sickness!

My mom and I bought some cough drops the other day, and when I put it in my mouth to suck on it, I literally almost barfed. It was a Mixed Berry flavor, and it tasted really gross. I spit it out, and I haven't had another one since. I'll need to get medicine at some point, but for now I'm not really treating my cough much. I also haven't been getting very much rest and, since it's summer, I haven't been eating as many healthy foods as I could. Being a really picky eater, I refuse to eat fruit--applesauce and Trix yogurt is how I get my fruits in. I also only like two vegetables: corn and carrots, and I like the carrots cooked. Yes, that is how picky I am. Anyway, we've been invited to a lot of barbecues lately, so we've been eating a ton of meat. I'm a carnivore at heart. :)

Tonight is one of my two basketball games this week, so hopefully I'll sleep better because I'll be pooped from the game and my mind will hopefully be off of Intervention. Gosh, that show is creepy. It was a marathon yesterday so Meredith and I were sitting on the couch all day watching. I think we'll need an intervention for watching Intervention too much. We're Intervention addicts! They're only on Mondays, though, so thank goodness for that.

Well, lovely people, wish me luck to get well soon; I'll need it. Hope you had an awesome 4th of July, too.

♥ Abigail ♥