Our Pioneer Adventure

It's a 8:00 on a  Friday night at Snow College which means you must do something exciting and fun right? It is college after all! So my roommates Sam, Hailey (thats right! There is only two!) and I were weighing the options. There was the 80's dance the school was putting on but that meant creepy guys and tons of high schoolers. There was making a cake but we had just finished off the last one we made. We could watch a movie but that was what we did all week. So while we are sitting in deep contemplation Hailey gets a phone call from a friend asking if she wants to go on a walk. And that is were our adventure began! We came up with the idea to drive two cars to the Manti Temple, drive one back, and began a walk to the temple!
It's dark outside and the temple is another town away. Approximately 8 miles from were we started. Are we cool or what?
There were a few things we didn't really think about, we don't know why, but we are blaming them on school!


First: It was dark (we did know that don't worry) therefore we may have trouble seeing.


Second: Just because there is hardly any snow around campus in Ephraim doesn't mean there isn't snow on the side of the road.


Third: Where there is snow, there is ice. Where there is melting snow, there are ice puddles.


Fourth: It is a Friday night which means elderly couples are coming home from the temple. They see college kids walking in the dark--they call the police.  


While we didn't really think of these we did have fun with each one!


First: If it's dark and we can't see, it just makes it that more fun and exciting. Since all three of us linked arms we didn't have any falls only a few trips. (when I say 'few' I mean too many to count)  It also made it more exciting because cardboard boxes and soda cans are much scarier at night. In fact, they move, jump out, and attack you!
The stars were absolutely beautiful and we could see the bright temple from 5 miles away.


Second: We have had a really weird winter here and it has snowed only twice, both times were just a couple inches and it melts quickly. We didn't think about all those inches piling up on the side of the road until we started walking in it. We still continued on, it was too late to turn back now! The snow made it a lot more fun I think and it made it easier to see the brush.


Third: Every once and a while there are these huge ice puddles that are only slightly frozen over. So basically it looks like snow until you're on it and falling through. I bet it looked funny to see a tight group walking together and then suddenly scattering to all sides. We avoided most of these. Notice how I said most? Well there was one very large, very cold, very icy puddle about 3/4 the way there. Haileys friend came with us and brought a guy friend just for worst case scenarios. That worst case scenario was, in fact, a puddle. He was talking to us walking backwards (brave soul, I couldn't even walk forwards...) and suddenly he stops. We stop also wondering why he did so until we hear a big CRACK followed by an equally big SPLASH. Yep. You guessed it. He had walked right onto the biggest, deepest puddle yet. Right in the middle. As soon as he broke through the ice we all did. He and Haileys friend had to run a good five feet in ankle deep water to get out! Both my roommates Sam and Hailey got it a bit too. I must have had breaking puddle ninja reflexes because I jumped out before the ice broke around me. But in the process of screaming/running Sam had dropped her blanket in the puddle, I ran and grabbed it, teetering on the edge of the puddle (you know those cartoons where they are trying so hard not to fall into something, bent over, arms flailing. Yeah...that was me.) but it was too late, the blanket was soaking. So there we are all 4 out of 5 people with soaking feet still a mile or two to go. I was that lucky 1/5 that didn't get my shoes wet. There were also 1 out of 5 that had waterproof boots on. Sadly I just happened to be that 1/5. Again. Lucky me. =D


Fourth: We are proud (in a weird 'its never going to happen again' kind of proud) to say we pulled a cop over. That's right we didn't get pulled over by a cop, the cop got pulled over by us! You see we weren't walking close to the road, I mean c'mon, its dark, there are elderly drivers that might think we're deer, and we aren't too found of walking that close to the cars. We aren't stupid. We stayed far away, in the snow and ice puddles were we belong. But of course the one boy in our group didn't want to walk in the snow anymore and wanted to walk on the side of the road. Don't get me wrong he was in between the posts and rumble strips but c'mon. It's dark and if I were a driver that encountered you I would probably yell at you from my car...so just as we suspected some people called in to the police and complained about wild college kids. Apparently if its Friday night and we are doing something as crazy as walking to the temple than we MUST be drunk. Because no one would do that. Well we did and I can assure you that all we had to drink was some milk. Ohhhh and some of that yummy fruit punch. Wait...we did have a drink from the Activities Center drinking fountain and it did taste a bit weird....hhhhmmmm...anywho a police driver just pulled up and told us we were totally fine but just to make sure to stay down in the snow. Duh. My roommates and I weren't walking down there for nothing! So the poor kid and his friend had to once again join us in the snow.




All in all it was a very fun experience! We took around two hours to complete the 8 miles and made it just in time to walk around the temple grounds before they closed. That was neat since Sam hadn't even been to the Manti temple before.


This is what it would have looked like in the summer between Ephraim and Manti

We did encounter cows on our way. Don't worry we made sure to moo to them! (I didn't take these pictures FYI)


And the beautiful Manti Temple!

And just for fun this is what google brought up when I typed in 'Manti'. Apparently, it's a dumpling!! Haha

This is our victory picture! From left to right, Sam, Hailey, and that one crazy girl!

Sam and I both brought our blankets and carried them never once wrapping them around us, how funny!