Welcome back to Wednesday! Nothing to say here except to warn you that I am kind of a fly-fishing stud now. Take a look at my first pond based lesson!

And here’s the youtube link!

Thanks for watching everyone!

I’m done.

Brett.

Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll make a podcast. Donate to a man for fishing and he can make even more!

Thanks!

Okay, where did I leave off?

The hike. Right. Thanks.

We decided to go do the Angel’s Landing hike, which is a pretty beefy little walk for the average Joe. Shortly after we started walking Adam and Zach decided to run off ahead and ditch Jesse and I. No big deal right?

But it was just a little bit after that when Jesse decided her back was hurting a little too much for such a long hike…which left me in the weird position of potentially going on a four hour walk all by my lonesome. How do I fix this? Duh. Run to catch up with Adam and Zach.

However, in my excitement I managed to run past the place where the guys were standing off to the side waiting for us and, thinking I was always just a little bit behind them, pushed myself to the top as fast as possible. Like an idiot. So not only did I managed to go on the bulk of the hike by myself anyway but I was putting so much effort into getting to the top as fast as possible I didn’t spend much time enjoying the surroundings.

Luckily there was plenty of time to sit around at the top wondering where everyone was and enjoying the view.

Eventually the guys made it up to the top also and we hung out for a bit relaxing before trail running all the way down dodging slow moving hikers and jumping down switchbacks. Fun times. Exhausting fun times.

I still don’t have pictures but they should exist by this weekend. So for now…

I’m done.

Brett.

Enjoy living vacariously? Good, cause I enjoy living. Feel free to help make that happen.

Thanks!

I was hoping to have some pictures of Zion up for you guys today but it looks like it will have to wait. You’ll just have to settle for a little bit of story time instead.

Jesse and I got kind of a late start heading towards Zion after double and triple checking that we had packed everything we would need for some comfy camping. (It’s amazing how much more stuff it takes to be comfortable in nature than it does to be an Amtrekker. We brought a LOT more than a backpack full of stuff.) Sadly, we still managed to leave behind some “important” stuff. And of course by “important” I mean pillows and hash browns.

By the time we made it to the park all of the campsites had already been taken. That’s why we were driving around outside the park looking for a new place to throw down a tent when karma finally caught up with me. Apparently it’s much easier to get out of going to jail for going 20 miles per hour over the speed limit in Ohio than it is to get out of a ticket for going five over in Utah.

After narrowly dodging a great campsite next to the river we landed a slightly lamer spot on the other side of the campground and set up the tent just in time for a Bill Bryson induced nap.

That evening we were joined by Adam, my fly-fishing teacher, and Zack who took over the fire starting duties. It was comforting to learn that it wasn’t just starting a fire with sticks that I suck at. Turns out I would have had just as much trouble starting a fire during my survival skills lessons if I had a stack of matches at hand. Good to know.

I’ll hold off on talking about the hike until tomorrow…hopefully I’ll have pictures and a little more time to put into the story.

Oh SHOOT! Tomorrow is Wednesday!

…okay…so, tomorrow will be the podcast about the Swamp Tour, THEN Zion.

Okay, that’s settled. I’m done.

Brett.

Want to help pay for a speeding ticket?

Thanks!

I’m finally back in the real world after an amazing trip to Zion National Park. My camera was dead while I was there but as soon as I get the pics from another camera I’ll post them here with some Zion story time. But for now, there’s something even more exciting to talk about!

Guess who learned to fly-fish!

I’m going to go ahead and assume you said, “BRETT!” and I’ll say, “Good guess!”

I was in the rustic world of Mapleton, UT this week where (thanks to Jesse and Adam) I was able to learn the basics from the safety and warmth of the edge of a pond.

It may not have been “A River Runs Through It” but it was probably exactly what I needed for a first try. PLUS, I’m a broke dude and free is always better than having to buy a fishing permit.

The experience as a whole went pretty well. I DID manage to catch a tree…twice. So that was fun. It was a little bit tougher to get the hang of a cast than I thought it would be.

Eventually though, after some practice I managed to catch a GIANT Bluegill! It was HUGE. At least a quarter pound (maybe even half a pound). And that’s when I realized I hadn’t quite gotten over those feelings of being an ass when you hook a fish.

FLASHBACK

I was fishing in Avalon Harbor at Catalina Island off the coast of California once upon a time not too long ago when I managed to hook a little fishy through the gill (or in some other awkward way…that part is kind of fuzzy). I pulled him up and obviously he was too small but he was also kind of injured so I felt pretty bad when I threw him back in the water.

But not nearly as bad as I felt when I got to watch through the clear water as a swarm of other fish took advantage of his injuries and began to eat him alive. That was a few years ago and I haven’t been fishing since.

Fly-fishing did have some really cool advantages over “typical” fishing though. I really liked that you had to work a little bit harder for it and it was cool that for the most part you get to see everything that’s happening. So, suddenly it’s more about whether or not you can trick a fish into thinking you’re a fly instead of just waiting for a schmuck to grab the worm you hid your hook inside of.

At least that’s a LITTLE closer to a fair Man Vs. Beast match-up. (Sadly, the beast in question was still a half-pound fish that’s lived its entire life in a pond.)

But I was assure that Bluegill can take a hook to the lip like a champ and still come away smiling…so to speak. How my teacher for the day knew this I’m not sure, but as long as I believe it I get to feel like less of a jerk.

I’m done.

Brett.

#44…GONE! That brings me to within 20 of going home! What can you guys do to help make that happen?

Lots!

I changed things up ever so slightly this week. I like having this weekly format. It means I’m prompted to show you guys things I wouldn’t normally put out on the podcast. So, let me know what you think!

Here it is!

And of course…the youtube link.

Okay, time to go check out the diggnation happenings!

I’m done.

Brett.

If you liked this educational programing then feel free to donate!

Thanks!

I mentioned how cool Heather and Spence Babcock were already…and I thanked Taylor Jones for setting it all up. But I just did it again. Ha! So there.

I literally spent hours with them learning about various aspects of “not dying in the woods” but when push came to shove I couldn’t cram all that info into a ten-minute long podcast. So, enjoy my frustrations as you watch me attempt to test out my new found survival skills!

And if you click here it’ll take you to that fun for all youtube version.

Thanks for all the support team! How do you feel about this new Wednesday schedule? Not only have I managed the miracle of keeping up with it but today’s is even out almost two hours early! Ka-KOW!

I’m done.

Brett.

If you liked the video and that fancy new schedule then feel free to help keep things moving!

Don’t let me stop you.

I have some good news and some great news…which do you want to hear first?

Okay, since you don’t seem to have an audible opinion I’m going to go with good news first. Yesterday I had the opportunity to play yet another awesome regional game…and we all know how much I like games! (Well, at least I know how much I like games.)

This one was called Splash and I’m not entirely positive I can explain it with out a diagram but I guess you can’t stop me from trying. Splash is played on a pool table with just the cue ball and the red (#3) ball. The balls start on either end of the table and the first person to go rolls the cue ball at the red ball with his/her hand.

The next player in line has to grab the cue ball and hit the red ball again. This is where it becomes complicated because every time you try to hit the red ball you have to throw the cue ball from whatever side of the table is opposite the side of the table the red ball is on.

If you miss you can retry but if you don’t hit the red ball before it stops moving you get a letter like in HORSE, except you’re playing SPLASH. Also, if you sink the red ball with the cue ball the person in line after you gets a point.

All of this results in people running madly around a pool table trying retrieve the cue ball and make it to the opposite side of the table as the red ball so they can legally throw the cue ball before the red ball stops moving. (Simple, right? [There might be a little sarcasm there])

So, this game was made especially cool because there were close to twenty people playing at the same time and all having fun AND I won. (No big deal.)

Now…the great news.

I have some extra survival skills under my belt that weren’t there yesterday morning!

I met up with an AWESOME couple, Spencer and Heather Babcock, who teach delinquent children how to survive in the desert. I spent quite a bit of time in their home learning how to make some simple traps and about the basics of not dying before wasting an hour making myself look like a complete waste of skin as I failed repeatedly to produce fire from sticks.

I did however eventually show that wood who was boss and create a little piece of coal that could easily cause some California sized wildfires if I were a less agreeable dude.

It was a great experience and I’m so glad I go to meet Spence and Heather. They were honestly great people that I would have loved to have been able to spend more time with. I also want to thank Taylor, the cool kid that invited me to Salt Lake City in the first place and set that whole hoopla up. So, expect to see me spend a lot of time not starting a fire this Wednesday at 6pm PST!

Now, I’ve got to get a little bit of rest before I have to try to catch a stand-by flight to New York for the one day a year they open up the entire stairwell at the Empire State Building. I’ll be a volunteer with the New York Road Runners running club (they’re the guys that host the annual footrace to the top of the building which is the reason the stairs will be opened) and hopefully I’ll get my chance to trek to the top.

Okay, I’m done.

Brett.

If you liked reading about my adventures why not make a tiny little intsy wintsy donation?

Seriously.

Most days something happens to me pretty early on that makes me think, “Oh. That’s going to be fun to write about tonight.” And I immediately start to compose the post in my head, think about clever ways to word things, make up a few clever analogies but within the next couple hours something even MORE interesting tends to happen and since I try to limit these to 500 words or so, I end up composing a whole new post in my head.

That means for just about every day you guys read a post there is at least one post that only exists in my head. So, basically you guys read less than half of the interesting stuff that happens and it tends to be the stuff that happens later in the day.

Today, the first post I wrote in my head was about this amazing restaurant I ate at for lunch. I even explained those first two paragraphs to Taylor, one of my hosts here in SLC, and said something along the lines of, “This place is SO amazing I can’t imagine having to think about writing anything else today.”

And then the rest of the day happened.

So despite the fact that I accidentally shocked a ferret with static electricity prompting it to bite me, saw two great bands perform, hung out with several incredible people with amazing stories to share AND got pulled over by the Utah Highway Patrol (Are you kidding?! Of COURSE I didn’t get a ticket.) I’m still going to insist on writing about that restaurant. So there.

What made this place so worth writing about? Well I’m glad you asked, Mr. Disembodied Voice.

The place was called One World Everybody Eats. And the idea behind it was that there were no set portions and no set prices. You eat as much or as little as you want and at the end of your meal it’s up to you to decide how much your meal was worth to you and how much you’d like to pay. You can also choose to work off the cost of your meal with one hour per meal.

All of the food is completely organic and the chefs come in before their shifts, check out what’s fresh and what’s in stock and create their dishes for the day on the spot. I had a Dill Apple Wheatberry Soup, A spicy pumpkin seed something or other, some sort of squash and salmon dish, tofu and lentils, chicken, sausage and beans, apple pear sauce and an “Everything Cookie.” I tried more (It’s served kind of cafeteria style and I opted for tiny portions of EVERYTHING.) but those are the things that stick out.

They even have two staples everyday like rice and lentils that are completely complimentary for anyone that can’t afford a meal.

This place blew me away. Not only was it a completely innovative business plan that relied heavily on the kindness and honesty of strangers but the food was all organic and DELICIOUS. I wanted to go back for seconds on everything but I already felt like I didn’t own enough money to contribute as much as I would have liked to.

PLUS, I’m all about trying new things and there was no end to the new food opportunities. Not one of the dishes I tried was something I had ever tried before…and I’ve had a LOT of different types of food.

Bottom line: If you’re ever in the Salt Lake City area do NOT pass this place up.

Okay, I’m going to call that a (n action packed) night. I still have to update yesterday’s post…it will have to wait another day.

I’m done.

Brett.

If you liked reading about me wishing I could donate more then maybe you would like to donate more!

Seriously.

I know why hell is so hot. Salt Lake City is using up all the freakin’ cold! Wow. Just…wow. When Taylor wrote to the site and said come on over to Salt Lake City and my friends will teach you some survival skills she was careful to add that it was cold. She also said, “But that’s what hats and coats are for!”

What she did NOT say was that she meant, “Bring at least four hats and eight VERY warm coats otherwise pieces of you may start falling off shortly after freezing solid and cracking like the liberty bell. I had to stop at every coffee shop I walked past today just to use their bathroom so I could check on things.

Half the time I couldn’t tell if my phone was vibrating or I was just shivering uncontrollably.

I’d also like to add that, although my couch surfing host, Peter, disagrees and insists it’s god’s gift to urban planning, there’s definitely something wrong with the street naming they’ve got going on here. Anytime you can tell someone to meet you at the corner of 200 and 200 and be talking about not one…not two, but FOUR different intersections, it’s time to rethink your naming convention.

Now before you Boston douchebags pipe up. I understand that it’s 200 N and 200 S etc. But here’s the thing. If you have John Smith Sr. and John Smith Jr. in the same room you’re probably going to start calling one of them Little Johnny. Just because the suffixes are different doesn’t mean that’s enough.

All that being said: Salt Lake City is absolutely GORGEOUS and my couch surfing hosts are some of the most generous I have ever met.

Another thing that needs to be addressed is the fact that I’m falling asleep face first in Charley’s lap over and over again. I’ve had a grand total of three hours of sleep the last three days.

I HAVE to do something about that. I’ll finish updating this and post some pictures in the morning.

Not done yet.

Brett.