The Halloween Cruise

Yesterday was a rainy Saturday here but warm for late October. The morning was slow and lazy as we snuggled in watching movies waiting for my older daughter to get off work.

Then we got busy carving the pumpkins for the porch.

A messy and terrific way to spend a rainy afternoon. 

The oven warmed the kitchen as we roasted the seeds.

We also found out that our lab loves pumpkin as he snagged a huge chunk carved from my own and ran out the dog door to inhale it. Strange dog. His favorite things- although we rarely feed him scraps, are cauliflower, raw or cooked, and now pumpkin.

Although it has been unusually warm this autumn, it has been great to get out and see the wonderful fall colors in almost perfect temperatures.

We managed to get the yard decorations out for Halloween which also has not happened for a while. 

But yesterday the rains set in and the land is wet. 

But the temps are still not too cool yet. 

At the beginning of October we got a great deal on some tickets to a Halloween cruise on the Provo river. 

We have been on their Christmas cruise at this particular site and it was great. Similar to a sleigh ride all visitors snuggle with a heavy blanket across their laps as the slow pontoons glide over the river under the overhanging trees. The branches hang low over the river their bright Christmas lights reflecting off the water. Animated characters along the riverbanks also glow with strings of tiny lights of red, green and white.

Great family Christmas memories are made there while singing carols along the otherwise silent river.

So- this year we decided to try the Halloween cruise. Spooks and headless figures hanging from the branches while spooky sounds and Monster mash rang from the speakers were what I was expecting. But we were a bit disappointed at the lack of decor.

 A few strings of Halloween part lights shaped as candy corn, pumpkins and skulls. Two 'pirates' telling horrible pirate themes jokes and a very silly sword fight with one of them ending up in the frigid drink. And a host/ boat captain who forgot his lines, was not very personable and couldn't manage the simple CD player which played a Halloween poem for the crowd. Not really well planned or captivating.

However, it was a great night. The weather was almost perfect considering the rainy afternoon preceding the evening. It was time spent with my kids. And floating along the river, although a mite bit boring, was still really relaxing and brought us into the beauty of nature once again. 

The moon was near full and the sky hauntingly dark. 

We stopped for some hot chocolate and snacks then headed for home. 

Happy haunting everyone, hope your October is frighteningly perfect.

Night on the town

It has been a while since I have been clubbing with my best friend.

Last night, after sending my son and his friend off on the road back to their base, we decided it was time.
In Utah the nightclubs are few and far between. We have a few favorites that we frequent. It has come to the point where I have given up on the thoughts of actual meeting anyone I would date at any of the places we go. The men we have met out at the bars are far from my idea of a date-able man.
(note: not me in the photo)

Although I could really use a nice night out to catch up on girl talk and have a few drinks, my expectations of the night being any more than that were low. And I was o.k. with that.

But it turned out to be a great night.

With all the back pain I have been suffering the past few months, I was weary of hitting the dance floor. But regardless of that, we hardly sat out any of the songs. We danced the night away. It was just what I was looking for. It seems strange but there are more nights than not, that all we want is to 'cut a rug' and not one offer of a dance.

Of course the two of us will hit the floor together and boogie to a great song. But the establishment we were at, was more like the Texas honky tonk's with many couples doing the swing, two-step and cotton-eyed-joe. All dances that require a partner. And we managed to find many partners for many dances. Exactly what I was looking for. Some nights you just don't want to get hit on. Sometimes you just don't want a date or a hook-up to come from the night out.

Many a night we stay at the table and catch up on what was new with each others lives between meetings and never dance a bit.

Last night we hardly sat.

And the icing on the cake, was that I awoke this morning a little stiff in some areas of my body, exercise stiff. But the back pain was gone.

Which is a refreshing change. I can deal with exertion aches.. they go away. It was the cronic back pain I have been feeling that is so difficult to remedy. And who would have thought a little bit of recreational dancing would help with that?