This episode is about trying new things and being willing to overcome fear.
Cate and I experienced glamping, coffee shop stopping at one of the most notorious gunman in the west’s cafe, hiking through Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park.
The road trippen through the wide open spaces of the west is about exploring and feeling a sense of freedom that we never have felt when we have driven through forest lined highways on the east coast.
If you’re wanting to explore and feel freedom caress your soul, come along with us on our journey through Utah.
We hope you enjoy the experience.
https://www.instagram.com/betterwithacupofcoffee/
https://betterwithacupofcoffee.com/
This episode is about trying new things and being willing to overcome fear.
Cate and I experienced glamping, coffee shop stopping at one of the most notorious gunman in the west’s cafe, hiking through Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park.
The road trippen through the wide open spaces of the west is about exploring and feeling a sense of freedom that we never have felt when we have driven through forest lined highways on the east coast.
If you’re wanting to explore and feel freedom caress your soul, come along with us on our journey through Utah.
We hope you enjoy the experience.
https://www.instagram.com/betterwithacupofcoffee/
https://betterwithacupofcoffee.com/
Hey guys. Welcome to Cuppa Connections. I'm Portia, and we're here coming to you from our virtual cafe, Better with a Cup of Coffee. We are savoring relationships with coffee lovers around the world and sharing their experiences that have been better with a cup of coffee. This is day, day nine and 10 of the road trip, right? We're, we're.
Cate:I believe so.
Portia:We're all in Utah.
Cate:Yes.
Portia:And it was fantastic because we went to one of the most amazing places. I can't even say one in Utah. We broke it up. We went to Under Canvas, which was a glamping resort, so it was like luxurious camping, and it was safari tents. Mm-hmm. Um, but it's title under Canvas Zion, because it's near Zion, but it's actually in Virgin, Utah. If anyone goes on the website and you, you look up under Canvas properties, you'll see all of these properties over the country.
Cate:Yeah, that was awesome. A very unique experience.
Portia:Absolutely. I was going for that for us. I wanted something unique. I wanted to do. I'm a cancer, so I like balance. I wanted a balance of everything for us to, to do.
Cate:We succeeded.
Portia:I chose the Under Canvas Zion, which is close to Zion National Park because that's where we were gonna go hiking. Zion is the park, but we were hiking Angels Landing.
Cate:She did the Angels Landing and I did not.
Portia:Yeah, we, the thing about Angels Landing, if anyone is interested in going to Zion National Park in Utah, but hiking Angels Landing, is that you have to, because there's so much traffic, it's, it's so busy.
Cate:It is.
Portia:You have to reserve your spot and you should do it I think the, the timeframe was spring. And it was very inexpensive. It was only$6 for the both of us. But the key is, is that it's a lottery, that's what it was. And you have to put your name down and the date that you're gonna be there. And they give you a time sometimes mm-hmm. To select the times that you want to go to, Angels Landing, and then you wait. If you get selected, they'll send you your digital ticket.
Cate:Yes.
Portia:You can print it or I think you have to print it instead of having it on the your phone.
Cate:Because there is no reception there.
Portia:Right. That's right. There is no reception. But before that, we passed through, of course, Nevada. And, everybody who's gone to Nevada, going from Los Angeles, you, you're going north. You know, when you, you are at that little place where they have the rollercoaster rides, they have the roller coaster, you know the casinos there right before Vegas? Well, they have a, a Pink Box. My goodness, Pink Box is all about donuts. And absolutely delicious. A Pink Box and then a Starbucks. Some people don't like Starbucks, but I can't combination. You can't go wrong with coffee and donuts. Mm-hmm. So that's to get you going. And then she just took off.
Cate:Yeah. Like a bat outta hell.
Portia:We did. So it took us about six and a half, seven hours, you know, with traffic and all.
Cate:Roughly seven.
Portia:It was a beautiful drive, don't you think?
Cate:It was. When we got closer to Under Canvas, we saw this
Portia:The Cowboy.
Cate:The Cowboy. Very cool.
Portia:Very cool.
Cate:He was wrangling some cattle.
Portia:Oh yes, That's right because, and I was asking the young lady there, the the manager, why you see a cowboy and his cattle going through the property? Mm-hmm. And there was an agreement when these, the owners purchased the land. That was the stipulation, that they still could roam, have their cattle on the property.
Cate:Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Portia:But then when you get into the under canvas property, I thought it was cool. You see all of these safari style tents?
Cate:Yeah.
Portia:It's like you were on an African safari.
Cate:Yeah.
Portia:Right.
Cate:Except no big, um, predators.
Portia:No, none of the big five. It was beautiful.
Cate:It was.
Portia:First of all, you have to park, you have to check in. It's just like a hotel basically.
Cate:You gotta go over things, you know?
Portia:Yeah.
Cate:You can have food in your tent. You can't have this and that because food attracts
Portia:Animals.
Cate:Animals.
Portia:And I mean, even it's a safari style tent situation, but you have the amenities as if you have a hotel room. Yes. You have your shower, you have your bathroom, you have your sink. Mm-hmm. And, the tent that we selected was the stargazing tent. So at night, they have a, clear plastic,
Cate:mm-hmm
Portia:covering to where you could sleep under the stars.
Cate:Pretty much, we did.
Portia:We did.
Cate:Didn't take much rocking to fall asleep though. We were kinda tired.
Portia:We were exhausted. So you go in and it's an open floor plan type of situation where it's almost like a, a group of teepees.
Cate:Mm-hmm.
Portia:And you have the front desk, you have some restaurant, restaurant tables, you have the restaurant there and they provide you, you speak about coffee. I was in coffee heaven.
Cate:She was.
Portia:They provided you with Bluestone Lane Coffee, and it was. Bluestone Lane Coffee, it came from a gentleman who was from Melbourne, Australia, and then he moved to New York and then he had this idea, and he started the coffee. Well, they have their coffee and it was delicious, actually. I think it was like a medium roast. It was nicely balanced. They had that for you in abundance. You can get that morning, noon, or night, which was cool for me.
Cate:For you, yes.
Portia:And so they provide you with a selection of farm to table foods. Mm-hmm. It was very healthy foods. But you also had, if you didn't want to go outside and, and go hiking or do whatever, all of the amenities within.
Cate:They had stuff going on at the facility.
Portia:Yes.
Cate:You could listen to music.
Portia:They had live music.
Cate:Live music. They had, um.
Portia:They had a fire pit there.
Cate:I think they had cornhole.
Portia:Yes, they did.
Cate:Yeah.
Portia:They did. It was really neat. And, and everybody could gather and, and just. It was wonderful.
Cate:It was.
Portia:But since we were exhausted, we had to unwind. We wanted to soak up, you know, just chilling on a patty on the porch because each one has a porch. And you could just relax. And the backdrop, it's beautiful.
Cate:Amazing.
Portia:Um, red striated rock in the back, and we stayed there and just relaxed on the patio. Oh,
Cate:We did.
Portia:And just enjoy, you can just enjoy the music from where you are.
Cate:Oh, I enjoyed it.
Portia:But, tell'em what happened when we got in and we got settled.
Cate:Up our little tent.
Portia:What happened?
Cate:We're getting stuff set up, you know, moved out, and they had two, two openings. Like, they had a screen and then you had the actual canvas that you could cover. Um.
Portia:And they, it zips. It zip like they have like a film where if you wanted a to a netting, if you wanted to, it's like bar and, yeah, but also look outside. Yeah. You still had the privacy of keeping it closed and so forth.
Cate:And then they had a canvas that closed, closed it off at night.
Portia:Mm-hmm.
Cate:So you can have your privacy.
Portia:Right.
Cate:I look up, and I'm like, what the hell is that? It was a spider He was about that big around, and I am not kidding. He was big.
Portia:Well, they warned you about the animals. I mean, it was a criers rarity. The critters. It was a, it's a rarity. You're, you're kind of out there in like desert like conditions, you know?
Cate:And I guess nobody had been in that tent for a while. Mm-hmm. So, of course, Oh, it found shelter. It found some, some safe place.
Portia:It was right up in the, like the crease between the two layers. The cutting
Cate:and the, yeah. And then, uh, yeah, so I'm trying to be bold. I can't stand spiders and I don't like them. I'll pick up a snake, a mouse, anything.
Portia:She would.
Cate:But a spider, I'm gonna run from it.
Portia:She said, nope.
Cate:I was trying to be big and bad, you know, show off to my wife a little bit and be like, yeah baby, I got this. I'm cool. I got it.
Portia:Mm-hmm. And in my mind I'm thinking, what's wrong with you? Oh yeah, you got it. Mm-hmm.
Cate:Well, I get a stick, find a stick, and I'm getting up to it. Well, all of a sudden he goes back on his hin legs and he starts, goes like that. And I'm like, oh.
Portia:She's like, oh.
Cate:I scream. I'm like, hell no. Oh my God. So we, we called down to the front desk.
Portia:And, they were amazing. There was a, I think it was four young men.
Cate:Well, it started off with a young lady that came out.
Portia:That's right. She was so cool.
Cate:And, and she was like, come, just playing it. Cool. She was like, call for some, you know, men to come down and help out. I, you know.
Portia:We're not trying to scare you. Don't get me wrong. It's just nature. No, and they do warn you, let me say this. They do warn you. If you are not used to nature, if you don't like nature, there are some critters. Then it's not for you. They warn you. So we're just emphasizing, hey, if it's, if you don't like any of that, even though it's glamping, then it's just not for you.
Cate:No.
Portia:But, anyway.
Cate:So she calls and gets recruits, you know, these three, four men that come down, young men and, oh my, they're just looking up and I'm videoing the whole thing. Cause I'm, I'm, I'm just fascinated.
Portia:And I'm not going to. I'm not going near it. Okay. I'm looking just to try and see what she's seeing, but I'll be dag on if I'm gonna go up in there and like, oh, let me see. Touch it. You know, with the stick. I'm not, I'm not that one. Uhuh.
Cate:Well, I wasn't that one either. I was just trying to be.
Portia:But what was funny, was when the young man, they were so nice and so kind, they were just gentle and we all were like, don't you catch it and kill it? No. That's not what they do. They just let it go. So this one young man, he gets up there and he has a little a stick, you know, it's about this long and it's about this thick. And he gets up there and he's trying to.
Cate:Get it on to go on to the stick.
Portia:Onto the stick. Well, he got onto the stick alright. He pulls it down and all of a sudden it disappears. And we're both like, Um, is it gonna come back? He's like, no, not really. No. You know, once, once people are in the tents and, and they, yeah.
Cate:There's activity going on. They're, they're scared. They don't wanna be around it.
Portia:Well, the thing is, I'm not gonna let that wash. Okay. I need you to find that thing. So he we're both looking, we're looking down steps and we're looking here and there because, and then all of a sudden it's staring at me and I'm staring at it. I find it first and I'm like, uh, here it is. And so you know what he said, oh, this is great. He just got it again with the stick. And he looked at it a little bit. He was like, oh yeah. That's a Desert Recluse.
Cate:A Desert Recluse.
Portia:Now, anybody knows about recluse spiders, they're very poisonous. Mm-hmm. Now, this may have been on the lesser scale, but it still was a part of the recluse family. So when, uh, GI Jane over here was trying to be, turn into Wonder Woman, you know, that lasso ain't, wasn't on her. It was like the, the spider, however this big was winning and I think that the guys sensed that, like they knew what it was and they were trying to keep us calm.
Cate:Yeah. I mean, I wasn't gonna freak out. I'm like, okay. You know, they're deadly insects everywhere you go.
Portia:I was. Okay. That's why I just had to do what you do. I stepped away.
Cate:Take a deep breath. Let God handle it.
Portia:Until it fell. So anyway, it fell. They found it. It was done. We were great. You know, we went out, we had dinner. Uh, what was so impressive, not only, of course the staff was, they were so hands on. They were focused, they were calm, they helped us. It was no big deal. What I found impressive was the staff that ran the Under Canvas Zion.
Cate:They were young.
Portia:They were like millennials.
Cate:Mm-hmm.
Portia:They were young and they were super professional. I couldn't, yeah. I couldn't, there was not enough high praise to go around.
Cate:Right.
Portia:I was so impressed. I've worked in the hotel industry at the Hollywood Roosevelt for, gosh, I think it was like eight to 10 years, something like that. It's a trying, challenging profession. You get all kinds of people, uh, to try your nerves basically. But they were so professional. They were wonderful. Yeah. They were, were, and, and I have to give kudos to them. But.
Cate:Absolutely.
Portia:We, we wanted to see what our money's worth was, was about.
Cate:Right.
Portia:So we did have to hold off and see the stars.
Cate:Mm-hmm.
Portia:Um, but after that.
Cate:It was beautiful.
Portia:It was beautiful. But I didn't see it for too long.
Cate:Oh, I didn't either.
Portia:Because I was so geared for the next day.
Cate:Oh, yes.
Portia:And the next day was.
Cate:Amazing.
Portia:It was otherworldly. You know, we were talking about the Grand Canyon and how amazing it was.
Cate:Mm-hmm. And how, how that hike up whopped my butt.
Portia:Right. But, There was nothing like Zion and Angels Landing for me. I can't speak for my wife, but I had an a moment that has been unmatched. The Under Canvas was 30 so minutes from Zion National Park, but I had already read that it is pretty packed. It gets busy. It was in the heart of summer, so we left early. I think it was about 8:30. People tell you to get there early, because if you don't, there's a line entering into the park.
Cate:Oh my God.
Portia:Which was so true.
Cate:It was.
Portia:But the thing that we have to tell you is that, so we were gonna do exactly what everybody else was gonna do. We were gonna get in the shuttle, we were gonna follow people, do the line thing. It would've taken too long. What did we do? I stopped one of the guys who was driving the shuttle. You remember that? And I just was asking him, Uh, do we need to do this or can we just go on up to the entrance? And he was like, you don't need to do this. It's early enough. Go on up. It's, it's probably no wait at all.
Cate:Mm-hmm.
Portia:Do you remember that?
Cate:Mm-hmm.
Portia:We bypassed so much traffic.
Cate:Yeah, we do.
Portia:Yes. We entered into the park.
Cate:We found a parking spot.
Portia:Found a parking spot because we were early. We got into Zion before nine o'clock.
Cate:Mm-hmm.
Portia:And even at that point it was kind of packed. Mm-hmm. They were still parking. So a note to the wise, if you heard.
Cate:The earlier, the better.
Portia:The earlier the better. And from that point, I believe there are different stops. I think it was like six stops where you could, the shuttle will take you and.
Cate:Right.
Portia:It'll drop you off to each stop.
Cate:Mm-hmm. And you just had to know which stop you were getting off at.
Portia:Yes. So the stop was Angels Landing. And remember that pass that we were talking about?
Cate:Oh, yes.
Portia:Well, you have to print off your ticket, your passes because the moment they drop you off, you cross over the river and they're waiting for you. They check. So you just can't mosey on up to Angels Landing and think you're going to get up there because it is packed and it is very dangerous. You can't have so many people up there at one time. And woo, it took from, I think we were in at that spot around nine ish.
Cate:Mm-hmm.
Portia:It was hot then. I think it was high, mid to high eighties at that point.
Cate:But it didn't feel as bad as it does say in North Carolina where it's, you know, it's so humid.
Portia:Mm-hmm.
Cate:You didn't feel it as hot.
Portia:Right. But when we came, we'll tell you all the juicy parts in the middle, but when we came back, it took us about three or so hours. We came back, it was somewhere a little bit after 12, I think. Mm-hmm. It was hotter than fish grease.
Cate:Oh, it was?
Portia:It was hot. It was in the hundreds by then. So they also warn you to drink lots of lot, drink lots of water, get there as early as possible because if you try and start during the hot part of the day, you are in trouble. So tell'em about we, it's like a switchback.
Cate:It's a switchback and you're going straight up. Of course, we take little breaks and you know, my back was. Yeah, my back was my back, so whatever. So we, we make it up to a point. We're seeing critters running around.
Portia:The encounter of the critter.
Cate:Squirrels and, and chips and lizards.
Portia:That's all you honey.
Cate:But we hike up, we get to the stopping point before Angel's Landing. And so, I'm watching people going up, people coming down, and this, you know, they're very close to each other. I mean, it's a very narrow pathway.
Portia:At first, I didn't even know what it was. I think we had to ask them where it was, and then somebody pointed,
Cate:and I had already seen that, and I was, I was just thinking, hell no.
Portia:And then, in the distance, you it looks like, to me, it looked like ants just coming down. You saw people. I think the pathway is maybe, I don't know, three, four feet on some places. Some places it's, it's shorter than three feet. It's just maybe a foot and a half or some, it just depends on where you are.
Cate:Mm-hmm.
Portia:I mean, there have been some serious deaths where people that have slipped, they've fallen. The rock is, is slick sometimes. It's, um, you are just climbing vertical and thank God. They bolt these poles in the ground with these thick chain link fence.
Cate:Thick chains.
Portia:Chains. Yes. And you hold on. And those things have been used so much that sometimes it gives way a little bit. And I don't know if I told you, but one of the times it gave way on me and I was not vertical at one. It's like I was on the trail and you're, when it gave way, I was leaning off the trail.
Cate:You didn't tell me that.
Portia:Yes, child. I was praying to God and my mom the whole way. The whole way. So I have this, this control issue, this fear of letting go and all of that. And there were certain things along the way that just broke through the film of fear. And wouldn't you know it, it was two incidences where it was the, these kids. I swear they were probably eight, ten.
Cate:Oh.
Portia:The first time was when there was this little girl and her father. She was flying down. Her father was behind her. It must have been an Instagram sensation or something. Her father was flying down with her, filming her on the phone, and I, when I say it's dangerous, it is dangerous. But these kids, they we're so surefooted, they just kept going. I was looking at this girl. I was like, oh hell no. It was not that. I was jealous of her. I was inspired by her. Because you know, when you're a little kid and you have.
Cate:And you're fearless.
Portia:You're fearless. I was so fearless when I was a kid.
Cate:Mm-hmm.
Portia:My mom would call me the wild woman to this day because of that. And then over, over time, life happens and you get fear and, and embedded in you, and you let it control you. Well, that made me go, I said, oh no, if this little girl can do it, that was the beginning.
Cate:Mm-hmm.
Portia:Because I knew Kate couldn't do it.
Cate:I wasn't gonna, I'm terrified of heights and I try to overcome that fear.
Portia:Yeah.
Cate:By taking myself to high places, looking down and doing whatever because I don't want something like that to hold me back. But sure held me back then. That day.
Portia:Well, it's understandable and I understood that and, but it's something within me. Before I saw the little girl, I said, I'm made up in my mind. Okay. I just have to go. It's something. Then I see this little girl and I'm on my way. Oh. So I get to another point where, you know, along the way any sane person has doubts and fears. Mm-hmm. And I was wondering, I'm still kind of at the beginning, I don't know, but should I keep going? And I did. And the reason why I did, I saw another child. But this time, it was really dangerous. If you're going up, on this particular part of the trail, you're on the left side um, of rock face. Oh. And that side, it's probably no more than three feet. And then it is a drop off. And, you have those chain linked. And you are holding onto that. Well, I see this little kid. It was an Asian family. They were young.
Cate:Oh, I saw him.
Portia:And you saw him?
Cate:Yes. Coming down. I was just like, wow.
Portia:This little kid, the father was ahead of him. The mother was behind him. He was walking and he wasn't holding onto the chain. He was so happy. He was in his element, surefooted. Wow. I looked at this kid.
Cate:And, he looked to be about three or four years old.
Portia:He was so tiny.
Cate:He was young.
Portia:He was young. I don't know how old he was, and it just gave me some more inspiration. I mean, because you saw him when he came down.
Cate:Mm-hmm.
Portia:It's like how this is amazing, girl, if you don't get your butt up. And that's exactly what got me to the next level. I kid you not. And I, I looked to the family. I shook my head, and I said, your son is amazing. And they were so happy and they said, yeah, he is. That's exactly what they said. So I'm off. And at that point I was by myself. Hmm. Which was scary because even though there are a lot of people on the trail, It's tiring. So people stop and they gather themselves. You know, sometimes people eat their lunch and stuff. Mm-hmm. And sometimes people can't go at a certain speed. Sometimes people go faster than you, or slower than you. So there are times when you get caught or you're doing it by yourself. And that was probably the scariest, scariest moment because I was thinking if I fell, there's no one to catch me. There's no one to help me. Because literally you're falling off the damn mountain. so I just kept looking down. I, there was no time to admire the beauty. And I just kept saying, put one foot in front of the other, one foot in front of the other. And soon enough I found people. And when I found, I found people. I stuck to those people. It was a couple. Oh, okay. It was um, uh, and I think they were like from, from Europe, cuz I could tell the accent and the guy out, they were booking it and I was trying to book it with them. Cause I was like, no, I don't wanna be left behind. You know? And they kept going further away from me. And I was just, I was just trying to go, babe. I was trying to go as fast as I could, but as safe as I could cuz you know, I wanted to be with somebody.
Cate:Mm. And they might have been from the Netherlands.
Portia:I think they were.
Cate:Because the lady that decided she would come and sit next to me, uh, cause I was sitting by myself just looking, she was from the Netherlands. Mm. She went up a little ways and then she said, I can't do it. Mm-hmm. I said, I'm with you.
Portia:I, I get that. I absolutely get that. And so, I remember we had this boulder and, I had to grab onto the boulder beside me, and he just took one long step and he was up. It was amazing. So as they were getting further and further away from me, in my mind I was thinking catch up. But as soon as there was like a, um, a switchback where you had to wait for people to come down because we couldn't.
Cate:You couldn't do it all at the same time.
Portia:Yeah, we couldn't do it all at one same time. And as soon as we did that, there was this lady, she was standing there and I, she, I just noticed she didn't look right. So I stopped and I, and I talked to her and I was like, are you okay? And she says, no. I don't have any water. I just feel lightheaded. And I was like, what? And I had like three water bottles, large water bottles. So I gave her one of mine, and I gave her a pack of electrolyte stuff. And I was like, honey, this stuff is nasty, but it's gonna work. So put it in your water. And then the couple, when they were stopped, they turned around and they gave her some of their water. So.
Cate:Well, she was, she got real smart from
Portia:Well, the thing is, is that, and I'm, in my mind I was thinking why is she by herself? But she wasn't. I said, do you have anybody with you? She was like, well, my husband and kids are gone. I was thinking, your kids. She's like, yeah, my, so anyway, her kids had gone on up, and the husband was trying to get them. And so she volunteered. She was just like, I'm just gonna stay here. She was, she was, uh, it was hot. She was dehydrated, she was overheating and it was dangerous for her. So she was kind of in a tiny bit of sh shade. So she stayed there. So anyway, we left her in good shape. After we stayed for a little bit, we walked on up and, we. We finally make it. But it's like the last few steps, you know, when you, almost at the top of the mountain, and it's the hardest. Mm. Well, there it was the hardest. And I, and I didn't know how I was gonna make it. I was just praying to God. I was talking to my mom. I was just like, come on, you can do it. Just don't stop. Just don't stop. And it was, um, a couple. And they said, you know what, you're almost there. Come on. Don't give up. And, I went up it was just like the sound of music, you know, when you see Julie Andrews and, and she's on the, the mountain and she's gotten her arms wide open and
Cate:This singing The Hills Are Alive.
Portia:Yeah. And the space is so vast. felt, I felt like I was on top of the world. Because you accomplished something and then. Just everybody else up there. Mm-hmm. It's like, you know, we accomplished something and that fear just melted.
Cate:And from where I was sitting.
Portia:Mm-hmm.
Cate:I could see everybody looked like ants up there.
Portia:Yes. And so.
Cate:From where I was sitting.
Portia:When I go up there. There were two women that were sitting down. And it's ironically one of'em went to UNC Chapel Hill. Mm-hmm. And then the other one lived in California. Two places where you and I, one where you and I lived and one where I lived. And they offered to take a picture and they said, oh, you should stay and you should. I was like, Uhuh, I'm getting run down. I gotta go see my wife. I was like, I, I'm good. I good. So I get down. You think it was hard going up?
Cate:Oh, I know. It was harder coming down.
Portia:It was so much harder going down.
Cate:I mean, just from when you first started going up?
Portia:Yeah.
Cate:I mean it was pretty much like this.
Portia:Yeah, it was vertical all the way.
Cate:And then you had to come down that way.
Portia:But then the rocks were so slick and you have to have the right shoes. Please be prepared if you guys go hiking on, on this particular trail. Wear the proper shoes. I've seen so many people they wear, you know, just sandals and things and sometimes they, they may be used to that. I don't know where they would come from, but at least have the proper, the proper clothing, the proper equipment. Yeah. So I'm going down and I'm, of course I'm not looking down around and all that stuff. I'm just praying and I'm just one foot in front of the other and all of a sudden I hear this man. I mean, I met so many people on this trail. It was amazing. I hear this man and he said, thank you for helping my wife.
Cate:Aww.
Portia:I was, huh? I was like, oh my God, your wife. How is she?
Cate:You were the only African American.
Portia:Oh yeah, that's what she said.
Cate:Throwing that out. But I'll get, I'll get into that part after, after she finishes.
Portia:I was so busy about thinking about getting down. I see this man and he's like, thank you for helping my wife. And I was like, yeah, well how is she? And he, she was doing much better. And you know, that's at that point, she, he told me about the story about the kids and, and stuff. And, surely enough I made it down. And when I saw my wife, it was just the sweetest thing. I almost kissed the ground.
Cate:I bet you did. While Porsche was fighting for her life, to stay alive. God, is that dramatic or what?
Portia:I know, right? So dramatic.
Cate:I mean one wrong move, boom. You.
Portia:For real. I ain't lying. Glory be.
Cate:Well. Thank you, God. So I enjoyed myself sitting on that rock. It was hotter than Hades, but I did not care. I was sitting down, I was safe. So, a lady had, well actually this was before that lady from the Netherlands had stopped to sit down with me, but I was just looking out. I saw the river. There was a, a hawk that was just flying around, so I got some video of that was amazing.
Portia:She and her critters.
Cate:Oh yeah. I love my critters. And, just reflecting on life, this, that and the other. It was just, it was very empowering. By that time, the young lady had come and sat next to me and we're just talking about how our, our loved ones were brave. And I told her about my wife and it didn't phase her one bitch. She was like, ok, cool. Cool beans. And there would be some people that would stop and talk. And, there was this guy and his sister-in-law that had to come back down. And I said, Hey, since you guys were up there, did you see um, an African American up there by herself? He was like, yeah, she's the only one up there. I was like.
Portia:Yep. Leave it to me.
Cate:Yes.
Portia:I'll go on adventure now.
Cate:I mean, we laughed. I was, he said you were doing fine, so I mean, I was checking in on you.
Portia:Oh, that's cool.
Cate:And during that time some squirrels and chip bucks came up to me, and they wanted some food.
Portia:And they started singing to her and.
Cate:Well sort of.
Portia:Confessed their dying. Love that they wanted her food and they loved her cuz you the animal whisperer.
Cate:And, but I love my critters. So this squirrel gets closer and closer. So does this chipmunk. Now the chipmunk was very aggressive.
Portia:See, do not feed the animals.
Cate:Well, I didn't feed'em.
Portia:I didn't say you did, but you know, I'm saying to the peoples do not feed the animals.
Cate:Yeah, don't, because it's really not safe.
Portia:They get used to you guys.
Cate:And then, you know, if you don't feed'em, they could come up, bite you or whatever.
Portia:Then you get rabbies.
Cate:Or whatever, but the squirrel got close enough and I decided my wife wasn't around, so I'm gonna pet it.
Portia:See, what did I say? I didn't say, I should have said, do not feed the animals and do not touch the animals. Okay.
Cate:So, I pet it. It was very soft. He scurried away, of course, and then the chip bunk got close and I said, I'm not taking a chance on you. You look like a little shit. The, you'll bite the crap outta me. So, and then after that I was all proud of myself, you know.
Portia:She's proud Mary. Yeah. Oh, what's a good, oh, I'm sorry.
Cate:But then, Portia comes back, and she shares her story with me. You know, we share story exchange stories, and I was happy that she came back in one piece.
Portia:Gosh. It was a, it was woo. God was with me. That was.
Cate:He was, and God was with me as well, because I still had all my digits. No critters cutting them off that, that chip on would've. He was ready to do a number.
Portia:You had all your digits. Well, you know of course how every hiking excursion is or where whenever you go anywhere. It takes long to get there, but it's shorter to get down. Ah-huh. Which, that was the case for us. Because we were on a schedule.
Cate:Yeah.
Portia:We had to then drive to Bryce Canyon, which was about an hour and a half away. So you guys can imagine how tired we were. And we get down to our cars and we're booking it out through the national park and going to this.
Cate:And that was amazing drive.
Portia:It was.
Cate:Through the park.
Portia:Yes.
Cate:We saw
Portia:Bison and cave.
Cate:Yeah, cave in the mountains. But it was just, awww.
Portia:So we're driving through, we're booking it. We have to go to Bryce Canyon, which is another wonderful National Park. But along the way, I see something, and it looked like a little hut, and we actually we passed by it. And it was Butch Cassidy's.
Cate:Oh yes.
Portia:Little house, like his original house. How neat is that? It was in the middle of nowhere. Oh. But I love westerns and I just thought it was an interesting part of history. No, I'm not glorify glorifying a, a thief and a killer. No, but just the coolness of it, of, of that type of history. And so we turn in and the house looks. It's, it's almost like a, a shed these days. But just to put a name to the face mm-hmm. To a house, to a location of where he resided. He was young. He was like, 20 something.
Cate:Mm-hmm.
Portia:So we passed through there and along the way I stopped cuz I wanted some coffee.
Cate:Of course.
Portia:And there's the Butch Cassidy Cafe. All of these pictures are of all of these wanted western guys, Butch Cassidy and Sundance. And all of the, um, the rewards and stuff, it was all over the cafe walls. And you saw the pictures of these wanted men and their groups, and it was neat. So, we leave, we hustle to Bryce Canyon. We're camping, so we go from luxury living to camping. It is a different, different environment. Bryce Canyon. It is cooler cuz I think you're higher in elevation. So we kind of weren't prepared for that. We were prepared cuz we carried so many clothes. But you know, we're thinking we're coming from Under Canvas, and it's hot. And we get to Bryce, and it's warm, yeah, during the day.
Cate:But at night it was cold.
Portia:I was so cold I couldn't move at night. I couldn't even move to put on clothes.
Cate:Yeah. I was the one that braved the elements.
Portia:We didn't see Bryce Canyon as much as we wanted to, but that day was full. It was enjoyable. It was amazing. That was the whole Utah stint, as far as staying in Utah. It was unbelievable. Utah.
Cate:I wanna go back.
Portia:Yeah. Utah is a, an amazing state, so stay tuned because we're driving to Breckenridge Ridge, but we're going through, um, Moab and driving along the Colorado River from Moab going towards Colorado, and it was amazing. And on day 11, we stopped and we spoke to some Native Americans
Cate:Oh, yes.
Portia:On this stop. And they were selling their jewelry and, and the lady that I purchased my jewelry from was from Arizona and she drove all the way up. So stay tuned guys. It was wonderful to express to you how much fun we had.
Cate:Oh, yes.
Portia:And the drive and the beauty.
Cate:Yes. Have a great day, y'all.
Portia:I'm Portia White, and I hope you've enjoyed today's conversation. I'd like to give a special thanks to our sponsor betterwithacupofcoffee.com. If you want to be our guest on our show, email me at cuppaconnections@gmail.com. And if you liked what you heard, please rate and review our podcast. And, join us again soon on Cuppa Connections.