My turn

Sorry I haven't been invading your inboxes for the last two days. As the title of the post suggests - it was my turn. For what? For altitude sickness. It was horrible. It's amazing - we are. In Las Vegas now, and I have none of the symptoms I had in SLC and Deer Valley. But, lets catch up on what two days worth.

Wednesday was a MASSIVE day. The alarm went off at 4:30 am. This photo was taken 2 minutes later.

We were off to a place called Kanab. It was a one hour bus ride, one hour flight then a two hour bus ride to arrive and the same in return. It was a super early start, so there weren't many photos taken until we got to the airport. With all usual morning starts, there was the obligatory morning coffee. Contrary to popular belief (myself included) there are lots off coffee shops all around SLC, including the airport. 

So, one thing I forgot to tell you is that Stampin' Up chartered a plane. THE.ENTIRE.PLANE. There was about 200 people on board. It was a LOUD and crafty plane ride. Did I mention that it was LOUD?

We touched down in a place called St. George. It was hot as hades. 

This was the view that greeted us when we walked out of the airport.

So, we are basically in the middle of the desert.

In fact, we made the local news;

http://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2013/07/25/boeing-757-brings-international-crowd-to-southern-utah/

This was typical of the views we saw on the 2 hour bus ride. 

When we arrived, we were greeted by all of the staff (and some ring-ins for the day)

It's a literal oasis in the middle of a parched landscape.

And, then we had lunch provided and took a tour of the facility. We were stunned. The stamps are literally hand made. I expected automation.

In fact, I made one for myself.

Sets being cooled before trimming - by hand!!!!!

Kylie had a go at assembling a pack - also done by hand.

One of the many freebies for the day. These other husbands were chuffed about getting their first stamp set. I pretended it was my first to fit in. Lol

Labels being affixed to the ink pads

Card stock being sorted and packaged.

We had 2 stain up home office employees on our tour.

We also had a look at Shelli Gardeners holiday place which is on site. I took some interesting pictures. 

On the way home, we stopped by at a park where the off its from the rubber stamps are used in a park. So, I buried my arm in it.

It was really bouncy and really hot.

SUPER Cute

The park

This was at the edge of the park

Then, we headed home. It was not good. The bus ride was good. We all boarded the plane. To conserve energy, the ac was not on while we waited for the flight plan ....... For in excess of 45 minutes. On the Tarmac. Someone had an asthma attack. It was HOT! But, then we took off as soon as it was received. Took the flight attendants by surprise. Add a bit of turbulence and there was an almighty cheer when the plane touched down.

That was a super eventful day. I'm still 2 days behind because the next 2 days, I was sick so I have to catch up on those.

Altitude Sickness

Like me, youve probably never really heard about Altitude Sickness. Let me break it down for ya - When we left SLC, the height above sea level was;

When we touched down in St. George, the height above sea level was;

Two hours later, when we arrived in Kanab, the height above sea level was;

To give you an idea by comparison, note this excerpt from Wikipedia;

Mount Kosciuszko is a mountain located in the Snowy Mountains in Kosciuszko National Park. With a height of 2,228 metres (7,310 ft) above sea level, it is the highest mountain in Australia.

The ENTIRE city of Salt Lake City is above the highest point in Australia. And, the hotel we stayed in - I didn't take the reading. But, we were driving for about 20 minutes up the mountain. So, you can understand why some, including both Kylie and me, suffered from altitude sickness.

Symptoms? Wikipedia - thanks again;

Primary symptoms[edit]

Headaches are the primary symptom used to diagnose altitude sickness, although a headache is also a symptom of dehydration. A headache occurring at an altitude above 2,400 metres (8,000 feet = 76 kPa), combined with any one or more of the following symptoms, may indicate altitude sickness:

• Lack of appetite, nausea, or vomiting
• Fatigue or weakness
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
• Insomnia
• Pins and needles
• Shortness of breath upon exertion
• Nosebleed
• Persistent rapid pulse
• Drowsiness
• General malaise

And we both had all of those.

Anyway, all seems ok now.