#89 Find the best burger around Utah

Being born and raised in Utah, I like to think I know the place pretty well. While making this list, however, I came to realize that I don't know where to get the best burger. 

Hamburgers and Cheeseburgers are some of my favorite foods. I love them backyard BBQ style. I love them with exciting condiments like egg and ham. (Sammy's Awesome Aussie burger). I love them piled high. I love them just about plain. 

Knowing that I don't know which to call the best is a bit disturbing. I want to find the burger that is worth the drive, worth the money, and worth the wait... so long as it's in Utah. Not just for my personal enjoyment, but to share this wonderful knowledge with friends, family, and the world! 

How does one come to the conclusion if a burger is the best? I've put a fair amount of thought into this and I think my dad say's it best, "You'll just know once you take that fist bite." At first I didn't like this because it left too much up to opinion. I wanted something factual. Something concrete and undebatable. But over time I've come to realize that you can't do that with food because of our different food allergies and our psyche. 

Our taste-buds react differently to the same flavors, and our personal experience plus cultural history has shaped our perceptions of what is good and what is icky. That's why China likes to eat dogs, France likes to eat Snails, and the United States like to eat ... well ... American food. 

Going off opinion is also the best way to do it from an economical standpoint. There are hundreds of places to eat, and hundreds of recipes. I could potentially spend thousands of dollars before finding the one. So I'll do some research and pick out some possible candidates from word of mouth, free lunches, and food articles.  Maybe I'll get lucky and find it next weekend. Maybe it'll be an expensive, and unhealthy journey lasting well into my thirties. 

But what if I eat all the thousands of burgers in Utah and I still don't find it? Well then I'll have to sadly admit that my home state can't make a burger worth crap. After that sad, crippling, heartbreaking, and shocking realization, I'll have to revisit my favorites, and choose the one I like most.

I pray that doesn't have to happen. 

So, if you think you know where the best burger is, stop being stingy and tell me! Share the calories, grease, and love!

#8 Visit the Ancient Ruins of Greece.

For so many years now I've been learning about ancient Greece and all the legends of the Gods. I've seen Greece in countless pictures, many movies, and almost don't believe it's as beautiful as all the images make it out to be. I see picture after picture of rich, blue oceans sitting next to pale gray cliff faces and towns painted white and accented with bright vibrant colors.
I want to see this for myself. I want to stand in the places that Greek Gods have stood and have a large amount of gyros and baklava with anything else that looks tasty or weird.

# 9  Free Climb Over The Ocean 

A few years ago I was really into mountain climbing. I would often find myself looking up at the beautiful mountains at the many different cliffs, and dream about a day when I could climb up that rock face. I would spend all the time I could climbing, which in reality wasn't so much. So with a mixture of not being able to climb as much as I'd like, not a lot of people to go with, not a lot of money,  and time, my love of scrambling over rocks died away. 

One of my dreams then was to one, go free climbing and jump into a foam pit. Check. It was every bit as fun as I thought it'd be. So then I raised the bar. I wanted to go free climbing over the ocean. 
And While I'm in Greece, - a country on the Mediterranean sea and littered with cliffs- I'm sure I'll find a perfect place to go free climbing.
Free climbing, I think, is the most extreme form of mountain climbing because you go the same height as you would go with equipment but it's nothing but you, your shoes, and a bag of chalk around your waist. So when you fall, you may very well die. Or maybe you couldn't get high enough and just wished you were dead.
 Water acts as a safety net. So When I fall, I just go for a swim. Now granted there still are dangers: like the waves beating you upon the rock, the waves and current keeping me under water for too long, falling from too high and hitting the water too hard, but that's what gives it that bit of excitement and motivation not to fall. Isn't it?

Now I of course will look to do it in the safest way possible. I wouldn't want to die doing  this list item. No, that's for item number 67. 

What do I want to do before I die?

 As you know, Over the last few months I've been putting together a list of 100 things I want to do before I die. 

I first started thinking about this when I saw The Bucket List.

Then when I found a new favorite show of mine called the buried life I decided to actually make a physical list. The idea is that when the opportunity comes to knock something off my list, I jump on it like a caffeine crazed kid jumps on the last piece of candy. If the opportunity doesn't come to me, then I'll go to it. 

I realize that some of the goals I have you can't really cross off, or will be extremely hard to cross off because they are more a way of being and thinking than a thing of doing. Such as numbers 55, 56, 69, 95, and 100. These five things don't have a clear time right now where I'll be able to cross them off. 

So What are these five items on my list? Well in an effort to keep busy, and keep writing, I'll go through my list and write a short blog explaining them and sharing my plan (If I have one). Then, when I cross it off, I'll document it by taking a picture, and writing a story to document it for list number 35 and for this excuse for a blog.  

The list isn't organized in any way. Not in a matter of importance, when I want to do it, and not even when I thought of it. So, come the new year, I'll be picking one or a few items a week, and tell you about it. 

It's BANDIDO TIME!

Oh my school doesn't allow this.

There are American volunteers all around me painting Zambian children's finger and toe nails. A very Kodiak moment. I decide to get in on this. Sure I'm a guy. But a majority of the kids are boys so I say the gender roles don't matter here. 

I ask for a color and call over a child. The color is hot pink. The small child is Chanda. She decided to have her finger nails painted. So one by one, I hold her fingers on my knee and do my best while she is worried I'll get some paint on my pants.

I do my best to make them look good, and to not take so long that restless Chanda decides she wants to be done half way through. 

Finished, I look at my work, and am proud of how well I've done. So I ask, "How do you like it Chanda?"

And I get a hesitant and quiet reply, "Yes they are nice"

"What's wrong Chanda? Do you not like the color?"

"Ah no. My school, they do not allow." She says while pointing at the still wet nails.

"You mean you can't paint your finger nails?"

"Yes."

"Dude! Chanda why didn't you say something?"

I wait but get no response.

"Haha wow I don't even know the dress code at the school I teach at. No worries, I got your back if you get in trouble tomorrow."

"Dude how did you get that cut on your face?"
"Oh yeah. Alice scratched, slash slapped me in class today."
"Where you fighting?"
"No just playing around."
"Then that's not how it happened."
"What do you mean? What happened, happened. There is no changing that."
"No. This needs to change. Listen, when that hot new girl asks why there is a huge cut across your face, are you going to tell her that a six year old preschool girl did that to you when you were just playing around?"
"I would rather not lie. And it's not that bad."
"No. Shut up. It's not going down like that. Here's what really happened. you where talking a walk in the bush-"
"No I wasn't I was in class."
"Do you ever take walks?"
"Yeah sure every now and then."
"Then it's not a lie. You were taking a walk in the bush when out of no where a gorilla jumped out and started attacking you."
"That's ridiculous! Gorillas don't live in this part of Africa."
"It's escaped from the zoo."
"What zo-?"
 "Lucky for you, you are a black belt in Karate and Judo."
"I'm only a green belt and I don't know Judo."
"Shut up. It's close enough."
"It's not even-"
"So there you are, surrounded by tall grass with a five thousand pound gorilla running at you."
"They aren't that big."
"Suddenly your mad skills kick in and all fear leaves you. The gorilla roars, you roar. Kinda like this, RAAAgghhh!"
"Ew you spit on me."
"Then! In one swift move, you grab the beastly gorilla paw that is about to beat you dead, and you break his wrist. Then you round house kick him to the face, knocking him to the ground. But you know that even with the godly powers you posses, you won't be able to kill this mad, manly, misplaced animal with your bare hands and be back in time for dinner, so you take out your machete!"
"My machete? Really? Why would I be carrying that with me?"
"You don't keep it with you? Oh dude I never leave the tent without mine. You got to be careful. That's the wild out there."
"What the heck do you carry yours for?"
"Because you never know when you'll need to chop off the head of a ten thousand pound gorilla monster! Which is what you do! But it takes a fair amount of chopping and slashing because the neck is so thick and you didn't have time to sharpen the blade this morning."
"So then how did I get this cut?"
"Oh. When you were running back to the house and blade of elephant grass got a piece of you. They really are that sharp."
"I think that is the only true thing you've said."
"But she doesn't need to know that."

"Hey boys how's it going? Oh my gosh! Chris how did you get that cut on your face?"
"I was in-"
"In the bush when a gorilla attacked him. It was crazy stuff. I'll tell you the story if you would like. Chris here is still a bit in shock and can't remember all the details."
"You where with him?"
"Oh honey, I was the one who saved him."