Boston

The Massachussetts coast from the ferry on the way to Salem.  We decided we would love to move here and live in one of these houses.  Does anyone have several million dollars they would like to chip in?  You could come stay any time you wanted.

 A small lighthouse on the now defunct port at Salem. 

 I don't think we quite caught the height of the colors, but there were still a lot of them around as you can see.  This is the graveyard in Salem with some important people, right next to where they erected a monument to the vicitms of the witch trials.

 We did a candlelight tour with the towns historian.  It was really interesting.  He also pointed out to us after the tour the house where Brigham Young's daughter was staying when they received news that Joseph Smith had been martyred.  In case you were wondering, only one person lit their cup on fire during the tour.

 The Green Monstuh (the tour guide made sure we were pronouncing it correctly, you don't pronounce R's in Boston he insisted.)

 Boston from our Charles River cruise.

 We walked passed the TD Garden quite a few times.  The building was really ugly so I thought I would just take a picture of the nice Celtics sign out front.

 The Bunker Hill monument.  It's actually on Breeds Hill in case you haven't been exposed to too much Boston History.  They're doing some restoration work (thus the scaffolding) so we couldn't actually go inside.

 A sample of the Boston scenery with the bridge modeled after the Bunker Hill monument showing in the background.

 The finish for the Boston Marathon in case you couldn't read it.  I was trying to take the picture without getting hit by a car...

Layton Half

Well, not much to report, but since I've decided to be better about blogging I decided our half this weekend was blog worthy. It was the first year for this half so they struggled a bit doing things like having water to drink. You know, just the minor things... :) There was a girls brunch at I-Hop afterwards with Lindsey, her mom, and Camie and Laurel, some friends who were in the race as well. Not as good as the breakfast burritos I made at home for myself I'm sure.


Lindsey at the finish line.




It was perfect weather for a race. A bit overcast and about 58 degrees by the time we finished.

A hiking we will go...

Okay, I don't know that it was really a hike, more like a Sunday afternoon stroll. We went up to the Ogden overlook up near Snowbasin ski resort. While not as vibrant as during the motorcycle ride last week, the colors were still pretty cool. We kind of felt like we should have brought the whole family along for pictures since that's what everyone else was doing. Too late, just the four of us...

Ogden and the Great Salt Lake in the background.

Our family picture. It took forever to get a picture where Lindsey wasn't screaming or trying to run away. :)

A proud moment for me. Our little watermelon which I had nurtured so carefully finally ripened. I'm sure there's a better way to know, but I ended up having to pick it when one end just popped open. There's one more we are hoping will ripen before it gets too cold.

Today's Ride

It was decided that we needed one last hurrah before the riding season was over this year. We have put a lot more miles on our bicycles this year than we have the motorcycle so maybe this was the first and last hurrah. Either way, it was a nice day ride. The colors have started to change and we couldn't have asked for better weather. We are pleased to report that at no time during this ride did Chad or his motorcycle break down. I wasn't quite so lucky, but that's another story...

These were taken on the fly, as you can tell I'm sure, but hopefully you get an idea of some of the changing colors.

We met up with Mom and Dad near the start of the Mirror Lake highway(coming from Wyoming.) I think everyone had a great time, despite some hind end aches.

Lindsey's view of the road.

Vikingman 2010

We all knew it would come to this. You train for it, you pay for it, and then eventually...you actually have to do it. But hey, we all had a great time and now we can look back and laugh as our aches and pains fade into the background. It really was a lot of fun to have so much family all together in the event. It's nice that the Vikingman had something for everyone. Despite some of our cursings and mutterings on the course I think everyone agreed they were ready to do it again next year. Any more takers? :)

The story in pictures:

Lindsey proclaiming her innocence while switching from the bike to the run.




Jace wondering just how far Chad is behind him and how much he may need to hurry through this transistion.

No, they're not just posing...they're bringing it home!

The face says it all:
1.2 miles in the water, 56 miles on a crappy road, 7 miles running around an airport hopping over cow pies...some people get to end here and I have to go how much farther!?

Done! Can I sit down now?

The crew:
From left to right: Kaley, Sarah, Lindsey, Ashley, Brent, Mark, Jace, Chad, Joseph.

You know we had to take one of these.

Nothing like a chunk of granite to remind us we're awesome. :) I got first place in my age group and Lindsey took first place overall for the women.

Yellowstone

After enjoying some Waddoups family time and gorging ourselves on food after Hayden's baptism and Finn's blessing, we took the opportunity to head up to Island Park to hang out with the Lovell's. We had considered floating the river, but considering the 1/4 inch of ice on the cars Monday morning and the snow capped peaks, it was probably best we nixed the idea. We did make a day trip into Yellowstone on Sunday though. The weather wasn't the best, but when Lindsey and I travel anything short of a blizzard is considered good weather!


First item of business: Take Grandma 4 wheeling in the wheelchair. If you have enough people a wheelchair can go anywhere!


We got to enjoy a few spots that we hadn't seen in the park previously.

From the top of upper (lower?) falls.

Lindsey was trying to intimidate the other tourists at Yellowstone Lake.

When Old Faithful erupts to a height of 70 or 80 feet, why do you need to stand so close? We decided hiding from the freezing wind was more important. Lindsey is actually on the phone with Michael (Blakey, not the Michael standing behind her) in one of her duties as our family sports therapist. :)

Watching Old Faithful erupt: Pretty cool.
Watching a crowd of tourists scream and run as a freezing wind showers them hot water: Priceless.

Club Foster and Glacier National Park

It turns out that Washington and Montana are a fair distance from Utah. Nonetheless, the fun was definitely worth the drive. Here is what you all missed out on:

Climbing the continental divide. Who knew it was that easy!?


We were hard at work while at the lake house. I thought indentured servitude had been abolished long ago...



When we weren't slaving away in the sun we did manage to get in a bit of time on the water. Poor Lindsey went first wake surfing before we realized that you CAN actually put too much weight on one side of the boat for a good wake.


The Hiawatha trail on the Montana/ Idaho border. We are still wondering why all of those people going half our speed through the muddy 8000 foot long tunnel didn't look like the rest of us...

It's okay, 'cuz we're awesome anyway!

Inside Glacier:
Turns out bears can eat you for absolutely no good reason.

Hiking the trail with the "Going to the Sun" road in the background. Really cool!

Ummmm....what was in that water?

Another one of the many waterfalls we encountered in Glacier while trying to avoid ornery bears.

Eeeeewwwwww!!

Well, that's all I have patience for at the moment. If you are interested in more details you may be forced to come visit us!