Idaho Adventure - June 10-13, 2010

We LOVE road trips!  We had plans to go to Idaho for the Sawtooth Relay.  We've been the volunteer support part of a relay team from Eagle for a couple of years.  This year the team didn't enter the race, but we didn't get official notification that we weren't needed until the week before the race.  We already had Friday off of work, so we packed up The Outlaw anyway and headed to Eagle for Eagle Fun Days instead.  And since we had an extra day, we planned to drive through Sun Valley and Stanley (the race route) on our way to Eagle.

Thursday night we planned to camp in the car (the futon mattress fits into the back of the XTerra just perfectly and makes a very comfortable bed) and wanted to camp somewhere on the way to Sun Valley.  We got to Shoshone after dark and thought that the Magic Reservoir was just off the highway and would make a nice campsite.  We were navigating by headlights and couldn't find the water!  We finally parked just off a dirt road in a grassy field and planned to find our way back out in the morning.

Friday morning we woke up to bird noise and ducks - we camped "in" the reservoir after all!

We enjoyed our drive through Sun Valley and along the race route.  Plenty of "Honey Buckets" set up at the different check points for the race - which would be on Saturday.  At Stanley, we forgot to turn and were driving along the Salmon River. James thought the scenery was a bit different and we finally stopped at Sunbeam Hot Springs to check the atlas.  We were only 14 miles out of our way.

This is the old bath house - constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps and now is completely empty.

This is how the water gets from the springs (just above the highway) to the river.

We thought the water would mix right at the bank and be comfortable.  WRONG - the hot water scorched our calves and the cold water froze our toes.  We didn't wade for long.

Our next "wrong" turn was on purpose.  We drove up to Cascade to visit Oma and Uncle Neil.  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for dinner.

Uncle Neil suggested we stop by the Cascade Reservoir dam spillway on our way out of town.  It was raging!  The view from a dry distance.

The view from the parking lot at the bottom of the dam.

A rainbow from the spray.

The view from the top of the spillway.

Our final stop on the way home was at Ridgeline Specialty Sports in the Winco shopping center.  Friends from Eagle were having their Grand Opening on Saturday.  Friday night was the pre-grand-opening-party-for-friends.  So we stopped by to see the new shop and inventory and have some chips and salsa.

Saturday was the Eagle Fun Days parade, complete with water fight.

Kurt filling the water guns and kiddie pool.

Carlee selling CJ's Sweets and Treats. YUM!

Lining the street and hoping for candy.

After the parade we ditched the downtown crowds and headed for Gerber Park and the water park there.  Clay and Kristen brought some softball gear and we played a little ball.  Aspen was the ball girl.  We'd throw the ball in her general direction and she'd run to pick it up, and then run right up to Kristen to throw her the ball. 

Kristen

James

We had dinner and watched USA v. England World Cup Soccer at Clay and Kristen's.  Clay had forbidden anyone from telling him anything about the game so he could watch it after dinner.  James and I already knew the score and what time during the game each goal was scored.  We also knew exactly what the sports talk radio guys felt about the score, about the goals, about the referees and the players.  While we watched, James would nudge me, "USA's about to score...." and we'd get to see the goal we'd heard about on the radio.  It was a tie.  1:1.

On Sunday we had a wake up committee.  This is Bree and a battery powered dinosaur.  At one point they were on our bed, McKayla and Carter were on our bed, and Ellie was watching from the doorway.

Before church, we went over to Clay and Kristen's to go to the Veladrome bike park.  I wanted to get pictures of Kristen and Clay and James doing the big jumps, but the battery was super low.  I'm lucky to get these pics...

Emma - love that grin!

Aspen - love those stripey socks!

Kristen pushing Aspen around the dirt jumps

James - wheelie!

We went to church with Kurt and Carlee and family.  Kurt brought a package of skittles and handed it over to James - who was then the favorite uncle.  Christy would sit on my lap to color, but Jake only came over for skittles.  James taught him "Pick-A-Hand."  James would put a skittle or two into his hand, close his hand and then put both hands together and shake.  Then separate his closed hands and offer them to Jake to choose which hand to open for the chance at a skittle.  At first, Jake didn't know what to do.  After watching Tyler and Christy choose - and receive skittles, he finally would touch James' hands.  Both of them.  Every time.  Smart guy.

So sad when it is time to go.  Dinner eaten, car packed, chalk art completed.

The Jessi James Gang Was Here.

Salt Lake Bees - June 8, 2010

Hooray for Date Night!  James scored free Bees tickets at work for tonight, so we grabbed some quick dinner and headed for the ball park.

The Bee was in fine form - until one of the players on the Colorado City Sky Sox stole the keys to his 4-wheeler and the game was a bit delayed while the Bee got his keys back!

I love seeing the little train in out past the outfield - reminds me of the time I brought tiny McKayla to a Stingers game at Franklin Covey Field and we rode the train and she played in the bouncy inflatables and we ate ice cream. 

We left shortly after the 7th inning stretch so we wouldn't stay up too late - even Date Night has a curfew when James works at 6 am! 

(June 28, 2010 - post script - This is the advertising plane that flies around the Salt Lake Valley on home game days.  I took a picture of it as it circled the ball park on our date two weeks ago. We've often talked about what a great way to earn 'flight hours' this kind of job would be.  Just need your commercial rating and a rating for towing a banner.  

We saw on the news that on Saturday, June 26, 2010, one of the pilots who flies this plane was killed.  After hooking onto the banner, his airplane lost power.  He released the banner and still crashed.  The airplane burned before he could be rescued.  Cremation is not the best perk of flying.  They held a moment of silence just before the game on Saturday night.  Very sad.)

Hiking with Mom - June 5-7, 2010

Mom's visit was the same weekend as a baby shower for my cousin Amy (Mom's blog) and on Saturday, we ended up in American Fork on Free Trails Day.  American Fork Canyon normally has an entrance fee, so I very, very, very rarely wander up that canyon.  But today, FREE!  We met up with James and went for a hike.

We planned to hike to Silver Lake.

But the runoff was too high - stopped us about 2/3 of the way to the lake.  Other hikers were coming down, so it is possible to cross the creek, but they had wet shoes.

It was still a beautiful afternoon and we did see some wildlife.

And the scenery was incredible.  This is Silver Lake Flats Reservoir.  We parked on the far side of the reservoir and hiked up into that valley.

On our way back into Salt Lake County we saw tons of paragliders at the point of the mountain.  Like a flock of birds!

Then on Monday, we met up with Aunt Lynnette to hike Beus Canyon (Mom's Blog).

Thor kept most of the wildlife from making an appearance, although I did see a little snake.

We stopped near a cascade in the creek.

And took a few pictures and visited and thought how wonderful it was to be hiking instead of at work.

Thanks Mom - Love you!

Come visit again!

Cemetery Hopping - June 4, 2010

Mom has planned for a year to come Cemetery Hopping in Salt Lake.  She got her plane ticket and invited everyone who could go, to meet us in the Salt Lake Cemetery to visit our deceased relatives.  (Mom's Blog)  I took notes on some of the stories GandG Price told about the family members they remember, so I'm planning a "Family History" post soon with stories and pictures of gravestones.  Aunt Lynnette, GandG Price, Aunt Barbara and McKenzie all met us for this adventure.  It was a lot of visiting, a little bit of searching for family, a lot more visiting, and a truly beautiful day.

A lot of visiting - they think they haven't seen each other in a while.  I think it was wonderful to catch up with living relatives while visiting the dead ones.

My favorite picture of Mom, Aunt Barb and Aunt Lynne.

This is GandG standing where their own burial plot is going to be.  It was fun to visit the site while they are able to come with us!

After visiting some of our many relatives in the Salt Lake Cemetery, we visited a few of the more famous residents.

We had lunch at the Lion House Pantry, stopped to visit some family at the Draper City Cemetery and then finished our adventure at the Alpine City Cemetery.

This last photo is for McKenzie - she wondered why none of the headstones ever said "RIP".  I finally saw one at the Alpine Cemetery.

Rest in peace until we meet again.

Miller Motor Sports Park Memorial Weekend - May 29-31, 2010

Brian came to visit for Memorial Day Weekend and it was a very mellow weekend.  But we scored Miller Motor Sports Park Tickets for the Superbike World Championship.  So on Saturday we spent the entire day out at the MMSP watching the motorcycles do their practice runs a qualifiers.  I didn't take a single picture of the motorcycles - even though it is very impressive to see them corner with their knees brushing the pavement.   We had so much fun that we decided to go again on Monday with Tiffany for the finals. 

James having 4-wheeler dreams

National Guard Toys - they let James work their robot - just like playing a video game except in 3-D!

James and Brian prepared for the Kart Racing.

Kart Racing - James is fastest and I'm the slowest!

The stage for the concert - on Saturday night there was a concert with fireworks at the end.  The concert was KANSAS, STYX, and FOREIGNER. I recognized a few songs.  We stayed until we got hungry, so we left before the third act, before dark and before the fireworks. 

Tiffany and Brian

James and Jessi

Happy Memorial Day!