Two Mountains, Three Summits

Living in Colorado without having been to the summit of a 14er (a peak of at least 14,000 feet) may be akin to living in California and never having been to the beach. Seeing as how I am a native of Colorado, I decided it was time to join the club as one who has conquered a 14er. After a dinner at Beau Jo's pizza in Idaho Springs, a restless night of sleep in the Leadville Hostel and a quick drive to Vicksburg, five friends and I set out on a quest to summit Mt. Belford and Mt. Oxford.

Getting to the top of Mt. Belford would require a climb of 4,600 feet in just under 4 miles. When I learned of this on the trail, sudden flashbacks of the Ragnar stretch of the Wasatch Back Relay Race flooded into my mind.

Once to the top, we all knew it was time to press on, for if we stopped, Mt. Oxford would allude us on this Saturday morning. Onward we went to descend Mt. Belford, only to have to ascend Mt. Oxford. The view was spectacular from up above and I felt as though I had accomplished something great. One of my buddies quickly brought me back to reality by pointing out that we still had another 14er to summit.

Half of the hike was done, but we still had another climb in front of us - it was time to head back up to Mt. Belford (picture below is shot of Mt. Belford from the saddle between the two peaks).

After reaching Mt. Belford for the second time, I sprawled out on the rocks and took a nap while waiting for the rest of our party to arrive. I was so tired that it felt as though I was sleeping on a pillow top mattress. We celebrated the fact that it was all downhill from that point and decided to have one last photo shoot.

Descending proved to be just as difficult as ascending. Although gravity was now on my side, each step forward was a strategic move ensuring that I didn't gather too much speed. We fought through rain and even a few snow flurries. Additionally, I don't think that my choice in footwear helped my cause. Pride got the best of me and I decided that I had to finish the whole hike in Chacos.

Will I hike these two 14ers again? NO! Will I hike other 14ers again? YES! The only question that remains is which of the 52 that remain will be the next to be slain?

Hurricanes, "Hullas" and Hoses

Helen, Evan and I went to see Jeannie in Norfolk and we were fortunate enough to go out on the Coast Guard Cutter, Forward. We went for a cruise in Chesapeake Bay where the Coast Guard did a rescue with one of their Jayhawk helicopters. Very impressive hullah!
Evan decided to try the fire hose off the back deck. The pressure from the hose was so great that it took two of them to handle it.
The four of us had a great day on board the ship. We ran into a little bit of rain that was part of Hurricane Danny, that never fully materialized.
As we pulled into the dock in Portsmouth, they docked the boat right behind Jeannie's cutter, Harriet Lane. It was a great experience and one that we won't soon forget.

Congratulations- We Did It!!!!!

This past weekend, Alana graduated from BYU with a Bachelors degree in Geography. Many of us made the trek to Provo for her big day, including our friend from the Czech Republic, Marketa. Both sets of Alana's grandparents were there along with her Aunt Helen, two brothers and her sister. As President of the Honors Program at BYU, Alana was one of the commencement speakers, as shown above.

Our family is pictured above directly following the graduation at the Marriott Center.
Marketa helped Alana to put on her cap and gown.
We decided that no graduation was complete without floating down the Provo River.
On our way back home, we decided to stop at In and Out Burger in St. George. What a pleasant surprise to run into Roxy and Larry on their way back from their honeymoon in California! Now it's official - we were part of their honeymoon.

Hiking in the Sierras

Last week, Dan and Helen took a day hike to Horsetail Falls which is in the Desolation Wilderness. The area is just off of Highway 50, west of Lake Tahoe. The weather was perfect for hiking and there is still plenty of water raging down the granite face of the mountain.
Although the trail was a little difficult to follow in some places, scrambling across boulders, it was still a great 2.5 mile hike. Anyone coming to visit will certainly have to hike this one with us.

Camping in the Eastern Sierra

We decided it was time to go camping again. So we packed up the cars and headed up to a campground in the Eastern Sierra, near Bishop. Some of us are pictured here at Lake Sabrina.
Gavin and Brielle loved the rocks, dirt, tents, and being able to be outside all the time. They particularly liked chasing the lizards. But nothing was better than sitting in their own camp chairs, drinking a cool lemonade. At night the temperatures dipped into the 50's which made it nice for sleeping in the warm sleeping bags.
Another treat that the kids liked was riding in the back of the pickup around the campsite with Uncle Evan.
Some of us went to Bodie, the old, abandoned ghost town north of Bishop. Many of the buildings are just the way they were 150 years ago when Bodie was a booming gold town with over 10,000 residents.

Summer Fun

Southern California can be hot during the summer but what better way to cool off than to spend a lot of time at the beach. Gavin and Brielle loved going to the beach for the first time. They played in the sand and chased the waves up and down the beach. Clearly, we will be spending a lot of days cooling off on the coast.
We also went on the Sanitation Districts Boat Trip tour off of Palos Verde Penninsula to check the water quality. We saw a blue whale in the channel that appeared to be intrigued with our boat and he pretty much followed us for a few miles. It was amazing to see an animal that was huge - between 80 and 100 feet long.
We also saw a bunch of dolphins on the boat tour. They played near the boat and rode the bow waves, entertaining all of us.
We also rode our bikes to Santa Fe Dam and had a picnic on the shores of the lake. Brielle and Gavin liked playing on the playground at the park. There is lots to do when you want to spend time outside during the summer.

And Evan is serving his mission in the . . .

Argentina Buenos Aires North Mission. On Thursday of this past week, Evan received his mission call. He is shown above reading the letter that he received from the First Presidency. He is pretty excited to start his mission on October 14th. He will be in the Provo MTC. His mission not only includes parts in the northern Buenos Aires area but also all of Tierra del Fuego in the very southern part of Argentina (check out the website http://www.mission.net/argentina/buenos-aires/north/ for a map of the area.)

Happy Birthday, Alana and Grammie

For Mom's and Alana's birthday, we all went to Disneyland. Mom got her first annual pass to Disneyland, so we can go with Brielle and Gavin anytime now. Pictured above is Alana, Grammie and Grampie having lunch at the French Market in Disneyland.
Brielle, Gavin and Grammie had just gone on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in the above picture. The two little kids sure enjoyed that ride.
We all had our picture taken on Main Street in Disneyland.
For dinner after Disneyland, we all went to Clearman''s Galley, better known as The Boat, for a great dinner (hamburgers, onion rings, red cabbage, cheese bread, and bleu cheese dressing). This place is an institution and the food is so good. . .no wonder it was so crowded that night.
Alana had a rather unconventional birthday cake, lemon surprise, but both Gavin and Brielle helped to blow out the candles for her.

Why the Finlay's. . . .

. . .pool hose has holes in it and. . .
. . .the spa has brown fur in it and . . .
. . .their peach tree has no peaches on it. Our resident bears on the Mesa have been visiting on a fairly frequent basis over the last week. It has been hot and they have cooled down quite a bit in the pool.

More Fun(?) at Ragnar

Here are 8 of the 12 team members of the Big Kahunas - Jeannie, Nathan, Ian, Allison, Alana, Danny, Annie and Erin. The team mascot was Nemo and he was passed from team member to team member at each exchange.
In the above picture, Alana is about half way through her 7 mile run in the Heber Valley. It was just starting to rain and she had a 2 mile uphill left to run so we were all cheering her on.
This is van #2's rest stop from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday evening where we had a light dinner and tried to sleep. Then we started our 6 legs of the race at 11 p.m. and ran until 5:30 in the morning. We were beat!
Teammates Annie and Ian, holding Nemo, point to the mountains that they have to climb in their legs of the relay - and it rained on them too.
Our van was decked out moderately compared to some of the vans. One vehicle had two tusks and a trunk attached to the front of a Suburban, ala prehistoric mammoth. Another had a skeleton in a lawn chair on the top of the car. There were some very clever ideas for team names and vehicles.

Run, Drive, Sleep? Repeat - The Ragnar Relay Race

We just started the Ragnar Run about 2 hours ago in Logan, Utah. It is a 188 mile race from Logan to Park City. The team, Big Kahunas, are shown above, ready to run. Grammie and Grampie are the inspiration for this race and will meet all of us at the finish line in Park City tomorrow. It is a round-the-clock run. I think one of my legs is at about 3 a.m. tomorrow. . .I'll let you know when I crawl into the van after I finish.
Evan is shown here with Nemo, our team mascot, starting the race. There are 675 teams competing, with 12 members on each team. Then there is a big party in Park City afterward.
We decorated our vans too. . .we have two vans with 6 team members in each van.
Gavin and Brielle took a little time out to go for a swim in the hotel pool where we stayed the night before the Ragnar Race.

Disneyland and Bocelli - It Doesn't Get Much Better

For my birthday, I went to Disneyland with Gavin, Meg and Elise to get my annual pass. I wasn't sure what rides Gavin would want to go on but I figured the King Arthur's Carousel was pretty benign. The expression on Gavin's face would indicate that he feels that Disneyland is NOT the Happiest Place on Earth.
We went on a couple of other rides and Gavin's favorite was It's a Small World.
In the afternoon, we went to a statue dedication of Pope John Paul II at the City of Hope. The donor of the statue is good personal friends with the Italian tenor, Andrea Bocelli. Bocelli was at the statue dedication and sang for 1/2 hour for the 200 people that were present. It was absolutely incredible to hear him.
Reyna Diaz, Brad, Margaret, Gavin, the Italian sculptor of the statue, Mayor John Fasana, Grammie, Evan and Grampie in front of the statue. The white marble is from Carrara, Italy and the red marble is from Pakistan.

Continuing Our Cross Country Adventure

Last month, after James' graduation, Margaret, Evan, Alana, Grammie, Grampie and Helen drove to Ohio to spend time with Georgine and Bob Finlay. In addition to visiting the Amish Country, Kirkland and various sites around Akron, we were able to
spend time with many good friends.
After leaving Akron, we drove to Connecticut, across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Along the way, we stopped in Hackettstown, NJ. Grammie's father spent some years of his youth in Hackettstown. In the town square, there is a monument to veterans from this town who fought during WWI. James McMullen, Grammie's father, is listing on this town plaque. We also stopped by West Point, before our final leg of the trip into New London, CT.
Georgine and Bob hosted a wonderful dinner party with the Healey and the Piquettes. The Finlays, Healeys, Piquettes and Grammie and Grampie have been dear friends for many years. It is a real testimony to their friendship that they still stay in close contact with each other.
We were able to visit Bill and Sara Schwager, neighbors of our's in Bath. Their son, Paul, was able to stop by for a visit also. It was fun getting caught up with each other's families.
We decided to take a walk in Cuyahoga National Park along the towpath. The weather was just beautiful and the scenery quite picturesque. This is a journey we will long remember.

Have you seen this room?

Evan and I took the train up the coast to San Luis Obispo where my parents picked us up and we spent a couple of days at the beach house in Morro Bay. We got to see the new door out to the deck in the family room and it really opens the room up.
The poppies were in bloom in the front yard with the other drought-tolerant plants and the yard looked beautiful. We went bike-riding along the water and saw a lot of otters out in the bay sunning themselves.

Happy Birthday Gavin!

Gavin had a wonderful birthday party. He especially enjoyed the helicopter cake. Thank you to everyone who helped celebrate.