More September Shots

Here are some more photos from an activity packed September:

 Alicia and Jared attended the football game in which USU beat U of U.  They're wearing their Aggie blue.

 McKel, playing with a bucket at the Mortensens' Star Valley cabin.

 The girls, playing with a dead garter snake, learning about nature.

 They got braver the more they checked out the dead snake.

 At 1 and a half, some things don't bother you yet.

 Avril worked up the nerve to start handling it.

 It's not so bad when it's dead.

 Arleen got the girls some Burger King crowns, and they loved them. 

 The crowns were very becoming on the girls!

 Gayle got to visit some parade of homes locations during the month.  She took some nice photos, a few of which we're including, like the nice bedroom suite above.  We've since changed our pillow arrangement on our bed.

 Another nice decor.

 And yet another.

 Carme, the girls paternal grandma, came to Logan with Jim, her husband.  They were able to eat with us and the girls in the Cliffside Park.  We had a fun time, and the girls got cute hats from their Nana Carme.

 McKel, Gayle, and Carme.

 We took some shots of the girls on our counter top one day to show off their hair-dos.  Here's Avril with those big brown eyes.

 And McKel with her blue eyes and a ducky.

 Another with Avril and her freshly curled hair.

 Posing is hard work and one needs to get one's rest.
 
 Just like her shirt says, "Smile!"

 
 Drawing on poster board on their driveway with their neighbor, Sierra.

Our really big complete family activity this month was to go to the Ringling Brothers/Barnum Bailey Circus in Salt Lake City.  Here are McKel and Brittney watching the action.

 Two cousins seeing the sights pre-show.

 Arleen and McKel checking out the stamp on Arleen's hand.

 The guys in our family are outnumbered, but we make up for it in other ways.  Here we are.

 Patriarch and matriarch, still together after all these years.

 Papa likes to carry Avril, who likes to be carried also.

 Avril could hardly wait to see a real "Dumbo" (elephant).  She got to see several.

 We took up 8 seats on a row.  Jared is right below me and out of the shot.  The girls are sampling some ice cream.

 The big lion was impressive, but seemed a bit old and lethargic.  What magnificent animals!

  The cousins had a great time.

 
 And we made it all the way to Rumbis before succumbing to hunger.
 
 Allison is having a baby girl, so the gals at the physical therapy office threw a baby shower.
 
 They topped off the baby shower with a lunch at "Paradise," a nice food addition to the Logan mall.

Finally, I thought I'd throw in a shot of our prolific fungus growth on the back hill.  This high concentration is probably because under this hump of dirt is a tree stump, so there is a lot of dead organic matter for mushrooms to draw upon as food.

More Photos from Lotoja

We would not have been involved in the Lotoja race had Brent Mortensen not invited Alicia and me to participate. Here are Brent, Kelly, Alex, Margaret, and Kelly's friend and her daughter.  This is at a grocery store parking lot in Afton, Wy, just after Alicia took over the ride from Alex.

 Alicia, en route from Afton to Alpine, Wy.

 This gives you a feel for the openness of this stretch.

 Alicia, after her Star Valley, Wy leg of the 206 mile race.

In addition to my Preston to Montpelier, ID leg,  I also rode the first 21 miles or so of the Alpine to Jackson segment.  I was able to hook into a pretty fast paced peloton on this section.  It's standard to rotate who rides in front in order to let everyone get a rest.  This was one of my times at the front of the pack, where you have to work a lot harder.

 I'm fourth in this shot of the peloton.

 I've just rolled to a stop so Brent can finish the race.

 Meanwhile, the mountains south of Jackson were going up in flames.  When the pines caught fire, the smoke was particularly thick and dark.

 The flames came right down to structures, and there were helicopters doing water drops onto the fire.

 Here's Brent wrapping up the ride as he terminates it at the Teton Village.

 Just a shot of the finish line.  It says 206 miles, 3 states, 1 day.

 Three of the riders.  Just FYI - There are far more individual riders who do the whole 206 miles than relay teams.

 I was able to replenish some calories at Merry Piglets, a Mexican restaurant in Jackson Hole, with the Mortensens.  But I didn't have a change of clothing in the support vehicle so I ate in my riding outfit.

We enjoyed the brief stay at the Mortensens' Star Valley cabin.

Early September 2012

How many brothers with advanced graduate degrees does it take to re-install a kitchen blind?

 Actually it takes all three of them.

 In fact, they still need direct supervision by their mom.

 Thanks Mom (Steve, Spencer, and Robert)!  This event took place in August, but didn't get included in the last blog, so I've added it here.

On Saturday, September 8, Alicia and I rode on the Mortensens' relay team in the Lotoja (Logan to Jackson) bicycle race.  It's the longest one-day road bike race in the US (206 miles).  The following shots relate to the ride --

I accompanied Alex and Brent Mortensen to the starting point in front of Sunrise Cyclery in Logan at around 5:30 a.m. so Brent could start with our first leg.

 This shot shows the starting point and the "clock."

 I'm trying to convey the magnitude of the event, which is now in its 30th year.  There were loads of folks and riders on hand for the start.  Most do the whole 206 miles alone, and many "pros" also ride it as an officially sanctioned race.  We were in the "Fun Ride" relay category.

 It was a brisk 44 degrees F at the start, so Brent is prepared for the wind chill.  Alex, Brent's youngest son, will be doing the third leg, and is animated for the event.

 This is my first Lotoja and I don't know quite what to expect (and am hoping it will warm up considerably by the time I start in Preston, Idaho).

 Well, it was still in the 40's when I left Preston, but I stayed warmed through exertion, and then the temperature rose throughout the day.  We were exceedingly fortunate because about 100 riders had flats (most double flats - both tires) en route to Preston due to "goat heads."  These are thorns common to the area.  However, the general suspicion is sabotage - there were just too many in one small stretch of roadway.  Also, apparently many small furniture nails were found at one point on this leg of the race.  Brent arrived with two soft tires which later went flat.  He had a second bike for his later leg, so we were lucky.

 I rode the Preston to Montpelier, ID leg.  Although it involved climbing through Mink Creek up over the Strawberry Pass, I enjoyed it.  Here I am in Montpelier after the 47 miles, having handed off the leg band with the timing chip to Alex.

 Here's a shot of Alex on the road about to start climbing towards Afton, WY.  He's drafting the guy in front of him. 
Meanwhile, Gayle had done the yeoman's work of taking care of the girls starting Friday night while Alicia and Jared went to the USU/U of U game (yea, the Aggies won in overtime), until Alicia got home.  Then Gayle went to bed and got up when I did at around 4:40 a.m.  She had to pack the van and then get over to pick up Alicia and the girls so they could get to Star Valley, WY where Ali would do her leg of the relay.  Gayle drove the group up to Wyoming where we used the Mortensen cabin as our base.  The above photo shows the girls in a cart at an Afton grocery store while we were waiting for Alex to get in from Montpelier. 

 And here's Alicia en route from Afton to Alpine, roughly a 33 mile ride.  By now it was a hot day, even in Wyoming.  Fortunately, the notorious Star Valley cross-winds had not picked up.

 In spite of the physical challenges, Ali could smile and was in good spirits for the ride.

 Another shot of Alicia mid-Star Valley.

Star Valley is very scenic.  Ali did a good job on her leg of the relay.  Tragically, there was a fatal accident later in the race on the last leg, just about 8 miles from Jackson (farther from the actual finish in Teton Village), when a rider avoided a pot-hole, over-corrected, and went over the guard rail of a bridge and died from the fall into the shallow water of the Snake River.

We'll have more shots of the last leg (which I split with Brent) and finish of the race when we get the pictures from Margaret Mortensen's camera.

 
After Ali's ride, the girls had fun back at the cabin.


 
 Their favorite thing was playing with the rocks and sticks.  Later, when Ali took the girls on a walk, they found a dead snake.  Pictures will follow once I get them from Ali.

 Alex's wife, Kelly, invited a friend, Kalani (sp?), who has a daughter named Lilly.  Here are Lilly, Avril, and McKel, sitting the rock in front of the Mortensens' cabin.

Here are Brent and Margaret and our group (plus Lilly) on the same rock.  More photos will follow.