Fall Break

For Fall Break, we decided to go to one of our very favorite places to visit--San Francisco! We drove out with Evan and Linn on Friday for a week full of fun! Jack's birthday was on Monday, and I needed to get some dental work done, so we figured it was the perfect excuse to visit. And Andy deserved a break after a long week of mid-terms! We did our usual favorites, and also added some new things onto our list! It was Fleet Week, so on Saturday we went and watched the Blue Angels, but their show was cut short because it was too cloudy! Bummer. We still had an awesome picnic of Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches!

We also had breakfast at Mama's and saw a Ferrari exhibit celebrating Columbus Day. We went to the Academy to celebrate Jack's birthday and had a lot of fun looking at all of the animals! Addi made some great cake that the boys really loved!

Our good weather streak officially came to an end on this trip, though. It rained a LOT! One day there was a torrential downpour, so Andy and I were able to go to the King Tutankhamen exhibit at the de Young Museum, and we saw Val Kilmer! Yes, that's right! Mad Mardigan in the flesh! I tried to get a picture of him, but I chickened out, so this one from Willow will have to do. We also had to go back the next day to take a picture because it was too stormy when we were there.

We also went shopping at Union Square and Paper Source, and hit In-n-Out Burger, which was delicious as always. We also went Virtual Bowling, and even though Addi and Blake were the winners, we still had a lot of fun!

One of our favorite new activities definitely had to be when we rented a Surrey and went for a ride past the de Young, the Academy, and the Conservatory! On our first trip down the hill, we got a flat tire, so we had to go and get another Surrey to try again! The second trip was more successful.

We were also lucky enough to be able to go and watch Jack's gymnastics lesson! That little guy is going to be good!

We couldn't have thought of a better way to spend Fall Break! Thanks BAMJ for letting us visit! We'll see you again soon!

Tour of Utah

Andy and I went to watch a few stages of the Tour of Utah this weekend. It was awesome! On Wednesday night, we went and watched some of the prologue and got a picture with Bob Roll! The finish on Thursday was on the street in front of our house. At the time trial on Friday we sat literally right on the finish line. We also watched the mountain climb on Saturday. What a cool race! Andy beckoned to Floyd Landis when he was on the mountain day, and he looked over and laughed. It was pretty funny. Besides Bobke and Landis we saw DZ, Macebo, and all the other big names at the tour. Andy got some sweet pics from the race, and here are a few:

Happy Birthday!

Today is Andy's birthday, and I wanted to tell him Happy Birthday! Andy had his last final today, so I went up the Pearl Izumi outlet in Park City to get him some birthday presents. We had lunch from the Soup Kitchen when he finished with his final, and then went out to Bountiful for dinner at El Matador. It's so nice that he has so much family around and that they are always so supportive! It was fun to see everyone! After dinner, we drove out to Island Park to meet up with my fam, who was staying there for the weekend. I really appreciate Andy and the hard work that he puts into school and work for our little family! He is such a blessing in my life! Love you Andy! Happy birthday!

Vuelta Pacifica: Stage 9

Today was our final stage of the Vuelta Pacifica! And what better way to end a ride from Portland to San Francisco than riding across the Golden Gate Bridge on the 4th of July? We got off to a cold start! I had on every possible layer that I could! Not a surprise for me, I know, but this time everyone else bundled up too! But, as usual, once the sun came out we were able to shed a few of those layers. We didn't ride very long today-we did about 62 miles, but we took a break for some ice cream in Sausilito. They have an ice cream shop with some delicious flavors.

Then we decided to take some pictures before we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge at one of our favorite photo spots. Here are some of the pics:

The guy on the left of the first picture asked if he could be in a photo with us when we were done taking our pictures. I guess he hasn't seen many people that ride bikes in spandex! Then off we went to cross the Golden Gate Bridge! It was tough to ride in formation across the bridge because there were a lot of tourists that had rented bikes to ride on the bridge as well! Quite a popular destination! But we crossed and were greeted by a fan club of sorts, and we were excited to be done!

When we got everything loaded up, most of us headed back to Addi's and Blake's, where Addi had made a wonderful spread for us to eat! She even made us a patriotic cake that was absolutely delicious! When we got finished with dinner and showers, we headed off to the wharf to see the fireworks over the bay! Although it was freezing, a nice cup of steamed milk took the edge off. The fireworks didn't disappoint, and it was nice to be able to sit on a blanket and relax! What a great end to the Vuelta Pacifica 2009! It was awesome to have that many days in a row to do nothing but ride along one of the most beautiful stretches of the U.S. Not knowing what was over the next hill was an amazing experience. We can't think of a better group to have gone with! Now on to planning another ride for next summer! Thanks everyone!

Vuelta Pacifica: Stage 8

Unfortunately, today we had to leave without one of our crew. Chris got called back to work, so he had to cut his ride short. He was able to go across the Golden Gate Bridge before his flight home, but we were definitely bummed to have him leave. We decided that today we were going to do a short day because we were getting tired! We cut our miles down to about 46. I'll be honest, most of our motivation was because we were going to stay in a hotel at the end of the day! And the hotels had hot tubs! We were eager to soak our sore muscles in some warm bubbly water. Andy, Jesse and I drove so we didn't have to come back and pick up a truck. We drove on a very windy road by the coast-SO many turns and hills on that stretch of road! But by this time during the trip, we were in pretty good climbing form! Here's some pictures of the climbers.

Since we had some time to kill while everyone rode, we decided to check out some of the famous light houses along the coast! And we promised Jesse that we would post pictures of them for his mom. So here they are!

After everyone arrived at the truck, we had some serious organizing to do! Evan had to take the other truck to take Chris to the airport, so we had all of us to fit in the truck, along with all of our gear and bikes in the trailer! It took about an hour and a bunch of bungee cords to get everything situated, but we finally did and stuffed all seven of us into the truck. It's a good thing we didn't get pulled over! Off we drove to Santa Rosa.

We didn't waste any time getting into the hot tub. It was so nice! Sorry no scandalous hot tub pics. But if there were, you would see some major tan lines! After a nice soak, we went to dinner at In-N-Out Burger (of course!) and it did not disappoint. Even though we had planned on another soak in the hot tub after dinner, we didn't get back until too late, so we just went to bed and got some sleep for our last day of the Vuelta Pacifica!

Vuelta Pacifica: Stage 7

Today was a rough day! We said our good-byes to the Redwoods and we were off to a lot of difficult hills! There was a lot of construction today and it made some of the roads a little sketchy, but we made it off the 101 for the rest of the trip. We stopped for lunch in Leggett at a combined elementary/junior/high school for some yummy hot dogs! They were delicious. I think the population of Legget doubled while we were there. After that, I pooped out and the rest of the crew went up the infamous Leggett's Hill, which is basically 10 miles of pure pain. When looking at the elevation profile of the ride on our map, Legget's hill looks like Mt. Everest. We had been worrying about it for days. We all mentally prepared at lunch...except for Chris. For all you bikers out there, here is a tip: do not eat more than 4 hot dogs before the most difficult ride of your life, or you may not keep your lunch! If you have any further questions, feel free to contact Chris.

Here are some pictures of the crew's triumphant arrivals at the top of Leggett's!

Chris was a little warm when he reached the top of the hill, so he decided to proceed without his jersey. Bibs are beautiful, aren't they? Following the long ascent, the riders were rewarded with a long, curvy down-hill. Because of the slower traffic they had to slow down and wait for the cars ahead of them. They were flying!

Since today was such a tough one, we planned on a few less miles than other days. We set up camp at Russian Gulch State Park and went for a FANTASTIC dinner at a restaurant! It was nice to not have to make anything! It was called the Pizza Factory, but isn't like ours. It was so good! I don't think that I have ever eaten that much pizza. Our resident vegan, Jesse (along with Chris), passed the time while our pizza was being made by playing a "Deer Hunter U.S.A." arcade game. Does anyone else find it ironic that he doesn't eat meat but has mad skills hunting Bambi in a video game? Appearently he was pretty good. If you ever stop by the Fort Bragg California Pizza Factory, look for his name in the high scores. We got off to bed early, which was wonderful. A hard day but a good one!