Convocation at ISU

Today we attended Convocation at ISU for Jeffrey.  It started at 5:00 pm at Reed Gym.  At first I didn't think there were very many new Freshman in attendance, but after a couple of speakers and a video presentation from the new ISU President, I realized that the gym was full.  They had the ISU Marching Band play the fight song, and Jeffrey was in the middle of it playing the Mellophone.  They sang the fight song a couple of times, and then the marching band led all of the students out of Reed Gym to the field nearby for a class photo.  I'm guessing there were about 500 students.  They formed the letters I S U on the field and a drone captured a video and photo of them.  Then the marching band continued to play and lead the students down the road past the Rendezvous Center, the Quad, and to the Swanson Arch.  The band continued to play while the students walked through the Arch, and then the Freshman band students, including Jeffrey, were the last ones to walk through it.  Wendy and I left after that, but Jeffrey stayed for a dinner and gathering at the Quad.  It's hard to believe that Jeffrey is in college.  He is ready to go with classes, internship and part-time work for sound design at ISU, staying in a dorm room, and participating in marching band.  It should be a fun semester for him.

Mariposa Grove and the Trip Home

We slept in this morning and took our time getting ready to leave.  I bought a breakfast of bacon strips, orange juice, milk, and another cinnamon roll which we ate in our room.  We checked out and drove to the Tunnel View for one more look at Yosemite Valley.  The morning shadows kept it from standing out like it does in the evening, but it was still nice.  Then we drove the winding road to the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias.  We were able to drive to the upper parking lot to walk the level trail to see the Grizzly Giant and the California Tunnel Tree.  It was another beautiful day with blue skies and sunshine.  We continued our drive, and when we left the park gate we saw a line of cars waiting to get into Yosemite that stretched for a couple of miles.  A sign told visitors that the wait time to get into the park was over 30 minutes.  I think we planned our visit well.  Our drive to the airport was not as well planned out.  We ended up taking a winding road through hills of tall dry grass and no services.  By the time we finally found a gas station we were on empty.  We stopped for a late lunch at a Black Bear Diner in Los Banos, California.  It was a long drive, but we finally got back to the San Jose Airport, returned our rental car, checked in, got through security and found our gate with plenty of time to spare.  I bought us some Jamba Juice drinks before boarding our flight.  We arrived at SLC about 10:30 p.m. and drove home.  We spoke with Jeffrey for a little bit and then crawled into bed around 2:00 a.m.

Wendy's Birthday at Yosemite

We have a comfortable room.  We have a fan, but no air conditioning, so it was a little warm, but our building is surrounded by tall pine trees that shade it during the day.  We were able to watch some Olympic events on TV last night and this morning.  I walked over to the Lodge food court and bought some breakfast food including scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes, orange juice, and a cinnamon roll.  The pancakes were huge, and we couldn't eat them all.  We decided that our first destination would be Yosemite Falls which was within walking distance of our room.  The falls were still beautiful even though the water flow was low.  The path was pretty level and there were quite a few people on it, but we spent over an hour appreciating the beauty of the falls.  After that we drove to Tunnel View which is a wonderful place to look over the valley.  Then we drove through the tunnel and up the winding road to Glacier Point.  If I thought the previous views were good, Glacier Point is definitely worth the drive.  We stood at the edge of a high cliff overlooking the valley below, and we had a bird's eye view of Half Dome directly in front of us.  We spent about two hours at Glacier Point, and we bought souvenirs and ice cream at the gift shop before returning to the valley.  We stopped at Bridal Veil Falls, and we walked the trail to the base of the falls to take some pictures.  Then we returned to our room and relaxed.  I tried the swimming pool, but the water was pretty cold so I didn't stay in too long.  We cleaned up and went to the Mountain Room Restaurant for our dinner reservation at 6:30 p.m.  We shared a meal that included a Prime Sirloin, mashed potatoes, salad, French Onion soup, and seasoned bread.  The steak was delicious.  After dinner we drove back to Tunnel View for an evening look at the valley and then returned to our room.  It was a wonderful day.

Trip to Yosemite National Park

Yosemite has always been on my bucket list, and a couple of months ago I was looking randomly for available rooms in the park and one day I saw a room with a king size bed available for August 6th and 7th which is when Wendy celebrates her birthday.  I booked the room which was located at the Yosemite Valley Lodge and planned the trip.  Yesterday, August 5th, we drove to Caz and Ashley's home to stay the night.  This morning we were up at 5:00 a.m. to drive to the airport.  We parked in the garage at the airport - which is probably the last time we will do that - too expensive!  We flew from Salt Lake City to San Jose, California on Delta arriving about 9:00 a.m.  We rented a car from Alamo and drove to Yosemite National Park.  Along the way we stopped for lunch in the city of Manteca, and we ate at Ono Hawaiian BBQ.  We picked up some chocolates at See's Candy before hitting the road again.  It was kind of a long drive, and the day was hot.  We stopped to admire the view of Don Pedro Reservoir and then the road made a dramatic steep climb up the mountain with several sharp switchbacks.  We drove through Groveland, which is a unique mountain town, and then stopped at the park entrance to take a picture.  Then we stopped at a view point on Big Oak Flat road for our first amazing view of El Capitan and Half Dome.  We stopped at El Capitan and Bridal Veil Falls before finding our way to Yosemite Valley Lodge.  We checked into our room and had dinner at the Lodge food court.  After dinner we drove up the valley towards Half Dome and then back to our room.  I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the place.

Celebrating our Anniversary

Wendy and I celebrated 21 years of marriage by going on a date tonight, even though our anniversary was yesterday.  We enjoyed dinner and a play at the Westside Players Theater in Pocatello.  The play was, "Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street" and dinner consisted of meat pies, salad, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, a dinner roll, and a slice of pound cake topped with strawberries for dessert.  We also ordered a "mocktail" called the Blue Mermaid which was Sprite with blue raspberry and coconut flavors.  The cast did a tremendous job with the musical, and it was fun having the action brought into the dining area.  Jeffrey managed the sound board, and he has been working every night for several weeks on this play.  It is not the kind of play that leaves you feeling good, but we still enjoyed it very much.

Kevin and Kay Adopt a New Puppy

Kevin and Kay have adopted a rescued puppy that is a male black Collie.  Kevin says that he is very mild mannered and gentle.  He is about a year old and already house trained and sleeps in a kennel.  They have decided to name him Benny.

Trump Nearly Assassinated

Wendy was talking with her mom on the phone when Joyce told her that someone had just tried to shoot Trump while he was speaking at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.  We both tuned into the news and watched the incredible video of the bullet just grazing the President's ear and everything that happened afterwards.  I went through several emotions watching it, including anger, sadness, and relief.  I fully support Donald Trump, but I am concerned that the odds of him returning to the Oval Office are slim.  He is a fighter, and I believe that if he does become President of the United States again that the photo below will become one of the most iconic images of our century.

A New Electric Bike

Last week I felt my money burning a hole in my pocket.  For a long time now, I have wanted to purchase a better electric bike than what we currently have.  One of the Ancheer bikes was no longer operating, so I consolidated everything that did work into one bike.  However, the Ancheer bike is not strong enough to climb our steeper trails around Pocatello.  So, I decided to purchase a new electric bike.  After shopping and comparing several styles and brands I chose the Mokwheel Basalt All Terrain Ebike.  I paid $1,800 for it, and after waiting anxiously for several days, it arrived today.  I unboxed it, and it took me a few hours to put it together and adjust it to my preferences.  I took it for a short test run, and now I look forward to going uphill.

Caz and Ashley Adopt a New Puppy

Caz, Ashley, and Camden left this morning and drove to Idaho Falls to meet up with a Corgi dog breeder.  They were hoping to adopt a new pet.  They spent some time with three different male puppies, and they decided to adopt one of them.  They brought him back and introduced us to him.  They have named him Chip.

4th of July Celebration

We had a nice July 4th celebration, and it was good to see the kids again.  Kaleb came over from Boise and spent the week with us.  He and Cooper spent quite a bit of time together.  Ashley, Caz, and Camden stayed with us, and we had a short visit with Ryan and Megan.  Tyler and Jaylen came to visit with their two kids.  Wendy and I spent the 4th at home and we tended Camden while the others went golfing.  The kids had organized a golf tournament that they called the "Ray Invitational"  They even had golf balls printed with their logo.  They left early in the morning and drove to Twin Falls and the Canyon Springs Golf Course.  Kevin and Kay met up with them there.  Jeffrey spent the day with his friends.  In the evening we watched the neighbors put on a fireworks show, and we watched the main fireworks from our roof.

Beckham Celebrates 8 Years

Megan invited us over to the Sheppard's home to attend a birthday party for Beckham who turned 8 years old today.  Several members of her family were there, and we had a chance to visit with them.  Beckham opened gifts and cards, and then they sang 'Happy Birthday" and served birthday donuts.  It was a nice evening.  

A Fun Day in Utah and Cooper Turns 13 Years Old

We spent the day in Utah today.  Wendy had been wanting to go down to visit and Jeffrey drove her halfway down on Saturday and met up with Ashley who took her the rest of the way.  She spent the day with Ashley and Camden and spent the night at their home.  Jeffrey and I drove down this morning, and we had a breakfast of Crepes in a variety of flavors from The Crepery Syracuse.  Then we drove down to Saratoga Springs and met up with Tyler, Jaylen, Baylor, and Murphy at Fat Cats to go bowling and play some games.  In the afternoon we enjoyed the community pool near their home, and then we went to Texas Roadhouse for an early dinner.  Jeffrey drove us home after dinner, but the car kept overheating on the way home, so we had to stop a couple of times to let the car cool off.  We also stopped at Edson Fichter Pond to give Cooper his birthday card and gift.  He and Beckham have been going fishing at the pond nearly every day since they arrived in Idaho.

Jeffrey Celebrates his 19th Birthday

Jeffrey organized a birthday party with several of his friends.  He set up all of the lawn games including the badminton net.  He had about ten people over.  While it was too windy for badminton, they did use the net and played volleyball for a couple of hours.  Then they came inside and played indoor games for the rest of the night.  We cooked hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill.  We also served cake and ice cream and sang Happy Birthday to him.  Some of the kids stayed until midnight while Wendy and I just tried to stay out of the way.

The Grand Canyon Rim to Rim

Ashley, Caz, Tyler, and I visited the Grand Canyon and hiked from the South Rim to the North Rim over a three day period from Tuesday, June 11th to Thursday, June 13th.  We had been planning this trip for several months, and we were anxious about the hike due to the extreme heat inside the canyon.  I was very challenged by it, and I probably wouldn't do it again unless I could avoid temperatures over a hundred degrees.  I decided to write down the whole experience in detail so I could remember it, and I will attach a link to my document, rather than writing it all in this blog.  The Grand Canyon is amazing, but not very forgiving. 

Dinner with Mom at The Lodge

This afternoon, Wendy, Jeffrey and I drove to North Ogden to have dinner with Mom and family at The Lodge.  We arrived at 4:45 p.m. along with Ashley and Camden and Tyler, Jaylen, Baylor, and Murphy.  Caz had flown to Boston on a business trip.  We went inside to the dining room and met up with Blaine and Stacy who had driven down from Washington a couple days before to spend time with Mom and David.  We were then joined by Ben and Gayle and Renee who introduced us to her boyfriend, Eric.  It was great to see everyone again.  Mom sat at the head of the table, and it was good to see her feeling a little better.  David wasn't feeling well, so he wasn't able to join us.  We enjoyed our dinner, and we had a nice visit with everyone.  We returned home right after dinner.