It was a very busy four days, but on Wednesday evening I had some free time so I rode the train to Fenway to watch a Red Sox game.
Fenway is awesome, but it's less fun when you're alone. The Red Sox aren't much good this year (lost to the Angels), but I had a great evening anyway.
Part of the conference was a Duck Boat tour of Boston's downtown and historic districts. This is the Old Statehouse.
Back home while I was gone, Jessica and Emily had their first day of school at Thomas Jefferson Charter School. They're smiling in this photo but were both acting like they're way too old for the 'first day of school' photo.
I flew back to Salt Lake late Thursday night and stayed at Tiffany and Brian's house. Friday morning, Lily couldn't wait to show me her 'rain bike', which is just a regular bike that had been rained on.
Cameron and Meghan are back to school as well, and are close enough they can ride their bikes.
I picked up my dad's truck (which I'll be tending for 18 months while he's in Australia), and drove quick as I could back to Idaho. The reason was that the girls had a swim team retreat in McCall Friday afternoon and Saturday. I literally pulled into the driveway as the girls were walking up to the house after school. We threw some overnight stuff into the truck and headed for Paradise Point, a church camp on the north shore of Payette Lake.
Jessica stayed overnight in the cabins (Emily will be old enough next year), while the rest of us headed for our 'camp site' at the McCall Lodge. On the way there, a young buck wandered out of the forest to the edge of the road. He stood still long enough for several photos.
August was already quite cool, but the temperature dropped Friday afternoon with a thunderstorm that came through western Idaho. In McCall, the rain turned to snow at about 5,200 feet elevation. It wasn't a blizzard, but it was snow in August.
The next morning, we dropped Emily at the camp and the three of us drove up to Brundage Ski Area with our mountain bikes. Here's mommy and Madeline riding the lift.
Madeline braving the descent of Brundage mountain.
Madeline had never been mountain biking before, and really only got comfortable on a bike last year, so we were proud of the way she handled the mountain trails. The views in the West Central Mountains are amazing.
On the way down, we got to see a bear up close and personal. Joanne noticed it and we stopped and watched it in the woods for a bit. I took a couple photos but they didn't turn out -- they were all blurry. When the bear decided to stand up on its hind legs, we decided our bear watching was done. After our bike ride, we took the long way home, over the top of Brundage mountain. I decided my dad's truck needed to be in its natural habitat. Here it is at over 7,500 feet near the fire lookout at the top of the mountain.
After our trip over the mountain, Madeline and I went kayaking on Payette Lake while Joanne tried to take a nap in the truck. It was quite cool, so there was no swimming involved (note Madeline's hoodie).
When the long day was done, we returned to Paradise Point to pick up the swim campers. We arrived home just before 10 PM Saturday night.
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