Lobsters, Trees and Ocean

The five hour drive from MA to Bar Harbor was nothing for us. The unpacking was fairly easy compared to all the packing we had done just a week before. We were sure to eat lobster immediately, and even Dexter joined the fun. (He didn’t know that you aren’t supposed to eat their faces.)

We gave ourselves a tour of Mount Desert Island to see what it’s all about. Here is the top of Cadillac Mountain, the highest point on the East Coast.

Here is Sand Beach. The only beach with a stretch of sand along the shore, the water here never exceeds the 50’s. Yikes!

Bar Harbor is full of rocky shorelines…

antique lighthouses...

quaint homes peaking from the trees...

and crowded lobster pounds.
In general: it's good.

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Moving

We packed our lives and everything we own into the Explorer and our trailer, and said goodbye to Malley, our friends, and the life we knew in Rexburg, Idaho.  We spent the week in Utah with the Ropers at Jessica’s aunt’s horse ranch.  So naturally, we took a ride on Rocket.

After a week of horses, Utah salt flats, Del Sol training, and the Kennecott Copper Mine we left Morgan, Utah at 4:30 in the morning to begin our ridiculously long drive.  

We made it to Wyoming to watch the sunrise.  It seemed like forever to get across the massive state, but at least the landscape was really pretty.

As for the state of Nebraska, we’ll give that a big old B-O-R-I-N-G.  Here’s our packed car with Nebraska behind it.  We drove about 9 hours with nothing but flatness in all directions.

We slept in the car in Illinois that first night (for about 3 hours).  Here we are crossing the Mississippi River.

The second day felt longer than the first.  We were so close and yet so far.  But the stinkier and sleepier we became, the closer and closer we were to home.  We slept in Pennsylvania the second night, and arrived in MA by noon the next day.  Yay!

What a welcoming sign this was.  We are so relieved to have the ride complete with no accidents or problems.

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Yellowstone

For one last day trip in Idaho, we went to Yellowstone National Park with Malley and Chris Black.  We saw Bison and their babies from a distance..

and some we saw from much too close.  This little guy was walking down the road right next to our car.
We walked the boardwalks through the thermal pools and geysers...

and watched Old Faithful faithfully burst.

We stood above the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and ooh-ed and aah-ed over its majestic view.

After one last much too long walk over steaming holes in the ground and vibrantly colored boiling water, we called it a day and headed home.  

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Look at that Chrome

We cherished our Honda Shadow for its beauty and its smooth ride. When we sold it a few months ago it felt like we were abandoning our family dog.

So we bought an sv 650 to fill the void. Okay, so we're not really bullet-bike people but we bought it at a fantastic price and made some money on it when we turned around to sell it a couple weeks later. So we're back to being bike-less. But knowing Chris, we'll own another sometime soon.

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Trenton's Wedding

This weekend we, along with a bunch of friends, drove down to Salt Lake City for Chris' old roommate's wedding.  The Salt Lake temple grounds are absolutely beautiful.

Here are the boys waiting for the wedding.  I told them to strike a "looking away" pose, so they all stared at a naked cherub mounted on the wall.  Nice.

(In case you were wondering: Colt, Chris Black, my Chris, and Cory Black)

Trenton looked so happy and his new wife was radiant.  Here's the clan:  Chris Black, us, Trenton & Kathryn, Colt & Sally, Brian & Brittany.  Seems like all of Chris' roommates are jumping on the marriage bandwagon!

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