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Friday, June 27, 2008

Yellowstone - seasoned tourists

We've been here the better part of a week and for our last full day together on vacation, we split up. The dads and the older kids all went white water rafting. The moms, the little kids and Nana and Papa hit the road to see what was at the Grand Teton National Park. The mountains and the glacial lakes were beautiful. Pictures will follow.

Rafting was apparently a scream! A good time was reportedly had by all. Rick and Myron were at the front of the raft. Ashlie and her boyfriend Riley were in the center. Myranda and Jesse were in the back with the guide Ricky Bobby.
They were rafting the Gallatin River, described by the guide service as a "small technical white water river with continuous rapids and scenic beauty featured in the movie "A River Runs Through It"." Well, the river went right through and over our rafters more than once.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Yellowstone - 1st time tourist

Our first trek through the Upper Geyser Basin at Yellowstone National Park was great. The kids were excited to learn about volcanoes, geysers and they all wanted to know where the lava was. Luckily we bring along our own in-house science teacher for just such occassions. We were watching this little tiny geyser gush and gush for several minutes. Rikard declared Beehive Geyser his favorite. And then...All of a sudden the real Beehive Geyser behind the little indicator geyser rumbled and erupted. Rikard and Bailey were soaked and people were running in several directions to get out of the spray. This geyser shoots more than 130-feet into the air. It was a spectacular site. Everyone in our group was a big fan.
Within minutes Old Faithful went off. The scene is spectacular, but according to the kids, not as great as see all the different kinds of geysers and pools you can see walking around the park.
Around a couple of corners we saw some steaming pools. Walking through the hot steam on a hot day smelling sulfur was not one of Rick and Dad's favorite pasttimes. But, they weathered it well and keep driving us to see new wonders each day.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Fore! and other fun

We hit the road over the weekend for our annual family trek. This year's destination: Yellowstone National Park.

Our first stop on the road trip was a quick visit with Auntie Kelly in C'dA to drop off a baby crib and give a nice big birthday hug to the ol' girl. Next stop was lunch at the $50,000 Silver Dollar Bar. We didn't let the kids go into the bar, but they came out of the place acting crazy anyway. Our destination for the first night was Anaconda, Mont. You may be asking yourself, what the heck is in Anaconda, Mont.? It is an old copper mining town, but had enough activities to keep us all entertained for the day.
Our primary reason for staying the night was to let Rick golf at Old Works, a Jack Nicklaus signature course. They utilized the former copper smeltering site and tons of slag for the construction of the course, they even incorporated old equipment into the site.While Rick was golfing the kids and I explored Anaconda. We found this great display of the Anaconda Copper Mine rail cars downtown.
We found this huge pot from the smelter at the Anaconda Smoke Stack State Park. The 585' 1.5" stack is on the hillside behind the pot, but it's just a big chimney, not very photogenic.

After the sightseeing, we went to the skate park where the locals took it upon themselves to teach Rikard the basics of boarding. He got a skateboard for his birthday two weeks ago and has yet to brave letting it move while he is standing on it.
A couple streets over we found a little park that features a 40-foot slide. The first 10-feet is nearly a straight drop. The kids had a ball! After watching the big kids for a couple of trips down and up, Keeli finally got brave enough to go down. She looked so tiny on that slide and the first time down you could tell she was holding her breath. After that there was no stopping her.

On to Yellowstone.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

KC - day 2


We visited the Hallmark Visitors Center on our lunch break the first day of the conference. There were several interesting displays, however it felt odd to be visiting such a kid-oriented place without my three tagging along.

Kaleidescope is located near the entrance to the Visitors Center and was swarming with children, happy children. I missed my kids.

Inside the Visitors Center there were several interesting displays. The first, of course, was for the Keepsake Ornaments that Hallmark releases each year. We have a few, but aren't gung-ho collectors. My sister on the other hand is a Hallmark junkie. I know why she recommended visiting this place.


Ornaments were on display on several themed trees. These were kept behind glass and arranged by year. The first ones are the oldest. These were interesting to me mainly because of the old world or European feel they had.

The middle tree of this set caught my eye. I remember making these bread dough style ornaments in elementary school.

The Crazy Quilt Tree was the last one in this display and is - of course - my favorite. I love the velvets, ribbons and decorative stitching.

Then it was back to the conference to learn more about digital marketing, connecting with others online and how to define and identify the online audience.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

KC - day 1

I saw as much of Kansas City as possible around some intense conference sesions this week. The city scape from outside the hotel was beautiful. Despite the destructive weather going on all around this city, the weather while I visited was fantastic - clear skies and a light breeze.
I spent three days in Kansas City, Missouri attending the NCMPR summer institute on digital marketing. I was exposed to great ideas, greater people and a fantastic city.
My first stop was the historic Union Station. This was right across the street from the hotel and along the pathway to the destination for dinner the first night. My sister and her family recently vacationed here. She provided great suggestions for filling free time, including eating at Jack Stacks' Barbecue. A coworker and I enjoyed smoked prime rib with all the fixin's and a bottle of fruity delicious Whoop Whoop.
Outside Union Station is the Henry Wollman Bloch Memorial Fountain, one of the 200 water fountains the city is famous for. Bloch is the co-founder of H&R Block.
Inside the station there are shops, restaurants, a science museum, gallery and historic train displays. There is also fantastic architecture, like the ceilings. The colors are great, the depth and textures make you want to reach out and touch the detail pieces.

I realized just how lucky residents of larger cities are. There are very few buildings in my community that rise more than one level above ground, most are built of cinder blocks and most are 50 years old. There is little architectural beauty where we live. I endeavor to appreciate it when I find it.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Kansas City Here I Come ...

In KC for a day or two for a work-related conference. Ate some great bbq. Will post pics of the great sites we've seen soon.

Ciao for now!