Since we've been back from Bear Lake for more than two weeks, I'm sure you're literally dying to hear about our vacation.

We left at about 5:15a on Monday the 11th. This time was chosen because a) we didn't want to drive into the sun all morning and b) we hoped this would help Chase to sleep through more of the drive. The plan worked and Chase handled the trip extremely well. We made it in about 11 hours. They were doing major construction on the main road to the lake, so this slowed us down considerably.

The trip basically broke down like this:

• Monday - Drive to Bear Lake
  
• Tuesday - Hang out at the lake and eat delicious (and famous) Bear Lake Raspberry Shakes
  
• Wednesday - Pretty much lounged around the cabin all day
  
• Thursday - Rented a couple of Waverunners and hung-out at the lake pretty much all day (and tried more raspberry shakes)
  
• Friday - A little bit of Geocaching and quad-riding
  
• Saturday - Drive back to Reno
  

Chase had his first experience playing in the sand, which he loved. He also had his first experience in water other than the bath or shower.

Bear Lake was a lot of fun. The water was surprisingly warm and the weather was great.

The raspberry shakes certainly lived up to their reputation. We tried two different places and both were very good. The second place that we went had very large shakes. In fact, the shakes were so big that Emilie and I weren't able to finish them. Mike and Chelsea seemed to complete their shakes without too much trouble.

While looking for a path to a certain geocache we spotted some wild turkeys. In unrelated news, the cache was rated as terrain 1.5, but had no way to access it without walking at least a mile. Additionally, the cache was in a spot that, while not unreasonably unsafe, was certainly quite close to some dangerous terrain. Oh, well. The cache was in a fairly safe spot, so I was comfortable leaving a couple of excellent travel bugs (coins) there. Unfortunately, the cache has not been visited since we were there. Back to the turkeys!

While it was crazy having so much family (27 in all) all sharing one cabin, it was a lot of fun. When it came time to go, we were pretty much ready (as was everyone else, I'm sure). We left at about 6:00a mountain time, so Chase slept through much of the trip home, which made the journey pretty easy.

Thanks to an anonymous tip from Mike, delicious Idaho Spud candy bars have been found in Reno. You may or may not remember my search for Spuds late last year during the month of October (try searching for "spud"). Basically, the issue is that we always had Idaho Spud candy bars growing up, but then one day they were gone. They are still plentiful in Idaho, but Reno suffers from a dearth of Spuds. Well, the search is over and I'm happy to announce that Idaho Spuds have been found at the Shell Station on the corner of Clear Acre and N. McCarran. That's the good news. The bad news is that they cost almost a dollar. Anyway, here's a picture of the find:

Last Saturday brought a glorious ride on the famed Downieville Downhill. It was my first time there and I didn't really have any preconceived ideas about what to expect. While waiting for the rest of our group to meet us at the trailhead I started to feel a little anxious. Everyone else was strapping on full armor and they were wearing a full helmet instead of the standard mountain biking helmet. It only took a few minutes on the trail to understand why. The trail was rocky and brutal.

Even though I was grossly underprepared (relatively speaking), I had a lot of fun. I took one fairly good spill and a couple of smaller, less significant ones, as well. The wound on my leg is still pretty noticeable and is just now beginning to show bruising around the wound. To me, the trail seemed to be almost like an amusement park ride. There was a lot of scenery that was so spectacular that it almost seemed fake or staged. There were a lot of dangers that seemed strategically placed throughout the trail. The main difference between mt. biking and a theme park ride is, of course, that you always magically turn at the last second to avoid danger on the theme park rides. When riding a bike there is no guarantee that you will not die. All things considered, it was an excellent ride that included a total elevation decrease of over 4000' in about 14 miles.

I took the day off from biking today so that we could go for a little hike. Emilie, Chase and I did a quick little hike up around the Whites Creek area. We hiked from the parking area to the Dry Pond/Mt. Rose Wilderness fork and back. I didn't measure the distance, but would say it's around 3 miles if I had to guess. Chase loved it and I got a good workout.

I've neglected my blog for so long that it will take me years to catch up. Well, maybe not years, but certainly 10 minutes or more. At least I have an excuse this time. We were on vacation for a week, so there really wasn't a good time or place to blog. I think the best way to catch up is to blog what I would have blogged had I done it before I left, then I'll start another post to tell about our fantastic voyage to Utah.

Before our timely departure to Utah, on July 30th, we had a Stake Sacrament Meeting regarding changes to the stake. All of the wards in the stake except for one were redefined. Some wards were eliminated completely and new ones were created. Our ward had the northern-most boundary drawn further south, so it's now a little smaller. Previously, our ward filled the chapel, the overflow and most of the gym every week. A smaller ward is good.

I went for a ride on Saturday, July 29th. I rode my usually trail: the Whites Creek Loop. The last two times I went riding I had a significantly harder time than usually getting to the top. I initially thought this might be because I haven't been going as regularly as I should; however, further thought leads me to think that a prescription I'm taking is making me sick when I exert myself. Before I got to the top I was feeling so nauseated that I didn't think I would make it. I have yet to test my theory by abstaining from the medicine a day or two before the ride.

Tomorrow we're riding the Downieville Downhill trail. I've never been on this ride before, so I'm not sure what I should expect. Rest assured that details will follow (eventually).

Emilie and I recently discovered what Misti knew all along. Sudoku puzzles can be fun. We recently began playing Brain Age on the Nintendo DS Lite. Besides being a fun and addictive game by it's own right, it comes with an excellent version of Sudoku. Much time has been spent staring at seemingly random numbers and squares. I think Mike likes it, too, but I can't say whether the love is real.

The next update will contain details from our trip. Stay tuned!

The biggest news lately is that Chase is finally getting some teeth. His two bottom teeth finally broke through early this week. They don't seem to be hurting or bothering him, which is good for all of us. He's also discovered his tongue. Between the tongue and the teeth he does some pretty funny things with his mouth - none of which make him look anything like a genius.

We had our anniversary last week, but unfortunately Emilie had to work that whole evening. It made the actual evening of our anniversary a little lackluster; however, we made up for it by going out on Saturday. We took Chase with us to see Lady in the Water. Of course, everyone stared at us for bringing a baby to a "scary" movie. It wasn't really a scary movie, though. It's more of a fantasy. Anyway, Chase did pretty good. We mostly just wanted to see how he would do at a movie.

After the movie we went to Macaroni Grill. Elise was working there, so we were treated exceptionally well. I had Sicilian Pizza and Emilie had Shrimp Portofino (I think). Since it was a celebratory meal, we had New York Cheesecake with chocolate sauce for dessert. When we received the bill we found that they had given us a special discount, which made the whole day even better.

It was good that our anniversary celebration went well, because mountain biking was lacking. I planned on going early on Saturday morning, but as I was getting ready I found that my tires were a little low. While inflating the back tire I ended up blowing the tube. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal except that I didn't have a spare. Of all the places that sell the tire I needed, REI is the place that opened the earliest. They don't open until 10a, so by the time I got a new tube, replaced the old one and got to the trail it was already 11a. The day was warm so it was especially tiring. To make matters most exciting, I had over-inflated the tires so my ride down was a little scarier than usual. Anyway, a bad day mountain biking is still a very good day.

We're getting ready for our forthcoming vacation, which should be fun. It better be.