Road Trip 2013 - Day Four

Eight a.m. AIS. This means Ass In Seat. Fueled up and ready to drive. Two bikes and two cars. This should be interesting. We have a groove with our riding partners and now we're changing it up. I am happy to say that it is working out fine and we're all having fun..at least I think we're all having fun.

Another day of fine riding weather all the way to Keystone, South Dakota. Well, after the really cold morning. By our lunch stop, we were peeling off layers.

We checked in to our hotel where we're staying for the next four nights. Pretty sweet, we can actually unpack. Walked around town and returned to the hotel. We carved out an area in the lobby and hosted our own happy hour. Then off for dinner. Ugh! I am done with Mexican food. I eat too many chips. I think the food here is not going to be great. I'm lowering my expectations.

We were able to take in the evening program at Mt. Rushmore. Awesome!

Road Trip 2013 - Day Three

And we're off to Laramie, Wyoming to meet up with our chase car. Now this is the first time we've travelled with a chase car. We're pretty sure that a chase car means following behind, hence the term chase. Our car left two and a half days before us!!! Not to worry, we did meet up with them. Good thing since they are carrying the wine!  We also met up with another car that will be with us for a few days.

Yet another great day of riding weather. There was lightening in the distance when we were checking in, but we only experienced a slight sprinkle. We did hit gusting 35 mph winds, and I do mean gusting.  Our room made the $100 cut! And our lunch was under $10, oh, did I forget to mention that's another of our road trip games? We like to "eat fresh" at Subway while we're on the road. Not every lunch, but really, you can't have a healthier fast food.

We met up for dinner at Linda's. We sat outside in her beautiful garden and chatted. I totally ate too much of the fresh cherries and cheese and just couldn't even eat the dinner. At my age you would think I had more discipline so I wouldn't spoil my dinner. We still had a great time. We took a tour of the neighbor's home, very nice. We learned much of the local flavor.

And Peter is getting a puppy! He was thinking of getting a dog in about five years, when they stopped traveling as much. But he fell in love with Linda's dog while visiting and when Lindà mentioned there was a litter on the way, he jumped in! He put in an order for a female. Next thing, we were planning a puppy shower for the adoption! We thought it might be the wine talking, but in the sober sunlight of the next day he was still going with it.

Road Trip 2013 - Day Two

We took this trip three years ago and meandered on our way to South Dakota. We arrived to discover the fabulous riding with only one day to ride. That's why we're headed back. We're riding straight there, along Interstate 80, so we'll have days to ride in South Dakota. Then we'll meander back.

Big blessing that the weather was only in the 70's today. If you think it's boring driving through the Nevada desert and the Utah salt flats, it is worse on a bike. And when it's hot, it is horrible!

We made it to Salt Lake City, Utah. We found a room near the airport. Here's where things get silly. We check TripAdvisor and/or AAA to see how the places rank, amenities, location, and price. When you walk in, the price is usually higher. We show them the Internet price and they match it. That's not what happened this time. We found ourselves in the lobby trying to book the room online, as the power on our phones was running out. Annoying! We did get it booked, then walked over to the desk and checked in. The systems are updated immediately, so at least we didn't need to wait. What is wrong with this crazy travel industry? Oh, the good news? Below our $100 limit, Score!

We walked around the corner to Robert's for dinner. Really good food, excellent service, and we were all  happy with the 10% discount from the hotel until we saw there was a 50% Groupon deal! Bummer! Now we need to figure out the Groupon thing.

In the a.m. We rode downtown to see Temple Square (white shirt and black tie, is this a Mormon uniform?) and the state capital building. I also ran in to a hotel to buy and mail postcards to the boys. We send a card from each state we visit. We're in Utah a short time, so this was a crunch.

Road Trip 2013 - Day One

If it's June, it must be time to fire up the Harley and hit the road. We left town in the early afternoon, hoping to miss commute traffic.

Let me just mention that the Sacramento  area is crazy busy. We made good time, there are just so many vehicles on the roads. How did we ever commute for years? We're pretty sure we would never do that again!

We arrived safely in Sparks, NV where we scored a room for $53 at The Nugget, and got a sweet parking spot to tuck the bike in for the  evening. Part of our road trip fun is finding cheap rates on a room. We like to average below $100 and get real excited if we get below $50. A huge plus is a covered parking spot (a soggy seat in the a.m. is not fun) up close to the front door (makes us feel the bike is safe and we have a shorter walk to lug all our stuff off the bike).

After riding all day, the last thing we want to do is get back on the bike to go to dinner. We usually shower (The water pressure was Old School here. We have used low flow for so long, we forgot what it was like.  We laughed and said it was like The Seinfeld episode where Kramer bought shower heads on the black market!)  and throw on street clothes and flip flops to walk to dinner. Since The Nugget is along the highway and a bit isolated, we ate there at the cafe. We ordered their "famous" awful-awful burger, which is awful-awful good. I had mine with thick fries. UGH......I was stuffed!

I'm posting this on the iPad and have not figured out how to get the photos inserted. Stay tuned and check back later to see if I've succeeded.

Brothers

Lucky is still a favorite toy. He no longer speaks and his mouth won't move, but he is deeply loved. Two can't quite fit and yet they still try to make it work.

And NEVER let that adorable face of Theo fool you....that little guy can torture his brother

Helping With Dinner

Everyone wants in on the action

And then there's the clean up

Time With Great Grandma

We LOVE Family Night......Family, Fun, and Food!!!

Ezra is showing his imagination. He found an old looking box (well he started by taking down a decoration that looks like an old treasure chest and I had to lead him to this box to get my decoration back!) and made up a game with it. Here he is sharing his story with Great Grandma and brother (that's what he calls T)

I'm Not Proud

We had the boys for the weekend. By Sunday morning, we were running out of tricks so we did what anyone would do.....right? They climb in bed with us and we turn on the TV....don't judge.....

 It's not as bad as it seems....do we get points for PBS? Super Why?

We did feed them and dressed them for church. They were a big hit. Our nursery is full of girls and the teen boy helping out was so grateful to have a couple of boys to play loud and rambunctious games.

My Granddaughter Has Her Own Nail Polish!!!!!

Vesper has her very own nail polish!!!!! OPI has a line of Bond Girl colors. Coincidence? I think not.

Another Grandma?!

Family Dinner includes all the generations. Here's a precious photo of V with one of her Great Grandmas

Party Hats & Candles

We like to put the Happy in Happy Birthday....and that does require party hats!

Wine Country Visit

I think this might just be our very first wine tasting trip of 2013.....we are working way too much.  Off we go with our Wine Rock Star friends to a "pairing" at St. Francis.

The weather was perfect and the grounds are absolutely beautiful. The staff is friendly, unpretentious, and they all are informed and passionate about wine.  They were debuting a new menu and everything was really tasty. The wine is very good quality and the prices remain a good value (especially since our friends are wine club members so we share the discount). We were hoping to find a few items for a wedding shower gift and we did score several nice items in their gift shop. We loaded the car and were off to the other side of the hill, to Napa.

Sequoia Grove is a sister winery of St. Francis so our friends get free tastings and super discounts. This is a very small winery located in a grove of redwoods, hence the name. We had a great time here. Our pourer was Sarah and she was fantastic. We tried a few wines, she took us down for a quick tour of the cellars where we did a barrel tasting (and I'm pretty sure I need to come back in a few years to buy some when it's ready), and then we sat at a table in the grove tasting the high end stuff. Sarah's pours were very generous and we had reached out limit...or some of us had reached our limit. We did find a couple more items to add to the shower gift, SCORE!

We had a stop to pick up wine at Onward, chat with the winemaker Faith, and play with her new little girl, Chloe. Our final pick up was at Acacia. We arrived just after they closed, so we knocked and they actually opened up and offered us up a quick tasting while they got the wine club shipment. We did buy a few bottles so everything worked out for all of us.

By now it was the commute time and we had been tasting all day (except for our DD, designated driver). We wisely chose to grab dinner and then head home.

Our wine closest is now full. Time to kick back on the patio and open a bottle.

See Ezra Ride His Bike

I may have mentioned, once or twice, that my grandchildren are "over achievers". Well, here's a video of E riding his bicycle, without training wheels, just shy of 3 1/2 years old.

http://theswensonfamily.blogspot.com/2013/06/so-proud.html

They had to reshoot the video because his mother was SCREAMING with excitement. Go ahead, take a few moments to watch the video of the amazing feat....once or twice.

See, I told you he was an over achiever!

Water Baby

If there is water running, or water that T can make run, he's going to find it and get very wet. Great photo J.

Hair Cuts....Theo's First!!

One of our duties as grandparents is to have the boys' hair cut. Do you remember when we found the most wonderful place to have the boys hair cut? Well, we went back and might even be happier this time, if that's possible.

First one up was E, he thinks he should go first because he's the big brother. We think he should go first so he can show T how it's done. It was a little difficult to keep him away from the toys. He whipped his head around to see all the toys, making it very challenging for Erika to cut his hair.

She worked her magic, going for a very layered surfer boy look....looking good.

Next, it was T's turn, time to cut the baby mullet and get rid of his gorgeous curls....

Erika gave us his curls in an envelope so I can include it in his album....if I ever get back to working on it and bringing it up to date. He still has some curls and Mama approves...although she was afraid to look at him when she picked the boys up since she though she would cry.

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Looking at these images makes me want to hug and kiss their adorable faces!

Fathers' Day at The Pool

We headed to the pool for swimming and dinner. After only a few visits to the pool, the boys are getting very comfortable in the water. They can stay in there until their lips turn blue.

The place was busy and Jessica visited with one of her friends from middle school. They run in to one another around town and their children know one another. T played with Ryder and was impressed to find they both wear teething beads, although Ryder has an anklet and T wears his around his neck. E and Lily spent their time climbing the tree. Jessica? Well she mostly enjoyed a Mai Tai while the Fathers took the boys in the water.

I got to hold V, she was particularly cute in her swimsuit.

Let The 2013 Wedding Season Begin!

Our sweetest and most favorite niece is getting married!!! To a fabulous guy!!! We love them both and are so excited to attend the wedding next month. They invited us to their family "couples" shower and we had a blast. We are so excited for the the couple and everyone LOVES them both. We had so much fun meeting our new family and catching up with the family members that we haven't seen in a very long time.

We are so happy for Michelle & Scott