Trip to Cali for Some Sun.

We promised our kids to take them to Disneyland this year and October is the traditional time we like to go so we loaded the kids into the car and made the trip south for the week.  My wife reluctantly agreed to let me take my bike just in case I found a chance to ride.  It wasn't the most convenient thing to bring but in the end I was glad to get what riding I did.

I hate the drive.  It's so long and such a waste of a full day but it was my idea to save the money vs. flying so I tried not to complain.  We enjoyed a couple days in the Disney and California Adventure parks and hit all the main rides.  My kids are at a good age to enjoy the "older" version of the parks so we didn't have to do all the little kid rides.

After we were parked-out we headed a bit further south to Carlsbad, CA and stayed in a hotel right on the beach.  The weather was beautiful and the water was fun.  I think I would spend the entire vacation on the beach if it were up to me.  Unfortunately, it wasn't all up to me.   My kids wanted to hit Lego Land, which was part of our original plan, but I hoped that the beach would trump all and they'd agree with me to skip Lego Land and just relax.  No good.  It didn't work.  Though my kids liked Lego Land, I hated it.  It's a total rip.  $15 to park, $290 to get the 4 of us in and food was crazy expensive.  All for very poor quality rides and food.  Not to mention the over priced souvenirs that you have to buy as well.  I'm hoping to never have to go there ever again.

Though I didn't get to ride my bike in Anaheim I was able to get out a couple of times in Carlsbad.   Beautiful riding right along the coast.  I didn't do much climbing but that was okay.  I felt lucky just to be riding.  While speaking to some locals they mentioned the brand of my bike and I realized that I bought(online) my bike from a shop here in Carlsbad, CA.  I was in the birth place of my bike.  I had totally forgotten this.  Actually, the bike was made in Taiwan (I guess the true birthplace) but the shop that I bought it from was here.  I looked it up and the shop was only a block away from where we were staying.  I went to go see it but I didn't make it before they closed for the night so I never got a chance to go inside but still, I was happy to see the place.

View from our hotel balcony in Carlsbad, CA

Almost at Torrey Pines on my ride.

                  

                         Sunset

Hotel we stayed at in Carlsbad, CA

Loading the car for the long drive home.

I Love Autumn in Utah...

We rented a motor home and took the kids camping in the High Uinta mountains a couple of weekends ago.  Though I say "camping" it's not quite the traditional tent experience that I grew up knowing.  It was a rainy and cold weekend so having a dry place to retreat was very nice.  I felt bad for those around us toughing it out in tents.  Though it rained, we were able to find plenty of time to hike and fish.  Such a beautiful place.  It seemed everywhere we hiked we would find small, picturesque ponds like these.

Beautiful pond with lily's in it.

The Boy and Girl very much enjoyed the trip.

  The great thing about the weather was the lack of bugs.  The Uinta's can be notorious for bugs but because of the cool temps there were none.  I thought it was perfect.  Maybe we'll do it again next year.

Last week I was able to ride up Little Cottonwood from my office in Draper.  It was windy but otherwise perfect.

Alta waiting for more snow.

I've also been able to go on a few Infinite Team rides since Lotoja.  These are always fun for me as I don't get the chance to do many group rides.

Saturday, October 5th 2013.  Picture by Steven Perry.

I'm enjoying being on my bike and I'm trying to get in as much riding as I can before the weather turns.  But, this is the time of year that I start getting excited for skiing.  I convinced my wife and kids to go with me to the Teton Gravity Research's movie premier in downtown Salt Lake.  I really enjoyed it and I think my kids did too, at least until it got a little cold for them.  Still, they toughed it out and it had  me all excited for the snow.  We've had a couple of early snow storms in the mountains already but I don't put any stock into these as I know they will surely melt but come the end of this month, I will be praying for snow continually.

Waiting for the TRG film to start.