Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

We just returned from vacation. Of course now we need a vacation for our vacation, but that's to be expected. Three weeks ago we set out for the wild hills of Eagle Mountain/Saratoga Springs Utah. My wife's family lives there and we were fortunate to be able to camp out at my in-laws house. The great thing about this trip is the "Pass of All Passes" which allows for several "free" events. Here is a brief list of what we did the three weeks we were in Utah:

• Trafalga Family Fun Center - Laser Tag, Miniature Golf, Rock Climbing Wall, Mini-Go-Karts, Arcade Games
• Seven Peaks Water Park - Water Slides and more
• Orem Owlz Pioneer League Baseball game
• Provo Canyon trip (2x) - Park in the canyon where kids can run and play
• Lagoon Amusement Park - Two days of Rollercoasters, rides and all around fun
• Snowbird Chair Lift ride with Disc Golf on the way down (more later)
• Geode Hunting
• Canoeing on the Provo River

Grace and Brittany up the Canyon

Here Geode, Geode, Geode

About to ride the Samurai (not so happy after)

Lia and Sam climbing the rock wall

As you can see we kept the schedule packed. My favorite part was when we did the Chair Lift at Snowbird. We arrived at the resort and were able to catch one of the last rides up the mountain. While traveling up the lift we were able to enjoy the ski runs without snow and even saw a Moose. We get to the top and start the Disc Golf course when the thunder started rolling in. We asked if we could ride the chair back down but were unable due to lightning in the area. So we started playing Disc Golf. On the 3rd hole of play the rain started, and it kept coming. We quickly abandoned play and started making our way down the mountain. The thunder and lightning were amazing and all was well, until it started to hail. Being pelted by hail was not a lot of fun and made things somewhat miserable, but it didn't last too long and then it was more rain. We had to watch our step as there were slippery areas on the path. However, we made it down successfully. As a reward we went to The Pie Pizzeria for dinner where bellies were filled and bodies warmed. Just one of our successful adventures during this trip.

The best part of the vacation was the ability to spend quality family time. Sure there were moments when we wanted to be away from each other, but overall we got to spend time with family and strengthen our relationships. It was sad to come home in a way, but good as well. School starts in just a couple of weeks which gives us just enough time to get ready for it.

Good Game (Series)

The Stanley Cup was won last night by the Chicago Blackhawks. They won the cup in six games after a frantic end to the game which saw them turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 victory in the final 2 minutes of play. That is an amazing accomplishment as the visiting team, but that's not what this post is about.

The NHL (and hockey in general) has a great (almost unheard of elsewhere) tradition for the end of playoff series. The two teams will line up at center ice and shake hands. It's a formal lining up and a nod to the hard work both teams put into the series. No one skips it. In fact, while watching this display of sportsmanship my wife asked what would happen if someone skipped it. I said that the guy's teammates would probably pummel him. That's how much it means to the game.

Watching the opposing side celebrate right after the final horn sounds cannot be easy. I would bet that most players want to get off the ice and away from the celebration that slipped their grasp. However, there were the Boston Bruins players and coaches waiting for the handshake. Boston's team captain Zdeno Chara led his side's handshake. I'm sure that is not an easy task for the captain, but to see him congratulate the Blackhawks is something we don't always see in other sports. Jonathan Toews, the Blackhawks captain, in turn congratulated the Bruins in a heartfelt manner.

There was no taunting, no "no time for losers, cause we are the champions", no "nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah"s. There was respect, There was "great game", "good job", "congratulations" all around. Hockey may not be the most popular sport in the US, but it does have the tradition of putting aside the competitiveness of what happened in the game to congratulate the other team, whether you won or lost.

Long Time No Musing

Wow, when you fall off the wagon, you really fall off. I haven't written here in so long that there is no way I could catch up. So instead, I'll try and get things up to speed for the recent year.

In March I finished (note I say finished) tearing my rotator cuff in my right shoulder. Two events precipitated this. The first was playing co-ed indoor soccer where I got turned in a wall by some guy in a pink jersey (let the jokes commence). The second was playing in the parents-kids game for Sam's soccer team. The problem with the second event is that I was sprinting when it happened. Nothing like crashing into a bunch of 9 and 10 year olds, nor going shoulder first into a goal post. Just the natural action of pumping my arms to sprint for a ball finished it off.

I went in for surgery in April and when the bandages came off the Dr said "Oh yeah, the shoulder from hell". I was like really? He also went on to say that someone my age shouldn't have a shoulder that looked like that. Of course that made me feel really good about how I'd been treating my dominant arm over the years.

I spent six weeks in a sling and slept in a "recliner". The only saving grace was the Cold Therapy Unit (CTU). This device uses ice water pumped from a base unit into a "pad" that is strapped to my shoulder. This delivers the cold needed to reduce inflammation and provides some blessed relief from pain. Of course the medication I was given kept me in a blissful state for the first couple of weeks.

After 2 weeks I started Physical Therapy. This is a glorious system where you get to pay people to basically "beat you up". Ok, it's really not that bad most days, however when the therapist stretches you out there are some really good grimace moments. I like to think that I handle pain well and am determined to not invoke the "$5.00 charge for whining" that is posted on one of the walls.

Physical Therapy also comes with "homework". This is designed to help speed recovery, but I also think it is a devious plan to make me feel like my kids who are in grade school. Of course it also means that I get to use the CTU (I'm pretty sure I'm addicted to its cooling properties at this point).

All in all this hasn't been too bad. I'm at the point now where I feel like I could do everything I could before, so I still have to be careful because well I can't. So don't expect me to be making plays at shortstop anytime soon. On the other hand, I've been cleared to jog again, so I can start preparing for soccer season and playing the game I loved.

Open Letter

Dear Representative/Senator/Vice President/President,

We recently went through a nasty campaign season and the outcome has left everything the same as it was before the election from a standpoint of which party controls which branches of government. This has been interpreted several ways. However, to me there is only one thing left to say: "Work Together".

I understand that many of you do not see eye-to-eye on all the issues that face our great nation. I understand there are many differences on what the right course is. However, neither party has all the answers. Neither party is always right and neither party is always wrong. There are good ideas from both sides. It's time to recognize those ideas and find ways to get them implemented. The posturing and drawing lines in the sand is to stop. Our country is one of (if not the) greatest in the world because of our ability to solve problems and work together. Recently though the spirit of cooperation and solving of problems has been put on the back burner in order to score political points.

So here's the deal. If you want my continued support (read vote), it's time to work together, find the best ideas, implement them and move this country out of gridlock. You are all capable of doing this. If you are not capable, then it's time to move on from politics. I for one am tired of the excuses, tired of being lied to, and tired of the finger pointing. If you truly care about the people you represent, you will find ways to work together and solve the problems we face as a nation. That's why you were elected. That's why we put our trust in you. Please work to keep that trust.

If you cannot find a way to work together, know that you will NOT get my vote in the next election. Not only that, I will work to ensure that others understand your unwillingness to work together and hope to convince them that you are not worthy of their vote either.

Sincerely,
Frustrated Voter

The Family Vacation

This year we decided to take a longer family vacation. For three weeks we were away. Now you may be thinking that this was an exercise in insanity given that we took our five children (11, 9, 8, 5 & 4) back East. We visited many places and ran around with friends and family.

New York Part I

The first part of our trip took us back to Wales, NY (just outside East Aurora). This is where I grew up and where my parents live. We spent 5 days there hanging out with family, fishing in the pond, going to Lake Erie and riding the Sarasota (I know it's a golf cart).

After the time spent with family we took a couple of days to visit Niagara Falls, Palmyra, and Fayette NY. We met up with our good friends Jared and Michelle, who came up from Virginia.

You may have noticed the two handsome cutouts. They are "Flat Stanley's" of our Orthodontists. Their office was having a competition and we had to take them to these places.

Hershey PA

Next on our trip was a stop in Hershey, PA. This was roughly the halfway point between Palmyra, NY and Lexington, VA where our friends live. Of course we had to go to Hershey park and eat chocolate!

Of course no trip to Pennsylvania would be complete without a visit to Amish country.

Lexington, VA

We left PA and headed to our friends home in Lexington, VA. Here we got to mow the lawn, take a tour of Virginia Military Institute, go to a lake and relax with our friends.

We had a great time with our friends, but soon it was on to another destination.

Washington DC

We left our friends in Lexington to spend a couple of days in our nation's capitol. We visited the Air and Space Museum, the National Zoo, Ford's Theater, the Museum of Natural History, the Lincoln Memorial, the memorial to the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Washington DC Temple.

New York Part II

We left DC and drove the 7+ hours back to my parents house. 7+ hours you say? Yes, because there are really no major highways between the two places. We did take a side trip on the way back as we passed Gettysburg. We had to stop. Levi is really big into the Civil War and so we took an auto tour of the battlefield. None of us realized how big the site is. We were amazed at all the divisions that fought in this turning point battle.

We arrived about 10PM at my parents house and spent 3 days relaxing and enjoying Grandpa and Grandma's house. We even got to see a summer thunderstorm which made Cheryl and I very happy. We then boarded a plane and flew the five hours back to AZ. Hopefully our children enjoyed this time and will have many memories to draw from.

What can we do for an encore you ask? Well the day after we got home was our church camp out. So yes, we slept one night in our own beds and then went up into the wilderness to sleep in a tent. Are we crazy? Yes, yes we are.

Lord Stanley Goes Hollywood

The NHL Stanley Cup playoffs concluded last night with the LA Kings beating the New Jersey Devils 6-1 in game six. The Kings won the series 4-2; the only series where they lost more than one game in these playoffs. The Kings only lost 4 games total in the playoffs (3 at home). They defeated the top three seeds in the Western Conference and were the best team in hockey this post season.

That said, you also need breaks to go your way and this post season the Kings got breaks when they needed them. Whether it was killing of a 5 on 3 power play, or a missed call (and there were several of those), things broke the Kings way. I'm not saying that the breaks gave them the cup. I truly believe they were the best team in hockey. However, they really didn't face adversity in these playoffs and that also helped them.

Yes, I'm a little disgruntled because of my support for the Phoenix Coyotes who play in the same division as the Kings and were eliminated by them in the Western Conference finals. There were definitely some times in that series where the breaks seemed to go all in favor of LA. But that is life. Things don't always go the way you want and in the end the better team won the series.

 So, congratulations LA! You're team beat the best teams in the West and delivered in the finals. Celebrate this victory, it's a great thing for your franchise. I hope that you will share this with your team legends (especially Marcel Dionne who was one of my favorite players). By the way, next year you won't get the chance to win the cup again. You see Captain Coyote (Shane Doan) and crew are going to take you out in both the regular season and, if you're lucky enough, in the playoffs. Just saying.

Bandwagoners

So the NHL playoffs are in full swing. For me, this is a great time of year, especially since it's the third straight year that the home team, the Phoenix Coyotes, have made the postseason.

I do have one problem though. A certain set of bandwagoners who pretty much ignored the Coyotes all season. This set comprises the local sportscasters here in Phoenix. These are the guys who lead with meaningful NFL draft stories in January while the Coyotes are fighting for a playoff birth. These are the guys who give the score in their segment while showing highlights of how the Suns got blown out by the Clippers. These are the guys who think that just because the seats aren't filled they shouldn't cover the 'Yotes. But if it's the DBacks then it's just fine.

The problem comes in that now that they are in the Playoffs and on the verge of winning their first round series that all of a sudden the Coyotes are the most important piece of sports news. One of the stations who are guilty of the aforementioned non-coverage actually sent their sports crew to Chicago to cover games 3 and 4. Talk about jumping on the bandwagon.

As a loyal fan who watched the season from Game 1 through now I just have one word for this set of bandwagoners - GET OFF! You didn't care about them when they were in the regular season. You didn't really care when they pretty much were the best team in Hockey during the month of February. You didn't really care that they won the Pacific division. You only care now because it gives you a positive sports story in a town where only one team has been consistently making the playoffs.