Monday, July 21, 2008

California

At the end of June we had a Bennion family reunion in Southern California. Here are a few of the 299 pictures we took.

This is at one of the beaches on the Balboa Peninsula.




Katie on the tea cups at Disneyland. I love the look of pure joy on her face.


Post- Disneyland. We arrived at 8:30 am and stayed until midnight when the park closed. Wow.


Gregory walking back from the beach. What a gorgeous face!








William, the Sand Man. At the beginning of the week he really disliked the sand. Obviously he got over his aversion. This is him playing dead. Notice the tongue sticking out.




Nathan looking awfully grown-up. He was pretty fearless in the waves.



The whole trip was a blast.

Love,

Wendy

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Torture 2000


Yesterday Rob, Vaughn Hughes, Trevor Fisher, and I went for a 33 mi ride that we named Torture 2000 (2,000 for the total number of feet of climbing in the route). We came up with the name "Torture" midway through the route. We started at the Albertsons near our house and went over the hills north of our place to Rte 30 via Logie Trail, and then back over the hills via McNamee, Skyline, and Springville. The craziest parts of the ride were the first major descent, which had to be made with both brakes on, because of the wet and windy road. The other crazy part was the ascent back over the hills on the way home. It was so steep (I think over 20% gradient in some places), that I wound up riding switchbacks up some parts because I was so beat down. However, the final descent was spectacular (long straight stretches) and I was able to get up to 40 mph. The day was perfect for riding (cool and overcast). Below is the our route (with elevation) and above is a photo of the group (L-R, Vaughn, Trevor, me, Rob).