August 2011

Just a quick update. The first week of this past month the family and I packed our bags and went on vacation to visit parts of South Dakota and Wyoming. In particular we visited Custer, Crazy Horse, Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, and Yellowstone. It was pretty cool to see the rich history associated with surround states. I'll post some pics shortly. School just started this past week for Aysia and Aidan. Next week Alec will go to kindergarten. Becca's preschool starts the week after Labor Day weekend.

More October DC Pics

October UEA Weekend 2010

Last week Rebecca and I had the wonderful opportunity to travel with James and Taunie Anderson to Pennsylvania. A rather short trip, but we managed to squeeze just about everything one could do in just a few short days.

Our trip began with Rebecca and I catching a red eye flight Thursday morning at 12:50AM from SLC to Altanta, GA. From there we flew on to Baltimore, MD and arrived sometime around 9:30 AM (EST). We then took Amtrax to Union Station, Washington DC where we decided to begin our adventure of touring DC's monuments.

Our first stop, after purchasing an umbrella, was to the US Capital Building. Here we browsed a gift shop and found interest in the First Ladies Cook Book, a cool looking signature tie, and other trinkets. Later we toured the Capital building and took lots of pictures of various rooms and artifacts.

With our tummies growling for food we quickly strolled through the Library of Congress until we could find someone to direct us to some good local eateries.

Next on the agenda was the great "erection" as my wife says. Otherwise known as the Washington Monument. In asking the best way to see the monument, someone from the Library of Congress suggested that we take the subway system and get off at the Smithsonian stop. So, that's exactly what we did. The Washington Monument is a lot taller in person than I imagined. I especially liked seeing the circle of American flags flying in the wind and surrounding the monument itself. A pretty awesome sight to see firsthand.

With the Lincoln Memorial in sight, we decided to work our way that direction by passing by the White House then on to the Vietnam Wall. The White House is another favorite site of mine. As we were approaching, Washington PD closed the walkway to prepare for President Obama to caravan somewhere from the White House. It's amazing to see just how many black vehicles, police escort, and ambulance personnel traveling along the President. I heard somewhere once that when the President travels there is a cell phone dead zone airspace. In the caravan of suburbans there were at least two of them with weird looking devices on top of them that probably had something to do with jamming local phone signals. Pretty rad.

Minutes after the President left the White House, Washington DC police and Secret Service opened the walkway allowing pedestrians to pass by and look at the southern (I think) view of the house were the water fountain resides. As we were taking lots of pictures I paid close attention to the yard, particularly in the tree line and bushes and I saw some gadgets the Secret Service must use to detect and alert of trespassing visitors. Also pretty rad.

With our feet extremely exhausted, we pushed forward to the Vietnam Wall and found my dads name, Delbert Leo Singler, Jr., engraved on panel 30, line 30. Although I never met my father, I had to man-up and hold back the emotions. So many names...!

Anybody remember the remake of Planet of the Apes? When Becca and I walked up and into the memorial I was sort of looking forward to seeing a monkey-faced Lincoln sitting in his chair, then having a squad of police officers apes pull up along side the building and demand our arrest for getting out of our lab cages. Well, just being there with Becca is totally awesome.

By this time it was around 5:30PM and we were anxiously waiting for Taunie and James flight to come in and have them come pick us up in their car rental. Becca was desperately hacking up her lungs from a cold she has been battling for several days and I'm certain her feet were just as sore as mine, so we rested for about an hour. Later we decided to head the nearest subway entrance and work our way to Arlington National Cemetery where we were to meet the Anderson's. It's a good thing they were waiting for us when we exited the nearly empty subway system. I heard years ago that DC is actually a dangerous place to be in at night.

Los Vegas

Rebecca and I are in Los Vegas together for the weekend. It just so happens to be our 11th anniversary and we had a voucher to stay in Vegas for three nights. This time of year the temperature is around 103 degrees fahrenheit. It actually doesn't feel too bad. We've purchased tickets to see Cirque du Solei Ka tomorrow evening. I really like the soundtrack and I'm especially excited that we'll be seeing it together. More to come later.

Aysia and Aidan Visit Wyoming

June 5th - June 11th, Aysia and Aidan spent time with their cousins, Taylor and Takoda, in Ryan Park, Wyoming (near Saratoga Springs). For the most part our children report that they had a good time. Unfortunately Elizabeth (a workaholic) worked more than she promised and the weather seemed too rainy to play outside much, still the kids managed to keep themselves entertained.

A few years ago Ron and Elizabeth decided that their happiness together meant that they live the lifestyle taken from the Cowboy era. Elizabeth sold her home in Mountain Green, Utah and moved to Saratoga Springs, WY with Ron, her husband, and their two younger children, Taylor and Takoda, until they could build a log home for themselves in Ryan Park almost a year later. Ryan Park is a small community of log homes, a couple of mini mart stores, and a fire station with year round local attractions as snowmobiling, cross country skiing, hiking, biking, camping, fishing, boating and all terrain vehicles. There are schools in the region but take at least an hours bus drive to reach each day and with neighbors and local towns distant from one another, having children to play with is only a favorite pastime. Therefore, having Aysia and Aidan there to visit for the week becomes a real treat for their children. It also exposes our children to something other than television, video games, radio stations, crowded stores and traffic hour.