Boston and Bon Jovi with a little Red Sox

I'm a little behind on posting. This is from a trip we took in July.

This year is our 20th anniversary and we (Marilyn and I) decided to celebrate by taking a little trip.

Over the years I have traveled many times to the Boston area for business, but never took the time to do anything other than catch a few Red Sox games. Last year Marilyn was suppose to tour Boston during the American Heritage Tour with Madison, but never made it out of NY due to illness. I promised I would someday take her back to New England for a visit. Marilyn found some tickets to Bon Jovi at the Garden (Fleet Center) in Boston. The rest is history.

We managed to visit four states over six days. Vermont (Joseph Smith's birthplace), New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts. I think the highlight (besides Bon Jovi and the Red Sox) was the "Freedom Trail" in Boston. If you ever get there, take the time, and take the tour.

Vermont

Joseph Smith's birthplace in Sharon VT. It is a beautiful place, but out of the way. We spent a good share of the day driving to get there. Getting to Vermont was high on my priority list. I was able to cross off Vermont as my last New England state visited. It was killing me that I had been to the Boston area so many times but had missed Vermont.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire was just a "drive" through while going from Vermont (Joseph Smith's Birthplace) to Maine. It was beautiful country to say the least. Farming would be difficult due to all the hills.

While on the road we drove through Lee, NH. I worked with a company there for many years and it was kind of fun to show Marilyn. It was like merging two different worlds (home life and work life).

Maine

What would Maine be without a lighthouse? This is the Portland Lighthouse just south of Portland, Maine. I developed a new fascination with lighthouses on this trip!

Plymouth Massachusetts and Cape Cod

This is the place...... at least where the Pilgrims landed!

The Rock!

The enclosure which covers the rock was under renovation. The only way you could get a good look at it was climbing down to the water level. Good thing the tide was out. If the tide would have been in, our only view of the rock would have been through a scratched up Plexiglas window.

Marilyn was pretty excited about driving out to Cape Cod. One of her favorite authors uses Cape Cod as a setting for the book. We (I) made the big mistake of planning to drive out to the cape on the last day of the 4th of July weekend. Can you say traffic jam! For the most part, we were inbound when everyone else was trying to get out. The traffic jam on the freeway was 20 miles deep.....

Chatham Beach on Cape Code. Hawaii it is not!! The fog was thick.

Chatham Lighthouse. Did I say I have a new fascination with lighthouses?

Not as bad as it looks. Once you get to the edge you realize it's not a drop off.

There was a "links" style golf course near the lighthouse.

Boston and the Freedom Trail

A must do while in Boston is tour the Freedom Trail. You can do this at your own pace, but the way to go is take a quick tour. Everything starts at the Boston Commons and weaves its way to such sites as the Old North Church, site of the Boston Massacre, Granary Burying Ground (Paul Revere, Sam Adams........,....), USS Constitution, and Bunker Hill just to name a few. It is well worth your time. Marilyn and I actually took 2 days to look things over. When on the North Side, you need to eat at a local Italian Restaurant. The picture shown above is while we in the Granary Cemetery.

Paul Revere's marker in the Granary Cemetery.

Old North Church!

The Green Dragon Tavern. A popular hangout for the leaders of the Revolution.

USS Constitution (Old Ironside). The Constitution is oldest warship afloat that is still commissioned!

Boston Red Sox
For me, no trip to Boston is complete without seeing the Red Sox play. I have been a Red Sox fan since I can remember. I remember watching the 75 World Series and seeing Fisk hit the famous HR to send the series to a game 7. I hated the Reds, and I hate the Yankees, so being a fan of the Red Sox just fit. I also have a soft spot in my heart for teams which can't get over the top. Being a fan of the Jazz for all these years has probably taught me to pull for the underdog. I'm also a big Mariners fan and would pull for them over anyone. Fenway Park should be put at the TOP of the list for places to see a ballgame. We took a tour of the park before the game which was pretty interesting. I was surprised to find out that a good share of the seats were from a 1930's remodel. You would think they would have replaced them after 70+ years. They are not very comfortable!

Manny jacks one out to tie the game in the 8th!

A "manual" scoreboard update inbetween every innning (other games in progress scores)

Papelbon comes in to close the 9th. I think this is one of the thrilling moments in any close game when the home team sends the closer in to finish the game. The place was going nuts!


Marilyn and I after the game at the famous "Pesky Pole". The pole was named after a light hitting second baseman for the Sox. It is 303 ft down the line. You can follow this link to read more about the pole: http://www.redsoxconnection.com/peskypole.html

Bon Jovi

When it was all said and done, this is the reason we came to Boston! This is Marilyn's "hobby". Here she is standing in the Fan Club line waiting for their tickets. I can't figure out why they(Fan Club) are all female????

Jon and Richie doing their thing....

Overall it was a good time had by all

Marliyn came all so close to getting to "touch" Jon, but she was denied by a security gaurd &#^$%^^#.

Great ending to a great night and a great trip!

May, June......... Dance, Camp, Tryouts, Track.....

May and June are typically very busy in our family. Usually our Spring is consumed with dance competitions, dance recitals, piano recitals, end of school activities, tryouts for and then a month filled with Girls Camp and Youth Conference..... Before you know it the summer is over.

Here is the May and June rundown in a few pictures......

TRACK

Raegan decided to go out for track at school. A little war paint for the first city meet. She ran the 100m, 200m and the 4X200 and 4X100.

4X200 relay. You quickly find out the 200 is a hard race! Raegan did real well. Way to go!

PIANO

All of our kids have taken piano from Patti. This was Kennedy's last Piano Recital with Patti. She is moving on to Clay who has been teaching Madison and Raegan.

Dance, Dance, Dance.......

Hey Micky! Kennedy with her dance team.

Kennedy is a foot taller than most of her grade. (Basketball anyone?). She always gets cast as the boy! She is in the center holding the dancer.

Raegan with her dance team.

This year Raegan's team did "Thriller"... It was a crowd favorite.

Snow White

Madison has helped out at "Princess Camp" over the past few years. This little girl thinks she really is Snow White. The girls family was moving out of town so Madison dressed up as Snow White and invited her over for a "Snow White Night". It even came with a "Prince".

The real reason the "Prince" came over!!!!

Choir

Raegan's school choir

FPO!

Marilyn was the FPO (Franklin Parent Organization) President. They raised lots of money, put in new blinds at the school and overall did a real nice job. She also found out that many volunteered, but few helped. Marilyn was a BIG hit with the staff at Franklin since she actually did something! The recognized her at the final school assembly and gave her a plant. The plant died :>(

Memorial Clean-up at the Henefer homestead


My fire pictures are bigger than Mike's!

Cheer!

Raegan tried out for cheer and made the team. Congratulations Raegan!

Comet Holmes

Late last fall, Comet Holmes gave a surprise show becoming visible with the naked eye. Due to the view angle of the comment, it appeared as a blob as opposed to a nucleus with a tail. I tried to capture the comet with a newly purchased camera. Taken November 2007. The comet is the blob left of center.

Comet Holmes

The next image is a corp of the same picture above. Sorry about the blurring on the background stars. I didn't have a bulb to start the exposure, so the initial tail on the star is due to me starting the exposure manually. The elongation of the star is due to the long exposure and the star actually moving.

Spring Skiing

All the kids decided they wanted to learn to snowboard this year. Here are a few pictures from spring break at Pebble Creek.

Marilyn takes a trip!

One of Marilyn's passions in life is Bon Jovi. She has been following them around the country attending shows for over 20 years. On Monday, March 31st traveled to Denver and achieved one of her goals to be "on stage" with Bon Jovi! Through the fan club (yes she is a member), you can buy special tickets which will get you a great seat. The tickets also include a trip on stage to be on stage (in a corral on the side of the stage!!!) for a few songs. A dream come true..... Now if we can only find a way for her to meet Jon, life would be complete.

Great Seats, BIG SMILE!

Richie and Jon..... Taken from Marilyn's seat.....

Taken from Marilyn's "on-stage" seat!

Great end to a fantastic night!

Idaho State Racquetball Doubles

March 28th and 29th was Idaho State Racquetball Doubles. Another year and another shot at a state title slips away!! This year has been difficult since I have not played a lot during the last few months due to a busy work schedule. I didn't go into the tournament with a lot of confidence.

This year we (Craig and I) suffered a disappointing loss in the "A Semifinals" to Jay and Troy Liljenquest. Craig and I also lost in the "age" finals. I think "lost" is an understatement, we got our heads handed to us. When I asked Marilyn if it looked as bad as it felt, she said "yes". I guess there is no beating around the bush after 20 years of marriage.

From our A-Semifinal loss (15-12, 15-12) I felt like we had a shot a both games........ In fact, we where up 12-9 in the first game choked. Note the ball between Jay and I (not a great shot on my part!)

Just before our Semifinal match in the "fishbowel". (L to R) Me, Jay L., Craig(my partner), Troy L.

Note: no pictures are available of the "age" buttwuppin!