Lovely Little Weekend

Spending time with family, running, driving...yeah, that basically sums up our weekend. And it was lovely. I really do love taking little (or big) road trips with Clark. We hold fine conversation and laugh a lot, and sometimes get into little arguments.

Mom and Dad Tobler were on their way up to Idaho so they spent a night with us on Thursday. Friday we drove down to Orem so I could collect my bib number for a race the following day and we ended up stopping at the BYU Creamery. Only I don't think it was the Creamery. I believe it was the Creamery outlet. But us Toblers don't fuss over ice cream; it still tasted good.

Indulging. If only they would have had the big waffle cones...

Love those self timers!

Saturday morning I ran the Hobble Creek Half Marathon, and it just felt awful. So we won't dwell on it. After the race we drove up to Idaho to spend more quality time with Mom and Dad Tobler and other relatives. Walking the greenbelt around the Snake River was so enjoyable. Many photo ops and I think we even got some winning anniversary photos for Mom and Dad.

As you can see, the race ended on grass in a park. The grass may look even, but it was quite lumpy.

Frolicking in the grass along the greenbelt in Idaho Falls.

Anniversary picture. Perfection.

Look at that crazy vein in my arm...nice! The Idaho Falls in the background.

Another anniversary picture.

The pretty Snake River.

I want this truck. In the future. Pink with flames. Rockin'.

Grandma and Richard.

Mom and Dad's favorite picture of the Temple. (Do you guys still want a copy now that you see a larger view of it?)

Sunday we all met up at Brent and Rosemary's in the afternoon for food and fun. And I couldn't help but snap shots of the pretty farmland.

Clark had to lift me onto a bail. My legs couldn't withstand the pain of jumping.

Great eye, Mom!

Indulging.

Gossipers.

Visiting the cemetery.

Such a lovely little trip! I hope we get another opportunity to visit Idaho soon. Before the cold settles in for 8 months...

Lake Mary, Martha & Catherine...and tons of mosquitoes

A few weeks ago Clark and I decided to go for a nice, leisurely four mile Sunday afternoon hike. The trail-head to lakes Mary, Martha and Catherine was situated at the back of the Brighton Ski Resort parking lot. The hike started off quite nice. The weather was perfect, sunny with a brisk mountain breeze. When we stopped at the first lake, Lake Mary, we noticed that mosquito bites were starting to pop up on our arms. Not wanting to turn back before reaching the other two destinations, we kept trekking along the trail, acquiring more and more mosquito bites. By the time we reached Lake Catherine, the third lake, we barely had time to snap one photo before turning around and bolting back down the trail. The mosquitoes were horrendous. Clark went to work two days later and coworkers kept asking if he had been camping recently because there were red welts all over his arms. I must have looked like a crazy lady stomping down the the trail flailing my arms all around my head and body to ward off the assailing mosquitoes.

But the scenery was beautiful.

Clark was not enthused when I asked him to pose for the camera. Perhaps because the trail was a pretty steep ascent and we ended up gaining over 1,000ft in elevation.

Lake Mary

And you can't even swim here. What a waste.

Lake Martha

...And Lake Catherine. We didn't even try to find good lighting for a picture. We saw it, snapped a picture where we stood, and fled.

I can't wait to explore more of the surrounding mountains. Next time we'll be armed with bug spray!

The Coffee Shop Show

Clark and the band played at the Wild Bean Roasting Company the other day. A Sober Rider opened this shop and since the Sober Riders love the band, the band was invited to play at the grand opening. (Ok, just so you know, the name of the band Clark is in is Bastard John. Clark refers to them as "the bastards." I will refer to them as BJ. I think Clark was worried people (i.e. Mom and Dad Tobler) would be upset at the name of the band so I'll just go ahead and call the band BJ so I don't frequently and repeatedly have to type the word bastard.)

I love that they have an anti coffee side of the menu.

Pretty sweet set up if I do say so myself.

Rocking hard.

Like I said, the Sober Riders love BJ and they bought dozens of tickets to the their upcoming show in Ogden on September 18th. Anyone need tickets? I have the hook-up.

I love being "with the band." I got a nice large soda out of it.

PS, having a nice camera is not all it's cracked up to be. I JUST figured out that we have been taking pictures using the lowest picture quality. That's what we get for not reading the 220 page users manual. So, now that I have the adjusted and increased our picture quality, our pictures should turn out much nicer. I was wondering why I didn't notice much different between our old 5 mp camera and the new camera...whoops! At least we still got some good Cali photos and band photos.

Quest to accomplish life goal #2

You can read about my first life goal accomplishment here.

My current focus is on accomplishing one....just one....pull up. Or chin up. Whatever I have to do to lift my body so that my head extends above that horizontal bar.

Right now I only need this 35 lb resistant band to help me.

I'm on my way to making all of my dreams and aspirations come true. Updates will come as long as there are results to update.

West Coast Lovin'

Truly, we had an excellent trip. We accomplished so much in such a short amount of time; I am kind of impressed with ourselves. And the Lumina. She is a trooper, that's for sure. San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown in San Francisco AND Oakland, Haight-Ashbury, Lombard Street, Ocean Beach, Pier 39, Monterey Peninsula, visiting with family....yes, the trip was exhausting but well worth every mile of the drive. Like I said, the Lumina took it like a champ!

Oh, we're so close!

Walking toward Pier 39.

Still walking, only stopping to take the occasional (read: frequent) picture.

Alcatraz.

Idiot tourists.

Fisherman's Wharf was crazy busy, and there were a lot of crazies, too.

This is just before Clark gave in and bought a tourist sweatshirt. HA!

Somehow we fought the urge to peruse the Ghirardelli store. The ocean breeze was just too brisk. Clark needed that California Republic sweatshirt bad.

Asilomar Beach in Monterey. Weather was not swimsuit permitting this fine day.

Awwww, Grandma even walked down to the beach with us! Their house is literally 1/4 mile from the beach. I'm a little jealous.

My cousin Liz: our personal photographer and tour guide. It had been years since I last visited Monterey. So good to see everyone!

A post marriage engagement photo.

And another.

And one more.

Down near Cannery Row.

Lots of fishies were packed here.

Getting ready to down our shots of clam chowder. Dude on the right is my 3rd (?) cousin Keenan. Kid can do backflips so he's cool with us.

Oh, hey Liz, thanks for taking yet another picture!

Sorry, had to add this one. My face cracks me up! Clark was actually doing the multi shot feature and WOULD NOT STOP! My face got progressively more irritated.

The pretty Monterey harbor.

Too cute seals!

Lots of them, spooning each other and making a ruckus.

Tourists to the T.

My unconditional love for sweets is quite apparent, me thinks.

They look so cute when they're not pooping on everything and swarming around your food.

Golden Gate Bridge, fog style!

Oh wonderful San Francisco.

Clark investigating an old fort overlooking the bay.

Windy. Just a tad.

Just the two of us.

"If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair..." cue Scott McKenzie.

Look at these houses. Just LOOK at them. Freaking marvelous.

Sometimes tourists need to replenish their engines. Typically Clark won't let me eat on or anywhere near a bed. But on vacation, that rule goes out the window.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chinatown!

I had a Chinese lady try to instruct me on the proper use of chop sticks. This was the most frustrating meal I have ever eaten (not shown). I was not provided a fork and I had too much pride to ask for one. I need practice...badly.

Lantern lit streets.

Lombard Street. The curvy road that is apparently an international sensation. Poor residents. Tourists constantly blocking the street to get the perfect picture.

Adam Richman totally ate here. And so did we! Delicious!

A random park on one of our walks overlooking the city.

Ocean Beach.

Whoops. Haight-Ashbury got tossed in here somehow. Cool little district with lots of shopping. Clark and I both indulged in hats at the Goorin Bros. However, Clark spent three times as much as me. Boy has expensive taste.

Back to Ocean Beach.

Waves are chasing me!

Our to-do list. We managed to do everything on our list, and then some. We are that good.

Another foggy day. Golden Gate bridge in background.

I spy a Clark at the USS San Francisco Memorial.

Cool Overlook.

A nice stranger offered to take our picture. And she done good.

And...... were back in Utah. Maybe we'll make it out to these salt flats next.