Last week Kim and I traveled through Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. We also made stops along the way in Bozeman, Montana and Victor, Idaho, my forty-seventh and forty-eighth visited states. Idaho was also Kim’s forty-eighth visited state. Now we both have Oregon and Delaware left to see to complete the full fifty. Here is a map showing the route we took and some of the places we visited along the way.
I have a bunch of pictures on my camera, but I haven’t had the time to start sorting through them yet. I will slowly post them over the next week or two, as I did with our trip to Alaska last year. For now here are a few videos that I took on our first full day inside of Yellowstone.
I’ve joined a bowling league at work and last night was our first night. I don’t think I’ve bowled in a couple of years, and last night it really showed. In the first game my score was 96. Prior to last night I thought that I nearly always scored over 100, but I guess my memory is bad. The second game was even worse with a score of 93. Finally in the third game I bowled a 113. I thought that typically my second game in a night was my best, but last night it was my worst. Fortunately no one else in the league is really good, and we have a number of players who are considerably worse than me. It is a handicap league, though I’m still trying to figure out what exactly that means. I think our handicap is determined by taking our average and subtracting that from 230. My average last night was just over 100, so my handicap should be around 130. I’m hoping to improve as the twelve week league goes on, so I’ll provide updates in the future.
Tonight starts the annual Great American Beer Festival in Denver. Though my session isn’t until Saturday, I’m already excited for it. I missed the Beer Fest last year while we took a trip back to Cincinnati. To make up for it, I am doing the members only Saturday afternoon session. Just like yearspast, I put together a list of breweries that I must hit, but I am always open to other suggestions. Just take a look at the list of breweries that are participating. I’m bummed to not see 75th Street Brewery on the list, but I’m sure there will be plenty of others to make up for it. Obviously Kim will not be partaking this year, but fortunately a friend of mine is in town so I’ll likely tag along with him. Cheers!
Fantasy football has started up for yet another season. I am participating in three money leagues, all hosted on different websites. So far I still like Yahoo! the best, but maybe that is just becuase it is the one I am the most familiar with. Either that or it’s the only won that provided me a win this past week. I had the lowest total score in both of my other leagues, so I definitely have some work to do. In addition to the regular fantasy leagues, I am also playing Survivor Football, as well as both College and Pro Pick’em. I’m hoping to repeat my wins in these games, wishing that there was money involved in them. I’ll be sure to keep my standings updated on my blog as the seasons progress.
While back in Cincinnati two weekends ago, I also got the chance to ride in a glider plane. A friend of Kim’s family has asked me multiple times to take a ride with him, and I finally found the time to do so. I also brought along my dad for a ride, and […]
This past Saturday, the Tour de Fat came to Denver bringing it’s traveling festival full of bikes, entertainment, and of course New Belgium beer. Kim and I decided to bike up to the starting point, City Park, early in the morning to arrive in time for the 10am bike parade departure. We barely […]
The fall TV season is right around the corner. I’m so excited to watch the next season of Chuck, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Survivor, and Amazing Race, just to name a few. The question becomes which new series will be worth watching? I spent some time programming the DVR last night to include The Event, Mike & Molly, Raising Hope, and Chase. I also plan to try My Generation, $#*! My Dad Says, Outsourced, and No Ordinary Family. I don’t plan to regularly watch all of these new shows, but I figure they are worth an episode or two to decide what are keepers and which should be deleted forever. Are there any others that I’m forgetting?
I received a message from a friend on Twitter last night letting me know that I need to stop attending Reds games. He couldn’t have been more correct, as the Reds went on to lose their third straight game to the Colorado Rockies. I attended last nights game and the previous night as well, not to mention the loss I saw in Cincinnati just over a month ago. I thought that maybe the Reds hat I wore on Tuesday night was bad luck, so last night I switched up it to another Reds hat that my friend Ken gave to me as a gift. Unfortunately my superstitions didn’t help. I won’t be attending the day game today that will wrap up the four game series, so I hope the Reds can get back to winning. Actually the rest of the season should be filled with wins as I won’t make it to another game this year. Go Redlegs!
While back in Cincinnati I also got the chance to see the WEBN Fireworks for the first time in a while. My family used to head down to the Serpentine Wall early each Sunday morning before Labor Day with blankets, games for entertainment, and a bucket of chicken. The seating on the wall is a prime location for watching the fireworks which are launched from barges on the Ohio River. From this viewpoint, you are seated just over 500 feet from the fireworks launching position on the barges. Needless to say it is very loud, but well worth it for the gorgeous view of the fireworks. Here is a video I shot with my iPhone during the finale of the show.
You know it’s loud when the microphone on your phone stops working! I didn’t have anything other than my camera phone, so I left the real picture-taking for my mom. Also included in this photo set are photos from the second baby shower over at Kim’s parents’ house.
Kim and I traveled back to Cincinnati over the weekend. Our families hosted a couple of baby showers for the ladies on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was at my parents house, while Sunday was at the Hais’ house. Many of the guys got together on Saturday afternoon to play a quick round of golf before heading over to my parents for a mini Pig-Fest party. My parents decided not to have their annual summer blowout this year, and instead had a small family gathering with pulled pork sandwiches, cornhole, and a giant TV screen to watch videos and football.
Despite not having a band, wiffle ball, or other Pig-Fest staples, we had a great time. It was definitely way more low-key than past parties, but I think many people enjoyed that. Time will tell if my parents will go back to having a big “Pig” but I’m hoping that they do. How can our future child never experience one of these legendary parties? Here are some pictures my mom took from the baby shower and mini Pig-Fest.
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