Sept half ironman: uncheck; car show: check; boat show: check

We decided to boycott the September half ironman. I hadn't been feeling well & Chris had such a hectic travel schedule, so our workouts had been sub par. We knew it wasn't going to be a pretty day. So, we went to another cool car show - put on by the Alter Boys.

We need one of these - antiquer!!!

It was in a great area with good food

and great scenery (besides the cars)

Still a lot of BSing going on. One reason we only go to a handful of shows each year. Too much standing & sitting around

Chris' dad's car that Dallas owns & drives now.

Chris & Dallas checking out the cars

What the?? a pickup with semi truck tires & can also tow???

Our pickup parked next to our friend Charlies car.

Next day we went to the Newport Boat show!!

Busy Newport Harbor!

Lots of great sailboats to see. We avoided the power boats - ack!

Fun size sailboats!

And there is plenty of gear to check out as well...

I think we're getting ready - we really miss our sailboat this fall. It's usually when we sail to the Vineyard; Nantucket; and Block Island. Our triathlon training is done, and we just enjoy being on the sailboat. Isn't happening this year though - thanks to a dumb powerboater.

After we got our hopes up at the boat show, we went to our favorite restaurant. We love the bar! And lucky for us - it was the last night for their summer sushi menu. The sushi guys were headed to the Bahamas for the winter. Sounds like a nice operation - maybe I need to check into that line of work...

Our view into Newport Harbor - from our bar stools.

Time to head home

Lunch with Joe

We had a simple little lunch party for Joe C - far right - at the head of the table. His last day at our company is today. It's a sad day for all of us, but he'll enjoy retirement. As you can see from Bruce (far left - at the head of the table) retirement is good & fun!

Joe was the VP of sales & I worked quite frequently. He was easy to work with & always in your corner. His replacement, who hasn't been hired yet, will be working out of the Chicago office - very helpful. Now, we'll see how long I last and many others!!

A favorite - car show

We love cars, but aren't the biggest fan of car shows. We enjoy stopping by and checking the cars out, but we don't enjoy hanging out all day - too many other things to do!!
But, there are a handful of car shows on the east & west coast that we really enjoy. This past Sunday, we attended one of them: Old Timers.

And even better - most of our friends from our Bonneville trip were there as well! Ken, Jim, Ritchie, Bill, Bill, Billy, Don, Ron. And some of our friends from the annual Reliability Run were also there - Michele & Roger! The day passed by very quickly - with so many people to chat with :)

It's a favorite car show for many, so the fair grounds was packed!

Very nice: Chrysler Town & Country (very expensive too...)

Heading home - we followed Chris' brother, Dallas, and our friend Jim.

What have we been up to??

Well, Chris was out of town almost the entire month of August! We took off for our trip to Bonneville on August 7th. I flew back on the 15th. He drove back & got home around 1 pm on the 22nd. Then he traveled for business from the 23rd to the 1st of September!! Whew!

Besides spending some extra time in Bonneville, he also managed to squeeze in some fun during his business trip:

He also had brunch with our good friends Cyndy & Jon (our Cancun buddies).

I was stuck at home doing this:

Ok, ok, I had some fun too!

Chris mom & husband Tony were in town for a visit, so I had a great dinner with them.

I went to a Polo match with our good friends Jen & Dave & their 2 kids: Caroline & Tommy

Caroline & Tommy loved the polo ponies, so we spent a lot of time in the barns. It was fun, and we learned a lot about the ponies from the stable girls.

Our good friend Eric was putting on a triathlon in our neighborhood, so I volunteered on one Saturday:

My station: making sure the runners made the final turn into the park & finish line. Boston pro Dede won - beat all the guys too :) It was fun watching her tear up the course!

Then I raced the next day - on Sunday!

It wasn't pretty, but I got it done! Hard to believe that only a month prior, I had completed an Ironman & felt great. This 33.4 mile race almost did me in!!! I hadn't been feeling that good the week prior though...that's my story & I'm sticking to it!

Fortunately, our tri club had a tent with beer & goodies that saved my life (after the race, of course)

Since Chris was out of town, and I didn't feel like finding another partner, we did miss out on a couple pre-purchased events...

The Red Sox tickets went to Chris' mom & Tony, who gave them to a friend.

And I sold our Country Music Festival tickets to my horse riding instructor: both tickets for only $82.50.

At least somebody enjoyed our tickets - better than them sitting in our drawer & going to waste!

Now, summer is coming to a close, and we still have a couple races left. Another 70.3 (miles) triathlon race in September & a marathon in November. Here's hoping my drive comes back, because I haven't been feeling like exercising since our Bonneville trip!

Views along our way to... Bonneville, of course!

Providence, Rhode Island

New Haven, Connecticut - first night we drove until almost midnight!

Shadow of the Phaeton :)

Chris - happy, happy, happy!

Pennsylvania - lots of big rolling hills & trees

Amish cart; the owner had a tent set up selling vegetables. Her horse was tied to a tree a 100 yards away.

Ohio - farmland with a still a lot of trees
Good Year tire company in Akron, OH

Indiana - pure farm land

Illinois - farm land, farm land, farm land

Picture of the Phaton, going down the road. My dad & nephew, Bryan, are riding along. I didn't get a better picture (not sure why...)

Heading into Peoria, IL

Caterpillar headquarters in Peoria, IL
The Mighty Mississippi!

Iowa - the prettiest farm land state (I think) ; lots of small rolling hills

Iowa wind farm. We also passed a couple in Wyoming

Nebraska

They love their college football! (University of Nebraska football stadium)

Nebraska farmers irrigate - the only farming state that did (that we saw anyway - most of the farmers along Hwy 80 NE, had irrigation)

Two girls were driving this guy - all the way back to California. It got a lot of attention.

Wyoming - change of pace from the farmland states

Lots of funky rock formations all along the route

and lots of grazing cows

Utah - prettiest state of our trip
The brown of Wyoming gave way to...

Gorgeous Red Rock!

Then we started heading toward Park City, Utah & the mountains

Once we passed through Park City, we hit Salt Lake City, and the beautiful mountains were gone - replaced with smaller browner versions.

Chris & Ritchie goofing off in some wacky motorcycle car (Orem, UT)

Salt Lake City, UT

The Great Salt Lake (very shallow)

Already posted plenty of salt pictures, so

Chris' pictures that he took on his ride home:

Crazy painted semi (racer)

Chris drove at night a lot more - they were trying to get a lot more miles in each day.

And it rained almost the entire ride home

which was good, because it washed the salt off the car.

Excellent trip/vacation/adventure!!!