Wild Adventures in the West

Yes, I have a lot to catch up on: I'm 22 weeks prego and still feeling great, our offer was accepted on a condo and we're aiming to close before we have to move out of our apartment (but we're cutting it really close!), and we are all over the place on vacation. We spent a few days in Ohio before flying to Montana. We've only been here for a few days but so far we've been hiking, camping, and horsebackriding. Scott did a crazy triathlon with his little bro and a bunch of his friends. It was a half-mile swim, 18-mile mountain bike ride (and I mean mountain), and 5-mile run through the foothills of the mountains. It was tough, but Scott finished it in about four hours. I have awesome pictures, but they're all going to have to wait. I have zillions of awesome pictures, but they're all going to have to wait. After all, I'm on vacation.

This post's photo is from today though. Scott went backpacking with his dad and brother; they're off to the Beartooth Range for a week. While they're gone, Bruce and Scott's mom and I will be doing lots of hiking, cooking, biking, relaxing. Today, though, Bruce and I drove to the metropolis of Rexburg, Idaho to visit my brother and sister. We met my nephew, Taylor, for the first time, and got to spend lots of time with Chris, LaTrisha, Marissa, and her fiance Tevita (or as Bruce calls him, "Tofu Pita"). The morning was perhaps the most adventurous part of the day....

Chris has his pilot's license and offered to take us for a ride around Rexburg. We went to the airport and he grabbed a little four-seater single-prop airplane. Marissa and I sat in the back and Bruce and Chris sat in the front. We were all outfitted with headsets so we could talk to each other (the plane was really loud) and Bruce just loved that. He started reciting parts of The Incredibles - where Elastigirl is flying an airplane and tries to swerve a torpedo while yelling "Disengage! Disengage!" Chris ran through his pre-flight checklist and took off. I was quite worried because Bruce was an arm's length from a zillion brightly colored buttons and a steering wheel. But to my surprise (and great relief!), Bruce didn't touch the steering wheel until it was "his turn." Chris let Bruce control the plane for a few minutes, carefully showing him how to gently roll right and left and climb and descend. It was a little scary to see Bruce's hands on the steering wheel and the ground soooo far below, but Bruce was actually very gentle with the wheel and obeyed when Chris finally said, "Okay, it's my turn now." That was really fun, but I was glad to be on the ground afterward.

That is just one of our many adventures. I'll save the other stories and pictures for later because I'm super-tired and I still have some work to do tonight.

Over and out.