St. Croix River State Park

Ever since I bought my canoe last fall, I've been wanting to so some river paddling. Nik and I got a small taste of this in our Minnehaha Creek paddle. We started talking about this with Alex's girlfriend Claire's family as they have done quite a bit of padding in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in the northern part of the state. The more we talked, we kinda thought that for Chris, this might be a bit too aggressive for a first attempt. So, we decided instead to spend four days in St. Croix River State Park. Our plan was to base camp in the group camping area and then do day trips through two separate stretches of the river.

Sadly the physical stress of the week leading up to the trip and getting organized and packed, by the time we arrived at the camp site, Chris' back was really in bad shape. Our hope was that if she took it easy she would be able to make it though the trip. By 9 pm on our first evening, it was clear to me that to subject her to nights of sleeping on an air mattrise and days on a camp chair, would be too painful. So against her initial wishes, I urged Chris to let me take her home. So as not to ruin the weekend for the Johnson's, Nik volunteered to some home with her to nurse her back to health while I would return back to the Camp early Sunday morning to join up with Alex and Catie who would stay in camp.

The rest of the trip was fun, but just not the same without Chris and Nik with us. We did a 15 mile paddle on Sunday and an 8 mile paddle on Monday. We packed up after breakfast on Tuesday and headed home, arriving back around 3 pm. Chris' back was doing better, having had a few days of rest. I have posted a few photos of our 15 mile paddle trip on the Family Web Site. Please feel free to visit.

Back to School...Almost

It was registration night at Minnetonka Middle School (MMW) tonight. So, since Chris' Back was feeling a bit stiff she stayed home and Catie and I headed over to MMW to get her locker assigned, move in her supplies, and have her school picture taken. She and her good friend Matti are looking forward to the start of school.

A Three Hour Tour

As many of you know, I love to spend time paddling on Lake Minnetonka. It's close to home and is a very interesting and diverse body of water. One that is also rich in local history. It's rare that I get a chance to explore large parts at once due the limits of my kayaks range. So, when I was invited to join a group of guys from work to do a evening of motor boating on Tonka, I jumped at the chance. Our Photo sales rep Ron met us at the dock at 5:30 on a sunny 90 degree mid August day. Joining Cap'n Ron for the evening was the fearless crew of Daryl Yau, John Pischke, his brother Mike and myself. We spend the next 3 plus hours exploring many of the bays and inlets that make Lake Minnetonka so unique. As the sun set, the weather cooled and we were treated to some beautiful sunset colors. This experience really makes me want to someday get what Catie calls a REAL BOAT, a reference to all the paddle boats we have now. Someday kiddo, someday. Thanks to Cap'n Ron and his good ship and crew for a great evening on the water!

Cap'n Ron and Crew (L to R Ron, Daryl, Mike and JP)

Sunset on Lake Minnetonka

Beijing Olympics Week One

I can't believe the Olympics are half way done already! It's been and amazing week with so many memorable moments. Leading into the games, the media hype machine was working overtime to promote Michael Phelps pursuit of Mark Spitz 36 year old record of 7 Gold medals in swimming. From my perspective, the 1972 Olympics in Munich were the first games I really watched from start to finish. The two big headlines where Mark Spitz in the first week and the Terrorist attack the second week. So I was cautiously optimistic about Phelps chances of tying, let alone breaking Spitz' record. Looking back over the week I would have to say that actual events surpassed the hype which is almost impossible in this era of the 24 hour news cycle. I was glued to my TV, not just for the finals, but the qualifying swims as well. There are three races in particular that stand out as seared into my memory forever. Each of the following events have links to the NBC Olympics web site video. You will need to download Silverlight, but the quality of the video is worth it.

The Men's Swimming 4 x 100 Swimming Relay was the second final of Michael's quest. Quite frankly after his opening leg the other swimmers had me convinced that he was already doomed to failure. Then and amazing anchor leg by Jason Lezak brought the USA men back from a non-medal finish to a solid gold world record. Amazing!

Second the Men's Swimming 100 Butterfly was the most exciting, swim race I've ever witnessed. The entire audience, me included thought that Michael had touched the wall second to a very strong Croatian swimmer. Only when the graphic flashed up on the screen did the world know that Phelps had won by the amazing margin of 0.01 second. Only video slowed down to 1/10,000 of a second was able to confirm the win.

Finally the Men's Swimming 4 x 100 Medley was the race that allowed Micheal Phelps to actually break Mark Spitz Olympic Record. The race technically didn't have much drama, if you are board with world records performances! The shear magnitude of the 8th gold metal was stunning.

The other week one highlight for me was gymnastics. The USA men entered the competition without their two best gymnasts, Paul Hamm and Morgan Hamm. As a result they were considered a long shot for a medal. The team came together and performed way over their heads. Almost as if they didn't know they didn't have a shot. At the end of the Men's Team Competition, our American men were standing on the third step of the podium, bronze medals draped around their necks. Great job guys!

The USA Women were favorites for team gold, but due to some injuries and a few critical mistakes they finished a distant Silver to the Chinese. This all changed in the Women's Gymnastics Individual All-Around when Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson take the gold and silver respectively. The outcome came down to the final event. The ladies were truly amazing.

I'm now looking forward to week two. It's going to be pretty tough to top what we've witnessed so far, but it's the Olympics and I know it will be amazing!

Magic Ballroom

Inspired by watching Dancing with the Stars, Catie took up Ballroom dancing this past Spring. Practicing three times per week has really helped her to pick it up quickly. Seven years of Ballet didn't hurt either! Today she had her first performance. I did a quick little video of the event. At the end of the video is the schools best couple so you can see where she is headed. Great job Catie, you are amazing!

Beijing Olympics - Opening Ceremony

Anyone that has known me for any length of time, knows what a huge fan of the Olympics I am. I've been waiting for 08.08.08 for a long time. The Opening Ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics was everything you come to expect in an opening and so much more! Rather than have me try to describe the visuals, I'll just let the visuals from NBC do the talking for me.
Opening Ceremony Act 1: Pageantry
Opening Ceremony Act 2: Parade of Nations
Opening Ceremony Act 3: Lighting the Olympic Torch

Family Vacation - Home Sweet Home!

Our original trip plan called for us to leave Holland on Saturday morning and drive north 7 hours over the Mackinac bridge into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan were we would visit Pictured Rocks National Park, spending the night in nearby Munising and then driving 9 plus hours today to get home. While Nik and I where still very much up for the adventure, Chris, Alex and Catie were not too thrilled at the prospects of 16 hours in the car to spend a few hours at Pictured Rocks. So, being the flexible cat that I am, I agree to cut that part of our trip short, spend more time in Holland on Saturday and then drive the few short hours to Chicago. We spent the night at an Embassy Suites hotel which is how the family got Nik to buy in. We had a nice evening relaxing in the hot tub and watching movies. It was then a relatively painless 7 hours from Chicago to home, with us pulling into the driveway around 4pm. The trip allowed us to touch base with 3 of our long time family friends from our life in California, visit 8 new states for the kids, Geocache in 4 new states for me, visit a cool National Park (Mammoth Cave) and visit the home of a one time King (Elvis' Graceland). We are grateful for the hospitality we received along the way from our Friends Dan McMaster in Omaha, Jeff & Anita Porter in Ozark and Tom and Debbie Ayres in Holland. I took quite a few pictures on the trip, if you would like to see them, please feel free to visit our family web site.

I love the road trip, the feeling of being out on the open road, seeing and experiencing new things. Spending uninterrupted time with Chris and the kids, being reminded what a blessing my family is. I also love the feeling of coming home, tired from the road. It really makes me appreciate all that I have been blessed with. Thanks for sharing our adventure with us.

Family Vacation - Holland, Michigan

Holland Michigan is the home of our friends Tom and Debbie Ayres and their son Austin. We met Tom and Debbie early in our life in California. In fact, Deb was Chris' first friend after our families, unbeknowst to each other, both moved to Southern California from Waukesha WI in 1991. Tom and I attended his first auto race, the Long Beach Grand Prix the following year and we have been friends ever since. Tom moves quite a bit for his job and we have remained close friends, through 5 moves on there part and 3 moves on ours. Tom and I usually meet up for a race at least once a year, with the US Grand Prix at Indy our meeting spot from 2000 through 2007. With no US F1 race this year, we took advantage of our family vacation to connect.

It seems as though Tom & Debbie and Chris & I are pretty much the same as when we met. This however is some seriously wishful thinking on my part, just look at a photo of me 17 years ago for proof. It's really the most noticeable when you look at our children. Nik was 2 years old when we met, Austin was 1 year old and Chris was pregnant with Alex. Now, Nik and Austin are both High School graduates, Austin is getting ready to head off to Michigan State and Alex is entering his senior year of high school! Don't even get me started on the fact that Catie wasn't born until 2 Ayres moves after we met!

Tom and Debbie have lived in Holland for 4 years. This was not only our first visit to their home here, but our first time visiting the state of Michigan. Holland is located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan about 2 hours up the shore from Gary Indiana. However, it is nothing like Gary. Holland has beautiful, clean sandy beaches and a very nicely managed shoreline. Nik kept commenting on how much the Holland beach reminded him of California. Of course the sand here is cleaner that the beaches in LA, and much less crowded. Being summer vacation there where still quite a few students and families hanging out, but is was a very tame and relaxing atmosphere.

It was really nice being with Tom and Debbie for a couple days. we enjoyed being in a home and able to spread out. The home cooked meals were a treat after several days of restaurant food. The kids also enjoyed getting reacquainted with Tom, Debbie and Austin. In the end we had a really nice visit and are grateful for our friendship. Thank you Tom and Debbie for your hospitality. We will definitely be back!