2009 Salt Lake Century - 05.17.09
Posted by: jason

I rode the Salt Lake Century yesterday with friends and family. It was a beautiful day. The temperature was perfect and the wind was low. I give the Ride Officials top marks for preparation and keeping everyone well fed and well hydrated - very top notch.

I had a good time and I'm not too sore, so - I guess it was a success. Last year I was so tired that I limped across the finish line and went to bed by 7:00 PM. This year I felt fine, ate a huge meal at Chuck O Rama, and managed to stay up till 10:00.

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2009 Caribbean Cruise Report - 04.12.09
Posted by: jason

We just got back from a 10 day vacation which primarily included a 7-day cruise in the Caribbean, not unlike the 7-day Caribbean cruise we did in 2002, yet somehow very different...

Grandma and Grandpa Orien will probably be leaving the country for a while to serve a LDS mission, so we wanted to take a vacation with them and our girls before they left. This becomes potentially complex with a 3-year old and a 8-month old. The cruise turned out to be the PERFECT solution. We did however greatly miss Auntie Megan, who's flight was canceled due to the volcano eruption of Mount Redoubt.

The ship is large enough to have plenty to do, but small enough to return to the cabin for nap time. The ports offered enough to do to keep everyone happy, but not so much that you couldn't do what you wanted. The food was awesome and the mealtimes were flexible enough to accommodate the girls eating and sleeping schedule.

I've uploaded photos to my gallery: 2009 Caribbean Cruise

Our first stop was in the Bahamas. Princess Cruises has leased 46 acres of an island for their own private use. This made a trip to the beach very easy because they took you their, there were bathrooms, there was food waiting, and they brought you back.

The second day was at sea. I think I ate then slept then repeated.

The next stop was at St. Martin and we rented a car, then took a small ferry boat to a resort on Pinet Island, off the north-east coast. It was a very nice beach with some facilities and very decent snorkeling. On the way back Erin purchased some sort of frozen coconut treat that I had to share; it left me wanting more and has haunted my days since.

The next day was at St. Thomas, a US-owned island where the Taxi service was unionized like only the US workers could manage. We spent the day at Magen's Bay - a beach that was as calm as a bathtub - playing in the water and snorkeling with billions of tiny fish.

Friday was spent at Grand Turk. This was actually the snorkeling highlight of the trip. Grandpa purchased an excursion for the Erin, Nathan and I. Grandma and Grandpa watched the girls while we went. This afternoon excursion included snorkeling above a very well-kept reef with tons of sea life. The water was about 15-30 feet above the reef, keeping it in beautiful condition - but not too deep to dive below the water and see things closer up. This was followed by a short hike to an 18th century sisal plantation (sisal is a hemp-like plant that was used to make rope).

Saturday was an at sea day in which I repeated my process of eat-sleep-repeat with Anna, so that Mommy could enjoy some time reading by the pool.

Going with family gave us a lot of opportunities for baby sitting, so Erin and I actually got to spend a couple of nights out seeing shows or eating late. We actually got the girls their own cabin, so we didn't have to go to bed at 7:30 - someone just had to be in the other room and listen for them. Everyone took a turn to watch them - so everyone had a turn to do fun stuff. Still - since the girls wake up around 6:30, you were pretty careful not to stay up too late.

On the way home, we decided to spend a couple extra days in Florida. This is because I don't like flying _through_ somewhere without seeing it. For example, when we when on our first cruise, it left from Puerto Rico - but we don't have any pictures from Puerto Rico, cause we didn't see anything. I don't like that - so we spent Sunday at Miami Beach and Monday at the Everglades National Park seeing the alligators.

To sum it up, we had an awesome trip! I would highly recommend a cruise as a family reunion or family-oriented vacation.

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Finally! Some pictures of my girls - 09.29.08
Posted by: jason

When it rains it pours. I finally got a new memory card reader for my computer, which prompted me to backup all my pictures, which prompted me to post some pictures of my girls...

So without further adieu...



Summer Time Fun



Kate and Anna Up Close

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My first Crit - 09.16.08
Posted by: jason

Anne talked me into doing a Criterium. A Criterium is basically a bike race around a track for 30 minutes. You can do it for points if your into racing.

Anyway, she talked me into doing this Crit at the Rocky Mountain Raceway. Since I don't race, I was interested in seeing how I did against other riders. We rode with the Cat 4 & 5 riders in a heat that was open to anyone. The goal was to stay with the main group as long as possible.

Anyway - I guess that my 140+ weekly commuter miles are paying off, because I was able to keep up with the race leaders just fine. We were averaging around 28-30 mph. I was a little uncomfortable about 15 minutes in, but I think everyone started getting a little uncomfortable because our mph dropped a little bit. I was trying to play it safe by staying in the front third of the race (isn't that where Bob Roll always says is the safest?). I was having a blast!

After 7 laps out of 10, I was still up with the lead, about 10-12 riders back when someone in front of me went down. It was all very sudden and then there was a huge pile up. I went down and skinned a knee, shoulder, and hip. My first road-bike accident. I wasn't sure what to do then, so I got up and finished the race solo. I was the only one involved in the crash that finished; I guess it's the mountain biker in me.

Here are the results: I came in dead last!

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Baby Girl Pictures - 07.19.08
Posted by: jason

Here is the first wave of pictures for the new baby girl:


She was 7 lbs, 15 oz and 21.25 inches long. She has a perfectly shaped head and face, due to the very short delivery time.

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