Kites! (Finally...)

After I sewed my kite a month ago, I haven't had time to string it up and get it flying. Until today at least. I've got it ready to rock. I'm still working on my homemade kite bar. I'll have it going by winter, so I'll just be flying it on 2 lines for a bit to get the feel of the kite. Should be good times.



Sometimes we get the wrong guy. I, for the record, voted for McCain. He's got some great ideas.


McCain’s Economic Plan For Nation: 'Everyone Marry A Beer Heiress'

Winter stoke

Got these this weekend.

So these might be for sale. $150. Anyone interested? Naxo NX21. A 13 DIN step in randonee binding.

Targhee Race

They posted some info about the first ski mountaineering race (for westerners at least) the other day at ussma.org. No teams this year (bummer!) and they have a heavy metal category as well for less serious racers or those that don't have f1's and low tech bindings. I'm in!

Early October? Or late November?

Post Conference drive up Farmington Canyon in our minivan.


The weather outside was frightful.


Jami descending the stairs after her race. Yes, I said descending.

Marathon & Moe's Valley

Jami ran the St. George Marathon yesterday. She set a PR with a time of 2:57:48. Nice one Jami!

We woke up at 4:30 so I could drop her off at the race shuttle. With about 4-4.5 hours to kill, I wondered "What to do?" The bouldering guidebook for Moe's Valley says a "4x4 is sometimes necessary & at a minimum, a high clearance 2WD. Don't even attempt this in a passenger car." My corolla thinks it is a truck, so off we went in search of some house sized boulders in the desert. BTW, the road is better than advertised--I made it just fine albeit with a couple of teeth-grinding-i-hope-i-don't-high-center nervous moments.

I had to wait for about an hour for the sky to lighten a little (sun still wasn't up). Even though you can see the city from where I was, it felt nice and tranquil.

The Sentinel.


Power lines add to the ambiance of the area.


I was the only person out and had the place all to myself--hence no pictures of myself. When my weak-sauce hands started opening up, it was time to go, and I still was able to see the Mrs. running the last 6 miles of the race. Bikes at running races are awesome--so fast & easy to get around.

Aloha means goodbye (and hello)

Saw this today...



This obviously won't stick around for long, but it is a sign of the times. Good times.

Kites!

I spent a few late nights building this guy this week:



It's about 2.7 square meters. I made some mistakes but learned alot. Notice that I didn't take any closeups, there are some rough spots that didn't quite come out how they were supposed to, but it was my first time building something like this, so I deserve a pass on some of the details, right? I still need to do the bridle & rigging, but the kite itself is pretty much done. I can't wait to try it out with skis or a snowboard this winter.

Yeah, I probably should have spent more time moving into our house, fixing the girls' dresser, or any other number of things, but it was a fun project.