The Ferrin's

PCH Day 9

2011-07-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

Today was 603 long hot boring miles from Bishop California to my driveway. We left Bishop shortly after 8 am and arrived home shortly after 6 pm. It was all interstate through desert. The temps were pretty good for the first 300 miles but it got really hot for the second half. According to the GPS, the grand total was 9 days, 3381 miles, speeds ranging from 0-90 and elevations ranging from 0-10,000 feet with a total moving time of 64.5 hours.

It's good to be home......

Days 7 and 8

2011-07-04T23:16:00.000-07:00

So I didnt get the chance last night to update the blog so I get to do two nights tonight. On Sunday morning, we left Ft. Bragg about 0730 and headed south down Highway 1 in search of breakfast. We figured we would stop when we saw something that looked interesting. We found a small diner next to the beach in Mendocino and went in.

There was only one other couple in the place and they looked at us like we were biker trash. I guess leather jackets, chaps and bandanas didnt fit in with their high brow ways. We sat at the table right next to them....Breakfast was really good. Ang had oatmeal and a muffin and I had scrambled eggs and fruit. Yeah, rough tough biker trash.......

Highway 1 continued to wind its way along the coastline, changing from wooded areas to huge sweeping vistas along sheer drop offs to the ocean below.

We eventually made our way to Point Arenas and went out to the lighthouse there. We were hundreds of miles from home, in a far away distant locale, and yet the Mother in Law found us.....:)

Ang on the phone with her mom

We took some pics around the lighthouse and then headed back on down the road.

When we reached Tomales Bay the road was lined with cars and people on foot. The oyster farms were packed with folks buying their supply of fresh oysters for the July 4th holiday. I was quite surprised at the crowds at these places. We also noticed that traffic in the opposite direction, heading out of San Francisco, was backed up for miles while we had mostly clear sailing into the city. We did hit some traffic approaching the Golden Gate Bridge however.

We didnt stop to do the normal touristy pictures by the bridge because we have been there and done that already plus, the place was packed with tourists and we didnt want to fight the crowds there.

About 10 years ago, I was a detective in the Criminal Investigations Bureau and Angela was a dispatcher with the TPD. I worked with a detective named Doug Fisher and Ang worked with his wife, Jeanette, in Radio. Doug and Jeanette had a timeshare in Hawaii and they used it often. In March 2001 they were in Hawaii when Doug lost his life in a diving accident.

Jeanette's world was shattered. In an attempt to start over fresh, she moved back home to San Francisco. We lost touch with her over time and many years passed. Some time ago, Ang and Jeannette reconnected on Facebook and when Jeanette learned this week that we would be in San Francisco, she offered up her guest bedroom to us. So, we made plans to stay with Jeanette. However, she would not be home from work until about 8 pm so we had a few hours to kill.

We went down to the Fisherman's Wharf area to hang out. Parking was $3/20 minutes. Thats $9/hour to park. No way was I going to pay that. Then, we stumbled across a Harley clothing store with free motorcycle parking out front.

The nice people behind the counter agreed to keep our helmets and jackets for us while we walked around so we locked up the bike and headed back down to Fishermans Wharf.

Alcatraz Prison

Then it was time to leave the freak show and go find Jeanette's house. She lives 3/4 mile from the beach and a few miles south of the Golden Gate Bridge. We still had some time to kill so we went and had dinner at an authentic Chinese place where we both felt very out of place. Besides being the only Caucasians in the place, again, we were decked out in the Harley garb. After dinner we hung out at the beach for a while.

We went to Jeanette's and spent the rest of evening catching up with her. It took several years but she "finally got back to being me". She went back to school and became a respiratory therapist and works at one of the local hospitals. Of course there were Doug stories and lots of laughs.....

Day 8 started much later than any other day of this trip. Ang wanted to sleep in a bit and she wanted to hang out with Jeanette a little longer. I think it was almost 11 before we actually hit the road.

We took the 280 freeway south out of San Francisco and after two near misses with cars, both of which were my fault, I was glad to get out of town. We then took Highway 92 e/b to Hayward and it took us across a bridge that must have been at least 5 miles long.

Angela and Jeanette

We took the 92 to the 580 to the 210 to 120 and headed to Yosemite National Park. Once we crossed the bridge, the scenery was plain and boring and the temps steadily rose. It reached the point that we were down right hot. I thought we were back in Phoenix.

Most of the route was freeway so we made good time but it was boring. After about 150 miles we started the ascent to Yosemite. As we climbed, the temps dropped back down to something that was actually quite nice.

The road turned to twisties, which I always like, and then we finally reached the park entrance.

The road through the park was 56 miles of incredible scenery. So far on the trip, other than a couple of deer in a motel parking lot, we had not seen any wildlife. We finally ran across some deer in the park. It only took 2700 miles....

Ive said it many times already but the pictures just dont do the scenery justice. We crossed over Tioga Pass as we exited the park and then continued on our way to highway 395. I had now made a complete loop as I had traveled 395 northbound a week earlier heading to Lake Tahoe. We went south to the town of Bishop, CA where we had the best meal of the trip and called it a day.

Grilled salmon, asparagus and mashed potatoes

Total mileage today was 320 miles.

PCH Day 6

2011-07-02T21:59:00.000-07:00

Today started off with fog rolling in. in fact, we spent about 180 miles in cold fog today. This is what we woke up to...

And...it took nearly 2000 miles but we finally ran into some wildlife. These two were in the parking lot of our motel. The only other wildlife we have seen was a fox that ran across the street infront of us a few days ago.

So....Today was more of the same old boring coastline punctuated with rocks...

With the fog it felt like the temps must have been in the high 40's as we continued southbound on the 101. We stopped at Whales Head beach and snapped a few pictures and then continued on our way. Because of the fog, they actually look black and white.

Ang in her leather bikini on the beach

We crossed the border of Oregon into California and it was nice to be out of that state. The state is pretty but they do things a little weird there. Anyway, last night I talked to a guy in the parking lot of our motel who was riding a BMW. He told me about a restaurant in Crescent City California that he always stops at when passing thru and recommended we have breakfast there. It was about 50 miles from where we stayed last night but it seemed like a good idea to try it.

We finally reached the Chart Room and took a table next to the window looking out over the harbor. The view was nice but would have been better had there not been any fog. The service and the food were terrific so I would say following the BMW guys advice was a good idea.

Crescent City harbor, where the Chart Room is located, was hit by a tsunami back in March following the devastating earthquake in Japan. They had before and after photos in the restaurant. The harbor was severely damaged and they suffered million of dollars worth of damage. I felt sorry for the locals here....

After a late breakfast we continued on our way. We reached Eureka CA and stopped in at Redwoods Harley Davidson to thaw out. It was pretty darn cold!

After about 45 minutes we hit the road again. This area is all part of the Redwood National Forest and there is a road that skirts along the side of the 101, criss crossing it back and forth called Avenue of the Giants. The fog cleared, the sun came out, and the temps warmed up. Things were definitely getting better as we took the turn off to the Avenue. The Avenue of the Giants cuts through the redwood forest and yes, the trees are ginormous!

This beauty went on for 30 miles. Check out a little video from this portion of the ride...

After getting back on the 101 we headed for Leggit where we would leave the 101 and pick up Highway 1. The 101 cuts inland while Highway 1 runs along the coast. The first 20 miles were nothing but switchbacks, or twisties. The road was alot of fun filled with decreasing radius turns and lots of ups and downs through dense thick forests.

And then, you round a corner and this bursts out in front of you...

So, after 300 miles we arrived in Ft. Bragg CA. We were done for the day and wanted to stay there but I got a little nervous when the first 4 motels we passed had No Vacancy signs posted. A little further in to town we some that still had rooms but I wanted to keep checking and see what else was available.

All the motels and Bed & Breakfast places were booked up so now I knew we had to act fast to get a room and that it would not be cheap. We went back to the first place we saw with a vacancy and got in line behind two other couples wanting rooms. Luckily we got a room. Unluckily, it cost us $200 for a room that normally rents for $60-70 per night.

Apparently, Ft. Bragg has an annual Salmon BBQ and fireworks show today/tonight and it draws plenty of out of town guests. Motel rooms are at a premium. If we passed this one up and continued further south down the highway, it wasnt going to get any better the closer to San Fransisco we got. So.....We took the room and here we are.....

PCH Day 5

2011-07-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

We hit the road today at 0830 under clear blue skies and temps in the mid 50's. I dont think it ever got over the mid 60's today and the weather was superb. We put Newport in the rear view mirror and headed south. Today was the lighthouse tour. There are 9(I think) of them along the Oregon coast. We missed a couple yesterday because we didnt realize they were there and we missed more today but we did manage to stop at a few along the way.

Haceda Head

Umpqua River

Cape Blanco

We hit a couple of others too but either the hike to the house was more than we cared to do or the picture is on a different device and I will have to post it later...

Our travels took us through Waldport, Yachets, Florence, and Coos Bay. The highway again was a multiple personality road going back and forth between woodlands and rocky beaches. We would be in a thick forest and t hen round a corner and there was the ocean. I dont even know how many different bridges we crossed. This type of scenery went for hours.

We stopped at Cape Perpetua and Devil's Churn and talked with an old caretaker there. He told us about a nearby road that would take us way up on a mountain and he said the view was spectacular. There is a rock wind shelter up there that was built in 1932 and was used as a lookout during World War II. He said the visibility was about 70 miles of shoreline and about 35 miles out to sea. Of course, we had to go check it out..


Rock Shelter


Notice the highway...Thats the PCH

We stopped in Coos Bay and spent about an hour and a half there checking the place out. The bay is cool and so is the Harley Dealership. We also had a later lunch of Nachos and the owner/waitress was awesome.

We didnt cover alot of ground today, only 200 miles, but we sure did a lot of sight seeing. I stopped a lot and took pictures. I think Ang was probably getting tired of it but the scenery was just so amazing. There is so much to see and it is all so overwhelming it is difficult to take it all in.

A few days ago I posted some pics of the weird things you see along the back roads. Oregon is full of weird things but I had to go back and snap a photo of this. The sculpture was made from shoes, toys, etc that have been washed ashore along the beaches....

We are bunked down for the night in Gold Beach Oregon. We will leave Oregon in the morning and start our own California Adventure. I'll leave you with the view from the front door of our motel......

PCH Day 4

2011-06-30T22:55:00.000-07:00

Left Portland this morning about 0830. The forecast called for scattered showers and we must have been riding a scattered route because we got rained on for about 120 miles. It was raining when we left Portland and stayed with us off and on most of the morning.

We ventured up the freeway to US30 crossing the Columbia River a couple of times going back and forth between Oregon and Washington. About 100 miles later we arrived in Astoria, OR.

Of course, then we had to ride over the Astoria Bridge into Washington. It is the longest truss bridge in North America and is several miles long. You go up way high and then drop down to skimming across the Columbia River for a long distance. It was really neat!

Once crossing to Washington we turned around and rode back across the bridge to Astoria. From there we traveled s/b on the 101 to Seaside OR where we stopped for lunch.

We traveled through Cannon Beach, Rockaway Beach and took break in Tillamook. We even toured the Tillamook Cheese Factory and had some of the best ice cream we have ever tasted.

After a gas stop in was back on the highway heading south. The highway winds its way around the shoreline, up hills, down hills and every which direction. We found ourselves in thick dense forests and then we would round a curve and there was a sheer drop off to the great Pacific Ocean. Talk about multiple personalities! Just when you think you are hundreds of miles from the beach, you see a break in the trees and there she is! This kind of beauty never did get old....

And then we finished off the night with dinner. My grilled salmon salad was great but I think Angie's chicken spinach salad was even better. But best was the view from our table....

250 miles today and its way past my bedtime........

PCH day 3

2011-06-30T07:36:00.000-07:00

Today started out in Klammath Falls where it was 48 degrees and mostly clear skies. The rain from yesterday had pretty much moved on and it looked like today was going to turn out great. I headed north out of town on highway 97. The highway skirted along the edge of Lower Klammath Lake for many miles. I decided that we do not have lakes in AZ. We have puddles.....

Three years ago while passing through the area, Clay Jones and I went to Crater Lake to see the sights. When we got there, we couldnt see the lake very well due to tons of haze and smoke in the air from wilfires burning hundreds of miles to the north. The lake is supposed to be beautiful and it was in the general direction I was heading today so I figured I would give it another shot.

I checked weather.com and found that the temps would be in the mid 50's with partly cloudy skies at my estimated arrival time. Perfect!

I took the Crater Lake turnoff and started up the mountain range. More beautiful scenery punctuated with rustic old barns and farm houses.

As I climbed in elevation however, the temperature dropped.....and dropped.....and dropped. Soon snow lined each side of the roadway and a dense fog, or cloud, set in.

When I reached the entrance to the park, "Mr. Ranger, Sir" told me that as bad as it was at the gate, it would be worse at the lake and that I probably wouldnt be able to see anything. I paid my $5 and went in anyway because if nothing else, I could ride through the park and go out the north exit rather than backtrack over what I had just covered.

The ranger was right....Here is Crater Lake in all its glory!

So much for the weather.com and their forecasting abilities! Unless, they were forecasting the temp at the Crater Lake sign which was a few thousand feet in elevation lower than the lake....

After Crater Lake it was a stop at a roadside diner in Chemult for a cup of hot chocolate and then on my down the road towards Portland. I was in pines most of the day and for many miles it reminded me of the stretch of 260 between Payson and Heber. But, for most of the ride, the forest was so thick, so vibrant in colors, and so spectacular I could hardly contain myself.

The forest, lakes, streams and waterfalls were nothing but glorious. I expected at any moment that Big Foot would step out from behind a tree and that around each corner would be a big black bear with a salmon in its mouth.

Again, the pictures just dont capture how awesome everything was. While taking the picture of the above lake, I got a text from Ang. She was on the ground in Portland. It took her three hours to get there and It took my three days........I think I got the better deal!

We met up at the hotel and it was great to be with her again. We scouted around Portland looking for some cool place to hang out and have dinner but all we found were transients, medical marijuana places, and the like. If there is a nice part of Portland we couldnt find it.

Dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings about a mile from the hotel......of course we rode about 20 miles to find it!

Getting to Portland was awesome. I never had a time table to stick to or a destination I had to get to other than arriving here on Wednesday. Today was 325 miles.

PCH Day 2

2011-06-28T21:57:00.000-07:00

I hit the road this morning at 0840 and my goal was to get at least as far as Klamath Falls, OR. With the rain that was forecasted I didnt know how the day would shape up.

I took US89 out of Walker, CA to Lake Tahoe. What an incredible ride that was. I have been all over Colorado and Utah and this part of California was every bit as good. Monitor Pass was breathtaking and the pictures just don't even do it justice.

Lake Tahoe is incredible. The day was overcast and it was very windy so again, the pics just dont capture the true beauty there. I would love to come back another time and spend a few days here.

Highway 50 runs around the lake for quite a ways. I eventually hooked up with US395 again and headed to Carson City and Reno NV. From there I continued on to Susanville Ca. There was lots of open range land between Tahoe and Susanville and there were dark heavy rain clouds looming overhead.

It is about 200 miles from Susanville to Klammath Falls and for most of the 200 miles it was raining. Nothing heavy or dangerous, just a drizzle. The scenery changed from rangeland to farmland with areas of thick forest thrown in for variety. I rode through miles and miles and miles of hayfields, grain silos, quaint little farm houses, and old rustic dilapidated barns. I passed up so many photo ops because they were everywhere I looked. I just couldnt absorb it all........

Did I mention the rain? For nearly 200 miles?

I love the sights, sounds, and smells of being out on the motorcycle. You miss so much when you are in a car. I also love to take the back roads. There is a time and a place for the interstate but I generally avoid the superslab. When you are on the back roads, you get to experience Americana. I ran across a memeorial dedicated to the flight crew of a C130 that crashed in 2002 while fighting a wildfire. There was a monument, a piece of the planes propeller, and 50+ t-shirts from various fire departments attached to the fence. It was really cool!

And then later, there was this tribute to uh..........well.........I dont know, but it was cool.....

You dont get to see this kind of stuff going 80 down the interstate....

Today was a 400 mile day with cool temps and rain. The forecast for tomorrow calls for more of the same. Then after that, the weather is supposed to be perfect the rest of the trip. Tomorrow holds another 300 miles in store and then i'll hook up with Angie in Portland and the real trip will begin.

Pacific Coast highway trip 2011

2011-06-28T07:56:00.000-07:00

It has been more than 2 years since I have posted to this blog. I guess Facebook kind of took the place of the blog, but this is a good place to document the epic adventure which is the PCH 2011. I left on the Harley at 0430 Monday morning, 6/26/2011 and am heading to Portland, OR. I should arrive on Wednesday. Angela is flying to Portland Wednesday and then we will spend the next 7 or 8 days riding the Pacific Coast Highway s/b to at least San Fransisco.

I stopped in Tonopah, AZ to rehydrate. Tonopah is about 100 miles down I-10 from home. As I got off the Harley I noticed my left side saddle bag was hanging open. I then noticed that Angela's rain suit was gone. So, somewhere between home and Tonopah there is a nice set of Frogg Toggs laying in the street.

My route took me through Vicksburg AZ on my way towards Lake Havasu City. I ran across Mark Martin and David Ragan's car haulers heading east after Sunday's NASCAR race in California.

From there it was on to Havasu and a quick stop at the famed London Bridge for a photo op.

From Havasu it was w/b to Barstow CA and then n/b on US 395 towards Reno, NV. The first 550 miles were pretty boring as the scenery was nothing but desert. I thought I was going to have to deal with sweltering heat all day but it never really got bad. I dont know what the temps were but Im guessing the highest I encountered was about 105 and that really wasnt too bad as long as I kept moving.

I stopped in Coso Junction, CA for gas and water and noticed a nice shady picnic area. This is where it was 105 but with a breeze the shady area was actually pretty nice.

So....I went over the picnic tables and drank my bottle of water and ate a power bar. I would have layed down and rested on the table but it had a lot of bird poop on it. After a little while I returned to my motorcycle and that is when I noticed the "other" sign. I saw "picnic area" but look closely at the sign on the other side of the opening. It says, "caution snakes". Yikes!!! Had I seen that I never would have gone in there. I was creeped out because I hate snakes. Why would you designate a snake infested area as a picnic area anyway?? I spent the next 10 miles worried that one had crawled into a saddle bag or onto the frame of the bike when I wasnt looking.......

Finally, after the 550 miles of desert, the terrain began to change near Lone Pine CA. This was where I had planned on stopping for the day but it was only about 3pm and I was still feeling good so I kept on going. The scenery turned into rolling farm land set against the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevadas and then evolved into mountain grades and curves through thick forests along beautiful lakes and rivers.

Another 200 miles and I finally decided to call it a day in Walker, CA. Walker is a small wide spot in the road and I love little towns like this. I have no cell service and no phone in the motel room but I have free wifi and satellite TV so all is good! I love the mom and pop motels too....

The view from my front door....

So Monday ended with 755 miles ridden in elevations ranging from 500 feet above sea level to over 8200 feet in elevation, hours of desert to beautiful forests and temps ranging from the mid 60's to over 100 degrees. Tuesdays weather forecast calls for lots of rain and thunderstorms as I head through the Lake Tahoe area into Oregon. Uh oh........

Update!!!

2009-05-11T21:40:00.000-07:00

Holy Smokes! Time just flies by and the poor blog just gets neglected. Between regular e-mail and Facebook, I just cant keep up with it all...

Life at the Ferrin's marches on. Those of us here at home are in the same old rut every day so there isnt really anything to report. Stewart continues to excel in Chile. Another few days and he will celebrate his one year mark in the mission field. In many ways time seems to be passing quickly but in other ways it seems that kid has been gone forever.

Stewart is currently serving in Temuco and he is a co-senior comapnion. He loves the work and the people.

Stewart and Elder Lencinas:

Eating Lemon Merengue pie!!! ( a family favorite)
Stewart's latest baptism:

Hey buddy, want a Book of Mormon?

You wont find a hot dog like this at the Home Depot.....

Banana splits to celebrate a 20th birthday

...and talking to the family back home on Mothers Day!

Update!!!

2009-02-16T12:26:00.001-08:00

Man, it is hard to keep up with this blog thing....I dont know how those of you who blog all the time do it. Life continues to march on. Kristi turned 12 recently; I dont know how that happened!

Stewart continues to do well in the mission field. He was transferred a while ago to Cunco, which is a small town with just a little Branch that meets there. He is loving life and continues to have success.

Update!!!

2008-12-20T17:37:00.000-08:00

Wow....I haven't updated the blog in almost a month. I guess I have been pretty busy. Work gets a little hectic this time of year and blogging falls off the priority list, I guess.

Thanksgiving was great. The Utah Ferrins came down and hung out with the Mesa, Tempe, and Phoenix Ferrins for the weekend. Mitchell took a ton of photos but they are all still on his camera.

We started off the day by attending the Mesa Turkey Trot. Angela ran in the 2 mile Fun Run with our friends Dave and Sundee. She did it so she wouldn't feel guilty eating turkey and pie the rest of the day.
Stewart continues to prosper in the mission field. Here is an excerpt from a recent e-mail:
Well i have been trying to find my talents because my Patriartical blessing says that i have a lot and i need to develop them while on a misión….. i have been trying to learn piano…(not really, but kinda) and judging from the Pictures that i sent i would say that i am doing VERY good…. Dont you think..? haha!I think my son is having an identity crisis....His whole life he has wanted to be a Police Officer and out of the blue he send us these photos:
Stewart sent a DVD home recently with some videos from the mission field.

Perhaps this is why the church is growing so much in South America....

Christmas is soon approaching and life is busy. Mitchell and Taylor just finished their first semester at ASU and Kristi is half way done with 6th grade. Man, time flies!

Hopefully I'll get back to the blog before another month goes by....

6 Months!!!

2008-11-25T08:37:00.000-08:00

Last week was a milestone in the mission field for Stewart. He has been out 6 months now. Time is a weird thing. In many ways it seems to fly by and in other ways it seems as though Stewart has been gone for years.

A tradition in the mission field is to burn a tie on your 6 month anniversary. Not wanting to stray from tradition, Stewart joined in the fun....As many of you know, Stewart has wanted to be a Police Officer since he was 4 years old. He makes friends with the local cops in his areas and there is even a picture of me and my police motorcycle hanging on a wall of one of the police stations there.

Here, Stewart is involved in a new pilot program, K9 Missionaries....ok..not really. He found a member's dog out wandering and took it back to them.

Here is an excerpt from one of his recent e-mails:
There is also some crazy stuff that goes on here… I took a picture of a gold wing motorcycle because its American and I knew dad would like it…. But then after looking at the picture I realized there were 4 people on it… haha!
Stewart continues to work hard and the Mission President has told him that each month his shoulders will grow with added responsibility. This picture will be enlarged and framed in B&W in our home soon.

I'm pretty sure Stewart didn't paint the graffiti..

But even among all the work, there is P-day and time for sightseeing and pleasure.Also, recently Kristi and I went to Utah to see our Cousin JT report in Sacrament Meeting after returning from Japan. His brother Jake, spoke in the same meeting as he left a few days later for Peru. Additionally, Jim's youngest, Will, was baptized by his big brother JT.I took a lot of pictures but apparently none of Jake and JT. Here's me and Kristi though...

Our Missionary

2008-10-27T18:19:00.000-07:00

Stewart continues to do well in Chile. He is currently serving in Los Angelas and seems to really enjoy it there. I think Lagunillas will probably be his favorite spot but he is still full of enthusiasm and loves what he is doing.

Here a re a few pics he recently sent us. Only Stewart would view the Book of Mormon as a radar gun..........

Mitchell

2008-10-15T21:02:00.000-07:00

As you may already know, Mitchell recently filmed two commercials in support of John McCain. These commercials will air in the “battleground” states so we won’t get to see them locally. To see the commercials, go to www.neverfindout.org and click on the “Middle Class” and “Nice Try, Senator” commercials. For those of you that do not know our son, he is the blond kid in the long sleeved blue shirt.

The commercials are funded by a group that supports John McCain and are not from the McCain-Palin campaign

Stewart

2008-10-15T20:46:00.001-07:00

Stewart continues to be successful on his mission. He has spent the last two months in Lagunillas but yesterday he was transferred to Los Angelas, Chile. We dont know anything about the area yet nor who his companion is but he was very excited about going there when we heard from him Monday.

He told us a great story about his last baptism in Lagunillas. Here is the story in his own words:

Friday when we went to the church to fill the font with water, we found out there was no water. The construction crew next to the church accidently broke the water line. they said that is was going to take about 4 or 5 hours to fix... the only thing was, the font take 4 hours to fill. we called other elders to see if we could go to their building, which we could but its very far away... not like the stake center behind out house and the 48th street builing by brimhall... they are far away here. we ditn know what to do. I said a couple prayers but nothing was going to fix our problem.. they construction crew didnt even know where the break was... they just knew it was broken. i heard of a story one time that a fire truck was called to one of the churchs in the states to fill up the font and they did it in about 10 or 15 mins. This story came to mind and i thought just maybe the same thing could happen for us. We went to the fire station and after talking to a couple people we finally got the okay, and they will get ready and head to the chucrh... if you didint catch that..... the FIRE FIGHTERS came to the church and FILLED THE FONT for our BAPTISM!!! how sweet is that... of course i had my camera so they will be pictures soon! it was awesome and so sweet. the water was cold, as opposed to the normal hot water, but not important... Nicolas was baptised! Stewart went on to say:

As you can tell, things are awesome here! I am having much success an dloving every minute of it. I look foward to my new sector and new zone, even though i love it here i know i will love it there too... its goign to be a great expierience and the cool part is i have annew area and new people to take pictures of... yeah, im excited!

We are so excited for him and proud of him.

Colorado Fall Colors

2008-10-11T07:43:00.000-07:00

The last weekend in September found me itching for a good motorcycle ride. A quick e-mail to Clay Jones in Colorado Springs set the plan in motion.
I left Saturday morning and headed for Durango, Colorado. I went north/east through Payson and Heber to Holbrook where I picked up I-40 east to Gallup, NM. From there I cut north to Shiprock, NM, east to Farmington, NM and then north to Durango.

It was a nice ride even with the rain I encountered between Holbrook and Durango.

I met up with Clay at the motel in Durango. We went across the street to one of my favorite places to eat in Durango, Serious Texas BBQ. A long day on the road, a nice dinner, and it was time to call it a night.
Sunday was spent riding through some gorgeous scenery. We headed north out of Durango and made stops in Silverton and Ouray. From there were continued to Ridgeway, turned right and looped around to Telluride. From Telluride we headed back south over Lizard Head Pass through Rico and Delores and finally back to our base in Durango.Monday morning we bid each other farewell and headed back to our own areas of the world. I headed west out of Durango and went through the Four Corners area, across the Navajo Reservation to Flagstaff and then headed south to home.All I can say is four wheels move the body; two wheels move the soul. To see the rest of the pictures copy and paste the following link into your web browser:
http://azblu.smugmug.com/gallery/6082185_uq4Qc#383415441_4qWzw

Stewart

2008-10-03T13:34:00.000-07:00

Stewart is still serving in Lagunillas Chile and he is loving his mission. He was bummed to hear about the demise of WaMu since he worked there for 2 1/2 years and I'd like to thank Eric Jensen for pointing out that WaMu couldn't even go a few months without Stewart.

The Mission President's wife told Stewart he makes missionary work look easy. His response was, "i always have a smile, and am excited.... as you can tell in my e-mails and pictures..... my reponse to that was.... well i havnt had any hard days.... OH HOW THE LORD ANSWERS "PRAYERS" !!!"

Here is an excert from his latest e-mail. Please ignore the typos....

"about 3 weeks ago, elder cordova and i were walking down the street on our way to an appointment... there were about 10 punk teenagers in the street, and they were throwing rocks, pushing, hitting, yelling names at this one guy in the street.... the guy was yelling back and trying to fend off the kids but he has problems walking, so he couldn get away. i wanted to say somthing to the teenagers because its my nature to stand up for what is right, even if i am standing alone.... but i couldnt come up with any words, and the area we were in is kinda dangerous, so i didnt want us to get hurt also, or cause problems in the future.... so we contunied to walk. i listened to what was being said and felt bad that i couldnt do anything, especailly since we were walking RIGHT in the middle of it, kids on both sides of the street....... we were walking when i had this impression to talk to him, the guy being picked on, i didnt know what to say though and kept walking. about 2 steps more and this HUGE feeling came over me... GO HELP HIM!! i stopped right there...! elder cordova wondered what was goign on... i told him we needed to talk to this guy in the street. i turned around and walked about 5 steps and there he was... i told him we were missionaries and we were here to help him. at first he was scared and kept walking but i said i had a gift for him (a pass along card) he stopped and elder cordova and i surrounded him, protecting him from the kids throwing rocks.... which happened to fall just before our feet or flying over us, not one pentitrating our circle around this guy.... we talked and decided it would be better to go to his house... we went to his house, taught him a lesson and then set up another appointment.... we taught him all the lessons which he embrassed and understood, and in 3 weeks from meeting him in the street, Pedro was baptised this saturday!!
Pedro has some mild problems with is mind, and is physically impared with hands and legs, but none the less is such a sweet spirit.... sunday at church, he was there at 9 with a liahona, (ensign but in spanish), reading it... one hour before church even started... and was confirmed in that sacrament meeting.....

its a great story and i know that if i hadnt been prepared to listen to the words of the holy ghost we would of passed him and he wouldnt of been baptised. "

Here is a photo of Pedro at his baptism:

The boy is living proof that the apple doesnt fall far from the tree!!!

This is a photo of the entire Priesthood body of the Ward Stewart is currently serving in. 35 folks; way more than I thought it would be.

And finally, the phone rang today and by looking at caller ID it looked like a telemarketer. Ignored the call and a while later they called back. My interest was piqued so this time I answered.

The voice on the other end spoke broken English and at first i did not understand him. He repeated himself and I realized he was asking if I was Elder Ferrin's Dad. when I said I was, he told me he was walking down the street with Stewart as we spoke.

Next thing I knew, Stewart was on the phone wishing me a happy birthday. He was on splits with a kid in the ward who is leaving on his own mission to Argentina in three weeks and the kid needed to call SLC for something regarding his mission. I guess when he was able to use his cell phone to call Salt Lake, Stewart got the bright idea to call me.

We spoke for about three minutes as they walked along some street in Lagunillas. He was laughing and clearly is enjoying his mission. I dont like him breaking a mission rule but it was the best birthday present I could get.

Stewart

2008-09-17T05:23:00.000-07:00

Stewart continues to do well in Chile. He experienced his first round of transfers this month. He remains in Lagunillas however Elder Measom was transferred so Stewart has a new companion. His name is Elder Cordova and he is from El Salvador. Stewart was worried that they would not be able to communicate very well because Stewart is still learning Spanish and Elder Cordova allegedly didnt speak English. Well, Stewart acknowledged that his Spanish is better than he gives himself credit for and Elder Cordova speaks Englsih so they are getting along just fine.Stewart shows enthusiam in all that he does. He was excited to show off his first hair cut in chile!In addition to Spanish, he is learning a lot of new skillls that will assit him throughout his life. Patience, humility, cooking.....
The work continues to progress and many are being baptized. This is the 11 yr old daughter of an inactive man in the branch. Perhaps she can lead her dad back to activity.
The son of a woman Angela works with is serving in the same mission. He has been out a little longer than Stewart. So, while the moms talk about their sons at work, and the wonderful things they are doing half a world away, the sons apparently are gooffing off on P Day and going bowling! (Stewart sent this picture but did not identity who was who so we arent sure which one is Elder Huggins from Gilbert.)
And, since Stewart is serving in the Ancient Americas, in the land of the Book of Mormon, who else would you expect to uncover and actually locate the sword of Laban???

Stewart Update

2008-09-07T09:31:00.000-07:00

It's hard to keep up with this blogging stuff. I just looked back and saw that it has been two months since I last wrote about Stewart. When we last saw him, Stewart had been in the hospital during his time at the MTC.

Since then he has recovered fully, finished up the MTC, and departed for Chile on July 21st.

They arrived in Dallas and were to have caught an overnight flight to Santiago but the flight was cancelled. the next flight would not be for 24 hours. So, the missionaries were put up at a nearby hotel where they made phone calls and hung out for a day.

The following night they caught their flight to Santiago. It was a 10 hour flight and they all arrived safely. From Santiago Stewart caught another flight to Concepcion where he was met at the airport and taken to the Mission Home. There he got to meet (again) his Mission President and his wife, and was then assigned his new companion.

Stewart and his companion, Elder Measom, were assigned to Lagunillas, Chile, a small town north of the larger city of Coronel. Elder Measom had already been there for some time an is the Senior Companion and Stewart is his new Greenie.

Stewart said that he did not really experience any culture shock being in Chile; he descibes it as being alot like the area of Mesa Drive and Broadway, here in Mesa.

It has ben cold and rainy in the Concecion area but Stewart is dealing with it well. His e-mails are always upbeat and he has a great attitude. He loves the work, the people and the place.

He and Elder Measom recently had a baptism with more scheduled in the near future and they are teaching alot of people.

The last of the PCH

2008-08-16T19:00:00.000-07:00

We loaded the bikes and headed down the highway by 5:00am and found that it was much colder than we had thought it would be. Within 20 miles we stopped and put on some warmer clothes. As the sun rose it came up very red, so we figured there was still allot of smoke in the air from the California fires.

We stopped at the Nevada border and took pictures. We could have parked the bikes sideways in the road for pictures because we didn't see another car the entire time we were stopped, and we only passed 2 other vehicles in 100 miles.We arrived in Denio Junction by 7:00am and found the gas station was open. It had opened at 6:30 so we couldn't have come too much earlier and we've have made at about opening time except for our stops. They don't accept credit cards so we had to take cash into the restaurant to pre-pay, but since we were out of Oregon we could pump our own gas. Some guy wandered over to talk to us about his riding trip. He'd been riding in the same area we had, but kept bragging about all the bars he'd been to on his trip. We nodded politely and excused ourselves as fast as we could.

From Denio we chewed up the miles through Winnemucka all the way to Elko, NV. We stopped for lunch in Elko and recharged ourselves. This was a pretty boring desert stretch today and the heat was picking up.

Clay wanted to stay at the restaurant longer than I did, and he was experiencing a lot of buffeting at the speeds I was wanted to ride at, so we bid each other farewell and I headed on down the highway alone.

I got to my brother Jim's house in Linden, UT about 5:30 PM and it was nice to get off the motorcycle for a while. Meanwhile, Angela and the kids left home this morning, also heading for Jim's house,and they arrived about 7:30.

We spent the next few days in the Provo/SLC area seeing the sights and visiting with family. Kristi and I even got in a little motorcycle ride up Provo Canyon.We also just happened to be in Provo at the same time all of my female cousins were there have a reunion, including my sister Elly. Elly lives in Littleton CO and when we found out she was in Provo also we had to get together.

The girls all then decided to set aside Saturday night and let the boy cousins join in the fun so we all met u p at a park east of the Provo temple.
Kristi and I also hit a couple spots on the M/C where we hoped we might run in to Stewart, who was still in the MTC at the time.
On Sunday July 20th, we packed up and headed for home. I had been on the road since July 5th and I was ready to get home. Kristi, my up and coming biker chick, rode 300 miles with me from Nephi, UT to Page, AZ.The trip was awesome. We saw some of the most beautiful scenery there is. The total mileage was 3850 miles. The motorcycle ran great; not even a little hiccup. No break downs, no accidents, and lots of fun.

Of course, life marched on while we were gone. Time, and apparently grass, stops for no man.

Still more PCH

2008-08-14T19:59:00.000-07:00

We had a grerat nights rest at the Lincoln City KOA. Our first goal for the next day was the Cape Meares lighthouse. We followed a road named the 3 coves road out towards the coast. As we climbed up toward the lighthouse we saw a plateau that had fog pouring over and down the slopes. It was a very cool effect. But it turned out that the lighthouse was on top of that plateau and right in the middle of that freezing cold patch of fog.

There was one last lighthouse and we took a road out towards where the map showed it to be. We wound up in the town of Cannon Beach. It was a very "yuppie" kind of town with cars lining the streets, parking lots filled, and people everywhere. We managed to find a parking spot after a couple of circuits around, then started looking for somewhere affordable to eat. We found a pizza place that sold by the slice.

While we ate, we tried to figure out how to get to the last lighthouse. We used Clay's phone to look up Tillamook Rock and it turned out that the lighthouse is about 3 miles off the coast on a big rock. So we weren't going to drive out to that one.

We continued North from Cannon Beach but after about an hour, I was feeling tired so we decided to pull over and take a short break. We were up on a bluff with a pullout. I laid down on the retaining wall and grabbed a short cat nap.

Here are a couple of views we found along the way...

I caught my second wind, which was a good thing because we still had a long way to go. Finally we arrived in Astoria. We rode over the bridge into Washington State. We hoped to find a good "Welcome to Washington" sign, but the only sign was a little thing hung in the middle of the bridge and we sure weren't going to try stopping for pictures. This was as far North as we were riding, so after crossing the bridge, we rode back over the bridge we turned East toward Portland.

By the time we rode the 100 miles into Portland it was 5:30 and the middle of rush hour. We got on the 405 freeway and crossed the city with very few delays coming out on I-5 towards Salem and Corvallis. We checked into the KOA just outside of Corvallis, then rode into town to find somewhere to eat.

The next morning we got on the road by 7:00 heading South East towards Crater Lake national monument. We passed some beautiful lakes and stopped for a few pictures by one and to see just how cold the water is. It is much warmer than I thought it would be, maybe in the low 60s. As we continued South, the air slowly got more hazy with smoke from the California fires. By the time we pulled into the first overlook, there was a heavy haze in the air. It was a beautiful spot, but it was hard to see much from the smoke.

We drove around the rim to some other scenic vistas, then stopped at the visitor's center for lunch. We paid more for the sandwiches and drinks than we did for the great meal the night before.After lunch we looked at each other and realized it was kind of the end of the trip, and from here we were headed home. It was kind of a sad moment.We rode down off the volcano and through Klamath. It was still early in the day so we continued on toward a small town called Lakeview. We got to Lakeview by 4:30 but we were both so tired and hot that we decided not to try to make it to Winnemucca which was another 200 miles. We checked into the Best Western then went to unload the bikes. By the time we were finished unloading and cooling down, the hotel was sold out and so were the other hotels. We'd gotton one of the last available rooms or we'd have been forced to ride on to Winnemucca.We ate dinner at the dining room in the hotel next door and got a wonderful meal. We then called it a night cuz tomorrow was going to start early.

More PCH Trip

2008-08-11T19:23:00.000-07:00

From Eureka, we split up. Greg had left a day or two earlier so he could go to Oregon ahead of us and visit his daughter. After breakfast, we hit a local Harley shop and then the girls hopped in Nannette's rental car and drove to Reno, NV where they all caught flights home the following day.

Clay and I headed north to Oregon. As we approached Crescent City, CA.,we saw that the highway we wanted to ride (199) was closed due to wildfires. We tried a couple of alternates but finally we just went to a restaurant for an early lunch to figure things out. There was no way to get to our first night's lodging before midnight, so we called and tried to cancel all of our reservations. All were fine except one KOA in Lincoln City. They'd let us move a night, but not cancel. So we decided to ride to Bandon for the first night, then Lincoln City for the second.On the way to Bandon we crossed into Oregon, so we stopped to get pictures of the state signs.

There was also a group of teen agers on bikes taking their pictures too. We offered to take group pictures of them. The oldest might have been 20, but there were allot in their early teens. They were riding from Seattle to San Francisco as a group, 850 miles.

We started seeing the beautiful Oregon coastline and stopped several times for pictures. But even with stops and lollygagging, we got to the KOA by 5:30, so we had a very leisure night. The KOA was right off of the highway, but was completely wooded. All of the campsites and cabins had trees in and around it. You could barely see from one site to the next.There was a hamburger stand setup next to the office and we got burgers and fries there for dinner.

We spent the night in a one room cabin. It was great. This is an awesome way to travel!! We got up the next morning and had a nice pancake breakfast at the KOA. Because the Lincoln City KOA wouldn't refund the deposit, we thought we might stay there tonight. But it was only 160 miles away and we thought we could make it allot farther. So we were fuming a bit at having to stop there and thought we'd just blow off the deposit.But since we might have the time, we decided to backtrack a bit and go see the Cape Blanco lighthouse. When we got there the lighthouse was closed, but we were treated to the first of many beautiful views up the coast.

The wind was blowing very hard and it was cold, but we hiked around and took allot of pictures.When we finished that, we rode back past last night's KOA and on up to the town of Bandon. We followed signs out to a an overlook and got another fantastic view of beaches, haystacks (the big rocks just off the coast), and rocky bluffs.We rode on North, and stopped at the Coos Bay Harley Davidson. Remember, its not a trip without stops at the HD shops.

The next stop was the Coos bay lighthouse not far up the road but we couldn't drive to it but we got pictures.North of Coos bay we followed the signs off the highway and found the Umpqua lighthouse up on a high bluff with a museum nearby. For $3.00 we took a great tour of the area, and even got to climb up inside, and poke our heads up INTO the spinning lense. This lighthouse is still active and in constant use. It has a perfect Fresnel lens. Many of the lighthouses have been retired and most have been vandalized over the years, but this one is in pristine condition.The guide told us that the Coast Guard maintains the lighthouse. We learned about all of the work it took for 3 men and their families to keep the lighthouse running.

By the time we got to Newport, we'd ridden into and out of allot of fog banks. Every time we'd hit fog, the temperature would drop 15 degrees and we'd freeze, then we'd come out and slowly warm back up. Newport was in the fog, so we were very glad to get into a restaurant and warm back up again.The final 20 miles to the KOA was mostly through fog, so we skipped the last 2 lighthouses, and by the time we got to the Lincoln City KOA we were tired and not at all sorry to have to stop there.

Here's acouple more shots from the day. Back near the Oregon border I stopped to take a picture to show how huge the trees were. A car drove by and someone shouted "Tree Hugger!"

PCH Trip Continued

2008-07-31T20:48:00.000-07:00

Wednesday the 10th was spent touring around San Fransisco. We hit Dudley Perkins Harley Davidson because its not a trip if you dont check out the HD shops along the way. We then took a BART train into the touristy area of San Fran.
We checked out Fisherman's Wharf, Ghirardelli Square, the cable cars, the harbor, Bubba Gumps (for lunch) and much more. It was cool but there were just too many freak shows lining the sidewalks for me.

After a day of lots of walking we headed back to the Marriott to call it a night and get some relaxation. The next day would be spent on the road riding again.

On the 11th, we got up and got ready for the day. After breakfast, we loaded up the bikes and were off on our way again. The first stop of the day would be the famed Lombard Street.

From there, the next stop was the Golden Gate Bridge. The temps were cool and there was still a fog in the air. This place was really neat.

After we crossed the bridge, we turned off onto Highway 1 again. It went out the back of the town and quickly led us up into the hills. The road wound around every little hill and stream, steadily climbing up, then dropping down towards the ocean. There was allot more fog on this side of the bay, but the sun breaking through now and then made for some beautiful contrast

We looked at the map and realized that we had barely begun to move up the coast from San Francisco. We were going very slowly and it was going to take a very long time to get to Eureka. We needed to start churning out the miles so the sightseeing was pretty much over and it was time to burn up some asphalt. We did make a stop in Leggit tho so we could capture these photos in a giant redwood.

From here we headed on to Eureka, CA where we bedded down for the night. Stay tuned...

ASU Here We Come!

2008-07-31T15:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, so many of you know that I applied to ASU PD to be a Dispatcher. It is time to make the announcement that yes, I have been hired. I start on August 12th. With orientation the day before! For those of you who might be worried that this will get into our lunch times, I am not sure yet what hours/days I will be working yet, but it is part-time :)

In addition to me working at ASU, Mitchell and Taylor will be attending school there in the fall.

Look out ASU, here come the Ferrins!

PCH Trip

2008-07-27T19:30:00.000-07:00

So, on July 6th Angela and I left on an epic motorcycle journey. We headed towards California where on the morning of the 7th we went to the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley. It was a really cool place. We saw a section of the Berlin Wall and we even got to tour the Air Force One jet that he used.

Afterwards, we met up with some friends in Santa Barbara. (Clay and Nannette Jones from Colorado Springs and Shauna McRae and her friend Greg Hancock from here). We all spent the night at Shauna's dad's house before embarking the next day on our motorcycle trip up the California coastline. Shauna's dad's wife, Suzan, treated us to spme great home cooking and wonderful hospitality.

The 7th began with breakfast at Moby Dick's, on the Santa Barbara pier. We then hit the highway and our first stop was in Solvang, CA.

There was thick fog and a real chill in the air for 25 miles until we turned inland. We reached Solvang, and the first words from Shauna were "Why didn't we take the back way that avoids the freeway?" It hadn't occurred to us to ask Shauna for directions. (Long story) We noticed that all of the hill around the area were very dry, and all the grass had died. Someone told us that the hills aren't "Brown", they are "Golden" and beautiful. Suuuuure they are.We wandered around Solvang for an hour, then headed back to highway 1 and turned North. In this area, the PCH cuts inland, so we just rode through hills on a 4 lane highway. Nannette said that she was having Walmart withdrawals, so when we got to Lompoc, we found a Walmart and went in to buy a few essentials. Walmart wasnt really on my agenda and I was a little impatient....

We talked about getting lunch in Lompoc, but decided that it was too early, so we continued North. When we got near Santa Maria we noticed a bad odor in the air, and allot of manual harvesting going on in the fields around us. It was either cabbage or broccoli being harvested right up to the town boundaries, so we decided not to eat there. We continued on to Oceano where a much better odor assailed us from a BBQ place. It was a good meal, but a bit pricey

We finished out the day by riding through Morrow Bay and on to San Simeon where we stayed the night in a Days Inn.

The next morning we got up and drove a few miles up the coast to where the elephant seals like to hang out. They were huge, noisy, and stinky. But they were also fascinating to watch. There were a few groups just out into the water that were fighting and bellowing. Their call sounded like a slow motion burp. Then there was a huge group all laying together right below a footpath.

There were wild fires all over California, and unfortunatly for us, there is a fire right on the coast North of us that has closed highway 1. So we couldn'tt drive up to Big Sur and Monterey. Instead, we had to drive inland to the 101 freeway. We started our ride with the cool ocean air, but within minutes we rose up over a hill and the temperature climed 20 degrees in 1/4 mile. Pretty soon we were baking in the extra clothes we had worn, so we stopped to take off a layer or two.There's not much to report of the drive around, except that we saw yet even more cabbage fields (and smelled them). In Salinas we got off the freeway and cut back across to highway 1. But we still weren't out of the heat, or back near the ocean. We rode mile after mile through yet more fields and smell wondering why this was called the Pacific Coast Highway and not the Putrid Cabbage Highway.

We finally ended up in Santa Cruz where we found the beach. We walked way out on to the pier and had lunch overlooking the ocean.

After lunch we made our way back to the PCH, and within minutes we were cruzing what we'd been hoping for the whole time. 2 lane, light traffic, scenic, cool highway right on or near the water. We spotted a lighthouse and stopped for some pictures.

We continued riding up to half moon bay. They wanted money for parking because it is a state park, and being cheap, we only wanted free beaches. We continued up the PCH to another beach someone had told us of. I think it was Montera Beach. There was some free parking near it, but a precarious climb down to the beach. It was an ideal beach with big thundering waves crashing up a steep rise, and very few people. We relaxed for a bit and took some pictures, then climbed back up.

From here, it was a short 20 mile ride to the Marriott in San Francisco where we would spend thenext two nights. Stay tuned.......

Another update

2008-07-06T08:15:00.000-07:00

This has been an interesting week. Taylor has been house sitting for a friend so we have seen very little of her. I think she is testing the waters of living on her own. Mitchell has been working diligently on a movie he and his friends are making, I was very busy getting ready for the Tempe Town Lake July 4th celebration ( I was in charge of al lthe traffic issues; what a mess that turned out to be!) and Angela and Kristi have been getting ready for vacation. Kristi leaves for Colorado with her grandparents today and Angela and I are heading up the California coast on the Harley.

Stewart? Oh yeah.....Stewart. He spent the last week in the hospital. He went to the MTC doctor Monday evening because he noticed his urine was the color of Pepsi. Being the sharp kid he is, he realized that was a bad thing....The doctor hospitalized him that night and he satyed there until Friday. Basically he had overdone himslef and his body was releasing alot of bad junk into his kidneys. He was attached to IV's for the week and all is better now.

The blessing in this was he was allowed to accept phone calls and visitors. We got to talk to him whenever we wanted and he was visited several times by family and friends in the Provo area. I told him I did not know too many missionaries that got to take a vacation from their mission. He said that although it was different, it was definatley not a vacation.

Below is a cell phone picture taken by Justin while Stewart was on the phone with us right after he was admitted to the hospital.

He has two more weeks at the MTC and then he is off to Chile. Thats it for now!

The MTC

2008-06-26T20:30:00.000-07:00

Stewart has finished 5 weeks in the MTC now. Only 3 1/2 more until he departs for Chile. Stewart continues to grow and mature in the MTC. He has been released as District Leader and is a Senior Companion now. He recently sent home a CD with a ton of photos on them. I will post a few of them here. Many more can be found at http://azblu.smugmug.com/gallery/5267678_gQ3C4#320713927_4ksMK

Here is an excerpt from Stewart's latest e-mail:
So yesterday, the district was walking to class and noticed that there were about 10 baby quales running around and their mom was "screeming" for them... since utah is hilly, they built buildings half way into the ground and then it leves out on the onther side... on the side that was in the ground there is a planter and water drains..... well, they little birds were running around, one of them ran over the watter drain, there was some plastic put over the drains so that they wouldnt fall in, but the wind blew the plastic.... anyway, the bird ran into the plastic, tried getting out and fell into the drain. There were about 25 missionaries standing at the railing where i was at, and about another 50 inside the building, leaning out the windows of the 1st and second floor, we all screemed when the bird fell in. Well, Elder jergins and me hoped over the railing, which is about a story down, and went to save the little bird, we pulled the drain off and stuck our hands in to get the bird... he was so scared he kept running around. Sadly there were already 2 in there that had passed away, but we were able to save the little guy and reunte him with his worried mom, who we later saw keeping VERY close tabs on each and everyone.... sweet huh???!!!

Stewart has gained 16 pounds since entering the MTC. He needed to gain some weight so that is good. He says he is still slender though and still has a "great body".

Time flies...

2008-06-08T17:07:00.000-07:00

Stewart is nearing three weeks in the MTC already and I cant keep up with him on this blog. He loves the MTC and from his letters it appears he has grown spiritually in leaps and bounds. He is learning Spanish and is very excited to get to Chile. Here is an excerpt from his latest e-mail:

Spanish is coming along real well... we arent using englsih a whole lot, and i know its only been 2 weeks, but i am starting to lose my english a little. I am speaking, thinking, writing in spanish and some of the words are the same, they are spelled kinda alike, but not exactly... anyway i think of a word in english and start to spell it in spanish....kinda fun, but maybe not for the people reading this. BUT, its great, i love it but cant wait to get to chile.

He also sent a couple of photos that he had taken and printed out.
He is doing well and we are very proud of him. He was called to be the District Leader while in the MTC and that has been a good experience for him.

But.....Stewart isnt the only person who has had some excitement lately. Mitchell and Taylor graduated from high school the day after Stewart entered the MTC. It was pouring down rain that night so instead of holding commencement on the football field, they broke the class in half and moved it in doors. A-K met in the Auditorium and K-Z met in the gym. It was a little different than usual but still very exciting. The best part was, because of the split, we only had to sit through half of a graduation.....

Stewart Update

2008-05-26T17:47:00.000-07:00

We received our first e-mail from Stewart today. They say the waiting and missing gets easier after the first letter. It's true!! Here is an excerpt:

The MTC is so much fun, I have TONS of pictures... I am going to send some home for you to see Thursday, (Thats when they will be ready) and then you can see somewhat of what I have been up to... Its a really nice place here, the spirit is really strong and in being here only 4 days, I can say a Prayer and Testimony In Fluent Spanish... thats power! It is such an awesome place here and I love it. I want to get out to Chile though. I met this teacher that served in my Mission about a year ago. She said the Presdent is such an AWESOME President and he speaks english so thats good. He and his wife both graduated from BYU up here and have moved back and forth from here in the USA and Chile alot. Each Companionship has cell phones, so that will be a cool thing. There are about 150 mssionaries in my mission, plus or minus 20 because of people coming and leaving, and it rains ALOT! 8 In n August! I hear that we have to wear those rubber boots that come up to your Knee and plastic to keep us dry.... thats so exciting!!! I cant wait!

Mondays just became my new favorite day!!!

The start of a mission...

2008-05-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

Sunday May 18th we had Stewart's mission farewell at church. There was an open house afterwards with lots of friends and family.

Then on Monday th19th, Stewart, Angela and I drove to Utah to take Stewart to the MTC. We stayed with Jim and his family and on Wednesday the 21st, Elder Stewart Ferrin reported to the mission field. Justin Taysom was on hand to assist as well...The MTC is a well oiled, well choreographed machine. From the moment you pull into the parking lot to the time you leave there are folks along the way to lead and guide you. Once the car was parked and luggage put in the proper place, we were ushered into a large meeting room where a member of the MTC presidency spoke. He was followed by the MTC President and his wife who help set us at ease by telling us what goes on there and assuring us they will take good care of our kids. The president joked that the fence around the campus is not to keep missionaries in but rather to keep moms and grandmas out.

After the talks we sang "Called to Serve", a video was shown and then it was time to say goodbye. We were advised that like ripping off a bandaide, saying good bye would be easier if it was short and quick. So, we ripped the bandaide, hugged and said good bye.

The missionaries were to exit the room through doors marked Missionaries an the family members were to exit through door marked family.

Stewart, in true form, was impatient and instead of waiting for the aisle to clear, he swung that long leg of his over the row of chairs, stepped to a clear spot, looked back at us smiling and winking, and disappeared through the door way.

Even though his absence leaves a gaping hole in our home, there is nowhere else I would rather him be at this time. He has a testimony of the work he is embarking on and he was ready to get under way.

I told Justin, his cousin who teaches Spanish at the MTC, that he was my man on the inside and I expected periodic updates from him on Stewart's progress.

After dropping Stewart off, Angela and I had lunch and then began the long, fairly quite, reflective drive back to Arizona.

Just a little update...

2008-04-20T20:29:00.001-07:00

It's been a little while since we posted anything here so I thought I should add an update on what we have been up to. Time marches on and Stewart's departure date is getting closer. Suits, shirts, G's, luggage, etc have been purchased but there is still more on the check list for us to get. He reports May 21st....

Angela and I went with some friends recently to Arizona Bike Week held at Westworld in Scottsdale.
As you can see, Angie got a little wild and decided to ride the mechanical bull. She didnt last ltoo long but she did have a good time.

On April 11th, we traded in our 2001 Ultra Classic on a 2008 HD Ultra Classic. It is black with silver pin striping. We love it!!! Even though it's the same style as the old one, it is sooo different. We have lots of trips planned this summer and I cant wait to hit the highway.

Disneyland

2008-03-30T20:11:00.000-07:00

We spent the week of Spring Break in southern California. With Stewart leaving on his mission soon, we figured this would probably be the last time the whole family would vacation together. We hit up Disneyland, California Adventure, Newport Beach, and Hollywood Boulevard.

We arrived in Anaheim in the afternoon on Tuesday the 18th and decided to head to Newport Beach to scrounge up some dinner.

We were directed to a little Mexican place by a friend who frequents Newport and the food turned out to be pretty good. After dinner we took a walk along the beach and strolled along the pier. We were even given a beautiful sunset to watch.

The next day we hit Disneyland. We stayed in a hotel about a mile away. We did all the normal rides there; Matterhorn,Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Pirates, etc.

Thursday was spent at both Disneyland and California Adventure. I had never been to California Adventure before so it was a whole new experience for me. I don't do roller coasters but was shamed into going on California Screaming (they call it that for a reason) by the kids, Everyone but Stewart rode it. At least one of us has some brains....

We found some other fun things to do at CA like Soaring over California, which was my favorite of all. There were some neat areas of the park too...

Thursday evening we were back at the hotel watching TV and we could hear an alarm going off outside. We eventually opened the room door and here is what we found:

Taylor thought the firemen were totally hot!!! I don't think she meant that they were working up a sweat tho....

Friday we went to Hollywood Blvd and hung out for a while and checked out the sights. There were certainly some sights to see...

LA traffic is terrible. After Hollywood, we left LA for home at 3PM. It took 3 hours for us to cover the first 80 miles just trying to get out of the LA metro area. We got in at 10:30 that night and called it a day.

The trip was great and everyone had a good time.

Oat Bran Pizza Crust

2008-03-25T16:23:00.000-07:00

Okay so I am trying to feed my family more healthy food. I got a cookbook a few years ago and it has an oat bran pizza crust recipe in it. My family loves it. Four of us downed a rectangular Pampered Chef pan sized pizza in one sitting. Bummer for the two kids who weren't home for dinner. As a result, I thought I would share this recipe with all of you. Here goes:

1 1/2 cups wheat flour
1/2 cup oat bran
3 tablespoons buttermilk or non fat dry milk powder
1 1/2 teaspoons rapid rising yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water

Put all ingredients in bread machine and set to dough. When dough is done, place it on a lightly floured surface. Roll the crust out and set it aside for 10 minutes. Top with your favorite pizza sauce, cheese and toppings. Bake at 425 for 12 minutes or until cheese is melted.

I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does :)

Stewart

2008-03-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

Today Stewart went through the temple for the first time. Stewart, an Elder going to Italy and a Sister going to Nauvoo were all newbies. We met with the Temple President prior to the session and he gave some good words of counsel.

We then went through a session and it was a great experience. A few of Stewart's friends were there so th at was an added bonus.

Afterwards we met up with G&G Ferrin, Mitchell, Taylor, and Kristi at Serrano's for lunch. Stewart just keeps progressing and growing and we are very proud of him.

Kristi's 11th birthday

2008-02-17T19:14:00.000-08:00

Stewart's mission call sort of overshadowed Kristi's birthday since it came on her special day, but we didnt completly forget about her. We had grandparents over for cake and ice cream and then she had a party/sleepover a couple days later over the weekend. Our little girl is growing up!!

Stewart's Mission Call

2008-02-07T21:20:00.000-08:00

Stewart had quite a day today. He had his wisdom teeth removed this morning and this evening he opened his mission call. Today is Kristi's birthday so we already had family planning on coming over this evening. He called a few friends and invited them over to be here for the opening as well.

Here is a video of him opening the call....

He leaves May 21st, 2008 and will be serving in the Chile Concepcion South Mission.

We had G&G Ferrin, G&G Lesley, Erika, Ellen and Nathan, Brent, Julie and Brandon Stapley, Amalie, and Mitch Adair and his son here to join in the fun.

We are very proud of Stewart and very excited about his upcoming mission.

1st ride of the new year

2008-01-12T16:37:00.000-08:00

Clay Jones, our friend from Colorado Springs, came down over New Years and trailered his motorcycle along with him. On January 2nd, we went for a short breakfast ride. We rode to Superior and had breakfast at the Buckboard Cafe. We intended to go on a longer ride but we got a late start and I had to go in to work. It was great to get out on the road for a little bit.

Christmas 2007

2007-12-26T16:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas was great this year. We spent Christmas Eve at George and Kay's house along with Mom and Dad. We had dinner, a Christmas message,and a White Elephant gift exchange. Then it was time to go home and get to bed so that that old, heavy set guy, (Santa, not me) could come and do his thing.

Christmas was spent at home in the morning opening presents, then to Grandma and Grandpa Lesley's and then on to Grandma and Grandpa Ferrin's. I was on call this week and as luck would have it, I got called out around 2PM. Seems an officer crashed into another car and we had to go out and investigate the accident.

Here is a smattering of pics from the day:

Kristi spreading some oats in the front yard for the reindeer to snack on tonight

Angela opening a present

Me,

Kristi on her new bike courtesy of Santa,

Taylor, Mitchell,

and Stewart.

More presents and dinner at G&G Lesley's

and of course the car crash that cut the celebration short (minor injuries).

And, poor Kristi just never felt good all day. The next day she was worse so we took her to the doctor. Guess what, she has strept throat! What a great way to spend Christmas!!

Misc stuff

2007-12-23T08:09:00.000-08:00

Time marches on and here we find ourselves a couple days before Christmas 2007. We recently had some family photos taken. I thought I would post a couple of them here for all to see.

Mitchell and Taylor have been hitting all of the school events this year. They are both Seniors and will soon be moving on to other things in life.

Taylor attended Winter Formal with her friend Keelan,
and Mitchell attended Winter Formal with his friend Angela (They are doing the Spiderman pose...)

We also recently celbrated Mom's 84th birthday. We took her and Dad to Serrano's for dinner and this is her official birthday picture:

Thats it for now........

Mitchell's latest artistic creation

2007-12-02T15:58:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, Mitchell has great aspirations to be involved in the motion picture industy. He is not only an actor but a budding filmaker as well. check out his very short film at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lowk5wt47Vs

He did all of the acting, filming, editing, and sound effects by himself. Im very impressed!!!

Vehicles

2007-11-23T21:17:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks have brought some vehicular changes to our family. For starters, after several failed attempts to sell my 2000 Ford P/U, a buyer came out of nowhere (almost) and bought it from me before I had really thought things through. It had over 82,000 miles on it and Stewart had been using it on a daily basis. (Click on any photo for a larger view.)

The next day, Taylor's car was taken in to the shop for some coolant issues. It seems she forgot to tell me about the red temperature light that had been on for several days. When the mechanic looked at it he found engine oil in the coolant. Is that bad? The head was cracked and the engine was toast. Time to look for a new car......

Today I found that new car. Although I was tempted to just have the girl walk or ride a bike, I found that that was not really very practical. So I bought another car and this time Taylor will take much better care of it.

The car is actually much nicer than I expected to buy but the price was right and it was in the range I was willing to spend. It is a 2000 Chevy Impala LS. It is in very good condition in spite of it's 127K miles. The guy I bought it from was the original owner and he babied it every day of its life. Leather interior, heated seats, V6 engine, power everything......

I also replaced the truck recently...We bought a 2004 Chevy Silverado Super Crew Z71 4X4....It takes a little work to keep it clear in Stewart's mind who's truck this really is!

And lastly, the Tempe PD replaced its entire fleet of Kawasaki M/C's with new 2007 Honda ST1300P motorcycles. Kawasaki stopped making the police motor in 2005 so every one is searching for a replacement motorcycle. The Honda has emerged as the front runner in police bikes.

The motorcycle comes from the factory pretty much plain vanilla white. I designed the graphics package that is applied to the m/c's so i guess that will be my legacy to the PD for thenext 20 or so years.

We still have the Altima and the Harley and there are no more changes in sight for the next forseeable future..........

Thanksgiving 2007

2007-11-23T15:16:00.000-08:00

We had Thanksgiving at our house this year. Usually, it is at George and Kay's but they went down to Tucson this year. Jim and Family came down from Utah. We had 15 of us for dinner; our family, my parents, Rob Ferrin, and Jim's family (minus JT who is on a mission in Japan.)

The cousins hung out together and played card games. There was a lot of laughing and yelling going on....

Angela cooked the turkey, mashed the taters, and made lots of other things as well. Jim and Margo provided the dinnerware, appetizers, and drinks, and mom, of course, provided the lemon and pumpkin pies.

Here are some random shots from the event. Both Rob and I had to leave early to go to work at the ASU vs. USC football game. Everyone else hung out for a while and ate pie and visited. All in all, it was a good day.

Laughlin 2007

2007-11-22T08:34:00.000-08:00

On Friday November 16th, Angela and I left on a three day motorcycle trip to Laughlin, NV with a small group of friends from work; Mitch and Dru Lanoue, Jack and Sandy Rall, Joe and Linda Tritschler, and Joe Bathen. We logged about 1000 miles, ate tons of good food, laughed and laughed, and really enjoyed the weekend.

Our fist stop ws in Wickenburg, AZ for lunch. We had decided that chain restaraunts were not going to be a part of this trip as we wanted to enjoy the small mom and pop places, as best we could.

We found a little cafe along the main drag and enjoyed a good lunch. Some had breakfast for lunch but thats another story.

After leaving Wickenburg we headed on to Wikiup (sp?) for a pit stop and then to Laughlin.

Being that we are not drinkers, smokers, or gamblers, there was not a whole lot for us to do in Laughlin. We watched our friends drink too much and lose too much money tho....

On Saturday we took a 100 mile cruise up the road to Las Vegas. We visited the HD shop in Henderson, NV. where the girls did some impromptu shopping.

We then went to the Harley Davidson Cafe located on the strip. The atmosphere was cool; it was like the hard Rock Cafe but with a Harley theme instead of music. The food was bland and way overpriced but the place itself was cool.

On the way back to Laughlin, the temps began to drop and the girls got chilly so we pulled over and they all leathered up. What a tough looking group of women!!!

On the way home, stopped in the old town of Oatman, AZ. Oatman is an old mining town that blossomed while Route 66 snaked its way along from the east to the west. However, much like Radiator Springs, in the movie Cars, it died when the interstate was built and the town was bypassed. It now survives on the tourists who come through to buy T-shirts and see the wild burros who walk the streets. No, I did not hit this one on the M/C (see the story about hitting the deer). He was just taking a nap.

Angela fed the burros some carrots that you can buy in any of the shops. If you have carrots but ignore the burros they will get your attention. One of them latched onto Angela's purse while it was over her shoulder and started tugging on it.

The trip was alot of fun. There were a few mechanical issues that arose but none of them involved me this time. We have alot of fun going on M/C trips together and we have seen places and been to places we never would have gone to otherwise.

Halloween

2007-11-01T21:03:00.000-07:00

Last night was yet another Halloween. It seems that holiday comes around about every three or four months! When this was new neighborhood, everyone had little kids, and we knew everyone, Halloween was fun. Now, I'd rather turn off the lights and watch TV. Maybe the Jim Ferrin in me is showing through.....

Kristi and Angela got into th e spirit tho...They carved some pumpkins while I was at work and Mitchell, somehow, hung some fake cobwebs with a spider in it, around the front porch area.

Stewart and Amalie stopped by. He was Clark Kent and she was Lois Lane. They hung out for a while and then went back to hewr house to help her mom, who apparently really gets into Halloween.

Kristi dressed up as a Princess and hung out with her best friend, Katelyn Fulmer, who was Amelia Erhardt.

Mitchell wasnt much in the mood for walking around because of his appendectomy earlier in the week so he carved a pumpkin and personalized it by carving his signature, which will be famous some day.

At the end of the night, Kristi seperated out her candy and disposed of the ones she couldnt have due to her recently getting braces. Here she poses with what was left of her haul.

Good thing it only happens once a year!

Appendicitis!!!

2007-10-31T20:26:00.000-07:00

Sunday evening, 10/28/07, Mitchell began experiencing pain in his lower abdominal area. He ignored it, and didnt say anything about it until the next day at school. He thought he had strained a muscle or something and figured it would go away. When it persisted, he went to the school nurse and she said he needed to go to the ER.

So, by 11AM, I had mitchell at the ER at the new Banner Gateway Hospital near our house at Higley and US60. After some poking and prodding by the ER Doc, and a CT scan, it was determined that the cause of the pain was appendicitis.

Nothing moves fast at a hospital and it was about 10PM before he was finally taken to the OR to have an apendectomy. By about 1230 AM he was out of recovery and back in his room. Every thing went really well and Mitchell is a trooper.

He was thrilled the following morning when he was finally allowed to eat real food. He had not eaten since breakfast, the preceeding morning.

Being under 18, Mitchell was on the pediatric ward. A group from the Phoenix Suns came by to cheer up the sick kids and brough T-shirts as well as other paraphernalia. They also had a cute puppy dog with them.

Mitchell spent the rest of the second day in the hospital and was finally allowed to come home around 6:30 PM. He spent about 32 hrs at the hospital.

He is sore today and walks sort of like his Grandpa but over the next few days he should return to his normal routine.

John' s Birthday

2007-10-31T19:45:00.000-07:00

For most of you, October 3rd probably came and went without much thought of it being anything other than a normal day. For me, it was the day Stewart told me my life was half over. You see, it was my 45th birthday. FOURTY FIVE!!!! How did that happen? I dont feel 45.......most of the time.

To celebrate we had mom and dad and some friends over for a BBQ. We had great burgers and fixin's followed up with cake and ice cream.

Angela got me some accessories for the Harley, her parents gave me money that was used for more accessories for the the Harley, mom and dad gave me money that was used for a Harley Hoodie (hooded sweatshirt) and the kids came through big time with a charging/speaker system for my ipod that I now use in my office.

Dad was in good spirits, as usual, Mitchell is always willing to pose for the camera...

...and everyone had a great time!

Labor Day Weekend 2007

2007-09-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday before Labor Day I headed out on the Harley for 6 days and 2650 miles of touring through Utah and Colorado. The first day was 653 miles from my house to Jim's. It was a long day but it was a really nice ride.

The following day 7 motorcycles and 9 people met up and headed out on the highway. The group consisted of me, Jim and Margo, and their friends Corey and Lynette, Steve, Dave, the other Dave, and Randy. We headed S/E to Moab where we had lunch and then on to Telluride, CO.

After hanging out in Telluride for a while, riding the tram to the top, we saddled up again and headed out to Rico, Colorado where we had reservations for the night. On the way there we rode over Lizard Head Pass. This is some of the most beautiful scenery in the country and what a great ride it was.

We stayed at the Rico Inn which is a small bed and breakfast. Dinner was REALLY good, albeit expensive, but we were treated like we not really welcome there. Perhaps our group was too large...? There were also issues with the reservations but ultimately we all had a room and a bed to sleep in.

After a night in Rico it was time to head out. Randy, Steve, and the other Dave had only planned on doing the first day with us as they each has committments at home to attend to. So, after breakfast they headed back to Orem. The rest of us headed for Durango where we stopped for a bit and then we headed north on Highway 550, also known as the Million Dollar Highway. It is miles and miles of sweeping turns, twisties, and fantastic scenery. The highway passes through Silverton and Ouray and eventually ends in Montrose.

While in Ouray I noticed that my volt meter was showing that my battery was failing. I wasnt sure if it was a battery problem or a charging problem. As we rode N/B towards Montrose I watched the volt meter drop lower and lower. Finally, it was pointing at zero. I lost my stereo along the way and several miles later my electronic speedometer started to freak out. It eventually died too.

I was getting a little nervous because my motorcycle has electronic fuel injection and I feared that without electricity the fuel pump would give out. We finally reached Montrose and I pulled up alongside Jim to tell him that I needed to stop at the Harley shop that was in town. I was going to suggest that the group continue on the last 60 miles to Gunnison where we had rooms for the night while I got my motocycle fixed, figuring I would catch up with them later that night.

Well, as fate would have it, as I pulled up at the first stoplight in town, the EFI gave out and I was dead in the water. We pushed my bike off to the side of the street and contemplated what to do. I knew I had to get to the Harley shop so I hopped on the back of Dave's old Yamaha and off we went to Black Canyon HD.

In speaking with the Service Manager I was told my problem could be a battery, a voltage regulator or the stator in the alternator. My battery was quite old anyway so I bought a new battery and returned back to my bike.

A couple minutes later the new battery was installed and it fired right up. However, the volt meter showed that the battery was not charging so I figured I had bigger issues. We rode back to the Harley shop and they put a meter on my bike. I learned the stator had burned up and a new one was necessary.

The only problem was they did not have one in stock and with the holiday weekend it would be next Tuesday or Wednesday before they could get one in. We found that the Harley shop in Grand Junction had the part but Grand Junction was 75 miles in the opposite direction of where we were headed. Oh yeah, it was 5PM and the store closed at 7PM.

With little hesitation, Jim and Margo headed N/W to Grand Junction to get the part. I left my bike in Montrose and hopped on the back with Dave again. The rest of us headed east to Gunnison. Once we got there, I had a nice room, a king bed, and I settled in for a good nights sleep. 210 extra miles later, Jim and Margo arrived in Gunnison with my needed stator. What a brother, eh!!!

The next morning Dave and I headed back to Montrose to deliver the stator. It took less than an hour to install the new part and a few hundred bucks later I was back on the road.

The rest of the day took us through more beautiful scenery as we climbed in elevation. We finally arrived in Estes Park, at the base of Rocky Mountain National Park. We had dinner at a Japanese place and Jim even tried out a Japanese phrased he had learned. He asked where the bathroom was, even though he didnt need to use it, and the guy actually understood him. I cashed out early and went to bed while the others went sightseeing and had ice cream. I think I was a little worn out and depressed over my mechanical issues.

Sunday September 2nd had us riding through Rocky Mountain National Park. What a beautiful place. Thick green forests full of all sorts of wildlife (although the only thing I saw was some moose (Moosen?) off in the distance) and then rising elevation to up above the tree line. Up there, you can really see why these mountains are called the Rockies......There's lot of 'em!

While in the park, we went on a hike. It was 1 mile from the visitors center up to the top of this mountain. I thought I was going to die while hiking but I made it and lived to tell about it. I had to have a celebratory victory photo at the top! Then, it was a mile back to the visitors center. I was pretty whipped by the time it was over but I was proud of myself for actually being able to do it. A year ago, I never would have made it. Lets not forget, this was done at 12000 feet and Im used to 1200 feet in elevation!

We had a great ride from RMNP on to Steamboat Springs, CO. The last 25 miles or so were high speed sweepers and what a ride it was.

It was really fun as there is a descent into Steamboat and on those sweeping turns you can get some nice speed up. That is, until you get caught in traffic.

Steamboat is a cool little town and we went to the downtown shopping district and walked around sightseeing. Lots of touristy stuff but it was fun.

Monday morning, Labor Day, we started back to Utah. We stopped for lunch in Vernal and that was pretty much the high point of the day. Traffic in Provo Canyon was terrible as we were not the only ones returning home from the weekend. We got back to Jim's around 5PM. One nice hot shower later and life was all good again.

The next day I loaded up and left at 4:30AM. Ten and half hours later I pulled into my own driveway in Mesa, AZ. Six days on the road, lots of great riding, great fun, extra money I hadn't intended on spending, and 2650 miles. What a great road trip.

The only thing that would have made it better would have been if Angela had joined us. She had foot surgery earlier in the summer and the healing process was taking much longer than anticipated. Maybe next year, eh?

Deer Collision 09/17/07

2007-09-18T14:07:00.000-07:00

Went for a ride today. My biggest fear becam a reality on SR188 at mile marker 252 near Roosevelt Lake. I saw the deer about a milisecond before impact. After a violent wobble I realized I was still upright so I slowed and pulled over. I was going between 55 and 60 when we met. After getting my witts back about me I turned around to go take some pictures.
The Doe didn't survive but I did. The crash bars are tweaked way to the right side but I think everything else came through unscathed.
Not something I want to do again anytime soon......
John