Mythbusters Live

On Friday, April 10, Randy and I headed to Colorado Springs to see "Jamie and Adam Unleashed," the "Mythbusters" guys.

You can drive to Colorado Springs from Salt Lake City on one of three routes that each should take between 9-1/2 and 9-3/4 hours. We chose I-70 and took just over 12 hours. One of our many stops was Georgetown, Colorado, which is an old Western mountain mining town. 

This girl is riding her bike past the police station. 

I'm not sure what this ghost-house-looking structure is, but it isn't old. And the fence is built from firewood. 

On Saturday morning we headed to Royal Gorge near Canon (Canyon), Colorado, which is a place I've wanted to see for some time. I almost stopped here on my way to Dallas when the John Astles moved, but it was a bit too far out of the way and I was in a hurry. 

Basically, Royal Gorge is a deep gorge carved by the Arkansas River. A suspension bridge spans the gorge, as do a tram and zip line. This place is kind of a natural wonder amusement park. 

A fire burned 90 percent of the structures at the Gorge in 2013, and it has all been rebuilt in less than two years. I'm not sure if this is what's left of a cable car that went to the bottom of the gorge (that's what the building is for) or a tram that crossed the gorge. 

The bridge across the gorge. 

Another view of the bridge. It costs $21 to enter the "park," if that's what this place is called. $18 for seniors (over 60). That gives you unlimited access to the bridge, the gondola and the little train. The zip line is $40. I don't know how much the stupid-person swing is, but I assume about $40. 

Looking north from the bridge. 

Looking north at one of the two main cables holding the bridge from dropping to the bottom of the gorge. 

Same cable. 

Why they call it a suspension bridge. 

The main cable is split into many cables where it is anchored 55 feet into the mountain. 

Looking through the floor of the bridge at the river and railroad tracks 1,000 feet below. 

Me. That's a $6 Junior Ranger plastic/paper bag on my belt. I bought it to carry my extra camera lens. 

Looking south at the gondola. 

Crossing the gorge in a gondola with two people crossing via the zip lines. Taken from the other gondola. 

The stupid-person swing. 

The dumbest train ride I've ever been on. The train was okay. The gimmicks along the way were pretty darn lame. Like the Yellowstone: A rock painted yellow, with the yellow paint over-sprayed on the rock it was sitting on. And the guy called it the "Yellowstone rock." This was so bad it was entertaining, but I was glad when it ended. 

After the Royal Gorge, we still had a couple hours before "Adam and Jamie Unleashed," so we headed to the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. 

You can climb some of the rocks if you have equipment and a permit. 

This is really a pretty place right in Colorado Springs. A great place to relax at lunch or on a Sunday afternoon. It is free to all. 

Pretty cool formations. 

This is looking south. If you squint you might see our hotel near the smokestack on the left. 

I think people taking selfies are entertaining. This girl's boyfriend is sitting just below us, and she asked him to take a picture, but he was chicken to sit by her because we were sitting on the edge of a small cliff (behind us). 

Some local high school must have been holding its prom today, because we saw a couple of groups of high school couples taking their pictures here. So many things about this picture crack me up. Including the fact that her date is nearby, and her mother is trying to take their picture, but this girl just has to have a selfie. 

Finally, it was time to see Adam and Jamie. I loved the show. It was kind of a behind-the-scenes, intimate view of the show's stars. 

They showed a few engineering and science feats, such as Adam hanging suspended by a rope near the ceiling with only the friction of the pages of two phone books holding him up. They also had audience members do a raspberry with their lips and captured it with a high-speed (super slow motion) camera. This photo doesn't do the funny faces justice, but it's all I got. 

For the finale they stood an audience member dressed in medieval armor against a plexiglass screen (his back is to us). Jamie then rolled in on a giant paint ball cannon with four barrels. It looks like something from the National Guard armory. And he started to fire away. Below is the video. These are poor quality, but what do you expect from an iPhone in a dark concert hall? 

Paint ball firing squad. Turn your sound up. 

Coming home on Sunday we decided to take Highway 50, back past Royal Gorge. I've driven Highway 50 (The Loneliest Road in America) from Sacramento to Delta, UT, but I've never been east of there. 

We stopped in Salida to find a mom-and-pop place to eat, but all we could find were a lot of bike shops and an old downtown with funky stores like The Junque Drawer. We ate at Sonic. 

Highway 50 summits at 11,312 feet. This is also the Continental Divide. 

Connecticut for Lennox's Blessing

On Thursday, March 26, Chieko and I took Delta Airlines to JFK Airport and rented a car to drive to John and Misa's house in Branford for Lennox's baby blessing on Sunday, March 29. I'll just post some pictures in chronological order. Susan happened to be on the same flight, so she rode with us to John and Misa's house, where we visited for a bit before heading to the Holiday Inn Express-with-free-brealfast in Branford. On the way, we passed a sign for the "PEZ Visitor's Center." We mentioned that we've never really been PEZ fans, but we should stop and see the visitor's center sometime.

Well, on Friday morning, Chieko and I were looking for something to do. We've done most of the touristy stuff around New Haven. Then we decided, "Hey, why not visit the PEZ visitor's center?" It was actually pretty interesting. I had never realized how many PEZ figures existed. I really wanted to get the presidential set, but I would have to buy seven or eight sets to get them all, which was pretty expensive, and we would have no way to carry them home--we traveled with only carry-on luggage this time--and I really have no place at home to show them. So I bought the Hobbit (limited edition: "only" 200,000 made). On checkout the girl put an extra box into my bag. I said, "I only bought one of those." She said, "When you buy the Hobbits, you also get Lord of the Rings free, because it's been discontinued." (Only 150,000 made.)

For lunch we met John, Misa, Susan and the kids at Lenny and Joe's Fish Tale in New Haven. I had clams and oysters. Chieko had scallops and scrod. Chieko and I took John back to work and headed to Essex. 

I know, we've been here a few times, but I love Essex. I would buy a house here if I could afford an historic place built in the 1700s for a few million dollars plus maintenance. I'd also have a $350,000 tug-style yacht. 

This is possibly the world's first submarine. It's in the Connecticut River Museum on the Essex waterfront. 

These guys are catching and cleaning what I'm quite sure are oysters in the mouth of the Connecticut River. 

On Saturday morning we went to New Haven and wandered a bit until we saw the Yale Art Gallery. It's free to the public and has wonderful art pieces. We had to eat lunch at a Korean place in New Haven and then be back at John's to go to Caroline's play, so we didn't see the entire gallery, but we loved what we saw and have a good reason to come back next time. 

Auguste Rodin was obsessed with the Renaissance poet Dante and his imagined journey through the Inferno. This seated man by Rodin is looking down at the circles of Hell and contemplating the human condition. He was later renamed "The Thinker." 

This gallery was first opened by the artist John Trumbull, who was a colonel in Washington's army and thus experienced many battles and other historical events first hand. His paintings are like photographs from history. Trumbull and his wife are buried beneath the gallery, by his request. 

This painting is the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Trumbull painted each person's face separately and then used those to paint this picture, and a museum guide identifies each participant in the signing as well as in other Trumbull paintings in the gallery. 

This is the Battle of Bunker's Hill, which Trumbull witnessed. 

At John's house, we got to meet the wide-awake Lennox, (Nox), the boy who was supposed to be born on January 30, when I happened to be in Boston for a conference and expected to see him as a newborn. But he chose to wait until February 4, after I'd gone home. 

I think he's a cutie. 

On Saturday afternoon we went to see Dr. Dolittle, put on by sixth, seventh and eighth graders. This was a major production, for which the kids practiced hours and hours, put on two performances, and held three after-show parties. Caroline is holding the flowers for one of the producers, who apparently had left the building. 

Dr. Dolittle finally found the Giant Pink Sea Snail. 

Saturday night we got takeout from the Jalapeño Someplace. It was very good. Then we watched the General Women's Conference on LDS.org. 

On Sunday morning we went to Nox's blessing and then enjoyed ham, guacamole deviled eggs and a lot of other stuff Susan and Misa's sisters prepared. Even though it was cold outside (the weatherman said on Saturday that it was the 10th Saturday in a row with measurable snow), the sun did come out for most of the day. Hooray.  

Mei running around the yard. 

And climbing the tree. 

The backyard. 

John's whole family. 

The men from the blessing circle (minus the bishopric). 

Coloring Easter eggs. 

I know it's not Easter, but we won't be here next week. 

Elliot. 

Caroline.

Nox in his blessing outfit and the blanket Misa was blessed in. 

On Monday, Chieko and I took off to Cape Cod. We've been to the Nobska Lighthouse at the base of the Cape, but never to the tip. This is the Nauset Lighthouse. 

Same lighthouse. Different view. 

These are The Three Sisters. Some of the lighthouses have been moved, some like the Nauset a few times, because the cliffs are eroding at three feet per year. The Three Sisters have been moved to a little park a few hundred yards inland. 

This is the Truro Lighthouse. 

Same lighthouse. Different view. 

At Race Point, which is near Provincetown, at the tip of Cape Cod, we discovered that nothing visitor-related is open until May 1. We also discovered that the winter storms dumped a lot of sand where people don't really want it. Like up against this beach changing room and shower. 

Same beach. 

Chieko is just very happy because there are almost no people anywhere. 

This is the top few inches of a fence along a pathway to the beach from the parking lots, which are also buried in sand. 

I think this is Longpoint Lighthouse. 

I think this is Race Point Lighthouse. 

Chieko on the beach at Race Point. 

She is so happy that the sun came out, at the end of the day. 

We decided to head back to Middletown, Rhode Island, to eat at Anthony's. We made it with 40 minutes to spare and no speeding tickets. The 1-1/4-pound lobster dinner was $25. We paid $15 the first time we came here with Jackson. But still great food and a great deal, if you ask me. This picture makes everything look small, but Chieko couldn't finish her scrod. It must have been close to a pound. This is our third time here, and we will be back. 

We returned home on Tuesday.