Air and Water Show

Chicago had it's 50th anniversary of the air and water show the other weekend. It was pretty exciting to see and hear the jets as they would go by. The sound from them would literally shake the buildings. The jets were way louder then I imagined. The planes were pretty impressive as they would do loop to loops, and hammerheads and other stunts. The big performance was from the blue angles. They fly so close together its amazing! Supposedly they pack in 18inches apart. Do you remember those old pictures of those girls in matching funny outfits waving as they skied by or formed a pyramid? I always thought that was funny and I actually got to see some of that. It was more funny to actually see it because of the old pictures then it was impressive. I didn't think people actually did that anymore. Here are some pics from that weekend.

I was hoping for something more impressive... and where are the flags and crowns??

There were hundreds of boats out on the lake watching the show

Phew! that was close
Blue angles
ahh, touching. The crowd liked this one.

Every day on my way back from school I walk down Rush street which often has me gawking at some of the most amazing cars I've ever seen in my life. At this stretch of the road Mercedes and BMW's are common and look like our families 1983 VW Rabbit when compared to these high-end luxury sports cars. I started taking pictures of the cars I see and the following is a sample of the mechanical beauty I've seen so far...

Aston Martin V8 Vantage

$113,400-$126,400

Porche 911
$73,500-$136,500
1939 ish Buick Special convertible

$55,000
Bentley Continental GTC
$193,990

Maserati GranTurismo
$110,000

Lamborghini Gallardo
$190,600 - $228,040

Ferrari F430
$173,079 - $201,213
Porsche Carrera GT
$328,700 - $341,500

Lamborghini Murcielago LP640

$339,400-$372,200

Meet Melvin

I would like to introduce my third roommate. I got Melvin from a neighbor who's wife didn't like reptiles so I took him thinking he would make a good summer pet. I think he would qualify as my first pet. He was fun to have for a short time but I don't think I would want to keep a reptile for a long period of time. Since moving to Chicago I had to pass Melvin along to a co-worker.

This picture is almost disturbing like that close up picture of

the horse in the movie The man from Snowy river.

It was my second night living in Chicago and a very exciting one at that. I've seen some storms but nothing quite like what I experienced on Monday night. About 6 or 7 pm the winds picked up and merciless lightening crashing down on the city and tremendous thunder shook the buildings. The people on the streets were in as much as a frenzy as the night sky. People were running back and forth taking cover as the rain pounded down. Everywhere I walked I heard sirens from police and firetrucks. The city turned on its tornado warning, debris littered the ground, tree branches snapped as the sky continued to unleash its anger on the city all night long. The thunder was so loud that it would actually startle me and the lightening was so intense that the thought of actually being struck crossed my mind several times. To add to the mayhem of the night another bizarre thing happened to me as I left a grocery store about 10:30pm I notice some people gawking at something and a fire truck on an adjacent street. Chicago is full of bars so I thought that some poor fool had drunken himself to a stupor. As I got closer I saw orange flames flickering from inside a store. That was enough to peak my interest and I joined the gawking crowd, watching the fireman break the glass windows of the store and drench the inside with water. About 3 other fire trucks pulled up to help and they quickly extinguished the fire that was supposedly started by a neon sign in the window. A news reporter saw me taking pictures and asked me to send him the pictures because it was so unexpected he didn't have his camera on him. Anyways it was a wild night in the windy city.

Exploring Utah

Sadly it was time to leave Utah and move on to the next chapter in life. When I first started school I was rather disgusted with Utah in more ways then one. However, as I've spent more time in Utah I've been able to see its natural beauty as I traveled the state in search of new adventures. In the 4 years I've lived here I feel as though I've really gotten to experience Utah and have seen a lot of the state. The following is a list of places I've been or things I've done in Utah:


Bridal Vail falls


The abandoned restaurant


Stewart falls


Provo Canyon


American Fork Canyon


Wake boarded at Deer Creek Reservoir


Wake boarded on Utah Lake


Sailed on Utah Lake


Sailed at Sand Hollow


Sundance


Snowboarding at Brighton


Snowboarding at The Canyons


Climbing in Rock Canyon


Climbing in Maple Canyon


General Conference


MOTAB Christmas concert


Lights on Temple square


Energy Solutions Center (Formally known as Delta Center)


Fort Douglas


Gobblin Valley


Zion National Park


Mystery Canyon


Narrows


Misery Canyon


Emerald Pools


Pine Creek


Arches National Park


Canyon Lands National Park


Dead Horse Point State Park


Climbing in St. George


Float the Colorado River


Climbing In Moab


Kolob Canyon


Climbing in Kolob


Kanara Creek


Strawberry Days Rodeo (Pleasant Grove)


Fiesta Days Rodeo (Spanish Fork)


Scottish Festival


Diamond Fork Canyon Hot Pots


Camping at Payson lakes


Snowshoeing/camping/snowcaves at Strawberry reservoir


Bear Lake


Escalante


Peek-a-boo canyon


Spooky canyon


Freedom Festival (Provo)


Summerfest (Orem)


Bear Lake


Lake Powell


Nutty Putty Caves


Fished the Provo River


Park City


Upper Calf Creek Falls


Mona rope swing



Yuba lake



Silver Lake



American Fork Canyon

Bonneville Salt Flats

Hiked the Y

Ringling Brothers Circus

Disney On ice

Grizzlies Hockey Game

Real Salt Lake Soccer Game

Squaw Peak

I'll miss little happy valley and the beautiful mountains that guard it. Even more though I'll miss the friends I left behind. Utah's found a niche in my heart to stay. I'll be back again to conquer the next adventure, walk the nostalgic roads and visit the friends who made it all worth it.