The Boys Arrive

Eric and Gordon came to visit for memorial day. Eric came in on an evening flight from San Antonio that was supposed to have one stop in Houston. This was a United flight. Well the plane had a problem with the door delaying the flight from San Antonio so he missed the connecting flight to Tucson. They had to switch him to go on American to Phoenix and then to Tucson. He was supposed to arrive at 7:30PM Friday night originally but the new situation resulted in him arriving at midnight with no luggage. The luggage only made it to Phoenix.

We didn't get to bed until 2AM and had to get up at 5:30AM to get ready and drive down to the train station to pick up Gordon and John arriving from LA. I made it at 7:30AM and watched the Amtrak train come rolling up to the station on time but it didn't stop. It just kept going. I was wondering if there was a different station I was supposed to wait at. I asked at the counter and was told that a parallel track was broken and a freight train was coming so the Amtrak train had to go down the line far enough to get switched off the track to let the freight train by and then it would back up to the station. After 20 minutes the freight train came and 20 minutes after that the Amtrak train backed into the station and Gordon and John got off about 8:30. Luckily I didn't get a ticket for being too long at the parking meter even though it had expired by the time we made it to the truck.

Eric and Gordon

John and I went swimming that day.

John likes playing with the monster trucks.

Father - No Son Camping

Our elder's quorum was assigned the games at the Father-Son campout and I was assigned to see that the games came off. This meant that I had to go camping on the father-son campout that I normally would have skipped since all my sons are grown.

I got Bro. Williams and Bro. Erickson to help inflate water balloons and haul them up the mountain. Each of us did 100. I had 2 or 3 pop during the filling process. I put about 65 in my cooler and another 30ish in a plastic storage container. The ones in the cooler fit tight. The ones in the storage container weren't so tightly packed. I put them in the truck and drove up the mountain. By the time I arrived, all the cooler balloons survived but only about 10 of the storage container balloons were still intact.

I chose a camping platform near the basketball court. When it started getting dark, I realized this was a bad idea. Luckily the lights went off at 11PM and the noise of the game stopped.

View from Tent: Basketball court lights were on and kids playing until 11PM

The sun was up at about 4:30 AM. Here is my tent (the middle).

My camp is in the middle

Here are a few more photos:

Brockhausen hammock camp

Campers near Volleyball court

When breakfast was over, We got the water balloons and started with what was meant to be a water balloon toss game, but after a few minutes it devolved into an all-out water balloon fight.

Within 5 minutes, all the water balloons were gone. The final game was to see who could bring me the most water balloon pieces for a special treat. Ten minutes later the camp was clean.

Get Your Bearings

Happy Mother's Day!

The photo above features my Mom and most of her grandchildren. The two youngest of Neal's family were not here yet. Quite a legacy of good kids.

While riding home from my Globe ride, I began hearing a tock, tock, and sometimes a clunk while decelerating. I checked all over the bike and couldn't figure it out. It felt like it was in the gear box. I got on the forums and started reading a long thread by someone with similar symptoms. Finally at the bottom of the thread was the answer. The service department determined it was his rear wheel bearings. I put my bike on the centerstand and turned the rear wheel. It let out a loud squeak. I removed the wheel and put my finger on the inner race and turned...yep, bearings are toast! The spacer bushings also had groves worn in them. Now the wheel is in the shop awaiting parts.

Erik and Krystal sent a puppy update photo.

I took Felicia to a restaurant that never disappoints for the day before Mother's Day. The place used to be called "The Lone Star Steakhouse" and had Texas emblems everywhere. It is now called "Barnfire Mesquite Grill" but it is the same place with the same Texas emblems everywhere and the same buckets of peanuts.

I am getting ready for the Father-Son camp out and am in charge of the water balloon fight. I found these neat water balloons that you can inflate in groups of 35. There are rubber bands that seal the balloons imediately when you pull them off the filler. Neat trick.

We got to talk to Haley (Sister Reese) on the computer. As usual, there were technical difficulties. We first tried Facebook video messenger. Haley didn't hear us but we heard her. We finally got connected over Felicia's phone. She just had a baptism and this was her first week with a new companion..