Summer Lovin'

Prepare yourself for a long one!

I'd like to think that every Summer should be cherished with upmost respect and be completely taken advantage of. For starters, this year's Fourth of July weekend was an absolute blast! Taking place in Powell, Wyoming at the Hopkin residence, there was definitely one long (like, really long) road trip from Prescott to Powell and back (always worth the trip for friends) which completion can probably be completely attributed to Monster energy drinks. But what took place in between those two trips just might never happen again. This tight-knit group of friends, which I love to bits, had so much fun! An entire day was dedicated to roaming around Yellowstone National Park (first visit).

Melissa Gunner discovered a buffalo carcass

Aside from loads of buffalo (they really were all over the place), we encountered a couple elk, some hot springs that smelt like a village had been decomposing for the last century, Old Faithful that put on one intense show for us, and a bear that made an appearance one our way out of the park. While driving through Yellowstone I decided that if we somehow had to survive out there, I would last no more than 3 days - mainly due to blood lost from mosquitos.

I can tell you're starting to really enjoy these t-shirts of ours

In preparation for a legendary weekend, we had these t-shirts airbrushed like they were straight out from the '80s. I love the t-shirts, but for some reason wearing by my lonesome on campus at Embry-Riddle isn't quite as cool. While walking around at Yellowstone, we spotted some other people who had matching t-shirts (there was a moment when a parent pointed us out to their kid to try and justify their matching "Jones Family Reunion 2014"), but it just wasn't the same.

During this entire time, the Hopkin Family never stopped coming up with loads of good food. Really, they went to the point of getting Grandma involved to make sheets of cinnamon rolls for us on the 4th of July. Right!? This doesn't include the dutch oven dinner of joy or homemade pizzas. Really, for those of you who want to go to Wyoming to see Yellowstone, I highly suggest making a pit stop at the Hopkin Chateau. If you're lucky, they'll take you out to the middle of nowhere to light off one great firework show - make sure it's the 4th of July.

Getting friends together and having a blast is one thing, but family reunions at San Clemente is a whole different animal of fun. For those unaware, Mum's side of the family has been going to San Clemente during the first week of August, staying at the same hotel and running
the same routine, for a whole lot longer than I have been around and then some. This year, aside from additional grandchildren, was no different. Early mornings are either non-existent or loaded with some type of physical play. It used to be tennis, but many cousin views have recently turned to the ocean which really makes the most sense because we're at the beach. This year, brother Matt and I did about a 1.8 mile swim out in the ocean. I'll be honest, it's pretty freaky out there when you can't really see more than 5 feet, there's loads of ocean, and shark week is less than a month away. Rather than death by hungry man-eating sharks, we were followed curiously by a couple seals. Anybody who has fears about getting attacked by sharks should know that if seals are willing to be out in the ocean where you are, then you should be too.

Matt & I had a not-so-awkward moment

Anyways, back to family. We usually head down to the beach around 10:30 where at some point in the week we make a pyramid (picture time!), body surf, and throw a frisbee around. At some point there's a common acknowledgement of the whitest person there - me. I swear, if we had an award I would claim the right as the whitest cousin for at least 15 years running. With so much to do, there's point in leaving before 6:00. After a dinner provided by one of families, several games of Risk, Monopoly, and Mormon Bridge are played at high levels of intensity. Because just dinner is never enough, these games are split by trips to Pedro's Tacos where the best tacos of my life exist (Edward Houstman will be happy to testify to their legitimacy.) 

This year we had an additional special event. My niece Alexis was baptized at the Hall home with loads of family and family friends coming to show support. It was also a good time to score another family picture.

During this time, I went through something that will never - ever - happen again. I decided, in all my limited wisdom and knowledge, to take 15 summer credits. Talk about shooting your social life in the foot! I really think it was my own personal punishment for not getting an internship which created the incentive to never let it happen again! But it did allow me to stay close to campus where I trained with a couple of the cross-country athletes. This was big for me because it triggered a love for Prescott that I never thought would come. It came from 6:30 AM trips up to the mountains where we would run these trails (some steep enough to make somebody cry) through pine trees, around lakes, and among deer. It hasn't been enough to make me want to stay, but I'm happy to admit that Prescott really isn't all that bad after all.

On one final, and grand, note, this last week's Labor Day triathlon must be discussed. For about 6 months, brothers Matt the swimmer, Doug the ex-BYU cross-country & track runner, and I have been trash talking about an Olympic Distance Triathlon we would compete in out in Austin, Texas. In due course, we all acquired triathlon bikes through amazing deals (thank you KSL, eBay, and Craigslist), trained as much as we could, changed our diets, rearranged our schedules to get in more sleep and exercise, and got is pretty good shape. Really, who ever thought that brotherly competition could produce such healthy habits? We ended up getting so confident in fitness that we started making bets based on placement amongst the three of us. First place would get to choose the next triathlon, second would sport a Mary Kay bumper sticker until our next meeting as triathletes, and third would have to re-create A-Rod's infamous picture album.

Well, the day of reckoning came and we all arrived in Austin (hello, humidity) with the goal of breaking 2 hours and 30 minutes. The parental unit and Matt's family decided to come to cheer us on - thank you! Being a bit younger, I was placed in a different starting division just a few minutes before them. The 1500 meter swim went really well - I only zig-zagged a bit rather than going from one side of the river to the other. The water was so warm that they didn't even allow us to have wet suits. We had an interesting transition due to Austin's current construction going on so we had a good 300 meter run from the river to the transition area. The 40K biking part was loads of fun. The city actually closed off a couple major roads in downtown Austin for the event. Due to how the course was set up, we saw each other several times as we passed each other going different directions on the course. Running was a bit of a different story. I hadn't ran in about a month from an achilles injury and decided to sport some new road racing flats without socks (putting on socks seemed to take up too much time) for a 10K run. Yeah, big mistake. After the race I looked at my white shoes to see a couple of large red spots in several areas. But it was all worth it! For those of you curious, here are my time results. I finished second in my age group, fourth overall, and first in family. Doug came in second with Matt finishing it up for us. I really need to mention that had Matt done it by himself and showed us his time we would have been impressed with that in itself. It was loads of fun and we're excited for St. George's half Ironman. May 2nd. Feel free to join or cheer us on!