Still Doing Things, But I'm Sort of Bummed Lately

B and I rode our ride this last weekend and it was pretty good. I got one flat tire, and we weren't able to go the pace that we normally can ride, but we still had a great time.

Below are some of the photos of B getting the car ready to haul the bikes down to Provo. We had to install a hitch.

As you can see it was a hot day.

B worked very hard and he did a great job!

Hitch installed!

The next task was installing the bike rack. That was actually harder than B and I originally thought that it would be.

Midway through the installation:

And I didn't take a final picture of the complete product, but it looks nice and it was installed correctly as we did not lose any bikes on our drive down! How nice it is to be able to take bikes to different locations for riding and not have to have a certain car.

A day or two after we installed the hitch and the bike racks, B was at work and I had the day off. I decided to take the dogs for a hike up Smithfield Canyon. It was a beautiful day.

The dogs were excited!

Below is a picture of the river, one of a few that I took.

The dogs and I would wander close to the river so they could get some water. They have become quite brave with water lately too. They used to not go in at all and now it seems as if they had to get all four feet wet even though they were just getting a drink.

They are so darn cute!

After taking some pictures of the river, I looked up and thought that the trees were pretty, so I took a photo.

And one more of the river.

The hike was perfect. We hiked for a little over 2 hours, and it was great exercise. As we went further up the Canyon, I kept on freaking myself out about 'what if there is a bear' or 'what if there is an angry momma moose' and 'what would I do if we got chased' etc...

After the moose thought, I decided we better turn around and go back to the car. It was more than I could bear. Plus, I was already tired, as were the boys.

Overall it was a beautiful day and a beautiful hike. We had a great time. I sure love my dogs.

Below is a creepy picture of the sun the day that there were like 20 fires all around Utah after the storm.

This picture does not justice of just how creepy it really was, but it was the best I could do.

B and I had a great time down in Provo and on the bike ride. I actually surprised him with how much I had increased my MPH average. On my first ride, a little over a year ago, I was only averaging about 10 to 12 MPH, however, now I average about 16.5 MPH. When I draft off of B we go about 17.6 MPH. Without me though, B can average between 18 and 19 MPH. He is very good. My friend Winfrey, was only averaging 10 to 11 MPH, which made for a VERY long ride. She told us to go on so that she would not be holding us up.

She ended up taking a ride for a little bit. As did I. I rode in a car for 13 miles of the 108 mile ride. I ended up riding 95.5 miles that day. B did the entire ride. Like I say, he is very good.

We are going to ride in the Cache Valley Century on August 29th and I know we will finish at about 3:30 or 4:00 PM. That is gonna be fun.

After the ULCER ride we went to get and appetizer and a beverage with my friend Winfrey and her mom. We went to Applebees. That was fun. Winfrey is moving back to Idaho (twin falls) so I knew that would be the last time I was going to see her for a long time. Kind of a bummer. She is/was one of my only girl friends that I had up here Cache Valley, so I am bummed about that.

After the appetizers we went to B's brothers house and had some dinner. Our sister-in-law Sha-nay-nay, also rode in the ride. We actually met up with her at the luncheon. We showed her a rider to stay clear of. We nick-named the rider 'Snot Rocket Sandy' and 'Booger Back Becky'. As we were riding by her earlier we saw her blow a rocket and one hit the back of her jersey. In addition to this disgusting habit she had absolutely NO biking manners. We tried to pass her at one point and she would not get out of our way, as a result, I got honked at. I still got ahead of the booger flinger. She was absolutely foul.

We took the camera with us on our ride, but took no pictures. Oh well, next year I suppose.

On Sunday we went to B's sister's for dinner, Yogurt. She is a sweet girl. I love her house, it is absolutely gorgeous and it makes me realize that I have absolutely no decorating skills. We had a fantastic dinner and I was finally able to give her the blanket that I started forever ago. I am pretty sure she liked it. I never did take a picture of it, but it is a cute one.

In other things, I have been really bummed lately. I feel super alone and as if I don't have a family. I hate that my parents are dead. I at least would talk with my dad 3 or 4 times a week and would know what is going on with everyone, now I maybe talk with my siblings once or twice a month. B doesn't quite understand because he and his family really never communicated the way that I used to communicate with mine. I really just miss it. Actually, I really just miss my dad. I think that is what it all boils down to.

I get bothered too though because B still has both of his parents, yet he seems to never really call and talk with them. I am not saying that the way they choose to keep in contact is inferior, it just seems weird to me. If my mom were alive I know we would talk daily, I really took my parents for granted and I fear that B is taking his for granted too.

I am probably just sad and this is how I am venting about it.

I don't know how to fill the void that makes me feel so alone. Hopefully one day I figure this out. Sorry for the sad ending, those of you who actually were able to make it through my super long post.