Who said vacations were suppose to be relaxing?!

First off, sorry if this gets long or boring but since I pretty much stink at keeping up to date on my journal writing I have to archive my family adventures somewhere, right?  So here is the water-downed version of the Barker family vacation these past two weeks:

Day 1 - Monday (Salt Lake City --> Montpelier, Vermont)

• Find my families shoe apparel for this years Christmas card in the SkyMall magazine.  They are quite stylish if I say so myself.  Haha, yeah right.
• Fly into Boston
• Arrive in Montpelier

***Props to my mom for actually getting on the airplane.  Her worst fear is flying so this was a huge thing for her.

Day 2 - Tuesday (Montpelier)

• Home of Saint-Gaudens
• Covered bridge hunting
• Enfield
• King Arthur Flour Co.
• Erin's reading (from her book Light.  I recommend buying it when she becomes a famous author)
• Maple cremees

Day 3 - Wednesday (Montpelier)

• Rock of Ages
• Bragg Family Farm (maple farm)
• Erin's graduation

Day 4 - Thursday (Montpelier --> Burlington, Vermont)

• Tour state capitol
• Morse Farm (maple farm)
• Otis the girl goat (she supposedly did her own tricks)
• Sharon, Vermont
• Ben and Jerry's tour
• the Flying Pig Bookstore
• Shelburne Museum (stifling hot)

Day 5 - Friday (Burlington --> Glens Falls, New York)

• Shelburne Museum
• Ferry Ride (Erin was pretty excited about this)
• Fort Ticonderoga
• Lake George
• Martha's Dandee Creme
• Target

Day 6 - Saturday (Glens Falls --> Rochester, New York)

• Drive by Jimmer's house (yes, we tracked down Jimmer's address in Glens Falls, New York)
• Palmyra (Joseph Smith farm, Sacred Grove, Grandin's bookstore, Hill Cumorah, Fayette)

Day 7 - Sunday (Rochester --> Albany, New York)

• Niagara Falls
• Teach mom how to use the GPS on dads iPhone
• Erie Canal locks
• Long drive back to Albany

Day 8 - Monday (Albany --> Salem, Massachusetts)

• Hancock Shaker Village
• Finz (best dinner I've ever had)

Day 9 - Tuesday (Salem --> Boston, Massachusetts)

• The House of Seven Gables
• Marblehead
• Challenge to find the earliest built house
• Lexington and Concord
• Walden Pond (which is actually like a lake)
• Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
• Louisa May Alcott's home
• Boston Public Library
• Boston Common

Day 10 - Wednesday (Boston)

• Freedom trail tour (Faneuil Hall, State House, old South and North Church, Paul Revere's house, etc.)
• Quincy Market
• Boston Barker's for lunch (worst hot dog ever.  Sad that my name is connected to it.)
• Christmas in Boston (Best stop of the trip.  This store had hundreds of christmas ornaments, which I am a sucker for)
• Granary Burying Ground (my great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents are buried there)
• Free night at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts

Day 11 - Thursday (Boston --> Salt Lake City, Utah)

• Boston Duck Tours
• Cambridge
• Fenway Park
• Plane ride home
• Welcomed back in the long-term parking by Chug

***Double props to my mom for actually getting back on the plane to come home.  She handled the turbulence better than I did.  I'm very proud of her.

The end's not near, it's here.

Lehman Caves and 4th of July

A week ago last Friday mom, dad, and I took a day trip over the state border into Nevada.  The Great Basin National Park might look bland from the outside but it's what inside that counts.  I've never been in a cave before but I must say they're pretty cool.  We toured the inside of Lehman caves and then drove about 5,000 feet up to get a view of the desolate land below.  It was a long day but it was fun to get out.

Every year I always think the 4th of July is going to be just amazing and then it never really is.  This year wasn't amazing but it wasn't as boring as previous years.  Dad woke me up much too early and we walked up the hill to This is the Place Heritage Park.  For those of you who aren't familiar with Salt Lake, it is at the base of Emigration Canyon, which is the canyon where, when entering the Salt Lake valley, Brigham Young said the famous phrase, "this is the right place, drive on."  Dad and I walked around for a minute and enjoyed the view of the valley and of the mountains, then proceeded back home.

Thanks to R.C. Willey, Sugarhouse Park had the funds this year to set off fireworks.  It was also the first year that I've ever watched from the base of the park.  We were literally right underneath them.  However since, my feet have killed from walking back to the car...stupid shoes with no support in them.

Stwart, me, and Kim (not picture: Misha and Alexandra)

"Fire in the Hole!!!!"

....more like fire on the hill.  Remember the picture similar to this this one from a couple posts ago?

This was the view from the Living Room last Monday.

This is the Living Room a couple hours ago.  Right now the fire has even reached higher up.  So now that whole picture would be black.  What you don't see is that the whole mountain side to the left is now charcoaled.  The hike up the mountain is no longer green.  It is still burning but hopefully it will burn out by tomorrow morning cause dad wants to hike it at 7 A.M.  I bet it won't be open by then but in case if it is than we will be experiencing a very different path up to our favorite hike and favorite view of the Salt Lake valley.

The only good thing that came from this was the sunset tonight.....oh and the fact that it smells like fire.  I love that smell.

The Help

I recently finished The Help.  I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it yet.  No wonder it's a best seller.  Now I am anxiously awaiting August 10th when the movie is released.