Lake Chelan

This past weekend me and a few friends went to Lake Chelan. We had an amazing time out on the boat soaking in the warm sun. Some of the adventures included riding on the 2 man float device, Mike jumping off of a 70 ft. cliff and myself swimming (still alive thanks to my great swimming coaches). Yes, you will see me in a pink life jacket in the pics but don't let the color fool you of my manliness. For more pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/adamwlarson/Chelan08/photo#5231240449442740418

Sea Fair 5K

Mike G., my sister and I ran the Torch Light 5K. It was my sister's first 5K and she did an amazing job coming in at 31:43. Mike had a goal of under 22 minutes which he smashed with a time of 20:49. I was right on his heels with a time of 20:51. Mike and I came in 2nd and 3rd in our age group. It was definitely a lot of fun and we all did an awesome job.

Peru

Mike, Marilyn and I spent two weeks traveling across Peru which was my first time in South America. It was one of my best vacations yet. We flew into Lima and spent two nights there and then slept on a bus throughout the night to head into Nasca. Here we met an awesome guy named Jorge who was our tour guide. We went to see the Nasca lines and also got a tour of a pottery shop. I think Jorge enjoyed our company because he even went to a Karaoke bar with us that night. We then got on a bus and went to Arequipa where we went to Colca Canyon and also did a little dancing at a restaurant. Arequipa was a fun place and was incredibly clean. Mike and I went out exploring the town at night and came upon a street comedian that had about 50 people listening. The comedian used us as part of his show (probably a good thing we couldn't understand). Once again we got on a bus and then headed to Puno where we visited the floating islands of Lake Titicaca. Every island has a president and the first island that we came to had a 17 yr old president who was married and had a child. He was obviously much more mature than I and ended up taking us on a taxi boat to the next island. Puno was nice but it was sure nice to take our last bus ride into Cusco where we spent the remaining portion of our vacation. We had some great experiences here including the celebration called Inti Raymi, going to villages to hand out bread to the children, eating Llama and hiking around Machu Pichu. On our flight home we had a short layover in Mexico so we jumped in a taxi and went to see Teotihuacan, a city with many ruins. The vacation was incredible and opened my eyes a little more to the rest of the world around me. Here are 3 links to most of the pictures taken in Peru.
http://picasaweb.google.com/adamwlarson/Peru
http://picasaweb.google.com/adamwlarson/Peru2
http://picasaweb.google.com/adamwlarson/Peru3

New York City

The month of May made for an exciting one with a NEW YORK CITY trip included. Me and three friends spent 4 days in the Big Apple. The trip inlcuded:

-Meeting Elder Holland in the Seattle airport
-Riding the ferry past the statue of Liberty
-Broadway shows (Mama Mia and Phantom of the Opera)
-Empire State Building tour
-Top of the Rock tour
-Late Night with Conan O'Brien
-Run in Central Park
-Native New York delicassies
-Wall Street
-Brooklyn Bridge
-Art museums

For more pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/adamwlarson/NewYorkCity

Cirque Du Soleil

Last night I attended one of the best theatrical performances I have ever seen. I had always heard of Cirque Du Soleil and finally experienced it for myself. Corteo, which means "cortege" in Italian, is a joyous procession, a festive parade imagined by a clown. The clown pictures his own funeral taking place in a carnival atmosphere. There was so much to look at and listen to that my senses were overloaded. Drums, costumes, girls dressed in tights and bustiers flying from chandeliers and being tosses through the air. However, I did fear one of the characters who, to be politically correct, happened to be a little person. Yes, even with my height I fear them but who wouldn't fear an older woman with a child's voice that stands 2 feet tall. I especially got a little frightened when she began to float from these huge balloons throughout the audience. Just my luck, she started falling right down on top of me but luckily everyone around me gave her a little push on the feet to get her back into the air. The whole night was a surreal experience almost like a dream that took me back to childhood.

Kites and Canoes

The day started off with Mike, Jessica and I going to the kite store in Seattle and choosing our kites. I'll be honest, I had never heard of a kite store until then because my family always bought kites from the dollar store. This place had many types and colors but I finally settled on a very colorful, manly, muscular octopus. We headed over to Gas Works park and began the adventure. My kite flew like a champion, of course. The next adventure of the day was to go canoeing where Josh, Mike S. and Kham joined the fun. We paddled our way around the 520 bridge and had a great view of the sunset. Let's just hope the whole summer can be this adventurous. http://picasaweb.google.com/adamwlarson/KitesAndCanoes

Pre-mish Activity

Last Sunday we had a premissionary activity at my house. Adam Sweet cooked an awesome dinner for all 15 people that came. All of the young guys that came are in different stages, some have their mission calls and some are still trying to decide whether or not they should go. We played some guitar hero, ate dinner and then shared some mission stories. It brought back a lot of memories from my own mission. The bishop showed up and shared a few stories of his own. He even shared a story about the word bra in french which was a pretty funny one. The purpose of the activity was not to force anyone into committing to serve but get the guys to rally around each other. It was very successful and I think everyone had a good time. Here is a link for a few other pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/mikeshin/MissionaryNight