Trip to Boston

We had a great visit with David’s and Rebecca’s family last week, May 7-14.  It was especially fun that the boys all seemed excited to see us.  They warmed up to us immediately and stay super friendly the whole visit.  Other highlights were:
*Wednesday: We visited a dairy farm which featured a pond to catch frogs and tadpoles, farm animals, ice cream parlor, and a most amazing thing to this old dairy farmer’s son--a totally automated milking process.  The cows decide when they want to be milked, no kidding!  (If they go too long, the farmer gets an alerting phone call from the milking system; otherwise, no human action is required).  They get in line, and when the milking robot is free they enter the milking stall.  They are tracked by 3D cameras and motion detectors.  First they get a thorough wash job; then the robot locates the udder with a ‘teat detection system’(aka the TDS), attaches the 4 cups to the spigots, and extracts the milk.  Then the cow leaves the milking stall and gets some attractive feed (cow candy??).
*Thursday: We visited the end of the Freedom Trail that we hadn’t seen before, Bunker Hill and the USS Constitution (“Old Ironsides”).  These are on what was once a small peninsula on the north side of the Charles River across from the City of Boston.  Being reminded of the historic importance to our country of the battle was enjoyable.  The ship is docked just a couple of blocks away at a small naval base.  I was surprised that the U S Navy still maintains a 200 year old sailing ship in its active fleet.  Navy servicemen were on board as guides.  They said that they take it out to sea for a few hours once each year to keep its commission current.
*Friday.  We got in a session at the Boston temple, and then attended a grandparents’ “tea” at Isaac’s school.
*Saturday: David, Isaac, Wendy, and I went to a Red Sox game.  We rode the MBDT (or “T”, formerly called the MTA, as in the Kingston Trio recording) from an outer terminal station to Fenway Park and back.  It was heavily packed.  We learned that you don’t pay in coins now.  You get a Charlie card (you know, like “get poor Charlie off the MTA”), and put credit onto it using your credit card before you get on.  The Park was full, and it was like being at a big party of 45,000 people.  An awful lot of beer, at $8 a cup, may have increased the party mood as the game progressed.  The Sox fell behind early and made a mediocre pitcher look like a Cy Young winner until the 8th inning when they got a little rally going and tied the score at 2-2.  However, the Red Sox reliever promptly gave up a homer to the lead-off hitter in the top of the 9th and that was that. The ball landed on a some black plastic covering a small section of seats in dead center field.
*Sunday: Went to church in the morning and were a part of an FHE lesson in the afternoon.
*Monday: The weather was sunny but cool and windy.  We all went to a park and flew kites.  That evening we drove to a restaurant named Bugaboo Creek, which features a Canadian Rockies theme and a talking Buffalo.
*Tuesday: We returned home on an uneventful flight.  Hilary and kids picked us up and we got home about 9 pm.