A Jam-Packed, Full Day: #4

The morning started out leisurely enough, with Mary, Theresa, and I getting manicures and pedicures in a most relaxing atmosphere in a nearby shop.  Then we went home and picked up the guys, Michael and Dad, Dave, for a trip north to Amesbury, Massachusetts.  It's almost in New Hampshire, so we were on the road more than two hours with wickedly heavy traffic all the way.  We took Interstate-93 through the heart of Boston.

Boston Harbor, 8/9/14: Busy!

Lots of construction in Boston, lots of skyscrapers.

 I-93 tunnels under the big buildings! - for a long way.

I couldn't believe how long, winding, up hill and down hill the long tunnel lasted!  

Shortly after the tunnel was a long suspension bridge over the Charles River.

Our destination was Amesbury, where the Spartan Race was in progress.  Michael was going to be a part of his friend, Brody's birthday party.  There were many thousands of participants, both adult and child.  Prior to this, all the races I had watched were 'tame,' with running only.  This race involved running, climbing, lifting buckets of concrete up and down hills, running and crawling through mud by the adults, while the children rode tire tubes down a water slide or rode in giant balls. 

We heard on the radio that busses were delivering 250 participants every 15 minutes to the park all day. One of the parking lots was in New Hampshire.

Kevin, the birthday gentleman, 7 years old today, pleased with his painted red, white and blue hair!

Spectators also had to pay and sign a waiver of liability!!  Fortunately, we found a cool tent with picnic tables to sit on to watch all the crowds and events, and be a base for the children.

The event had TV coverage. Flying above is the TV drone which went everywhere!

This was the children's section.  They pulled their inner tubes up the hill and then rode down the water slide.  Some climbed inside the inner ball and rolled down the hill.  The boys' favorite was the inner tube slide.

There was a large 'washing off' zone for adults who had completed the activities.  They never quite came clean but didn't seem to mind!  They mostly looked exhausted but we saw only one person being transported by the EMTs.

On the way home, our group stopped at Friendly's for lunch and ice cream.  Traffic was less going south.  We enjoyed the green forested areas surrounding the roads.

After having coffee on Mary's deck, Mary, Theresa, and I headed out to the Granite Links Golf Course restaurant for dinner, watching the sun set, and beautiful view of the city of Boston.

Spectacular sunset, 8/9/14.

Boston skyline with Charles River at the right, and golf course fountain at lower right.  We enjoyed this while waiting for our table.

Girls out to have fun: Jan, Mary in the middle, and Theresa.

After a wonderful dinner, we made a quick run to Barnes & Noble to pick up some more Legos for Michael, then home for dessert.  We then watched a comedy on TV to end our fun, full day!