Joanne's Blog

Bipolar Fish

2010-09-16T13:19:00.000-07:00

We are not wasting a minute of vacation. It's our last day in AK and we were up at 5:15am for one final day of fishing, this time for grayling. We met up with our fantastic guide Terry and headed out the Denali Hwy to the Jack River in search of "bipolar fish."

The weather gods were not working with us this morning. While gray overcast cool weather is ideal for trout, it's not so good for "trout with Mohawks." Terry was a great instructor, helping us perfect our casting technique. Marj continued to have the magic touch, and in the last half hour caught two of "the world's smallest grayling." I however, didn't even get one bite! So frustrating! I really wanted to catch one, I suppose I'll just have to come back again!

After fishing and regaining the feeling in our frozen toes, we drove down the Denali Hwy to where the pavement ends and the spectacular views begin.

We then begrudgingly continued our trek toward Anchorage, stopping briefly at Leisure World (aka the McKinley Princess Lodge) for improving views of Mt. McKinley and a change of clothes. Then it was back on the road again to Talkeetna.

After lunch and having a good laugh at another funny Alaskan sign, we continued the trek to Anchorage, doing our best to stay out late and only arrive at the airport in time for our 1 and 2:30 am flights. Easier said than done however, since we got up super early and Anchorage doesn't have much nightlife. We did manage to find a good dinner, and afterwards spent some time in a Chevron parking lot trying to repack our suitcases and retrieve all our belongings from the crevices of our rental car, all while the local NBC news truck watched from the parking lot next door. After accomplishing this feat, we headed to the airport, arriving just before 11 pm. We had had it with both Anchorage and tourist shops.

We hated to leave, but our washing machines were drawing us home.

At Least We Got Dirty

2010-09-16T13:08:00.000-07:00

The day started out at warp speed! Becky, our excellent mountain bike lady at the Outdoor Center, orchestrated a monumental whirlwind mountain bike rental and reservation on the next bus into to Denali National Park.Once on the bus, we could finally sit and catch our breath! We rode the bus 45 mi into the park, listening to some entertaining commentary from the driver on the history of the park and looking for wildlife.

Aside from a few dall sheep, we didn't see anything, but we'd already seen a moose and a mama bear w/2 cubs crossing the highway on the drive to the park.
Much to the shock of the cruise passengers on the bus, we got off the bus and after a few quick photos, started biking back toward the park entrance.

The bike ride started off great, though a bit chilly. After a few miles, however, it began to rain, and the mud began to fly! Laughing as we pedaled, we tried to take in the scenery between the mud polka dots on our glasses. We rolled into the rest stop, and gave the bus passengers their laugh for the day.
Some nice bus drivers were all too happy to take some pictures of us so that we can document the filth (which was even on the inside of our clothes) in our photo albums. They also offered us paper towels, which was more thoughtful than effective (not much short of a hose would have helped us)! After brief rest, we continued on. The mud feast let up, but the cold, wet, filthy damage had already been done. We cycled most of the way back, before reboarding the bus for the last few miles. It was quite entertaining to hear the gasps and watch the passengers on the aisle lean as far into the bench as possible to avoid any inadvertent contact with the filth. The comical bus driver said, over the microphone as I boarded the bus, "No folks, that's not a moose, just a dirty mountain biker."

We did the best to clean ourselves up in the wilderness center bathroom and headed to dinner. Thank goodness for spare clothes and shoes in the car. After dinner at the Salmon Bake, and a near run in with a moose that was out sightseeing on the highway, we made it back to the hotel for showers and an effort to wash our jackets in the bathtub. They were so covered in mud there was no way they were getting packed! The effort was rather futile, however, so it is probably good that we are almost done with the trip. All of our clothes have now been classified as semi-dirty, dirty, or absolutely filthy.

Trophy Trout

2010-09-16T13:07:00.000-07:00

What a spectacular day on the Kenai River! After breakfast at the B&B chatting with some salty old fisherman about how obviously we were responsible for the gorgeous weather, and getting outfitted in chest waders, (definitely not as glamorous as the riding gear) we climbed in a drift boat w/our guide Paul for a day of fishing.

Paul gave us some casting instruction (which was definitely needed) and within an hour Marj had caught what would be the largest fish of the day - a 23.5 in rainbow trout! And she wasn't even trying! We were just drifting under a bridge and barely paying attention when she got a bite! Paul was amazed she caught one that big, especially since she was apparently doing everything wrong, but clearly she had the magic touch today because nobody else could match her!

A little bit later, we noticed the trout were eating dry flies right off the surface. Trout were rising everywhere! Paul anchored the boat and fixed up a couple dry rods he had on the boat and and asked if any of us wanted to wade. I jumped at the opportunity to get out of the boat and do what I was more familiar with. Paul offered some further casting instruction and went through every fly in his box, but we couldn't catch a single one. The trout were taunting us! Feasting on mayflies and pretty much everything but what we were casting! It was so maddening! Paul said he'd never seen so many trout rising in the Kenai or AK yet they were not to be caught!

Back in the boat, I did finally manage to catch a Dolly. So I can go home happy that I caught one fish in AK. Though really, with so many fish in the river I feel like should have caught more. I also think my brain is totally screwed up trying to learn both drift boat casting and traditional fly casting in one day!

We also saw a couple of King Salmon in the river (one almost jumped in our boat) and hundreds of dying sockeye salmon.

Alaskan Summer Camp for Adults 2010

2010-09-16T13:05:00.000-07:00

On our way out of Seward, we stopped by the Exit Glacier. It was stunning to see the yearly markers of where the glacier was, and just how far it has receeded over the years.

We exited quickly and hit the road for sunnier pastures in Cooper Landing. We did a 3 hr tour w/Sunny and Crescent Moon of Alaska Horseman. What a hoot! We got outfitted with outback wear and rode off to catch stunning views of Lake Kenai. Luckily our horses knew the route and required little (no) direction from us! Another fun day at Alaskan Summer Camp for Adults 2010, as we've begun referring to it!

The Trip of a Lifetime

2010-09-16T12:41:00.000-07:00

When Marj and I were researching what to do in Alaska, every adventure claimed it was "the trip of a lifetime." A great marketing message that clearly worked on us, as we tried to cram as many "trips of a lifetime" as we could into 2 weeks. Today was our kayaking "trip of a lifetime!" It was indeed cool to see the Holgate glacier calving up close. I'm not sure it was quite the trip of a lifetime I had anticipated after all the build up on the company's website and reviews on Trip Advisor, but it was indeed a very cool way to see the glaciers up close. The boat ride however was not as much fun. While it was great for viewing orcas, puffins, seals, and bald eagles, it was a rough ride, for 3 hrs. each way!

Diligence and Wool Socks

2010-09-16T12:38:00.000-07:00

Determined not to waste a minute, we booked a last minute kayak trip in the Valdez harbor for the morning before we caught the ferry across Prince William Sounds. It took a bit for me to figure out the foot pedal and paddle coordination, but once we got going we saw some cool wildlife, including a bear, devouring a dish. (Note: No bears to be found in WSE, but as soon as we hit a sizable town, we find them dumpster diving and chowing down on fish in the harbor.)

We got pretty close, and I was feeling pretty safe in the kayak, assuming bears couldn't swim. I found out otherwise a little later on, but fortunately this bear was more interested in a fish breakfast than a human one. We also saw juvenile bald eagles and sea lions popping their head up. It was a great way to start the day.

Next we said good-bye to Valdez and boarded the ferry for Whittier.

Coming off the ferry we got stuck in an Alaskan traffic jam waiting for the tunnel to open because it would make too much sense for them to time the ferry arrival with the tunnel! This is AK afterall! Once on Seward, we finally splurged on a yummy salmon dinner! And gelato! Mmmm...

Best quote of the day came from a gluten free guy on the ferry, originally from Kansas, who told us that "living in AK is all about diligence and wool socks."

Odd Goods are Better Than No Goods?

2010-09-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

We were sorry to leave McCarthy and WSE behind. What a special place. Though when I go back again, I think I will follow Taylor's advice and take a plane somewhere into the back country for a multi-day backpacking adventure. Even if it does mean camping.

After another adventure on John's ATV to the foot bridge, this time with the luggage carrier in tow, we flew out of McCarthy today, and drove from Chitina to Valdez.
After a brief stop at a single gas pump in Kenny Lake, and a quick trip into the neighboring Kenny Lake mercantile to eye the fur hats, we drove the very scenic route to the thriving metropolis of Valdez (not kidding - we hadn't seen so many people since Anchorage!)

We did a very scenic hike on the outskirts of town that took us into the canyons past a pretty waterfall, and mostly got our legs moving after a couple hours in the car.

We were very excited for Alaskan Mexican food. Amy's tradition of visiting the Mexican restaurants in each country she visits, which I have adopted, was kept alive. Let's face it, Alaska might as well be another country! The halibut tacos hit the spot (or we were just happy for an alternative to the McCarthy saloon). We also had fun watching the salmon jump in the harbor. And we are once again addicted to our electronic devices.

The best laugh of the day was provided by Nina, who via Facebook, commented that "odd goods are better than no goods!" Marj and I are still debating that one...

More Views of WSE

2010-09-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

After politely declining an offer by our B&B owner to fly us into the back country for some hiking (he was very nice but a bit too odd and made us nervous), we spent the day hiking up toward the Jumbo Mine. We climbed 3500 ft. Over 3.5 mi and 3 hrs. At which point we could see the mine, and more importantly the view, and decided we'd rather descend than climb another foot. We proceeded to run down the mountain in half the time it took us to get up! Despite the overcast day, the views were phenomenal.

We then went on the National Park Service history walk where we learned mine about Kennicott copper mining in the early part of the last century. Construction on the mine began in 1908 and operations ceased in1938 when all copper ore had been extracted from the area. The town once employed 600 men, and 6 women (nurses, teachers, and a secretary) - though there were no "loose women." Apparently people (men and women) would only stay about 6 months before moving on. Work in the mines was tough, and women had to be single. Since there were so few women, they usually found husbands pretty quick, though the same saying we learned the first day rang true even then "the odds are good but the goods are odd."

We've noticed pretty much everyone in McCarthy wears multiple hats. With so few people in town, when a need arises somebody must fill it. One of our river guides from was our shuttle bus driver on another day and our bartender ended up giving us a ride to the footbridge because he had to go pick some guests up (in the middle of a busy shift at the bar) who were staying at the hotel across the street.

We came back to the lodge where we made s'mores w/some other guests-a couple if petroleum engineers for "America's most hated oil company" (BP) and our B&B owner. Another good day!

"This is How People Die in Alaska!"

2010-09-15T19:05:00.001-07:00

To get a different perspective on the U.S.'s largest national park, we spent an awesome day on the river with three goofy but adorable and knowledgeable guides! We started out helping a local get his ATV and payload unstuck. Then got geared up and out on the Kennicott River.

We rafted (though not like we really had to do anything) through beautiful canyons w/good fall foliage on a spectacularly clear day. The Kennicott river joins up with the Nizina River and we continued on the Nizina. Our guide Dale (who has a M.S. In civil engineering) was very knowledgable about the river and the local geology which made the trip even more interesting. Dale also let each of us take a turn w/the oars...though my recent rowing lessons were useless. Given that you move the raft forward, and the oars weighed a ton, I didn't have the strength or coordination for the task. I did however have new appreciation for Dale!

The guides put out a fabulous lunch spread, complete w/hot chocolate and peanut butter brownies made by Dale. Oh, and he sang us Broadway musical songs too. When we got to the end, our bush plane picked us up and flew us back to McCarthy. Our pilot happened to be the owner of Wrangell Mountain Air. Only 2 other people were on the trip, so we had 4 women passengers with male guides. One of the women kept saying, in response to just about everything, "this is how people die in AK!".

After our rafting trip, back at the B&B, I asked John to explain to me how living off the grid worked. He enthusiastically took me on a tour of the garage to see the generator and the basement to see the batteries and other equipment that helped to store some electricity. Marj quickly followed, not sure that me going off on a tour of the basement w/John was such a good idea! He uses propane to heat the water and the gas stove, and he has a wood burning stove and an oil stove. He says it depends on the weather, but he usually runs the generator about an hour each day to charge the batteries.

All in all, it was another great day in WSE.

Ice Followed by Wine

2010-09-15T18:53:00.000-07:00

Day 2 in McCarthy-Kennicott, we embarked in an all day glacier hike with our guide Taylor. 7 hrs. traversing the glacier, viewing Donoho Falls and exploring ice caves. Taylor told us he had never covered so much ground on a day hike (a compliment to us) and that we should consider backpacking next time. We are apparently also the first day hikers to go in the ice caves this season (and the season ends next week). Pretty cool to experience the glacier from both above and below. The scenery was spectacular start to finish. We ended the day at the saloon where I polished off about 2/3rds of a bottle of wine and walked home w/the remainder. Accompanied by a friendly Boston Terrier named Tank.

The Odds are Good but the Goods are Odd

2010-09-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

Our first day in AK we drove to the Copper Moose Lodge in Kenny Lake before flying into
McCarthy. (A note about driving in AK: If there is any radio station at all, it is NPR. After listening to a story on the first day about the underwear of astronauts on the ISS combusting in space, we stopped tuning in.)

It was great stay with owners CD & Kathy. Yummy breakfast, with great egg dish and muffins (so i'm told). Turns out CD is a runner, taking it up at 50, has run 11 marathons, including Boston twice, setting a personal best of 3:14 at the age of 56. Kathy was telling us a bit about life in Kenny Lake. People are independent but also interdependent. She told a story about a fundraiser for a local woman's medical expenses that was a cake sale, and they paid $150 for a pumpkin cheesecake! They also complained about a new guy coming in and building a "Philadelphia style subdivision without hiring a single local contractor."

We left for the Chitina airstrip (the inner city w/ drug and alcohol problems and no high school graduates) in the morning fog. Turns out the plane to McCarthy couldn't fly in the fog, so we waited for 3 hrs for our flight. It was worth the wait. Even with some low clouds, the scenery was spectacular and smoother than the ride into Anchorage.

Once in McCarthy, we met up w/John Adams ( the real thing), owner of the B&B we stayed at, who kindly gave us a ride on his 4-wheeler to town for lunch at "The Potato," a trip to the general store, and the McCarthy Museum. I had to ask how to sit on the thing, but by the end he had me driving it for him so he could pick up his truck. I think he got a kick out of a teaching a city girl to drive a 4-wheeler. He was super nice and full of good local insight and clearly knew everyone in town and they new him.

After getting our groceries home, we headed to Kennicott to get the lay of the land and do short hike. Wrangell St. Elias (WSE) is the largest park in the U.S. Six times the size of Yellowstone and equal to the size of Switzerland. It receives fewer visitors in a year than Yosemite receives in a day.

Then it was to the McCarthy Saloon for a drink and dinner. And finally met some people our age! Seems to be and older crowd, surprisingly. I guess the younger people are off in the wilderness camping. We did meet a nice girl on the walk back to the b&b who shared a beer w/ Marj and joked with us about how when it comes to men in AK, " the odds are good but the goods are odd!"

Signs You're In Alaska!

2010-09-13T18:21:00.000-07:00

After my visit with Jessica, I headed up to Anchorage, AK to meet Marj for 2 weeks of what we referred to as "Summer Camp for Adults." The itinerary included:

Drive to Chitna and take a bush plane into McCarthy, in the heart of Wrangell St. Elias National Park. Spend 4 days, hiking, rafting, and being cut off from the outside world.
Drive to Valdez for more hiking and some kayaking before catching the ferry across Prince William Sound to Whittier.
Drive to Seward to explore the Kenai Fjords National Park by kayak and visit the Exit Glacier. And enjoy some fresh seafood!
Drive to Cooper Landing, for horseback riding and some the best fishing in Alaska.
Drive to Talkeetna and use this mount climbing town as our base for visiting Denali National Park (via mountain bike) and to fish for arctic grayling.

It was a jam packed 2 weeks and it couldn't have been more fun! More posts on each place to follow, but for now, here are some signs (and other odds and ends) I captured along the way that gave me a good laugh.

Vacation 2010 Starts off With a Trip to Seattle

2010-09-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

You can never go wrong with a visit to lifelong friends. Even though I met Jessica my freshman year in college, which is technically only about 1/2 my life at this point, she seems like a lifelong friend. And given that we are on different coasts, we don't get to see each other near enough! After enjoying a day hanging out in Seattle and visiting the Pike Place Market, we headed up to Victoria, BC on the Clipper. We had been to Victoria in college on her parents sailboat and it was fun to see it once again.The highlight was tea at The Empress Hotel - where believe it or not - they have a Gluten Free Tea (they better for the $62 price tag!). They did their best to match all the tea sandwiches and pastries to the real thing and it was yummy!

It was great to catch up withe Jessica after not seeing her in several years!

Snowmaggedon 2010

2010-02-08T08:39:00.001-08:00

Well, it seems the snow last December was only a warm up for what was to come...Snowmaggedon 2010 dumped 20-30 inches of snow across the region. What an insane winter! It does make for a pretty scene though, and I've gotten a lot of stuff done around the house. With another 5+ inches expected tomorrow, I may have to venture out this afternoon to see if the shelves at the grocery store have been restocked yet.

24 hrs. later and the digging out begins...slowly but surely!

The Snow Removal Army Has Arrived...

2009-12-20T12:11:00.000-08:00

Guess I might have to go to work tomorrow...

Excellent Work by the Snow Plow...

2009-12-20T10:31:00.000-08:00

Making sure my car won't go anywhere before summer!

Let it Snow!

2009-12-19T12:10:00.001-08:00

First major storm of the season and it's a doozie! Hope it sticks around through Christmas! I walked to Starbucks for a mocha but no such luck, the snow was too much for them I guess, it was closed. :-( Oh well, at least I got a walk in.

Wreaths Across America

2009-12-13T10:03:00.000-08:00

Each December, the Worcester Wreath Company of Maine donates thousands of wreaths to be placed on the graves at Arlington National Cemetery. The effort has also recently expanded to include other cemeteries around the country. You can read more about this project here:
http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/About-Us/

I decided to go see the wreath laying ceremony, held at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier after the changing of the guard at noon on Saturday, Dec. 12th.

More than 4,000 volunteers spent the morning placing the wreaths in the older sections of the cemetery, the idea being that those are the areas that are least visited and no one shall be forgotten. I wish I'd figured that out earlier enough to volunteer. Maybe next year. I did however take a wreath for Dad's grave, since he was not in one of the decorated sections.

It's Christmas Time!

2009-12-05T12:11:00.000-08:00

It's taking me a while to get into the spirit this year, and I still have not started shopping, but at least I have a tree and it is decorated.

How Many People Can Fit in Mom's House for Thanksgiving?

2009-12-02T16:24:00.000-08:00

29.

Next year we'll aim for 30.

While we're used to Thanksgiving with about 15 people, this was a new record for the Hopkins family. Make that the Hopkins-Davis-Turvene-Snyder-Shaw-Crane-Braffman-Pfeiffer family!

It was a fun day, with more than enough food to go around, and a few extra friends of TJ that were brave enough to come spend Thanksgiving with 25 people they didn't know.

The day started off with a 5k Turkey Trot around Arlington, where 11 yr. old Helen (a Girls on the Run pro) beat every member of her family to cross the finish line in 31 minutes. 8 yr. old Alex was not far behind.

After all that running, the to die for sweet potato casserole, turkey, honey baked ham, pecan pie, and pumpkin cheesecake bars hit the spot!

Oregon - The Not So Good Part

2009-09-20T16:33:00.000-07:00

What was I thinking. I keep asking myself that over and over and over again, and all I can tell you is that signing up for Cycle Oregon was clearly a lapse in judgment. Clearly, I should have done more research beforehand.

It sounded like it would be so much fun! Who wouldn't want to ride their bike 400 miles around Oregon for a week? I did realize that it would be camping every night, but was assured by my partner in crime Theresa that camping was a piece of cake, and besides, not like this was real camping! We were signing up for the "Tent and Porter" service so that somebody else set up and took down our tent each day! And moved our bags. And cooked our meals. And there was yoga, massages, live music, bike mechanics, etc. In fact, before departing Boulder, my friend Janeen dubbed this "glamour camping" or "glamping" for short. So after purchasing a queen size air mattress for our tent, I was feeling optimistic that I could handle this camping thing.

Ha ha ha ha ha.

This was hell. For some reason when I signed up, I didn't quite process exactly what riding and camping with 2,000 other people would entail. "Tent City" quickly became referred to as the "Tent Slums." The tents were literally 2 inches apart from one another (see picture). You could hear people snoring, puking, farting, talking, etc. Got to love the neighbors who felt compelled to get up before 5am each and every morning and hold conversation at full volume, often about their recent visit to the porta potty. It was nothing but porta potties for a week. A week!!!!! Ugh. I can't believe that didn't dawn on me before day 1. Every where we went, we stood in line. For porta potties (see picture), for food (see picture) for bike mechanics, etc.

The biking was ok. Despite some chafing issues on day 1-2, I managed to survive the rest of the week. The scenery was beautiful at times, punctuated by multi-mile stretches on the shoulder of the interstate getting passed by semi-trucks going over 70 mph and stretches of unpaved road.

On day 1, I really was trying to figure out how to get a taxi 68 miles back from Yreka, CA to the start in Medford. I figured I could get the rental car and come pick my bike and bag up, and maybe even figure out how to get home in time to race at Savageman the following weekend. But no, I thought, maybe day 2 will be better. Mentally, I bottomed out day 2-3. I suppose after that I had resigned myself to it, and started to feel like I was making progress toward the end of the ride.

By day 5, we finally arrived in the town of Grants Pass. The first town with restaurants. Woo hoo! The stomach flu had broken out in camp by then so Theresa and I decided to eat every meal from then on in restaurants. And also so that we could use the bathrooms. I've never been so happy for restaurant bathrooms in my life!

Day 6 was an optional riding day (no thank you!) and Theresa and opted for rafting on the Rogue River instead. Definitely the better choice!

There were some highlights throughout the week, good scenery and exceptionally nice local people and volunteers in each town. The purpose of the ride is to raise money for community development projects in rural towns in OR (and on this trip in CA) and it was nice to feel part of a positive mission.
The week finally ended, and we were never so happy to first - hit a hotel, with real beds and real bathrooms, and next to make it home. I have never been so glad for a trip to be over in my entire life.

Oregon - The Good Part

2009-09-12T18:22:00.000-07:00

From Colorado, Theresa and I headed to Oregon for a little sight seeing and catching up with friends before Cycle Oregon started. We had 5 days to see as much of Oregon as we could, and did we ever! I don't particularly like whirlwind sightseeing, but there was so much we wanted to do and 5 days was all we had before the riding started.

We actually started off in Washington. Family friends Dave and Liz Lincoln recently moved from VA to White Salmon, WA (or at least took up a secondary residence you might say). White Salmon is just across the Columbia River from Hood River, OR and is located in "The Gorge." It is an outdoor person's playground. Tired from a plane ride, time change, and a flat tire incident with the rental car in Portland, we arrived at the Lincoln's around 9:15pm on a Tuesday night. Liz started pouring the wine and she and Dave got out the maps of the area and brochures on every fun thing you could possibly want to do. Liz asked if we had any reservations or plans for the the next day, to which we said "No." Before we knew it, she was on the phone to the white water rafting outfitter, Zollers, and we were booked on a 9am rafting trip down the White Salmon river - class 3 and 4 rapids.

What a trip! It was awesome! Excellent guides, a couple of raft-mates who were vacationing from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa and live right next to my old high school, and a just an all around fun time rafting down the river that included a 14 ft. drop over a waterfall. I wish I'd been able to take my camera a long, but it's safe to say it would not have survived the deluge of water in the raft.

After refueling, Theresa and I drove out to Mt. Hood for some up close pictures and hit a few wineries. Then Dave took us for a sail out on the Columbia River that evening as the sun was setting. It was fantastic! It was great to get a view of the area from the water and it was so relaxing to just sit on the boat and sail.

The next day we did a brief hike up Dog Mountain - a straight up climb - and then started the drive toward the coast, stopping briefly at the Bonneville Dam along the way to see the fish ladder.

Next up was Lincoln City, OR - the home of Theresa's friend Sandy. She too was an awesome hostess, taking us out to watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean, setting us up in her sister's incredible beach house for the night, and then navigating us down the central coast of Oregon to catch some spectacular scenery as we made our way south toward Medford for Cycle Oregon.

Along our drive, we stopped at the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area for a dune buggy ride. It was so much fun! The dunes stretch 62 miles along the coast and are 7 miles wide. It is an immense area of sand, like nothing I'd ever seen before. Theresa, the adrenaline junkie, informed our driver that she wanted him to drive it like a roller coaster and that he did. Top speeds, on the side of dunes, quick turns, I was sure we were going to flip over, but thankfully we remained upright. I am still trying to rid myself of all the sand though!

Before the riding began, Theresa and I made a quick trip out to Crater Lake, determined not to miss it when we were so close! I wish I could have spent an entire day there, hiking and swimming but we just didn't have the time, so we settled for a couple hours driving the rim. It was indeed spectacular.

Amy's Wedding

2009-09-08T17:35:00.000-07:00

My good friend Amy Smith got married in Steamboat, CO on Sept. 6. Best excuse for another trip that I could think of! As luck had it, I was participating in Cycle Oregon a week later and ended up planning 2+ weeks out West.

This was my second trip to CO but first to Steamboat. With all the events planned throughout the weekend, I was on the go from the instant the plane landed. Tom came with me and several of my VA/DC friends were in attendance which made the weekend all that much more fun.

First up, about an hour after arriving in Steamboat, was Girl's Night Out. The next morning there was a group hike, followed by a trip to the Hot Springs in the evening. Saturday was the group mountain bike ride, followed by a barbeque complete with slide show of pictures of Amy and Matt throughout their lives. I've now traveled enough with Amy (and her mom) that I even made a few of the pictures. Amidst all the activities, Tom even managed to squeeze in some fishing.

Amy's husband Matt is from England. I'd never met him until this weekend, but had heard all about him, starting shortly after they had first started dating. I was traveling with Amy in Australia and New Zealand and we spent many hours trying to find pay phones so that she could call England.

Wedding day started off (in true Amy fashion) with a 5k or 10k run, and oh yeah, it was at 10,000 ft. of altitude. For some unknown reason, the fact that I hadn't really run since Ironman Switzerland, July 2008 and that I live at sea level didn't dissuade me. Spurred on by Tom, also not dissuaded even after a summer of kidney surgery, we both signed up for the 5k. We may be crazy, but not crazy enough to do the 10k. Much to our astonishment, we both ran more of the race than we thought, and despite getting beaten soundly by a couple of kids who couldn't have been over 10 yrs. old, we finished in a respectable 27 minutes. Not bad for a couple of sea-bees who hadn't trained. Our lungs were ready to explode, but that was just a minor annoyance. :-)

Later that afternoon the wedding ceremony and reception took place. It was a gorgeous outdoor setting, we got a few brief sprinkles, but that just meant a pretty rainbow at the end of the ceremony. My favorite part, aside from the singing of John Denver's "Annie's Song" (I love John Denver), was when Amy & Matt's cycling friends formed an arch of bike wheels (similar to what service men do with swords at military weddings) for Amy and Matt to walk under at the end of the ceremony. This is apparently an old English cycling tradition.

Amy, my friend who makes it her personal mission to test out the Mexican food in every country she visits (she has quite a long list) arranged for a buffet Mexican food at the reception. Easily the best food I've ever had at a wedding. You just can't go wrong with guacamole!!

The highlight of the evening was when Matt gave a 40+ minute speech. In addition to thanking every one who had traveled from near and far, often at great expense, and thanking his family and friends in England for understanding his move the U.S., he offered endless jokes, often at his new brother-in-law's expense and had the whole room laughing. It was priceless.

After the festivities were over, we drove to Boulder to see my good friend Janeen, taking the scenic route through Rocky Mountain National Park. The scenery was stunning, and I got my first ever glimpse of elk.

A Visit to Deep Creek

2009-08-27T12:26:00.001-07:00

I love love love Deep Creek!! Such a great place to get away and relax! Ok, so I suppose not everyone would find biking the hardest hills around relaxing, but I love it. The more hills the better!!

My friend Rodrigo organized a great weekend of riding and found us a very nice house to rent for the weekend. Master chef Tom arrived with enough food to feed an army - and good thing too because we had a house full of hungry cyclists who devoured the grilled pork loin, grilled chicken, grilled zucchini, fresh (picked that day) corn on the cob, fresh tomatoes w/mozarella and basil, and the list goes on. We topped it off with a flourless chocolate cake (my contribution) and some Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Yum yum yum!!

The pictures below are our various attempts at the "Westernport Wall." Three strikes and I was out, deciding to walk up it instead.

My only regret is that I didn't plan to stay longer. Two days is just not enough time to fully take advantage of everything there is to do (nor does it allow for repeat visits to the Lakeside Creamery!). Next year I'm staying for a week at least!

ITU World Championship Series - Washington, DC - June 21, 2009

2009-06-22T16:08:00.000-07:00

Wow - talk about some athletic women! All the Olympians turned out for a draft legal pro triathlon on the streets of DC and in the muddy waters of the Potomac (yuck!). It was fun to watch. With few spectators, I had front row viewing of the entire race and I'm inspired!

(The winner, Aussie Emma Moffatt.)

(Sarah Haskins, the top USA finisher, 4th place.)

Another Gluten Free Flop

2009-06-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

I have been craving chocolate chip cookies lately, and the only good chocolate chip cookie recipe I once had called for this instant pancake mix that is not readily available and that I ran out of years ago. So I decided to experiment tonight. I used the GF Pantry French Bread Mix (I know what you're thinking, but really, you can substitute it for all purpose flour in nearly every recipe and it works!) and followed the directions on the bag of Nestle chocolate chips (like I used to do in my pre-GF days). Well, you can see the result.

They taste good, but are flat and crumbly. But no worries, I'll still eat them. Crumbled over ice cream if nothing else!

Memorial Day the Freeland, PA Way!

2009-05-25T15:18:00.000-07:00

Tom invited me to visit his mother in Freeland, PA for memorial day. Freeland goes all out in observance of the holiday and it was really nice to see.

The day kicks off with the guys from the American Legion and VFW doing readings, rifle firings, and playing Taps at each of the cemeteries in town.

Next we were off to breakfast and mass where I met several of Tom's cousins. The town is very close knit and everybody seems to be a cousin. In fact one of his cousins asked him if I was another cousin. His response "Gee, I sure hope not!" The sermon focused on the meaning behind each of the folds in the U.S. flag, which I had never heard before. If only I could remember what they all mean now!

Following the mass, there was a parade through town with every available fire engine, the boy scouts, and my favorite - the marching band. This is no ordinary marching band, this marching band rides through the parade in the back of a flat bed truck!

The parade ends at the park in town where there are memorials those who died in service during each of our country's wars. Local elected officials and selected students do additional readings, including the order establishing Memorial Day and wreaths are put in front of each memorial.

At the end of the festivities it was back to Tom's mom's house for burgers, potato salad, etc. Yum! It was so nice to be included in all the town's festivities and to meet Tom's mother and brother. They made me feel right at home.

I got to ride around in the back of Tom's jeep (sitting on the floor) throughout the day which was also quite entertaining!

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

2009-05-24T18:56:00.000-07:00

To get to the other side of course!

Gettysburg - What happened there again?

2009-05-06T18:22:00.000-07:00

Tom and I decided to meet in Gettysburg for the weekend. Little did I know what I was in for when I agreed to go! No sooner did I get out of the car and I was met with a manila folder marked "Gettysburg" with maps of each day of the 3 day battle. It was a 3 day battle? This math and physics major last studied the civil war in 11th grade and has a brain that lives by the motto "use it or lose it!"
Tom is quite the history buff, and the civil war, and Gettysburg buff in particular. He was a fantastic tour guide explaining each stage of the battle and where the union and confederate troops were positioned and how his favorite General - Gen. Joshua Chamberlain of the 20th Maine - won the battle for Union. (His bio was included in my folder.)

All in all, it was a fun day re-learning a little history while driving around the battlefield looking at all the memorials.

Frauke & Steve Get Married Again!

2009-05-01T18:18:00.000-07:00

Once (or even twice!) clearly just wasn't enough for these two, so they decided to get married for technically the third time! They are clearly veterans by now! It was another fun celebration - this one marked by a ceremony at Great Falls and a party at their new home. I was happy to be able to participate in the festivities once again!

Yes, Bryan is Still Older than Theresa!

2009-04-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

It was that time of year again, when some of my favorite people turn a year older, which means it must be time for a party! The history of this party dates back as long as I've known Theresa and Bryan, and probably longer. Bryan's birthday (Mar. 31) falls 6 weeks before Theresa's (May 12), a fact she will never let him forget. When Bryan married Laura, and we realized her birthday (Apr. 22) was in the middle of the two, she got added to the celebration, as did Vince (Apr. 12) and Marj (Mar. ?). Vince however, was a no show this time (for the second party in a row hosted in his honor) and he will surely not live it down, the dork.

I hosted the party this year and it was a fun time. The highlight was Steve Lord showing up with birthday balloons, hats, tiaras, etc. for each of them that said "Happy 21st Birthday", "Happy 30th Birthday", and "Happy 50th Birthday" - none of which are even close to being accurate.

Tom, despite suffering all week with a kidney stone, came down for the party. I still can't believe he rebounded in time for the party! He even grilled us awesome kabobs. Diego made his signature sangria which was a big hit, and I made a gluten free german chocolate cake - I don't know about anyone else but it's my favorite!! :-)

It was a fun time, I can't wait until next year!

Girls Weekend in New Orleans

2009-04-19T17:52:00.000-07:00

After more than 2 years of not seeing Erikka, Erin and I decided that the phone and Facebook just didn't cut it anymore and we got on a plane to New Orleans for a girls weekend! Even though Erin only lives about 45 minutes away in Manassas, we can't seem to get together as often as we'd like, and we desperately miss Erikka. It was a mini-Sweet Briar reunion! We also had Frances with us, Sweet Briar class of 2030. :-)

The French Quarter Festival was going on at the time so there were lots of street vendors and musicians and entire French Quarter was full of people. Frances was a trooper all weekend and managed to flirt her way to some balloons at a restaurant. We were quite a sight pushing a one year old in a baby stroller with a bunch of balloons tied to it up and down Bourbon Street on a Friday night!

If only we were all still neighbors like in college. It would be so fun if we could see each other more regularly.

Gretl The Destroyer

2009-04-15T18:57:00.000-07:00

Over the past few weeks, I have gotten the chance to get to know Tom's dog-niece, Gretl, whom he affectionately refers to as "Gretl, The Destroyer" or "Sasquatch" or "Num-nuts." Take your pick.

Tipping the scales at 105+, she is quite large and intimidating at first, but then you realize she's a total sweet heart. Just don't stand between her and left over steak. :-)

She's not super fond of having her picture taken, but we did manage to get these glamour shots.

Baby Colton has arrived!

2009-03-22T19:37:00.000-07:00

Baby Colton, my new first cousin - once removed has arrived and he is a cutie! It was really fun to hold him for a little while and then give him back! :-)

A Pi Day Celebration

2009-03-15T17:48:00.000-07:00

Pi Day - for those of you non-math geeks....is March 14th (3-14). Well to celebrate (a day late), and really as a good excuse to go spend quality time with my grandmother, I took my pi plate (and my Kitchen Aid mixer and all the ingredients) out to my grandmother's apartment in Herndon so that she could teach me how to make her famous graham cracker pie. Yum. I hadn't had it in at least 10 years, and had tried to make it once myself but it was a disaster. Expert instruction was definitely needed, and the challenge this time around was to use gluten free graham crackers. Grandmother and I spent the afternoon baking and catching up, and I got to hear stories about her and Granddaddy when they were dating, and stories of what it was like to live during the Great Depression...which seemed quite relevant to the economic struggles of today. After we had completed our pie, we went out to dinner and then came home to test out our creation. It was yummy!

Hiking in Delaware

2009-03-14T16:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, so when you think of hiking in Delaware, what do you picture? Well, chances are, that's about what you get! But it's not the location nearly as much as it is the company! Tom and I hiked around Lums Pond, near Newark, DE. It was a 7 mile flat, mostly wooded loop around the pond. It was similar to Burke Lake or Lake Accotink in VA. Given that it is March, there wasn't much greenery, but it was still nice to be outside getting some fresh air and exercise. We followed up the hike with a much needed dinner at a local restaurant, where we were clearly the oldest people there (Newark is home to the University of Delaware), and coffee at Starbucks to fuel the drive home. It was a good day.

A Quick Trip to Sweet Briar

2009-03-12T17:19:00.000-07:00

I was invited to return to Sweet Briar to be on a panel at the Careers in Math and Engineering event. Not that I do much math or engineering in my job, but I had lots to talk about when one student said "I'm a math major, and I don't think I want a career in math, so what am I supposed to do?" This is my life story! I liked math from an academic perspective - it was easy, it made sense, I was good at it, and I got A's. But I've come to the conclusion over the years that as much as I like math, I don't like the applications of math. At least not for a career. I much prefer the intellectual challenge of policy issues, and dare I say it....reading and writing. Who'd have thought from the girl that planned her entire college curriculum around never having to write more than one paper per semester.

(The Pink High Heel - designed and built by SBC engineering students and entered into the Red Bull Soap Box Derby. The heel finished 3rd in the People's Choice Category.)

The visit to campus was an opportunity not only to catch up with "The Happy Math Family," but also to see the changes on campus since I was there last year. The most exciting change I noticed would probably be missed by most visitors to campus - the dining hall now has gluten free bread, cereal, and other options. Wow! My dream come true! The more obvious change on campus though is the construction of the new gym and eco-townhouses.

(Pink commuter bikes - cool!)

Vince-less Fest

2009-03-09T17:39:00.000-07:00

Ok, so "Vince-Fest," rescheduled from last month, finally occurred this weekend with one major adjustment. Vince bailed. Yes, you read that right. Vince - the friend that this entire weekend was planned around, months in advance, based on his schedule, BAILED! Ugh. Ok, I'm done complaining about it, we had a good time without him. We did however have to rename the event to be "Vince-less Fest" instead. Thanks to Tom's friend Loren for coming up with the brilliant name!
Theresa, Diego and I loaded the bikes in their car and headed north to Springtown on Friday night. We arrived just after 11pm, thanks to DC rush hour traffic that was still going strong at 8pm. Tom, being Polish, which he tells me means that he greets guests with food before even saying hello, did his heritage proud and had shrimp, chips, guacamole, salsa, and bottle of wine waiting for us. The shrimp was a huge hit, and the leftovers reappeared to much acclaim with eggs, spinach, and mushrooms on Sunday morning.

Saturday we kicked off Vince-less Fest with pancakes and eggs before heading out for a great bike ride that took us to an airfield, a coffee shop (I was in desperate need of a mocha), and a field trip to a local maple syrup maker. Yes, you read that right! A few miles before the end of the ride, we came upon a maple syrup maker. A guy was collecting sap from the trees near the road and asked us if we'd like to come inside to see how its made. Absolutely!

We entered the 103 degree building to see them boiling the sap to make syrup. Apparently it takes about 50 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup and the season only lasts for about 6 weeks each February/March. Good thing, I suppose, as I sure wouldn't want to be inside that building on a hot summer day! Theresa and I each bought a bottle of syrup and carried them in our bike jersey pockets for the remainder of the ride.

After a short nap to recover from the ride, the Vince-less Fest celebration evening feast began. We kicked off the cooking by drinking a bottle of Dom Perignon that Tom had been given as a gift. I don't even like champagne, but that was some good stuff! Seriously - I had a couple glasses and I normally don't take more than a sip of champagne. Tom had lobsters shipped in from Portland, ME and FedEx managed to deliver them this time. Theresa and I stepped outside while Tom and Diego put them into the boiling water. If I had to kill my own food I'd be a vegetarian.

They were delicious! To top it off, Tom had ordered this gourmet chocolate cake from a local chocolate shop for dessert. It was gluten free and it was to die for! I think it was the best chocolate cake I have ever had, and I've had a lot of chocolate cake in my life!

We ended the evening by teaching Tom how to play the basket game. As usual, the game did not disappoint, lots of laughs were had by all. Whereas in the past, we have always played men against women (and the women have always lost...) this time it was Diego and I versus Tom and Theresa, and for the first time ever, I was on the winning basket game team! Woo hoo! You rock, Diego.

Sunday, Tom helped Theresa get her marathon training run in, and then Tom and Theresa had to make breakfast for us (their consolation prize for losing the basket game). They did an outstanding job. Theresa is now a veteran gluten free pancake maker.

Copenhagen

2009-03-01T18:15:00.000-08:00

So for our first date, I went to Pennsylvania. For our second date, Tom came to Virginia. For our third date, it only made sense that we meet in middle. Delaware.

A day after returning home from visiting me in Virginia, I got a call from Tom who asked "Joanne Hopkins, would you like to go on a date with me?"

Joanne: "Yes, I would."

Tom: "Great, Thursday, Friday, or Sunday?"

Joanne: "Well, that depends."

Tom: "No it doesn't depend, do you want to go on a date with me or not?"

Ok, so after a bit of back and forth, it was determined that we would meet in Wilmington on Sunday to see the play Copenhagen, put on by the Delaware Theater Company. Tom had been telling me about it over the weekend and how much he thought I would like it. He did some research and discovered it was playing in Wilmington. Perfect!

The play is a fictional account of a real life conversation that took place between Neils Bohr and Werner Heisenberg during WWII when each was working on research that would eventually lead to the creation of the atomic bomb. It was a great play that focuses on the intersection of science and ethics and leaves you pondering the subject long after the play is over. I loved it!

Gluten Free Vendor Fair

2009-02-28T15:25:00.000-08:00

On February 28, I went to the celiac event of the season - the Gluten Free Vendor Fair at Whole Foods. Along with a few of my celiac friends, I sampled the likes of gluten free bread, cookies, pies, brownies, pasta, soup, and crab cakes. The crab cakes were to die for!! And are now sold at Whole Foods on a regular basis...if you are willing to splurge on the $10 per crabcake price! For a special occasion, I certainly will be. The other highlights of the day were the clam chowder (hadn't had that in about 6 years or so), the granola (and I didn't even think I liked granola), the lemon poppy muffins, and the chocolate and vanilla cupcakes. Yum. Here are a few pictures from the event.

Date #2

2009-02-21T17:03:00.000-08:00

When you live 3 hours and 15 min apart (with no traffic), dates tend to be few and far between but last an entire weekend. There are pros and cons to this. You get to spend a lot of time with the other person when you see them and get to know them well pretty quick, but it can be a bit of an emotional roller coaster. You spend 1-2 weeks getting excited, wishing time would pass faster, then the weekend comes and all you want to do is slow time down and make the weekend last longer, and then you spend a day or two depressed that you live 3 hours and 15 min apart and then you start building up to the next visit all over again. If Einstein were here, I'd give him a piece of my mind.

Tom came to visit me this weekend. It was a totally fun time. We went to dinner at Rustico for gluten free pizza and I forced Tom to drink a beer. Yep. Round one of the battle of wills contest, won by Joanne. :-) Rustico has an extensive beer selection, and I didn't want Tom to miss out on a beer just because I couldn't drink one. He finally caved and asked the waitress to pick out a beer for him and also picked out a bottle of wine for us to share. He then said something to the effect of "If I drink a beer will you believe me the next time I say I'd rather have wine?" I said "Yes" and now we have an understanding on the subject. He orders a beer when he wants one and I don't bug him about it. :-) After dinner, we met up with Theresa, Diego, John (Theresa's brother), Lori, and Steve at the State Theatre in Falls Church to see a Louisana band.

The rest of the weekend was spent biking, strolling around Old Town Alexandria including the Torpedo Factory, and making pancakes and waffles!

Jessica's Baby Shower

2009-02-15T15:38:00.000-08:00

(Carol & Jessica)

Today was my cousin Jessica's baby shower. It was fun to celebrate with her and make sure she is equipped with all the necessary gear! My Aunt Carol was in town for the event (and the coming birth) and it was fun catching up with her. I also got to meet (or reacquaint myself with) Jessica's other Aunts (on her father's side) who I've not seen since I was the flower girl at my Aunt & Uncle's wedding (age 8). I can't wait to meet my new second cousin.

(Carol & Mom)

(Jessica during one of the games.)

(Mom & Mrs. Krause)

(TJ - Jessica's husband holding his pet rat.)

(Sweet Dixie)

Tom & Joanne Fest

2009-02-08T18:40:00.000-08:00

So what was originally going to be Vince-Fest (defined as a gathering of Vince's closest friends at Vince's friend Tom's house in PA to celebrate all that is Vince by biking, eating lobster, and generally poking fun at Vince) turned into Tom and Joanne Fest when Vince-Fest had to be rescheduled because not all of the Fest participants were able to make it.

After weeks of corresponding (and flirting) back and forth over email, we both decided we were really bummed that Vince-Fest was postponed a month. Then came the magic invitation I was hoping for:

"I've got a great Plan B that you might be interested in. I have tickets to an acoustic show with Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia on Feb. 6th. I thought you might want to join me?...If you'd still like to come for the weekend I have plenty of room. Bring your bike and if it's nice, we can ride."

Yes! (I should preface this with the fact that I had met Tom a couple of times before and new he wasn't a serial killer...although he does still joke about his prison record from time to time...)

I loaded the bike in the car and drove north to Springtown, PA and what an awesome weekend it was! We had dinner in Philadelphia at a phenomenal restaurant that bent over backwards to make sure everything was gluten free for me. Tom decided he was ordering gluten free too...or rather that I was ordering his gluten free meal for him since he was a newbie at the whole gluten free thing. No pressure there! I'd spent all of 2 hours with him so far and I was supposed to pick out his dinner. Geez. Fortunately he'll eat pretty much anything. The Kimmel Center was a spectacular venue with absolutely perfect acoustics and the performers were awesome. I don't think I've been to a better show.

Saturday we scored some great weather (high 50s and sunny) so we went biking for a few hours over in New Jersey. It was a great ride!

Tom had originally ordered lobsters to be shipped in from Portland, ME for dinner but FedEx had mechanical difficulties somewhere along the way so we had to settle for lobsters from Wegman's instead. They were still delicious and I discovered that Tom is an excellent cook!

On Sunday, after a stellar gluten free pancake and egg breakfast, at my suggestion (what was I thinking...), I had my first fly fishing lesson. Tom likened my suggestion to the Lyle Lovett song "Her First Mistake." Apparently I had just made mine. :-) Tom is quite the fly fishing fanatic and I wanted to see what this fishing thing was all about. Fortunately, he is also a very patient instructor. We headed to the creek down the street from his house so I could put on some waders, learn how to cross a stream (on my feet), and practice my backcasting. It was a fun time but I don't think I'll be trading in my cap and goggles anytime soon. :-)

All in all, it was an awesome weekend, definitely the best "first date" I've ever been on, and I really hated to leave. About 15 min it to the drive home, I reached into my bag for my directions and tucked in with the directions was a note saying what a good time he had that weekend and a picture that he'd taken of us on Friday night. What a guy! He thought of absolutely everything all weekend, down to the smallest detail, and has to be the most thoughtful guy I have ever met!

Two weeks until our next visit. Ugh. Nobody ever said long-distance relationships were easy.

Inauguration Day - January 20, 2009

2009-01-20T18:01:00.001-08:00

What an amazing day! Yet another fun time on the national mall, witnessing history in the making. Here are some personal highlights from the day.

How many layers do you need to stay warm while standing outside in 20 degree temperatures with wind chill factors below that for 6 hours? Not sure I would say I was warm exactly, but I ended up with 1 coolmax turtleneck, 1 smart wool cycling jersey, 1 fleece pullover, 1 wind blocking cycling jacket, 1 well insulated winter coat, 1 cashmere scarf, 1 pair of fleece lined wind blocking cycling tights, 1 pair of jeans, 2 pairs of smart wool socks, hiking shoes, 2 pairs of gloves, 1 fleece lined wool hat, a hood, and some "hotties" in my shoes and I managed.
We scored a super nice metrobus driver (most of them are super nice on a regular basis actually) that picked us up on the walk to the Shirlington bus station. Next stop DC! From the time we left my house to the time we got off the bus on C St. SW took an amazing 15 minutes.
The volunteers, today and all weekend, were so happy and cheerful they were just fun to be around.
The energy on the mall was incredible - people from all over the country and the world talking, sharing stories of how far they had come, and how long they'd been standing in the cold (some since 4am).
A fantastic inaugural address that captured the moment perfectly and gives me hope for the future. Having read Lincoln's second inaugural address the night before, I noticed some common themes with Obama's speech - specifically the need to work together to rebuild our country and the need to reach out to other nations with respect.
Frauke, overcome by emotion as President Obama finished his inaugural address, thanking everyone for voting! She received several hugs from complete strangers.
Celebratory cartwheels on the mall to celebrate a new President with a vision for a better tomorrow.
Walking home over the 14th Street bridge and down 395 - a route typically only traversed in a car, and doing the Obama Dance along the way.
Arriving at Carlyle in Shirlington, about 4 miles and 90 minutes later for heat, food, and a TV to watch the parade.

It was an amazing day.

More pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/ironjeh/Inauguration2009#.

MLK Day of Service - January 19, 2009

2009-01-19T17:30:00.000-08:00

President-Elect Obama declared today a National Day of Service, in addition to it also being Martin Luther King day. Inspired after the phenomenal inaugural concert last night, Theresa and I decided to head back into DC today to volunteer at RFK stadium to assemble care packages for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We weren't the only ones! The real volunteers, who were organizing all of us, kept thanking us over and over again for coming, yet we felt like we barely did anything! They deserved the thanks! We showed up for our designated 1 hr. shift to make repeated passes through an assembly line like trick or treaters on Halloween, acquiring the designated contents from volunteers, sealing our bags shut, and returning to the end of the line to do it again. Our volunteer leaders asked us each to do at least 5 bags so that they could meet the goal of 75,000 bags by the end of the day. After we filled 5 bags, we headed over to the letter writing station to write thank you notes to the soldiers.

It was nice not only to be helping in a small way, but to be involved with a volunteer effort that recognizes the sacrifices our service men and women are making on behalf of all of us. These wars have been going on for years, and I'm ashamed to say that this is the first time I've done anything aside from donate money to help support the troops. It's nice to see the President-Elect calling for everyone to take responsibility and participate in making this country a better place. He may have Messiah status, but he can't do it alone.

The best part of the afternoon was our dance lesson! Yes, you read that right. Before we were allowed to fill a single bag, we had to learn the "Obama Dance." Our dedicated volunteer leaders led us in Obama cheers and coached us to Obama Dance move perfection. It got a little bit competitive with the other volunteer groups in the stadium, but fun was had by all. I captured it on video below.

There is a great spirit in Washington, DC right now. There are so many people in town, yet everyone is in a good mood, happy to help a stranger, and join together for the greater good. I just hope it lasts past inauguration day!

We Are One

2009-01-18T18:49:00.000-08:00

I love living in America. I also love living in Washington, DC. (On non-working, non-rush hour days anyway!). I took the metro into the city today with Theresa and Frauke for the "We Are One" Inaugural concert for Barack Obama at the Lincoln Memorial. It was the experience of a lifetime, and one I won't soon forget.

The opportunity to stand on the mall, shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of thousands of my closest friends and be inspired by both the words and music of performers from around the world was electrifying. I can't adequately put it into words. The mere fact that there were so many people in once place and that everyone was polite and courteous was a monumental feat in and of itself. Obama has inspired people across the globe of all races and nationalities to join together and rise up to meet the daunting challenges ahead, and it was clear on the mall today that we were all there because we were all in some way inspired by our President-Elect. There were repeated chants of "O-bam-a...O-bam-a." I had to laugh when the opening speaker asked us to remember that Obama "is a human being, not the Messiah." But in the hearts of those there today, he has Messiah status for sure.

The performers were awesome. It was a rare opportunity to see performers together that likely never share the same stage, let alone the same song, but in the spirit of the event, they came together as one for some thrilling renditions of favorite tunes such as One Love, Lean on Me, The Rising, Shower The People, American Pie, Shout, We Shall Be Free, Pink Houses, In the Name of Love, This Land is Your Land, and many others. I really just cannot explain the experience. I feel like I was part of something magical, and just maybe caught a glimpse of what the 1963 March on Washington or Woodstock (minus the pot and the sex) were like. This year has seen the country come together, united behind arguably the most inspiring President-Elect ever, and at moments today, I was nearly moved to tears. I wish my dad was alive to see it. I think he'd be inspired too (even though Gloria Estefan was not among the performers). On our way back to the metro, Theresa and I did celebratory cartwheels on the mall - a tradition that started years ago at a 3rd of July concert. What an incredible day.

Girls Night

2009-01-05T17:00:00.000-08:00

The great thing about the holidays is the people visiting from out of town that you don't see as often as you'd like to. Emily and Lisa - my former slacker lane mates from Tues/Thurs swim practices both moved away almost 2 years ago. Emily to Vienna, Austria and Lisa to San Francisco. But as luck would have it, they were both home visiting family for the holidays and we managed to have a slacker lane reunion - and NOT at the pool!

What started out as plans to just meet up for dinner on what was my last day of vacation, turned into dinner at a great Greek place near my house that I had no idea even existed, followed by a run through Blockbuster for a movie rental, a quick trip by Theresa's house to pick up a wetsuit she is generously giving Emily, and then back to my house for a crazy fun girls night!

I had a left over bottle of champagne from New Years Eve that the girls kindly agreed to kill for me. So we had drinks while trying to help Emily try on the wetsuit to make sure it fit. Then we decided that Emily, being out of the country for way too long, desperately needed a Facebook page so that we can keep better tabs on her! So after snapping the following quick picture of her in her new wetsuit, glass of champagne in hand, we set about the business of setting up her profile.

Once that mission was accomplished, we settled in with our bottle of champagne to watch Sex and the City. Love that movie! It was such a fun, random night. I'd forgotten just how much I missed having them around until I got to see them again. I think my new years resolution is to have more crazy times like this where you literally just laugh all night.

If only I had a picture...

2009-01-04T08:58:00.000-08:00

While cleaning out my grandmother's house in Williamsburg on Friday, I came across several entertaining finds. I wish I'd had my camera with me to document them. My favorites include:

The many packages of food, with cardboard packaging that likely pre-dates me. My Aunt Janet found one item with an expiration date of 1978.
The box of cake flour that had been taped shut with brown packing tape, and clearly had made the move from Helmsdale Lane in Alexandria more than 12 years ago.
My Aunt Janet's report card from the University of Richmond where she got a "D" in biology (and the reaction on her kids faces when I showed it to them).
A disposable styrofoam coffee cup (with plastic lid) from the Holiday Inn that had been washed and put away in a cabinet with the coffee mugs.
Countless bags of chex mix stashed in nearly every kitchen cabinet.
The random food items placed in cabinets with pots and pans, glassware, etc. My favorite - tupperware containers with lids closed tight, containing unopened bags of chex mix, candy corn, etc. As if she ran out of places to store the chex mix so she had to start putting it inside the containers.
An overwhelming number of half burned candles.
A plastic bag containing every greeting card ever sent to my great grandfather while he was in the nursing home. (He died in 1996.)
A sewing kit, still in its box, with packaging circa 1970 that declared "as seen on TV."
Several plastic scoops from the powdered laundry detergent.
A lacquerware box from Okinawa full of spare Christmas ornament hooks and a couple lost scrabble pieces.

And I'm sure this is only the beginning.

Christmas & New Years

2009-01-01T16:26:00.000-08:00

My camera hasn't gotten much use lately. Not for lack of trying though! I had it ready at both Christmas and New Years parties, but barely picked it up.

(Frank Mom, Me)

I mostly took pictures of Maggie the devil dog on Christmas, though I must say, she was well behaved for the most part. The tranquilizers helped. :-) Jess and TJ came with their puppy Dixie, who at just 5 months old, is better behaved than Maggie could ever hope to be.

(Maggie thinking..."Ahh...it's a much better view of the counters from up here...let's see, what should I go after next...")

(Those people tell lies about me, I never get into trouble!)

(Jess & Dixie)

At New Years, I forgot all about my camera until the end of the night, when Emily showed me how to use the timer so that we could take a picture of the last remaining revelers at the end of the night. All in all, it was a fun holiday week.

(Brett, Matt, Emily, Marj, Me)

O Christmas Tree

2008-12-24T12:37:00.001-08:00

I love my Christmas tree. It is so beautiful! Earlier this month, I went across the street to the Fairlington United Methodist Church the day the trees were delivered, walked right past the rows of enormous trees and asked the guys if they had any small ones. Being probably a little to independent for my own good, I like to get a tree that I can carry and set up all by myself. One of the guys walks me over the the row of 4 small trees (though not as small as I usually get) and I pick one out. Then when we got to my car I pulled out my sole bungee cord, some twine, and a pair of scissors to cut it (that independent thing again...) . The guy looked at me like I was from another planet, "You brought your own twine? And scissors?" Well I didn't want to find the perfect tree and not be able to get it home!! Then another guy walks over carrying some twine, and the guy said again "She brought her own. And scissors too." They had a good laugh at my expense. But I got my tree, and is beautiful. It's always so fun to rediscover the ornaments I've acquired from my various travels - most of which I'd forgotten all about.

Being a Tourist in My Own Hometown

2008-11-23T18:50:00.000-08:00

I was able to score free tickets through work for a tour of the Capitol, including the new visitors center which does not open to the public until Dec. 2. So I grabbed a few friends who had never toured the Capitol and we played tourists for the day. It was about 30 degrees outside with a biting wind, but thankfully we found a pretty close parking spot and didn't have to stand in line very long.

The new visitors center is very nice, and includes an "Exhibition Hall" where they have models of DC from the time the first capitol building was built all the way through the present, so you can see how the city evolved over the centuries. A statue of King Kamehameha was front and center in the new visitors center, I recognized him right away. I couldn't tell you who any of the other statues from the various states were!

Our tour began with a brief video in a theater with stadium style seating, and gave an overview of the legislative branch. We then went into the rotunda and what was the house floor in the original building (which burned during the War of 1812) and is now National Statuary Hall and displays statues of notable figures from each state. There are nameplates in the floor that mark where Abraham Lincoln and John Quincy Adams sat.

The rotunda is gorgeous - though after seeing way too many OLD European domes, it looked so new!! There is a beautiful frieze at the base of the dome which depicts the history of the U.S. from Christopher Columbus through the Wright Brothers. It took 75 years and three different artists to complete.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed the see the current Senate or House floors - you have to get tickets from your Congressman to attend a session in order to do that. We did get to go down into the crypt though where there is a compass in the floor that marks the point at which DC is divided into its 4 quadrants.

Overall, it was a nice tour and we all agreed, it was nice to be there fewer people - I expect the place will be mobbed once it is open to the public!

Happy Birthday To Me!!

2008-10-26T17:02:00.001-07:00

So it seems this year I'm getting totally spoiled and am having a birthday week! The celebrations kicked off last night with a party at Theresa's. It was so fun! Diego made sangria (my favorite!!) and Theresa got me a Carvel ice cream cake (minus the gluten filled crunchies in the middle)! It was awesome! I love ice cream cakes. Remember the days of Baskin Robbins ice cream birthday cakes with little Cabbage Patch Kid figurines in the top. Yep, about age 10 I think. :-)

Frauke, Steve, Shannon, and Mike were so thoughtful, making gluten free dishes to bring to the party and then giving me a box of gluten free goodies - most of which I've never tried before. Believe it or not, the gluten free market is growing and there are now more products out there than I can keep up with. But it is always fun to try new things and I now have a few weeks ahead of me of testing out new cookies, granola, pancake mix, and pasta! Yummy!

My actual birthday falls on bar night this week, which means a Happy Birthday chocolate waffle! Woo hoo! I'm also determined to visit Hello Cupcake, as my birthday is the perfect excuse, and then on Sunday my mom is cooking me a birthday dinner.

No question about it, I'm spoiled. And very lucky to have such awesome friends and family!

Ein Tag mit Pferden

2008-10-19T14:25:00.001-07:00

Pferd, as I came to learn this weekend, is the German word for horse, and is actually pronounced "fiat". My German vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds!

Yesterday, I helped Frauke put her bike together, and was told that following the bike assembly would be a "surprise with Frauke & Steve" and to dress "casual but nice" and to bring a camera. I was so intrigued! For the life of me, I could not figure out where we were going, but when I asked if jeans were acceptable, I was told no.

So after mostly putting her bike together, Frauke and Steve put Paula (another of Frauke's friends who attended the wedding in Germany) and I in the car and started driving West. We still had no idea where we were going. Once we turned off the interstate though, we were informed that we were going to watch the Gold Cup in The Plains. Yay! It's been years since I've been to the Gold Cup and it's always a fun time!
Steve got tickets through his company for the VIP section where we had an open bar and lots of good food! It was a gorgeous (though brisk) day with the colorful leaves providing a scenic backdrop for the races. Clearly we should have bet our 401(k)s since we picked several of the winners just based on their cool names, such as "Scuba Steve" and "Bubble Economy". Frauke was desperately routing for the German pferde, but no such luck, they never made it to the winner's circle.

It was a fun day, that included Steve getting asked at the gas station on the way home if he were "interested in new opportunities", by a guy who was chatting him up because he had a German car and Steve had a German wife and clearly they had loads in common! :-)

Off to Europe Once Again!

2008-10-13T17:06:00.000-07:00

Determined to use up every last second of vacation time this year, I just returned from a trip to Austria and Germany. My swimming friends Frauke and Steve got married in Quickborn (a suburb of Hamburg) on October 4th, and I decided it was a good excuse for another international trip. (You can never have too many!) Since my friend Emily (also from swimming) moved to Vienna last year, I decided to visit her too. Who knew joining a masters swim team could result in such great friends and fun trips!

Vienna

My first stop was in Vienna. Emily met me at the airport, pumped me full of coffee, and biked/walked me all over the city. It was awesome! Until that part where I severely sprained my ankle (I actually thought I had broken it) on my first full day of a 10 day trip! Ugh! Emily has a great account of my 3 days in Vienna on her blog, so rather than retype everything I will refer you to her site and just include a few pictures!

Note: My only requirement of Emily for this visit was that she take me to an Austrian Masters practice. So fun to learn swimming terms in German! I thought I was being really smart by learning to count to 10 in German before arriving (I practiced daily on my bus rides to and from work). But why did it not occur to me to learn 25, 50, 100, 200, etc.!!! Stupid, stupid, stupid!

My favorite new words (with spelling errors, no doubt):

Einschwimmen (warm up)
Abschlag (catch-up drill)
Schnell (fast)
Locker (easy)
Crawl (freestyle)
Brust (breaststroke)

And that's about the extent of it....still can't get a handle on how to say 25!

Hamburg

Next stop was Hamburg for the wedding. Frauke's father, H-J, nicely picked me up at the airport. Due to my obvious limping, I felt compelled to tell him what happened to my foot. As any good parent would, he suggested that he take me to the hospital, but not wanting to test out the German (or Austrian for that matter) health care system, I politely declined. I figured all they would tell me to do would be to stay off of it, and let's face it, not like that's going to happen when I'm on a tour of European cities. Frauke and her parents did round up an ace bandage, ice packs, some home remedy treatments, and even a set of crutches for me. Who needs doctors when you have the Nitschkes? They were awesome and I am forever grateful.

Not to be deterred by a twice its normal size and all shades of purple foot, I went with the rest of the American contingent (about a dozen of us, consisting of swimming friends, Steve's family, and a few other friends of Frauke) for a tour of downtown Hamburg led by H-J. It was so nice to have such insider knowledge of the city. H-J had a career in the shipping industry and knew the harbor like the back of his hand. Thankfully the sun shined for most of the afternoon (or almost shined - it wasn't raining so we were thankful!), meaning we could do most of our tour on foot. Note: cobblestones are really not fun with a messed up foot!

Polterabend

Friday, the day before the wedding, was the "Polterabend." This is traditional German wedding-eve party that is characterized by guests smashing porcelain into the ground in front of the entrance to the building to bring the couple good luck (and so that they can prove they can clean up together).

SO MUCH FUN!! The party had an American theme to it with burgers, fries, etc. Frauke and Steve had to participate in a few games (for which I was a judge) to determine if they were compatible for marriage and thankfully they were!

Frauke's laptop music library was hooked up to the speakers for dancing, and we were happy alternating with her German friends back and forth between playing American and German songs. This was my first opportunity to meet many of Frauke's German friends - most of whom she swam with in Germany. Right away that gave us something in common to talk about (thankfully they could speak English because my German is non-existent). It seems in Germany, swimming for life saving is a sport and some of her friends compete.

Wedding Day

Saturday was the big day. I think Frauke and Steve broke all the rules. :-) First of all, they technically got married in VA on 8/8/08 at the Arlington County courthouse. Second, Steve had already seen Frauke's dress because she emailed him pictures of it when she was trying to decide which one to buy. And third, in the middle of the ceremony - before the minister said "you may now kiss the bride" (which he never did end up saying) they kissed each other!

It was a beautiful ceremony. It is German tradition that the bride and groom walk down the aisle together to enter the church. There was also a part in the middle of the service where friends and family went to the front of the church and offered their wishes for Frauke and Steve to have a happy marriage, which was a nice touch (even if I didn't understand most of what was being said). The ceremony was in both German and English. Frauke has asked me to read the english translation of the sermon, which I gladly did, and I think the only word I messed up on was Marienkirche - the name of the church. My pronunciation was not the best.

The bride and groom arrived at the reception site in the back of a horse trailer. Seriously! It was the funniest thing! Nice, upholstered chairs from Frauke's parents living room were placed in the trailer for them to sit in for the ride. Apparently this was rather risky, as they could have gotten a ticket if they'd gotten caught and potentially not even have made it to the reception, but clearly getting married the first time on 8/8/08 brought them luck and they arrived just fine.

The reception was held in a beautiful dining room and the food was delicious (and gluten free, and dairy free, and vegan, and soy free, and oil free....they had a quite a list to accommodate all their guests like me with crazy diet restrictions!). I've come to realize that wedding receptions in the U.S. are in fast forward! German weddings go until 5am, so the courses of food and speeches are spread throughout the night. Tradition is that the cake is brought out at midnight - and this one came out with sparklers attached to it so it made quite an entrance! It was a tiered ice cream cake, made by Frauke's sister, and was therefore the first wedding cake I've been able to eat in over 5 years! Yay! And the bride and groom on top of the cake each had swimming goggles on, which was totally cute!

I lasted until about 2:30am, and even managed a little dancing on my sore foot. Thankfully I had thrown some flat shoes into my suitcase, as heels were out of the question!

Berlin

After a recovery day, H-J took us to Berlin to show us around. He had lived there many years ago and Frauke had gone to law school in Berlin. It was a very interesting city and I wish I'd had a little more time there. It was great to hear insights from H-J and Frauke on what it was like before the wall came down and of the challenges associated with reunification. For example, how do you treat people that committed violent acts that were not considered crimes under a communist regime, but are considered crimes in a democratic society?

I guess because I didn't have a map (I had two fantastic tour guides!) I had a hard time visualizing what was once once West Berlin and what was once East Berlin. It seems the river was always the dividing line, but as a part of the reconstruction efforts, they have diverted the river, which therefore had me totally confused. I was surprised that all of the beautiful architecture and historic sights were in East Berlin.

My swimming friends remained in Berlin to continue the rest of their vacations, but no such luck for me. Out of vacation time, I returned to Hamburg for one last evening in the hotel bar with new friends Paula and Jeff and returned home the next day. It was fun to play "Monday Morning Quarterback" on the plane with Frauke and Steve, assessing what went well and what could have been better with all the wedding festivities. My assessment - it was perfect. I had a great time!

8am the following morning I visited the doctor, who x-rayed my foot from 6 different angles but found no breaks. Good news I suppose, but I hear sprains often take longer to heal than breaks. No turkey trots or jingle bell runs for me this year. Not that that is anything new I suppose! At least I can still bike and have been enjoying the perfect fall (almost summerlike) weather while it lasts.

Click here for the full set of pictures.

Hello Cupcake - Goodbye Dense, Dry GF Cupcake

2008-09-05T15:32:00.000-07:00

After reading the rave reviews of a new cupcake shop that just opened up last week in Dupont Circle, I decided I had to taste for myself. This is no ordinary cupcake shop you see, in addition to their regular gluten filled varieties, they sell gluten free cupcakes!

http://www.hellocupcakeonline.com/

So while I was in the middle of reading a very dull, dense report at work yesterday, all I could think about was how I had to try these cupcakes. (Yes, I'm slightly food/sweet obsessed.) After calling to confirm that at 2pm they still had some GF cupcakes left, I headed for the metro (boring reading material in hand for the ride).

45 min and $15 later ($12 for 4 cupcakes (why go all that way for just one?!) and $3 for the metro fare) I opened up my box of cupcakes and devoured what was absolutely THE BEST cupcake I have EVER had - gluten filled or gluten free. It was phenomenal! Who knew anything made out of rice flour could taste so good? You have no idea the challenge of gluten free baking. I was in absolute heaven. The flavor this week for the GF cupcakes was carrot cake, one of my favorites. I can hardly wait until Monday when I will call and find out what next week's flavor is. I'm hoping for something with chocolate!

And though I was tempted to keep every one of my cupcakes for myself, feeling so deprived of good cupcakes for so long, I dropped one off at my GF friend Linda's house, who declared I must be the nicest person she knows. Awwww.... She too thought it was the best cupcake she'd ever had.

So, yet another story to add to the list of the lengths (and expense) I go to for good sweets!

And after a good dose of sugar, I finally managed to slug through that report.

The Great Dog Paddle

2008-09-03T18:15:00.001-07:00

Labor Day in Fairlington is the last day of the summer pool season, and the last 15 minutes the pool is open is designated the Dog Swim. All the canine neighbors head to the pool for some good wet fun.

I honestly had no idea there were so many dogs in my neighborhood. I have never seen so many wet dogs in one place before - it was chaos, but so funny to watch!

Since I was babysitting Sam all weekend, he got to go to the dog swim. After hearing all the stories about him at the lake in Wisconsin this summer, I had high expectations that he'd be the first dog in and would have by far the best dog paddle around.

I guess if you're a dog, pools and lakes are somewhat different, starting with the fact that there's no beach entry to the pool. Sam was not about to just jump off the deck into the pool, and Lori and I were initially unsuccessful at enticing him with tennis balls. So we headed to the baby pool, thinking that would get him started. Only he didn't want to have anything to do with that either. But once Lori went and stood in the middle of the baby pool, he started to feel differently and with a little push from me, in he went. And out almost as fast!

Next we moved onto the big kid pool. With a good push from Lori, Sam fell right into the pool and swam after a ball, demonstrating a perfect dog paddle that would have won him a gold medal in the Doggie Olympics. We will have to work on his start though!

The Office Olympics

2008-08-28T12:49:00.000-07:00

So this summer I finally had the opportunity to bring the Office Olympics (which were held at SRI) to EEI, complete with synchronized chair dancing. :-) I had been planning this for 4 years!!

Each division competed as its own country (complete with national anthem - ours was BTO's "Taking Care of Business") and sent representatives to participate in a variety of individual and team events such as the Equestrian Event, Wastepaper Basketball, and the Pencil Javelin Throw, to name a few.

The Olympics kicked off with a pizza lunch at the Opening Ceremonies and concluded with an ice cream social for the Closing Ceremonies, and as I said after the Games at SRI - I've never had so much fun at work!!

Somehow I got talked into participating in the Synchronized Chair Dancing with others in my division, which of course was captured on video. (username eeivideo password edison)

http://www.youtube.com/my_playlists?pi=0&ps=20&sf=&sa=0&sq=&dm=0&p=B85028082C087A00

The judging was as scandalous as the Olympics Gymnastics judging, but what else would you expect! Our team "BOGolia"wound up with the bronze medal (reasonable) but the team that should have won ("AndTigua" - our Accounting and Technology group) had the misfortune of going first, and thus finished last. Definitely check out their routine if you get a chance. The Marshall Islands (our Communications group) took the silver medal and their performance is entertaining as well. If you can't tell, most of our songs have an electric theme to them (since I work for an electricity organization) and the A&T groups songs all have to do with accounting and technology.

FXCM Summer Party

2008-08-25T17:52:00.000-07:00

For the second year in a row, Stan was nice enough to host and Frauke was nice enough to plan the FXCM summer party. It was again tons of fun with great food, great friends, and great music! The house band put on a concert - though with the last night of Olympic swimming on TV, most party goers left in time to get home and see the U.S. men win the gold medal in the 400 free relay. Go USA!

A Deep Creek Wedding

2008-08-25T17:37:00.000-07:00

My friends Kyle and Laura got married a couple weeks ago. (I've been consumed by Olympics viewing and am quite behind on my posting!) Set in beautiful Deep Creek Lake, it was a spectacular weekend. The weather was a perfect 70 and sunny and all the festivities were outside. Friday night was barbeque and bluegrass, Saturday was the wedding day bike ride in the morning, followed by the church ceremony and lakeside reception.

Haig rode is penny farthing for the bike ride and did an amazing job navigating the hills despite having a front wheel as tall as Theresa and no brakes!

The Perfect Ending to the Trip

2008-08-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

Theresa and I scored unrequested upgrades to business class for the flight home!! Woo hoo!! Shortly after passing through security in Munich to get our connecting flight to DC, we heard our names on the loudspeaker. We go to the desk, where they take our tickets and give us new ones. We looked at them over and over again while standing in the line to board for the economy section. Row 8 and 9, I knew that had to be at the front of the plane, but didn't see anything at first that indicated business class. But the longer I stared at the ticket, growing increasingly impatient with the long line to board, I found the word "business" right at the top of the ticket. SCORE!!! I pointed it out to Theresa and we simultaneously stepped right out of line and high fived as we passed through the business class boarding area (no line). What a difference it makes to spend 8 hours in business class as opposed to economy... if only I could be so lucky on every flight. We think it had something to do with the airlines overloading the United flights because of a Lufthansa strike.

Our Last Day of Vacation....

2008-08-02T19:06:00.000-07:00

It had to come eventually, and our last day of our 3 week vacation had arrived (way to soon). Back in Warsaw, Tammy, Theresa and I headed to Wilanow Palace, built for Jan Sobieski in the 1600s. Amazingly, the palace survived WWII, and now showcases a large collection of European art. After touring a couple of palaces in Warsaw now, Theresa and I realized when you tour historic homes in the U.S. such as Monticello or Mt. Vernon, you see the house as it was used by those who lived in it. At Monticello you see Jefferson's study, his bedroom, etc. They try to recreate the house as it would have been when he lived there. In Poland however, the palaces are essentially galleries for Polish and European Art. Warsaw was destroyed in WWII, yet much of the Art was saved. The Poles are very proud of this and the Palaces serve as a location to display the art.

After our palace Tour, we were STARVING!! I'm beginning to think being a tourist burns more calories than swimming, biking and running. Naturally, when we passed a Mexican restaurant, we stopped dead in our tracks and convinced Tammy to join in the international Mexican food adventure. Theresa's assessment: edible, but they use ketchup for salsa. (And there didn't seem to be much alcohol in the drinks either...)

Next, we had to have ice cream. For a week, I'd seen people walking around with these huge tall soft serve ice cream cones. I stupidly tried the gelato the first day in Warsaw. The gelato itself was fine, but there was something clearly lost in translation because I ended up with 3 times as much whip cream in the cup than I did ice cream! This time, at Theresa's suggestion, I got the cone (just like everybody else does), and since the ice cream was so tall, I just ate it down to the cone and then threw the rest away. It was yummy!

After our ice cream, we headed back to the apartment to pick up Heather who worked all day. We went to dinner and then to a lounge for drinks. It was a great ending to a great vacation that resulted in making several new friends, reconnecting with old ones, and cramming as much exploration into 3 weeks as humanly possible!

We saw this poster on the wall in the lounge - apparently the Poles like ketchup!!

Swimming in the Baltic!

2008-08-02T18:46:00.000-07:00

Some people keep a track of every country they've visited, I'm thinking maybe I'll keep track of every body of water I've swum in. Gdansk is right on the Baltic Sea, and just a short train ride away is the beach town of Sopot. On our last day in Gdansk, we headed there to soak up the sun (and let our bank accounts recover from the amber damage). It was an absolutely gorgeous day - perfect for relaxing on the beach. After all, being a tourist for 3 weeks is hard work!

(If only I'd brought my goggles...my arms were desperate for a good workout!)

Before heading back to Gdansk, we went to this fish restaurant that was recommended in both Heather's and Theresa's guide books. When we got there, there was an indoor restaurant (with a huge line) or an outdoor stand. We opted for the outdoor stand, since we had limited time before our train.

Heather translated the various fish names for us, and we placed our order. For just fish - that was really all you could get at the outdoor stand, other than cabbage salad which just wasn't high on any of our lists. Anyway, we clearly had no idea what we were doing. It took forever, and when our fish arrived we realized that we were supposed to specify the quantity (in grams) of fish we wanted. They charged something like 7 Zloty (about $3.50) per 100g. Well, since we didn't specify I guess, they just gave us however much they wanted .... as in A LOT! Heather had an entire trout (head and all...) and the rest of us had huge fillets of halibut. But apparently our stomachs were in fact bigger than our eyes because we managed to eat it all. And it was in fact, delicious - easily the best halibut I've ever had.

Amber, Amber, and More Amber

2008-08-02T18:23:00.000-07:00

After an overnight train from Krakow that took longer than seemed necessary, Theresa and I finally arrived in Gdansk where we met up with Heather and her friend Tammy.

We were again unsure which train stop to get off at, since Gdansk has several, but a nice guy on the train who was from Gdansk offered to let us know when we arrived at the correct stop and once off the train, even looked up the address of our hotel on his blackberry and walked us there. He also explained to us that a festival was going on in Gdansk for the next 3 weeks and that there would be fireworks to celebrate that night. As I learned (after the fact), it was the St. Dominic Fair, "the largest trade and cultural outdoor event in Poland and one of the largest such events in Europe." http://www.mtgsa.pl/e4u.php/16,en, The festival included street vendors, carnival rides, a parade, music performances, and fireworks. I think half of Poland must of been there and it was fun to see.

Right from the get go, we were on an amber shopping mission. Tammy was the lead shopper/fashion consultant and Heather was the master price negotiator. Theresa and I had managed not to buy much of anything up until Gdansk, but Tammy's shopping fever was contagious and our bank accounts were definitely feeling the pain by the end of the weekend. And Tammy may need a 12 step program to recover from her amber addiction. :-)

A Side Trip to the Wieliczka Salt Mine

2008-07-30T18:40:00.000-07:00

On our final day in Krakow, we decided to take a trip to the Wieliczka Salt Mine. Still a working mine to this day, it is also a museum that takes visitors 135 meters below the surface (via 800+ stairs!) to see numerous salt carvings. It was pretty cool! Way more interesting that castles or churches! Though to be fair, there is a chapel 135 meters down that even includes a statue of Pope John Paul II. The carvings were amazing, and it's even more amazing to think that they were all done by the miners!

Once back in Krakow, it was raining (of course) so we managed to find an Irish pub that was showing the Tour de France. It was a great way to get out of the rain! Overall, Krakow was a nice town, but if it had been sunny I'd have liked it a lot better.

A Side Trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau

2008-07-30T18:11:00.000-07:00

While in Krakow, we made a trip to the museum at Auschwitz-Birkenau. While not an uplifting or fun vacation activity, it was definitely worthwhile. Everyone should go at some point in their lives. It was horrifying to see and hear what life was like for the people who were imprisoned there and the images still haunt me. I just can't believe anyone could be so cruel as to inflict that sort of torture on other human beings, and what truly astounds me is that similar atrocities still occur in parts of the world today, yet we do nothing to stop it.

Three Rainy Days in Krakow

2008-07-30T17:57:00.000-07:00

After a full day in Warsaw, Theresa and I took the train over to Krakow. The train trip was an experience - since the Polish trains don't announce the stops. But thanks to our careful attention and a nice gentleman who confirmed that we indeed had arrived in Krakow, we managed to get off at the right stop!

Shortly after we arrived it started raining, and it rained for practically the entire time we were there - despite the hotel weather forecast in the elevator of "84 and sunny" for Friday. Try 65 and rain and hail. :-)

We spent the first day getting acquainted with the Old Town in Krakow and attended a Chopin concert in one of the local churches that evening put on by a local pianist along with a string quintet. They were fantastic! Though Theresa and I definitely brought the average age of the audience down a few notches....

After our concert, we tested out Krakow's Mexican food. Not bad!! Though the traditional rice and beans side dishes were replaced with cabbage salad. A little different. :-)

Lubie Warszawa!

2008-07-22T11:33:00.001-07:00

I love Warsaw! It is beautiful, and is definitely my favorite spot so far on this trip, though Krakow and Gdansk are still to come. We are staying with Heather from FXCM, who has been the best hostess! She works at the U.S. Embassy, so she took us into work today to meet with the Community Liaison person who gave us maps of the city and outlined where we should go.

We started at 8:30am, first touring the University of Warsaw Botanical Gardens and the Lazienki park - which has a statue of Chopin and endless shady walking paths. Within the park we also toured the Palac Lazienkowski (Palace on the Water), which was originally a bath house that was converted into a palace in the 1700s. The park is also known for its peakcock residents - we saw (and heard) several.

Next, we strolled around the Old Town, had lunch, and visited the Ghetto Heroes Monument and the Warsaw Uprising Monument. We finished off the afternoon with a visit to the Marie Curie museum, to satisfy my science geek side.

I was impressed with amount of wide open courtyards in the center of Warsaw, as well as all the parks. It truly is a beautiful city, and unlike Switzerland, is not crawling with gobs of tourists. It was also interesting to see the contrast between the beautifully restored Old Town (Warsaw was obliterated in WWII) with nearby communist era buildings, which had drastically less charm.

We ended the day with a trip to the mall in search of Polish soccer jerseys for Theresa's family members (no luck yet) and happened into the health food store, where I picked up a few gluten free snacks. We returned to Heather's apartment for daiquiris, dinner, and a movie, enjoying the rare night IN on this trip. Overall, it was a fantastic day, and thankfully we have another day to spend in Warsaw toward the end of the trip.

A Quick Trip to Bern

2008-07-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

On the way out of Switzerland, we decided to stop in Bern for lunch and a quick stroll to see one more town. While Bern was nice, we managed to cover the entire town in about 2 hours, including a trip to see the "Bear Pit" which we still don't quite get. Sort of Bear Zoo in the center of town. We strolled into one church, where Theresa immediately declared "Well this isn't a Catholic church." The way she said it was so funny, as if why would you go into it if its not Catholic? Turns out it was a Lutheran church, but still pretty nonetheless. Some of us are less discriminating than others! :-)

After spending our last few francs on ice cream and M&Ms in the Zurich airport for dinner, we headed to Warsaw - rather thankful to be done with Switzerland and looking forward to seeing another country that was bound to be different.

(Objects in picture are smaller than they appear. This is surely the most expensive bag of M&Ms I have ever bought.)

Victory at last!

2008-07-20T08:26:00.000-07:00

Theresa and I finally found a great hiking trail with barely anybody on it! :-) (Remind me never to come to Europe in July again...) We took the train up to a mountain town called Murren, where we followed "The Flower Trail" for about and hour and a half or so, mostly uphill, through gourgeous alpine meadows. While the flowers seemed to be past their peak, the views of the Eiger and Jungfraujoch mountains were stunning. The trail was complete with benches along the way so that we could sit, have a snack, and just enjoy the view, and ended at a restaurant where we had drinks and some "hash browns with ham and melted cheese" that hit the spot!

The best part of the hike was at the end, right in front of the restuarant, where there was a path of varying types of rocks and stones that led to a water bath. The instructions were to take off your shoes and walk barefoot over the rocks to stimulate the nerve endings in your feet. The walk ended with a ice water bath, that you were to "walk through like a stork" and when you feel "prickly" you're done. Naturally, I made Turbo go first! :-) But after her rave reviews of how good her feet felt afterwards, I had to follow.

And now we are just chillin', watching the Tour, and listening to the rain outside.

I Summited My First Mountain!

2008-07-19T14:50:00.000-07:00

Diego - quit reading. You'll be horrified.

Clearly Theresa and I should have done a little more research before embarking on our hiking today. We decided that since it was a spectacularly beautiful day with clear blue skies, we would first head up to Jungfraujoch - "The Top of Europe" to see the great views, and then do some hiking in the afternoon.

We knew that our Swiss Rail Pass would get us about half way up the mountain, but that at some point we'd have to purchase a train ticket to take us to the top. No big deal I thought - how much could that cost, $15-20? And how long could it take, 1/2 hr.?

Well about 2 and a 1/2 hours and 100 CH (roughly $100) later each, we reached the summit at 11,333 ft. -- along with about 11,000 or so of our closest friends. When the train ticket enforcer woman told me it would be 100 CH I thought, well, it better be a good view! Little did we know, that this was basically disneyland on top of the mountain. While there was a viewing platform with spectacular views, there was also an "ice palace" and "husky sledging" and skiing (yes, even in July) - all presumably for additional fees. There were at least 3 restaurants, including "Bollywood," an Indian restaurant -- at the top of the highest peak in Europe. Who'd have thought. Couldn't find one in all of Lugano - but on Jungfraujoch, no problem. The place was so mobbed with tourists that about 20 min was all either of us could stand and we caught the next train back down the mountain.

(These picutures cost 200 CH.)

We took the train 1/2 way down to a town called Kleine Scheidegg and then decided to hike the rest of the way to Grindelwald. It was about a 3 hr. hike - all downhill. Theresa and I would have given anything for some flat or uphill - the descents just kill the legs! We even confronted a few more stairs. Ugh. Arriving in Grindelwald was rather anticlimactic, there were exactly 2 bars/restaurants in town. We had a drink and enjoyed the view for about a 1/2 hour or so and then caught the next train back to Interlaken.

(We tried walking backwards down the hill to give our calf muscles a break.)

(And we wonder why I have trouble with navigation.)

We have one more day left in Switzerland and at this point are undecided on what we will do. Having just been swindled out of $200 between us, we're not feeling like spending the money on paragliding or river rafting, so we may just do another hike (if we can find a flat one). Or maybe find a boat with more speed than the last one.

Touring Lugano

2008-07-18T12:45:00.000-07:00

Lugano is not quite what I expected. It is much larger and noisier than I expected and is a strange mix of historic buildings right next to 1960s era buildings. The lake itself is gorgeous however, as are the towering mountains that surround the lake.

We stayed at the Motel Vezia - a biker motel. That's biker as in motor biker. It was interesting! Definitely a throwback to the 1950s with an enormous cutout of Elvis, a juke box, and pictures of 1950's automobiles decorating the place. The reception staff was less than helpful. We asked the woman manning the desk when we arrived if she had any good recommendations for where we should go for dinner and she said "No."

On day 1, Theresa and I took the funicular to the top of Monte San Savatore, for spectacular views over the city. Lacking a sufficient breakfast however to sustain a hike to a neighboring town, we chose to ride the funicular back down, have lunch, and take the boat over the Morcote.

Morcote was a charming village, with lots of stairs. Most of the towns along the lake are built into the sides of mountains, making everything a vertical climb. After climbing the stairs to see a beautiful church, we found a lakeside lounge where we tested out the sangria. It wasn't bad, but was still no match for Diego's. :-)

On day 2, we rode another funicular, this one unfortunately packed with school children, to the top of Monte Bre. From there we "hiked" (read walked down TONS of stairs - enough to rival the Grand Staircase hike in the Blue Mountains in Australia) to the town of Gandria. We had no idea the hike would involve this many stairs. We managed them well considering we were only 4 days post Ironman. Unfortunately though - we are both paying for it today. After having lunch in Gandria, and even catching a glimpse of The Tour in a local cafe, we boated back to Lugano.

Once in Lugano we rented a speed boat! I made Turbo drive. She was nervous at first, but after about 15 min declared "Ok, I've graduated now, I need more speed!!!" Our little rental boat topped out at about 5 mph - hence the reason no boating license was required. We had fun cruising the lake on our own, and even managed to change into our swim suits on the boat, in the middle of the lake to get some sun. It was the highlight of the day.

Bonjourno di Lugano

2008-07-16T13:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we said good bye to the German Swiss and Hello to the Italian Swiss. After sleeping in later than we had planned (refusing to set an alarm while on vacation) we spent the morning scrambling to pack up our bikes and deliver them to the Zurich airport for safe keeping while we travel around Switzerland. We were in such a hurry, we didn't eat breakfast, and only managed a few snacks at the train station for lunch.

This continues a trend that Theresa and I started in Australia - gorge yourself at one meal and then skip another so that you are starving, so that by the next meal you gorge yourself again. We really think its the secret to the Ironman race week taper! Anyway, we managed to catch our train to Lugano, and spent the evening walking around the town, having dinner (which turned out to be a less than stellar recommendation from a girl working in the tourist office) and then sat on a lake deck drinking wine.

Day 1 as a Tourist - A Trip to Lucerne

2008-07-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

The day after the race, having had enough of Zurich, Theresa, Betty (Amy's mom) and I decided to take the train to Lucerne, just 45 min away. We walked around the town, had lunch, and saw the "Swiss Lion" sculpture, which Mark Twain was quoted as saying was the saddest sculpture in the world (or something to that effect). The sculpure is a tribute to fallen swiss soldiers during the French revolution (or something to that effect). Clearly I paid attention! Theresa and Betty enjoyed the once in a lifetime opportunity to walk faster than me. :-)

Later that evening, back in Zurich, we caught up with Amy, her dad, and her friends Allison and Sarah (from England) for Mexican food - Swiss style. The mararitas were good. Can't say as I would recommend the food though. I think the Norwegians do better Mexican.

Ironman Switzerland

2008-07-15T14:12:00.000-07:00

Is over! Thank goodness! I am definitely done with this distance! I thought I would post a list of the positive aspects of the day:

It was not hot.

I barely sweat.
I did not get sunburned.
There were cool rain covers for our bikes overnight.
There was chicken broth on the run course, which truly saved me.
While I do not think you can compare one ironman time to another, I did a PR for the swim and run for this distance. (By the way, I don't know where that timing mat was on the swim, but by my watch my actual swim time was closer to 58 min. Yes, I'm bitter.)
The fan/spectator support were unmatched. I think every brass band in all of Zurich was out on the bike and run course.
The courses (swim, bike, and run) were all spectacularly beautiful, even in the rain.
Bill, Mary, and Betty were excellent cheerleaders.
The doctor in the medical tent spoke english.
The IV made me feel much better.

Theresa, clearly one of my best friends, stopped racing after the bike, yet stood out on the run course (freezing her butt off) to cheer for me, and then after I finished got me to the medical tent, and then, somehow, with the help of Bill and Hugh (in the pouring rain) managed to get 4 bikes and everyone's soaking wet gear loaded on a tram and back to the hotel. I don't know what I would have done without her.

Welcome to Switzerland!

2008-07-12T02:59:00.000-07:00

We're here! We got in Thursday morning, having not slept on the plane at all, and proceeded to spend the ENTIRE day out and about. We did the City Tour and the Lake Tour (on the boat), in an effort to learn our way around Zurich. While on the boat, I realized that the first stop was at the transition area for the race. So I told Theresa, I thought we should just stay on the boat past the point where we boarded, and the very next stop would be the transition area so we could check in for the race. I even asked one of the guys on the crew if the boat was going to go around the lake again and he said yes. Well clearly I was not specific enough in my question, or something was lost in translation, because no sooner did we sit back down and the boat pull away and it headed back out the opposite direction around the lake. So instead of the transition area being the first stop, it was the last. Another hour on the boat. Me and my brilliant ideas!! Absolutely exhausted, we finally got back to the hotel around 10:30pm and slept for 10+ hours.

Yesterday Amy and her parents arrived and we met up with some other friends doing the race. We decided to bike down to the lake for a swim, which somewhat resembled biking through New York City for the NYC Triathlon a few years ago - only without the skyscrapers but with the addition of trams to look out for. Not fun. The lake is beautiful, but with the storms coming in the water is getting choppy - I'm expecting a slow swim, but hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised.

We walked around the expo for a while, where this girl I went to high school with (and haven't seen since) recognized me, even with a baseball cap on. Crazy! And would you believe that there is no change tent in the transition area?!!! Welcome to Europe! No gear bags, no change tent. You set up your transition area just like any other race, so I'm still pondering exactly what I'm going to wear and whether I'm changing clothes for each leg of the race. There does appear to be some sort of screen you can stand behind, so maybe that will do.

Next we climbed into Amy's friend Ronnie's VW bus for a tour of the bike course. I really wish I hadn't gone. I really do think ignorance is bliss for races. While a fair amount of the course is flat, there are two major hilly sections labeled "the beast" and "heartbreak hill." I wasn't freaked out until Amy started freaking out about not having the right cassette on her bike, etc. The beast looks something akin to Skyline Drive for about 3 miles or so and Heartbreak Hill resembles Mt. Weather, but narrow and will be lined with spectators and cowbells - like the Tour de France. We do each loop twice, with heartbreak hill coming at about mile 110 the second time around. Lovely! I will say though that is a spectacularly beautiful course. I'm glad we drove it in the sunshine so that we could fully appreciate it.

Betty, Amy's mom asked me yesterday if I was nervous. I replied that I'm not nervous, I'm annoyed. That got a good laugh, but its true! Having done this twice before, I know what its like, but I'm annoyed and uninspired. Annoyed at the logistics of the race, annoyed that there will be bad weather to contend with all day, and annoyed that I have these nuissance injuries to deal with. I think maybe I'll do one loop of the bike and then just be a spectator. :-)

Sorry no pictures. I haven't taken many yet, and I'm paying for internet access so don't feel like taking the time to upload them at the moment.

I must be crazy to do this again!!

2008-07-08T16:50:00.000-07:00

Well, once again I am packing up my bike and will be hauling it through airports around the globe. I leave tomorrow for Zurich, Switzerland where I will be competing in Ironman Switzerland on Sunday, July 13.

My bike always looks so sad all disassembled and in the case. :-(

Zurich is 6 hrs. ahead of EDT. You can follow my race online at www.ironmanlive.com. They should be posting splits throughout the day. Due to a few nagging injuries and a race day forecast of 70 and rain.....I have no idea what to expect and have no expectations. I just hope I finish! Hopefully I will finish before the 16 hr. cutoff. For some reason the Swiss felt the need to trim the standard 17 hrs cutoff to 16 hrs. I can only hope it's a sign of a fast course!

If you want to get a sense of what the venue looks like in Zurich, and a glimpse of the craziness that is Ironman, there is an 8 min video of Ironman Switzerland 2007 on youtube at:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GYrvH03yQTA

In addition, if you want to get a better sense of what it's like to swim with 2000+ of your closest friends, :-) (always a good time!) check out the first few seconds of this 3 min video of Ironman Hawaii.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw6LR__wr4Y

You can also find more information regarding the schedule of events, course descriptions, etc. on the Ironman Switzerland website.

Theresa is also racing - thank goodness, because I surely could not have trained for an Ironman without her! And I seriously would not have even signed up in the first place if it wasn't for the email I received one day last October with the subject line that read "Sign up!!!!!", which had me shouting expletives from my office before I even opened the email. Obviously, I succumbed to the peer pressure once again. And this time it even looks like Amy will make it to the start line of the race....4th time's a charm for her (knock on wood!).

We will be traveling around Switzerland for a week or so after the race and will then head to Poland for another week to visit our friend Heather who lives in Warsaw. Should be a fun trip, I'll be glad when the race is over!

Ironman Sendoff - 7 days and Counting!

2008-07-06T16:40:00.000-07:00

At the suggestion of Vince, Theresa decided to throw the 3 of us a party before we leave for Ironman. Parties at the Urban's are always fun, especially when Diego makes Sangria!

The Brazil girls brought us some fun gifts including snacks for the bike ride and the plane, glow bracelets (yes, we'll be finishing in the dark) and sparklers! We had a good time lighting a few out on the deck. And thanks to Charlotte and Bob who gave us gift cards to the bike store in $14.06 increments. Unfortunately the sangria got to my head first and it took me a while to catch on that it was in reference to 140.6 - the total mileage of an Ironman. Duh! So creative! It was great end to the long weekend!

The Perfect Flavor

2008-06-08T19:15:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I have an incurable sweet tooth, and LOVE ice cream. I heard they were giving away ice cream at the finish of the MS ride this weekend in Charlottesville and shortly after getting off my bike I went in search of it. I mean, I had almost stopped at the Dairy Queen we biked past about 30 miles into the ride! This was my dream come true! Sure enough, fantastic homemade ice cream. Nothing could be better on a 100 degree day! After talking to the vendor for a few minutes, I realized from her brochure that she graduated from SBC. Even cooler!

This girl owns her own ice cream company, The Perfect Flavor, which makes custom ice cream. She uses all organic, local, seasonal ingredients, will create any concoction you dream up, and will ship it on dry ice anywhere. This is really cool I thought! And the ice cream was so yummy!

When I got back to the hotel room, I decided to look up her website, curious about how much this might cost. Clearly, it was going to cost more than the ice cream from the grocery store. I knew that, but when I clicked on the website and saw the price, I thought I was seeing things - surely those weren't the actual prices! For ice cream? This couldn't possibly be right! How much do you think a pint of ice cream such as this would cost? Take a wild guess, and then check out the website: http://www.perfectflavor.com/

I'm still stunned. So much for my plan to invent my own flavor and ship it to all my friends! Maybe someday I'll win the lottery...it was really good.

I'm sure this girl would be horrified to know that on the drive home, we stopped at Dairy Queen. My favorite!! I mean not only is it not organic, local, seasonal, etc. ice cream, but then I go and put non-organic candy bars in it!! The horror! But it was oh so good...

The Scorcher

2008-06-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

I think that's what the "Tour de Vine" should be renamed after this weekend. The scorcher it was! MS Ride #2. Theresa and I had great plans when we signed up - 100 miles each day to get some serious miles in before Ironman. We realized earlier in the week though that based on the weather forecast of temperatures approaching 100, with heat indexes of about 110, we might have to revise our plans.

Day 1. Despite our best attempts to get an early 6:30am start to beat the heat, some mechanical difficulties delayed us until 7:40am. At that time, it was probably a mere 80 degrees or so with 99% humidity. There was a nice fog over everything. We took it slow from the start, determined not to have to cut our ride short due to heat stroke. Fortunately there was a decent amount of shade on the ride and rest stops every 8-12 miles with lots of ice and towels soaked in ice water for us to cool off.

We managed 75 miles in total, which I really do think has to be equal to 100 miles on a good weather day. The last 5 miles were brutal, completely exposed to the sun. The homemade ice cream at the finish line helped to ease the pain though and thankfully we could head back to the hotel and crank up the AC after the ride. A few hours later we went back out to the finish line party for wine tasting and then found our way to a Mexican restaurant we heard had great margaritas. Well...the food was great. The drinks...disgusting!! We knew we were in trouble just looking at them! A few sips was all either of us could manage.

Day 2. We decided not to ride. Biking in 100 degree weather for one day was enough for us, so we decided we'd get up at 5:30am, get a long run in before the true heat set in for the day, and spend the rest of the afternoon touring Monticello. It was a great day, though still unbelievably hot!

Most importantly, between Theresa and I (and all our wonderful family and friends who donated to us!), we raised over $900 to help find a cure for MS.

175 Miles Closer to Ironman & $355 Closer to a Cure for MS

2008-06-01T18:07:00.000-07:00

For the third year in a row, I signed up for the MS ride that follows a route from Richmond to Williamsburg on Saturday and then back to Richmond on Sunday. Round trip that's 150 miles, unless of course you're training for an Ironman and feel compelled to do an extra 25 miles on Saturday. :-)

(My bike, loaded down w/snacks for the ride.)

This year, Governor of Virginia Tim Kaine, his security entourage, his wife, and their son, all participated in the ride. It's great to live in a state where the Governor is a cyclist! Although I have to say, he had about a minute head start on me and I still managed to drop him inside the first mile. I was debating what to say to him as I passed him, but also trying not to pass too close for fear of what his security guards might say or do. So in the end I just passed him nice and wide and didn't say a thing. Oh well.

(The ride starts in front of the Governor's mansion.)

(Governor Kaine in the white jersey, getting his number pinned on his back.)

(Rest Stop.)

As usual, my Grandmother was nice enough to pick up her smelly, sweaty, salty grandaughter at the finish line and take her home for a good shower and some gluten free treats. When I asked her where she would like to go for dinner, remembering the Easter fiasco, she replied with "anywhere other than that country club!" Works for me! We wound up at Outback Steakhouse so that I could indulge in a chocolate thunder from down under. It's not quite a chocolate waffle, but it would do.

Overall, it was a good (although HOT) weekend of cycling for a good cause. After 175+ miles on my bike however, I'm really not feeling like riding again anytime soon. Bummer I've got 6 weeks left of training.

Irongirl Dinner

2008-05-19T19:52:00.000-07:00

Julie, Theresa, and I started the tradition of Irongirl dinners when we were training for our first Ironman back in 2001. Then we did them monthly, now we're lucky if we get one in before the big day! You have no idea the bonding that occurs over the course of 6+ hours together biking. It's always fun to get together to eat and drink something other than power bars and gatorade, and getting together outside of a sports activity also proves to be a motivator and keeps training and racing fun.

Since Theresa and I spent all winter/spring training with "The Brazil Girls," we decided we needed to have an irongirl dinner for them (with Diego as our honorary irongirl) before they left for Ironman Brazil in Florionopolis today (May 25, 2008). Monique, Christine, and Tracey all came over to my house for dinner where we swapped training stories and gave them each a few funny gifts to send them off in style. The hit of the evening was a birthday card Theresa got for Tracey with a hot latin guy named "Paco" on the cover.

Rumor has it Paco accompanied Tracey to Brazil. Looks like he brought her good luck as she had a killer race.

My Next House

2008-05-18T19:36:00.000-07:00

I love my current house, but this is my next house.

For 4 years while I was student, and frequently in years since, I have driven to and from Sweet Briar via Rt. 15 which stretches from Orange, VA through Gordonsville, VA to Zion Crossroads, on the way to Charlottesville. And for the entire time I was a student and for several years after graduating, this house, set on 40 acres just outside of Gordonsville, was for sale. I've always loved looking at the house and look forward to passing it every time.

Granted, it's probably not in the best shape. I would guess it's at least 100 years old, and who knows what kind of condition its like on the inside. But I just love looking at it. I think it reminds me of "North and South." And while its not for sale anymore, I figure at some point in the future it will be for sale again and I'm buying it.

The Class of '98 - 10 years later

2008-05-18T19:34:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was my 10 year Sweet Briar reunion. All classes that graduated in years ending in 3 or 8 were on campus reliving their college days. I have to say, it seemed like 4 years crammed into 2 days all over again. When I first arrived (after 5 hrs in the car when it shouldn't have been more than 3) I was tired and cranky. I quickly found my classmates sipping margaritas and chatted with a few before we all headed to the "Vixen Den" - a new room off the new, charm-lacking Bistro. There we proceeded to have a class meeting, over more drinks, and call a few parents so that we could break the fundraising participation record held by the Class of 1971.

I have to say, I felt like the first 24 hrs. were like freshman year all over again. I didn't like it and I just wanted to go home. With the exception of Page, my closest Sweet Briar friends couldn't attend reunion. It was good to catch up with my other classmates, but after a few minutes of figuring out where each was and what they were up to, I ran out of things to say!

Our class was in Dew for the weekend, the dorm I lived in sophomore year. It's been renovated since (the bathrooms are a definite improvement) but without all the typical things one fills a dorm room with, it seemed stark, empty and yucky. Thankfully I remembered my flip flops for the shower. Between the hall bathrooms and people coming back late, drunk and making tons of noise, I have to say I am so glad I don't live in a dorm any more! I love my nice, quiet house!

Saturday afternoon however, my mood changed. I went riding! Not a bicycle, but a horse! I have got to get back into lessons! I was a little nervous at first, having checked the box on the registration form indicating that I have been riding regularly this year. Once counts as regularly, doesn't it? It was 75 degrees and sunny and beautiful and I was on a gorgeous chestnut named Bud. I'd forgotten how beautiful Sweet Briar's horses are. They are so spoiled and pampered there. We went for a trail ride across the beautiful wide open fields for about an hour and Bud was perfect the whole time.

Saturday evening was the big event - dinner and dancing. Some of my favorite professors showed up as well as a few additional classmates. I stuffed myself silly and can't believe I have needed to eat anything else this week at all!!

Sunday morning, determining that there was no better setting for a 2 hr Ironman training run/walk, I walked/ran "The Dairy" (a 3 mile loop past the dairy barns and the stable) and some of the hiking trails. It was awesome! I wish I could do all my runs there.

After continuing to stuff myself at breakfast and lunch, I got back in the car to drive home. All in all a good weekend, but I'm not going again without Erikka, Erin, and Kim. :-)

Mittens - Adopted!

2008-05-13T17:55:00.000-07:00

After 8 weeks of staying with us, Mittens finally seems to have found her forever home. A friend of Lori's has her on a "foster to adopt" basis, but all seems to be going well, so hopefully the adoption will be permanent shortly. And maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get her back to visit when her new family goes on vacation!

Theresa's Birthday!

2008-05-12T17:59:00.000-07:00

Always a good excuse to party! Many thanks to Bob who stood outside in the pouring down rain to grill burgers and chicken for everyone!!

Grandmother's 51st Anniversary of Her 29th Birthday!!

2008-05-12T17:47:00.000-07:00

May 12, 2008 was Grandmother's 80th Birthday! We had a great party to celebrate at Janet's house, with many of her friends from Helmsdale Lane. Between the old and more recent family photos we loaded on a digital photo frame for her and the memory book that Lois put together for her, we had a lot of fun remembering times past.

You know you're at a celiac event if...

2008-04-13T19:29:00.000-07:00

There is a stampede of people who look as if they've never seen food before and have been starving their entire lives! Seriously!

I signed up for this Celiac Cooking Spree with a few other celiac friends. The gist of it was that they team up doctors, chefs, and journalists to create gluten free meals. Over 450 celiacs in the DC area attended the event at the Bethesda Hyatt. As soon as I arrived, I was ushered into the vendor room, where all the makers of gluten free brownies, cookies, cakes, crackers, etc. were there giving a way free samples. I filled a plastic bag they gave me when I arrived and then some!

Next it was over to the ballroom for the main cooking event. Each team had a table where they were giving away samples of their creations. But the lines were so long at each table that I didn't get to make it to all of them before they ran out. After the main course, Lilit Cafe of Bethesda provided an enormous selection of gluten free cookies, cup cakes, and cakes. It was somewhat reminiscent of my college days where I would go to the dining hall and leave with several pieces of german chocolate cake. Despite being stuffed, I could not resist the cake. I managed to control myself somewhat and only get 3 slices (1 coconut cream, 1 chocolate cream cheese, and 1 carrot cake) and brought them back to the table. I think we each took one bite of each one and that was all we could manage.

Then Mary, one of my friends, went up to the Wegman's table and said "Oh, I just love your food!" Naturally, they started giving it all to her (microwave popcorn, gluten free pretzels, etc.) So she came back to the table and distributed it amongst all of us.

Stuffed, I climbed back on the metro for the ride home at the end of the night, weighed down with by bags of gluten free goodies.

A Trip to the Pink Bubble

2008-04-13T19:01:00.001-07:00

In an effort to recover from my scientology experience, I made a trip to the pink bubble last week. Well, really it was to be on a career panel for math/engineering majors, but regardless, it was such a welcome break from the DC rat race.

Jane and I were both on the panel so we drove down together on Wednesday afternoon, arriving in time to visit the bookshop to stock up on all things Sweet Briar. Even the lady working in the new cafe recognized me. She used to work in the dining hall and said she remembered seeing me come in every day. Frightening!! I just hope she doesn't remember the time I went in and walked out 2 min later with ~5 pieces of german chocolate cake...

We had dinner in the Bistro with "the happy math family." It was so awesome to see the Kirkwoods and Wassell, they haven't changed a bit. The Bistro, however, is NOT what it used to be. Gone are the brick floors and cozy wooden booths as well as the crazy shakes. The only redeeming thing is that potato skins are now back on the menu. Apparently 10 years later - Erikka's and my flooding of the suggestion box finally paid off.

I woke up early Thursday morning so that I could go for a walk around campus right as the sun was coming up. I walked down to the boathouse. It was so peaceful and quiet and calm. I could have walked for hours. I wish I'd taken my camera with me on the walk. There was a light fog over the surface of the water, the sun was shining, and I saw about a dozen deer in one of the fields.

Before heading back to DC, Jane and I drove out to the new art barns which are spectacular. It's about the only renovation I'd say Sweet Briar really did right. The new entrance is not welcoming, and the bookshop and Prothro - though very nice, lack the charm of the old buildings. They've changed the crest too - one of the students was showing us her ring and the crest is totally different. And the new pledge - what is up with that?? Part of indoctrination into the bubble as a freshman was to memorize that seemingly unending pledge! I wish I could remember it now...if you can, please email me. What a cop out the new one is!

Thank goodness reunion is only a month away and I can spend 3 whole days on campus. I can't wait. I may never leave.

Scientology - The Study of Truth

2008-04-06T19:39:00.000-07:00

The truth of the matter is, dating SUCKS! I hate it and was reminded tonight of why. A few weeks ago, while out on a bike ride, I was passed by a guy on his bike who stopped to bike with me for a stretch and chat. After about 20 min or so, when we were about to part ways he asked me out. I said sure, he seemed nice enough so I figured I might as well.

So, Date #1. I thought he was a very nice guy, but was somewhat undecided about whether I wanted to go out with him a second time. But he emailed me and asked me out again, so I decided what the heck, I'll go out with him one more time before ruling him out entirely.

Date #2. We went out to dinner tonight at one of my favorite restaurants - Lauriol Plaza in DC. After leaving the restaurant, we were standing on the street corner about to head different directions and saying good night when he asks me "Are you a religious person?" Ummm....hmmm...caught entirely off guard, I stood there pondering for a moment about how best to answer the question. Before I could answer he asked me how I was raised and I replied "Methodist." Then he proceeds to reach into his coat pocket and pull out a DVD on Scientology (see picture) that he says he thought I might be interested in.

Huh? I'm thinking to myself as he rambles on about scientology, is he trying to recruit me or something? It seems he arrived at the restaurant early, so he went into a scientology museum or something to kill time before dinner because he'd always been interested in learning more about it (and apparently thought I had some burning desire to learn more about it too....) Then he proceeds to show me a card with details about an open house and free tours of the place. I asked him how he was raised....Catholic.

I don't get it. I really don't get it at all. But I will say one thing for the date, I've spent the last 2 hours laughing hysterically on the phone with friends who can't believe the story. Ahh...if only I were making it up!

There will be no date #3.

But here's the link for anyone who might be interested in ordering their own copy of the DVD...
http://www.scientology.org/interview/orderscn.html

"All the babies are home..."

2008-03-30T13:01:00.000-07:00

As mom likes to say "All my babies are home!" Thus we have a family picture to document the occasion...yet another one taken in a bar. Are you wondering about us yet?

Jeff decided to surprise mom and come home to visit for the weekend. Thankfully he at least gave Frank and I the heads-up so that we could make sure we were around. We went out to Rustico on Saturday night so that Jeff could experience their gluten free pizza and beer. You have no idea what a treat it is to go into a restaurant and order pizza and beer, just like any regular person. If only more places would offer gluten free selections! Frank, who's on a gluten binge until diagnosed otherwise, found some Staropramen (Czech beer) that made him long for Prague. After dinner, we headed next door to Buzz Bakery (owned by the same company) for gluten free brownies. Yum yum yum. What a fun evening!