A Visit to Deep Creek

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

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

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!

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?

To get to the other side of course!

Gettysburg - What happened there again?

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!

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!