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Day 4 - 2010 Christmas Escape

2011-01-17T20:14:00.001-08:00

Yes. YESSSSS. This is camping the way we like it! Waking up to this view! Ahhhh, I love it when Daddy gets that timid smile on his face. Sure sign of a special moment.

So, what’s up for today? Really, what’s up for today??? Not sure? No? Maybe just a little bit of family vacation? Like, you know, a full plate of family vacation. I’m ready. This is Luc.

We are marking Day 4 of our 2010 Christmas Escape! Our voyage to Key West in a 30 foot rental. A 30 foot trailer. With wheels. Our new home! This is just so exciting. I can’t stop falling over my own words.

Today the weather is breaking even more for us! Nothing but sunshine!! And warmer temperatures!!! Yeah!!!! We are in Florida. And we are not stopping here. But there is so much to do. Me and my sis and my little bro jump out of the trailer! IT’S PLAYTIME! What do you wanna do? Don’t know. Let’s climb that tree. Ok, let’s climb that tree….

This place is so neat. All this stuff on the ground, in the bushes, in the trees. Hey Lya! Do you wanna help me build a bird’s nest?

Sure!

My sis and me easily spent an hour collecting branches, grass, and as much of this hanging stuff as we can get our hands on to build a wonderful bird’s nest. I truly hope that a bird has come by now and settled down in the nest that we built so carefully.

When I turn around I see Mommy disappearing in the distance heading off on her run. A small cloud of sand dust dancing behind her, desperately trying to catch up. She is so right! It’s time for some morning exercise. Anyone up for a bike ride? Daddy?!!!

Lya decides its time to break in her bike. Forget that silly hook-up bike from yesterday. Today I ride!!! Daddy gets to take Mommy’s bike, and Len is just as happy in his bike seat as always.

We make it past the fishing dock and halfway down the campground, and what do we find?

A PLAYGROUND! YESSSS! A P L A Y G R O U N D!!! Man, if this place doesn’t have it all! Len keeps on his helmet for good measure as Daddy starts chasing us around the structures, slides, benches and swings. Who can swing the highest??? We take off our jackets as the sun starts warming us more and more. Daddy even gets a moment here and there to kick back on a bench and just let life be life.

When we make it back to our camper Mommy’s back from her run with such joy and happiness in her smile. She can’t stop telling Daddy about this trail that she just ran on. About how it looped back and forth, left and right, through a maze of bushes and small trees. How it was a trail that was creating itself in front of her, step after step. Sand under her shoes, sun shining through the branches, little critters rushing away here and there. A bird or two flies up into the sky, circling around, checking out this running creature floating by on borrowed time. The sound of the waves crushing onto the beach lingering on. Never fading, always penetrating. And then one more turn. The bushes and trees disappear completely, the path straightens out, and the beach stretches ahead endlessly – inviting the runner to keep going indefinitely. Apparently the run of a lifetime!

Fortunately for us Mommy didn’t get caught in an endless loop, but made her way back to the trailer. She’s asking, practically begging Daddy to go run it, too – but there will have to be another time, we still need to bake cookies and get ready for the continuation of our travels! And yes, there is never a wrong time for a quick game of soccer. For a moment we contemplate our friends back home, and decide to film a short movie for my sister’s best friend Katie. Here you go Katie: This one is for you. We love you and miss you:

Now before we leave this here campground and make our way further down south, the moment has finally arrived that Daddy has been mentally preparing himself for over the last 4 days. It has become time to? Time to? Yes! You have guessed it! It has become time to D U M P. Ahh, the joys of driving your own house around! Where does all that poop end up going? Well? Of course, there is a tank! A septic tank so to speak. And since it is not unlimited in size, the time has now come to connect hoses and open valves and stand there and watch – and listen. Daddy? Did everything come out yet??? Yup, A-A is draussen!!! Puhhh weeeee, time to open the gray water tank and give everything a good and final flush.

Ok, now – how do I get these latex gloves off, and where to put them? Ahh, trash can. Good! Let’s go Daddy, let’s leave this here dumping station behind us and get rolling….

Off we are….windows rolled down….Daddy is driving in a T-Shirt, sunglasses, the warm wind blowing in his face. This is December the way we like it.

As we drive through little towns and harbors, over small bridges and past boats and fishermen the vacation feeling begins to settle in more clearly. Yup – I think we are all successfully broken in! Into our little adventure. Ready to press onward!

The drive is pretty uneventful. We decide to pick West Palm Beach as our next destination. We are still hungry for some more beaches, and figured West Palm Beach would be a good place to continue this quest. It turns out to be a little complicated to locate a campground near the beach, but we finally settle on this trailer resort in Jupiter, just north of West Palm Beach. It’s about as far as we are willing to venture to travel today. We make a reservation over the phone, and everything is set up for a late arrival, in case we don’t make it before nightfall. Nothing like being prepared, because none of us really want to end up driving around desperately looking for a place to settle down for the evening, and then ending up in a Wal-Mart parking lot.

L I T T L E - D I D - WE - K N O W !

Unfortunately we don’t make it before it gets dark, but we do good finding the entrance to the trailer park. Excuse me, pardon me, the trailer resort!

But as we drive in, stop at the front office (which was closed) pick up our registration envelope and start driving towards our spot, we, inadvertently keep rubbing our eyes. Daddy?!? Is this a parking lot? Daddy, why are all these trailers so neat. Ohhh! Look Out! Someone is walking their poodle!!! As we make it closer and closer to our spot, things are becoming quite clearer! This is a parking lot. Not so much a Wal-Mart parking lot, but if Parkplace were a parking lot, we are pretty sure this is what it would look like. Daddy is in the zone as he parks the trailer first this way, then this way, then the other, then turns it around, then moves it forward, then moves it backward. OK DAD! I think everyone knows now that we are here!!!!!!! Remind me to get him a T-Shirt that reads: Don’t mind me. I’m new to THIS!!!

But boy are we glad to finally be outside of this camper. And it continues to be warm! We do endless loops around the camper. Even though we keep lapping Len, he is having just as much fun as we are. Mommy offers to prepare dinner as we all put on our headlamps and go for a stroll through Monopoly land. This place is amazing, or hysterical, startling, wondrous, neat and perfectly clean. Weird? Yup. Weird also. Just like in a regular suburban neighborhood this guy here and there tries to outdo the other with his Christmas decoration. Some need a big fat car in front of their camper, only for someone else to put an even more expensive one in front of theirs. And although most of the sites have turned their trailers and campers into permanent homes that will never see the road again, there are many many unbelievably huge motorhomes to be found, too. Wait?!!! I think I hear an alarm system going off somewhere….

Can we go back to our camper now, Daddy? But Daddy wants to spice up our little nightwalk and asks us to turn off our headlamps. We stand there in the darkness and allow our eyes to adjust for a second. And then he leads us right through the backyard of this Ueber-Motorhome in order to shortcut back to our camper. Ok. I don’t think anyone saw us. Cool.

We get to eat outside at the picnic table next to the camper. Since it is still early we decide to go for an evening walk. Perhaps there is a store in the area we can walk to, or maybe even the beach??? But since things don’t always work out the way we want them to, and since little boys also need to be little boys sometimes, well, we kind of end up in a little disagreement. Yup, I know I’m six years old. But don’t you think this burden of having to write the entire vacation report is weighing a little heavy on me???? What do you mean you are not going to chase me around this parking lot???? What do you mean you want me to come over there???? But I want to be over here!!!! What do you mean I can’t be over here???? Can’t you see that I am over here???? I’m not going over there!!! What are Daddy and Lya doing??? Where are they going??? You are chasing me around the parking lot!!! See!!! I told you!!!! Ohh? Why is Daddy coming back?

Well – this is where the Teams split up. Me and Daddy make it back to the camper. And Mommy, Lya and Len go looking for a store and the beach by themselves. I tell you. I’m probably pretty lucky that my folks have some sense about them, because my Daddy didn’t really say much, or do much for that matter when we got back to the camper. We just kind of got ready for bed. We talked about how nice it would have been if we all could be together right now, instead of all split up and one of us really not listening at all. And you know, it made sense. Nuff said. Let’s try again tomorrow. I love you, Daddy.

But before we could fall asleep the rest of the gang made it back, and boy did they have a funny story to tell. Apparently Daddy had given Mommy some cash before we split up, in case they wanted to buy something. So, Mommy didn’t pay much attention to how much Daddy had given here, not until they were standing at the Publix Cashier – trying to check out with their assortment of goods. Let me see, what did they have: A box of cookies, a candy bar, a loaf of bread, a roll of toilet paper, diapers and a bag of chips. You sure you don’t want a six-pack with that, ma’am??? Little Len on her arm, crazy hair Lya standing on her side – everyone not really washed up from the days activities. Ok, ma’am, that’ll be $ 15.43! Ooops, but I only have, lemme see, whats all this total. $ 6.12. Mmmm, fuck it. I’ll just take the cookies and the candy bar then. Boy, can’t wait to get a hold of that husband of mine. Handing me nothing but a stack of ones. Very funny.

Good night everyone. See you again on Day 5.

Day 3 - 2010 Christmas Escape

2011-01-11T19:12:00.000-08:00

Little Talbot Island, Florida.

I didn’t have school today! And I won’t have school tomorrow either! I think it’s about time I catch up with my reporting and post this here Day 3 of our Christmas adventure. We are in Little Talbot Island, Florida. The part of getting to Florida was achieved as quickly as desired!!!

Here back home in Chapel Hill the world outside today has been quite crazy. 2,000 flights cancelled in Atlanta last night, RDU completely closed this morning. All because of snow and ice that has shut down the entire triangle school system. I’m being told that it all goes back to a very bad experience for teachers and parents about 6 years ago (2003?) when thousands of kids got stranded at their schools as panicked parents tried to get to the schools and pick them up because of early closings. This resulted in total Mayhem as the entire area had turned into an ice rink because of freezing rain.

What I struggle to understand though, is why Daddy is the only one that went to work this morning, and all the other kids had their Dads at home today? Was it the 19 operators that were at the plant working the 12-hour night shift that needed to go home, or was it the 28 employees that showed up this morning and kept the plant going? Maybe it was the visitor from Germany that also showed up at 8:00 in the morning? This guy brought us some German coffee for my favorite German pediatrician and some Haferflocken for Lya. Mmmm, I think I’ll go with that. That’s a long way for such a delivery. He probably would have been disappointed if he had shown up to a shut down plant this morning.

Ok! It’s time to move back in time, because: WOW!!! We are in the jungle!!!!!!

This campsite is amazing. Granted it was a little freaky last night, but once we started the fire and making s’mores, it was all good. Daddy and I had checked out the bathrooms on another little night walk, and we decided to skip the shortcuts through the woods – it just seemed a little spooky at night – who knew where we would have ended up........

Everything was much better this morning. We played hide and seek and the best part was when I was hiding with Lya and she peeked up like a mouse, standing on her tippi toes to look over a big bush, just as Daddy comes walking by. The expression on my sister’s face was priceless. It was so hard to stop laughing as Daddy kept making the same expression on his face over and over again. Daddy!!! What did Lya look like???? Do it again!!! Please!!!!! Do it again, Daddy!!!

But now it was time for a bike ride! Yeah!!! The first of many on this trip. So happy we brought the bikes!

There was supposed to be a nature trail that we could go on. So we started out looking for it. Len was with Mom on her bike, Lya on the hook-up bike with Dad, and me on my own bike. The sandy roads on the campground were a little tricky to navigate, but soon we were on a path that took us back to the Ranger Station. We all had agreed to stay a second night in this cool place – after all we had done quite a bit of driving over the last two days. So we checked with the Rangers and they happily accommodated us with our wishes. Then one of the Rangers pointed out the path we could continue on to make it to the beach.

At the thought of getting to the beach it only took us a minute to remount and off we are riding through quite an elaborate network of sand dunes. We stop at one of the rest areas and realize that we essentially have the entire park to ourselves. THERE IS NOBODY ELSE HERE!!! A little bit surprising on such a nice day…

We continue further on until we get to the end of the road from where a wooden deck takes us through the dunes and onto the beach!!! T H E B E A C H ! ! ! We jump of our bikes and start digging and building a little sand castle. Oh, what joy! Especially Len just can’t stop digging. Mommy and Daddy stand on the beach, soaking in the beautiful scenery and sound from the ocean. We have taken possession of the first beach on our trip. This beach is now unofficially ours!!!

Eventually we decide to ride our bikes on the beach on our way back to the campground. When we take a short break Lya forgets about the cold and starts chasing her shadow. But it turns out impossible to catch up with it. But it sure looked like fun trying.

When we make it back to the campground we start hanging out at the small fishing dock. It’s low tide and we start building yet another castle right below the fishing dock. We keep calling it the mud castle although it is just a mixture of wet and sand. Since the material is excellent for building this turns into an afternoon filling activity.

While we are there Daddy starts eyeing another campsite, that he would prefer for the evening. When we later leave to go grocery shopping we stop at the Ranger Station once more and again, they happily agree to have us stay on site 24 tonight. Daddy is all smiles!!! Nicely done. These guys are our best friends by now.

We head north to make our way to the nearest grocery store. To everyone’s excitement it’s a Harris Teeter and my sister’s and mine eyes start seeing free sugar cookies and balloons! We were not disappointed. Mommy and Daddy stock up on supplies, and we’re back on the road to move in to our new campsite.

Mommy’s on the phone when there is a loud bump! KATCHUNK!!! Only Daddy gets some wrinkles on his forehead. In the beginning I’m not so sure why he keeps looking into the rearview mirrors, but then I see it, too. One of the storage doors is open!!! One quick look back and forth between me and my Dad, and it’s clear. THE TOOLBOX!!! THAT’S WHERE WE KEEP THE TOOLBOX!!! Emergency breaks and Daddy pulls off to the side into the middle of a construction site. Mommy is still on the phone and is beginning to get some wrinkles on her forehead, too. Daddy is already out the door and starts jogging north. It was probably only 30 seconds since we heard the loud KATCHUNK!!! – but pay attention next time how far you can drive in 30 seconds. Really. Daddy disappears out of our field of vision and is gone behind the last traffic circle that we just had come through. He keeps on running, wondering what he will find? He starts smiling as he gets to the next traffic circle and sees car after car go around a tool box on the side of the road with half its tools spread all over the road. And what’s that man doing? He’s picking everything up! Wow!!! That’s mighty nice of him. Not sure if he was expecting my Dad, but they continue to pick up all the pieces together and then Daddy makes his way back to us! Guess we will lock the storage doors next time before we start driving again. Good thing we didn’t loose anything. The hatchet for cutting up the firewood is also kept in the toolbox. That would have been a major disappointment later in the evening. But no loss besides a broken latch on the toolbox! That could have been much much worse!!! Thank God, the Toolbox didn’t fall on top of a squirrel. Who knows what would have happened then???

We get back to the campground and park on our new site as the sun is already setting again. Not much time elapses until dinner is ready. Veggie Burgers!!! And we are back around the campfire making s’mores again for the second time on our trip!!!

Can’t wait to wake up tomorrow morning. Our journey will continue. We are not in the Keys yet!!!

Day 2 - 2010 Christmas Escape

2011-01-06T19:35:00.000-08:00

It’s me! I’m Luc. I’m awake! Did I sleep in a 30 ft camper last night?

You got that right, buddy. It’s Day #2, and I think the drizzling rain outside is reminding us that we are onto something. We need to get further south, and we need to do it F A S T! ! !

But, let’s not forget about personal hygiene. Although I am only six years of age you must know that I take personal hygiene very seriously! To put it into another language: “Mama, AA ist draussen!” This is our favorite household staple, and even Daddy enjoys using it. It’s applicable whenever someone has gone to the bathroom, has done a #2 job, and now it’s time to wipe and call for help. You can come up with your own translation, although feel free to use above expression. ;-)

Daddy and me are up for showers first, and it’s actually a lot of fun to walk over to the little shower house and stand under the stream of wonderfully hot water. Lya and Mommy are next, as Daddy and me start kicking around the soccer ball with Len.

There’s a caboose turned trailer on the campground that we get to check out from the outside, it’s sooOOOOO R E D. We throw some rocks in the lake at the hope of getting an alligator to come out, but you already guessed it: No such luck.

Mommy is busy with doing something inside of our new home, Daddy and me kick the soccer ball some more, and THEN , F I N A L L Y its time to drive on. Before we check out we top off the propane, just in case we have to battle some more cool nights, but we are pretty set on making it fahhhrrrrrr today! We are not called the Farers for nothing!!!

Daddy is driving again and we start studying the map as we start heading out of town. Daddy is really bent on stopping in Savannah - must have something to do with the audiobook Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil that he has listened to; I’m not so sure why he won’t let me listen to it? BUT, It’s a beautiful drive off the beaten I-95 path on the wonderful US 17 Savannah Hwy. To be highly recommended for sure! We get there in no time, but are still happy that we stopped in Charleston when everybody was still coherent and sane the night before.

Just before getting into town Mommy presents the results of her latest detailed study “How to get to Florida the fastest possible way!!!”. Apparently there is a town called Jacksonville in Florida, that is just across the border from Georgia (the State we have just driven into). But then again, Jacksonville is a little far for our drive today, so we start searching for campsites in the uppermost northern part of Florida. A friend had recommended the Iphone App “All Stays. Camp & RV” which popped out Little Talbot Island State Park! A quick look at the website and some reviews have us hooked in no time. We call up the State Ranger, and even though the Park closes a dusk or 5:00 pm, he promises us to stay until 6:30 pm in case we can’t make it earlier. Wow? Nice guy. Daddy takes a look at the websites, too, and is completely hooked just as we pull the camper into an amazingly convenient parking spot right smack in the middle of town. Think about that one for a second. We are talking 30 ft camper with four bikes on the back trailer! This is not so hard after all?!?

The beautiful white church shown in the above picture is very close to our parking spot and we are sure to not miss the camper when we will head back to it, as we will only have to listen for the beautiful chimes constantly coming of its bells. Somewhat of a Christmas flair is in the air, as the bells seem to be playing Christmas songs.

We run into two police officers and ask them for directions to an ice cream shop. It’s absolutely picture perfect! First they both look at each other, then they look at us, two adults and three kids, with eyes wide open in anticipation of a great ice cream treat. Then one points down one direction of the street, while simultaneously the other one points in the complete opposite direction.

Really? That way?X?

Nothing a group laugh won’t fix quickly. Then it’s easily decided that the one in the Movie Theater uptown will probably be the better choice. Two street crossings later we made it and the crazed for sugar fix is being put in place.

Daddy seems to be doing a lot of math in his head. Not sure why he keeps doing double takes at his watch and then finally saying: “We gotta get a move on if we want to make it to Little Talbot Island before 6:30”.

Off we are! Never mind sightseeing in Savannah! The ice cream was great! But we got places to be!

This time Mommy gets the wheel! Somehow it seems we start driving at the speed limit, or maybe even slightly above it??? Mommy??? How fast are you going? 70 mph! Wow!!! Mommy, what’s the speed limit? 70 mph! Mommy, how fast are you going….

Mom and Dad are both a little confused that the motorhome will actually hold his own in traffic just like any care trying to make up some time on a long drive. I guess that’s why the Truckers don’t mind going into the left lane time and time again?

Daddy gets on the phone to verify the Ranger will wait for us. The Ranger starts trying a little bit of a diversion technique (Don’t you folks want to go to Fernandina Beach instead?) – but Daddy pays little attention to what he is saying: “ So if we get there by 6:30 on the dot – you will still be there right?”

It’s a State Park after all, so the Ranger didn’t have too many encouraging words to say about being there at 6:30 on the dot, and Mommy’s foot just gets a little heavier.

Honey? Do you think we should stop for gas before we get to the Campground???? Mmmm, let me see. ¼ tank left? We can probably make it…..time ticks on……miles slip away….the tank gets emptier….but with modern technology at our fingertips we have a pretty good idea where exactly we are located and how much longer it will take to get to our destination. Later in the trip Mommy will mention how happy she is that she didn’t have to do this trip in a time before GPSs were available to the masses. So true. Lya and me especially love the friendly voice when it says: “You have reached your destination.” But not yet!

Time to leave I-95. Current Time 6:05 pm. Looks pretty good. Maybe we can even get some gas before we get there? Do you want to stop at this one, Hon? Nahhh, let’s make sure we get to the park first……6:11 and only 4 miles to go! What about that gas station? Ok, let’s get some before we run empty! And isn’t it great! Mommy picks up free Mustard from the store in those little FastFood Chain packets – these people are nice! We may have to fill up here, when we leave again? The Mustard will be great on our VeggieDogs tonight!

When we pull up to the ranger station at about 6:20 pm, in complete darkness, with our 30 ft Monster, the three rangers already have a pretty good idea of who it is! But they are all smiles. The ranger giving us the instructions is super nice and makes us feel at home with a very warm welcome. We get an access code to a gate on the other side of the street where the campground is located and a final warning: Watch out for the overhanging trees! Do not turn right on the dirt road, and don’t drive around in this darkness. Please go straight to your campsite!

Well, sir. You won’t have to tell us twice!

It’s an amazing drive into a jungle of trees, trees and more trees. It almost seems out of another time. When are the dinosaurs going to come out?

Mommy, do they really have Dinosaurs here?

Of course they don’t, or do they?

Mommy starts making the dogs, and Daddy starts preparing the first campfire of the trip. Needless to say he is quite the specialist, and before we know it we have happy tummies and are holding the F I R S T s’mores in our hands.

We are off to a good start! We all look at each other and remember the moment back in the camper when we were all high fiving each other as we were crossing the state line to Florida.

To Florida in less than 2 days! Yeah!

Day 0 & Day 1 - Christmas Escape 2010

2011-01-04T19:30:00.000-08:00

Ok, people. I’m back! It’s me. Luc. Storyteller Extraordinaire. Back again! It’s been so long – but hopefully the wait has been worth it! I’m about to take you on our journey that took us from Chapel Hill to Key West and back. Two weeks traveling in nothing less than a REAL motorhome!

I don’t really know how I ended up with this assignment. I’m not even sure why we don’t have pictures from the first day (except for the one above). But it all started with my crazy parents, especially my Mom, exploring the idea of renting a motorhome and escaping the cold NC temperatures over Christmas by heading towards Florida.

Florida? Mmmm, says my Dad. I remember Florida. Many moons ago I went to High School in St. Petersburg for my Junior and Senior year. Sure, I wouldn’t mind getting back to Florida.

Florida? Florriiiddddddaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa? That F L O R I D A? says my little sis Lya. I have a friend who lives in Florida. Mommy, doesn’t Bridget live in Florida?

Daddy? Can we go to Florida for Christmas?

Yo, Killer! Remember the name of that company that you rented that motorhome from when you went to that festival three years ago? Cruise America? Sounds right, let’s check Google….

So, in a moment of weakness and close cuddling Mommy enticed Daddy to make a reservation and we were S E T!!!!

Pick up: Saturday, December 18^th in Durham…..boy….an endless wait, but finally that last week rolls around. Daddy’s got Friday off work already (good man!!!!), and we are just lounging around on the couch as some goofy NC winter weather is brewing outside.

Anyone wanna pick up the camper now???

YYYeeesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!

What a grand idea that was! It was so exciting to learn about all the things on that 30 ft monster. Oh, it comes with a generator? You can run it while driving? So this means we can run the espresso machine while we are cruising down the road??? I hear someone say: Exactly. Cafe Latte anyone?

Cool.

Propane. Water. Microwave. Toilet. Shower. Table and Highbeds all included.

Don’t worry about the interior too much, says the agent. It’s totally kid friendly and we are not going to fuss about a stain or two on the sofa. This guy is cool. Is this the fold out sofa he is talking about? Man. Can we sleep in the Camper tonight????

Well. In the end Mommy and Daddy did an excellent job transferring most (if not all!!!) of our house into this mobile home in all the time a Friday night has available…I heard someone dragging their feet upstairs around 2:00 am or so. Did we bring everything? Nope. Later we will find out that we forgot the toaster! Oops.

Day 1

It’s Saturday and we A R E READY TO G O ! ! !

A few of our friends stop by in the morning to get a peek inside of our new home. All the kids love the high beds just as much as I do. If we could only be up there while driving. But no such luck. Apparently this new home has some rules, too. Daddy? Daddy, are u sure? ;-) Sure? Really sure?

Ah well. Off we are to one last stop at the local grocery store. Someone else we know easily spots us. One last chat and we are on the road to Charleston!

I-95 here we come!

This first drive is really pretty uneventful. Along the way we call the KOA in Charleston and make a reservation for a FULL HOOK up. Wow! We are gonna get hooked up tonight!!!

We get there as night has already begun to fall. They got some cool Christmas blow up decoration. Lya, Daddy and me have a ball running back and forth from Santa to the Alligator to Santa to the Alligator to Santa to the Alligator to Santa and so on…. I don’t remember how many hundred times.

It’s finally time to go to sleep in our new home and our new beds!

This is going to be awesome!

MATAHOMBRES 2009 - or - To KiLL a Man.

2009-09-22T19:43:00.001-07:00

So, I'm back. It was about time I made myself an International reporter. Crazy Dad moving around so much that he decided to put some distance between himself and the family. Well, I guess what's good for the body is good for the soul!

Fortunately this was only "part-of-a-business-trip-turned-vacation", and I guess it had been quite some time in the making. Mommy was all for it, so what am I to say and put on the brakes onto a trip that appeared to be rewarding mentally as well as physically???

Alright, alright, time to cut through the chase already. I know Daddy will always carry me in his heart, and my heart will never be the same unless I can share some space in it with him...so it was a Wednesday morning when I waved good-bye and hopped on my bike to ride to school, and Daddy soon thereafter found himself in an airport boarding a plane first to Frankfurt and then to Madrid!

There is a lot to be said about uneventful travel and changing planes without stress - even a five hour layover seemed short to Dad considering the smoothness of all the transitions. And before Dad knew it there was Pablo to greet him and make him part of the family! Little did my Dad know that he practically had another life in Spain that he was going to live for the following four days. It almost seemed surreal starting from the late exquisite lunch that Pablo's mom had prepared, to the basketball game with some friends (Daddy still can't shoot worth a shit), to a night out about the town, to some relaxing time around the pool, to some favorite hidden spots for Tappas and Pizza (which YES apparently was invented in Spain), to a road-trip, a MTB bike race, a return to sanity in THE spa of Madrid, and a late dinner that will only be served in Spain. It all seems like a wonderful dream that I can't stop asking details about before Daddy puts me to bed every night.

But! We are here for the RACE. The RACE!!!

MATAHOMBRES 2009. 82 km (51 miles) + 2,000 m (6,561 ft) in accumulated ascents! If this didn't sound like a recipe to kill my Dad, it sure sounded like a lot of pain to me! But nonetheless, once the plan had been made Dad decided to break out of the mold a little more and started his own solo lunch ride in order to prepare for this event. And believe it or not - a little training here and there, can actually go quite a ways....

Pablo and Dad arrived in Camarena de la Sierra at about 4:00 pm on Saturday afternoon. Just enough time to find a spot for the car, check the bikes, pick up the race pack, check into the Youth hostel, eat some dinner, rest and chill until the options are limited to trying to getting some rest. By 6:00 a.m. the following morning the entire Youth Hostel was steaming with race anticipation. 600 bikers had enlisted to partake in this year’s edition of Matahombres! 600 Mountain Bikers - who to my Dad, all looked a lot more fit than he felt - but at least Pablo had been a big friend and gotten my Dad a ride that felt like being on top of a cloud - what could go wrong from here???

9:00 am. Fireworks go off! Dad: If there ever was a time to start peddling it is NOW! ........and they were off....... The race was a two-loop course roughly the shape of a figure eight. The first 40 km (25 miles) went by in a flash. It all started with a slow ascent followed by a much longer descent. I think Daddy kept on thinking the entire time: How is this possible? We will fu*king have to climb all of this again to make it back up to the village!!! And soon enough... here came the climbs.

Pablo and Dad waste no time thinking about stopping at the first fueling station. Why stop at a fueling station??? After a downhill??? Some gentle folk stand by the side of the street and cheer them on. Pablo and Dad find their spot in the line-up and climb and climb. Dad said that it felt like being in a row of ants laboring up a mountain. No chance to go faster then the lad in front of you, and NO CHANCE TO GO SLOWER either, because of the guy right on your tail! And then again, more downhill??? How is this possible???

After an amazing 2 hours and 20 minutes the first loop was complete! "Venga Chaval"! It sure wasn't going to continue being this easy. They had been warned about the second part!!!

They circled through Camarena de la Sierra, and then turned left to start making their way up the mountain. I think this is where Dad noticed that the pack was quickly falling apart, and the good, the bad, and the ugly started separating from one another. An approximately 16 km (10 miles) ascent to the peak of the mountain: El Pico de Javalambre! Also known for its Ski-Resort. 2020 m (6,627 ft). Pablo was quite the sport: So that Daddy didn't have to break his rhythm (what rhythm? - Daddy is not a dancer!), Pablo peddled ahead to the fueling stations and filled up the water bottles by the time my Daddy got there - so he didn't even have to stop - all he had to do is peddle, peddle, and peddle...and then peddle some more...and yes, eventually there was also a top to this mountain.

To keep things interesting a small thunderstorm was developing off to the left on the adjacent mountain range. The race manager, after having made sure to point out that there was a time cut-off, had also mentioned that the chance of having to cancel the race in case of severe weather existed. I think that's all Dad was thinking about on the last 5 Km of the climb. I'm gonna get to the top of this mountain - and then they are going to ask me to stop - because of this cute thunderstorm that's brewing up. And all I'm going to be able to say is: Oh, no.

But there was no way Pablo wasn't going to stop for some food at this probably last fueling station. Dad kept on thinking: So there I'm going to be. After having ridden 60 km, I'm going to be stuffing my face with a banana, and I'm gonna look up to see the race manager standing in front of me, shaking his said, saying: Lo siento, pero tenemos que cancelar. Pablo? PABLO!! We have to keep moving. I didn't come here to get cancelled in the middle of the race. NO. No. no. Somebody is saying: Raul......, but it's somebody else talking to someone Daddy doesn't know. Pablo, listo ya??? And off they go!

I think this is the point where the happiness starts settling in for Dad. There is a whole lot of downhill ahead. No more checkpoints! No more race managers. There is only one way down! Only one way to get back to the village! And it's down. down. DOWN!!!
Later when they check the speedometer it seems to have clocked out somewhere around 68 kmh (42.5 mph) - not bad for a gravel road.

Daddy is so excited that on the way down he decides to go through a puddle of mud and pick up a couple of extra pounds of mud. Hey! If it isn't a mountain bike race!!!

One more uphill to battle, and then the icing on the cake!

Senda! Senda??? Singletrack?!? Yes, sir! Single track. After mostly mountain and fire roads there was now to be singletrack! This is the stuff my Daddy likes to kill for! About 14 km remain - and it appears that these are going to be singletrack. What a dream come true. The adrenaline from flying down the mountain and the anticipation of most likely finishing this race turn out to be a giant kick in the butt for my Dad. The singletrack is beautiful. Narrow and winding. Changing terrain. There was brush and bushes, then there were trees, then rocky plains, and occasionally a rider or two, and too much of a temptation to not leave them behind. At one point Dad starts an attack from far left field pushing as hard as he can, no longer near the trail at all, peddling becoming difficult with rocks and roots and who knows what making the ride quite bumpy. The two guys Daddy is about to pass look up! Daddy is not sure if he sees surprise, fear or anger in these beaten faces after having completed about 8/9th of the race - but can only think about keeping on peddling. Once back on the trail Daddy is struggling for air. But there is no way he is going to stop now after just having blown past these two dudes. Air or not - these wheels need to keep moving. Daddy can feel the breath of someone on his neck, and soon he hears the familiar hum of Pablo's disc break: Pablo, eres tu, tio??? Si si, soy YO! I think we left them behind. At this point they are not even sure if those two guys just stopped after they had passed them. But time's a waste'n. No need to slow down now. They have the village in their sight! Volunteers urge them to slow down at every subsequent turn they take, bringing them closer to the finish, and then the clock marks 5 hours 32 minutes. Race completed! Finishers 317 and 318 have returned home.

Boy what joy it must have been to finish! On the way back to the Youth Hostel Pablo keeps laughing at Dad because he is walking soooooo slow. But there is that smile on my Dad's face, which was worth every bit of pain it took to put it there.

Carrboro Classic 2009 - Long Course Duathlon

2009-04-13T19:35:00.000-07:00

Someone PLEASE help this man!

At last: The remake of last year!!! The event WE all have been waiting for!!! This is the event where Daddy is going to break the 3-hour hurdle… or so at least he dreamed! Well??? It was definitely another body breaking torture adventure!

So…! ? ! It all started about a year ago when a friend suggested participating in this race. Run, Bike, Run? Why not. Run I can, Bike I can. Run again? Mmmm – why not? Glad there is no swimming involved to say the least. So, we signed up last year (there is an earlier blog for this!), and have been waiting for the remake ever since we crossed that finish line last year. While we had nothing but rain last year, it was nothing but sun this year! Niiiiccccccccccccccccceeee! And!!!!!!!!! Half the neighborhood signed up for it – so we had all kinds of friends running around all morning! Definitely made for a more fun day for sis and myself, not to mention slow-moving mom these days!

But ok, back to the beginning! Up at the crack of dawn, Daddy makes his way to the race with Rick, Kathy and the rest of the clan. The bike is put-up in the transition area, and one is tempted to contemplate on how to warm up and where to take that last pee??? Bob and Klaas are discovered in the crowd, and last minute race-pep talk is exchanged: “So, what you end up doing last night ???” Dad almost misses the start as he is walking up to the starting line next to Kathy. Come on, dude – it’s a race and you signed up for it! The MEN (!!!) get to start 3 minutes early (only to be later passed by a bunch of fast women)…but Dad apparently was off to a good start, and only later disappointed that his run time (39:54.95 – 8:02 min/mile – 57th place) wasn’t as fast as it had felt to him (maybe it is time for starting to wear a watch during these races???) – he kicked ASS in the transition time though (1:11.00 min), but the bike didn’t feel as good as he had expected it to feel! Are we finally getting back to being the runner we thought we had always been? Well, probably not, but the day made for a beautiful bike ride! The bike pace was steady and fast with an 19.1 mph average (I know!!! That is unbelievable 30.6 kmh – 48th place). There was a group of approximately five bikers Dad was “hanging with” – naturally there is no drafting allowed in tri races, and an undercover race sheriff driving by at high speed in his VW Touareg makes a point of reminding everyone (is this still the neighborhood race we thought it was???) – I think the "sheriff" was actually coaching one of the women. Wow, Daddy! Now you're good! You are actually keeping up with one of the faster women!?! The last “older” gentleman Daddy passed was sure to pass him again on the second run. Daddy knew he had that coming for him…(just like last year…only it was more women passing him last year!).

Anyway, more running on cleats as Daddy transitions again from bike to running. Dad did manage do to his homework this time though. Constant foot gymnastics and low gear peddling during the last 2 miles of the race guaranteed legs that weren’t asleep when he had to get off the bike again (and not forgetting to mention not closing the shoes too tight this time – duhh, Dad!). But what was this pain in the rest of his body he was feeling??????? What was all this shoulder ache, this hip pain, these legs that didn’t want to run again, and these feet that forgot how to roll from heel to toe and wanted to land like a flat piece of 2x4 every time they touched the ground?? Who had forgotten about them? What about THEIR homework? Well?!? Apparently more training is in place for them?!! Mmmm…. After a quick hug and kiss for the whole family in the transition area (1:08.15 min), and a quick but painful “everything is going GREAT” (ahhh, this fu*king pain? where the hell is it coming from?) Daddy was off to run again, tip toeing in the beginning (Mommy laughs! – I say: What are you doing Daddy??? Is that how you are going to run the whole thing?!?)) – but at last this time feeling like he can actually move and feel his feet and legs again, determined to kick butt on the second run….he constantly shifts from “wow, I can’t believe the speed I am running at…..to….wow….I don’t think I can keep running at this pace…..am I going to finish??? But yes, we did finish. As I see my poor old man struggling up the last hill, mom shouts out to him: “we’ll meet up with you after that last turn-around and you can pick up the kids!” ??? Huh? Pick who up??? I am going to run!!! This is my high time now!!! Little sis briefly contemplates running into the finish, too – but than decides against it as I clamp onto Daddy’s hand and once again, and drag him across that finish line in: 3:11:53.55 – 54th out of 91 participants, 5th out of 8 in his age group, and 40th amongst MEN!
So, he improved by 15 minutes over last year! Wow! Not bad at all. But he still sucked win on that second run -> only 27 seconds over last year! Huhhh – I’m telling you, he is not a runner!!!

So that’s it! But since it was such a nice day, we decide to stick around for the awards ceremony as we are promised lots of free giveaways! The first pleasant surprise is that Rick and Kathy who participated as a Team won 3rd place! The next pleasant surprise is that they also win a free nights stay at a Motel (not sure what that is good for, but anyway), and then vintage T-shirt giveaways from last year's race are being handed out. Sorry, already got one! The whole time it seems like Dad is not really into it, and Mom is getting a little frustrated with him: "Don’t you want to win anything?" Oh, YES HE DID! Just as the race crew is wrapping things up he reminds them about the free-entry giveaway for the 2009 Chapel Hill Ramblin Rose Triathlon (a fabulous and famous WOMEN ONLY Super Sprint Triathlon). The friendly race hand sends Dad back into the “crowd” and after a couple of other things, when Daddy starts jumping up and down vigorously and spraying Mommy and me with his water bottle the same friendly race hand announces: “ The free-entry to the Ramblin Rose goes to??? THE MAN! And he points at DAD! We WON, we won, WE WON! Mom is ecstatic! Being 27 weeks pregnant with number 3 obviously limits her ability to be jumping up and down, but she is all smiles and so proud of Daddy. She has competed in the last two editions of this beautiful race, but was afraid to sign up for it this year, since it will be approximately 3 month after delivery. The race sold out quickly anyway, and before she could have made up her mind the window of opportunity had passed by – only to come back now! Mom and Dad walk up hand in hand (so beautiful) to accept the price, and the race hand wants to know their names and starts chatting with them. A few words of encouragement to Mom: Ohh, you can do it!!! – and the happy people remember that they still have a couple of kids on the lawn! Alright, wrap it up gang – we are out of here and high tailing it into Spring Break! I got this Dad all to myself for the next 8 days!

This is THE ONLY way to finish!

Cary Long Course Duathlon - 03/21/09

2009-03-23T19:18:00.001-07:00

Run – Bike – Run

Hello again! You’re back at it with your infamous 4-year old reporter (soon to be five – YESSSSS!) .

This race was a bonus, an add-on so to speak. Originally it wasn’t really clear whether my Dad was going to participate in it or not – but finally (after all that training…) he decided to sign up for it – only to catch a cold the next day after he had signed up for it. That was Wednesday – and yes, correct, the race was on Saturday. Mmm, not enough to make him smile every morning he got up with a sore throat. But well, lots of sleep finally cured it enough to have him get out of bed and drive to Cary Saturday morning. The race-pack pick-up had been Friday afternoon after 5:00 pm – I don’t think he’s ever going to do that again – traffic comes to a halt in Cary at 5:00 pm on Friday. What are all these people doing??? Picnics in the road? Waiting for the lights to turn red so that they can continue to be parked in the middle of the road??? No wonder no one was there besides him when he had finally made it to the store…

It was so nice of him to have gone to the pick-up the day before though. I didn’t want to miss him the next morning. Sometimes it feels like all we are waiting for to hear from him is: Is it the weekend? Is it the weekend? IS IT THE WEEKEND? FINALLY! Sis and me love it when he doesn’t say: I love you, gotta go to work! Cause it means it’s Saturday! It’s Sunday! It’s OUR day! Its US. US. USSSSSS!!!

So, I know, he did have to leave this morning, too. But I knew he was going to this race, and that he was looking forward to it. But we did have breakfast together before, and we all promised to meet up with him before he was going to cross the finish line. I mean, I don’t think he actually knows how to cross the finish line when I’m not there.

All in all the race went pretty well. The first run wasn’t bad at all – and Mr. Thrifty was making sure he wasn’t going to spent everything he got before even getting on the bike (5 miles/8 km in 39.44 min). Though I think someone must have overheard him saying right after getting onto the bike: …”enough with the fu*king running already”…I think that’s the only way he could have ended up with that 15 minute penalty that put him so far down on the list of finishers. Je je. Anyhuh, the biking was the best! Again. He wouldn’t stop telling Mom on how much faster he was with those new shiny tires he got, and she wouldn’t stop telling him how much faster he would be if he would get a new bike. Those two! I tell you. I thought all the hugging and kissing only works wonders for us. But boy, do those faces light up when they get a kiss or two.

The biggest troubling question during these races of course always is: What to wear? And more importantly: How many layers of it! Personally I always vote for the pink shirt and the long underpants – but somehow that never ends up being what he is wearing when I see him again (Dude!!! This morning! I saw a neighbor walking his 5” dog wearing ? what do they call those? Bademaentel? No, damn it, in English??? Bathrobe, That’s it! Bathrobe. He was wearing a bathrobe!!! AND! It was too short. It was gray…it was totally out of a bad movie. I think Daddy winked at him as he drove past him in his red sports car. Wow! I love this neighborhood.

What was I saying? Oh yeah, …the race! So, a steady pace of 18.1 mph took Dad around Lake Jordan (31 miles/50 km in 1.44 hours), along with the other about 150 racers that were out there that day. Some mom in a minivan with kids in the back must have been looking for her glasses as she nearly took out three of the racers, and one of the Cops wanted to meet everyone personally before waving hysterically that we had missed the turn! But all in all, we couldn’t have asked for a better day in March. Not one cloud in the sky (or on the brain)!

But then! Running again. I know, we have been through this already. One of the fellow racers was trying to cheer up Dad (not the easiest thing when you are passing him) by saying – Come on, Raoul (somehow they met during the bike portion) – keep it up – and all Dad could mumble was: “I can’t feel my feet. Actually, I’m not even sure I’m feeling my legs right now”. Running on two rubber sticks can’t be that much fun I guess. That’s what someone at work asked my Dad today, too: And you do this for fun, right????

As we are driving into the park we see Daddy running on the side of the street. Boy, he’s pretty happy to see us! Mom wants to know if he has to run another lap??? No, this is it! he says with a very big smile! Yeah! He’s done already (5 more miles in pitiful 47.58 min – that gave him an overall finish time of 3:14:06, 64th place out of 106 MEN – the best placement he got was for T2 change time: 1:02 minutes. Rank 35!!! He really couldn’t wait to start running again…- all the details are here: http://www.fsseries.com/results.php?rs=79 ). Grandma throws it into low gear and races up to the finish line as everyone scrambles out of the car falling everywhere and nowhere.

It takes little or no coordination, and it really doesn’t matter – we make it to the finish line and we are all standing there, cheering. I run up to him, grab his hand, and pull him across the finish line! Everyone is happy!

Virginia Beach Cyclocross Winter Endurance Challenge

2009-01-19T19:19:00.000-08:00

Ok. You know, my Dad, well, he has decided 2009 is going to be the year where there will be more time for races! Not sure what brought this change of fate, we did compete in 3 races in 2008 after all - but well, apparently this needs to be overcome quickly in 2009. And of course, me the 4 year old reporter, is left stranded out here on the information highway to report on it all. Boy, what luck you are in for...Did I mention, that yours truly was also scheduled to compete in his first bicycle race? EVER! Yeah, for real! Take of the training wheels (no pretending, please), give me a bigger bike (I don't care if it's already broken in) and let me peddle, peddle, peddle until I can't anymore.

So, over the Christmas Holiday we end up getting this e-mail from Kale Running (please, tell me WHY? somebody!) and it advertises this CycloWhat race in Virginia. I thought Cyclocross was dead since the birth of Mountain Biking? Little did I know, but that might be a subject for someone elses blog. Anyhuhh - Why not go to Virginia Beach in January and freeze our butts off, and on top of that compete in below freezing conditions in a Cyclocross Winter Endurance Challenge? They did have a Kid's race, what more excuses did we need.....this may drag on forever..... the same mail mentions a SUPERHOT deal with a local Hotel - right on the Beach - Oceanview Rooms ONLY. So hard to resist the urge to book something immediately - where is my credit card, WHERE IS MY CREDIT CARD?!?

So, we end up in the car heading up to Virginia Beach this past Friday right after work, as the entire East Coast is bracing itself for the coldest temperatures of the year. Priceless timing! Thanks to GPS we get to the Hotel No Problem No Questions. Wake up to what??? Oceanview, of course. Head down for the complimentary breakfast. Biscuits, Jam and Chocolate Milk. YUM!!! What do you mean we have to go to the Sports Complex? Now? It is -6 C outside (21 F). Well, Daddy's 35+ (or Masters as they like to call it) starts at 10:00 am. It is 9:00 am now - better get going Gang. And remember, the Kid's race is scheduled to start at 12:00. Somebody work for the Child Protection Agency. Somebody? SOMEBODY???

Nice bike, dude.

So, Daddy seems to think it is cool to ride Grandpa's road bike converted to Cyclocross Monster thanks to some brand spanking new Michelin Cyclocross Tires - man, those Germans! I think what the people on the sidelines were later overheard saying was: "...he's keeping up with them pretty good..." - Way to go, Dad! You came in 9th of the 10 nutcases that had nothing better to do that morning. I think he was later saying that he picked a bad race category (tough competition - who else in that age category is going to compete unless they are serious about it - and unfavorable conditions - only the hardcore comes out at below freezing temperatures). Not bad to be a part of that, though. At the line up Dad found out that he had fastened the number incorrectly to the front of his Jersey. Since this was a Cyclocross race, you are supposed to fasten it to the left side, so it can be easily observed when you come through the checkpoint after every lap. A friendly race hand immediately offered confused Dad to help with the re-fastening of the race number, and due to Dad's clumsiness (must have been nervous) quickly but quite assertively says: "I got it" - causing Dad to simply have to wait until one of the safety pins enters his flesh. Hey, at least the number was in the right place. What's the fuss all about?

So, yup, he finished 9th out of 10 at a lightning speed of 13.6 mph (21.76 kmh), and a total of 6 laps. Temperature of his feet at the end of the race had also reached 21 F. Official results (for those so inclined) can be found here: http://results.active.com/pages/displayNonGru.jsp?rsID=74664

Hey! Wait for me.

But, more importantly. Next was the Kid's Race at 12:00 Noon. It was me, against two too tall girls, probably twice my age. When the race organizer said go, I just kind of looked at him, thinking "why did you just say GO? Wait! Where are those girls going?" We were of and peddling. Dad was such a sport to run next to me the whole time. We get to the first hill, and the tall grass brings the bike to a halting stop (remember, this IS CYCLOCROSS after all). Up I go, pushing the bike. If those girls could do it, sure enough I can, too. At the top of the hill I look at my Dad and his last words were: "Now you can get back on the bike and ride down!" Down? Ok. Faster, faster, ever so much faster I go. I start screaming. SCREAMING. AHHHHHHH, and then it's all over. I'm at the bottom! AND! I AM STILL RIDING! Let's do that again! I get to the next hill, but I already know the drill now! Push the bike up the hill. Get on. And ride down. Piece of cake. How old am I again? Ah, what does it matter. The next stretch is that Monster Grass again, trying to pull me of my bike. But not with me, Mister! As I am pulling up onto the concrete for the final stretch of the race, faintly I hear my Dad somewhere in the distance: "...faster, faster..." Oh, faster I can on concrete my friends!!! The crowd is going wild as I pull into the finish. 3rd place! My day is MADE!

Only a Champion can smile like this! What Helmet?

What's one to do after all that excitement? Decide that it definitely is too cold to spend more than 5 minutes on the Beach (Kites don't fly in the cold anyway - nice try though, Dad), but warm enough to stay for hours in the warm Hotel Pool, that we had all to ourselves. Thanks!!! And next? Waiters in white dresses, Valet Parking, artistically folded napkins? Uhhhhhh - this place looks like fun. Il Giardino. Make sure to make it your stop if you ever end up on Virginia Beach. Be sure to make reservations, unless you are coming early and are bringing the kids. Believe it or not. The place was packed.

Next Morning? Rewind. Start over. Only difference? Instead of sun, full cloud cover. +3 C ( 37 F) instead of - 6 C (21 F). Light breeze. And, oh yes, Duathlon instead of just Cyclocross. 5k Run, 20k Cyclocross, 5k Run. Dad would have never thought that he was such a bad runner, but I guess it is true! The good thing about the running part was that the feet actually had a chance to get warm before he had to get on the bike. He later explained that the biking was so great! I guess he never would have guessed (being an avid mountain biker) that he would get so much pleasure out of passing dudes on their mountain bikes with their fat tires, than he did on that day. It all paid off in the end. On the first run he placed 49th out of 62 (remember I said BAD RUNNER), but on the bike 20th, and on the second run 45th (WOW!) - all in all to finish 30th out of 62. Not bad, Dad. Mom blamed it all on the bike anyway.

Yup! That guy to the left almost beat me...

As we were quickly packing up after the finish, ice pellets started coming down. We were out of there for a pleasant drive home with me sleeping most of the time and my sister talking to herself and entertaining anybody who wanted to be entertained. Boy, those cheese sandwiches were good though, weren't they Mom?

This is where it all happened: http://www.vbchallenge.kalerunning.com/media.html

The Race!

2008-10-11T17:06:00.000-07:00

I guess, it all sort of began with my Dad and me running together we Pablo along the beach every now and then (well, I wasn't running literally, I was way too small then - I was fortunate to be pushed around in my Baby Jogger), and then it sort of continued with the Cursa Bombers, the Behobia, something around Moritz (or a beer of that name), the Mitja de Barcelona and some other plans --- and it now finally all came down to this:

Someone talked to someone, someone else said something about having a cold beer in the fridge for them, someone else had some frequent flyer miles, and someone knew where to meet in Washington, DC. So, that took care of the first part. After that, it was up to Google and friends, to provide a race in the vicinity. It only took three clicks to end up on the EX2 adventure webpage, and to find out about the VENTURE QUEST.

VENTURE QUEST - maybe the ultimate in adventure racing - at least for the novices that we were. Having completed this adventure race one no longer feels like novices though. We could sit here and write about the mandatory equipment (compas, headlight, map case, space blanket, nutrition gear, "food"), and we could also talk about the map and its nine checkpoints + the five colored unmanned checkpoints, but maybe we should start at the beginning?

Meeting at the white house was actually a pretty cool idea. One for the prestige of the location, and also for the ease of finding each other thanks to cell phones and lots of open space: "I'm over here in the middle of the lawn - do you see me waving my arms?"

No time was wasted to get to the compulsory (look it up! it means mandatory) pre-race meeting at 5:00 pm at the respective race location. Once we were thoroughly confused what else would we decide on but to get on our bikes and check out the mountain bike trail. Once we were deep into it we faintly realize that we are still wearing street shoes and had left the helmets at the car. Only the feet slipping of the peddles now and then slowed us down though...what a beautiful place it was then. Up and down single trail. Roots and rocks and lake and water and creek and literally endless up and down - pretty damn good.

Now that we had worked up an appetite, where to find a T-Bone Steak? Leave it up to the GPS (>>Find Restaurants near current location) to point us to three different locations which did lead us to success eventually: The Polo Grill Restaurant and Tap Room in Lorton, VA. Good food and good service at a fair price topped us of nicely for the day....back to the Hotel to get some sleep before the 6:00 am wake-up call.

Once we get there in the morning the air is already filled with the wonderful pre-race ambiance. People hustling around getting gear and body ready for the race. Maps are handed out and one starts wondering if North is North and whether we are going to P2 or P3 as part of the Prologue??? At 8:00 am sharp the clock starts running and we are off to a nice little jog along the road and into the woods. Peep! The electronic key is entered into the first of many checkpoints and we are off to get back to where we left the gear and the bicycles. No time is wasted to get on the bikes and start blasting down the mountain bike trial. My dad notices to his surprise that the brakes are working even less than the day before - but what the hell. It's a race - no braking allowed during a race anyway....We complete the first 8 miles on the bike quite nicely, having passed a boat load of people. Very few bikes had returned as we were leaving to start trail chasing up to the marina. Three colored checkpoints had to be found, along with two regular checkpoints, and one challenge area.

At this point it still made sense to be running, so we didn't waste too much time thinking about it. Everything went pretty well. We found all three colored checkpoints without much delay. The challenge consisted of pulling yourself on a tube along a line across a narrow section of the river - not bad. Pablo made a big splash as he threw himself onto the tube. Once we got to the end we picked up our canoe and started heading downstream. We couldn't have asked for better weather. 80 degrees Fahrenheit and not a cloud in the sky. Perfect! Constant paddling, the only challenge being how many strokes my dad could get in before he needed to steer again - I think he said he made it up to 21 strokes one time before having to redirect the boat. Pretty awesome paddling for the first time Duo.

Then the bitch! After getting out of the boat we kept looking for the rocks or whatever that someone surely must have put into the boat...none were to be found...but it was quite treacherous to get that damn thing back to where we had to drop it off. And now, back on the bikes and on the trail again. Still in pretty good spirits - the donut my dad wanted to eat at the bike pick-up had been completely forgotten in all the excitement still going on.

We get to the point where we leave the bikes one last time to go and find two more colored checkpoints. The first one is found quite easily and then it is bolting down the hill to get to the last one. Well, where is it?

?

?

?

To make mattes worse, some five other people show up, that are even more clueless. One solo guy still wearing his helmet gets Pablo completely of the page when he starts talking about Pizza. Next thing my dad knows he has the map in his hands and Pablo is basically saying: "I think you better figure this one out"!!! ... Someone get me out of here!... By now, quite a few other racers have come and gone, but still no Red Checkpoint to be found. Leave it up to three guys who came up with "A theory". In their words the map is quickly dissected into coves, water, trails and twists and bends. A few last words of how loud we are going to scream or whistle if we should ever get to this last and lost Checkpoint and the "Theory Folk" prefer to trail along the shore line, while Dad and Pablo decide to finally take a more direct approach to the problem. As more and more landmarks from the map start jumping out in reality - one last and final beep is heard before one drags himself back to the bike again. One hour and six minutes to find this last checkpoint - the previously promising placement amongst the other racers has vanished and left them a bit disillusioned.

To make matters worse my dad has finally gotten to the end of his resources. Downhills are still taken at neck-breaking speeds, but uphills are taken slowly, and breaks are needed to catch one's breath and give the legs a rest. Even a: "Where did we loose the Raoul I know" didn't dig deep enough to find another one and last treasure of hidden resource. The power had been drained. But still enough mental power left to grin and smile and halt one last minute before blasting up to the finish line crowd. The clock now marks 7 hours 55 minutes!

It's over. Finished. Done. Kaputt! The first (and hopefully not last) Adventure Race was complete.

Once we had refreshed ourselves a little bit and endured the awards ceremony, the words that we had spoken so often during the race came out loud and rang true again: "No ha sido una Mariconada, tio". No, it definitely had not been a lame joke at all! This adventure had been the real thing. What a find Google had provided once again. And how great had it been that my dad had to pick up Pablo in Washington to begin with! Things could not have turned out better. And what the hell, if we would have found that Red checkpoint right away - the story would have only been half as good!

All the details can be found here (Team Number 140):

http://www.ex2adventures.com/vq-results.php

Check you later, buddy!

Duke Liver Half Ironman

2008-09-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

Why get up at 5:00 am on a Sunday? Why sign up for a Half Ironman? These were not the questions my mom and dad and their friends were asking themselves last Sunday. It appeared to me that the motto of doing half of something wasn't really what they were about, the only thing that was "half" was that none of them had enough desire and energy to do a full Half Ironman. Half of a full - did I loose any of you mathematicians yet? Well, to complete the confusion add seven kids, six adults, two teams, four cars, different schedules, 95 degrees Fahrenheit....What can I say - we made half a day of it - everyone gave all they had - and none of the back-up plans had to be activated.

It all started with THE SWIM:

For some of the Team members this was the most complicated part of the day. I am not sure whether it was for the part of the Team that was still tugged into bed, getting their rest before battling two baby dinosaurs to make it out to the race field, two other members getting their bikes ready, one member circled-in by five kids, or actually the two members doing the swimming? For sure it was a very beautiful way to break into the day and get the race fever flowing in everyone's veins!

Once the swimmers got out of the water, and the bikers were well on their way, the preparations of setting up base camp for the day for the kids were quite challenging since we included the kids in the decision making process. Anyone having tried to reason with a 4 or 7 year old, might be able to imagine what it is like to reason with five kids ranging from the ages of 4 to 8. To say the least we were quite proud of our results when by democracy we decided to stay close to the race course, and actually preferred this over going to a beach on a nearby area of the Lake.

As the temperature started to rise and the sun started to beat down on the riders out on the course, the final preparations started for the runners. And than it was time! The first rider came in, and the final leg of the course could finally start.

All that training and running finally to be put to the test! Fortunately there was a slight breeze running through our hair as we started battling the two loop running course through the woods. It was so hot! It was so hot. It was just hot, hot and hot. So many competitors frustrated and left walking on a course that had been meant for running. For those of us running in a relay, what kept on running through my head was: That's you! That's you during the second lap! That's you walking because you burned all your energy - but fortunately that never happened and all of us were able to finish smiling!

The only thing left to do was to fall back into the lake and watch the kids running up the ramp, running down the dock, jumping into the water, running up the ramp, running down the dock, jumping into the water, running up the ramp, running down the dock, jumping into the water, running up the ramp, running down the dock, jumping into the water....running, running, running...several participants were still running as we were leaving...our minds revolving around what to do next time? What was for sure was the dinner date the following night to raise a few beers (or water) to our lips and smile and talk about all the sensations we had felt during the course of this quite amazing day.

Get out there when you can!

The Beach at Lake Jordan

2008-05-09T18:31:00.000-07:00

We went to the Beach! The Beach! You know? Sand! Water! Canoe? Canoe! Yup, already a week has passed since this last adventure, but I have been so busy keeping up with my dad who is building new stairs going out of the back of the house into the backyard that I haven't had time to report on the ongoings.

Our Dutch friends were camping at Lake Jordan and we had planned on meeting up with them Sunday morning for breakfast at their campsite! Miranda made some very special French Toast for me, and everyone else actually was also allowed to eat a piece or two.

After a very relaxing breakfast we strolled down to the beach (daddy carrying the canoe on his back all the way there), and we set out to play in the water, build sand castles, and canoe out into the lake. Someone kept calling dad about a production order that they weren't supposed to run, but I guess they figured out what had happened in the end (?). Anyway, I had a lot of fun jumping in and out of the water, playing with the boys, and just digging through the sand. It was such a gorgeous day that it was hard to believe that only a handful of people were out there, I mean, afterall there are more than a handful of people living in the Research Triangle Area (1,549,822 people in the year 2000 to be exact (http://www.researchtriangle.org/pages.php?page1=52&page2=71&page3=73&page_id=73) -> that means there only are more today.

Daddy, Bob, the boys and sis paddled out to the nearby Marina to drool over the nice ski boats sitting in the floating docks. Daddy would like soooooo much to have one of those, but we never seem to figure out when we would find the time to seriously take advantage of it - so he keeps promising himself to get one when I am a teenager. I can see that working very nicely actually, he just needs to figure out a way to stay near a Lake until then?!?.

Take care amigos!

Run Bike Run - The Carrboro Classic 2008

2008-04-07T17:20:00.000-07:00

It's official, my Daddy is a tri-athlete! Or, well, a du-athlete. These crazy Americans decided to let it rain so much that running would be pretty much just like swimming - and so decided to make everyone run for 8 Km, go for a 53 Km bike ride, and then run another 8 Km - so, yup. It's not reaaaallly a triathlon, but, well, a duathlon!

Those of you that are returning readers (won't you leave a comment, will you?!?) might hear bells ringing right now? Water? Wasn't there something about water, or the shortage thereof, in North Carolina? Well, it's done, over, kaput - it rained so much over the last month that all the Lakes are full again. Even Falls Lake filled up again! Thank you heaven!

But, quite importantly, I would like to report that my Daddy finished his first Duathlon in 3:27:09.26. Any more accuracy needed? Ok, here you go:

Run 1 time was 43:47.71, Overall place 107, Run 1 Pace 8:49 min/mile.

Bike time was 1:48:31.40, Overall Place 78, Speed 18.2 mph.

Run 2 time was 47:05.75, Overall place 101, Run 2 Pace 9:28 min/mile.

18.2 mph! Wow!!! That's 29.12 Kmh.

The running could be improved a little bit, though. I mean, even Mommy was able to run it in 41:41.70!!! But hey! He finished, and even without getting "Hunger-Ast" - which I would translate into "bottoming out". I don't know exactly how many of those gel packs he ate, but I do know that he ate one banana! So, in other words, there was plenty of juice to keep the machine running. And he was still smiling in the end! That's what it's all about! Considering he was hoping to finish in under 4 hours, I must say it was a huge success!!! Nothing wrong with setting some realistic goals!

He told me that the bike riding was really the most fun part of the whole race. He said that as soon as he had gotten on the bike he knew he finally had gotten to "HIS" part. He passed about ten people right in the beginning, then later in the race a couple of chicks got pretty upset about him passing them, and had to pass him again, only to be passed again by him one final time ! (then they passed him again on the final 8 Km run - oh well).

But overall, I think the triathlon bug might have gotten started. Is the XTERRA next? (http://middleringcycles.com/uwharrie_xterra.cfm)

Till next time, fellas!

What's my Daddy doing?

2008-03-22T21:46:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what's going on - but Daddy is awafully busy lately. Mom, sis, grand-moh and myself went to the beach this weekend and I called Daddy before going to bed just to let him know that next time we go he can come, too, if he doesn't have to work again. Poor lad, always working - or thinking about work.

Me myself have been thinking a lot about soccer lately. I am beginning to really like it. It's a good thing we little boys wear the chin pads, because boy o boy, some of those kids are not kicking the ball very well. The crazy thing in the beginning was that you are not allowed to touch it with your hands? Geeez, but it's so helpful when you do it. But, well, I think we got it down now - no touching the ball with your hands, dude! I got practice twice a week, and a game every Saturday. The games are challenging, there is always some kid that is bigger than you - how does it always work out that way? My favorite buddy Charlie, who signed on to the same team as myself, has lost some of his initial enthusiam. I hope he sticks it out though, I am really beginning to have a good time.

At my last pre-school parent review meeting I was awarded the compliment of being the puzzle king of the group. Boy, they got me right. I love puzzles. I don't know what it is, maybe because Daddy and me have always been doing puzzles together, I just find it fascinating to stick those pieces together and make them match, and finish the piece and put it away.

I think Mommy and Daddy went out a couple of nights ago. They went out and had coffee! Can you imagine that! For sure they must be getting old. Coffee??? But I guess they did have some good conversation because they seemed pretty happy and in tune when they got back.

Crazy Daddy has been hitting the trainer at night trying desperately to get ready for his Duathlon. I know he is not doing that tonight though, crazy man is surfing the internet tonight!

The latest news is that more family is coming in town!!! I got one of my grandmohs in town already, but coming weekend I got the other ones coming in, too. And my Daddy's brother is coming also! Wow, we are going to have to buy some chairs or something!

Lastly I am very proud of my dad, because he installed the prettiest kitchen sink I have ever seen while we were at the beach. As soon as I get a chance I am going to take a bath in it.

Miss you all, lots, guys! Won't you leave a comment if you have gotten this far?

Take care!

Luc

SugarMountain

2008-02-08T19:11:00.000-08:00

...not sure where to begin describing my mood, but after just spending the last hour and half singing and talking myself to sleep, it feels really good to finally have fallen asleep. So now I have been reading a little bit (...how Tupac got shot on Wikipedia...and how Heath Ledger apparently mixed the wrong drugs on New York Times)...a good time to look for instant gratification and clean up my mess from playing earlier and add a few favorites to my Ipod playlist...a green bottle nearby...but then again, I'm way too young to drink...so before I get lost in more ramblings let me get to the point of the matter: SugarMountain! We spend last weekend with 10 adults and 4 kids in the most fabulous place my Dad has rented yet. I mean this place was unbelievable. It slept 13, had four bedrooms, two game rooms, one of those with a ping pong table...I had never known how good of a ping pong player my daddy was, and how long he can keep at it, especially the first night.

We woke up to pancakes and eggs made to order - I just love it when my dad gets that smile on his face when he's making eggs one by one for everyone who wants some. Besides Mom everybody else also never seems to get the point of it, but I think it just feels right to him. I can't wait for the moment when I will be making two eggs sunny side up for him. Soon thereafter we all raced to the slopes and Mommy signed up for a snowboard class and everybody just had a grand old time. We went back to play at the fabulous house while Mommy changed group lessons to private lessons and got a hang of it very quickly. The personal trainer kept on saying: You are so athletic!!! but then I guess she actually had paid him for that. We all met back up at the slopes after my little sis had taken her nap, and Mommy and Daddy traded Jackets so that Daddy could at least get a couple of runs in. Boy, he later said that those rides felt like being on top of the world. We then hurried back to the fabulous house, and the clubhouse actually sported a heated pool and overheated whirlpool, that most of us couldn't bypass. A big spaghetti dinner and a few cold ones among friends rounded up a wonderful day.

The next morning Daddy was in a frantic "looking for the lost key" mode, and he never quite grasped how it could be that the key didn't like usually get lost in his oh so big bag. Mommy eventually found it to at least their relief on a lower part of the frame of the bed they had slept in. That part of our brain freed up again we made it back out to the slopes to go TUBING. Man, what a kick in the Ass that was. Quite a different experience from the regular slope scene. Little sis was overdue by the time we were done and we jumped into the car for a fast ride home most of which we never noticed because we were sleeping.

Can't wait to do it again. Yep

Trailer Bike, trailer me...

2008-01-19T19:46:00.000-08:00

...anyhow - the vacation days have been very good to us. Daddy had to go to work all but one day of the vacation, and that was for the night shift to run some crazy green trial out of PCR...

...we just about did it all. We built countless castles out of Duplos (Legos that is), countless train routes out of Thomas & Friends combined with my Daddy's ancient train parts which make it all the better (we also get a kick out of watching Thomas & Friends on YouTube), we went canoeing AND bike riding on my new (borrowed) Trailer Bike. I tell you, this is where it's at! I mean, I can't stop screaming: DON'T GO SO FAST. I'M SCARED OF HILLS, DON'T GO THAT WAY, GO THROUGH THE LEAVES, GO FASTER, GET OFF THE SIDEWALK I WANNA RIDE ON THE STREET - it's really been good.

I have not been the best communicator at my one-on-one lunches with Dad, but I think he has been so focused on eating healthy while I was eating sweets that he didn't really notice. I always get a huge kick out of saying just when Daddy is about to sit down and enjoy the first bite of his lunch: I gotta go Peeeeee! ....... and then he swiftly and quickly picks me up and starts running through the store to the Restroom, me laughing and giggling the whole way.

One of the highlights definitely has been when we went canoeing on the little lake right here in the hood. We were doing laps and laps and fishing out Tennis balls. I think we got something silly like 9 Tennis balls, one baseball, and one Wiffle ball out of the water - yup - we went paddling the day after a huge rain storm. It was fun though, especially when the wind started blowing and a lake as big as the back of my hand turned into a life-threatening adventure, good thing Daddy had paddled once or twice in his life before.

Crazy Daddy did go running last night! I check out his phone for new photos first thing this morning. It's not really a good photo, but I guess it was the moment and it all made sense at the time? ? ? He wants to train for some event or something, I dunno.

Today we got snow! In North Carolina!!! (of all places) I think last time they got snow in Atlanta (which is in Georgia) was in '94. Anyhow, we need the water, so we don't complain!

Got U close to the screen this time, sucker!

I'm out of here boys - take care of yourself!

The Tobacco Trail

2007-12-30T20:24:00.000-08:00

We got so lucky yesterday!!! Not one drop of rain on our silly heads or hats or caps or whatever. Today it has been raining since we got up, and still is as most of us are heading off to bed - but nobody is really upset about it - because we all know North Carolina really needs it.

Well, yesterday we finally hit the Tobacco Trail. Someone at my Dad's work had mentioned the words Tobacco Trail to him before, but since he doesn't smoke anymore it didn't really strike the appropriate root of interest with him. But boy, what we have been missing:

This trail takes off more or less behind a mall near where we live, and then takes you all the way to beautiful DownTown Durham. My Daddy had been to one of the newly renovated areas for a Dinner before, and I guess he thought that was about the extent of making Durham pretty, but what a surprise we had yesterday; many many areas are popping out of nowhere everywhere that could make you believe Durham is a really cool place to live.

The Tobacco Trail is really really great. My Daddy could even take it to work (if he ever gets his act together). The Tobacco Trail is an old train track converted to a bike slash walking slash jogging path, and it is simply amazing what wonders some well spent tax dollars can do. You may have thought only Europeans get out and walk, jog or bike in great numbers (well, we all know the Americans have the Jogging part down better than any other nation on this globe), but it was simply great and very refreshing. Lots of people were out on this trail and everyone seemed to be really enjoying it frequently - it didn't feel like a tourist attraction at all - if felt like a utility trail - and I tell you, it sure looks like a great trail for training for your next long distance run.

We were a total of eight in our group, and my sis and myself had to share the space in our two kid trailer, and once we got out all the drinks, snacks and books and started taking of our shoes and socks, it did get a little cramped in there.

We rode all the way to Durham, had a fantastic brunch at Elmos Diner (who is maybe only related to Donald Duck and doesn't share anything else besides being a duck with Donald). And on the ride back everything was wonderful until I woke up my sis. I didn't get yelled at right away, because it sure wouldn't have helped the situation while my sis thought that the end of the world had come, but I did have to acknowledge in the end that it had been a pretty bad idea to wake her up after she had slept so sweetly for such a sweet while.

Like I said, we made it back to the cars without one drop of rain, and it was such a mild and humid day, that it really didn't feel like December at all. Great timing and great idea guys! I'm all up for it again!!!

I heard some mumblings about trying one of those attach-a-bike thingies in the future (for me!!!) - I can't wait to see if that plan will pan out anytime soon.

Happy Trails to all of you.
LUC

Why I run!?!

2007-12-27T05:42:00.000-08:00

Because I can, because I CAN, BECAUSE I CAN!!! I just love running. Running in circles, running down the hill, running up the hill, running for no apparent reason, running for the sake of running! Running is just great!

Back when I was living in Barcelona, I used to go running with my Daddy all the time, but that was when I would still sit in the Baby Jogger, and Daddy and Pablo would actually do the running. Since my Daddy even back then wasn't all that strong (or because Pablo was running so fast) they would take turns pushing the Baby Jogger, but then again, that's what being friends is all about, isn't it? Yeah!

So, a couple of weeks back I ran in my first race. I didn't have time to write about it, but I figured now was a good moment to make up for it. My great Daddy actually ran the 1 Mile race with me. We started off running really fast, but then my Daddy cautioned me to conserve my energy and so we slowed down a bit. That was quite a good idea, because I later needed all that conserved strength to finish the race running. Beside stopping once for stretching the race went wonderful. The funny part of the race was (it was a neighborhood race - a Family Run so to speak) that for no apparent reason half the kids were sent down the wrong street - so they dispersed into the neighborhood without really knowing where to turn after having been told to run in the wrong direction (by accident I presume). But fortunately we were running next to some people who knew (and who had cell phones!) and this is how we ran 1 Mile and 1 Mile only. Close to the Finish Line Mommy was already waiting for me and we all finished the race together. I actually won a Free Movie Ticket for finishing (and I think Daddy got one, too). Maybe I can go see a Movie with Daddy - wouldn't it be great if they showed the Jungle Book, I would love to see this Movie on the big screen!!!

Gotta go! C U later!
LUC

Down the tube...

2007-12-26T06:29:00.000-08:00

Guys! Yesterday we went hiking around the neighborhood, and there is a lake nearby that has an overflow system! Daddy wanted to convince Mommy that all the excess water is pumped to Lake Jordan, because of the extreme drought conditions in North Carolina, but after we did the appropriate inspection we realized that it is a manual bleed-off valve, and what Daddy was thinking is probably nothing more than SPECULATION!!!

Someone at work had asked my Dad what the water restrictions were for Orange County, and when I checked this morning I realized that Chapel Hill is still at Stage 2!?! Strange when everybody else (especially Durham!!!) is at Stage 4 and thinking about Stage 5. For those unbeknown to the topic of mandatory water conservation Stage 4 means that all industries shall reduce their city water consumption by 50%. And for those new to the English language shall = must! No kidding here! Right now Durham has 39 days of guaranteed water supply remaining. 39 days. Count them buddy, because no more showers for you after February 3rd. Better get that extra supply of deodorant now, Stinky (might wanna pick up some extra bottled drinking water, too)..............

Anyhow, the large piping for the excess water bleed-off is not exactly the playground anyone needs to be visiting without their parents or the appropriate official, but since I couldn't find an official anywhere Daddy was good enough - and he does take pretty good pictures.

Today it is raining. Yeah!!! It certainly can't rain enough around here. We may go outside and try out our new Matschhosen (for those of you new to the German language this translates to: pants for dirt! ... or dirty pants... that's a fun word to be screaming out loud! DIRTY PANTS. DIRTY PANTS....BETTER GET YOUR DIRTY PANTS BECAUSE WE ARE GOING OUTSIDE).

Ha ha, I just placed a small battery charger next to my Daddy, and he mistook it for the mouse and tried to use it as the mouse - boy what luck he had moving the cursor around with the charger. NONE!!!

Ciao!
LUC

REVOLUTION

2007-12-25T18:45:00.001-08:00

Alright, this is it.

I am taking over.

I have just spent the last four days straight with my Dad... he's on vacation or something... and I must tell you, that poor dude has no time to write a blog. So, that's it. No more of this: "Gee, if I only had time to write", or his other poor ass excuse: "If I had only taken a picture to go with the story!" - it's over Pap - you write no more - you been hanging out here toooooo long, buddy.

SOOOO, let me fill everyone in on my story. It's Christmas season 2007, I turned three sometime this past summer, and have been living in the United States of America for the last six months or so. I had a really good Thanksgiving break at Lake Norman. My Daddy was hanging out with this other Dad, they were fixing up an old deck or something - really crazy, because it took them the entire break, and there was still no water to float it in when they were done. But anyhow, I had a really good time with my mom and my sis, and the other mom and her three kids. Those two crazy ladies took us on a canoe trip across Lake Norman, so that we could have a picnic on someone's sister's deck, that was in much better shape then the one my Daddy was working on with that other guy.

My sis has been quite the trooper, and she is trying to pick up on all my tricks! Most of the time I don't mind. But boy brother, the things I dreamt about doing when I was her age, geee, no problem for her, buddy.

So, it has been a wonderful time to be alive. I love it when my Daddy sits down with me and we get creative.

And I guess he loves it, when he gets out with Mom, and they go mountain biking.

Man, everytime I upload an image, it's screws up my formatting and puts the last pic first! Anyone got a fix for that???

Well, I am getting out of here. I'll be back soon, this is my own here revolution. Wish me luck and I will keep you going with pics and stories.

Since it is the jolly Christmas season, please allow me to leave you with a picture I took last night.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!

LUC

Charlie's birthday...

2007-10-06T17:56:00.000-07:00

Since my Daddy is really eager to have more blogs published, but never seems to find the time for it, I am taking the liberty to write this blog for him. Today we went to my friend Charlie's birthday party in Pittsboro, North Carolina. Charlie is one of my buddies from preschool, and he turned three today! Oh, and what a great party it was.

This morning when I woke up and ran into my parents bedroom together with my sister Lya, Daddy seemed a little bit groggy. Apparently he drank a few beers at our neighbor's party where someone had turned 40! Just imagine, 40!, ancient, isn't it? I have no idea how old my Daddy is, but there was a lot of talk about my generation, his generation and your generation at the party - and there were a lot of questions about the year 1967! I wonder why? There was also a get to know quiz, because everybody had turned in a sentence that was a unique description of something about them - there were things like somebody starting the week in Kenya, someone else hanging out on the beach in Hawaii with Baywatch moms, someone being on the Board of Directors of the local water company, someone breastfeeding during a marathon...I think Mommy and Daddy had a really good time, one of their friends started asking for cigarettes after her husband had left, and naturally she had continued to drink liberally...I think my Daddy suggested that she should run around the block three times and then do 25 push-ups, whereafter for sure she would be rewarded with a cigarette...it was all good fun. When Mommy was ready to leave she almost left Daddy behind as the neighbor implied that she leaving didn't necessarily mean that he had to leave also - but they did walk home together afterall. Two other friends walked home with them, too - this is such a cool neighborhood with everybody living so close to each other - but...let me get back to the important part of this blog: Charlie's birthday party:

...Mommy is going to bed already, she is meeting a few girls at 7:00 in the mornin to practice for her Ramblin Rose triathlon... Anyhow, after a short drive to Pittsboro we were pretty much in the woods, and the gravel road was taking us further and further into the woods until we finally had arrived! This was a pretty cool place. There were lots of trees, big boulders (rocks so to speak) and there was even a river nearby that Daddy quickly hiked to while everybody else was busy. The best part of the party were the games. We hammered some nails into a piece of wood; we used powerdrills to tighten some screws, and then we built wooden planes that everyone let fly around everywhere.

Charlie also had some pretty cool sit-on-top toys. I especially liked the tractor:

After I had gotten a pretty good handle on the tractor Charlie allowed me to try his birthday present, a Kawasaki Ninja! Now this is a fun toy!

It was just a great party - everybody got along great. Charlie liked my gift, too, and the present unwrapping session was just fun for everybody. Soon enough it was 5:00 o'clock, and time for everyone to go home. On the way home we stopped at the Performance bike store in Carborro, and bought Mommy a kick stand for her bike so she can easily stand up her bike when it is hooked up to the trailer. Mommy is a crazy woman when it comes to her bike and our trailer. This week she picked me up from preschool with Lya already in the trailer as it was pooring rain, and then we rode home on pretty busy streets. Lya and I cuddled up really close to each other the whole ride home - boy was I happy when the garage door opened and we finally pulled into save and known territory - I guess we won't be doing that again anytime soon...

alright my friends, I have to go to sleep now. My Daddy promised to build a boat out of Lego with me first thing tomorrow morning, so the sooner I fall asleep, the sooner it will be tomorrow morning. Time's a waste'n...miss you all a bunch. Would be nice to go to another Calçotada sometime in the future. Special greetings to you, my friend, Victor - drop me a line if you should ever read this.

The South Loop - or why I bike...

2007-09-28T20:08:00.000-07:00

it's tremendous, but I never would have thought that it could be so strenuous to keep going this here diary friend of mine...especially when you got friends that are so much better at it, and even promote your own diary to old friends...by now some 15 kids have probably looked at this here diary and thought...how lame, a couple of breakfasts and a boating trip on a pond? Well, my latest excuse is that I meant to post so many blogs, but could never remember to bring the camera to take pictures to go along with the blog...ja ja...well, this one will have to do without pictures. The South Loop out at Beaverdam just north of Raleigh is my new love affair. When I rode it for the first time probably a couple of months ago, I couldn't believe that something so cool could exist so close to home - this is liking having Tsali in your backyard I was thinking - and it really is, but let me rewind to the beginning. A week ago my buddy John called me at work as we were getting ready to meet for a Friday after-work ride. Beaverdam had closed because of a drizzle, so Chapel Hill back behind the Highschool seemed to be where we were going to meet. But once I had gotten into the car I just couldn't get excited about it, so I called John again and we decided to meet out at Lake Crabtree instead (no, not to go boating...to go Mountain biking Stupid). It was a great ride down history lane. This is where we used to go ride a lot when I was still going to State (North Carolina State University) and the trails actually have much improved since then. To favor much needed after work conversation that had nothing to do with work we opted for the fireroads (I always get a kick out of thinking: "Yeah suckers" when we cross over Interstate 40 and see all those cars downthere most of the time stuck in a traffic jam). To our pleasant surprise we noticed that the fireroads had gotten a new edition and after crossing the creek we were actually able to continue and do a beautiful loop.

Anyhow, after a great ride we headed back to Chapel Hill, stopped at the grocery store to pick up a six pack and some salad, and then met up with the rest of the family who was just getting ready to take a bath. Once the kids were in bed, John and I ate (pasta, what else) and then mellowed out until it was time to call it the quits.

So the South Loop is what brought me here. The last time I had met John out there after work I had had the same grand idea of driving there on backroads in order to avoid Friday afternoon traffic...I came so close to getting lost again (Old Weaver Trail Road went off to the right, and Old Weaver Trail Road continued straight ahead - so where do you go???) - but once the off to the right didn't look right, I turned around and everything worked out - puhhhhh, still took me 30 minutes to get to the trail though. Once ready to go ride we figured to better leave the cars outside of the trail gates (they close at 7:30 pm) in order to buy us another 30 minutes of riding time (the park closes at 8:00 pm) - easily done and off we were to the left, dropping into the woods over a little wooden bridge. I guess what's so great about the South Loop is its speed; it's just such a fun and fast trail that I always end up wondering how long it can keep on going like this. At first it's pretty much a regular singletrack with some roots, some ups and downs, some left and rights, a nice little wooden bridge over there, but then it turns into one big drop after another, the trail narrowing down at times to a foots width, with no ground to fall on on its right side, then there is a tree trunk on the right, that has the top third of it chopped of so you can ride over it (for more than two canoe lengths (= 10 meters)) - today I fell on the first attempt - and then you got those great views of Falls Lake jumping out of the bushes here and there...about a third of the way into the ride I notice that I had lost my water bottle...and decide to turn around to go look for it - once I have ridden so far back that it is stopping to make sense, I turn around again to try to catch back up with John, and sure enough, after another rapid descent and almost falling of my bike...there is the water bottle...peacefully laying on the ground just to the left of the trail. It feels nice to take a sip of water after all that - but then the race begins. In my attempt of catching back up with buddy John I push so hard that every other turn I wish for my protective pads that I didn't bring, and the water bottle in the drink holder becomes a pathetic fixation as I am wondering when it is going to fall out again. I keep reminding myself not to forget to put a smile on my face - because this is about the only thing I would want to be doing right now. But John is nowhere to be found, the harder I peddle, the bigger the burning gets in my lungs, the less time there is to drink water - and where is that smile? over and over again the smile turns into another eye brow raising facial expression as I barely miss tree after tree. Finally another good uphill and I start cheering myself on: hep, hep, hep, hep...and sure enough, at the top of the hill there is John smiling and saying:"Well, I figured it's seven o'clock and you must have been getting closer!" Wow, we have already been out here for an hour. Not too much daylight left this time of year (late September) and about 20 minutes later we are forced to break out our headlights - much to our liking though - night riding is a whole other aspect of mountain biking that makes it even more lovable. Back at the vehicles the ranger stops by to chat and kindly request from us to not park our vehicles just outside of the gates, but also shares some fun stories about novice bikers getting stuck on the trail and crawling out in the middle of the night desperately asking for help from a ranger that came out to start looking for them. Apparently there also is a local mountain bike club that organized night rides last year...something we may have to look into. This time Johns off to Greensboro to spend the weekend with his brothers, but the kids are just happy when I get back to the castle and throwing a ball around in the shower/bathtub is really what life is all about Dad, not riding a mountain bike.

So long my friends, get out there when you can!

at last...one more breakfast!

2007-08-24T18:36:00.001-07:00

between two kids, a wife, a double new job and looking for a house I all too well forgot that there maybe friends out there desperately waiting for another post. I guess I would have to tell them about this blog first, but what fun would that be, especially with all but now three blogs posted. Well, dear diary, we can almost rename you...letters to Pablo. How are you amigo!

Anyhow, once we pick up speed, we will be blasting through the universe with so many blogs posted u won't know which one to read first. Soon I will have to travel overseas for a business trip and will be stuck on a plane for something crazy like 12 or so hours - that may give me time to write something useful like our friend Pablo always does...but until then it will just be stories right out of life...reflecting back onto them.

So we did manage to go to breakfast again with Johnny, and it is always so pleasant to do it. An American breakfast is an American breakfast, and nobody seems to mind to stand in line for it and wait a good 30 minutes. After all, where else can you get your coffee refilled 23 times with a smile? Lucky Luc was a happy camper when he had the tractor all to himself just outside of the breakfast palace (palace = another word for place).

Then we went back to the fleamarket where the weekend before we had spotted a desk - though back then Raoul wasn't convinced at all - but what wonders a week can do and how much sense some reasoning that didn't make sense at the time can make when you look at it again or really listen to it like you should have the first time: but judge for yourself - is this a smart desk or what!?!

We didn't have any money left for a chair, and who wants a chair anyway when the guy selling it says something like: "If you want it cheaper than that, why don't you go to Walmart"...bargaining is not what it used to be...where did I put the picture of that guy.

To Luc's dismay the train he obviously was waiting on never came by, so we promised to drive along the tracks until we would see one (yup - these are the kind of things you actually do when you have kids - it all makes sense when you think about where all that free time that you didn´t have before actually goes). But the lucky charm was on our side that day. After the almost life ending disaster of not seeing a train we cut the deal that we would drive over the tracks (on a regular railroad crossing of course), and just as we cut the corner to do that, the barriers came down because a train was coming. A TRAIN WAS COMING. Oh what joy. So there we are sitting at the crossing, waiting for the train, and soon enough it shows up, and why not count the wagons: one, two, three, four, five...thirteen, fourteen....twenty-two, twenty-three.....thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine.......sixty-four, sixty-five....eighty, eighty-one, eighty-two....ninety seven, ninety eight, ninety-nine....one hundred-two, one hundred-three, one hundred-four, one hundred-five, one hundred-six, one hundred-seven, ONE HUNDRED-EIGHT! The big smiles on our kids faces were priceless. Who could have asked for more. Life can be so simple and so great.

Well people, getting ready to move into the new hood. Talk to you again soon.

Rowing on Lake Crabtree...

2007-08-04T19:00:00.000-07:00

this fun activity we actually got into last Sunday, I just haven't gotten around to publishing it...but since amigo Pablo has linked our site on his, I better get going with more stories than just breakfasts at infamous places...

Anyhow, last Sunday we decided to drive out to Lake Crabtree near RDU airport (actually right behind it) and although it has been 8 years since I lived in Raleigh, we hit the right exit on the first try. Driving into the park brought back many memories of bike rides, playing Frisbee on the field, or just laying out on the grass...today it was a beautiful day and before we went out onto the Lake Luc had to inspect the playgrounds and Lya certainly didn't mind. The playgrounds were really nice (while being completely deserted - this is always still a shock to me after moving back here from Barcelona - I guess it still surprises me to see so few people everywhere).

After running up and down the platforms, sliding down the slides, peeking out through plastic bubbles, and turning wheels, we walked out to the dock and boat rental building, picked up our life preservers, and got everybody into the row boat. Right there at the dock mosquitoes were present in the hundreds (causing everybody to relentlessly spray around with their bug spray) but once we got out on the water this at least no longer was a problem.

The attention span of our 1 year old girl Lya and our 3 year old son Luc didn't last very long and quickly caused us to become more inventive (for example ropes turned into snakes that continuously had to be thrown overboard). Especially Lya didn't turn out be the sailor we would have liked here to be - but fortunately she did come around in the end after we had noticed that she was sweating tremendously under her life preserver (we had also managed accidentally putting her life preserver on Luc and his on her).

In the end we did stay out for about an hour and Sabine was all smiles once we got done and everybody was still in good spirits.

Breakfast at Big Eds in Raleigh...

2007-07-28T17:25:00.000-07:00

This is it, the beginning of our blog, the very first, the very shortest probably.

We are counting four weeks now since we moved to the United States. We have settled in into our quaint furnished apartment in Chapel Hill, and Sabine has already made a few friends in the neighborhood.

This morning we met up with Johnny and Killer in Raleigh, to have breakfast together at the infamous Big Eds...where you can eat brains and red eye gravy... When I had parked the truck I made a quick 4$ Dollar donation to the city (unfortunately I didn't get a receipt), and then we met up with Johnny and Killer in front of Big Eds, where a Jazz band consumed Lya and Luc's attention. The very friendly trumpet man of the band put pink beeds around Lya's neck, and green ones around Luc's - we were ready for breakfast.

After breakfast we short cut through what must be the biggest construction site in Raleigh right now (the new convention center) to get to some sort of Health awareness event where they had those big jumping things for kids and were giving away free stuff like tissues, rubber spiders, sparkling sodas and so on. The best thing of it all were the friendly Raleigh firemen who let Luc sit in the fire truck and peek into a real ambulance.

A quick stop at Killer's new office to moderate the deposition of the mulch (je je) / that was it for the kids and we drove back to Chapel Hill with both kids passed out in the back.