Day 4 - 2010 Christmas Escape

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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!