The More Dicks Than Chicks OTR!

Last night I went to the OTR hared by Mo-Job. When I arrived at the bar that used to be Hooters in Northcross Mall, Mo-Job was drinking a brew w/ Chlamdyia, Pumper, and Love Bite. A short while later, we were joined by She Mussel, TAF, and Glow Worm. Social Retard joined us a bit after that, but wasn't doing trail. She just got out of class.

She Mussel and I start off in search of trail w/ Glow Worm trailing us a comfortable 15-20 feet behind. We cross Burnet Road and followed marks into the neighborhood behind the Burnet Rd/Anderson Lane area. The trail paralleled Burnet Road and popped back out at the beer check which was at Buddy's Place. Everyone was drinking Lone Star (except Glow Worm, for obvious reasons) so the Bartender gave us a book that has the solutions to all the Lone Star cap riddles!!!!! Social grabbed it and is going to give it to Love Bite and No Dick Doc for a wedding present.

Off again in search of trail! We found it and followed it down to my favorite dive bar, C-Hunts! Buckets of ice cold Lone Star were waiting when we arrived! At C-Hunts, Glow Worm locked up his 'excuse' for not drinking earlier and joined us in the revelry. We were joined by more auto wankers, Lost in Mound and Headbanger. We had a circle, in which all the men were given super secret OTR names (You have to change 1 letter of Glow to find out Glow Worm's). When I was leaving, Elvis and Grabber drove in. They were confirming the route for the Burnet Road Challenge!!! Woohoo! Elvis said it was going to be Oct. 28th!

Thanks to Glow Worm for keeping us safe on trail and to Mo-Job for laying trail! On-On to next month.

Howdy Ho!

I can't believe it has been a month since I've updated. So much has been going on and I've opted for more sleep over blogging. Go figure.

Wedding: The date is Oct. 22, 1:30 in Las Vegas. We arrive Oct. 21 and leave Oct. 24th. It's going to be busy! If you are going, shoot me an email and let me know.

The arrangements are nearly complete. I have to tell the wedding coordinator a few details, like flowers and music preference, but she just asked for those today. I selected a dress on Tuesday and have the fitting on Saturday afternoon. The dress fits perfectly, except for the length. We got Jim's ring on order and is should be here before we go. We just need to get his tux. I'm glad we aren't doing a full, blown traditional production. This has been stressful enough.

ACL (a.k.a. The $4 Lone Star Festival): We went to ACL. Here's my impressions, for what's it's worth. Yes, nothing I know.

Los Lonely Boys - Rocked.

John Mayer - Only saw for a few songs, but better live than I expected.

Van Morrison - Pretty good. Only knew the few songs at the end.

Ghostland Observatory - Is it a boy or a girl, a he or a she, it's the lead singer for Ghostland Observatory. We were enjoying it, until we got distracted trying to guess the gender of the lead singer (It's a he). He was wearing a pink t-shirt, low rise tight jeans, and braids and had a pretty high voice.

Ben Kweller - What a trooper! He came on stage late and apologized, explaining he had a double nose bleed and the paramedics were tending to him. Well, the nose bleed didn't stop. He was constantly wiping it with a towel that was quickly turning read. The cameras kept zooming in on his guitar and showing how much blood was getting on it. Between songs, he asked if anyone had a tampon. Someone threw him one and he stuck it up his nose. At the end of the song, he had taken it out and said it had expanded too much. His bandmates suggested he do a piano song. He did one, but bled all over the piano. At that point he apologized profusely and said he couldn't go on. Was he any good? I don't know. I was too busy watching the blood gush out of his nose and was impressed that he tried to keep going.

Aimee Mann - Liked her, but she needs to eat a cheeseburger or 10.

The Ranconteurs - They rocked! We ran into Vag and her dad and watched it with them. Her dad is a hoot!

Willie Nelson - Chanted 'Turn it up' and left after a few songs. Sound sucked on that stage.

Massive Attack - They were great, until they depressed everyone with statistics on the war in Iraq. 47,000+ Iraqi civilian died, 2600+ US soldiers, and billions upon billions spent. Thanks for killing my buzz. They owe me a couple of $4 Lone Stars.

Damian Marley - Rocked! I wish we hadn't left to see KT Tunstall. The only thing I remember about KT Tunstall is that she was the only musician dressed for hot weather.

Jack Ingram - I really enjoyed his act. He sang a few songs then dedicated the next few to his Father, since it was his birthday. Everyone in the crowd thought that was sweet, but then he started belting out songs about how his dad abandoned him when he was young. "I hope you found what you were looking for in Mississippi".

Matisyahu - I can't understand a single word he says while he is singing. He stops singing and starts going on about how God is present in the rays of the sun, the leaves on a tree, etc. Ok. I get it. God is everywhere. He continues to ramble on about how God is in other various things and people in the crowd. Ok. I still get it. He then says God is in the people sitting on the port o' potties. At that point, I laughed my ass off. It was the funniest thing I heard all weekend. He also took a prayer break.

Ben Harper - ROCKED! This was definitely the best show I saw! G. Love came out and did a ditty with them and he finished w/ the Marleys doing Get Up Stand Up.

Colorado Invihash: Jim's family (parents and sister's family) lives in Colorado Springs, so we went up early to spend some time w/ them before Colorado Invihash. We had a nice visit with them. Jim's father is growing cucumbers and has been picking 60-80/day. At that point, he had picked over 800 cucumbers. He planted a wide variety. Everytime we were over his parents, we ate pickled cucumbers. Yum! I like pickled cucumbers. As far as touristy things, we went to the Air Force Academy, Garden of the Gods, and Seven Falls. When we left Seven Falls, we took a scenic route that used to be an old railway and passed by Helen Hunt Falls.

We did Brownie's pre-lube trail on Thursday night. Like all Brownie trails, it sucked. Too short. I was looking forward to get a bit of exercise. Oh well. I did learn that I like the Boone's Farm flavors that are apple based.

Friday we were off to Monarch. We picked up Fish and Gagger from Brownie's and ate breakfast at the Purple Castle. I'm glad BC and I shared a dish. There is no way I would ever get a sticker for finishing my meal there. Along the way we went to Scenic Road. That was pretty cool. I'm sure Gagger will post picks, if she hasn't already. It's a road that runs at the top of a big hill (or miniscule mountain??) . It's a great view.

We also stopped off at Royal Gorge. We paid the $20+ dollars to get in and did the various attractions there. BC talked Gagger and I into doing the sky coaster. The sky coaster is one of those big swings that you see at amusement parks, etc. This one, however, put you over the edge of the gorge. The gorge is 1300 ft. deep. It was scary! We bought the DVD, so you can hear Gagger screaming. Everyone at the gorge did!

We made it to Monarch and from there, the normal Hash festivities began. I had a good time. I enjoyed the trails and the beer was pretty good.

Dilloman: I did the Dilloman a couple of weekends ago. Thank you Brownie for the shout out on your blog. I had a good time. I received my first injury (very minor). My little toe on my right foot got kicked while we were treading water at the start. By the time I took my shoes off at the end, it was bruised and swollen. It wasn't broken, but Jim suspects the tendon got injured. I wore flip flops or loose shoes for about a week and a half. Jim didn't do it, but did a fabulous job supporting me and the other Hashers. He was at all the transitions and had a cold beer ready for me at the end. What more could I ask for?

BTW - The Dilloman was T-Rex's Tri debut and he did a great job.

I hope everyone is doing well. I will try to post more frequently, but I'm not posting from work anymore. The next couple of months will be busy. Wedding stuff, dog agility trials, and I need to move into my new home and get my current one ready to sell. Once we start the merger, I'm sure we'll be sending out emails about stuff for sale. I anticipate the merger will take a couple of months. We have too much stuff!

My New Baby and Other News!

I finally did it! I bought a road bike. Click here for inaccurate information on it. For example, it doesn't come w/ pedals, both derailleurs are ultegra, etc. It's an '07 and Trek isn't listing it on their website yet. With it I bought new pedals (look), shoes, computer, and helmet.

I have never used clipless pedals. From my first attempt, I have two huge bruises. One on my ass where I completly fell over and the other behind my knee where the leg that was unclipped got caught between the frame and the front tire. Somehow I managed not to fall over that time. However, the back of my knee is hurting when I run. It is quickly getting better though.

The next event is the Dilloman on Sept. 10. I need to get proficient w/ the clipless pedals before then!

I have also started w/ a swim group in hopes that I don't sidestroke the entire Dilloman, like I did the Danskin. It meets Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 6:00 am. I didn't think I could swim that much in an hour and I end up being one VERY tired girl after that.

I think we are close on setting the wedding date/location. It will be in Las Vegas, towards the end of October. Jim's sister, who lives in Vegas, checked out a prospective location for us. She said it looked good and is sending pics. Once I get them, I'll book it and then let everyone know when and where.

This weekend, I'm going to have a practice run at being a Step Mom. Jim is heading out to Oregon for the Hood to Coast relay and I'm going to stay at his house w/ his daughter. We should be at the Keep Austin Weird 5k on Saturday. Wish me luck!

Going to the beach w/o leaving Austin

I went out to Bob Wentz park/Windy Point on Wednesday for swimming. The water level is so low that you can now drive down and park your car where the windsurfers put their boards in. The entire area is now a nice beach. If you have kiddos, it would be a good, inexpensive way to spend the day ($8/car). The water is shallow (and warm!) for quite a ways out, so ideal for small kids or those that aren't strong swimmers.

My Own Private Idaho - Part II

Let's see. Where did I leave off? Oh yeah! Marriage proposal.

After the proposal business was over (Is it obvious who the romantic one in this relationship is??), we noticed the stars were coming out. We layed on the flatter of the two rocks that were located in the lake near the shore and just star gazed. The sky was completely full of stars. In Austin, the light pollution is now bad enough that you barely see any stars at all. I had forgotten how beautiful a clear, night sky can be. After a while, we went to bed. We left the rain flap off the tent so we could still see the stars while drifting off to sleep.

Sunday morning we woke up and Jim started making breakfast while I pumped more water through the purifier. After a hearty breakfast of oatmeal and hot tea, we started getting ready for the rest of the day. The original plan was to hike up another peak, but that plan was nixed by the blisters on my heels. We decided to do some easy hikes that I could do in my sandals instead. I did put my hiking boots on and tried to walk in them, but it was a no go. We walked around the north end of the lake and passed by one of the other campsites. Nearby, someone left a couple of frying pans (heavy duty kind) and some sterno out. We looked around and spotted a shelter that someone had made out of tree branches and brush. It was pretty sturdy and looked like it could keep out wind and rain. The interior wasn't spacious. It was only slightly larger than Jim's two person backpacking tent. We went up and over the ridge that was along the west side of the lake. On the other side of that ridge was another lake that fed into the lake below. It was a smaller lake, but just as pretty. We walked along it and started back up over the ridge. We found a big rock that was in the sun and took a break. That day was considerably cooler and very windy. We hiked back over the ridge near the south end of our lake and walked along the south shore. We hiked west over another ridge into a small valley and over a much bigger ridge. Once we got over it, we found another place to sit and take a break. This area had a great view. We were on top of a ridge that had a nearly straight drop into a lush valley below. All across the other sides of the valley were many peaks. We took out the binoculars to see if we could spot any elk in the valley below. We didn't.

We hiked back to our campsite. I guess it was about 4 when we arrived back, but I have no idea. Jim took my watch from me when we setup camp the day before. I purified some more water while sitting on my favorite rock and Jim boiled water for dinner. I had freeze dried pasta primavera. It was very good. (off topic: I'm amazed at how much protein they manage to get into the freeze dried vegetarian selections. It had MUCH more protein than conventional pasta primavera. They use a lot of whey and soy.) I brought a deck of cards with me and we played cards while sitting in the sun. After a few games, we made the chocolate instant pudding that I brought with me. We made it with powdered milk. I will say, that it isn't quite right. After desert, we hiked over to the top of the Bridal Veil falls that we say on our hike up. We hiked around that area for a while then headed back to camp as the sun was going over the ridge. There is still about 1 - 1 1/2 hours of light left, but the temperature drops considerably. Once it started getting dark, we made a fire and kept warm. Then off to bed.

Monday morning we awoke, I purified water (see a pattern yet?) while Jim cooked oatmeal, tea, and hot chocolate. We dismantled camp and packed everything up. I was able to walk in my boots. And they didn't aggravate my blisters when walking downhill. Woohoo! The steep hike down wasn't that bad. I did slip a few times, but caught myself before I fell on my ass. And luckily, I never slipped in an exposed area. We made it to the flatter portion and hiked past the streams we went over on the way in. It was here that we saw the first person since we made the hike up. Actually, we saw her dog first. We hiked on out to the car, and drove like mad back to Boise. Our flight out was at 4:40 and we arrived at Jim's friend's house around 3:20. We showered and frantically packed everything up. At 4, Jim dropped me off at the airline counter to check the bags while he returned the rental car. About 10 minutes later he showed up at the ticket counter and we made it through security with no problems.

I had a great time on my first backpacking trip. I don't know when we will do it again, but hopefully before the end of the year.

My Own Private Idaho - Part I

This isn't a post about male prostitutes trying to find their way home or a popular song by the B-52's. It is about my trip to Idaho. I'll cut out the irrelevant babble and cut to the chase, since it has been a little more than a week since I have returned.

We arrived in Boise late Friday night and we stayed w/ Jim's best friends V&R. Saturday morning we woke up and packed up the backpacks. Jim was impressed that I didn't bring much to take with me. I did pack my Rogue Running Bootcamp shirt and my Burnet Road Challenge t-shirt. My pack only weighed 30 lbs. His weighed in at 45 lbs. He carried the tent, the camp stove, and water purifier. On the way out of Boise, we made a stop by REI and ate lunch. We made it out to the Sawtooths mid-afternoon.

We started the hike to the campsite. The first 3 miles or so were on well maintained trails. We had to make a stop after the first mile because I started getting blisters on my heels. We put some band-aids on them and put on thicker socks. Not a good way to start off. We continued the hike in crossed some nice streams where we stopped and used the purifier to fill up our nearly empty water bottles. Idaho happened to be in the middle of a heat wave that week (Boise had 5 consecutive days of > 101), so we were drinking lots of water. We get to the point where we go off the developed trail and start a serious climb. Previously, Jim told me that the last 1/4 mile of trail was hard because it was very steep. What he didn't tell me, is that it is 1/4 mile if you could take a straight line from bottom to top. In reality, with all the switchbacks, it is probably 1 - 1 1/4 miles. At 60-70% grade. With 30 lbs on my back and blisters on my heels. Needless to say, the hike up was extremely difficult for me. This was my first time backpacking, so I hadn't developed any sense of balance with the extra weight. I don't remember falling on the way up, but there were many times I thought it would be faster if I crawled. On the bright side, at times, the trail went alongside a beautiful waterfall named Bridal Veil Falls. It was nice to stop and admire it. There was also moments when I was completely terrified. There were some sections that were completely exposed. One wrong step and down the mountain I would roll.

At some point, it appeared that we were getting close to the top. I'd ask Jim how much further and his answer was always 'I think it is about 50 yards'. But, it was a cruel, cruel joke. The mountain cut in and then when back up. It was so steep and the trees so thick that you couldn't see. This reminded me of the Smurfs when they would go on long journeys. I started calling Jim Papa Smurf, but the reference was lost on him. He was in the Navy when the Smurfs were on TV.

We finally make it up to the ridgeline and flatter ground. After another 50 'Jim' yards (more like 400 yards) we finally arrive at the area where we are going to camp. I'm completely dumbfounded. At the top of this trail, is a beautiful lake set inside of a moutain peak and ridgelines. I can't even attempt to put into words how tranquil and beautiful it is. All I can say is at that very moment, the stress from difficult hike up melted away and it was all worth it.

We quickly setup camp about 15 ft from the lake. We changed out of our boots and put on some warmer clothes. We also tended to my blisters. The one on my left heel was completely open. It hadn't bled, but it would have probably started soon if I had hiked much longer. The sun was going down over the peak and the temperature quickly dropped. Near the campsite, there were a couple of huge rocks in the lake. While Jim cooked dinner (I highly recommend the freeze dried mashed potatoes w/ broccoli and cheese. Yum!), I sat on the rock closest to our campsite, pumped/purified water, and just took in the surroundings. The water was perfectly clear. You could see fish and the bottom of the lake. It was amazing. While we were eating, a doe decided to join us. She stayed pretty far back most of the time, just checking us out and grazing. At one point, she got within 15 feet of us. Once it got dark, we started a small campfire. We sat on a log and we were talking. Actually, I was talking. Jim seemed to be distracted and really wasn't paying attention to what I was saying. What do I do? Like any good woman, I just kept talking. Suddenly, Jim gets down on one knee, whips out a small box, and asks me to marry him. I was so surprised, I suddenly lost my ability to talk and just nodded and I hugged him. I opened the box and it is the most beautiful ring (Before you ask, I did pick the setting) ! He put it on my finger and asked me if that meant yes. I hadn't regained my ability to talk yet, so I nod. Once I regained my ability to talk, I did speak the word 'yes'.

More to come later. I've got to get to bed now.

First Few Days at the New Job

Here is a synopsis of my first week so far:

Day 1:

1. 30 minute new hire orientation
2. Interviewed someone
3. Lunch
4. Meeting about internationalization
5. Moved offices. New office is bigger and has better view.

Day 2:

1. Interviewed someone else
2. Reading
3. Got a task to start on
4. Installing lots of crap on my system
5. Someone (The Canadian (tm)) offered to pay my teammate to pinch my ass, but he declined. When I told BC about this later on, he asked if The Canadian (tm) would pay him to pinch my ass. Great boyfriend, eh?

Day 3:

1. Figuring out how to build.
2. Getting the pieces together I need for the task.
3. Reading about the task.

Tomorrow:

1. Company meeting 8:30 - 10:30.
2. Hopefully, followed by adult beverages.
3. Start work my task
4. Meeting about my task

All in all, not too bad so far. And I'm taking Monday off. BC and I are flying out Friday night for our weekend backpacking trip. We are going to the Sawtooths in Idaho. I'd be more specific, but all I saw was the topological map. There will be elevation changes and water. That's all I know. More details when I return. I will get to try my freeze dried lasagna, macaroni and cheese, and pasta primavera. Those should be some good eats! I hope...

Dog Scouts of America

Yes, there is such a thing as Dog Scouts of America. Your dog can earn merit badges in things like hiking, backpacking, geocaching, community service, various dog sports, etc. They can even go to scout camp! There is someone that is starting up a troop in Austin.

I'm still not sure I believe it.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Many changes going on. I have a new roommate. My Mom's ex-boyfriend moved in with me last weekend. It is an indefinite arrangement. He lived w/ my mother and I for about 10ish years, so it is more like having a father like figure living w/ me. We have always gotten along pretty well. So far, so good.

I start a new job next week. I'm pretty excited about it. I'm definitely ready for a change in the employment department. The new company is probably <= 5 miles from my house. Once I get a bike of my own, I may start biking to work. The ride in wouldn't be too dangerous. It is mostly down Parmer Lane.

On July 28th, Jim and I fly up to Boise, ID. We are going backpacking for the weekend. We'll also visit w/ his best friends Vic and Rachelle for a bit. I'm pretty excited about this trip. It will be my first back packing experience.

A Funny

I made a stop at Academy Friday night. The woman in front of me in the checkout was in the process of getting rang up when a boy around the age of 9 runs up. He is holding a Corona baseball cap and says. "Mom! This is the one I want". She looks at him incredulously and says, "You can't get that hat. You are going to CHURCH camp".

Luckily, the cashier who happened to be taking a drink at that very moment, managed not to spew all over us.

Vote for New Haggen Dazs Flavor

A friend of one of my agility clubmates is in the finals of a contest on the Food Network to create a new Haggen Dazs flavor. Why vote for him? His video doesn't suck ass and his idea sounds pretty tasty. Vote for fellow Austinite Thomas Zavaleta and Chipotle Chocolate ice cream.

The 'Pumpkinlicious' video is pretty amusing. Gotta love Wisconsin accents and pumpkin costumes.

Only 1 1/2 Weeks Left!

I start a new job on July 24th! Woohoo!

I'm pretty excited. I'll get to work at a 'real' company again and get to work on a real product that people actually buy!

What kind of road bike do you have?

I'm in the market for a road bike. I went to Bicycle Sport Shop on Saturday and tried out a Trek Pilot 5.0 wsd. I know I said I would not get a Trek. I tried this bike and a Specialized Ruby that was in the same price range. The Trek had better components, fit better, and rode better for only $100 more.

What kind of roadbike do you have? Do you like it?

Powered by Guinness (aka Marathon Relay)

Here is how we did:

Place: 22/53 Odd's And Ends Division
Team Name: Powered by Guinness

T-Rex: Lap 1 - 57:39 7:41/M
Beaver Cleaver: Lap 2 - 51:31 8:19/M
Cem Cummin : Lap 3 - 1:00:16 9:43/M
Heavin' Semen : Lap 4 - 33:33 10:29/M
Sphincter Blinker : Lap 5 - 26:41 8:36/M
Overall: 3:49:43 8:46/M

Not too bad! My leg sucked pretty badly, but I was busy being team captain. That's a pretty exhausting job in itself. I had to make sure we were shaded, hydrated, fed, beered and have everyone lined up when it was their turn! After it was done, we went down to Freddie's for lunch. Yum! Then it was home for a nappy nap and being lazy the rest of the day.

Click HERE for the pics. Please note I did not take the fantasy/dream shower sequence of Beaver Cleaver. But, I will say that he does looks mighty fine! Free Meat is in some of the pics. She wasn't on our team, but her two teams were in the tent next to ours.

Have a great weekend!

Grand Canyon - Sunday

Sunday was a short day, due to having to catch a 6:50 flight out of Phoenix. We made it to the Grand Canyon around 9:30-10ish. We parked near Mather Point and hopped the shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead. Given how sore we were and how little time we had, we decided to just go to Ooh Aah Point for the view and head to the gift shop. I would like to say that the hike was uneventful, but I slipped and busted my ass within 2 minutes of starting out. The trail was very sandy and I was slipping all over the place. Since this was supposed to be an easy hike, we both were wearing out sandals (Chacos). Mine didn't have much traction. Jim put my water and gatoraide bottles in his backpack. That improved my situation a bit, but I was still slipping. So, I do the only logical thing and started to run. I would run a couple of lengths and wait for Jim to catch up or stop when I ran into other people. It was fun and I stopped slipping. We finally made it down to Ooh Aah point. It is called Ooh Aah point for a reason. You know there is going to be a good view, but you can't imagine the magnificence of it until you experience it. The canyon wall ends on one side and you can see both the east and west sides of the canyon. It was incredible. There are rocks that jut out. We sat on the rocks for a while and took in the view. It was here that we saw what we had hoped to see the entire weekend. California Condors. There was a group of 4 of them flying above us and they were soon joined by a 5th as the exited the canyon. We hiked back up to the top.

We jumped on the shuttle and got off at Yaki Point and Pipe Creek Vista. Both of these had good views. (Is there a bad view of the Grand Canyon??) From Pipe Creek Vista we took the 1.5 mile hike along the Rim 'Trail'. It really isn't a trail, but a 5 ft wide asphalt sidewalk that runs along the side of the rim. This took us back to where we were parked and near one of the shops and info center. We went into the shop. I bought a vegetarian southwestern cookbook. It really was a book store and didn't have much in the way of souvenirs. We left the bookstore and Jim read all the information kiosks while I sat in the shade and drank lots of water. We then boogied out and made the drive back to Phoenix. We hit a thunderstorm just south of Sedona which caused us to slow down quite a bit.

Do you know what I like best about the Phoenix airport? Carvel ice cream. This was a staple of mine growing up in New York. The Phoenix airport is the only place I have run into one since I left in 1985. They have locations in Texas now, but not in Austin. I always get a chocolate cone with chocolate sprinkles. They take the cone (sugar cone) and roll the ice cream in the sprinkles. The people at the airport thought I was nuts when I described the process of getting sprinkles on ice cream that is already on a cone, so I just get it in a cup and let them pour the sprinkles on instead. This time I got one, but they were out of chocolate sprinkles, so I just had plain ice cream. It was still good anyway.

This weekend I'm going to try to take it easy. I'm taking Mav to agility practice Saturday morning and I'm going to the hash on Sunday. At some point, we'll be heading over to Chon Som so Jim can finish some electrical wiring he is doing.

I'm also participating in the Marathon Relay on July 4th. I've put together a team of people that run much faster than me. T-Rex, Sphincter Blinker, C'em Cummin, Beaver Cleaver, and myself. Our team name is Powered by Guinness. Keep your fingers crossed that nobody gets injured at the hash this weekend!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Grand Canyon - Saturday

This weekend was my Grand Canyon trip. I flew into Phoenix late Friday afternoon, Jim picked me up at the airport. We arrived at our hotel in Tusayan about 10:30. By the time we checked in, got situated, prepared for Saturday's hike, and got ready for bed, it was 1 am-ish. The alarm was set for 5, but I started waking up around 4. I am a bad sleeper, but more on that another day.

We started our hike of Bright Angel Trail exactly at 7 am. Twelve hours and 44 minutes later we stepped off the trail. Whew! What a long day!

The hike down was pretty uneventful, except for the gorgeous views of the Canyon. The further down we went, the fewer people we saw (thank goodness!). It was cool to see the people who were coming back up from their backpacking trips. They looked tired and I can't imagine hauling that much weight up the trail. We hit the 1.5 and 3 mile water stops. We finally hit the Indian Gardens stop at the 4.6 mile point. That is like an oasis after hiking down the the Canyon. Lots of shade, drinkable water, campsites, restrooms, and lots of people hanging out. We stayed there for a bit to eat, hydrate, and rest. Once we finished, we were off. At that point we hadn't decided how far to go. About 10 minutes after we left Indian Gardens, we stopped and talked about how far we wanted to go. We decided to try for the river. The river is 3.3 miles from Indian Gardens. Parts of the trail went along and crossed a stream. When we could, we stopped to wet down our clothes. That helped a lot w/ keeping cool. I had a thermometer on the outside of my backpack and it was registering 115 degrees at times. It was probably only 105, but the sun made it read higher. We made it to the river and stayed down for a little over an hour. Surprisingly, there was a small beach. We took our shoes off and sat on a rock w/ our feet in the water. That water was COLD! We then laid under a tree and dozed off for about 30 minutes. Woke up, ate some more trail mix, drank some more, wet down our clothes and headed back up.

The hike back up was more interesting in that we saw more wildlife. We saw a large variety of lizards, birds, a big horn sheep, mule deer, and a rattlesnake (more on that later). These critters were smarter than us in that they stayed under cover during the hottest part of the day. Once we made it back up to Indian Gardens, we drank a LOT of water and rested. While we were resting, a couple of mule deer yearlings came out. Only me and one other person noticed them. One of them had nubs around 3" long on his head. I cautiously followed them around and took some pics.

We took off and made it up to the 3 mile resthouse. Things started getting bad here. Jim and I both started getting a headache. We stopped, rested, ate, and drank some more. At each water stop, we would down at least a liter of water and drink almost twice that between the stops. At this point, I had to go to the bathroom pretty badly. The 3 mile resthouse doesn't have restrooms and bushes to squat behind are pretty rare along the trial. At the three mile resthouse, there was a perfect place for me to pee. Once I'm done, I button up my pants and start walking off when I hear it. Rattle-Rattle-Rattle. My perfect spot was about 1 1/2 feet from where a rattle snake was sleeping. Luckily, there was a log between us. I found Jim and he came and checked it out. The snake was only about 2-3 ft in length. But 2-3 feet too long for my liking. Jim threw a pebble at it and it didn't move. Phew.

Off we went again. Still had a headache. Didn't get worse, but would get a little better at times. Made it up to the 1.5 mile rest stop in good time. We kept running into the same 3 groups of people that were making their way back up to the top. They would leave the stops before us and we would catch up. Their hikes were also quite a bit shorter in length than ours. That made me feel pretty good. After the 1.5 mile rest house, we smoked all of them. Quite a ways up, we could see them all and I was thankful that we were trucking along at a quicker pace than them. Even though we had flashlights, I wanted to make it up to the top before it got dark. Things started getting a bit worse for me in the last mile. My calves started tightening up. I knew we only had a short distance left, so I just kept putting one foot in front of the other.

We made it back to the trail head at 7:44 pm. 4 minutes before the official sunset time. Woohoo! Our hike was 15.8 miles in distance, 12 hrs 44 minutes w/ temps ranging from 75-105. The amazing part was we only took 30-45 minutes longer coming up than we did going down. Turns out I'm a better uphill hiker than downhill. Jim told me later on that my downhill pace was pretty slow and he was surprised at how fast my uphill was. The Grand Canyon website advises that you plan for 2x your downhill rate for the return trip. We smoked that estimate.

We left the Grand Canyon and headed back to the hotel after going through the drive through at Wendy's for some salty goodness headache relief (aka french fries). We brought them back to the room, put more salt on them and drowned them in ketchup. We then changed clothes and walked over the Pizza Hut next door for some pizza and gatorade.

My calves are still pretty tight today. Once I sit for any length of time, it takes a few minutes for the muscles to stretch back out before I can stop hobbling like an old lady and start to walk somewhat normally. Massage and stretching are probably helping, but I can't tell yet. I'm shocked (but thankful) that nothing else is tight or hurting.

Sunday's write up will have to be another day.

Frustrated

I just got off a conference call w/ a couple of guys trying to get something that I worked on to come up in their environment. An unsupported, never attempted, environment, I will add. One of the guys proceeded to tell me what my source code is doing when they don't have the source. They have some other source file that is just a hardware abstration layer and basing their claim on that. They have no fucking clue and one of the other people here cut the call short because I was starting to yell at them. I have absolutely no patience for people that don't listen.

There is something that goes on among technical guys. I call it 'seeing who has the bigger dick'. You get a couple of guys together for a technical discussion and it turns into a game of who knows more than the other. Nothing gets accomplished and it is painful for me to watch. When someone tries to play this game w/ me, I don't play. First, I don't have a dick. Second, I don't care if someone knows more than me. Most people know more than me. I accept and am fine w/ that. The guy on the call today was doing that. Not only does it disgust me, but he has no idea how idiotic he sounded and irrelevant he became in my mind.

And people wonder why there aren't more women in technical fields.

I'm done venting now. I hope everyone is having a better morning than I am.

Update: I just found out that the guys I'm 'helping' are from MIT. Now it all makes sense. :-)

I Am a Divine Swimmer, Biker, and Runner!

That's what Sally Edwards made us say when my wave was waiting to take off for the swim.

The short version: 1:49:11

The details:
Overall Rank: 870/2922
Class Rank: 153/422
Swim: 23:07
Swim Rank: 1580
Trans1: 4:01
Bike: 45:19
Bike Rank: 647
Bike MPH: 15.8
Trans 2: 2:49
Run: 33:53
Run Rank: 1036
Pace: 10:55
Final: 1:49:11

I made my goal w/ 49 seconds to spare! Woohoo!

I was planning on doing a long write up about the last couple of days, but now I'm pretty tired and don't feel like sitting in front of the keyboard. Here's a few highlights:

• Despite my best efforts, I managed not to injure my right foot before or during the race.
• I haven't had a full nights sleep in the last three nights.
• I'm fairly certain I won't be buying a Trek. I test drove a Trek 5000 at the Danskin Expo on Saturday and managed to lose the chain on it while riding on a FLAT surface at low speed. My biggest fear was that I would cause the chain to fall off during the tri, but instead I did it on Saturday on a new, better bike instead.
• The chain stayed on during the tri!
• A nice cool Fat Tire at the end is nice.

Thanks to everyone that came out to cheer the girls on. That includes: TAF, Keeper of the Beams, Beaver Cleaver, Squeezin', Padre, Love Bite, No Dick Doc, Happy Crack, Free Meat and her sister Alisa. Thanks for Just Head for volunteering.

Congrats to She Mussel, Social, Easy Access, High Beams, and Snapping Twat for a good performance! Team OTR rocks!

Special thanks to Jim for being supportive today and during my training. He's done so many small things for me during the last two months to help and it has made all the difference. And thank you for not getting annoyed by my whining during the last three, sleep deprived, self-induced stress filled days. I know I have been a bit difficult. :-)

Jim is packing up and we should be leaving within the next hour or so to go to his family reunion. I hope everyone had a great weekend and a good week!

Grand Canyon

Tuesday I found out the BC rescue pup Trip was adopted as I expected. She has been adopted by an agility person here in Austin and renamed to Sparkle. Now sweet Bebe needs a home. Go see the previous posts about the BC rescue pups.

Yesterday was a day full of travel planning/changes. BC's middle daughter got a promotion at work and one of the conditions of her promotion was that she start right away and not go on vacation, so she won't be coming with us. BC's ex wants the youngest daughter to stay with her the next few weeks and go to a summer school program up in Idaho. If she goes, she will leave Sunday morning and won't be coming with us. Looks like just the two of us heading out to the family reunion after the Danskin on Sunday. Now BC only has to stop for me to pee.

The week after the Branson adventure, BC has to go to Phoenix on business for a couple of days. I'm going to fly out on Friday to meet him and we are going to the Grand Canyon!! I'm excited! I've never been to the Grand Canyon! I think I will need to pick up a new digital camera before I go. My previous camera died a horrible death in a battle with a beer stein at Oktoberfest last year.

Tonight I'm going to be social and go to a couple of birthday shindigs. Saturday morning I have to pick up my registration materials and rack my bike for the Danskin. The rest of the day I'm going to pack for the trip and relax. Probably watch some movies. Sunday is the Danskin and then off to Branson.

Have a great beer-filled, sunny-ful weekend everyone!

Mad Cowboys, Mini-Tri, Agility Trial, and Branson, MO

BC saw my whining about not going out and suggested we go to the Mad Cowboys Friday night. We met up there and stayed for about an hour. It was good to see everyone that I haven't seen in a while. Music was good, Stella was entertaining, and my car didn't get stolen. It was the first time that I saw the Mad Cowboys. I will definitely go back.

Saturday morning I was up early once again and arrived at Pace Bend Park at 7:45 am to meet the tri group. We had a little mini-tri to practice for the Danskin this weekend. I did ok. I'm worried about making my goal time for the Danksin. Hopefully, the adreneline will help push me through.

After that, I drove 1 1/2 hours to Hutto for Mav's agility trial. We didn't do that well. We haven't been practicing at all outside of class and we skipped class the last two weeks. So, no complaints about our performance. Despite our poor performance, we had a good time. Got to see my agility buds that I haven't seen in a while. I also played w/ puppies. Gloria had the foster BC pups Trip and Bebe out there. Trip will most likely be adopted soon. She had a few admirers at the trial. Due to all the attention payed to Trip, I focused my attention on Bebe on Sunday. She is calmer than Trip and her potty training is a bit further along. Trip does the submissive urination thing when she sees people. But Bebe gave me a herding nip on the arm. She did a 4 ft vertical leap and nipped the underside of my arm. Ouch! Those puppy teeth are sharp! I quickly forgave her, despite the scratch on my arm.

The Danskin in on Sunday. For the people that say they will be out to cheer on the OTR, read this. You will find useful info on parking and a link to a map that shows where spectators should stand. I will be surprised if I see many non-SOs out there cheering. You have to be out early to catch the shuttle or you end up walking to the start.

Sunday afternoon, I'm leaving town to go to BC's family reunion. BC, two of his daughters, and I will be driving to Branson, MO. After the reunion, we'll be going to some cabin in the Ozarks that belongs to his cousin or something. I don't know the details. I'm just getting in the car when directed to.

Keep BC in your prayers next week. He is taking a road trip w/ three women. One is an angst ridden, moody teenage girl, one can't stand being in a car for more than 2 hrs at a stretch (me), and the third isn't afraid to speak her mind and put her younger sister in her place. I imagine we will have lots of instances of 'Don't make me stop this car', 'Dad/Jim - I have to pee', and 'Dad - She's picking on me/Make her stop' along the way. Good times ahead!