Ironman St George

Congrats to Beth for her amazing performance in the inaugural Ford Ironman St George. VERY impressive for the first time at the distance. Sans the tire incident, a definite podium performance.

Wedding - First Installment - TheTrip

Well, it's been awhile since the last update, but with the wedding travel, etc., there really hasn't been time to compose a new post. I have been going through the over800 pictures taken while we were in Cabo trying to pick some of the best for posting. In addition, we babysat Greyson on Saturday and Sunday, and during that time he demanded 100% attention. I did post some videos on Picasa and sent out email invitations. Check them out, he is really growing fast, has a great personality, and is sooooooo much fun!

To start off, the trip was one to be remembered. At 7:00 PM Christmas Eve I got a phone message from American Airlines that our 6:30 AM flight had been canceled and we were rescheduled on a flight leaving at 6:00 PM. So much for plans! The reason they gave was the storm in Dallas, our one stop. Since over a hundred flights into Dallas had been canceled, I thought there would be a large backup, even at Norfolk, so we got to the airport with hours to spare. The only benefit was that we had a leisurely dinner and a couple beers before we boarded the plane.

Dinner in Norfolk..................

We got into LAX around 11:00 PM, got our luggage, and went to Steph's, arriving around 12:30 AM. The airport shuttle was picking us up at 4:20 AM for the trip back to LAX. Due to the canceled flight, we missed Christmas Dinner, but Steph brought it to us at the airport. We got to eat our Christmas Dinner in the car on the way to Steph's. We all met up in LA so we could fly on the same plane to Cabo, even though we sat in different areas of the plane. Gail likes to sit in the back. Everyone else prefers to sit more toward the front.

After a couple hours sleep, we were back up and heading for the airport . Our flight was scheduled for 7:20 AM, but "they" suggest you get to the airport at least two and a half hours before international flights. So, that's what we did. Again, we were way early, but this time no beers.

The flight was pretty uneventful until we got near Mexico City. We hit some rather bumpy air. That didn't make Gail too happy. Anyway, we flew for four hours to get to Mexico City, had a three hour lay-over, then flew for two hours back in the direction from which we came to Cabo. The lay-over flew by. We found a small sports bar near the gate and decided to toss back a few tall cool ones.

Mexico City lay-over.................

The flight to Cabo was pretty good, at least until we arrived. First, Nancy, Rick, Steph and Jake's luggage got misplaced for a little while. While we were waiting, Gail went to check on the rental car. What a fiasco. First, the desk by baggage check told us that our reservation was through Hertz Advantage and that was not him. He told us to go through some sliding doors and talk to the man at the end of the counter. We did that and he told us to go through another set of sliding doors and there should be a Hertz Rep there with a sign with our name on it. Like good little travelers, we did as instructed. Guess what ! There was no rep with a sign. We did see a guy in a Hertz shirt, but he couldn't help. Again, the Hertz - Hertz Advantage thing. Soooo, I thought I would go back inside to talk with the original guy. The doors were closed and marked "Authorized Personnel Only", but that couldn't stop me. I waited until the doors opened to let someone out and went in. I was immediately confronted by a female "Federalie", about four foot tall and 100 pounds soaking wet. She couldn't speak English and I don't speak Spanish so I just kept pushing forward. An Airport "Official" who could speak English came up and told me I couldn't re-enter. Together they escorted me to the door. He told me if I had any more problems outside to come back and talk to him. I went back out to find that nothing had changed. I went back in and was confronted by the same little "Federalie" but the "Official" was nowhere to be found. By now my frustration level had about peaked! I went back outside to talk with the Hertz guy. Big mistake! See, I had had about two hours sleep in the last 24, I had been traveling for the better part of two days, and I was pissed. He explained the situation to me and I repeated it back to him for clarification. To wit: "Let's see if I understand, you do not represent Hertz Advantage, you cannot contact Hertz Advantage, the Hertz Advantage rep left because he has no cars, therefore, we have no car!" He said yes and he and his three friends started to laugh. That's when I lost it! My response was "This is Bullshit!" At that point his three amigos stood up and started to look serious. Their humor had faded. Gail thought that we were about to mix it up right there in the street and stepped between us. She led me away to the safety of the other side of the street. She was afraid I would get arrested and spend my vacation in jail. Maybe!

After that, we arranged for a van to take us to the condo. Nancy and Rick took care of that. Nancy didn't want to share a van with strangers and insisted on a private one. The cost was $85.00, so Rick gave the head guy a $100.00 bill and he disappeared. Nancy freaked. She thought the guy had taken off, but he just went to get change. Needless to say, by the time we got to the condo, we were all ready to eat, DRINK, and sleep. What to do? We headed to Zippers (more about this place later). We ate, drank (cold beer and great Marguritas) and then went back to the condo and crashed.

Dinner at Zippers................one of many visits...........
Next installment, condo and rehearsal dinner.................

Another Weekend Gone

Due to Veteran's Day and the November Nor'easter I haven't been to work, except for three hours on Friday, in five days. Wednesday was Veteran's Day and the office was closed. Thursday work was canceled due to the weather. Friday the power was out. I went in to work to the power out condition. Without power, the computers won't work, and without computers we can't work. I did have to put in about three hours clearing the water out of our largest clubhouse because it was rented for Saturday. The place floods every time we get heavy rains. Guess I'll have to figure out a way to correct that problem. The good news was that Gail was off Thursday (she couldn't get into work due to the flooded roads) and Friday. They were closed because the roads were still flooded. So we both had long weekends.

Saturday, Chris and Courtney went up to D.C. for a basketball game and we had Greyson from about noon on Saturday until about 4 PM Sunday. Great fun. He is a trip. He loves the dogs and plays with Ozzie, Lobo and Peanut. He and Nugget still don't get along.

Check out G & Peanut, then he hams it up..........


On Sunday, we took a trip down to Sandbridge to see the barge that ran aground during the nor'easter. What a zoo. It must have been the biggest attraction around. The road was blocked near the Coast Guard Station so we parked along the street and hiked in as close as they would allow.

The barge was loaded with containers and got pretty close to the pier........
It was definitely beached............
Surf on one side..............
Sand on the other..................
Line up of looky-loos...................
Check out the beach.............
Greyson and Grandma...............
Greyson and Grandma fed the ducks and one of them tried to snatch the bread out of Greyson's hand and got his fingers.



Afterwards, he was a trooper...................


After Mom & Dad picked him up, Grandma and Grandpa had to rest up from the weekend. He really keeps us busy, but we really like spending the time with him.

Sunday, Greyson, and FOOTBALL

Spent the afternoon and evening babysitting Greyson. Chris and Courtney went to a wedding. The high point of the day was that the Charger - Giants game was televised. (Good news - Bad news) Greyson and I watched the game in between coloring, playing with cars, etc.

Check out the newest Charger fan and the "Rivers intercepted look"........

Alas, when Rivers threw the interception with four minutes remaining, I could not take anymore. My BP probably went through the roof. I turned the game OFF. Greyson is still too young to hear that kind of language, and I had gone ballistic. So, I found out the Bolts had won from Chris went he got home. I had to watch the replays. How can a GAME cause that type of reaction? I'm not what you would call a rabid sports fan, and yet!

An Afternoon With Greyson

Courtney had some studying / homework to do so Chris brought Greyson over for the afternoon. We had fun, especially out in the garage. He got into everything. Check out the pics.


Socket & ratchet as a hammer.......
What's this......................
OOO tools..........
More sockets...............
How does this work.............
What's in here ............
How does this come out..............
Look, more tools..............
What's up there................
Every boy needs his Duct Tape............
Climbing the ladder, mallet in hand............
Now I can see more.................
What's in this drawer..................
Afterwords, some computer time............
Then.......................

It was a busy day.

Grandpa & Grandma

Been playing the grand parent role lately. We have had the opportunity to babysit Greyson. Chris and Courtney went to Hallow-Scream at Busch Gardens yesterday, so we had a day and part of the night with the Monkey. He was so good. After they left, he ate lunch, then he and Grandma took a 1 1/2 hour nap. About 6, we ate dinner, later it was bath and bed. In between, we did a lot of coloring and played with his "go-goes".

Coloring is serious work..........

Until I see the camera .... what a ham.............
Check out the curls....and the "go-goes"..........

Mom and Dad didn't get home until about 11, so for us it was straight home and in the sack. 5:30 came really early this morning, but it was well worth the lack of sleep. We really enjoy the little monkey.

Another Weekend Gone

Kind of a busy weekend. Saturday I played duck and run with the rain / thunderstorms trying to get the trim around the shed door done. For the most part I was able to get that done. Later, we went over to Chris and Courtney's to babysit Greyson while they went out to dinner. He is really funny. We watched Backyardigans episodes and another series he likes. He really gets into his shows. You can't help but play along and sing, etc. Of course we couldn't get him to settle down. After his bath we must have read him a dozen books. I had just gotten him settled and almost to sleep when Mom & Dad came home. We got chewed out for not following the rules. He was supposed to be asleep. Oh Well......

On Sunday we went to Homearama with Chris and Courtney. It was pretty interesting. They have scaled down the number, size and price of the homes due to the economy. As usual, I got chastised for pointing out all the poor workmanship. Gail saw a dresser she liked, so I took a picture. We'll probably try to locate something like it.

Check it out.........
Breaktime........

Other than that, we're in training for Cabo. Check out the refer...

Modelo Especial..........
Also, got the helmet cam finished. Plan to get some water shots surfing and kayaking, as well as shots of zip lining.

Side mounted................
Top mount..................

Not much else going on. Later

Work, Work, Work

There hasn't been a lot going on here lately. Since the news that Coopervision will be shutting down, we have been discussing potential plans for the future. You know, selling it all, getting a motor home, or fifth wheel & truck, and just traveling around for a while. Must be the gypsy in us!

So, instead of playing on the weekends, we are working. Repairing , painting, sprucing up the place just in case. All the things we put off so we could play. Being a responsible adult sucks. Saturday was spent mowing the lawn and replacing most of the trim on the shed out front. Getting ready to paint all three sheds. (Gail says she'll do the painting. Yeah! Right! We all know how that works out!)

Anyway, Chris and Greyson came over to help on Sunday. Gail won't let me climb up on the roof, or even to the top of the ladder, so Chris gets the high work. We replaced the wood trim on the chimney and did some painting as well.

My two helpers......

Look at me..........I'm going UP.........

The drill really works, and he knows how to use it................

Reach for the sky........

It was a pretty good day. Greyson is a trip. When he gets in his goofy mood, he is perpetual motion, and laughs & giggles constantly. He really cracks himself up.

Labor Day Weekend

SATURDAY - SEPTEMBER 5, 2009

We awoke to a beautiful morning on Saturday. We decided to load up the kayaks and head out. Since the Rock and Roll Half Marathon and Labor Day crowd would create a traffic nightmare to the north, we decided to head south, back to Horn Point and the Back Bay. Gail wanted to try some fishing, but only wanted to take one pole and no fishing gear. Space management in a kayak can be a difficult task. So, I packed up both ultra-lite rigs and off we went.

Horn point launch point from the first duck blind we fished..........
My Captain fishing duck blind #1..........................
A closer shot.................
Hooray, first fish of the day, after just fifteen minutes....Check out the smile......
A better shot of the fish...a hand sized bluegill..............
As I mentioned earlier, we only took one pole each and no extra gear. The first bite I got bent the pole over and as I tried to land it, the line snapped. No replacement hook. My day was over.

After about twenty minutes without a nibble, we moved to another duck blind.

My turn to fish.....with Gail's pole........
Another bluegill...................
After I caught one, I gave the pole back to Gail. She hooked one right away, but just like my first hook up, her line snapped also. It was weird. Both lines snapped just where the hook was attached to the line. I guess whatever we hooked had some sharp teeth.

With no more fishing to do, we decided to just go for a paddle. We headed up Hells Point Creek Creek, toward Lake Tecumsah. We didn't really intend to go all the way to Lake Tecumsah, but that is where we ended up.

Near the start of our journey.............
Heading up Hells Point Creek..............
We paddled past Indian Cove Resort, under Sandbridge Road, past Hells Point Golf Club, into Ashville Creek, all the way to Lake Tecumsah. I would estimate the distance at right around four miles. So, considering the approximately 2 miles of paddling we did prior to heading up Hells Point Creek and the return trip, we put in a solid ten miles plus of paddling. I guess we did the major portion of eight miles in about three hours.

The golf cart bridge at Hells Point Golf Club.....about half way...........
The entrance to Lake Tecumsah.............A view of the lake...................
My trooper on the way back......beat but paddling on............
On the way home, we plotted our plan of attack for the next day. I gathered up ALL the fishing gear, we went out and got a supply of snelled hooks, picked up some red worms and meal worms, and checked and re-checked our equipment. We were ready............

Sunday, September 6, 2009

We slept in a little, but were up and on our way fairly early. When we arrived at Horn Point, we were greeted with some rather strong winds and about a one foot chop on the Back Bay. Not the most ideal conditions, but we were ready to catch some fish. We paddled out to the second duck blind we had fished the previous day. Between the chop and wind, sitting tied up to the duck blind was pretty miserable. Gail got broke off again. I had two fish follow my bait to the surface but didn't bite, and then I got broke off. Considering that we were getting beat up by the weather and there was little success, we decided to move into a more wind protected area to fish. Unfortunately, we had little luck. All I hooked was a two inch menhadden. Not worth the effort. When I turned to check on Gail, she was nowhere to be seen. I started to paddle over to where I had last seen her when I noticed a kayaker way out at one of the duck blinds. Guess who? We had left the walkie talkies in the truck since we would be fishing so close together. Never again!

Earlier, The Captain working the reeds along the shore............
A closer view of my fisherwoman...............
As I reached Gail, she had just caught a small bluegill. We decided that we would head in, since the only place we caught fish was out in the wind and chop. So we threw him back and headed home. Two weary kayak anglers.....................

Monday, September 7, 2009 - An afternoon with Greyson

About noon, we went over to pick up Greyson for the afternoon. We brought him home, had lunch and he crashed. Right after I finished cleaning him up, he climbed into my lap, leaned over and fell fast asleep.

The "G" man fast asleep....................
I had to start dinner so I put him in the big chair and he continued his nap.........

Greyson just loves the dogs, especially Peanut. He hugs Lobo, Ozzie and Peanut. The only one who doesn't really want any attention is Nugget. She just doesn't like kids. Lobo is so mellow with him. He lets Greyson hug him and even chases his toys when Greyson throws them. "G" chases Peanut all over the house, but she is still quicker than him.

All and all, a busy weekend. Tomorrow it's back to work for me, but Gail has a "spa-day" she got as a birthday present from Chris, Courtney and Greyson. After that, she will be watching Greyson. Should be a fun day all around.