Where does time go and why can't I simply create more??? =) Wasn't it just March a month ago?
I finished my midterm paper a few hours ago and decided to put the Quality Management book I was falling asleep on the couch with aside to catch my blog up.
Halloween weekend I went out to Joshua Tree National Park to go camping with one of my buddies from work, Darrell. We had a great time and within a couple hours of arriving we really started feeling the pressures and stresses lifting. The weekend was mild and the evenings cool. We did some hiking and bouldering and did a lot of kicking back around the campfire. It was just relaxing. I did see my first Tarantula. We were hiking back to the campground and I literally looked down and there it was. I jumped enough that Darrell thought I stumbled upon a snake. The Tarantula was pretty placid and even though it posed a defensive stance had no intent on doing anything unless provoked. It was just too chilly for the little guy and these spiders really prefer to avoid confrontation whenever possible. We also had a little chipmunk that hung around camp. He was a cute and curious little fellow.
Camping photos here.
The next weekend (Nov. 7) I took Lorelei down to the Wild Animal Park for her birthday. We had a blast there and headed back up to our neck of the woods. Traffic was horrible and we had a deadline for dinner but she didn't know to what extent. After we got back to her apartment I was texting a lot, trying to coordinate people and our arrival to the restaurant. We arrived a half hour later than we should have so that it allowed people time to get there before us. As you can probably tell, her best friend and I planned a surprise birthday party for her. We arranged to have as many of her friends there as possible (12 showed I think?). I walked Lorelei in with her eyes closed and had her open them up at the table with everybody silent. It was awesome to see her face light up. She never thought I was going to do anything for her birthday and the amount of crap I was taking the week previous almost had her best friend giving in to save me because she felt so bad. I insisted it remained quiet because the end result would make everything worthwhile. =P In the end...it did! Next time though Lorelei...you get to plan your birthday. hehe
Phone camera photos from dinner here.
Animal Park photos here.
Yesterday I took Gary out for his first real ride on his new bike. The one I built for him. I don't think taking him around Bonelli from my house and back was the most friendly of 1st rides for him. Bonelli as I've said in the past, is a tough triathlon course so any riding through it gets your HR maxed out in a couple spots. Needless to say, the 18.8 mile ride took 1:41. Yep, an hour and 41 minutes. I hurt just from having gone so slow but oh well. I did get two pics for the long ride. Gary getting back up after taking his first fall as I was stopped to take a picture of Puddingstone Reservoir. Too funny! He just stopped right behind me and fell right over. I told him it would happen, I just figured it would be at a stop light or stop sign instead.
This morning I went out for a ride with Alex. We went about 50 miles since I needed to get back home to finish my midterm paper. It was our last chance to put a chunk of mileage in together before El Tour de Tucson this next weekend. So, we'll get a leg stretch ride on this coming Friday in Tucson and then go compete Saturday. It will also be nice seeing my cousin Tiffany again as we drive through Phoenix.
I guess to rap the overdue update up, I'll be participating in the Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach Feb. 7th. I signed up to do the half marathon. After Tucson, it should fit in well with my training focus of riding and running in preparation for Auburn in May. If anyone is interested in looking at that event, including elevation profiles (UGH!) the link is here.
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