Fithippie™ Travels

The end of an era

2009-04-26T18:32:00.003-06:00

After much deliberation, I have decided that I will discontinue this travel blog. I have thoroughly enjoyed posting about my adventures over the last three years. I've felt closer to my family and friends since starting this blog, it's been a great way for them to remain a part of my life and me a part of theirs through comments and the numerous emails spurred by blog posts. With my career change however, I've decided that this much transparency is no longer appropriate. Not that I post about work things very often, but I don't want to be the one who provides pieces of a seemingly innocent puzzle that produces a potentially harmful "big picture" (either to the mission or to myself). And for all you conspiracy-theorists out there. . . NO, the military did not tell me I could no longer do this blog!

And so it is with somewhat reluctant hands that I type this last post. It's been a great learning experience for me on many levels- writing, photography, societal dynamics, website organization, photo-journaling, etc. I hope that I will be able to pick up this hobby again at a later point, perhaps in a different format or focus. I will leave this web address active for a while longer until I decide what I want to do with it. It always amazes me to see the page load counter climb as folks check in to see what I've done or have to say (it's currently over 28,000)! Thanks for everyone who has been checking in on my adventures and providing support along the way!

The grand, nostalgic tour!

2009-04-19T13:56:00.018-06:00

It's taken a while, but I'm finally getting around to finishing the tour of my new place with y'all! For a long time, I've wanted to get some of my photos developed onto canvas as wall art, but up until now the walls of my residences have been a mish-mash of my photos in random frames. I got them all done through a website called Canvas Love. I had gone through them previously for a print of a surfboard fence I had taken in Maui and was very happy with the finished product, so I decided to do the rest of my collection from them.

This is the view of my living room from the dining/kitchen area. I love my new furniture- this sofa & love seat represent the first "set" of living room furniture I've ever owned!

The close-ups of the canvas prints don't look great in these pics because the flash from the camera reflects off of them, but you get the gist. Although you can't really see her in this picture of the print, that speck on the road is Suzanne on her motorcycle! I took this pic of her when she, David and I made a weekend riding trip out to Ouray, CO last summer. I felt like this was the perfect representation of all the great memories I have of riding out in Colorado; where my love affair with two wheels began. That perfectly smooth, open highway winding into the mountains with Suzanne riding on it almost makes me feel the road rolling out under me as I look at.

The prints over the sofa are (clockwise from the top left corner)- 1) NAS North Island perimeter fence on Coronado Island, CA 2) island of Diego Garcia, 3) Great Wall of China, 4) Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, CO and 5) one of the villages of Cinque Terre, Italy.

The ocean pics are obvious choices for the beach/water lover that I am, but each one evokes a different feeling of moving water for me. 1) The fence on Coronado was the turn-around point on my morning runs when I lived in California. Every time I would run up to it, whether it was a bright sunny day or a rolling fog day on the beach, I was always moved by the composition of the scene. 2) The pic of Diego Garcia will forever represent the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. "Dodge" was my first Navy deployment and first trip "overseas". 3) Although China is not a place I desire to return to, it truly was an awesome experience to stand on the Great Wall half-way around the world from where I grew up. 4) Garden of the Gods is just so majestic, I love the contrasts of colors and textures in this shot. 5) Had I not hiked to the Cinque Terre village of Manarola on an overcast, churning-water day in March between the Olympics & Paralympic Games, I would've never gotten this great shot of the Italian cliff-side village. It reminds me to take advantage of even the less-than-perfect opportunities that present themselves.

To continue the tour and give you some perspective, this is a shot of the living room taken from the front door. You can see the bedroom through the opening in the hall.

These are the pics over the bookshelf- 1) Hania Harbor on Crete, Greece 2) Aspen trees in the fall in Colorado, 3) a patio in Morocco and 4) boats docked in Cinque Terre, Italy.

1) The shot of Hania was taken from the lighthouse on the opposite end of the harbor looking back on the restaurants and shops that line the water. I spent a lot of time down in the harbor area with Jim, Dave, Rob and the rest of "my boys". I use the term "boys" tongue-in-cheek to describe the men with whom I spent hundreds of hours flying missions and men whom I am honored to call close friends. Hania will always represent some of the happiest times of my life. 2) The picture of Aspen trees were taken on a hike up to Pikes Peak on a team-building outing with the USOC. The turning leaves were one of the rare things I appreciated about the crazy climate of Colorado. 3) The one next to it is from one of the trips I made to Tangier, Morocco when I was stationed in Rota, Spain. It's an hour ferry-ride from Spain across the Straits of Gibraltar to get to the North African port city for great food and a different version of "sweet tea"! 4) The dry-docked boats scene was taken in the Cinque Terre village of Riomaggiore on a summer trip. I've hiked between the five Cinque Terre villages a couple of times, but a return trip is certainly on my list!

After everyone voted for the beach shot of Waimae Bay, HI to be hung in my bedroom, I discovered that the digital photo file was too small to get blown up that big. I always shoot with my camera on the highest resolution, so I have no idea why the one picture I wanted to get printed HUGE was one of the smallest photo files I have! Murphy's Law I guess!! So, I went with the top two vote-getters and had them both done, just a little smaller! They both elicit the calming effect I was going for, so no complaints!

I'm using the second bedroom as an office/junk room, so I didn't take pics of that for y'all!

One of my favorite areas in any house is finally is adorned with canvases of some of my favorites food pics! Being Cajun, I spend a lot of time in the kitchen/dining area, so it was important to me to have some familiar pics in there as well.

On the large wall behind the table is- 1) Greek salad on Crete, Greece 2) chocolates in Blois, France 3) Chinese spices in a market in Beijing, 4) beignets & cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans, LA and 5) Italian gelato in Torino, Italy.

1) Although it's too small of a pic to see here, the Greek salad is sitting on a beach-side table accompanied by a hunk of feta cheese drizzled with olive oil. That meal represents endless summer days on the Greek Island of Crete hanging out and enjoying the crystal clear Mediterranean waters. We worked really hard back in those days, but we played just as hard too! 2) The chocolates are from the backpacking trip I made with Andy and Alexis to France & England and were oh-so yummy! 3) The open tubs of Chinese spices instantly bring me back to the pungent, exotic experience of foods in the Far East. 4) For anyone whose ever experienced beignets & cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde, that picture requires no explanation! Ever since Andy was little, I'd take him to New Orleans for beignets sometimes when I was home on leave. I'd always wait until he had the beignet right up to his face to take a bite and then I'd blow on the powdered sugar so it would cover his face! Childish I know, but I loved laughing and spending time with him while he was growing up. 5) Between Navy and USOC trips to Italy, I'm sure I've eaten at least my weight times 3 of rich, creamy gelato! Man that stuff is divine!!!

Now you know I couldn't live without pics of Louisiana seafood adorning the walls of where I eat! They look much crisper hanging on the wall; these pics just don't do the prints justice! The top one is of boiled shrimp, crabs & crawfish taken at one of the countless seafood boils at my parents' house- my favorite meal in the world!!! The bottom one is of live, Louisiana blue-claw crabs!!! Mmmmmm, makes my mouth water and my heart long for home every time I look at those two pics!

Hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane disguised as a tour of my new home with me! Hopefully a few of you recognized some of these scenes and that it brought back fond memories for you too.

That's it for now. I'll do another post this week when I get a chance. Hope everyone had a great weekend and is re-charged for a new work week!

Horses and trails

2009-04-05T16:21:00.010-06:00

Now that I am unpacked and settled in for the most part, I was pretty excited about the prospect of a beautiful weekend ahead of me. It had been rainy all week so visions of being outside in any capacity were appealing.

The very first day I was moving into my new place, two of my neighbors came over to introduce themselves. Next to me in the picture are Linda and Allison- neighbors extraordinaire! Although I thought my equestrian days were over when I left the USOC, their enthusiasm for horse riding convinced me to join them for a little tailgate action at the 58th Stoneybrook Steeplechase here in town. It's a rich tradition with the locals complete with hat and tailgate contests!

I became quite versed in Eventing during my tenure with the Team & Technical Sportfolio at the USOC, but I had never seen Steeplechase contested before. Allison's husband Jason staked out some prime real estate with his truck so that we were tailgating right in front of one of the jumps. With temps in the upper 70s/low 80s, Saturday turned out to be a sun-filled day of eating and meeting new folks at the tailgate party! Ironically, most of the people there weren't horse-people per se, but were there for the festive atmosphere on such a beautiful day and to support the local community.

The towns surrounding the one I live in are renowned for golfing and equine. There are no less than a dozen golf resorts in the surrounding communities of Southern Pines, Pinehurst and Talomore. On the Equine side of the house, the sandy footing of this geography draws horse-people from every discipline to live and train in the area. Beyond the Olympic disciplines of Equestrian that I was familiar with, racing, carriage driving, hunting, polo and Steeplechase are all popular in this area. Such a high concentration of golf resorts and horse farms make for lush, open expanses of green scenery in every direction.

Faced with another beautiful day this morning, I figured I'd get my "chores" done early so I could take the Harley out for a little exploring in the afternoon. While visiting with such a diverse group of folks at the races yesterday, I learned that there are several running trails throughout the woods just blocks from my house. So after cleaning house and doing some laundry, I pulled on my running shoes and headed towards the horse trails up the road. The hills and sand humbled me as I had to run much shorter than I had intended, but the scenery and smell of spring in the air made up for the abbreviated workout.

With responsibilities behind me, I jumped on my bike after a quick shower and set out to explore the many back roads through the area. I rolled out dozens of leisurely miles on country roads flanked with horse farms like the one in this picture. I took the scenic route (i.e. I was disoriented for much of the afternoon!) and explored alternate byways from the main highways. The smell of pine hung delicately in the air as did pollen from all the blooming flora. By the time I got back, me and my bike were covered in a fine yellow dust. Guess I'll wait a few weeks before I wash the bike and car again!

Well, that's my weekend. Laying low to gear up for another week of being the "new kid" at work. I may not be the sharpest crayon in the box, but I'm not the dullest either, so I'm confident I'll get up to speed pretty quickly!

Have a great week!!!

Getting settled in

2009-03-29T01:22:00.009-06:00

With all last week off to make my new place livable, I'm starting to feel settled in. I really like the town I'm living in and am glad that I opted for the 30 minute commute through wooded, country roads instead of 30 minutes through congested intersections right outside post.

I've purged quite a few of my belongings in the 5 moves I've made in the last decade- Spain to Louisiana, Louisiana to Florida, Florida to Colorado, Colorado to California, California to North Carolina. Hey, I've gone coast to coast!

On this last move, I finally got rid of the mismatched love seat and futon I had and decided to buy some real furniture. Upon relating this to Whit & Kathie, they laughed and said it was about time I stopped living like a college student! Sorry, but I'm gonna save pics of the new furniture until I get some art on the walls in the living room! You'll just have to wait a bit longer!

I was lucky to have found this place for a great price. Having rental property myself, I can appreciate the amount of work and money that goes into keeping a place functional and nice for the tenants. So I was quite pleased to have found this completely remodeled duplex. As you can see in this pic of the kitchen, all the appliances are brand new stainless steel and still had the owners manuals attached to them when I moved in.

Although it's just under 1000 square feet, I feel a little guilty about occupying so much space for just one person. I turned the spare room into an office of sorts and it filled up pretty quickly with all my books and professional stuff, but the rest of the place feels quite spacious with my few belongings scattered about. I say "few belongings" but I filled those kitchen cabinets! Hey, a girl's gotta be able to feed herself, right?!

The doors you see behind the table & chairs leads out to the back yard and detached garage. Although I REALLY needed one in Colorado, this is the first time I've ever had a garage! It's big enough to put both the car and the Harley in if I move them around, but I've decided to leave the car in the driveway and let the bike be protected from the elements solo until winter comes back around and necessitates musical vehicles. I know the car is new, but hey, it's a Hyundai for crying out loud and this is a Harley!!

Having grown up in a rural area, I had always wanted to have a yard. After having one in Colorado though, I've since changed my outlook. A yard is great if you have the time and resources to put towards working in it. As I found out in Colorado, fighting natural climate and working long hours don't do much for nice landscaping! Plus, if it's a nice weekend day, I want to be out and about (especially if it's good riding weather) instead of pumping money into my yard! Don't get me wrong, I still love a yard like my parents' with nice trees and flowers and swings, but at this stage in my life, I guess it's just not a priority. So, one of the other great features of this rental is that lawn care is included in the rent. . . I'm not responsible for it!

As you can see, the backyard isn't huge, but is plenty big enough for a BBQ pit and some patio furniture. The first yard pic is from the detached garage looking back at the house. I love the patch of bamboo along the back fence, gives it a zen feeling!

That's all the house pics for now. I've ordered some wall pics that should come in this week, so I'll post some more once I get those up so y'all can see the rest of the place. Hope everyone is surviving the crazy weather going on around the country and having a great weekend.

And the votes are in. . .

2009-03-27T07:22:00.002-06:00

Thanks to everyone for weighing in with their votes! I knew it wouldn't be hard to pry an opinion out of this group!! This has been an interesting exercise for me and definitely changed my mind. I hadn't completely decided yet when I posted the pics, but I was certainly leaning towards #4. There's something about sunsets/sunrises that stir my soul.

The beauty of having people who know you well is that sometimes they have insight into your psych that you can't recognize in yourself! I love that y'all seemed to have put some thought into this and I especially liked reading the rationale behind the picks! It was like having everyone standing in the room helping me decide! OK, not quite because then it would've involved lots of food, story telling and laughter- although Rob did sneak in a story about my beach apartment winter heating meltdowns in Spain!!

I'll be getting the winning pic developed onto canvas to hang over my bed, it'll have even more meaning knowing that it was picked by friends and family!

And the winner is. . . #1- Waimea Bay, Oahu. Kind of fitting since I spent four very formative years on that island while I was in the Navy. The pic was actually taken in 2006 when I went back there with my sister though. I can't wait to see how it comes out!

Before I catch a ration of you-know-what for not posting pics, I WILL POST SOME OF MY NEW HOME THIS WEEKEND!!! Thanks again everyone for remaining a part of my life even when I'm far away :-)

Opinions needed!

2009-03-24T18:55:00.003-06:00

OK, OK, I know I'm behind on posting! I've had several requests for pics of my new place, but I still have have stuff spread out from wall to wall at the moment as I attempt to get my life organized!! In the meantime though, I've decided to expand the wall art of my amateur photo hobby. As most of you know, I'm all about the pictures. I'm the geek that actually looks through those mounds of photo albums collected over the years. Part of my way of dealing with being away from so many loved ones so much of the time is to be surrounded by reminders of great times spent with them. I have lots of pics of family & friends around my home, but I also enjoy landscape scenes as art. Now this is where my opinionated friends and family come into the picture (pun intended!). . .

I'm looking to get a huge enlargement of one of the following photos that I've taken over the years on the Hawaiian islands reproduced onto canvas so it looks like a painting. As you know, I'm a beach girl at heart so I'm hoping one of the following prints on my wall will help calm my restless soul. Here are the options:

1. Waimaea Bay, Oahu2. Family on beach, Kauai3. Hammock scene, Kauai
4. Sunset on Maui

Some of you have posted comments in the past, so you know how it works. For those of you who have been voyeurs and haven't posted a comment before, it's pretty easy to do. Click on the "comments" tab at the end of this post and you will be brought to a new screen. Once you type in your comment in the text box (and choice of pic!), click on the button next to "anonymous" unless you have a blogger profile already set up (if you did you would know how to do this!). Make sure you sign your name in the text box (just first name and last initial please) so I'll know who made the comment. Then click on "publish your comment" and it will be sent to my email account for review. You won't see your comment posted right away, it'll show up later after I approve it from my email account. Since this is a family-friendly blog, I want to make sure that no one posts anything inappropriate.

Alright y'all, don't let me down. . .

A new home!

2009-03-15T19:10:00.002-06:00

My apologies for such a short, photo-less post, but I just wanted to let ya'll know that I'm still alive and have found a place to live! It's about 30 minutes from work and in a beautiful small-town area with some great roads for riding!!! My household goods and my Harley were delivered on Friday, so I've spent the weekend trying to unpack and get somewhat settled. I'll post again with some pics as soon as I can!

Fort Bragg arrival

2009-03-08T15:32:00.007-06:00

I arrived to Fort Bragg on Wednesday evening after a frustrating day of travel. I can't blame my frustration on the airlines though, the only obstacles I encountered during the day were due to my own carelessness. After accruing 100,000+ frequent flyer miles over the last couple of years, I did something that I usually roll my eyes at novice travelers for doing. . . forgot my Leatherman tool in my carry-on! My heart sank as I realized when the TSA guy told me it was in my bag that I was going to lose my companion of 20 years. The multi-purpose knife/tool was given to me by a Navy mentor and had accompanied me on just about every mission and motorcycle ride since. Did you know that you can pretty much fix anything on a P-3 aircraft with a Leatherman tool? Can't really say the same for my Harley, but I was sentimentally attached to the tool nonetheless (and yall know how often I actually get sentimental). Anyway, the security line was too long for me to go back through in order to mail it back to myself, so I watched in disgust as the guy tossed my tool into a bin labeled "trash". I could only be mad at myself since the guy was just doing his job, but man it sucked! As you can see from this blog post, I haven't quite gotten over it yet!

OK, enough about the sob story over my knife. . . I found my way to Ft Bragg and have been checking in on base (err, I mean "post") ever since. There's a ton of briefs and presentations newly arrived personnel must go through just to be in-processed onto post. Tomorrow I'll finish that process and start checking into the place on post I'll actually be working. The post is HUGE and I've only seen a small area of it so far, but decided to take a pic of one of the statues that seems to represent the essence of Ft Bragg- "Iron Mike." The monument depicts the Airborne Troopers of the Airborne units stationed at Fort Bragg, notably the XVIII Airborne Corps Headquarters, the 82nd Airborne Division, and the U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC).

After avoiding owning a 4-wheeled vehicle for a year and a half, I finally broke down and purchased a car! My bike is in storage and I can't really get it out until I find a place to live. I didn't know how long that would take, so I decided it was time to become a grown-up (kind of!) and buy a sensible car. I looked around on the lemon lot and perused the internet, but I couldn't find anything I wanted and/or trusted for a decent price. I arrived at the conclusion that I hadn't owned a new vehicle (other than my Harley) since 1987 and that as long as it got good gas mileage (25-33 mpg) and would last for a while (5-year warranty), it was a wise choice. Actually, I convinced myself that if I was sensible with the four-wheeled purchase that I would be able to upgrade my two-wheeled purchase soon :-) Although non-descript, I'm satisfied with my 2009 Hyundai Elantra.

With the freedom of wheels, yesterday and today I got out-and-about in the gorgeous upper 70/lower 80 degree weather to look at potential areas to live. There's a town called Southern Pines to the west of Fort Bragg that I really like and spent the day out there. It's a bit of a commute since you have to go across the whole forest known as the Fort Bragg Military Reservation to get there, but I really liked how quiet and spread out the landscape was in comparison to the options right outside the post in Fayetteville. I found this lake at Reservoir Park and walked the 2-mile trail around it as I cleared my head with the wooded smell of fresh pine.

Tomorrow I'll continue the process of becoming a member of this military community and trying to establish a new residence. Hope everyone was able to get out and enjoy the weekend and get a preview of the refreshing spring weather to come!

Moving on. . .

2009-03-03T19:33:00.004-07:00

Today I checked out of Alpha Company of the 187th Medical Battalion at Fort Sam Houston. Tomorrow morning bright and early, I fly east towards my new duty station and residence- Fort Bragg, NC. North Carolina is one of the few states I've not been to so I'm pretty excited about this new adventure. This time last year, I was still getting settled into my new apartment on Coronado and anxiously anticipating warm Southern California weather. Wow, how life can change in 12 short months!

In the midst of packing up and checking out, I had the privilege of presenting to the young officers going through the Army Graduate Program in Nutrition here at AMEDD. It's always fun when you're asked to do a presentation on something your passionate about and to pass on some "words of wisdom" to folks coming up in our field. I got so fired up from getting THEM fired up about the role of performance nutrition in the military that I have a renewed sense of mission as I head to Ft Bragg!

One of the other cool things we got to do this week was go on tours of a couple of facilities here on post built especially for Wounded Warriors and Warriors in Transition (terms used to describe Soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan as they recover back here in the States). The Soldier and Family Assistance Center (SFAC) had some of the most state-of-the-arts entertainment technology I've ever seen as well as a huge fully stocked, wheelchair accessible kitchen for families and Soldiers to cook for themselves and others. I also went on another tour of the Center for the Intrepid (CFI) this week. I was equally as impressed by this center specializing in advanced rehab of amputees and burn patient veterans as I was the first time I visited it back in October for Ann's retirement. It's humbling to be around so many folks dedicated to helping these Soldiers adjust to their new bodies and lives and advance towards a new norm. I had to smile as I gazed upon the numerous pictures of Soldiers participating in various sports. I recognized many Paralympic events and wondered how many of these Warriors would some day find themselves competing in a sport they had never even participated in before.

As for off-post excursions, I didn't get out a whole lot other than when Pam & Ski and the kids came to visit me. I made it out to the River Walk a few times and saw some movies at the local theaters but didn't do a whole lot of sightseeing or going out. Since food is one of my passions, I did eat out way more than I needed to though! One of my favorite spots was the Canyon Cafe at the Quarry Market. The Black & Bleu Quesadilla accompanied by their signature Top Shelf margarita was my meal selection more than once during my stay here!

Another favorite that was much closer to base was Siam Bangkok Thai Cuisine right out the gate by Kim's Alterations. This quaint little establishment doesn't need any type of advertisement since word of mouth packs the place most nights. It's owned by the husband & wife team of Kent & Cynthia who make you feel at home every time you come in. My favorites on the menu are the Tom Kha Gai soup and Pad Thai. I ate there probably a half dozen times but never took a picture of the food because it was so tasty that I was usually half way through the meal before I remembered I had my camera on me! The portion sizes are HUGE with great presentation. Unfortunately, the only picture I have to post is of the Pad Thai leftovers that I took home and ate tonight for dinner!

As I finish up OBLC I tried to think if there were any nuggets I should pass on to future course students looking for information to prepare them for the training. I think the week by week posts give a pretty good sense of what the training and schedule is like. One important suggestion I have about logistics though is to BRING A VEHICLE! With only a motorcycle that had to be shipped ahead due to time constraints, I didn't have a vehicle to bring anyway, but I can tell you that not having a vehicle was a major drawback. I'm a walker and am not daunted by a mile or two trek to a destination, but I usually didn't have enough time to make it to where I needed to be on foot. The bus system isn't great, so bumming rides or constantly hailing a taxi becomes the norm. I spent a lot of money on rental cars that's not reimbursable, so if you have a vehicle and are able to drive it here, I suggest you do so.

OK, that's it for OBLC training. I'll be busy getting a thorough passdown and looking for a place to live the first week I'm at Ft Bragg, so not sure how much posting I'll be doing at first. Stay tuned though, I'll catch everyone up as soon as I can!

OBLC- Weeks 7 & 8

2009-02-23T19:53:00.011-07:00

Yesterday I graduated from OBLC (Officer Basic Leaders Course). I still have another week to go of Dietitian-specific training, but the basic Army skills portion is done. It seems like just yesterday I was scrambling to pack up my apartment in San Diego and finish up projects with the USOC so I could come out here to San Antonio to start training. With the blur of last weeks' classroom instruction & this weeks' graduation, time seems to be in fast forward!

I tend to only make it home to see my family about once or twice a year, so my parents took advantage of my close proximity to Louisiana and drove out here for my graduation. The ceremony itself was short and anti-climatic. We wore ACUs (essentially a working uniform) instead of our dress Blues which we wore the day before for an inspection. Undeterred by the lack of emphasis, my parents maintained the streak of attending all my important graduations (Navy boot camp, undergraduate and masters degrees). It was great to spend a little time with them before I head out to Ft Bragg next week. In the pic above in ACUs is myself and Goguen in front of the AMEDD school static display after the graduation ceremony.

I thought this side by side comparison of me from my "boot camps" would provide a chuckle for those of you who have known me through the years. The one on the right is of me as an E-1 in my whites during a liberty pass at the end of Navy boot camp in 1989. The one of me as an O-3 in my Army dress blues is of me during the OBLC inspection in 2009- twenty years later! I was way skinnier from the smoking & drinking back then, but I am much healthier now! I remember asking Mama Babin (my maternal grandmother) once before I left for boot camp if she felt old. Of course, to a 19 or 20 year old, 60-something seemed ancient. I'll never forget her smiling and relating to me that although her body had aged, she still thought of herself in her mind as being my age. Although 41 is not old, I'm just now starting to appreciate the truth in that statement all those years ago. I may look different, feel different and have experienced so many different things since that picture of me on the right was taken, but I still think of myself as being that age. To be sure, I have days where I feel the weight of my age physically or the weight of my experiences emotionally, but for the most part, I'm still the same! I'll continue to move toward the next big adventure!!

Not sure how next week will flow with the move, but I'll post when I can. Have a great week!!

The Ski family!

2009-02-15T20:52:00.009-07:00

I set the stage for this long holiday weekend to be one of relaxation. After weapon turn-in and arriving back in my room on Thursday, I immediately got online and cashed in some Hilton Honors points and reserved a room here in San Antonio to get away for an evening. By 9:00 pm, I was relaxing in a whirlpool bath in my deluxe suite eating a slice of pecan pie and sipping a glass of Cabernet wine from room service! I know, I know, the field wasn't exactly arduous, but I felt like pampering myself! I enjoyed a late checkout Friday afternoon and lazed around in bed watching movies and then getting a message.

Yesterday afternoon, I hooked up with Pam & Ski and family. Although we've kept in touch with each other through annual Christmas letters, I hadn't actually seen them in 15 years! Through Facebook, we realized that we were only a few hours from each other, so Pam & Ski loaded up their two kids, Adam & Anna and headed towards San Antonio. After giving them horrible directions to the base (I guess land nav didn't really cure my terrible sense of direction after all!), they finally found me and we all headed to the Riverwalk for dinner.

Pam & Ski met in VP-17 back in Hawaii and got married after they got out of the Navy. They have two wonderful kids who have definitely inherited both of their playful personalities. After dinner at the Riverwalk, we hung out reminiscing about our old Navy days and even texted a few former shipmates that we keep in touch with who couldn't believe that we were all together again! We laughed and caught up on each other's lives until we finally got tired and called it an evening.

This morning, the Ski family picked me up for breakfast and a day of sightseeing. We started off at the Natural Bridge Caverns north of San Antonio. Although I had been through underground caverns before, I like this one because it wasn't cold! With 99% humidity, the dense air was actually much warmer below ground than the air above! We descended around 180 feet amongst huge stalagmites and stalactites. Because the caverns remain sealed by climate proof doors, the caverns remain "alive" and are still forming the grotesquely shaped rock formations. I'm always fascinated by unique construction methods of mother nature!

From the caverns, we headed back south towards downtown San Antonio and had lunch at the Buckhorn Museum & Saloon. This unique establishment has been in continuous operation since 1881. Apparently, the impressive collection of horned animal busts began back in the 1880s when a stuffed animal head could be traded for shots of whiskey or beer! As you can see in the pic of the saloon, there have been a lot of thirsty hunters over the years! Being the animal-rights activist of the family, Anna preferred a tour of the Texas Rangers Museum over that of the Museum of Horns, Fins & Feathers!

It's been a while since I've posted a food picture, so I thought a pic of my purely Texas lunch would be a fitting one for today's post! The BBQ brisket was super tender and went well with my Shiner Bock beer. Although the sausage & coleslaw left a bit to be desired, the chunky potato salad was pretty good. The Haagen Dazs Belgium chocolate milk shake obtained down the street from the Alamo that followed wasn't half bad either!

Tomorrow is another day off so I'll do some reading and catch up on paperwork before classes crank off again on Tuesday. Hope everyone had as a great a weekend as I did and that treasured friendships will pop up unexpectedly in your life too!

OBLC- Week 6

2009-02-14T06:36:00.005-07:00

FTX-3 (3rd week of Field Training Exercise) was a short one. With Friday as a training holiday and Monday President's Day, we only stayed in the field for 4 days in order to accommodate the 4 day weekend. How's that for a work to rest ratio?!

This last FTX week, AMEDD (Army Medical Department) skills week put everything we learned up to now to test in a simulated war scenario. As a Dietitian who has specialized outside of the clinical realm for the whole of my career, it's been an adjustment to think of myself as a medical health care provider instead of simply a performance-enhancer specialist. Every time I shout our class motto, "Train to Save" as we're called to attention in formations, I am reminded that I am now part of a team who's primary mission is to save lives on the battlefield.

There are various levels of medical care provided to Soldiers during engagement. Although the lines blur and don't follow such a well-defined linear pattern in today's modern battlefield, the basic concept is the same. Level 5 is the one most folks are familiar with and think of when they hear about casualties of U.S. Soldiers. It's the huge medical facilities found here in the States like Walter Reed Medical Center in DC and Brook Army Medical Center here in San Antonio. Level 4 are places like Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. This is where Soldiers are evacuated from the theater of operations and receive definitive medical care in a permanent facility. But what happens to them in-theater?

It's easier to go backwards from here. The Soldiers on the "front lines" have combat medics embedded with them. For my Navy friends out there, a medic is the Army's version of a corpsman. Like independent-duty Navy corpsman, these Soldiers are not only skilled as First Responders, but also provide the day to day care required to maintain the health of their troops through preventative medicine. Like the Navy corpsman, they are usually called "Doc" even though they aren't Physicians. The immediate care that they provide at the point of injury is known as Level 1 care. The medics are supported by Battalion Aid Stations. The mission of the Battalion Aid Station is primarily to collect the battalion's sick & wounded, stabilize the patient's condition, and provide emergency medical evacuation to a combat support hospital or other facility. The Battalion Aid Station can be split into two functional units that can operate independently for up to 24 hours- a FAS (Forward Aid Station) and a MAS (Main Aid Station). For our exercise, I was assigned to a FAS. In this pic, you can see the "wounded" that we collected and were getting ready for evacuation. Click on the pic to see how we identified the "gunshots to the buttocks" injury!

The next level of care is level 2 which is the first level of resucitative care. Level 2 consists of highly mobile forward surgical teams that directly support the gunslingers in the field. Level 3 is known as a CSH (Combat Support Hospital, pronounced "cash"). CSH is a modernized version of MASH (yes, like the TV show!). The Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals of yesterday could provide intensive surgical capabilities but was not equipped for primary care capabilities (e.g. internal medicine, pediatrics, OB/GYN, etc.) required by today's battlefield environment. Today's CSH is a mobile 200+ bed hospital that can do all that as a single unit or can be broken down into smaller forward deployed units. This pic of me is as a casualty at Level 2 with two nurses attending to my "shrapnel to the abdomen" wounds as I awaited a simulated helicopter medivac (Medical Evacuation).

At first I was pretty disappointed when 5 minutes into the start of the "war" one of the cadre handed me a small card that contained a description of my injury and told me to lay down on the ground. I soon recognized what a great learning experience this was for someone who's normal working environment has not been clinical care based. The blur of Powerpoint slides from the first 3 weeks of this course started to make sense as I was loaded onto a litter and taken through the various steps of care. I'm a hands-on learner, so the whole week proved to be highly beneficial in my learning process.

Well, that was it for our field training, next week we'll be back in the classroom. I hope that my attempts to decipher all the Army acronyms and describe the training I'm receiving help you to visualize what this experience is like. I'm still giddy about being back in the military and am enjoying the learning process. I'm hopeful that my new found ability to exercise patience beyond any level I've been able to achieve in the past will stick with me as I move on in my Army career!

OBLC- Week 5

2009-02-08T05:31:00.010-07:00

Our second week in the field was much less physical than the first. Instead of navigating around the field and negotiating the confidence course, we spent more time in the FOB and preparing for practical tests. Counting the reservist augmentation, our company is about 280 strong. Although there are personalities representing the whole spectrum living in close proximity, there hasn't been a whole lot of drama. There's been more down-time compared to last week, so folks are really getting the chance to get to know each other and learn from each others' backgrounds and experiences.

Two of the tasks to be tested out on at the end of the week included disassembly, reassembly & functional check of the M16 rifle in 4 minutes and of the M9 9mm handgun in 3 minutes. Most of us were able to do it with time to spare and those who weren't able to were given extra instruction until they could. As you can see in this pic of study time in our tent, everyone was determined to meet the final requirements.

The day to day operation of the FOB is maintained by various work details which rotate through the six platoons that make up the company (I'm in 2nd platoon). It's a little amusing that the only 2 RDs (Registered Dietitians) in the whole company are both in 2nd platoon. The person with me on KP duty (Kitchen Patrol) in this pic is the other RD, CPT Dunn. KP duty is actually pretty easy since we don't actually cook the food, we just serve it (it's brought in pre-made from DFAC [post Dining Facility]). The food doesn't exactly follow the performance-based menu we serve at the USOC, but is really good hot chow for the field!

Included in the weeks' training schedule was CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological/Nuclear, Explosive Incidents). Back during my military days the first time around, it was just known as NBC (Nuclear, Biological & Chemical), but the prevalent use of improvised explosive devices has obviously changed all that. One thing that hasn't changed, however is the donning of the various levels of MOPP (Mission-Oriented Protective Posture). You see me here in the highest posture level holding my weapon. It includes a very thick protective hooded coat, pants, overboots, gloves & gas mask all worn over the ACU uniform and boots. The last time I had worn this gear was on a flight line in August in Gulfport, MS during a two-week annual drill for the Louisiana Air National Guard. The few minutes we spent in this suit here in cool temperatures was actually quite pleasant compared to performing aircraft maintenance while wearing it for a couple of hours in the extreme heat & humidity of the Gulf Coast in summertime.

For the third time in my life I went through the "gas chamber." I sympathized with the new Soldiers who had never gone through it before and were getting all worked up over the unknown. Of course, some of the cadre and other students seem to revel in telling stories that raised the anxiety level of these first-timers! My memory proved accurate as the experience turned out to be unpleasant but tolerable. The whole point to being exposed to chemical agents with the protective mask both on, then off is for the Soldiers to gain confidence that the mask will protect them during an attack.

There's a lot of tears and snot flowing as you exit the building with arms out to the side to allow the wind to clear the gas from your face and clothing. It burns the eyes and throat quite a bit, but a few minutes of walking around brings it down to a tolerable level pretty quickly. As I was exiting the building unable to see my surroundings through the tears and snot, I heard one of my battle buddies yell "Daigle, this is the first time during this whole course I've seen you without a smile on your face!" This comment of course immediately put a smile back on my face!!

One of the other cool things we got to learn was clearing houses. The feces would really have to be hitting the fan if me as an RD were clearing houses, but I was grateful for the experience for 2 reasons. First of all, you just never know. Second, it gives us medical providers a small glimpse as to what the infantry soldiers are going through. As we stumbled over each other through the exercise, I gained a whole new appreciation for the Soldiers who train these moves on a regular basis and are able to move fluidly as a team with little to no verbal communication. My awkward attempts with my team resulted in shooting 2 bad guys and a hostage. Hmm, need to work on my target identification I guess! Playing one of the bad guys afterwards was a lot of fun though!

That pretty much sums up FTX-2. Next week will be our last week in the field and we'll have to put everything we learned into action during the week long training operation. I'm looking forward to the challenge of our final week in the field.

OBLC- Week 4

2009-01-31T16:38:00.012-07:00

What a great week!!! Monday morning bright and early we started FTX-1 (first week of Field Training Exercise). We drew M16 rifles from the armory during the early morning hours, then loaded buses and headed towards our home for the week- Fort Bullis. The FOB (Field Operating Base) at Fort Bullis is a training replica of a typical FOB (Forward Operating Base) found in the Army. In the FOB, we lived in 30 man/woman tents and learned basic Army skills. No showers, but we had porta-pots and a small personal hygiene area where the guys could shave and everyone could brush their teeth.

The weather was amazing for the first day and a half- low to mid-70s and clear skies. With such a strong aversion to cold weather, I was thankful for the happy weather! My luck ran out in the middle of day 2 however as a cold front rolled in and the sky started spitting icy raindrops on us as we stood around outside and learned how to assemble & disassemble M16 rifles and 9mm handguns. With a windchill in the 20s, I was amazed at my ability to remain positive and focused on the tasks at hand. Could it be a sign of maturity?! Nah, I think it's just that I like guns!

The sky finally cleared and we were left with cold, but dry days for the remainder of our time in the field. The first pic is of me at the top of a ridge after successfully finding my third point with only a compass, map & protractor during the land nav (navigation) test. As most of you know, I usually am unable to find my way out of even a parking lot, so I was a little concerned about my ability to pass land navigation. After a couple of hours of quality instruction though, I felt like I finally understood land nav and was absolutely giddy at my ability to "find myself" three times in the allotted time! I was starting to feel less apprehensive about the night land navigation test coming up at the end of the week.

Although I haven't been able to do it much since high school, I love to shoot and was excited about getting to fire the M16 and 9mm handgun during the week. Since I shot small bore .22 rifles on a team in high school, I always considered myself more of a rifle than handgun girl. My qualification time at both ranges proved me wrong however as I managed to qualify with the 9mm and not the M16. With so little hands on time before actually shooting though, I feel like a quality day at the range practicing would boost my rifle score significantly. No worries, it was fun to get to shoot and the experience served its purpose as weapon familiarization. I was disappointed that we couldn't spend more time shooting though.

It's no secret that I'm a chow hound! I love to eat! Hell, food is my chosen profession!!! While out in the field, we were served hot breakfast and dinner and only had to eat MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) once a day for lunch. If this is the Army's idea of roughing it, I'm in the right place!!! And man, have MREs come a long way since my time in the desert in the early 90s! They now have dozens of options and actually have heating packs in them so you can have a hot meal. These meals-in-a-bag are actually pretty tasty!

We learned lots of stuff during the week that I won't go into here. No need to tell the world what we're learning here other than the basics! Thursday night culminated into the night land navigation test. This group pic is of our platoon getting fired up before the night nav brief- you can see all the dust in the air from so many boots on the ground in the FOB! We were paired up and sent out into the dark, cold night to find 3 out of 4 points in the allotted time. I was nervous, but feeling pretty confident after my success during the day portion of land nav. After plotting our points and coming up with a game plan, my assigned partner and I headed into the dark, moonless night. An hour later, we found ourselves circling what we were confident were the coordinates we were supposed to be at looking for the marker. Another 20 Soldiers converged on our spot looking for the same marker to no avail. I was confident that we were within 10 meters of the location but was frustratingly unable to prove our location. With time clicking away, we replotted a course to our next location (the course is self-correcting so we were able to verify our current location) and moved on to our next destination. As I was on the ground working my map and protractor, I heard a familiar Cajun accent from over my shoulder. One of the other teams looking for the same point as us just happened to be from Louisiana! It's amazing how the only 3 Cajuns in the whole Company ended up stumbling upon each other in the middle of Texas woodlands! We joined forces and moved out towards our next common point.

As the night progressed, we ran into other teams who confirmed our suspicions- there was a disconnect between our score cards and the destination markers. I was disappointed that I wouldn't be able to verify my navigation skills, but the clear night and camaraderie seemed to dampen my frustration and made me appreciate the moment. Although I was freezing, it was a clear, beautiful night out in mother nature with a bunch of like-minded folks. The sky was chock full of stars and the certainty that all of humanity was under the same sky this night. For some reason, I was on point and shooting our azimuths to the next destinations for the rest of the night. At one point during the night, one of my fellow Cajuns shouted out to his partner in the dark "Can you believe we're being led through the woods by a Dietitian from Houma?!" Our evening wasn't a success on paper, but I was immensely satisfied with the knowledge that I always knew where we were. Even though the markers weren't where they were supposed to be, I was able to verify that we were always withing 10-20 meters of our destination. At no time did I not know where we were on the map or in which direction to head to get us back to the the FOB- it was a great, new feeling for me! Unfortunately, the evening didn't turn out so well for everyone. One Soldier had to be medevaced off the course with a broken leg and there were several twisted ankles during the night.

Overall, life in the FOB was pretty cushy. My battle-buddy, Goguen is in the picture with me. She too is former enlisted (Army though) and shares my upbeat attitude about the whole experience. Although we went without showers for 4 days, baby wipes are pretty efficient at keeping a 25-30 woman tent from reeking! I was grateful for my short hair as I watched other women struggling to manage their longer tresses. Between rolling around on the ground during combatives (hand to hand combat) and tromping through the woods, it was hard to keep dirt and critters from making a home on our scalps! Although a good taste of field life, 4 days in the field was in no way a hardship!

Our last day in the field ended with a fun day! We went out to the obstacle course and learned how to low & high crawl and did some 3-4 second rushes. Although we only did a short round of rushes, it was good for us to get a small taste of what the infantry guys are subjected to. This drill starts off in a prone shooting position wearing an LBE (Load Bearing Equipment). The LBE is basically a web belt with suspenders upon which you can attach a couple of canteens of water, a couple of pouches for ammo, a first aid kit and miscellaneous other equipment. Between the LBE, Kevlar helmet and our weapon, we weighed an extra 20 pounds or so. Upon a whistle blow by one of the instructors, you jump up from the prone firing position and run to gain as much ground as you can ("I'm up!") until the next whistle blow ("He sees me, I'm down") at which time you throw yourself onto the ground back into a prone firing position. I say "throw", but obviously you don't want to trash your knees, so you break the fall with the butt of your weapon. It looks so easy, but it gets harder and harder to pop up with any quickness after only a few down-and-ups!

Although pretty bruised up from our day of drills and obstacle course (AKA in the PC world as a Confidence Course), I had a BLAST!!!! I struggled with the obstacles that involved rope climbs (I haven't figured out the technique of using my feet for leverage with the rope yet), I was able to successfully navigate the other obstacles. This obstacle in the picture is a "reverse ladder." You climb up the back side of it, flip yourself over the top rung, then go down face first using your arm & shoulder muscles to work your way down the rungs. As you can see from the smile on my face, this was great fun!

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and this course was a great way to expose ourselves to both. If you click on the picture of the obstacle course to see it up close, you can see that some of the obstacles are quite high. We had a few folks who weren't so comfortable with heights. Also, many of them required a fair amount of upper body strength which obviously, not everyone had. The whole experience was a great team-builder as we all pulled together to help each Soldier face his/her weaknesses, including our own.

With a great week behind us, we have the weekend off (I'm embarrassed to say that actually) before going back out to the field on Monday. After hot showers and meals, everyone is plowing through mounds of dirty laundry and required reading in this down-time. I hope that this post helps everyone to envision what the training is like. Although a challenge for the folks who have never been exposed to camping or the great outdoors, to say that this is arduous would be a stretch! More than once during the week, one of the instructors would catch me grinning from ear to ear and want to know what my problem was. Unable to conceal my happiness over this career choice I would simply respond with one of my favorite Navy sayings. . . "I'm just full of joy, Sir, full of joy!"

If you're interested in seeing more pictures of FTX-1, go to these links:

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2013407&l=07b76&id=1454935642

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2013408&l=b01ac&id=1454935642

OBLC- Week 3

2009-01-25T05:34:00.007-07:00

Time is flying by here in San Antonio! I can't believe the 3rd week of training is already over!! Week 3 was more didactic training in the classrooms. We learned about a variety of topics that we will put into practical application out in the field. Basic Army skills mixed in with issues relevant to the current world situation rounded out the questions included on our mid-term exam on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, another 100+ reserve soldiers were integrated into our company to take part in the field exercises. Just like the folks that have been here for 3 weeks now, this group of reservists represent all of the medical corps you see depicted in this picture of the wall from one of our lecture auditoriums. The emblem with the "S" superimposed over the caduceus (medical emblem) represents the Medical Specialist Corp, the Corp under which I fall as a Dietitian.

A lot has changed in the military since my first go round. The integration of reservists into the active duty component's training is a huge one. Having all the paperwork online is another one. Seeing all-civilian staff at the galley, oops I mean DFAC (Dining Facility) is another strange sight to me. Funny, the food hasn't changed much though! Thankfully, a lot is still the same though and feels quite familiar. The black & white regulations and always having a resource to reference for information suits my personality well.

With the mid-term behind us and lots of new knowledge in our brains to turn into practical application, most of us are pretty excited to trade in the classroom environment for the "field" tomorrow. My roommate Alex is packing up her gear in this picture so that we can do the bag-drag tonight. We'll be out at Camp Bullis for the next three weeks learning to shoot, land navigation and other fun stuff. I'm hoping that my map & compass skills have miraculously improved from the miserable attempts of my past!

Although I'm thrilled to finally get to do some of the field stuff that I felt like I missed out on during my previous service stints, I'm a little disappointed that training stops during the weekends! With so many people stressing out about not being able to shower for 5 days (actually only 4 since we can shower before we leave on Monday and when we get back on Friday), I have to wonder if anyone in America actually goes camping anymore. . .

Until next weekend, send me a good sense of direction for those of you who have it and some of your good sense of humor for those of you who don't!!!

OBLC- Week 2

2009-01-18T20:02:00.001-07:00

Week 2 of OBLC wasn't much different from the first, we're still sitting through numerous Power Point presentations and doing administrative things. I find the information interesting though, so the hours of presentations haven't been bad really. I continue to be amused yet taken aback by some of my classmates' lack of punctuality. I'm not sure what they thought the Army would be like, but some of the new officers don't seem to understand that not being in the designated place at the designated time is not an option! So far there hasn't been much consequence for the tardiness, but we'll see what week 3 brings.

In the midst of all these presentations, one of the assignments was for us to present to our classmates and instructors. I haven't always been so comfortable in front of an audience, but I'm thankful for all the experience I gained at the USOC getting up in front of groups of people to present information. It's gotten easier and easier over the years to the point that I actually enjoy presenting now. Of course, it helps to have an audience that wants the information you're putting out!

PT has picked up a little bit, but still manageable. The company was split into ability groups based on 2-mile run times. I'm at the slower end of the range for my ability group, so I'm expecting my run time to get better over the next few weeks!

Every year my birthday falls on a 3-day weekend (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day). While here at OBLC, it's a 4-day weekend!! Unbelievable! I had originally submitted a request to go all the way to Louisiana for the weekend, but after a little more consideration, I decided I had too much reading to do and errands to run to make the 8-hour drive each way. Since it's on the way of my originally planned trip and only 3 hours away, I met my brother Dwayne and his girlfriend Jada in Houston. After hearing about her great beach house in Galveston for the last couple of years, I finally got to see it for myself! It's a great retreat in a city that is making a steady recovery from the devastation of the last Gulf Coast hurricane. We celebrated my birthday at a wonderful seafood restaurant called Willie G's. A Blood Mary cocktail left a bit to be desired, but the mixed grill entree of crab cake, broiled shrimp over a creamy risotto and grilled Mahi Mahi that followed made up for the lackluster predinner drink. We laughed and visited our way through the delicious dinner- a great way to spend my birthday!

Dwayne & Jada took off early this morning for a vacation in Mexico and left me in charge of the beach house! My roommate and I get along great, but at 41 years old and having lived alone for many years, I'm enjoying having a house to myself and a little space. I enjoyed a leisurely run along the beach and the gorgeous sunny day afterwards. I've been able to do a little studying and projects and even fit a nap in this afternoon!

I head back to San Antonio tomorrow morning and prepare for my last week of classroom instruction before our training takes us out to the field. I'm still immensely happy with my decision to return to active duty. Although I'm only taking it a day at a time, I'm finding myself more positive about life in general than I have been in a long time. So far, so good. . .

OBLC- Week 1

2009-01-11T07:18:00.005-07:00

Yes, I'm still alive and made it through week 1!! The phrase to sum up this first week is "death by Power Point"! There are about 160 folks in OBLC Class 902. It's a mixed bag of backgrounds, but most students can be broken into one (or multiple) of a few categories. The first are "direct commissions". These are folks either right out of college or who have been practicing in their professional field for various numbers of years and who have no previous military experience. These folks literally went from a college setting or from going to an office everyday in the civilian world to putting on a uniform with a rank that requires them to be leaders in the U.S. Army. Quite the culture shock to most. Another group is people who are either in the Army Reserves, Army National Guard or who are already on active duty but just didn't have this course yet or were in ROTC in school. These folks are already familiar with Army uniforms, protocols and customs. The last group are prior service. These soldiers were previously enlisted or commissioned officers from any of the Armed Services. Some went straight from being an enlisted soldier to an officer or had left the military for the civilian work force for varying lengths of time. There are several people like me who fall into two categories- prior service and direct commission.

Ages and ranks vary greatly. The rank at which an individual is commissioned into the Army Medical Dept is based upon education, years of experience in their field and specialties. Folks right out of school or without much professional experience are brought in at the rank of 2LT (Second Lieutenant/O-1 grade) or 1LT (First Lieutenant/O-2). Advanced degrees and/or several years experience will earn you CPT bars (Captain/O-3), which is what I was brought in as. Many years experience and specialists in their professions are brought in as MAJ (Major/O-4) or LTC (Lieutenant Colonel/O-5). There's a dentist in our class brought in as a LTC. From what I've heard since getting here, the Medical Dept. is the only section of the Army who will commission civilians straight into higher ranks. Obviously, rank comes with responsibilities as well privileges so there are pitfalls to commissioning a non-militarily experienced individual into a rank that demands advanced management and leadership skills. The fact that the program continues this way and brings into the Army some of the brightest professionals in their fields however, indicate that the acquisition of specialized skills must outweigh the downside of inexperienced military officers.

AMEDD (Army Medical Department) is comprised of 6 different branches. OBLC Class 902 is made up of professionals (now officers) from each of the branches.
1) Medical Corp (Physicians)
2) Dental Corp (Dentists)
3) Veterinary Corp (Veterinarians)
4) Nurse Corp (Nurses)
5) Medical Specialist Corp (Dietitians, Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists & Physician Assistants)
6) Medical Service Corp (Healthcare Administrators, Entomologists, Environmental Scientists, Microbiologists, Biochemists, Social Workers, Clinical & Research Psychologists, Pharmacists, Optometrists, Podiatrists, etc.)

As you can see, we've got quite a mixed-bag of professions covering the full spectrum of medical specialties!

One of the major concerns of the first week are uniforms. We were all sent an email with a list of minimal uniform items with which we were expected to report. Easier said than done! Now, I'm a person with approximately 11 years of experience wearing military uniforms (Navy & Air National Guard). I'm pretty confident looking up uniform regulations and making it happen, but being a direct commission certainly made it hard to comply with requirements. Coming from San Diego where there are a ton of Navy & Marine Corp bases, I was able to find many non-Army specific items, but only with the help of a military ID holder to get me on base (thanks Ed!). Those which I could not find I ordered through civilian retail websites online. Sounds like a good plan, right? It was until one of the most crucial items needed was not in stock and had to be back ordered- BOOTS! At this point you might be thinking to yourself "but Marines wear desert uniforms, why couldn't you just get them at one of the Marine bases in San Diego?" Well, although not obvious to the non-service-specific eye there are subtle differences in uniform items, specifically boots, between each service. All the tan boots that fit my feet in uniform stores throughout bases in San Diego where stamped with the USMC emblem on the side. Not so appropriate for wear in an Army uniform! Luckily, the military clothing store here at Ft Sam Houston was open last Sunday and had boots in my size, so I was able to show up Monday morning in the appropriate uniform. Anyone who has ever worn a new pair of boots can appreciate how suboptimal it is to purchase new boots the day before they are to be worn everyday! A handful of folks were not so lucky though and showed up in various degrees of uniform faux-pas or civilian clothes.

With specialty patches, rank and name tapes all velcroed into the proper positions on the ACUs, my final challenge was the beret. The Navy had gone to berets as I was getting out, so I never had to deal with them. I don't understand the military's desire to put everyone into berets since tradition had dictated that this head gear be reserved for a select group of warriors. Nonetheless, I purchased my perfectly flat, thick felt disc and struggled to make it droop over my right eye and ear like the crusty SGTs I saw around base. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you a whole course could be taught on how to shape a beret! Nothing screams "newbie" more than walking around with a pizza-man-making looking beret. In order to achieve proper fit, you have to shave (yep, with razors) as much of the felt fuzz off as possible, drench it in hot water and wear it on your head multiple times (wet). I repeated this process several times during the week but still could not achieve the proper fit and appearance. Finally, I was informed of a place off base that sold them already shaved and shaped and succumbed to this shortcut in order to get squared-away!

Our week of paperwork, classroom instruction and uniform experiences ended with an APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test) early Friday morning. The tests of push-ups, sit-ups and 2-mile run are scored and recorded in your service record. Successful completion of OBLC is contingent upon passing height-weight/body fat standards and scoring a minimum score on the APFT. Click her e to see the standards. A maximum score is 300 with a possible 100 points in each event (push-ups, sit-ups, 2 mile-run) and are age & gender specific. A score of 60 in each event is considered minimal scores required to pass. As you can imagine with a group of people coming right out of the civilian world, there were quite a few new officers who did not meet the minimum standard and will be participating in "special populations" physical training 5 days per week at 5:30 am. Although I didn't achieve the 300 I was shooting for, I was pleased with my score for the most part and will try to improve it on the exit APFT in Feb.

Words of wisdom for future OBLC participants:

push your recruiter to sponsor you for an AKO account BEFORE you get here
have name tapes made BEFORE you get here. You can obtain most uniform items once you get here, but name tapes must be custom made and take time (order online).
have a full PT uniform BEFORE you get here. The military clothing store here on base was out of most sizes and many folks had to PT in random civilian workout attire (a definite no-go)
have every piece (and MULTIPLE COPIES of) ALL the paperwork you were told to bring (orders, oath of office, birth certificates, marriage licenses, adoption papers, DD-214 discharge papers, direct deposit authorization, etc.) Did I mention to have MULTIPLE COPIES???!!!! Do not show up to any session with only one copy (especially not just the original).
if you are fortunate enough to live near an Army base or university with an ROTC program, get someone to help you put an ACU uniform together and show you how to wear it. There's something to be said for putting on the uniform and being looked over by an experienced eye in order to get familiar with proper wear and feel comfortable in it. You should look proud to be wearing it, not intimidated or unsure.
show up in shape! The instructors can appreciate the fact that you are coming straight from civilianhood, but you WILL NOT pass OBLC and move on to your first duty station until you are able to meet minimum body fat and physical fitness standards. Don't just assume you can meet the standards. Many people were caught off guard because their home bathroom scale told them they were a certain bodyfat or because they could do so many push-ups or sit-ups the "normal way". There is a specific way the push-ups and sit-ups must be performed or else they do not count so look up the proper procedures on the internet and make sure you can do them (e.g. fingers interlocked behind head and all the way up in 2 minutes for sit ups, NO "girl" push-ups on knees, elbows much break horizontal plane in 2 minutes, the run was on a 1/2 mile track and not a 1/4 mile track, etc.)
bring a positive attitude! The military will not do things the way you might have done them in the civilian world. There's a lot of "hurry up and wait" that will happen. Get used to it, this will continue throughout your military career. Complaining doesn't help anyone and only spreads negativity. Remember that you VOLUNTEERED to come here for whatever reason, so stay positive and don't become the cancer of bad attitude in the group. Sage advice my dad gave me before I left for Navy boot camp 20 years ago still applies- the military has been doing this for a couple of hundred years before you got here, so don't automatically assume you could do it all better!

That's all I have for now. I'm laying low for my day off (can you believe there's a day off in any military "basic" training?!!!) and catching up on things that fell by the wayside during my relocation and job transition. As hectic & chaotic as this whole process has been, I know I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing with my life. As I was making my way to formation one morning this week, I was overcome with an absolute sense of joy and the thought that I was exactly where I wanted to be at that moment- in a uniform and preparing to make a contribution to something so much bigger than myself. HOOAH!

OBLC

2009-01-06T19:26:00.005-07:00

I don't really have time for a full-blown post, but to appease everyone's requests to see me in ACUs (Army Combat Uniform) I'm posting the only pic so far! My room mate Alex took this pic of me at the end of Day 1. And yes, I chopped my hair back down to the way I wore it in the days of when I had to accommodate flight-line cranials and flight helmets!

The first couple of days have pretty much been paperwork, orientation and a little drill & ceremony (formations & marching). We got tested for height & weight standards this morning and will take the APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test) on Friday morning.

I'll keep ya'll in suspense a little until I'm able to post more this weekend. Have a great week as my blood takes on a green tint (don't worry Navy buddies, I'll always be blue at heart!)!!!

20 years and 20 pounds later!

2009-01-03T20:22:00.005-07:00

Sorry that I don't have any pics yet, but just wanted to let everyone know that I made it to San Antonio and am checked in for OBLC. That's "Officer Basic Leadership Course" for the non-Army types! I say that tongue in cheek because all the Army's acronyms are completely different from the Navy's, so I'm pretty illiterate when it comes to this new language myself! But pay attention, because I'll explain an acronym once and then you'll be on your own for future posts!!!

I arrived and checked into the base and was assigned a room. Here's the first difference between enlisted basic training (AKA boot camp) and officer training: I have only 1 roommate in a small suite with a kitchenette and it's own bathroom! Compared to the 74 women in bunk beds in one large room and another large room with a bunch of shower heads sticking out of the wall, this is a massive improvement! I couldn't help but marvel at the strange twists and turns in my life as I realized that this year marks the 20th anniversary of me going into Navy boot camp in Orlando, Florida (Company K131, 1989)! It was so long ago that the base hasn't existed in over a decade and that all my shipmates are now retired or retiring! It's also worth noting that on August 21, 1989 when I arrived for boot camp, I weighed about 120 pounds (versus 142 today), smoked like a dragon (1 pack of Winston or Marlboro reds per day) and drank & cursed like a sailor even before I was one!!! I don't think any of my family or friends thought that I'd actually make it through training back then.

Fast forward to today, I meet my new roommate at check-in and we help each other with the bag-drag up to our room. She's a freshly graduated nurse, early 20s and is super-excited about being here. Although she is much more responsible and level-headed than I was when I joined the military, she still reminds me a lot of myself- somewhat spontaneous, adventurous and has a positive, can-do outlook. We seem to be a good match so far; we'll see how long she can put up with being roommates with a relatively old lady though!

That's it for tonight. Training doesn't start until Monday, so I probably won't have much to post about until later in the week, but stay tuned. . .

Transitions

2009-01-01T09:49:00.006-07:00

A lot has happened since I've gotten back to California from Christmas vacation! I landed in San Diego, rented a car, rushed to my apartment to get my bike to the Harley shop before they closed, then spent the rest of the night preparing my personal property for the movers. The movers showed up on time and packed out my stuff but were "unaware" that I had a bike that needed to be shipped. After some negotiating, the movers followed me to the Harley shop where they had prepared my bike for shipping. I just didn't have enough time or the facilities to prep the bike myself. Me and some of the mechanics stood out in the parking lot in shocked amusement as we watched the movers try to figure out how to get my bike into the truck and strapped down. As attached as I am to my bike, I finally had to remind myself that it's just an object that can be replaced and let them do with it what they will. I'm anxious to see what condition it shows up in North Carolina in. Even with the help of the guys at the Harley shop, the whole operation was dishearteningly incompetent.

With all my stuff en route and the apartment turned over, I once again showed up on Whit & Kathie's doorstep homeless! You know you have good friends when they allow you to show up twice in the same year needing room & board!! Their twins (Naomi & Cal) are still in NICU and their progress has been an emotional roller coaster ride for these first-time parents. I've done my best to be a help and not a burden during this time of crisis for them and can only hope that I'm pulling it off to some small degree. Me doing the grocery shopping and cooking dinner last night helped to score a few good-house-guest points!

The process of going into the Army has been an extremely frustrating one. I resigned from my job, shipped my household goods and booked a plane ticket to get me to training that starts on Monday without officially being in the Army. As of yesterday, I still had not raised my right hand or signed one single piece of paper stating that I was in the Army. Finally, yesterday Whit was able to commission me at a recruiter's office here in San Diego so I now have a piece of paper saying that I am in the Army. Another testament to the bonds of friendship- Whit & Kathie did my commissioning while their son Cal was having brain surgery (notice the hospital bracelets on Whit's wrist). I didn't want them to leave the hospital to do it and had the recruiter lined up to do it instead, but they insisted that they needed the distraction to keep their mind off the surgery. I'm continually amazed at how well they are handling having two babies in NICU.

Our New Year's Eve was spent here at Whit & Kathie's house with a home cooked meal and a nice bottle of wine. We kicked off the New Year with visiting Naomi at the hospital this morning and running errands for the rest of the day. I hope everyone has a Happy New Year and that you set goals for the New Years that are achievable and have a positive impact on the rest of your life. After all, today is the first day of the rest of your life so make it count!!!

Enjoying vacation

2008-12-28T08:56:00.009-07:00

I can't believe how quickly my vacation is passing! It seems like we just got finished opening gifts and it's already time for me to start packing for the return to San Diego. I can't really complain though, the weather has been amazing (70s and 80s!), lots of time with my family, and of course a lot of good eatin!

I enjoyed playing with Julia and Gavin's presents as much as they did! Julia got a trampoline for Christmas which we of course had to promptly break in. As you all know, I have no coordination whatsoever so I mainly just tried to get as much air as I could. Julia however, could do 3 back flippies in a row!

Gavin got a larger 4-wheeler to replace the one he has outgrown. His feet are still a little small to be able to shift properly, but he had no problems handling his new ATV through the overgrown fields near their house. I had a hard time keeping up on Julia's smaller four-wheeler as I trailed behind him through the fields. Hmm, maybe it wasn't meant for a full-grown adult?!

Friday I drove out to Mobile, AL to visit with Dave while they were in port. He's working offshore for the holidays, but they pulled in to Mobile for a few days. It was a quick visit, but it was nice to have dinner and catch up a bit. Our lives are all so busy we have to fit in little visits whenever we can.

I'm writing this post this morning with a fuzzy head and just slightly off kilter. After having a great time with Nicole & Tim while they were in San Diego for a conference a few months ago, we decided to replicate the shenanigans here in Louisiana while I was in town. It just so happens that they have a limo at their disposal, so the two of them picked up Monica & I and we all headed north to New Orleans for the evening.

We started off with dinner at Drago's Seafood Restaurant (the charbroiled oysters are AMAZING), then cruised over to one of the casinos to dance the night away to the sounds of a Houma band. I thoroughly enjoyed cutting up with my sister and friends; I don't think the laughter stopped all night!

Today's my last day on the bayou, I fly back to San Diego in the morning. I'm trying to remain relaxed for this last little bit of vacation since life will be a whirlwind once I'm back on the west coast. Over the next 5 days, I have to pack out my house, ship my motorcycle :-( , finish up projects at work and move out of my office, get commissioned and get to San Antonio for training. So if you don't hear from me for a little while, know that I'm getting it done!

Stay tuned, the next great adventure is just beginning. . .

A family of foodies

2008-12-24T11:04:00.007-07:00

What can we say. . . we're Cajun! And Cajuns live to eat! It makes my heart take flight to see the next generation picking up traditional cooking. I'm especially pleased to see my two nephews learning to fend for themselves in the kitchen. The men in our families down here on the bayou can hold their own when it comes to cooking, but it's usually in the seafood and wild game departments. My Papa Babin made a mean turtle sauce piquante (pronounced PEE-con) and my Pyran Wayne ("Pyran" is Cajun for "Godfather") can cook up deer so tender it would make a vegetarian think twice about their choice!

So when my nephew Philip announced he was making crab cakes for the whole family for dinner, we were happy to be his dining guinea pigs! The basis of his concoction was from a recipe that won a contest a few years ago and was printed in the local newspaper. From the basic recipe, he modified and tweaked it until it had his own signature on it. The end product was so tasty that he's pretty much deemed the official crab cake maker of the family from here on out! I saved a left over one and scrambled it into some eggs for an awesome breakfast the next morning!

Staying on the food theme, my dad and I picked up a sack of raw oysters from the local oyster fisherman in town. My mom committed a cardinal sin of buying some already shucked at the grocery store to make the oyster dressing at Thanksgiving. The general consensus was that they were so washed down there was no taste left. So to avoid a similar disaster at Christmas, we got some fresh from Louisiana waters still in the shell.

It's only later in life that I've acquired a taste for these mollusks raw. I've always enjoyed them fried on a po-boy sandwich or in traditional dirty rice, but somewhere in my twenties I started to appreciate the intensely salty flavor and uniquely fleshy texture. As with most things that Cajuns eat, I often look at it and wonder who gazed upon this mucus-like blob in a relatively ugly shell and deduced that it might make a good meal! Thank goodness for that first intrepid soul!

This last picture is of a beautiful sight. . . what I opened my eyes to after a leisurely nap on the swing in my parents' yard!!! Although it turned cold for a couple of days, we are now back in the upper 70s with a lush humidity level in the 60s. Once again, I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt for the day.

This is pretty much a synopsis of my time back at home so far. I've gone back to the gym with my mom and sister and went to my nephew Philip's basketball game last night. I'm really enjoying being part of their everyday lives, even if it's just for a little while.

Whit & Kathie's family

2008-12-21T14:48:00.004-07:00

OK, I'm going to stream line this call tree for a bit! Everyone contacts me for updates on Caldwell (AKA Cal) and Naomi ever since they were born prematurely on Dec 8, so I decided to do a post with pics of them! This picture of Cal was taken shortly after the twins were born at his birth weight of 1 pound 15 ounces. Look closely and you'll see Whit's wedding band as a bracelet around his wrist. He's had a rough go of it since birth, but Kathie confirmed on the phone today that he's making progress and seems to be a little fighter.

Kathie is holding Naomi in this picture wrapped in the blanket Suzanne hand knitted for them! Naomi has been making great progress since being born at 3 pounds 9 ounces. She's apparently developing quite a personality which sounds like it's bordering on rebellious! I think me and this girl are going to get along great!!!

Back here in Louisiana, the weather has turned chilly and it actually feels cold enough for Christmas (relative to south Louisiana anyway!). I love being back home around the holidays and am enjoying a slower pace for a little while. I'm looking forward to my niece and nephews being around the house for Christmas!

After passing through Atlanta. . .

2008-12-18T20:12:00.009-07:00

After an early start to my Wednesday, my day was quite productive. Major progress in apartment and office packing, phone calls and informing utilities of my upcoming move culminated into settling myself into the flight from Los Angeles to New Orleans with continued productivity on my laptop. Amazing that a 3.5 hour flight would deposit me in south Louisiana and in a car to my parents' house for a late night supper of my mom's cooking! Nice thought, but not so fast!

After circling over New Orleans airport waiting for the dense fog to break long enough for us to land, fuel quantity finally dictated that we divert to the nearest open, unfoggy airport. . . Atlanta, GA! So, at 3:30 am, I found myself in a cab with a lost driver looking for the hotel United Airlines had given me a voucher to for the "night". With 2 hours of sleep under my belt for close to 36 hours, I made it to my parents' house yesterday around noon! Amazingly unphased by the extended journey home, I arrived happy and less stressed than I have been in a long time.

It felt so good to sleep in til 8:30 am today!!! I wanted to get a workout in this morning so my mom suggested I go to the gym with her for her "Silver Sneakers" exercise class. Sure, I was in the mode of organized exercise classes, so why not?! It sounds so innocent and easy doesn't it. . . Silver Sneakers? Yep, it's an exercise class for senior citizens, but after an hour with my mom and a bunch of spry coeds, I had actually worked up a sweat! I have to admit, I couldn't help but smile with good humor as I got my heart rate up with a group of AARP members to the sounds of Neil Diamond and Elvis!!! FUN! After the class was over, I finished off my workout with running a few miles on the treadmill.

Today was a beautiful day that flirted with temperatures between 78-82 degrees! I was in shorts all day!! My dad returned from the camp on Grand Isle with a few dozen crabs that he boiled up for us to eat. Man were they good!!! I realize that I post similar pictures to these every time I come home, but I just can't get enough of boiled seafood!!! For those of you who aren't lovers of these tasty little crustaceans, this close-up picture of the meat in a blue-crab claw will probably gross you out. But for the rest of us initiated boiled seafood addicts, this is tasty treasure from the bayous!!!

Hope everyone is getting to their holiday destinations in spite of the weather and that you end up with folks you really want to spend the season with. I'm looking forward to some down time with my family, and of course lots of great eating and conversation!

Keeping fit

2008-12-16T21:50:00.005-07:00

In the never-ending quest to broaden my horizons, I decided to shake up my workouts a bit and go to an organized class. Now, I'm not one for organized fitness classes but after hearing that the clientele that I will be working with in my new career field were really into a program called Crossfit, I figured I'd better check it out.

I had a very enlightened professor in my undergraduate nutrition program named Dr. O'Neil. One of the classes I took with her was a seminar on fad diets. The first week of class, she had us each pull a slip of paper out of a bowl. Each slip of paper contained the title of one of the various popular diet books out at the time. For the remainder of the semester, we had to read the book, pull up any research sited by the authors and check out the validity of any claims made by the book. The clincher was that for one week, we had to actually do the diet. At the end of the semester, we each had to present on our diet book, pros and cons and what it was like to try to follow it. You want to know what your clients/patients are experiencing? Walk in their shoes for a while. Very enlightening! Through this experience, I learned that there are very few absolute truths in this world, especially when it comes to diet and exercise. There are some pretty solidly validated theories out there, many of which are the foundations of evidence-based nutrition and exercise. But there are also lots of shades of gray that merge with what works for each individual; something those of us working in these fields must constantly be aware of.

And so it was with this background that I showed up to my first class of a Crossfit boot camp program. Having been through boot camp once for real, I usually shun any fitness class with "boot camp" in the title, but there are a lot of basic moves and principles to learn with this particular fitness program. I figured this was the easiest way to get an introduction. So for four weeks in November-December, I attended classes 3 nights a week taught by JP at Crossfit San Diego.

This is not an infomerical for the program, so if you want to learn more about it, you can click on the link above. I'm posting this really just to make a point that sometimes it's a good thing to break out of our own "truths" and see what else is out there. Do I agree with every tenant of the program? Not really. Do I agree with all the principles of the nutrition program. No, I don't. But did I learn a few things and have fun for the four weeks I went there? Yep! Did I meet some fun & interesting folks while enjoying some challenging workouts outside my normal realm? Yeah, I sure did!

The reason I'm posting this tonight is because I had one last workout session with JP and Lauren earlier this evening. I've had a sinus infection and haven't been able to workout much for over a week now, so the session tonight was just what I needed to jump back into it. JP worked us pretty hard during the boot camp classes, but also did a great job of emphasizing proper form and keeping us motivated. Thanks to JP for shaking up my routine a bit and giving me a few more tools to add to my professional and personal tool boxes! And thanks to Lauren for keeping the class (and especially me) motivated! In the pic are the members of the boot camp class- Adam, Van, Lauren, Nicole, Maggie & baby Kelsey and me.

I fly out tomorrow for two weeks back home in Louisiana. So much packing left to do, but I'm really looking forward to this last break before I leave for training. Stay tuned, I'm sure I'll have lots of food reports coming up!

Colorado Springs USOC good-byes

2008-12-12T14:47:00.014-07:00

If you every need an ego boost and want to hear good things said about you, just announce that you're leaving!!! As word of my impending departure from the USOC spreads, I have been humbled by the number of emails and phone calls I've received telling me how much I will be missed! Of course the ones who are happy to see you go don't usually email or call, but the sheer number of positive ones I've received gives me hope that I've made more friends than enemies and done more good than harm during my time here!!!

I'm often credited with developing the nutrition program at the USOC. As with any broad-reaching endeavor however, it can hardly be attributed to just one person. I may have initiated the program, but the two Dietitians posing with me in the first pic deserve as much credit as I do. Susie and Adam, along with Terri and Lance have been instrumental in growing the program and ensuring that it's roots were planted firmly enough to weather the current turn-over of personnel. Although Susie & Adam are the only two RDs left, I'm confident that with Terri's continued influence on the program, performance-based nutrition at the USOC with flourish.

After a full day of meetings, Performance Services headed downtown for our annual Christmas party. Kicking off the celebration was the newest naturalized citizen of the U.S. in Performance Services, Susie. In a thickly accented and Aussie-slang-laden speech, Susie lamented my departure but wished me success in my new career. I was presented a US Olympic flag signed by all my coworkers and toasted on to my next adventure. The conversation was lively during the dinner which was quickly followed by the White Elephant exchange. The gift choosing, stealing and bartering was so much fun we often laughed too hard to form complete sentences!

From the Christmas Party, a few of us headed south to the Golden Bee at the Broadmoor to meet up with Lance and Paul (in the pic with me and my yard of beer!). This pub was assembled in the 1960s next to the Broodmoor hotel using panels and fixtures shipped over from a 19th century English pub. I don't know where the name Golden Bee came from, but the waitresses throw embroidered bee patches that stick to you!

Another fun feature of the pub is the ragtime piano player. It reminded me a lot of the dueling piano bar at Pat O'Brien's in New Orleans. The enthusiastic piano player will crank out whatever song you want to sing along to; everything from Margarittaville to New York, New York which Zach and Steve happen to be dancing to in this pic! We sang, laughed, relived Olympic experiences, drank and ate oysters on the half shell as the night slipped by.

Even though the meetings continued for the rest of the week, I headed back to San Diego yesterday to continue wrapping things up here. Before leaving for the airport, the T&T team had a final lunch together with me off complex. As I turned to walk away from my team for the last 2 years, April commented "and then there were four." With the departure of Vinny and myself, the T&T team is down to just Peter, John, April & Zach (in the pic on the Olympic pathway).

I'm typing this post from my apt. on Coronado awaiting my doctor's appt. I started to catch a cold or something prior to leaving for the Springs and all the festivities pushed me over the edge. With so much to get done before I go home for the holidays, I need to be 100% as I wrap up my life in California. Wish me luck that I shake this thing quick and am productive for the rest of the weekend! Hmm, probably could've done without the yards of beer. . .

Quick update from Colorado

2008-12-10T04:56:00.006-07:00

After a snow-delayed late night landing in Colorado Springs on Monday, my week has been pretty hectic. I'm here for meetings at the USOC; lots of paperwork to be done, projects to be handed over and people to meet with.

After an absolutely depressing visit to my house here in the Springs, David & Suzanne took me to Mirch Masala for some of my favorite Indian food!!! I won't go into details about my house but suffice it to say that I am extremely disappointed at the former tenants' lack of respect for other people's property and the seeming inability of my property manager to do anything about it. The world would be so much better off if people would just do the right thing. On a happier note, we had a wonderful dinner and really enjoyed catching up. These little snippets of time with Suzanne & David make my trips back to the Springs so much more enjoyable!

As I was flying out of San Diego, Whit & Kathie became parents! The monitoring that Kathie was undergoing revealed that an early delivery would be best for the babies, so at 8:00 pm Monday night Caldwell (spelling?) and Naomi entered this world at 1 lb 15 oz and 3 lb 9 oz respectively. Yes, they are tiny but doing fine. I spoke with Kathie on the phone last night and she sounded great! She didn't know how long she and the babies would be in the hospital, but that all was well. Their long-awaited parenthood journey has begun. . .

I'm here until tomorrow afternoon for more meetings then I head back to the San Diego. So much to get done both professionally and personally before I embark on my next adventure!

Joining the Army!

2008-12-06T20:06:00.004-07:00

Now that work & family know my career plans, I can share them here on my blog. After 5 years with the USOC, I have decided to move on to the next adventure. Ten years after being discharged from active duty in the U.S. Navy, I have the opportunity to put my nutrition skills to use for active duty Soldiers. In a couple of weeks, I will be commissioned as a Captain in the U.S. Army and will start Officer Basic Leadership training in San Antonio, TX on January 4. As our troops are enduring long tours in arduous conditions, I feel an obligation to do my part to make sure that they are provided with every possible edge for optimal performance. Though a small contribution, I feel that what I've learned in the athletic arena can be of great use to our men and women in uniform. I didn't make this decision lightly; I've mulled this choice over quite a bit for the last couple of years and feel very comfortable that this is the right move for me at this point in my life. Obviously, the opinions of my family & friends weigh heavily in my decision process, so it was an easy choice once I realized EVERYONE supported this career move.

For those of you who know me well, it's no secret that I've missed my military days. Not just "missed" in a nostalgic kind of way, but more of a feeling that I wasn't quite done yet. I attempted to go back into the Navy as an Aerospace Physiologist after finishing my advanced degrees, but I was promptly informed that at the age of 35, I was too old for the program. Unenthused by the thought of working strictly as an RD in a hospital, I didn't think there were any other options for me until I met Ann, an Army COL at a nutrition conference a couple of years ago. It was then that I realized that my expertise could be put to use while wearing a uniform.

And so, at the ripe old age of 40, I knew it was now or never to confront the lingering feeling that my time serving in the military was unfinished business. One of my only fears in life is to get into my 80s and look back and regret that I didn't do something; that I didn't take advantage of an opportunity that presented itself. Granted, some of the things I've done I certainly have no desire to ever do again, but I am the person I am right now because I had those experiences. I can only hope that I will be happy with the person I become after this new experience!

Long story short (kind of), forgive me for lapses in correspondances as I scramble to fulfill commitments and tie up loose ends at work, pack up my life here in San Diego and get this body ready for military physical fitness standards! Good thing standards are age and gender adjusted! Stay tuned, I'm sure there are some great stories coming up. . .

Snackage & Nappage!

2008-11-30T20:24:00.010-07:00

I'm a Dietitian. That's a fancy word for a Nutritionist with a college degree and credentials! I state this fact only to illustrate how strong traditions are. You see this picture of my nephew Philip's girlfriend Jessica plopping chocolate icing on a piece of cake? Well, she's following the lead of this Dietitian!

My family loves to joke that if I ever get too full of myself, they'll invite the athletes I counsel to Louisiana to see the "other" side of their Nutritionist! I was raised on southern fried and gravies. My grandma cooked with lard and I've blown out pig intestines with a straw to make sausage. It's where I came from. But after 5 years of higher learning and another 5 years in the performance nutrition field, I'm constantly at odds with my upbringing. Both of my grandmothers lived well into their 80s and had diets that I would advise clients/athletes against. It's only fair to say, however, that they both did physical labor their whole lives which played a huge part in counteracting those diets! Nevertheless, most of my Cajun comfort foods are at odds with the way I eat outside of Louisiana.

Pretty much everyone in my family is a chocoholic. I'm not sure exactly when it started, but my nephews and I used to sneak buckets of chocolate icing from my mom's pantry for a snack! As time went on and my parents let the grandkids get away with all kinds of things their own children were never allowed to do, my mom started buying an extra tub of icing to leave next to the cakes she made so that extra could be added. There's only one rule. . . no double dipping! As you can imagine, this prompts us all to seek out the largest serving spoon that is able to fit into the tub of icing for the coveted first-and-only dip into the tub! It gets more and more ridiculous every year!!

The blog title today is compliments of my niece Julia. The couple of days after Thanksgiving was rainy, so we spent a lot of time inside snacking and taking naps! I'd be big as a house if I did this everyday, but for 2 or 3 days at home for the holidays, it sure is fun! My sister thought that this picture of Julia and I in the recliner was the perfect illustration of two generations of "Deg Legs"!

Our family would never be described as boring. I'm always amused to see how new guests respond to all our rough-housing and bantering. My maternal grandparents were the epitome of jokesters. They set a tradition of cutting-up that endures within our family to this day. Teasing, story-telling and physical antics were, and still are in the repertoire of prompting laughter. This pic of my brother with his son and step-son rough-housing and tickling confirms our belief that a family that plays together stays together!

Another form of great family-bonding is games. If the weather's nice, that means horseshoes, volleyball or football (or shooting guns in the pasture). If it's night or we're confined to the indoors due to inclement weather like we were this holiday, that means board games. With such a wide age range, games like Pictionary or Cranium are perfect for our gang. For the last several years, a highly competitive game of Pictionary between the boys and girls has ruled supreme! Much to the dismay of the males in our family, the girls have once again outwitted (or out-drawn) the guys. Not to be deterred by years of losing, the boys have demanded a rematch over Christmas vacation!

Although this post may seem quite mundane and low-keyed compared to previous posts from far-away lands, this is the stuff I love! It's such a cliche', but there really is no place like home. After a canceled flight from LAX to San Diego and an enjoyable couple of hours hanging out with a WWII vet full of great stories at the airport while waiting stand-by, I'm back on Coronado preparing for the work week ahead. Stay tuned for some new twists in the road. . .

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T17:48:00.007-07:00

Another Thanksgiving come and gone! I ushered in the day by landing in New Orleans just around midnight. My mom has been cooking up a storm for days, so I went to bed with smells of the feast to come. After a cup of coffee and a quick run, I was surrounded by family and food for the rest of the day!

As you can see in this picture, the "kids" are all getting big. I have 3 nephews and a niece ranging in ages from 20 to 5 years old. In the dark and white striped shirt on the left of the photo is Andy who is 20 and somewhere around 6 feet tall and the tall lanky guy on the right is his brother Philip who is 16 and about to 6'3". I'm not sure how tall Julia is (at the end of the table) at 10 years old, but she definitely has the family trademark long lean legs. Although I've taken to pronouncing my last name as "day-gull" over the years for ease of understanding, here in Louisiana it's pronounced "deg". Folks always comment when they see an offspring of the Daigle clan that it's obvious that the kid belongs to our family because they have "deg legs"!!!

And it takes a lot of food to feed this tall family! Although I had moved up to the adult table at some point in my life (probably back when I was married), it's been quite some time now that I've been assigned back to the kids' table. From the smiles on our faces, you can see that I don't mind one bit sitting at the kids' table with Julia! Our family is filled with story-tellers and jokesters, so meals are always a lively event. I don't know if it's the jovial energy expended while dining that makes us all so tired or the overindulgence prompted by the day, but we always end up reclining in some capacity shortly thereafter! Usually everyone is sprawled across sofas and on the floor in the living room, but the weather was so beautiful today (mid-70s!) that we moved the rest-fest under the carport to enjoy the breeze and visit.

It seemed like we were just finished digesting when it was time to move on to the next house on the itinerary for Thanksgiving supper. After more visiting and eating at Dean's house with his family, we're back at my parents' house and hanging out for the evening. What a great, leisurely day filled with love & laughter!

I hope that everyone's day was as peaceful and filled with family as mine was and that it's not hard to think of things for which to be thankful. My brother returns tomorrow from Texas with the rest of his family so I'm sure I'll have more to post about over the next few days before I return to the West Coast on Sunday.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

A non-traditional baby shower

2008-11-23T18:35:00.009-07:00

I sincerely believe that people come in and out of our lives for a reason. With some, it's a short-term reason and are only meant to fill a specific need for a specific time. Impactful, but not meant to last. With others, the reason is long-term and you watch each other mature and grow and fulfill needs as they present themselves. Those life-long friendships come with responsibility. So you can imagine that after witnessing Whit & Kathie's emotional roller-coaster attempts to start a family over all these years that the future Aunt Karen knew she had to throw a baby shower. Thank goodness that Kathie & Whit also have other girlfriends in the area to join forces with this non-domestic oriented friend to successfully pull off a shower!

At first I cringed. . . the thought of an afternoon of pastel colors, cutesy baby-themed stuff, cool-aid punch, cheesy games and the mother-to-be sitting in a sheet covered chair opening gifts one by one to "ohs" and "ahs" over baby diapers was more than I could bear. Then in dawned on me; Kathie isn't that kind of girl either! A quick consultation with her and the other three women throwing the shower confirmed that we wouldn't be throwing a typical baby shower!

The first pic of the funny napkins (click on the pic for the full size version) pretty much sets the stage for the party! We held a coed, adult-beverage shindig in a park by their house. There were kids too so we had bubbles and juice boxes for them, but the grown-ups in attendance loved the catered Mexican food, margaritas & sangria! It was very informal with folks from different areas of Whit & Kathie's lives all mingling together.

We never got a solid count, but there must've been about 30 adults and a half dozen kids at one point. The day started out a bit overcast and chilly, but the sky cleared and the sun shone through. It seemed as though everyone had a good time and were thrilled that Whit & Kathie's family will be doubled in size in only a matter of weeks. This last pic is of the three of us who threw the party with Whit & Kathie (Shannon, Kathie, Whit, me and Karen). Laura also helped with shower preparations but was in Rhode Island and couldn't attend.

With the nursery ready and gifts being put away, there's nothing for them to do but wait patiently for their long-awaited babies to arrive! Positive, healthy baby thoughts sent their way would be greatly appreciated!!

It's a great day to be alive!

2008-11-15T20:07:00.008-07:00

There's a great country song by Travis Tritt with the same title as my post today. The reason I mention it is because I was humming it all day today while riding! There's one line that goes "I might take my old Harley for a three day cruise" that I was absolutely feeling today. Like a cowboy (or cowgirl) I could've rode off into the sunset on my Harley and been perfectly content!

My friend Dave works with me at the OTC and rides a sport bike. I usually get to work first and pick a spot and leave room for him to park in with me when he gets to work a little later in the day. It's a seemingly insignificant courtesy, but for bikers it's a huge camaraderie thing!

We've been working together and talking bikes for a year now but have never been able to ride together due to our conflicting schedules. His wife had other plans for the day, so we took advantage of a little down time and took to two wheels.

We took a route that I've ridden many times before with Whit, Bridie and Fred- Hwy 94 along the U.S/Mexico border to S1 that straddles Borrego Desert National Park and Cleveland National Forest. I started the day in a long sleeve fleece shirt as we rode the twisty desert Hwy 94 to Campo. At the foot Mt. Leguna, we stopped and I put on my jacket and gloves.

As we ascended in altitude to 6000 ft, the temp dropped but our speed certainly did not! As you can see from this picture of the stock pipe I removed from my bike after the ride today in order to put my after-market Rush pipes back on, I was leaning pretty heavily into the turns! I let Dave take the lead knowing that he was much more maneuverable in the turns on his Honda sport bike than I would be on my Sporty. Without a single car ahead of us, we pressed our handlebars into every turn of the twisty mountain road like it was made to be leaned into by riders on two wheels. I can't even describe the euphoria we felt as we pulled over half way into the 25 mile mountain road to high five and gloat over our good fortune of perfect weather, minimal traffic and great roads! Due to my incompetence of the day and forgetting my purse at the diner in Julian, we road the S1 mountain road three times today! The motorcycle Gods were smiling down on us!

I've had a lot on my mind lately and have felt weighted down by the responsibilities of a working grown-up, but today reminded me that the raw sensory experiences that comprise everyday are the things that make my spirit light. Today was a great day to be alive!

Happy Veterans Day

2008-11-10T12:51:00.006-07:00

OK, so Veterans Day isn't officially until tomorrow, but I have today off from work so I'm celebrating the holiday today! I love the symbology of the date (eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month) that marks the armistice (temporary cessation of hostilities) between the Allied Nations and Germany of World War I. Although the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 marked the official end to "The Great War" Armistice Day on November 11, 1918 is generally considered the end of the "war to end all wars." Over the years, what was once known as Armistice Day is now known as Veterans Day here in the U.S. I also really like this holiday because it's one day apart from my dad's birthday who also happens to be a veteran! For some great old pics of my dad & I and a few of the USS Midway, check out my previous Veterans Days posts from 2006 and 2007.

The 3-day weekend started off with some bayou entertainment in downtown San Diego. For the third year in a row, I saw Tab Benoit perform out West! If you're not familiar with his music, click on these links for a little taste of Cajun Blues. The fun, rhythmic guitar on Night Train and up-beat tune of Fever for the Bayou makes my body move no matter what mood I'm in while When a Cajun Man Gets the Blues tugs at my soul when I'm aching for the bayou. Not only has this Houma native been nominated for a Grammy, he's also president of Voice of the Wetlands, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about the coastal erosion problem in south Louisiana. Go to the website and learn that the flooding isn't just the wrath of Mother Nature directed at the residents of the Louisiana Gulf Coast, it's a predominately man-made problem that will affect the whole country if allowed to continue. The unique hospitality, culture, customs, language, food and music of Cajun country are in real danger of extinction so please take a moment to learn how the loss of this land impacts the rest of the nation.

The rest of the weekend has involved visiting the beach, riding my Harley around and hanging out with Whit & Kathie. With only weeks left to go before the twins arrive, our days of hanging out on the sofa eating, drinking and watching movies are numbered! Looking forward to the arrival of Cal (Caldwell) and Naomi!!

To all my active duty and veteran friends. . . Happy Veterans Day!

Go out and VOTE!!!!

2008-11-04T09:21:00.003-07:00

I'll start off this post with saying that I'm not a huge fan of politics. Politics involves playing games, and anyone who has seen me trying to play a ball sport or attempting to be PC knows that I'm good at neither kind of game!!! Upon reading this joke email in my inbox this morning though, I just had to post it. It's nonpartisan and for the most part politically correct and oh so timely for today. . . enjoy!

While walking down the street one day a US senator is tragically hit by a truck and dies. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

"Welcome to heaven" says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts so we're not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in" says the senator.

"Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where you want to spend eternity."

"Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven" says the senator.

"I'm sorry, but we have our rules."

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down. . .to hell

The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.

Everyone is happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.

They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne. Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator goes up, up up . . . to heaven.

The door reopens on heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him.

"Now it's time to visit heaven"

So, 24 hours pass with the senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

"Well then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity."

The senator reflects for a minute, then answers, "Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell."

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down. . . to hell.

Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder.

"I don't understand" stammers the senator. "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?"

"Yesterday we were campaigning. Today you voted!"

Now get out there and vote!!!

You never know who you're gonna meet...

2008-11-01T13:24:00.010-06:00

Two years ago, I made a trip to Hawaii with my sister for a vacation/professional conference. I'm always amused with the civilian perspective of the military community. Upon hearing that I had spent some time in the Navy, a nutrition colleague at the conference stated "Oh, you must know Ann then. She's in the Army too." In the non-military affiliated mind, all branch's of the military (Army, Navy, Air Force, etc) as well as all divisions (aviation, infantry, medical, etc) are all the same and everyone must know everyone! It was no use trying to explain that I probably didn't know her since I was Navy, enlisted and aviation while Ann was Army, officer and medical! Later during the day, the same colleague introduced us and Ann & I ended up hitting it off instantly. Our paths have continually crossed as colleagues and good friends in the two years since.

A few months ago when Ann invited me to her retirement down in San Antonio, I instantly said "yes" and booked a ticket. If her friends and family were anywhere near as full of life and had as much as a flare for finding adventure as Ann, I knew this was going to be a great celebration! I was certainly not disappointed!

It didn't take long for me to remember why I loved the Navy community so much; Ann's group of friends at AMEDD (Army Medical Dept) were tight knit and obviously respected and enjoyed each other's company. In the first picture is Ann with one of her friends who retired at the same time as her. Both Colonels, Maria closed the chapter on over 24 years in the Army while Ann finished up with nearly 26 years. They ended their Army Dietitian careers right where they started them with internships over two decades ago- at Ft Sam Houston. In a tremendous testament to the bond of military friendships and to Ann's sincere spirit, one of her classmates from her internship, Stephanie flew from Seattle with her husband Keith to help her close this chapter of her life.

Watching the faces of the 11 patriots lined up that morning to close the Army chapters of their lives, I marveled at the spectrum of emotions. At one end of the spectrum were the somber-faced and downright looking scared witless to the other end who could hardly suppress their smiles and readiness to move on to the next phases of their lives. Ann certainly fell into the jubilant category! At the "beret burning" later that evening though, she explained that it wasn't because she disliked the Army that she was happy to be moving on, but rather it was the excitement of the next adventure that was making her giddy about stepping out of the uniform for the last time. As you can tell from this picture of Ann with her sister Pat, civilian attire suits her just as well as Army green!!

The days leading up to the retirement ceremony on Thursday were filled with both local and out-of-town friends and family. On Wednesday, I was informed that I may want to wear comfortable shoes since we were "walking for food." Five miles of walking later, we arrived at a great little bakery for breakfast! The next 48 hours were filled with visiting, eating, drinking and celebration. The ceremony was succinct and professional whereas the private reception for Ann that followed was lively and informal. It was clear from the number of people who attended as well as from the words that were spoken that Ann was not only well-liked by those with which she served, but she also made a significant impact on the lives she touched. The festivities culminated in a get together at her friend Lise's house (also my gracious B&B hostess!). In the last pic is Ann (standing in black), her internship friend Stephanie, her sister-ish from Oregon Mary Lynn with her husband Sigfreid and Lise.

I arrived back into San Diego in time to catch a cab from the airport to Whit & Kathie's house for a Halloween get-together. I think I'll be in town for the next 2-3 weeks, so I'll keep ya'll posted on any local adventures. . .

Taking a little break. . .

2008-10-27T20:37:00.003-06:00

Well, I'm back in Southern California, but not for long. The week in Colorado Springs ended up being quite productive. As much as I like to get things accomplished professionally, I'm always excited to slip a little personal time into these trips. I ended up scooting out of my Saturday meeting early enough in the afternoon to get together with Suzanne again. As I was walking out the door, I called her up and asked if she was up for a little ride. Her excited and familiar response was "I'll be right there"! Not 20 minutes later, she was rolling into the OTC parking lot on her Softtail to get me.

We rode back up to their house where we asked David to join us for a spin, but he bowed out so we could get some girl time in. I don't know many people who have no problems handing over a one year old Screamin Eagle Road King to out of town guests, even knowing how much I love to roll out miles with his wife!! I'm sure the knowledge that I ride 50 miles a day on crazy California interstate roads also reinforces his faith in my riding ability!!

For the next few hours, we spun around Colorado Springs until it got too chilly to be enjoyable. I'm always stunned by how quickly the temp drops at altitude whenever the sun isn't shining down on you. I was glad that I had packed my chaps in anticipation for a little adventure on this trip! It's kind of like a pocket knife, you never know when you'll need it! Just before dark, we rolled up to their house where we spent the evening eating and hanging out with the family.

So I am now unpacking my suitcase from my arrival yesterday and packing it in anticipation for my departure tomorrow. I fly out to San Antonio to help a friend celebrate the end to a 25 year career in the military. I'm sure I'll have some pics and stories to post from the outing!

Snow and coffee

2008-10-23T20:18:00.005-06:00

We all knew it was gonna happen. . . the first snow of the season while I am here in the Springs! It's been absolutely frigid the last couple of days, but today the sun came out and it wasn't too bad. I've been inside in meetings most of the days for the last week anyway, so it's only when I'm walking between buildings or going out to dinner at night that I really feel it. I've been fortunate this trip to be able to get together for dinner with David & Suzanne quite a few times. It's nice to leave complex and talk about something other than work!

Just as getting together with Suzanne & David is at the top of my list of things to do every time I roll into the Springs, a trek down to Raven's Nest Coffee is a must. Although the picture is blurry, that's Paul whipping up another amazing espresso behind the counter. I've been gone a year now and he still knows my "usual"! I don't mind Starbucks when I'm traveling because I know what I'm gonna get, but the worldwide franchise giant doesn't hold a candle to the service and java at the corner of Institute and Boulder streets! Paul and his wife Heather own and operate this great little establishment that roasts its own coffee beans. Go there once and you'll become a regular!!

I've got meetings straight through Saturday and will fly south back to San Diego on Sunday. Have a great weekend!!!

You're still here?!

2008-10-20T21:01:00.006-06:00

With such a quick turn-around between trips out here to the Springs, a lot of the folks that work out here didn't realize I had gone back to San Diego! I've been continually greeted with "you're still here?" as I walk around complex! Actually no, I left and came back! Just as well, I like to keep people guessing as to where I am!

Now, I won't bore ya'll with my work life and the drama that sometimes goes with it, but let's just say that the last 4-5 days have been draining. I try hard not to take myself too seriously, but I work really hard and do tend to take my work quite seriously. Sometimes I let work get to me too much, but I'm fortunate to have people in my life that don't let me get too wound up in it! Being the true friends that Suzanne and David are, the mere mention of a stressful day of work prompted them to come pick me up from the training center to take me out to dinner! I jumped into the vehicle and was greeted with a glass of wine from Suzanne and David acting as chauffeur for us for the evening. David, you are a good man!!!

We ALWAYS go to my favorite Indian restaurant (Mirch Masala) when I'm in town, but they were determined to force me from habit and drove me to their favorite new Thai restaurant. What a great deviation from routine!!! We ordered family style and enjoyed a little taste of everything. Drunken noodles, spicy garlic shrimp and spicy eggplant. . . it all made my forehead sweat and my nose run, but tasted great! I didn't think I'd want to eat with chopsticks again for a while so soon after returning from Asia, but this meal was definitely worth it!

In a cruel twist of fate, the weather warmed up as soon as I left on Wednesday only to turn frigid again upon my arrival here last night. Besides sharing dinner, we usually all go out for a spin on the Harleys when I'm in town. Unfortunately, the 48 degree temp this afternoon kept us bound to four wheels instead of two on our quest for dinner. It looks like our two-wheeled excursions are on hold until next spring now.

The evening ended with us having dessert at Montegut's on Tejon and laughing over endless stories. It's amazing how different our lives are but how much we still seem to have in common. There's a link to Suzanne's blog on the right side bar of this blog, so if you're curious about the lives of the parents of eight, check out the link to her blog.

That's all for now. I've got some reports to read before tomorrow's meetings. Enjoy your evening and check in again when you get a chance!

Back in the Rockies

2008-10-19T20:08:00.002-06:00

Sorry for taking so long to post again. Of course, I have every excuse in the book for slacking, but I'll use the old stand-by of "I've been so busy"!

I flew out to Colorado Springs on Monday and turned around back to San Diego on Wednesday. Today I returned to the Springs and will be here all week for meetings.

I don't have a whole lot to add right now other than to update everyone on my whereabouts. I'm pretty much on the road for the next two weeks but I'm sure some random adventure will present itself for me to post about, so stay tuned. . .

A charmed life. . .

2008-10-09T20:41:00.006-06:00

I think that most of us just go through the motions of our lives the majority of days. We have routines that we run through every day of our lives without thinking. Wake up, have coffee, brush your teeth, get dressed, dress the kids, walk the dog, go to work, whatever may be particular to you.

I've been lucky in that the amount of time I've spent in a "routine" life is pretty minimal. I might grumble about not sleeping in my own bed for more than 2 weeks in a row, but the truth is I like that variability in my life. By nature, I'm a creature of habit, but over the years I've come to need a disruption of my routine in order to still feel alive. Today reminded me of what a great balance of stability and variability I have in my life right now.

At work, I am part of a team. I am a member of a Sportfolio which is essentially a "team around the team." Our Sportfolio team consists of professionals from various disciplines that are required to help a sport team perform optimally. We have a psychologist (Peter), a strength & conditioning coach (Zach), a dietitian (me), an athletic trainer (Vinny), a biomechanist (John) and a team leader (April) who guides us all. Our team is split between the training centers in Colorado Springs and Chula Vista. Periodically, we come together physically for meetings or to work with teams, but it's not very often that we are all geographically together. This week was one of those rare occasions in which we found ourselves converged into the same location for a whole week of meetings. We decided to take advantage of it. . .

A year ago this month, we climbed Pikes Peak with one of the sports we serve. We've done various other activities in the year and a half that we've been together in the name of team-building, so it was only natural that we would use the backdrop of sunny California for a team-building experience while we were all here together. One of our team members, Zach is an avid surfer and suggested we spend the morning bonding out on the ocean. Although the two cold-challenged members of the group cringed ever so slightly at the thought of spending a morning in 62 degree water, April and I decided it would be worth the sacrifice to learn how to surf and to be together as a team. Bright and early this morning, we all met at Mission Beach here in San Diego for our adventure.

We arrived at the beach to coffee, bagels and surfboards. After what Zach described as the quickest brief on how to surf he's ever given, we carried our boards down to the chilly water and waded in. The waves were a good size for learning. I had tried to surf back in Hawaii, but I was never able to actually stand up and ride a wave in. After a couple of hours and lots of coaching by Zach & Vinny, we were all able to at least get our feet on the board as the waves pushed us towards the shore. I could never seem to find my balance and would topple over as soon as I got semi-upright on the board. Finally, I popped up as my board caught a wave and felt like I was actually riding the surf and not just in a transient state of tumbling off my board. It was tiring to continually fight the ocean far enough out to try to catch another wave, but it was fun enough to make me forget how cold I was for a while! To take a break, I paddled out past where the waves were breaking and just sat on the board allowing myself to bob in the rolling waves. Given my love of the water, it was an amazing morning spent in the midst of sensory sources that stir my soul. As you can see in the pic, we all had ear-to-ear grins at the end of our surf experience. In the pic from left to right are Zach, Peter, April, John, Vinny and me.

Unwilling to end our surfing experience, we headed down to Ocean Beach (OB) to the place that serves my favorite fish tacos in all of San Diego- Southbeach Grill! We devoured tacos, beans & rice and chips & salsa before making our way back to the training center. Even with a leisurely ride home via Sunset Cliffs, I made it back to my office in time for a 1:30 pm conference call! On my ride home from work tonight, I couldn't help but feel immensely satisfied with a productive day of work and leisure!

Not sure what the weekend has in store for me, but I fly out to Colorado Springs on Monday and will return on Wednesday evening. Just a little more variability in my routine to keep me on my toes and make me feel alive.

A Marine Corp Base Day

2008-10-04T23:37:00.014-06:00

I was in the San Francisco airport on my way to Japan last month when I got an email for an upcoming race called the Boot Camp Challenge. Three miles filled with obstacles and Marine Corp drill instructors offering encouragement along the way- sounds like fun right?! So I go ahead and sign up for the event. Fast forward to Wednesday of this week when I get an email reminder that it's this Saturday! Oh yeah, I forgot I signed up for that. . .

So I get up bright and early this morning and ride off towards MCRD (Marine Corp Recruit Depot) for the race only to be turned away at the gate for not wearing the proper safety gear needed to get my bike on base. Hmmm. . . plan B, ride a few miles up the road to Whit & Kathie's and they'll take me there in the car. I get there in time to hear the safety brief and to catch up with Zach before the start (he's the Strength & Conditioning coach on my team at work). Zach had gone to boot camp on this base 20 years earlier so I think he just wanted to prove to himself that he could still do it!

The event wasn't really a race since there were so many people you couldn't move faster than a jog. The obstacles were mostly hay bales until we got to the permanent obstacle course structures (which had hay bales around them to make them easier). A few low crawl and push up stations were sprinkled along the way to keep it interesting and to give the drill instructors extra chances to use their voices (which were virtually gone already after having graduated a class of 600 new Marines this week). Even though everyone bunched up at the obstacles rendering them not as much of a challenge, it was still a fun morning outside. Whit captured some great video on the course but I can't get it to work on my computer. You can get a feel for the event though from the first pic that Whit took of some random kid being "encouraged" over an obstacle. Even pregnant with twins, Kathie still made a great cheerleader (that's her in the pic with me in front of the blow-up Marine).

Not believing the weatherman's prediction of rain this evening, Whit, Kathie and I headed out to MCAS (Marine Corp Air Station) Miramar for the air show. There were a ton of people there and the carnival-like atmosphere overshadowed the storm rolling in. We didn't get there early enough to check out the static displays, but we managed to get some kettle corn and drinks before making our way to our seats. As we hung out watching the primer aircraft stunts while waiting for the main event to begin, it became clear that we were going to get wet at some point during the evening.

We went to the twilight show so we could experience the great pyrotechnics that would accompany the air demonstrations. Fortunately we got to see the HV-8B Harrier demo, the Patriots Team program (the four L-39 jets in the pic with the red, white & blue smoke trails), and the Blue Angels "Fat Albert" C-130T Hercules before the weather set in. Much to my disappointment, the Army Golden Knights Parachute Team jump had to be cancelled because of the 1200 foot ceiling that had moved in. The Shockley's Jet Truck was pretty cool though, especially after darkness set in. This jacked up truck had 1000 hp and shot down the runway at almost 400 mph leaving a trail of fire shooting out behind it!

Although not aviation related, the Patriot Chopper made by Orange County Choppers was on display and drew quite a crowd. Built in 2007, the bike was designed incorporating winning ideas from soldiers around the country. The finished product has a front wheel with 7 spears representing the 7 Army values, an ammunition belt lining the handlebars, chromed M-4 magazines for struts, and an M-4 rifle mounted near the rear wheel. I'm fascinated with choppers, especially those with so much symbolism and detail but I don't think I'd own and ride one. I guess I'm spoiled with my windshield and backrest!!

The night ended with a wet ride for me through the rain back to Coronado on my own, old-ladied out Sportster! What can I say, I'm a simple girl. . .

Taking a deep breath. . .

2008-09-28T16:57:00.003-06:00

There's a great country & western song by Alabama called "I'm in a hurry." Yes, I've circled back around to my country roots and enjoy the twangy tunes again! Anyway, here's the first verse:

I'm in a hurry to get things done
Oh I rush and rush until life's no fun
All I really gotta do is live and die
But I'm in a hurry and don't know why

Sometimes out of nowhere I'll start humming this song and realize that I have been rushing around trying to accomplish things that, if I'm really honest with myself, are things that aren't really worth me stressing out over to get done. So, when I woke up early Saturday morning for my beach run with this song swirling around in my head, I decided to give myself a break. Even without an alarm, I'm an early-riser (comes from both sides of my family). I'm not one for laying around in bed once I'm awake, so even without an alarm clock to jump start my day, I usually end up getting an early start no matter what day it is. I jumped out of bed Saturday morning and proceeded through the motions of habit. . . start coffee brewing, pull on some workout clothes, check email, blah, blah, blah. I started the coffee then stopped in front of my dresser and just didn't feel like pulling out the running shorts. I went through a quick 30 second debate in my head about just getting it done without wasting too much thought over it, but decided that I just wasn't feeling a workout. I was still feeling the beach though, so I pulled on some jeans and a sweatshirt and strolled over to the beach where I sat on a bench and watched the early morning waves roll in through the misty fog. I sat out there long enough to watch the marine layer burn off to reveal a group of surfers whose territory was being dive-bombed for breakfast by a flock of pelicans. I never cease to be amazed by what's all around us if we just stop to take it in.

On a separate tangent, I got a random phone call from my dad Friday morning letting me know that a family friend was in my neck of the woods. Mr. Billy and my dad went to school together and the kids of each of the men have grown up around each other. I hadn't seen Nicole (Mr. Billy's first borne) in probably 15 years, so I was excited to get together with her and her husband Tim. Man, it's not everyday that I'm given to laugh that loud and that often! A few margaritas and some really good Mexican food mixed together with good company is a recipe for a great night! Nicole has the pictures on her camera, so I'll add one to this post when I get them from her. Hopefully they captured the fun and laughter of the evening better than I can describe with words!

Have a great week honey and come on back when ya'll git a chance (oh, that Cajun accent snuck back in after a few hours with my Bayou Blue connection!).

To the Springs and back

2008-09-21T19:59:00.002-06:00

Well, it was a quick trip up to Colorado Springs this week. A couple of days of meetings and some beautiful weather. I did manage to scoot out one of the nights for dinner with Suzanne, no riding though :-( It's become a tradition for us to go out to Mirch Masala, my favorite Indian restaurant for dinner whenever I'm in town. I love Tikka Masala and nan bread!! And if I still have room for dessert, a mango lassi hits the spot.

Sorry that I have no new pictures to post, I've been laying pretty low other than the trip to the Springs. I'll be back out to the Colorado Springs OTC in early October and again later in the month. Everyone there loves to joke that they see me more now than they did when I actually lived and worked there!

Hope you had a great weekend and an even better week!

Hanging out

2008-09-14T17:54:00.008-06:00

Even though my time in Asia was not particularly strenuous, I managed to accrue a few days of comp time for being away from home. For the last four days, I've pretty much done what I felt like doing. As you can tell from this picture, it involved being horizontal on the beach! California must've sensed that I wasn't ready for fall weather yet because the weather for the last couple of days has been warm and the skies clear. Not hot mind you, but warm enough to lounge on the beach and cruise around in shorts! One of the benefits of post-Labor Day is that the crowds on Coronado Beach have thinned out significantly. There were a few stretches of time when there was no one else around me on the beach and I could hear nothing but the waves rolling in and sea birds calling each other.

I took a couple of days to unpack and I still haven't done all my laundry yet. Of all the household chores that needed to be done upon my return, the one I was anxious to get to was my bike! Without a garage, my Harley spends way too much time exposed to the elements. I have a bike cover, but the wind whips up in our parking lot and it still gets dirty. Besides requiring a washing, I needed to do some maintenance to it too. One of my pipes busted right before I left, so I needed to pull them off and put the stock pipes back on. With the after market pipes off my bike, it's so quiet that the guys I ride with here were mocking the silence after I started it! My friend Ed was so disgusted with how dirty my bike was that he spent a whole afternoon helping me to wash and detail it. Living in close proximity to salt air and not cleaning it as often as I should has taken a toll on the chrome and aluminum. It's remarkable how good my bike looks after a lot of elbow grease, cleaning solvents, a power buffer and the assistance of a professional detailer- thanks Ed!!

Today turned out to be another sunny day, so I rode around a bit this afternoon. I cruised out to Sunset Cliffs which is not far from where I live. Sunset Cliffs Park encompasses over 60 acres of bluffs and walking trails overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Sunset Blvd runs along the cliffs and has amazing views of several beaches below.

There are a few access points that allow you to climb a series of stairs to get down to the beaches. The steps are pretty steep and I was surprised to see so many surfers making the trek with surf boards in tow. I made my way down to the ocean and was intoxicated by the smell of salt air and the sound of water surging over rocks and sand. I sat there for a long time watching surfers and sailboats go by and various sea birds feeding along the shore. Although I had ridden out to the cliff overlooks before, I had never parked my bike and ventured down to the shore. The beaches are only accessible at low tide, so I'll have to time my next visit with Mother Nature!

My apologies to everyone I haven't gotten in touch with yet now that I'm back. I've been enjoying having my own space again and have been postponing my reentry into society! This will be a short week for me back home as I fly out to Colorado Springs on Wednesday for meetings. It's a quick trip though and I'll be back in Southern California Friday night.

Competitions in the Bird's Nest

2008-09-10T11:47:00.006-06:00

I'm back on U.S. soil! I'm blogging this post from the San Francisco airport as I'm waiting for my connecting flight to San Diego. I'm actually feeling pretty good relative to my previous return flights from Beijing.

I figured that since I was at the Paralympic Games that I should do at least one post with pictures from a competition venue! This first picture is of the wheelchair 5K. For those of you who have been following my blog for a while, you know that I don't post much about work. It's a TRAVEL blog after all, not a WORK blog!

Even though I don't like being in large crowds, I accepted the ticket given to me to attend a Track & Field event. It was pretty cool to be in the National Stadium (AKA Bird's Nest) to see our athletes compete. It was awesome to see a packed stadium for just about every session. Some of the races have gone our way and some haven't, but that's the nature of the beast. There may be favorites and underdogs going into each event, but you never know what the outcome will be once the drama has unfolded. Some dreams fulfilled, some dashed. Some will be back to try again, others won't. It's all part of the big show.

I had been running around so much since I got to Beijing, I hadn't taken the time to take pictures of the Bird's Nest and the "Cube", so I caught these pictures before I left. We could actually see the Bird's Nest from our hotel room we were so close. As the old saying goes "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." I can appreciate the architectural marvel that the Bird's Nest represents and it is impressive all lit up at night, but I personally don't find the structure aesthetically appealing. To me, it just seems out of place in a city full of ancient and historical designs. I understand that it's meant to represent the modernization of Beijing, but when it blends in with the ever present pollution, it seems to represent the harmful consequences of China's economic growth instead of the benefits. Again, just my opinion.

It's hard to believe that all the planning and preparations for the Beijing Games are behind us and that I'm already scheduled for meetings to continue the Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 planning. The Olympic calendar continues to progress, always moving towards the next Games.

Although this wasn't a particularly arduous trip, I'm looking forward to a few days off to catch up on laundry and household tasks before jumping back in full force at work. Although I'll be heading out to Colorado Springs next week to discuss plans for the next couple of Games, the Paralympics are still in full swing and I'll be following coverage on the internet. How big are the Paralympic Games in comparison to the Olympics? Well, it's all a matter of perspective. I heard the Olympics referred to as the "warm up" Games several times from Paralympic athletes, coaches and staff! The Paralympic Games will be televised in the U.S. sometime in October, so I hope you'll tune in!

Local living

2008-09-08T18:12:00.011-06:00

After the great experience I had in Italy taking a cooking class between the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2006, I decided to try my luck again with a Google search of cooking classes- this time in Beijing! My colleague and friend Susie decided to accompany me on this foodie sightseeing experience. Although we couldn't spare enough time to take the full-blown cooking class, I was excited to find a market tour and seasoning lesson offered in a historic hutong in downtown Beijing.

A hutong is a narrow street (pretty much an alley really) that is lined with traditional courtyard residences. You can't really see the courtyards or residences because they are all behind stone walls with gates. Dating back centuries, these neighborhoods started disappearing in the late 1940s to make way for high rise buildings and wider boulevards. The cooking class I found was offered by a woman named Yi (http://www.hutongcuisine.com/) and was in the historic Shajing Hutong. As our tour/cultural guide, she escorted Susie and I through the hutong where we saw and heard evidence of this hutong's reputation for being "artsy." Drama schools lined the street and women on bicycles rode by singing in seemingly professional voices.

Yi turned out to be a soft spoken yet knowledgeable cook who had migrated from the southern China countryside to Beijing for a more cosmopolitan lifestyle. We walked up to a local market where she took us section by section explaining the different foods and how they are traditionally prepared. China is a huge country and each province has its own tastes and food traditions. Just as those of us in the southern region of the U.S. eat differently than our countrymen in the northeast or west coast, those living in the south of China have different food preferences than those in the city of Beijing. Of course, preferences in each province is usually dictated by availability of ingredients. The market had a variety of spices catering to tastes from all around China. Seafood such as fish and eel was fresh and still alive in tanks built on the floor. Meat was hung from the ceiling out in the open and unrefrigerated just like I've seen it being sold in markets from Morrocco to Oman. There was an impressive array of noodles, rice, fresh produce along with soy and tofu products of every imaginable form.

Once our education at the market had concluded, Yi brought us back to her home in the hutong and prepared tea and an appetizer for us since we weren't staying for a cooking lesson afterwards. Susie and I were quite fascinated with long, fat tubes of clear gelatin that we saw at the market so Yi had bought a roll for 1 yuan for us to try (about 15 cents). The tube actually was a gelatinous form of soy that had been rolled into a tube shaped object. She sliced the tube and unrolled each slice to produce long, thick noodle-like strings. She then mixed light soy, rice vinegar, fresh chopped garlic and parsley, sugar and sesame oil with it. What you see in the picture was the result of her efforts and served as our snack as she explained basic Chinese food seasoning to us.

Yi explained the difference between dark and light soy, which has nothing to do with sodium content like it does in the States. She was slightly traumatized to hear that Japanese dark soy sauce (Kikkoman) was standard on Chinese food restaurant tables around the U.S. First of all it's Japanese, and second of all, dark soy sauce would never be used alone (always mixed with light) and third, it would never be used with food with such a light flavor as seafood! Next she explained the qualities of Chinese cooking wines and vinegars. We ended the lesson with different oils used in traditional Chinese cooking.

Although she seemed well informed about nutrition (she commented that chicken eggs are considered much more nutritious and tasty than duck eggs), she could not understand how anyone would chose nutritional value of a food product over taste. Susie and I chuckled as we recognized this as a common trait of chef's worldwide!! She thought chicken breast was bland and should never be chosen above the leg or wings and that chicken feet have excellent flavor. She told us how women are often encouraged to consume chicken and pigs feet after giving birth in order to regain their strength! Chicken feet are usually fried and eaten like chicken wings are in the U.S., you just eat the crispy skin off the bone. The pigs feet I saw by the butcher's block looked similar to those that can be found pickled and in a jar with boiled eggs in any corner store in South Louisiana! Having grown up with boucheries (social events where a hog or two is slaughtered and cooked) and a grandmother who kept a bucket of lard next to her stove for cooking, there weren't too many things I saw in the market that I would consider inedible. I'll admit though that some of the seafood I've seen on menus here in China would require a strong sense of adventure to consume (e.g. sea cucumbers!) by most Westerners, including myself!

That's it for now. A couple of Track & Field competition sessions are on tap for me so I'll fill ya'll in as soon as I can!

Forbidden City- Take 2

2008-09-06T06:31:00.008-06:00

With today being Opening Ceremonies day for the Paralympic Games, security has tightened up significantly. Unless you're a credentialed athlete or coach, it's near impossible to get into the Paralympic Village. With lock-down in full swing, axillary staff like Kim and I are left on the outside. I've had full access to the Village up to this point, but today I had to run errands for Team USA outside the gates.

After the errands were completed, Kim and I made our way to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. I had gone there on a previous trip to Beijing back in April 2006 and posted my adventure then.

We arrived in the Square and passed through the mag & bag (magnetic baggage screening) fairly quickly and took in the recently added landscaping. Although beautiful, the cranes in the background of just about every photo op and the heavy pollution made it hard to fully appreciate the scene. This picture overlooking the Forbidden City shows how thick the the pollution was; it was truly hard to enjoy the afternoon of sightseeing with my eyes and throat burning so much. We've heard that the even-odd license plate driving protocol is still in effect, but today was some of the worse pollution I've experienced in my four trips to Beijing.

The lack of any color in the sky made for drab pictures, but you can still get a feel for the remarkable architecture and paint schemes. It was great to see all the disable access that has been added to this city due to the Paralympic Games being held here. All of the Olympic signage has been switched over to Paralympic and the city seems fully engaged in the upcoming competitions. In fact, the whole city seemed to be shutting down to get ready for Opening Ceremonies tonight.

Although I had the option of going to the Ceremonies tonight, I'm watching them on TV from the hotel room as I'm writing this post. I'm not a huge fan of large crowds, especially for such an extended period of time. I can see the "bird's nest" stadium from my hotel though and I'm excitedly awaiting the fireworks display that I know will be the finale.

That's it for tonight. I hope you will go to the IPC website (International Paralympic Committee) to watch live coverage and learn a little about Paralympic sport.

Duck and tea

2008-09-04T17:05:00.009-06:00

For our second night in Beijing, a few of us took a cab to a Peking Duck restaurant recommended by our interpreter. I had done a post back in 2006 detailing the tradition of Peking Duck in more detail, but I have better pics this time!

The last time I had gone, it was an arranged organizational dinner, so the menu was preset. This time, we were presented menus and had to order a la carte! Thankfully, there was a menu with pictures for us to order from!

Ordering and eating this dish is quite the process. As you can see in the pic, the duck is carved right at your table so you're able to watch the whole process. The servers expertly wielded their knives to produce perfect bite-sized slices of duck with just enough skin to give flavor but not so much that it became greasy. We were also served a platter with the duck's head sliced in half and the choice meat from the back.

As you have probably guessed, I was quite curious with the head! The beak was removed, but the rest of the head cavity was intact and contained little separated compartments of meat/tissue. I inserted my chopsticks and tugged on a little nugget of meat. As soon as I realized it was the eyeball I had chosen, I picked another piece of the head cavity to try. You see, I'm not as adventurous as ya'll think! I tried a tiny piece of a different meat; it just tasted like the rest of the duck though.

The funnest part of eating Peking duck is that it comes with fixins kind of like a taco would. We got a little warmer dish with 6 inch "tortillas" that we were able to stuff with duck meat and the condiments of our choice. In this case, we chose sliced cucumber, a sweet soy paste, shallots, crushed garlic and sugar. We were all pleasantly surprised at how well the garlic and sugar went together, especially with all the other fixins too!

From the duck restaurant, we strolled up the street to hail a cab. At first I wasn't sure in which part of the city we were since I'm so easily turned around (with or without a map!). Once we walked about a block though, I recognized a tea shop that I had visited on my trip in March. Kim and Toby were curious, so we ducked in to take a quick look.

Long story short, the quick look turned into about an hour tea tasting session! We were seated and were given a demonstration and tasting of some really nice jasmine tea.

That bulb with a flower on it you see in the picture is actually a ball of green tea leaves, jasmine pedals and a "thousand days" flower. When put into a small glass vase and combined with boiling water, the bulb blooms into what you see in the last pic. The pic with the flower is actually of a bulb that contained a jasmine flower instead of the "thousand days" flower. The aroma was quite pleasant and the flavor even better. I'm a die hard coffee drinker and have never been one much for tea, but even I have to admit that this stuff was pretty good!

We hailed a cab and returned to the hotel satisfied with our little adventure for the evening. Our days are quite busy, filled with many errands and tasks to keep the finely-tuned machine of the American Paralympic delegation running. The pollution has gotten to my sinuses (I'll do a separate pot later about the air quality) but I'm still managing to enjoy my time here. Thanks for checking in and stay tuned. . .

Leaving Okinawa

2008-09-03T04:54:00.011-06:00

In another well-executed exercise by our military friends at Kadena AFB we loaded up our 100+ athletes and staff and made the 3.5 hour flight to Beijing. After having already experiencing the downloading procedure, we reloaded athletes and gear in no time at all (relatively speaking!). As the ambulatory folks climbed the stairs to the aft section of the aircraft, the "wheelies" rolled onto a huge loader that lifted them up to the forward access door. Each athlete was assisted to their seats, as a bunch of us staff took their wheelchairs and passed them out the opposite door outside to another huge loader. We had already loaded all the luggage and gear prior to the athletes arriving at the aircraft, so all we had to do was load their wheelchairs and we were on our way.

Due to a tremendous show of support through volunteer workers, we had all the luggage tagged, transported from lodging and loaded into the aircraft in an hour and a half! That's Dave and Kim on the loader as we're riding it down to load the chairs into the cargo hold.

It was a bitter-sweet departure for the athletes. The training camp was a huge success in terms of Paralympic Games preparation. Everyone's training continued on schedule in a relaxed environment without many outside distractions. The weather held up nicely and allowed them to depart for Beijing fully acclimated to the heat and humidity and with an initial exposure to Asian culture without being totally submerged just yet. And of course, everyone was well fed! The bitter part was that they enjoyed it so much, they wanted to stay! Being the true competitors they are though, they were ready to test all that training on the field of play.

I witnessed one of the most touching displays of respect as we taxied down the runway for take-off. The flight crew told everyone to look out the windows to the right where the flight line staff had formed up and were rendering salutes. My eyes watered a bit as I marveled at how so many of these folks saluting us had just recently returned from, or were departing for, extended deployments in harms way. Yet here they were paying tribute to these Paralympians with the most respectful of military customs. A lot of our athletes are too young or too far removed from military life to fully appreciate all that these military service members did for them, including the departing salute. Having been in the shoes of those standing along the flight line, I was truly moved by the sight and was proud to be a veteran of their ranks.

The arrival in Beijing was smooth and well run. Most of the folks who arrived we bussed to the Olympic Village while a handful of staff, including myself, we transported to a nearby hotel for the duration of our stay here in Beijing. It was a bit of an adjustment to go from a suite complete with a kitchen and living area to a cramped, shared hotel room with Kim as a roommate. It's a good thing that Kim and I get along pretty well, because it's going to be close living quarters for the next 8 days. As we explored our little room, we were half worried, half amused by the amenities provided by the hotel. Along with the standard small vials of shampoo and lotion was a pack of condoms. We opened the "closet" door a stood facing 2 gas masks! Wow, a hotel that provides condoms and gas masks, what more could a traveler want?! We joked with our colleagues staying at the Hilton that they may be living in luxury, but our hotel prepared us for a broad array of situations! As you can see in the picture, we couldn't help but pay the 50 yuan (approx $7) to open the gas mask box and put it on with the robe and slippers also provided! The gas mask amounted to safety goggles and a plastic cup with cloth filters that fit over your mouth. Not sure what it would actually protect you from, but a great souvenir nonetheless!

Our first full day in Beijing was pretty busy and I'll try to fill you in as soon as possible. Thanks for checking in!

Scuba diving the Kerama islands

2008-09-01T01:17:00.012-06:00

After a full day of sightseeing on Saturday, I was feeling a little guilty about the dive trip I had planned for Sunday. Senior staff reinforced their opinion that we should enjoy the time off while we had it before heading out to Beijing in a couple of days though, so we followed through with our plans.

Although it had been over 10 years since I had been underwater with a tank on my back, Kim and I had signed up for a two tank boat dive earlier in the week. I got certified in Hawaii when I was stationed there 15 years ago, but it had been so long I couldn't remember through which organization I had gotten certified. After a discussion with the marina dive locker manager, it was decided that the quickest way for me to be able to do a dive here was to get a refresher class in the pool with a dive master and then do a supervised dive on Sunday. After a couple of hours in the pool one night this week with Liz, dive master extraordinaire, I relearned the safety basics and felt comfortable enough to go deep in the ocean again.

So, bright and early yesterday morning Kim and I along with Scott, one of the throws athletes took a cab out to the marina to catch the dive boat. The boat captain briefed the 20 or so excited divers that the winds were pretty strong so we'd have to head out a couple of miles to see how choppy the waters were going to be before he made a decision on whether the trip was a go or not. The destination for the dive was the Kerama Islands which are a chain of subtropical islands located about 20 miles southwest of Okinawa. Only four of the 22 lush islands with pristine beaches are occupied making it an ideal getaway for divers and snorkelers alike. Although a bit choppy, the hour and a half boat ride was actually quite enjoyable. I love being on the water and we all commented that even if we couldn't dive once we got out there, the $75 we paid for the trip would be worth it just for the boat ride!

As luck would have it, we made it out to the dive site and were ordered off the boat by the captain. He didn't have to tell anyone twice as we all suited up and flowed out the back end of the vessel. Scott snorkeled while Kim and I dove down the 40-50 feet with Liz. Here we encountered lots of live coral with starfish, tropical fish, sea snakes, eels and urchins. We even caught a glimpse of a sea turtle off in the distance. Kim and I had brought down some cheap disposable cameras that allowed us to capture some of the sea life. Liz dove with a nicer digital (that's her with Kim right under the boat) and and she gave me this one of Kim and I giving the OK sign.

After about an hour of bottom time, we surfaced and ate sandwiches as the captain maneuvered us to the next dive site. The day and water was comfortably warm, but it still felt good to sit in the sun as we waited out our surface interval before going back down. The next dive took us down to around 70 feet in and out of coral reef trenches full of sea life. Kim and I didn't find out until later, but apparently there was a white tip shark swimming with us for the majority of our dive and we never saw it. The other divers all told us they had gotten pictures but we were still disappointed that we didn't get to see it in real time! We did a drift dive and popped up about an hour later wherever the current brought us and the boat captain brought the boat around to pick us up. Even though we still had air left in the tanks, the waters down at that depth are chilly and we were ready to surface in order to warm up a bit. Although we couldn't stay down as long as we would've liked, it was still worth it to dive in a bikini and t-shirt! Now that I've gotten the dive bug again, I'll have to keep reminding myself that diving in the 7 mm wetsuit with boots and hoodie required for the chilly California waters do not make for an enjoyable dive. For now I can only dream of the day I'll live near warm waters again. . .

That's it from Okinawa and Kadena. We have a farewell dinner tonight then fly out tomorrow for Beijing. Not sure how much I'll get to post from China, but I haven't had many problems on my three previous trips so I anticipate being able to keep everyone up to date. Still watching Hurricane Gustav's path and anxiously awaiting word on how my family and Houma make it through the storm.

Okinawa Ocean Expo Park

2008-09-01T00:37:00.006-06:00

On Saturday, a handful of staff accompanied a few of the "wheelies" of the Track & Field team to Okinawa Ocean Expo Park on the northern part of the island. The bus ride along the western coast of the island was beautiful and filled our time with ocean and shoreline scenery. After a quick bite of Japanese bento box lunches, we headed down towards the Churaumi Aquarium.

As you can see in this picture, the aquarium is HUGE (second largest in the world!) and actually contained two whale sharks along with several hundred other species of marine life. Notice the folks standing on the ground along the bottom looking up at the tank for a perspective on how big the tank and the whale shark are! Along with various smaller tanks containing sea life specific to Japan and Asia, there was also exterior dolphin, manatee and sea turtle pools.

Next on the sightseeing list in the Expo Park was the Native Okinawan Village. It's a reconstruction of a traditional village from the 17th to 19th centuries and represents architecture from the Ryukyu Kingdom period. I loved all the raw wood and paper screen walls that slid open to allow a breeze to blow through the whole structure. I wouldn't be so thrilled about sleeping on the wood and mat floors though! The cooking area was unique, but we had to chuckle at the full circuit breaker panel just behind the wall to this hanging tea kettle room! The whole place was so peaceful with incense burning and little shrines scattered throughout. The village is also used as a cultural center and there were some classes of weaving and string instruments going on with what appeared to be some middle school groups.

From the village, we strolled through the botanical garden to the Tropical Dream Center. I wouldn't have been able to pull my mom from this place had she been here! It was filled with tropical flowers, shrubs and trees. I had never seen so many, nor so many different types of orchids in my whole life. Absolutely beautiful!

We spent the last bit of our time going for a dip at Emerald Beach. The water was so warm and inviting, we didn't want to get out to catch the bus back to base. I would say that it was a relaxing day, but the staff did so much walking and the athletes did so much pushing in their wheelchairs in the heat that everyone was pretty wiped out by the end. All in all, a great day of sightseeing though!

Hurricane Gustav

2008-08-31T14:59:00.002-06:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know that most of my immediate family has evacuated to higher ground for the hurricane. I got an email from my sister stating that they are spread out from Alabama to Texas and are hoping for the best. Now it's a waiting game. . .

Arduous duty?!

2008-08-29T05:37:00.007-06:00

OK, I hate to admit it but this trip has felt more like fun than work! Yes, I'm still doing my job, but everyone here is bending over backwards so much to accommodate us that my job has been pretty easy. I've really been able to take advantage of the snippets of time between duties and enjoy being on Okinawa.

I boasted to Mariko, one of the managers at the dining facility that I had gotten out and experienced some "real" Japanese sushi. When I told her the name of the restaurant to which we had gone, she kind of smirked and asked me what I was doing later that night. Um, I guess going with you? She and another manager, Chikara arranged for me to have dinner with them and a long-time friend of theirs at a restaurant called Uokura. It was about 15 minutes away, halfway between Kadena and Naha but so worth the drive!

They were both born and raised on Okinawa and were excited to facilitate a real dining experience for me. There wasn't another American in the restaurant! We sat at the sushi bar where a conveyor belt of dozens of sushi options continuously flowed pass us. Chikara guided me through all the options as I'd point to something passing by and ask what it was. Once he realized that there was nothing that I considered off limits, he excitedly started ordering and educating me on the different types and species of each option. Seafood salad, green tea, miso soup, cold soba noodles (purple ones!), sea urchin, eel, several types of tuna, mackerel, seaweed, fish eggs, octopus and tempeh comprised the dinner. Just about everything was raw with an amazing array of textures and tastes. I pointed to and inquired about one dish in particular. He told me that that specific sushi was considered advanced and wasn't sure if I was ready for it yet. I grinned and asked if we could order it anyway. It turned out to be raw sea urchin. I cautiously broke off a tine piece with my chopsticks to taste. The texture was similar to liver pate but my vocabulary lacks an adequate adjective to describe the taste. I actually liked it and and commenced to eat the whole bitesize portion. After sampling so many different dishes I finally had to admit that I was stuffed and to asked them politely to quit ordering!

Today Kim, Beth and I walked out the gate and over to a place called China Pete's. This is where I had bought my set of Noritake China table setting when I was here 15 years ago (which I still have and use!). Kim and Beth loved the place and purchased several sake sets and chopsticks. As I've become a minimalist over the years, I've stopped buying trinkets during my travels that will require dusting and will eventually suffer the fate of a Goodwill donation during one of my many moves. It was fun to look around though and I got some great pictures of local pottery and China. Instead of buying things to take home, I simply take pictures of subjects that I can have enlarged to hang in my home to remind me of places I've been.

Today ended with a leisurely dinner at the Kadena Marina. One of our staff members, Mark has a vehicle here so we took a couple of athletes down to the waterfront to dine at the base marina as the sun set. Robin and Mallory are a couple of track & field athletes and thoroughly enjoyed feeding the fish and the view that accompanied our dinner.

We've already started the meetings to discuss logistics for us to move from here to Beijing. Time has flown and it won't be long before we find ourselves in the midst of Paralympic competitions. As the athletes taper down to peak we have some sightseeing trips planned so I should have more to post about soon so stay tuned!

Off base

2008-08-27T18:24:00.006-06:00

Lots of activity the last few days! Training is going well and everyone has pretty much fallen into a steady routine at this point. The athletes are getting acclimated to the time zone, heat and humidity and are peaking for their competitions. Won't be long now until all their hard work pays off!

As for staff, we manage to sneak an hour or so whenever we can to leave base and see a little of Okinawa. Kim and I went out to a nearby beach and jumped into the wonderfully warm ocean water. Unlike the chilly waters off the California coast, the water was warm and inviting and it was hard to pull ourselves out of it!

As we walked along the boardwalk, we discovered several of these vending machines offering cold beverages. For around 100 yen (approx $1) you can get just about anything you're thirsty for. We also stumbled across a few amusing public announcements like this sign informing folks to pick up after their dogs. Even though I've seen a ton of these literally translated signs during my travels in Asia, they still make me chuckle!

On another quick outing, I journeyed with another two-wheel enthusiast in our delegation the 3 miles off base to an Okinawan Harley-Davidson dealership. It was small by American standards, but about the same size as the one I visited in Beijing last March. We all joke in the States that HD stands for "hundred dollars" since there's not much for sale with a price tag of less than $100 at HD dealerships. That is most certainly true here. . . I paid $68 for a Harley-Davidson t-shirt. I know, I'm crazy for paying that much, but it's a pretty sweet shirt!

Last night, a group of staff went out to eat at Kitakaisen sushi restaurant out in town. It was authentic Japanese but with a Western twist (there were pizzas on the menu!). I had a crab and rice soup that reminded me of seafood gumbo back home, complete with a whole half crab in the bowl. I'm pretty proficient with chopsticks at this point in my life, but peeling crabs is still a hands on endeavor in any culture! I talked Beth into getting the yakisoba and she wasn't disappointed. Everyone ordered different dishes and we tasted a bit of everything. My goal of having sushi everyday while I'm Japan is still on track- 5 days running!

That's all for now, I'll keep posting as time allows. Thanks for checking in!

Paralympian arrivals

2008-08-25T14:42:00.005-06:00

I apologize for not having pictures to accompany this post, but it's been pretty busy around here! The advance party and at least a hundred military personnel greeted the plane full of athletes and staff upon its arrival. Although their transportation was made as hassle free as possible (loaded in Colorado Springs and landed right on base without having to disembark anywhere in between), the passengers were tired and dazed upon arrival. In an enormous show of support and efficiency, the Kadena folks got everyone and their bags unloaded and to their rooms in an hour and a half. Considering we unloaded dozens of wheelchairs, that was quite a feat! The amount of support from this military community has been monumental and inspirational. Each athlete was paired with a military "sponsor" to give them assistance during their stay here at Kadena. At a place and time when these military service members are all facing their own significant personal and professional events, they greeted each athlete enthusiastically and genuinely excited to be part of the Paralympic movement.

Now that we have a day of training, eating and logistics under our belt we have a better feel for the flow of the upcoming days. I'll try to post again as soon as possible, hopefully with some visuals!

First day on the ground

2008-08-23T13:40:00.007-06:00

Luckily, I've never really had a problem with jet lag. I'll admit that I feel the effects more as I get older, but I still don't seem to suffer with it as much as my colleagues. After almost 30 hours of wakefulness for the trip over (I had a great book!), I fell into bed the first night and slept soundly. By 7:00 a.m., I was out for a morning run in the already hot & humid day that was to greet us. By mid-morning, it was already in the upper 80s with 85% humidity! Loved it!

There are 6 staff that came out early on the advance party to get things ready for the disabled Swimming and Track & Field teams for their training camp here on Kadena AFB. We each broke off to spend the morning with our respective contacts here on base. I had breakfast with Lou who runs just about every dining establishment on this base plus the golf course, marina, etc. He and his staff took me through their plans for the teams' arrival and stay. Now, he and I have been emailing for weeks about the menu and logistics in preparation for this camp, but the amount of work and preparation they put into this effort blew me away. After rallying back up with the other staff members of the advance party for lunch, we all marveled at how much these folks have bent over backwards to make sure this camp is successful and that the athletes are as prepared as possible for their competitions in Beijing. I can't comment enough how amazingly enthusiastic and hard-working both the military and civilians on this base are as they continue to go above and beyond for our athletes.

Of course, a lot of my excitement about being on Okinawa involves the food! For lunch, I revisited the meal I practically lived off of on the flight line for 6 months while I was deployed here back in the day- yakisoba! Okinawa has it's own variety of soba (noodles) that is stirfried (yaki) with meat (chicken, beef, or pork), cabbage, tofu and vegetables. It was still just as tasty as I remembered it!

After more meetings and base touring, we finally ended up at an off-base restaurant in the evening for dinner. In the picture is Kim and Tina sampling some of the Awamori, a type of sake unique to Okinawa. It's an alcoholic beverage made from rice, but it's distilled instead of brewed like most sakes. It was served to us in a small ceramic pot with a large bucket of ice and bottled water. You fill the small glass with ice, pour Awamori until the halfway mark, then top it off with bottled water. Unlike sake, it was surprisingly smooth and mild- quite nice!

For dinner, I ordered nigiri sushi. In this picture, you can see the array of fresh seafood I was served. Fresh raw slices of ahi tuna, albacore tuna and mackerel sitting atop lightly vinegared sticky rice with a thin layer of wasabi (Japanese horseradish) were accompanied by lightly cooked shrimp, pickled ginger and some type of scrambled egg cake. The salad had raw seafood and roe with a slightly tangy soy-based dressing. The black and orange item you see at the bottom left of the long white plate is gunkanmaki (vinegared sticky rice surrounded by a strip of nori, AKA dried seaweed, and topped with large, plump roe, AKA fish eggs). Click on the picture for a closeup view of these delicacies!

The seashell plate contained some type of edible mollusk that tasted somewhat like an oyster but had the rubbery consistency of pickled calamari. The blue bowl contained what I thought was a warm flan for dessert, but after sticking a spoon it it and stirring it around I discovered what appeared to be gizzard and unidentifiable seafood bits. Undaunted, I tasted it and confirmed that yes, it was a gizzard in a yellow, gelatinous mild custard-like consistency. Not terrible, but not worth another biteful!

Day 2 will involve a little sightseeing and preparation to receive our 100+ athletes on the airlift from Colorado Springs!

Okinawa, Japan

2008-08-22T08:46:00.002-06:00

Just a quick one to let everyone know I made it safe and sound to Okinawa. As always, the flights to Asia are long, but I'm feeling pretty good. Got a tasty meal in my belly, all I need now is a hot shower and my pillow! I'll post tomorrow after I get out and about.

Beachin Sunday

2008-08-18T20:34:00.005-06:00

After a leisurely run on Coronado beach, I hopped on my bike and headed to Whit & Kathie's house. We packed up some snacks and beach gear and headed further north to Scott & Shannon's home. Just like me, they live in a great neighborhood two blocks from the beach. I had ridden through Encinitas several times on bike rides but had never really stopped to check out the beach town. Although I still think my beach at Coronado is better, Encinitas isn't a bad runner-up!

After we humped God only knows how much beach paraphernalia down to the coast, we staked claim to a sandy piece of real estate and hung out for the whole afternoon. I'm a minimalist for the most part, I purge my belongings every time I move and when I go somewhere I usually only bring bare essentials. In this case, a towel, sunscreen and fluids! Although I snickered at the amount of stuff 5 adults required for a few hours at the beach, I do have to admit that it was nice to have a chair to sit in!

What you see us doing in these pictures is pretty much how the afternoon went; lounging around and visiting. It was the perfect end to my hectic week and run down south of the border! I have some great shots of Kathie's belly containing a niece and a nephew (I'm confident they're going to have a boy and girl!), but I wasn't sure how she'd feel about her pregnant-with-twins belly being posted on the internet for the whole world to see! Maybe she'll let me sneak one in later. . .

Margaritas in Mexico

2008-08-17T08:04:00.005-06:00

After another round of airport delays, I finally made it back to San Diego around 1:00 am Friday morning. Although it's great to walk off a plane at the end of a flight and not have to fuel it or do maintenance, I miss being able to sprawl out on the floor and sleep on military aircraft!

Yesterday I met up with Ed and Pat for a late breakfast to decide where we were going to ride for the day (Pat is on my right, Ed to my left). Ed and I both served in VP-17 back in the early 90s. Ed and Pat both served together at some point in their careers and have remained friends, which must be quite some time if gauged by the bantering and fighting between the two! Although I was dubbed "princess" for the day (ya'll all know how high maintenance I can be!), I felt like I was waiting on a couple of women it took them so long to get themselves together for the day!

With passports in hand, we decided that margaritas in Mexico were in order, so we headed south for the border. We rode Hwy 94 to Tecate where we passed through the border and rode Hwy 5 to Ensenada. The road was two-lane and windy through hills dotted with resorts, shacks, open, arid fields and vineyards. The scenery, road conditions and driving skills of fellow motorists reminded me a lot of Crete, Greece except without the random goat herds crossing the road! It got hairy in a few parts where we had to pass huge rigs with loads that were obviously a major cause of the poor road conditions. After about 50 miles of full-on attention riding, we were ready for tasty beverages and snackage when we rolled into Ensenada.

I don't remember the name of the restaurant we stopped in to and had a great margarita (with freshly squeezed limes) and fajitas, but we left the bikes parked there under the watchful eye of the proprietor as we strolled around the town. We ended up at infamous Hussong's Cantina, birthplace of the margarita! Legend has it that the salted tequila concoction was invented in 1941 by a bartender at Hussong's for Margarita Henkel, the daughter of the German ambassador to Mexico at the time (and consequently named after her!). The cantina's sawdust covered wooden floors and portrait laden walls has been a popular destination for locals and tourists alike since it was established in its present location in 1892.

After spending the afternoon walking around and processing our tasty beverages, we jumped back on the bikes and headed north on Hwy 1 back towards the border. We were thankful for the weak drinks and the time we allotted to walk around as we were stopped at a military checkpoint on the way back. After showing proper documentation and a cursory search of our bikes (I was the only one with saddlebags), we were sent on our way. As you can see in the picture, the setting sun over the Pacific ocean provided a scenic backdrop as we road the coast all the way to Tijuana.

Unlike the border crossing at Tecate, Tijuana was a circus! The picture came out blurry, but you can get a feel for the carnival like atmosphere that greets you on the Mexican side of the USA/Mexico border. The line was at least a quarter mile long, but with Ed's new air horn, we blended in with the chaos of the border crossing as we split traffic and made our way to the front of the line. In no time at all, we were back on American soil and headed back to Coronado. I can't believe summer is already about over and fall will be in full swing by the time I get back from Asia. Although only a day-trip, I had been wanting to ride my bike down into Mexico since I got here so I'm glad I got the chance to finally go.

Today will be a lazy day. Whit & Kathie are coming over and we're just going to hang out on Coronado and at the beach. I just had my cup of coffee and am heading out the door for my morning run. Have a great weekend!

Military Olympians

2008-08-13T15:25:00.004-06:00

I have to admit that until I started working for the USOC, I had no idea that the U.S. military was in any way affiliated with the Olympic movement. It was during my internship that I was first introduced to the Army World Class Athlete Program (WCAP) and some of the active duty military who trained at the OTC. It was also during my internship that I met my friend Anita who was a Captain in the Army and competed in Athens in 2004 in Modern Pentathlon. Athletes in the WCAP program are temporarily assigned to locations such as an OTC to train and compete in their sport full-time. There are less than a hundred athlete Soldiers in the program so it's fairly unknown even within the Army.

During the last five years, I've been fortunate to work with some pretty talented athletes, both able-bodied and disabled. I'm sure it's no surprise that many military veterans can be found within the ranks of the Paralympic movement. What may be surprising however, is that there are also some active duty military representing the U.S. in the international arena through the Paralympics. I'll give more background and insight into the Paralympic movement as we get closer to those Games (Sept 6-17).

For a quick overview of active duty military representing the U.S. in the 2008 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games, check out the following link:

http://militarytimes.com/military-olympians/index.php

The array of summer sports is quite broad: boxing, fencing, modern pentathlon, shooting, swimming, track & field and wrestling. Check out the link for bios on the athletes, results, more info on military sport programs & history, and even a blog being updated from Beijing by the Commander of the Army Marksmanship Unit, from which 6 of the 22 Olympic shooters hail. Be sure to cheer for these athletes who are serving their country in one uniform and representing it on the playing field in another!

Running in the rain

2008-08-12T18:21:00.003-06:00

Just when you think there's nothing interesting going on, Mother Nature reminds you that there's usually something interesting going on all around you!

After arriving at the OTC last night and staying up until almost midnight watching Olympic Games coverage, I started testing the first athlete at 7:00 a.m. this morning. By 3:30 p.m., my colleague John and I had performed lactate testing on just over 20 athletes. For those of you not familiar with lactate testing, that equates to 6-8 blood samples from each athlete over the course of about 20 minutes of running! I love testing days, so the day actually flew by! Once we were done, we decided a late afternoon run was in order. One of the interns is a cross country runner for Cornell and is from this area, so she drew us a map of a favorite local run. It's actually a cross country ski trail but is also a popular hiking trail in the summer.

Map in hand, John and I drive the rental car to where we think her map indicates the trail head should be. We go up and down the road a bit and figure out that the dirt washout we keep seeing must be it. We park the car just as the rain starts coming down in a heavy drizzle and start jogging down the road and into the woods. John is a much faster runner than I am, so we decided to go our own paces and meet back at the car in an hour and fifteen minutes. I never wear an IPOD when I run outside, but for some reason I brought it on this run. I stopped at the entrance to the woods and started to put the ear buds in when I caught myself and pulled them out. It had been a long time since I stood in the midst of a forest and heard rain through leaves and foliage. It was a soothing, perfectly tuned symphony to my ears. I tucked the ear buds back into my sports bra and started jogging up hill through puddles, bog, decaying trees & leaves and lots of fern. Living in southern California and running primarily on beaches, I don't get many opportunities to run uphill anymore- and did my Achilles tendons let me know it!

At first, I was trying to stick to the sides of the "trail" so I wouldn't get the only pair of shoes I brought on this trip so mucked up that I wouldn't be able to wear them tomorrow. That lasted until about the second puddle surrounded by thick mud. I started to skirt the mud when a favorite quote of mine popped into my head. This saying was once shouted at me by a crusty senior chief in the Navy when I was falling behind on a run. Unfortunately, it's not fit for posting on this family friendly blog, but let's just say that it always propels me through whatever obstacle I may be facing at the time. So, with a huge smile on my face, I stomp my foot right smack in the middle of the mud puddle sending muck all over the trail and myself. Now that it was settled that I'd be wearing muddy, wet sneakers for the next 2 days I thoroughly enjoyed my hour out on the trail! I drank in the smell of wet leaves and dirt, the beauty of late afternoon light flitting through the trees and dancing with the shade, and the hugely soft sound of water cascading over every surface around me. It was one of those moments where you're reminded just how small you are in the universe but how much everything is interconnected. A bit philosophical for an out of town run I know, but I love how it's the everyday stuff that always grounds me.

Lake Placid

2008-08-11T18:58:00.002-06:00

I'm typing this from a dorm room at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center in New York. It's no trip to Beijing, but it's an all day journey to get here nontheless! I flew out of San Diego at 6:30 am, had a layover in Chicago, met up with my colleague, flew on to Albany, rented a car and drove the 2.5 - 3.0 hours to Lake Placid. We arrived around 8:00 pm and we'll start testing tomorrow morning bright and early on the women's ice hockey team.

It feels weird to be in the States working with a winter sport team while the summer Olympics are going on in Beijing! With the time difference between China and the west coast, I wake up every morning to about 20 emails with updates from the Games. We have lots of follks on the ground there with whom me and several other USOC employees will trade places with in a few weeks. There's a 10 day seperation between the Olympic and Paralympic Games, but there is a whole lot of turnover and passdown that occurs during that time!

So, although I don't have a lot to post about from the Games at the moment, stay tuned for updates on the Paralympics!

A lazy Sunday

2008-08-03T20:13:00.003-06:00

I know, I know, I've been slacking! My dad even gave me a hard time today about not posting when I made my weekly phone call home! Honestly, I've just been working and haven't had anything new and exciting to post about. There's been some interesting things going on at work, but ya'll know I don't post about work per se and I try to keep as much non-travel related work out of my posts as possible. Since I haven't traveled in a couple of weeks, that leaves me without adventures to post about.

Just to prove to you that my life sounds way more interesting on this blog than it really is most of the time. . . here's my Sunday for you:

Slept in until 7:00 a.m. For me, that's a two hour delay of my day!

Cup of coffee, piece of toast, followed by a 5 mile run on the beach.

Came back and made a killer omelet for breakfast (garlic, green onions, summer squash, zucchini, & sun-dried tomatoes). Just so my dad doesn't give my mom a hard time, that omelet was 3 egg whites and ONE whole egg!

Took a shower. Contemplated a nap. Peeked out the window and discovered a bright sunny, beach worthy day (doesn't happen as often as you'd think in Southern California!). Decided to nap on the beach.

Finished the book Freakonomics between two hours of napping on the beach.

Came back to my apt., took a shower and made a peanut butter & jelly sandwich (my favorite sandwich, but only with strawberry jelly!). Felt like I still needed to be outside, so took my beach cruiser bicycle out for a spin around the island.

Made some phone calls, headed down to the park for the Sunday evening concert.

Back at my apt., sauteed some shrimp and garlic, tossed with spring greens and cherry tomatoes, perfect summer supper.

OK, now that should prove that my life isn't always planes, trains, automobiles and passports! I've actually been savoring the relative calm of the last couple of weeks. Most of the athletes and my colleagues are in China, so I'm getting a lot of stuff done that's been pushed to a back burner for a while. I've learned to roll with the ebb and flow of work life. When competitions and preparations are hot and heavy, I put my nose down and get it done. I'm finally learning though that when there's a relative lull in activity to slow down, pick my head up and smell the gardenias again (smell much better than roses!).

That's all I've got for now. A week from Monday, I'll be heading out to our Lake Placid training center to work with the women's ice hockey team. Unfortunately, even though I'll be in Bridie's neck of the woods, I won't get to see her this trip. She'll be in Alaska for her brother's wedding!

Hope everyone had as relaxing of a weekend as I had and that the week finds you productive and content!

Paella with Fuentabravia friends

2008-07-24T21:23:00.007-06:00

In a rare stroke of scheduling luck, a group of friends from my tour in Spain were all in town last night. While stationed in Rota, I lived in a pretty sweet apartment building right on the beach of a little town called Fuentabravia. OK, even though I technically lived there I was deployed so much I'd forget where the light switches were every time I'd come back! Whit was my upstairs neighbor in this great building and Laurie lived in the apartment right next door. Whit and Laurie (in the black and blue shirts in the picture) are both officers in the Navy in the CEC (Civil Engineering Corp). Just up the beach lived Sergio (a civilian working with Navy CEC in Spain) and Ana, the life of any get-together! Whit has been the link between this diverse group ever since we all moved away from Spain in the mid to late 90s. Coincidentally, Whit, Ana and I all live in the San Diego area now. Laurie and her husband just got orders to Hawaii so they were out here visiting friends same as Sergio (who lives in the DC area now). Somehow, we all converged on Whit & Kathie's house for a night of paella.

For those of you not lucky enough to be stationed in Spain at some point in your life, paella is an amazing rice dish similar to Cajun jambalaya but with a lot more ingredients. I don't know how it's prepared in the rest of Spain, but on the southern coasts of Spain and Portugal, it's laden with seafood. It's not an easy dish to make; food preparation is labor intensive and the whole thing takes quite a while, and a lot of patience to cook. Lucky for us, Ana is an expert Paella maker and doesn't mind preparing it for friends who really appreciate the art of its creation. Being from Spain, Ana had brought to the States the essential equipment for this dish's preparation. As you can see in the picture, a large shallow pan is placed over a custom made stand atop a propane burner. I went over to Whit & Kathie's straight from work because I didn't want to miss any of the steps in the cooking of this unique dish. I arrived in time to watch Sergio cure the new pan but most of the ingredients were already prepped upon my arrival.

Ana is a lot like my late Papa Babin; an amazing cook but can't tell you a recipe to save her life! She hardly measured anything, she'd just eye-ball it up and throw it in the pan. I was trying to pay close attention, but with so much catching up to do with so many people it was hard to stay focused! The ingredients I did catch though were olive oil & garlic (lots of both!), green sweet peppers, shrimp, clams, calamari (squid), chicken, green beans, rice (from a Cuban grocery store), saffron and lemons. I asked Ana for the recipe, but she said I'd just have to invite her over to make it and pay closer attention next time! Umm, OK!!!

Several hours later with way too many appetizers already in our bellies, we dug into the paella. The picture above is the finished product. Whit & Kathie have the perfect party patio (complete with candle chandelier) so we settled in for some great food and conversation. With only 3 of us in the group of 10 not fluent in Spanish, the conversation kept sliding between Spanish laden with accents from Spain and Mexico, to English. Once again I was humbled by my lack of linguistic ability but appreciative of the broad spectrum of friends in my life.

For those of you who know Whit & Kathie, you'll be happy to hear that they are expecting. Not only is Kathie pregnant, she's carrying twins! Yep, Whit's strutting around like he's a stud!! She's due in the January-February time frame so maybe she won't be so cold all the time this winter! Get ready Whit, I have a feeling you're in for some strange food cravings while she's eating for three!

Million Dollar Hwy & Black Canyon

2008-07-15T18:06:00.002-06:00

With Sunday being an off-day for the construction crews, we rode off towards the Million Dollar Hwy (U.S. 550) confident that we wouldn't hit many delays. As always when riding in the mountains, it was a bit chilly for my taste, but what an amazing ride!! Snow capped mountain peaks, roaring waterfalls, babbling brooks and grazing deer greeted us all along the route.

Having just been paved, the roads were incredibly smooth but slick. A biker who had just ridden the highway stopped us as we started out to warn us not to lean into the curves due to the fresh oil on the roads. We heeded the warning, but it was hard not to pick up the pace through the twisting canyon with so many miles of smooth pavement and so little traffic ahead of us. We covered a little over half of the distance between Ouray and Silverton before we turned around. We were a long way from the Springs and still had a lot of sightseeing to do before the day was over.

As Ouray slipped away in our rear view mirrors (that's an overview of Ouray in the pic), we made our way towards the Black Canyon of Gunnison. I had never heard of this National Park but I was pleasantly surprised as we rode along the rim of a mini Grand Canyon in Colorado.

After riding along the rim of the gorge and walking out on a few scenic overviews, it was time to explore the gorge from within. We navigated the hairpin turns, 16% grade and loose gravel of the road that took us down to the river at the bottom of the canyon as curious motorists looked on and wondered if we were actually crazy! I usually do some of my best thinking, problem solving and daydreaming while riding, but my attention was keenly focused on the road for this one! The park ranger had informed us as we entered the park that bikers usually either love or hate the ride down into the canyon. I'm happy to report that we fell into the "loved the ride" category!

As we made the trek back towards Colorado Springs, we detoured off Hwy 50 just outside of Canyon City to do one of our favorite rides. Although Skyline Drive is only a couple of miles in length, the sheer drop offs from the single lane paved "road" makes it an interesting ride. I'd ridden this road many times, but it's still a thrill to ride along and enjoy the view from this unique vantage point. That's David in the picture cruising down Skyline Drive.

I'll end this post with the picture David took of Suzanne & me as we were riding down the highway. Ever since we all started riding together a couple of years ago, Suzanne takes the lead with me in the middle and David riding sweep (i.e. interference) when it's just the three of us. Although I find myself as the dominant female in most circles, Suzanne's position as mother of 8 grants her alpha dog status (that's a compliment Suzanne)! Plus, my terrible sense of direction doesn't exactly make me a prime candidate for taking point! So, that's me on the second bike in the picture riding towards the lake. I recently discovered that it's a lot less painful to run a brush through my hair at the end of the day if I wear it in pig tails when I ride. I can feel my hair flipping around in the wind, but I had no idea I resembled Pippi Longstocking until I saw this pic! After riding behind me for 700 miles over the weekend watching my pig tails stick straight out, now I can understand while David always seemed to be laughing at me when we'd stop!!

Well, that's it for my adventures in Colorado Springs. I'm now back in sunny California and as of now, I'm scheduled to stay in San Diego for the next three weeks! I'm pretty excited to sleep in my own bed and run on the beach in the mornings again. Plus, I can use a little time away from airports, airline seats and delayed flights for a little while before my travel schedule picks up again. Looks like I'll be going out to our training center in Lake Placid, NY in mid-August followed by two weeks in Okinawa, Japan for a pre-Paralympic training camp and then on to Beijing, China for a week at the Paralympic Games. I'll post if I embark on any adventures between now and then! Thanks for checking in!!

Riding to Ouray, CO

2008-07-14T20:13:00.008-06:00

The stars lined up and I ended up with a weekend free of work obligations! Much to David’s amusement, Suzanne and I were like two little kids waiting for Christmas morning as we planned an overnighter to Ouray! They had done some riding out in that area last summer with their two teenage daughters and were excited to share it with me also.

We got off to a chilly start early Saturday morning with the temp hovering around 60 until we pulled into Canon City for breakfast at Big Daddy’s. The breakfast of biscuits & gravy pretty much set the stage for my food discipline, or lack thereof, for the next 48 hours! Although chilly, the sky had cleared up and we enjoyed a crisp walk around Monarch Pass. As it turns out, the rest area at Monarch Pass is known for their fudge. Are you getting a feel for how my food intake over the weekend went yet?!

The climb in temperature as we dropped down the other side of the 11,000 ft pass brought a smile to my face and a little lead to my throttle hand! The day had turned gorgeous as we rolled past lakes full of weekend boaters and parks crowded with family BBQs. This picture of David & Suzanne and I was taken in Blue Mesa next to the reservoir. We pulled into Ouray with enough daylight left to stroll the main street of the mid-1800s town. It reminded me a lot of the towns of Cripple Creek and Deadwood with its cowboy-Western looking storefronts lining the street.

We had intended on checking into our B&B and unloading our bags then to continue riding out on the “Million Dollar Highway” (U.S. 550) towards Silverton. We decided to wait until the next morning however once we heard that road construction was causing traffic backups of up to an hour on the route. Although not an arduous day of riding, the delay in plans was welcomed after riding about 300 miles. We toasted the day with a glass of wine followed by a perfectly decadent dinner on the patio of Bulow’s Bistro. My culinary discipline was regained momentarily when I ordered the grilled tilapia only to be lost again as I followed that up with a dessert of raspberry baked Alaska!

We greeted the setting sun with a dip in the B&B’s hot tub after dinner. The Softail Deluxe I had rented made me realize what a kidney busting ride my Sportster can be, but I was sore between my shoulder blades from the lack of a back rest on the Softail for so many miles. I know, I know, I’m turning into an old lady!!! Besides the lack of back support, I felt too tall for the bike. The seat was cushy enough, but it was so low I felt like an adult riding a child’s tricycle as my knees rested even with the top of the gas tank! It was much heavier than my Sportster so it was more stable of a ride, but I dragged the boards more than once as I leaned the bike into the canyon corners!

I can only attach a few pics to a post, so I’ll do a separate one for Sunday’s riding. Stay tuned!

Colorado Crawfish!

2008-07-10T22:09:00.004-06:00

I guess everyone sent out some on-time-flight vibes because I got back from Ft Benning only 1 hour late on Sunday evening and made it to Colorado Springs on Monday. It's been a long, but productive week of meetings. Although I didn't like living here in the winters, Colorado is pretty amazing in the summer! The weather has been gorgeous since I arrived, plus I always feel like a rock star when I come back to the training center here! So many people to catch up with on complex, it's good to feel missed!

After a late conference call, I met up with some friends at a great Cajun restaurant here in the Springs called Culpepper's. I usually don't eat Cajun food outside of Louisiana, but I took a chance and tried this place out when I lived out here and their red beans and rice tasted pretty authentic. As luck would have it, this restaurant gets fresh crawfish flown in from Louisiana every Thursday and has a crawfish boil. Even though I knew crawfish season is over, I decided to join some friends there for dinner. We were not disappointed!

Paul had called ahead of time and reserved 3 pounds of crawfish. I laughed when he called me mid-day to tell me that. Three pounds, that's not even an appetizer! I don't think he realized the weight counted the shells! April and Paul's wife Karla decided not to partake of the boiled crawfish, so I told Paul we should order at least 5 pounds for him and I and get some sides to go with it. Although a little over-seasoned, the crawfish were really good as were the potatoes, sausage and corn-on-the cob that were boiled with it. We don't really have a name for the dip we make to go with boiled seafood at home but boiled seafood just isn't complete without it for me. I tried to describe to the waiter our Daigle family concoction and he said he would give it a shot. He came back with a huge boil of the mixture that actually tasted pretty close. A couple of Abita Turbo Dog beers to accompany the crawfish and an order of beignets for dessert completed our Louisiana dining experience. The sun setting behind the Rocky Mountains completed the eclectic evening.

Tomorrow will bring a morning of trying to answer the hundred or so emails I've fallen behind on and a couple more meetings. In the afternoon I go to the Harley dealership to pick up a rented 2008 Softail Deluxe for the weekend. I'll ride it to a social tomorrow night then take off for an overnighter to Ouray early Saturday morning with Suzanne & David. This rugged little mountain town out west has been dubbed the "Switzerland of America" and is nestled amongst towering 13,000 foot peaks. It was on my list of places to visit before I moved from Colorado, but time got away from me and I never made it. I'm excited to get the chance to check it out now and to ride there on a bigger, nice bike. My camera broke last week in Ft Benning, so I bought a new one out here. Hopefully I'll get some good pics from our weekend trip to post.

4th of July in Columbus

2008-07-06T04:56:00.005-06:00

Although I was disappointed that I wouldn't be on Coronado for the huge 4th of July shindig they put on every year (and that I'd be working instead!), I still ended up having fun for the 4th. By mid-afternoon, the shooting competitions that I needed to be at were completed and my testing was done. I got directions for the fitness running trail from some of the guys stationed there and did a few loops of the hilly trail through the woods. It felt so good to run in the humidity! I know, I know, everyone thinks my love of the heat & humidity is crazy. There's something to be said though for being hot and sweaty after a hard workout. Even though I ran a ton while I lived in Colorado, I never felt like I was really getting a good workout. It was probably the altitude and not the lack of perspiration though that made me feel that way. After cooling down a bit after our run, Nick (the Physical Therapist) and I headed downtown for what was billed as an "old fashioned 4th of July celebration." The festival itself was geared mostly towards kids, but the river walk right on the Chattahoochee is pretty cool. We departed from the river and the family entertainment and headed towards the main strip of restaurants and bars. With 95 degrees and 95% humidity, the margaritas we had were pretty refreshing!

After the sun went down, we made our way back over to the river and watched the fireworks show. The Chattahoochee River divides Georgia from Alabama as well as Eastern from Central Time zones. A bridge connects Columbus, GA to Phenix City, AL. As we watched the fireworks show, we tossed around the thought of how cool it would be for Phenix City and Columbus to have a dueling fireworks show over the river! The show was nice but too short! The night was still young so we met up with some of the coaches back on the main strip and hung out for the better part of the evening.

My disappointment over not having BBQ on the 4th of July was alleviated last night when a bunch of us went to one of the shooter's house for an evening of grilling. After a full day of competitions, we rallied across the river in Alabama (less stringent fireworks ordnances!) and shot off a few colorful explosives. I hadn't laughed so hard in a long time as we set off various forms of firecrackers, fireworks and whistlers for well over an hour. Stereotypical redneck, but fun nonetheless! The gathering dispersed with just enough time for most of us to get a couple of hours sleep before our early flights this morning. I'm doing this post from the Atlanta airport as I await my flight to San Diego via Denver. Tomorrow morning I will fly out to Colorado Springs for a week of meetings and a weekend of riding with Suzanne & David. Hopefully I'll have something fun to post about from the Springs!

Cajuns in Georgia

2008-07-02T21:27:00.005-06:00

No, I did not actually fall off the face of the earth after all my house guests left! I just needed a little time to get myself together before the next round of work trips started up. I realize that you would never guess it from this blog, but I really do work between these adventures!

I walked out of the airport this evening into the warm, humidity laden embrace of Atlanta. I'm out here for the 4th of July weekend to work with some of our shooters during a competition being held at Fort Benning. I don't have any pictures to post, but just thought I'd let everyone know that I'm still alive & kicking and to tell my story of what a small world it is. . .

With mapquest directions in hand, I was making a sharp turn coming off an exit on the way to my hotel when I spotted a motorcyclist stranded on the side of the road. Being a firm believer in karma, especially motorcycle karma, I navigated my rental car to the shoulder and sized up the situation. Some guy is standing there with an amused look on his face staring at his Harley. I roll down my window and ask him if he's got it under control. He looks a little embarrassed and admits that he's run out of gas. He tells me that he just bought the bike and was so excited to ride that he didn't check the fuel. It was a mid-90s Fat Boy with a pretty sweet paint job, so I could understand his desire to take it for a spin ASAP.

If I can just use your cell phone, I'll give my wife a call to bring some gas out.

Sure, no worries and I hand him my phone.

At this point, I'm picking up a down-da-bayou accent and ask him where he's from.

Louisiana.

Yeah, what part?

Houma.

Are you kidding me?! I'm from Bayou Blue!

Turns out, Raymond is from Bourg! For the non-Cajuns reading this blog, Bourg is a couple of bayous over from the one I grew up on. He and his wife are physical therapists and just moved out here about a month ago. What are the odds?! He couldn't get in touch with his wife so I took him to the gas station just up the road. He kept apologizing for taking up my time but we both couldn't believe that Bayou Blue and Bourg natives met up on the side of the road in Columbus, GA! Of course we run through the "do you know so and so" list and discover that he played ball with my ex-brother-in-law. What a small world! During the evacuation for hurricane Katrina he had taken extra gas with him and was able to help out a few bikers on the way, so we chalked it up to his good karma coming back around. As Raymond thanked me profusely for helping him out, I pulled away from the gas station feeling pretty good about my contribution to the universe for the day!

Not sure if I'll post or not while I'm out here, so I'm sending out a "Happy 4th of July" wish to everyone now. I fly back to San Diego on Sunday evening and fly out to Colorado Springs on Monday morning. I'd appreciate some on-time-flight vibes from everyone so I can be where I need to be on time!

Aunt Karen & Aunt Jemima

2008-06-23T22:26:00.008-06:00

This morning started off just like every other morning for me, early morning wake-up followed by a workout. Unlike other days however, I had visitors out on the beach during my run. Monica & Philip got up shortly after me and headed out the door to walk along the beach. I added a few more minutes to my route to catch up and join them for sea shell hunting. They were totally fascinated with the sand dollars still alive and leaving tracks on the beach. Even though they were diligent about only picking up the ones already dead, they still came back to my apt. with 1/3 of a grocery bag full! They soon discovered that mornings on the beach are never dull; they found themselves in the midst of a BUDS candidate class formation run and stumbled upon this really cool sand sculpture of two mermaids.

We arrived back at my apt. with growling stomachs and ready for breakfast. Every summer for the last several years, Philip and Andy have come out to my house, wherever I'm living at the time, for a week each of vacation. One of the very first times Philip vacationed at my house, I fixed him Aunt Jemima pancakes laden with fresh blueberries. For some reason, he thought that was the coolest thing he had ever had and it has become a tradition for him and I. So, being a woman who takes her auntly duties quite seriously, I always have fresh blueberries in the house and Aunt Jemima pancake mix for Philip when he comes to visit. As you can see from the picture, we were so hungry I didn't even get a shower in after my run before I started cooking breakfast! A new tradition was formed however- scrubbing the walls after pancakes! I had put so many plump, juicy blueberries in the batter that when Monica put a fork into her pancake, a blueberry exploded on my kitchen wall! Scrub as she might, my wall still has blue streaks near the table. Philip laughed all morning over this one!

Since the beach was still a little hazy, we decided to leave the rental car parked for the day and took the ferry across into San Diego to walk around a bit. We ended up at the Fisherman's Village for fish tacos and pulled-pork sandwiches for lunch. There are a ton of cool shops along the waterfront, so we strolled along and ended up listened to a South American band that happened to be playing on a little stage. I love the sound of wooden flutes and it just seemed to fit our moods for the day. We stumbled across an eclectic hammock shop where Philip and I tried out a great hammock swing. It was so comfy I started contemplating if my landlord would allow eye-bolts out of the ceiling in my living room in order to hang it in my apt! Monica finally managed to coax us out of the swing and back onto the ferry to Coronado.

The haze had finally cleared, so Monica & I donned bikinis and headed out to the beach to catch some late afternoon rays. We both fell asleep to the sound of waves breaking and seagulls flying overhead. Our very relaxing day ended with another great meal on Coronado followed by gelato at what has become Philip's favorite place on the island!

We're hoping that tomorrow will bring a hazeless day so we can drive up the coast and check out the beach towns along Hwy 101 north.

Family in town!

2008-06-22T21:44:00.006-06:00

By the time Monica & Philip's delayed flight finally landed last night I had already had a full on day. I met up with a Navy buddy from my first squadron that I hadn't seen in 15 years and one of his friends and we rode for almost 8 hours! It was HOT out, upper 90s for the whole day. Although they kept jokingly referring to me as the princess of the group, the title was transferred to the guys as they kept whining about the heat! Although sweating buckets and sticky from so much sunscreen, I was perfectly content riding in a tank top (yep, I've got quite the mish-mash tan going on from the last week!) and soaking in the sun. I stayed true to my mantra- I'd rather sweat than freeze any day!

Finally, around 9:30 pm I navigated the rental car through the maze of San Diego airport and picked up the two wayward Cajuns! Although I'm quite content not owning a car, it does come in handy to have four wheels when you have more than one guest in town. Plus, Philip had already stated he didn't want to ride on the back! At 16 years old, he's already 6'3" so he would've looked pretty funny riding two-up anyway (I'm refraining from using the slang term for someone riding on the passenger seat since this is a family-friendly blog!).

We started off the morning driving up to Point Loma, but it quickly became apparent that today was not a good day to stay on the coast. The warm weather we've been experiencing here in southern California mixed with the characteristically cold Pacific water and produced thick fog that reduced visibility to less than 10 miles. No worries, we switched to Plan B and headed south-east towards desert.

After tooling around in the desert heat for the morning, we headed back towards the coast thinking that the fog would've burned off by early afternoon. That wasn't the case as we found ourselves surrounded once again in thick condensation hanging in the air. To Philip's relief, the closer we got to the ocean the cooler it got. What it is with guys and their aversion to heat?! Without bright sunshine beckoning us to the beach, we decided to tour the town of Coronado. As you can see from these pics, dessert crepes were on the afternoon agenda. So for those of you who have emailed to inform me that I've been slacking on food pics, here you go!

Philip opted out, but Monica and I attended the Coronado concert in the park where the San Diego Marine Corp band played tonight. We all ended the day with supper at a great little Mexican restaurant with a stop off at the local gelato shop on the walk home. Not sure what tomorrow will bring, the weather will decide which direction we head.

Biker Babes!

2008-06-17T21:28:00.008-06:00

OK, I guess that pig tails and our own bikes take us out of the "biker babe" category! But after rolling out over 500 miles together over the last 3 days, we are feeling a bit sassy!

Yesterday, we rode up the coast on old Hwy 101 to Oceanside. We had to take the interstate north to get around the PGA tournament that was going on at Torrey Pines, but after that it was beach riding most of the way. In true California weather fashion, the closer to the beach you get, the colder it is! It seemed so backwards for us to be in long sleeves and coats as we cruised up the coast yesterday and then in tank tops and sunscreen as we headed east and inland today.

Even though Bridie was a winter sport athlete, we share a love of hot weather. We were determined to rid ourselves of the chill from the beach, so we headed for the desert today. We rode twisty, winding roads up through the mountains. It's amazing how quickly Bridie became comfortable with navigating the sharp turns! We started off slow at first, but once she got the rhythm of pushing and leaning into the turns, the pace picked up. As the afternoon wore on, we dropped into the desert and the temperature soared. We rolled through Borrego Springs around 2:00 p.m when the temp hit 110 degree F! With relative humidity under 20%, the hydration stop at a local gas station proved to be just what we needed! After consuming lots of fluids and allowing enough time for both us and the bikes to cool down, we set off back into the mountains toward San Diego.

Anyone reading this blog that knows me can verify that I have a horrible sense of direction. As you can imagine, me riding lead was like the blind leading the blind! Even with the map, we stopped often at road junctions to verify we were on the right path! I'm sure I added on many miles to our road trip due to detours, but since we were just out to ride it really didn't matter! One of the things I love about hanging out with Bridie is that we just roll with the punches together. We always seem to be able to turn a detour or unexpected change in plans into a new adventure- perfectly matched travel buddies!

After riding around on 883 cc out here, she's already concerned that the 250 she left back in New York will no longer suffice! Unfortunately, the riding she did out here will have to hold her over for the rest of the summer. Her former life as a competitive speed skater has taken a toll on her body. She had to cut her vacation out here short by a day to return to New York for her fifth surgical procedure in as many years. A few bottles of wine and several hours of conversation later, she's ready to face the last of the remnants of her former life before moving on to a professional career outside of sport. It's never easy to close the door on one chapter of life and move onto the next, but with a newly earned college degree and a bit more experience under her belt she feels like she's ready.

Tomorrow I will see Bridie off at the airport and get ready for my sister Monica and her son Philip to come out here on Saturday. We'll see what adventures their visit brings!

Catchin up on two weeks

2008-06-15T21:21:00.007-06:00

The month of June has been reserved for visitors to the Karen B&B here in San Diego. The first of my scheduled guests is my friend Bridie who arrived on Friday. Even though I'm almost 15 years her senior, we've been sharing adventures ever since we became friends during my USOC internship 5 years ago. The last time I saw Bridie was in MA at the wedding ceremony I performed for Deb & Karin last fall. She's just graduated from Cornell University and is taking a little vacation time before joining the rest of us in the rat race of making a living.

After hearing that I just upped and took a motorcycle safety class on my own a couple of years ago, Bridie decided to do the same and ended up buying a 1995 Yamaha Virago 250 shortly thereafter. Although she rides her bike quite often during the warm months, New York isn't conducive to year-round riding in order to gain experience. Up until today, her longest time in the saddle was 70 miles or just a couple of hours. When she decided to come out here for a weeks' vacation, she tossed around the thought of renting a similar small bike to scoot around on. Needless to say, I steered her towards at least an 883 HD Sportster, which we picked up on Friday. We rolled around locally for the afternoon to allow her to get used to the bike, then went for a full on day of riding today.

After only a day of riding, you would think she's been riding a "bigger " bike all her life! It was so much fun to look in my rear view mirror and see Bridie grinning from ear to ear as we navigated winding valley and mountain roads for much of the day. We took off this morning from Coronado and headed south-east on Hwy 94. After checking out the border at Tecate (we decided not to go down to Mexico today), we stopped in Campo for a great roadside diner lunch.

From there, we took S1 Scenic Byway to the heart of Cleveland National Forest- Mount Laguna. I had been up to this 6000 foot road known as Sunrise Hwy before, but it was a totally different experience during this upper-80s degree day! There were a ton of bikes out on the road today skirting the eastern edge of the National Forest with hairpin turns overlooking the California Desert. It was pretty technical riding, but Bridie held her own as we maintained a steady pace on the uncrowded mountain roads.

After exiting the National Forest, we descended into the historic town of Julian where we stopped to stretch our legs. The main street was lined with bikes of every make and model with folks strolling along the streets enjoying afternoon refreshments. We popped into a local "soda fountain" where I enjoyed a delicious chocolate shake! I was able to alleviate some of the guilt over this indulgence by reminding myself that I had worked out for over an hour this morning before we set off on our road trip (unlike Bridie who decided to catch up on some beauty sleep)!

After 5 hours in the saddle and over 175 miles clocked on the odometer, we rolled back into Coronado to celebrate the day. We stopped off at my favorite local wine shop and picked up a tasty beverage for the evening. We packed a little picnic basket of crackers, cheese, humus, fruit and wine and headed to the beach. We hung out there for a few hours catching up while snacking and enjoying some great wine. The day was perfect- adventurous yet relaxing! In typical Karen fashion, we have no plans for the rest of her time here in Southern California, but we have no doubts that the next few days will involve some two-wheeled adventures. We'll start off tomorrow morning with a cup of coffee and the map spread out on the table. Who knows what the day will bring. . .

Beach runs

2008-05-31T11:12:00.010-06:00

Now that the sun rises earlier each day, I've gotten into the routine of running on the beach in the mornings a few times each week. The stretch of beach that runs in front of the Hotel del Coronado from NAS North Island to the Naval Amphibious Base is about 1.5 miles, so a down and back of 3 miles is the perfect route for my runs. I use the term "run" loosely since I'd call my 10:00 per mile pace more of a jog! I've always been a morning person, so I love that I can get up at 5:00 a.m. and get a workout in before I have to be at work for 8:00 a.m. I'm determined not to take for granted the fact that I'm only a 5 minute walk from the beach!

Almost every morning run for the last couple of weeks, I've been privy to some pretty amazing sites. Each event random, but moving in its own way. As you can see from these pictures, this morning it was hundreds of sand dollars washed up on the beach! I've never seen anything like it! Usually, stumbling across one sand dollar still whole is like finding hidden treasure, but there were clusters of 30-50 still in-tact sand dollars strewn all along a mile section of the beach this morning. I immediately thought of my sister Monica when I saw them; she and I share a passion for collecting sea shells! Not ones that you can just buy at a beach shop, but ones we've found ourselves. I don't take my camera on runs with me so I returned to the beach post-run with camera in hand for these shots.

Of course, finding sand dollars on the beach was just one of many ways mother nature has rewarded me for donning running shoes and heading towards the Pacific Ocean in the chilly, early morning air. One morning last week I stepped outside to a bone-chilling drizzly morning. Determined that there must still be some military toughness left over in me somewhere in my now cushy life, I determinedly shut the door behind me and headed in the direction of the sound of pounding waves. As I rounded a corner that allowed a full view of the beach and ocean, my breath caught as I gazed upon a full arch rainbow over the ocean. Not just a vividly-colored ribbon in the sky, a streak of early-morning sunlight had escaped through the clouds and was illuminating a three-masted sail boat off in the distance. It was like a spotlight was being shown on the vessel under the arching rainbow. Startling and spectacular all at once.

A couple of mornings prior to the rainbow-sailboat sighting, I was running along and kept catching glimpses of something moving out in the water. It was right at dawn and I couldn't really make out what it was. I kept running along until enough light from the sunrise allowed me to spy the source of movement. I literally stopped in my tracks and stood in amazement as at least 2 dozen dolphins (or porpoises, not sure which) played and surfed through the gently rolling waves. Although I've encountered these beautiful mammals numerous times on fishing trips with my dad and even spent hours in the water off the beach of Pensacola holding one with my buddy Rob trying to save its life (we did!), I had never seen so many at one time. They were swimming into the barrels of surf and riding the waves until I could no longer see them when the wave pounded the beach. I thought for sure they would beach themselves by coming so close, but none did. I reversed course and started walking back up the beach from where I had just ran to follow them as they played. I must've walked parallel to this moving playground for at least 15 minutes until they headed out to deeper water and I could no longer see them.

One of my first pre-sunrise encounters came on a morning run about a month ago. After waking up earlier than intended and not being able to go back to sleep, I decided not to fight it and just got my day cranked off before dawn. Although the beach is somewhat illuminated by the hotels along the water front, it was still quite dark as my footfalls fell into a comfortable pace with the water lapping at my feet. Don't worry Mom, it's quite safe and the beach is patrolled! My attention was divided between early morning thoughts and the rhythmic sound of the waves when I looked further up ahead and saw an image I couldn't quite figure out. It looked like several headlights heading my way but with a lot of shadows moving in and out of their beams. After a few more minutes, the mystery was solved as a whole class of Navy BUDS candidates/SEALS closed the gap between me and their formation. It was comforting to know that I wasn't the only early-morning runner out there! Although I still miss being in the military, a feeling of freedom washed over me as I reminded myself that I was out there running by choice and not by mandate!

With all these sightings, I take off in anticipation each morning for my runs excited about what might be awaiting me!

Indianapolis, IN

2008-05-30T18:15:00.003-06:00

I hate posting without pictures, but I don't have any pics to accompany this post yet. For once, I wasn't the one with the camera so I'm forced to wait for others to forward their shots on to me before I can post them! I'm sitting in the Denver airport during a layover on my way back to San Diego. I flew to Indianapolis, IN on Wednesday to attend the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) conference. I usually stay for the whole 5 days, but I just didn't have that kind of time to spend away from work this year. I only attended a couple of sessions, but in the less than 48 hours I spent in Indy I was able to catch up with quite a few friends and colleagues. It's amazing that amongst thousands of faces at these conferences I always find myself responding to my name being called across a large conference hall! The sport science and sport nutrition worlds are pretty small so it's not uncommon to run into many international acquantances each year.

Barring flight delays, I should be back in my own bed before midnight tonight. The only big plans I have for the weekend ahead is to attend Whit's celebration tomorrow night for obtaining his architecture license! Should be a fun time!!!

Memorial Day weekend in San Diego

2008-05-28T08:00:00.001-06:00

Three whole days off! Although the weather was chilly and overcast most of the weekend, I still got out locally. Although most Americans consider Memorial Day weekend nothing more than the kick-off to summer and cook outs, I was determined to commemorate the holiday by visiting some local memorials. I rode back up to Mount Soledad (previous post) and read a few more commemorative plaques. It's amazing how personal some of them are. The family decides how much information to list about the service-member's military careers and achievements as well as their family life, but almost all of them are accompanied by a picture. For those of you subjected to my camera-toting escapades, you know that I'm a picture person!

Today I attended a memorial service at Fort Rosencrans military cemetery out at Point Loma. It was solemn and beautiful, complete with accompaniment by the Marine Corp band and taps being played by echoing buglers. The effect of the echo as they played acres away from each other on opposite sides of the cemetery was haunting. I don't think I've ever heard anything so hallowed and touching; an emotional tribute to those who have paid the ultimate price for the life and lifestyles we enjoy today.

One of the best parts of living on Coronado island is that everything is so close. Even sites across San Diego bay are walking distance thanks to the Coronado-San Diego ferry. For $6 round trip, I boarded the ferry boat (in the picture between the pier and the San Diego skyline) and was transported across the bay within 10 minutes. There are so many things to see and do right across the bay but I decided on a leisurely sightseeing day and bypassed all the maritime sights and headed towards the Seaport Village.

Before getting to the Village of shopping boutiques and restaurants, I stopped off in the park right next to the USS Midway Museum. I spied a huge sailor statue from the ferry and wanted to get a closer look. It turned out to be a 3D depiction of the now famous V-J Day photo from Times Square of a navy sailor kissing a woman that was originally published in Life magazine in 1945. As you can see by how small the people on the ground look next to this thing, it's massive!

Next stop was lunch! Since moving to San Diego, fish tacos are quickly becoming one of my favorite local meals. They come in many forms with many different fixins' and many types of fish out here. My favorite however, is grilled with lots of cilantro. Although not the best fish taco I've ever had, I ate a pretty decent version at Buster's Beach House & Longboard Bar. They're always awkward to eat, but I love the grilled fish with cabbage, cilantro, tomatoes & lime falling out of the soft tacos. Pretty tasty with an ice cold cerveza!

One other high point of the weekend was attending the first concert of the Coronado Summer Concerts in the park series. Every Sunday evening throughout the summer there will be a free concert out at Spreckles Park. Whit & Kathie came over to the island and we hung out at the park enjoying a bottle of wine and patriotic music by the Coronado Community Band. The evening was clear & cool but not too chilly as we lounged in lawn chairs and enjoyed the music and company. I'm looking forward to attending these performances whenever I'm in town.

Speaking of being in and out of town, I fly out on Wed for Indianapolis for a conference. It's a short trip, I'll be back before the weekend starts if the airline lives up to its end of the financial transaction of my airline ticket. Seems so simple doesn't it. . . I give them money to take me and my luggage somewhere. My end of the bargain is to pay the fare and show up at the allotted time with my luggage. Their end of the bargain is to take me and my luggage to the designated location at the designated time as indicated on the receipt of the financial transaction. Should be so easy. . .

Point Loma & Bay Bridge Run/Walk

2008-05-26T16:29:00.007-06:00

I've been so busy this week, I haven't had a chance to update ya'll on the rest of last weekend. I just couldn't stay off my bike with the weather so beautiful and warm, so I did a little more sightseeing and participated in a run/walk.

I'm starting this post off with the map to orientate you on my weekend. I live on Coronado which is the "island" in the middle of the map. The red line that is marked "toll bridge" in the map is actually the San Diego Bay Bridge. As mentioned in a previous post, it's no longer a toll bridge and is free to pass over. Unfortunately, it's illegal for anything other than motorized transport to pass over the bridge. That makes it pretty hard to get some good pictures from up there, so I decided to walk the Navy's 22nd Original Bay Bridge Run/Walk so I could take my camera along. To the west of the island is a peninsula called Point Loma. I rode out there a couple of times and toured the National park and spectacular ocean views.

Unfortunately, the day of the walk turned out to be hazy and visibility wasn't great for my photo trek. The walk/run was 4 miles long and raised funds for the Navy's MWR program (Morale, Welfare & Recreation), so my registration fee went to a great cause even if I didn't get spectacular pictures out of it! In this picture you can see the Hotel del Coronado (red peaked cluster of buildings) slightly right to center and further to the right is Point Loma off in the distance. The Hotel del Coronado is on the coast at the sharp south-east bend of the road depicted by the red line on Coronado island on the map. As you can see, it's a straight line of sight from the hotel to Point Loma. I often go for walks along the beach in front of the Hotel del Coronado to watch the sun set just behind Point Loma.

At the end of Point Loma is Cabrillo National Park. Although this point of land may not have been the actual landing site, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo landed somewhere in San Diego bay in the 1540s and became the first European to set foot on the west coast of what is now the U.S. There's a statue commemorating him and his landing at the tip of the point overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Not far from the statue is the Old Point Loma Lighthouse build in the 1850s. The Fresnel lens reflected the oil lamp of the light house and could be seen 39 miles out to sea, on a clear night. I say "a clear night" because we often get what's called a marine layer out here in San Diego. Apparently the fog and low clouds of the marine layer often obscured the light resulting in the closure of the lighthouse less than 40 years later. The lighthouse still stands and is open to the public for touring. At the turn of the 20th century the 422 foot elevation of the peninsula was recognized as a strategic defense site and designated as a military reserve. During World Wars I & II, the facilities on the peninsula acted as lookout points and defense garrisons.

On a winding road that descended down to sea level from the top of the peninsula I discovered what must be one of the most scenic duty stations in the U.S. I took a picture of the Coast Guard station in my rear view mirror as I ascended back up to 400 feet. Click on the picture for a bigger view and you'll see that the small cluster of Spanish Style buildings hugging the cliff overlooking the ocean is a military base! Not sure how many people are stationed there but there was one house with a swing under a front porch. Sure is a waste of a sweet site if no one lives in that house!

I had my riding boots on so I didn't do a whole lot of hiking, but I will certainly go back out there with running shoes in my saddlebags this summer. There are quite a few walking trails throughout the peninsula with pretty amazing views. Some of the trails are up high overlooking the cliffs and some actually parallel the shoreline and provide access to some tide pools. Looked like a great place to take Monica and Philip when they come out for a visit next month!

OK, still lots more to catch everyone up on. I got out and about a bit on this three-day Memorial Day weekend. I hope everyone had a great holiday and didn't forget to take a moment to recall the real reason for this holiday.

Naval Training Center, San Diego

2008-05-18T20:10:00.007-06:00

The last three days turned out to be a beautiful, hot weekend! The temps hit the 80s all three days!!! With such gorgeous days, I couldn't resist taking my Harley out for some riding. I didn't do any long rides, just stayed around town and played tourist. Just up the road from the San Diego Airport is the remains of NTC San Diego. Great Lakes is the only Recruit Training Command now indoctrinating recruits into sailors, but for over 70 years (1923-1997), just about every enlisted man in the Navy had been run through the training facilities of NTC San Diego. That includes my dad who went through boot camp here in 1958!

One of the enduring symbols of naval boot camp are the training ships. The ship you see in this picture is the USS Recruit and has never sailed a day in its life! It was commissioned in July of 1949 and has helped train over 50,000 recruits in ship borne duties. It's a 2/3 scale model of a destroyer escort that in 1983 was reconditioned as a training guided missile frigate. The fact that it has always been permanently dry-docked earned it its nickname USS Neversail. It's now a California Registered Historical Landmark.

In 2001, demolition and deconstruction began at NTC to transform it into a community and development center now known as Liberty Station. What used to be the training grounds for all enlisted sailors now contains housing developments, service & retail businesses, parks and museums. It's pretty amazing what a great job San Diego has done to preserve the history of this place while still allowing progress and drawing the public back to the city's history. This picture is of the North Chapel which was built in 1942. There's a great stained glass window on one side of a sailor with head bowed and cover in hand.

Although the redevelopment of NTC is still in progress, it's easy to see how this place is already becoming a city center. A lot of the old buildings have been refreshed and have a distinctly Spanish flair. The Command Center faces the waterfront and the rear is adjacent to a beautiful flower garden complete with a pond. There were several groups hosting events here as I wandered in and out of buildings; a uniquely historical setting in which to hold meetings.

Back in the 1940s, the station housed 33,000 men, 75% of whome were recruits. For some new sailors, NTC remained home for a while longer as they completed their "A" schools. That's a lot of buildings and space! Most of the barracks are gone and have been replaced with residential neighborhoods and parks. The residential areas are a mix of civilian and military housing and don't stray far from the Spanish architecture seen in the commercial buildings.

As you can see in this last picture, the nautical theme has definitely been kept throughout the commercial area. It's pretty cool that you can now grocery shop at Von's and Trader Joe's and do your banking at Navy Federal Credit Union in the same place that recruits were getting their heads shaved and issued boondockers back in the day! It's really cool how pieces of the original base have been placed throughout the new Liberty Station. In Trader Joe's, there's a black & white picture of a sailor standing guard next to the front gate with the NTC Gate sign next to him. Next to the picture on the wall of this grocery store is the original gate sign.

That's it for today. I visited another picturesque place here in San Diego that I'll do a post on later this week. Thanks for stopping in!

Columbus, Georgia

2008-05-16T10:01:00.005-06:00

I just returned from working with some of our shooters out at Fort Benning, GA. I have to apologize right off the bat that I really slacked on taking pictures this trip. Even though there were lots of beautiful and interesting things to take pictures of, it just never seemed convenient to whip out my camera! So, the one picture I did get was of a hodge-podge supper of side dishes I had one night. After having read the advertisement for this restaurant (which I'll leave nameless), I figured a place specializing in Southern food was just what I needed! I had eaten a late lunch, so I opted-out of the meat selections and just ordered an assortment of sides.

For my non-Southern readers out there, I'll identify the side dishes for you! Starting with the blue bowl of butter and going clockwise: black-eyed peas, fried okra, sweet potato souffle, carrot & raisin salad, butter (Lima) beans, and cornbread sticks. It all looked right, but the okra had been fried in old grease and were inedible in my opinion. The sweet potato souffle was OK but I could've done without the raisins in it. It's hard to mess up carrot & raisin salad, so not too bad there and the butter beans had a good flavor. The black-eyed peas and cornbread were just bland, nothing special. All in all, it was OK, but certainly not like my momma's! It was a good effort, but my Southern taste buds weren't quite satisfied by the meal.

I realized on the plane ride back home that I didn't do the one thing my friend Suzanne in Colorado Springs had asked me to do- take a picture of the Fort Benning base sign! Her husband David had been born on the base but hadn't been back since. I'm disappointed to report that I don't have any pictures of the base or of Columbus in general. There were tons of magnolia trees blooming all along I-185 and I kept thinking to myself that I would stop before I left and get some pictures. Magnolias are one of my favorite flowers. They smell delicious and the trees always have a proud, shiny-leaf look to them. Just another reminder to never procrastinate doing things, time will slip away before you know it and you'll be left with disappointment or regret over something you didn't do!

This week at Fort Benning felt familiar to me; being in the south, being on a military base and around shooting. I had shot on a 22 smallbore rifle team back in high school, so I have a rudimentary knowledge of rifle shooting. Obviously the level of competition I was witnessing during this Olympic Qualifier was well above any I had been exposed to before, but there was still a familiar feeling to the smell of gun cleaner solvent and spent casings and the sound of 22 rim fire bullets being discharged. Beyond the shooting aspect, I'm always comfortable on military bases. Even though I've been off active duty for 10 years now (wow, a whole decade!), I'm still quite comfortable around folks in uniforms spouting acronyms as real words! Then of course, there was some heat and humidity thrown in there just to bring it all home! The first couple of days started off chilly (50-60s), but the temps got into the 80s the last couple days I was there with humidity will above the 75% level. Perfect!

So now I'm back in San Diego starting a 3-day weekend. The weather here is supposed to be in the 80s Friday, Saturday & Sunday! I'm thinking me and my Harley will be rolling out a few miles in the following days!

Resevoir Run

2008-05-08T20:53:00.004-06:00

Although the weather on Sunday wasn't quite as nice for riding as Saturday, I rolled out from my apartment into the chilly, damp air. As luck would have it, Fred wasn't scared off by our first ride a few weeks back and invited me on another! We met up at the Sweetwater Harley-Davidson dealership in National City for the 1st Annual Reservoir Run. The event was a poker run that took us to several lakes around the area.

After registering for the ride, I pulled my first card for the day's poker hand. I'm not much of a poker player, so I didn't pay much attention as they marked my sheet and sent me on my way. From the dealership, we rode right past the Olympic Training Center where I work to the park by lower Otay Lake where we pulled our second card.

After stretching our legs a bit, we hopped back on our bikes and rode some winding roads down south to Lake Morena. The sun had started to peak through when we first rolled out, but the clouds were invading again by this time and I was a little chilly. I know, you're probably not feeling very sorry for me that I was chilly on my ride in southern California when parts of Colorado were getting snow!!

From Lake Morena, we rode en masse to Sweetwater Regional Park and pulled the fourth card of the day. After quick bathroom breaks, our growling stomachs nudged us back onto our bikes and we made our way back to Sweetwater Harley-Davidson for the final card draw and the BBQ.

Back at the dealership, prizes were given for low and high hands. I had a mixed bag and didn't qualify for either! Not to worry, the pulled pork BBQ sandwich and baked beans tasted good and I enjoyed hanging out for a few hours while raffle prizes were given out (I didn't win anything there either!).

All in all, the weekend turned out to be a couple of days of quality miles and good company! I was a slacker on Sunday and didn't take many pictures, so thanks to Fred for supplying the ones posted here.

Once again, I am preparing for another trip. I fly out on Sunday to Fort Benning, GA for the pistol & rifle Olympic Trials. Don't know if I'll get to post from there, but I'll try to put something up as soon as I can. Have a great weekend!