April Weekend Update

April 11-13
In mid April of 2014, we had some great weekends. April 11th, 12th, 13th weekend my parents came to town. Abby made a meat sauce for pasta because we were carbo-loading for our big race the next morning. Abby, Dad, and I were signed up for the Carmel Half Marathon while Megan and Mom were signed up for the 8K. Zach was refusing to run and signed up for nothing but let me tell you, he was really into the carbo-loading part of the weekend. His plate of spaghetti was massive and then amazingly he said he felt terrible after he ate the whole thing.

Saturday morning we piled into Obo's Car and made our way to Carmel for the race. The weather was a tad chilly but considering the winter we had, it felt great. It was going to be a great day for running. The half-marathon started first so Abby, Dad, and I found our way to the start line as Mom and Megan took our clothes back to the car. We all ran well and finished better than our "goal" times. I beat my goal time by a whopping 1 second, 1:39:59!

After the race, we received giant medals and some of us decided to donate them back to the race to be used for something else. Who really knows. They also were giving away pizza slices for runners, that was a first and I enjoyed chowing down on a slice of cold pizza. Mom and Megan were giving me a hard time for eating the pizza off of the ground. Ground Pizza is delicious.

We left Carmel and drove back to the Village (Broad Ripple Village) to hopefully meet Zach after his bike ride for breakfast. We went to Cafe Patachou and all devoured our breakfasts or lunches as some people are crazy and love lunch food for breakfast. Now that we had worked out and were full, it was nap time. I took Sophie to the park to tire her out and then found my way to the basement for a beautiful midday nap.

After nap time, it was errand time. The gentlemen went to the hardware store to acquire supplies for the floating dock we were going to make later in the week. The women folk went to multiple stores to find food supplies for that evenings event, tailgating at the inaugural Indy Eleven soccer game.

We drove downtown and met up with Kylee, Aaron, Kevin, and Gaylena for the tailgate. They had commandeered a wonderful spot and we quickly unloaded the grill, coolers, chips, and other goodies. We had two solid hours of tailgating before the game and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. It was warm and the sun was shining. We had all sorts of visitors to our tailgate, Laurie & Jeff, Kyle & Katie, Dave & Mandy, and we made friends with our neighbor tailgaters as well.

The Indy Eleven Crew

During the Game

The game was a blast as we were situated in the Brickyard Battalion behind one of the goals. It ended in a 1-1 draw but the crowd was into it and alive. Everyone seemed to agree that we should do it again.

The next morning, we woke up and decided to have breakfast at Three Sisters Cafe in the Village. Megan and I rode our bikes to meet the rest of the family there. I've heard good things but had never been. We split the corn pancakes as a table and I enjoyed the breakfast burrito. It was also a great day to sit on their patio and enjoy the morning.

April 17-20
The following week, Zach and I got together on Thursday night to construct a floating dock to be used in the pond at the Farm. Zach was the architect and main contractor as well.

Framing the Dock

Giving the Dock Support

Framed and Supported

The following day we loaded this behemoth of a dock onto a trailer borrowed from Jeff. It took some serious finagling to get it to fit but in the end we were able to load all of our camping gear on the trailer as well. We drove to Columbus and made it to Paul and Bev's house just before 10 p.m.  They had some burgers and beers waiting for us which was amazing and my parents arrived within 5 minutes of our arrival.

The Trailer Filled Up

The next morning we left Paul and Bev's early and made our way towards Lancaster, Ohio and the Farm. We stopped at Starbucks for some coffee and Home Depot to get deck screws and some other last minute things. We made it to the farm by about 9 a.m. and unloaded the cars and started to set up camp. We didn't get far as we were anxious to finish our work on the dock and other small tasks. We drove the dock down to the pond and found that the wood we had been told was there wasn't going to suffice.

Zach and Dad then drove back to town to get deck planks as we started to clear out the spillway of any debris. When they returned with the wood it was quick work laying the planks and screwing them in. Within no time we had a floating dock worthy of any pond.

Finished Floating Dock

And it floats!!

After we got the dock in the water, the real fun started. We had a few little projects to finish up like restacking the brick firepit and removing some brush from the overflow spillway around the dam. We got those knocked out straight away and were focusing on food, drink, and enjoying the beautiful spring day.

Zach did a little fishing.

For lunch we were all about hot dogs, tomato soup, and pizza hobo pies. Hobo pies are probably not the politically correct name for them but they are essentially camping panini sandwich makers. And they are about 75 years old so all that extra flavorings are grilled into the cast iron molds. We have experimented with sandwiches, desserts, and now pizzas. Pizzas are pretty amazing. We use crescent rolls for the dough, some pizza sauce, some shredded cheese, and some pepperonis.

Creating the Hobo Pies

Add Some Pepperonis

Cooking Lunch

Now That's a Good Looking Dog

While we were restacking the firepit we came across some bricks with Grandad's initials.

RPB Co.

After shooting some guns, setting up tents, fishing, utilizing the new floating dock, we were again hungry for some food. For dinner, we had steaks and potatoes plus we reheated some leftover tomato soup.

Massive Steaks

Baked / Fire Roasted Potatoes

Dusk at the Farm

Roaring Fire, Toasting Smores

We all slept pretty well and only Sophie was really frightened by the dog/coyote/werewolf that we heard howling in the middle of the night. The temperature got down to the mid-40s which was essentially perfect sleeping weather when you have nice sleeping bags which we do. We woke up on Sunday morning and made some coffee and hot chocolate and took a little walk down to the pond before cleaning up camp and leaving to find some breakfast at Bob Evan's.

April 23 - 27
The following week, I had an interview day at Hendrick's County Fairgrounds in which I interviewed with Carmel, Lawrence Township, Washington Township, Greenwood, and Westfield. I was feeling very excited and hopeful that one of these would turn into a full time position. Then on Thursday morning at 0-dark-hundred I had to be at the airport because I was headed to BWI to run from Gettysburg to Washington DC. My flight was easy and I got lots of application work and reading done on my flight. At BWI, I again had a lengthy wait for the rest of the team to arrive and again, BWI has wonderful free wifi which I utilized to complete some applications for teaching positions. I also was reading the incredibly heart-breaking book, Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

The rest of the team arrived a few hours later and we were on our way to renting 15 passenger vans and finding the route to Gettysburg. Our team was called The Killer Angels which is a group of soldiers from the Civil War. Our team was comprised mostly of my dad's running group and a few others. We made it to Gettysburg in time for a Subway sandwich before our tour of the battlefield. The tour guide, John, got in the van with us and talked and talked and talked. He talked for 3 hours as we drove around the town of Gettysburg and toured the battlefields.

Touring the Battlefields

The High Ground of Little Round Top

After the tour, we quickly checked into the hotel, changed clothes, and headed out for dinner. After dinner, our team captain had to attend a meeting, and we all went to Wal-mart to stock up on supplies. Our van had experienced relay runners and we only got a small amount of supplies because you realize that in 24 hours you don't eat all that much especially when you still have time to eat dinner and some of the exchange areas have food.

Stocking Up on Essentials

The next morning, we started the race at 11:15 with about 130 of the 140 teams starting before us. This is how I like it! There are lots of "kills" available out on the course which I love doing, passing slower people. Because we had one of our runners back out at the last minute, our van had to split up one of the legs. I ran 2 miles of fairly flat terrain but then had to run my normal leg right after. So my first official run started about 3 p.m. and it was 4.5 miles. I felt pretty strong and about half way through it started pouring. I love a good adversity like bad weather and was chasing someone down that was a good distance in front of me. I ran 6.59 pace for 4.5 miles which I thought was pretty stellar. Unfortunately, soaking wet I started to feel like crap. I pounded some Emergen-C, an orange, and some tylenol in hopes that I would feel better. I also took a little nap which did help a little. We found dinner in a little town called Smithsburg, Maryland and we picked up our last runner here. He had taken a $225 cab ride from DC to the middle of nowhere. It was great to see Dillon, who I ran cross country and track with at SFHS.

The Killer Angels at the Start

Covered Bridge at an Exchange Zone

Some Hills in Southern Pennsylvania

My next run was at 11:15 p.m. and I ran my 4 mile route in 7:27 pace. It was an out and back that also included runners from 3 different legs, which meant there were a ton of runners on the course at the same time. I got to kill 12 people which was awesome to continually be running down someone in front of you. Immediately after my run, I had a hot dog from the high school concession and fell asleep. I needed the nap because I still wasn't feeling great. I slept for almost 4 hours which is an eternity during a relay. When I woke back up we were leaving to start our third and final runs. We started out onto the course and quickly realized we had left one of our runners in the bathroom.

Sunrise on the Potomac

The last runs are always the hardest because your legs are sore and tired but you know that when you finish, it's all over. Most of the time, you struggle through the last run and just keep your feet shuffling forward. This time was no different for me. Unfortunately, I had an 8 miler to finish up with. I started a few minutes after sunrise and I was running along the Potomac. I used the first couple miles to warm up my legs and started churning out what felt like some good miles in the middle. When I turned off of the river trail I thought I had 1 mile left. My route got a little hilly with just some rolling stuff. I only saw 3 people for the first 7 miles on the trail but then on the road there were hoards of people. I passed 8 more on the rolling hills but the last mile felt like 3. I struggled to the exchange zone but was very relieved to be done and I was able to do 8 mile in 8.14 pace. The rest of the day was showers at Dillon's place in DC, food at the finish line, a quick walk over to the Mall, and sitting in the sun drinking free beer along the waterfront in DC.

My New Hat

After our team finished, we checked into the hotel in DuPont Circle. We then showered and napped before drinks in the hotel and then dinner at an Italian place near DuPont Circle. We all quickly fell asleep after dinner and all we did in the morning was head back to the airport.

The Killer Angels at the Finish Line

Portland 2011

In August of 2011, Megan and I took a trip to the Pacific Northwest.  I had some work training and a running race going on out there and it was right around Megan's birthday so I gave her a trip to Portland for her present.

We flew in Friday night and picked up our rental car, which because at the time I was a gold star premium elite status big wig badass with National, we got to pick out any car.  There weren't any convertibles but they did have some big trucks so I picked the biggest one.  We checked in to our hotel right by the airport because it was already midnight Pacific time and we had a big Saturday planned.

We got up early because we had to be at the Wet Planet White Water Rafting by 8 and it was an hour drive.  We snagged some muffins and fruits from the hotel on the way out and made it to the rafting place on time.  We were going to be rafting the White Salmon River.  Although it was August, neither the air nor the water was all that warm.

We were given wetsuits, paddles, and boarded some buses to take us up river, the nice part about this rafting trip is that when we were done with the water we didn't have to get on a bus, we were back at the headquarters and our car.  After a quick trip up the road, we shuffled off the bus and teamed up with raft guides.

White Water Rafting Gear

The other passengers in our boat didn't look all that athletic and there was one little boy which made me think we would get the passive route through the rapids.  We got our instructions, which were pretty basic.   Paddle on the guides instructions. If you fall out, float down river until calmer waters on your butt with your feet in front. Don't panic. And that was about it.  We then carried out boat down the path and dumped it on the edge of the water.  We hopped in and began paddling down river.

White Water Rafting

This isn't even the big rapid...

Over the edge...

Gonna get wet...

Big splash to the face...

And on to the next rapid

The water was very cold and after each splash, we were all glad to be wearing the wetsuits.  The river was mostly shrouded in shadow but the short stints of sunshine made it warm enough to almost enjoy the cold water.  About half way through the trip, Megan and I switched to the front seats which got to see more action through the rapids and also got a lot more wet.  Before long, we were coming to the last rapid, the grand finale.

Our boat was the signal caller allowing the other boats to wait out of the current and approach one at a time.  From our spot we got to see all of the boats go over the edge and all the riders stay safely in their boats. Finally it was our turn, we paddled hard as we came to the edge ...

Paddling Hard towards the Big Drop

Megan is now on the far side in the middle, smiling.

At the last possible second we dropped from out seats to the floor and held on to the raft.  The nose went straight down into the water below...

Straight down...

Going under...

Submerged...

And when it finally popped back out, only the guide was left on the boat.  The six of us riders were tossed around the white foam trying to breath and stay afloat.

We come up sideways and we are tossed out...

I yell for Megan as she bobs out of the water, telling her to get her feet forward so she can bounce off any potentially dangerous oncoming rocks.  She turns to face down river and I see that her face is dripping blood.  My heart takes off even faster but I can't do anything to help because the rapids are taking me down stream in front of Megan.  I continue to panic as I am struggling to reach Megan but my weak swimming ability is no match for the powerful current.

Gasping for air...

Staying afloat....

Heading down river to safety.

I finally reach calm water and get pulled up into a different boat and find that Megan had already been pulled into a boat and the blood all over her face was from a fat lip received by a paddle blow to the face during the tumble over the waterfall.

Our guide along with the others in charge wonder why our boat tipped over because it seemed that we did everything just right; sometimes Mother Nature just proves her dominance.

After our exhilarating morning we are looking for some food and found a great spot in Hood River, Oregon that had a great deck.  We asked for the umbrella to be removed because we were still a little frigid from our swim in the White Salmon River and wanted all the sun we can get.  We split some salads, crab cakes, and pasta dish and decided that we will shower at our hotel, maybe nap and then try to either find a brewery or winery and enjoy the rest of the afternoon and evening in that way.  While discussing our plans, at the table next to us an older gentleman  was sitting with his family and fell out of his chair.  We all thought he had fainted or had a heart attack.  I had 911 dialed into my phone before we realized that he had simply lost his balance while trying to adjust his chair.

We found out hotel, which was actually a beautiful condominium overlooking the Columbia River.  The place was called Columbia Cliff Villas. The town of Hood River is actually incredibly well known for windsurfing, which we saw a ton of people out on the river surfing back and forth.  We showered and decided that we were pretty tired from our big day so far and took a nap.  Before we knew it, it was already dinner time and we decided we couldn't stay in bed like a bunch of bums any longer.  We weren't all that hungry because of our late lunch so we decided to find some beverages.  We found ourselves at 3 Rivers Grill sitting outside again splitting a bottle of Megan's new favorite wine, Castle Rock.  We enjoyed some live music that was being played one level down on the patio and split a dessert to finish off our night.

The next morning we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some supplies for the day.  We were going to do some hiking around Mt Hood and wanted to pack a lunch.  We stocked up on some donuts and juice for breakfast, sandwiches, chips, cokes, and waters for lunch.  On our drive to Mt Hood we stopped off at a park to enjoy our breakfast before continuing our drive next to all the produce farms and vineyards.  We reached the tiny parking lot for the Mirror Lake trail and after a few U-turns decided to illegally park on the side of the road, which when we returned from our hike had started a trend and no less than 30 cars had parked just like us.

It wasn't a very strenuous hike but we weren't used to any type of incline being from the midwest so we had to work up a little sweat to reach the lake.  I had read that Mirror Lake is crowded because of its beauty and easy access.  There were a fair number of people on the trail and when we reached the lake there was a large group of families all playing in the water and eating together.  This didn't bother us too much because of how beautiful the scenery was.  Mount Hood with its snow-capped peak and the vibrant green trees and blue sky.   We found a quiet spot to enjoy our lunch sitting upon a log on the far side of the lake, and we were very glad we packed the extra water bottle because we downed all of our drinks.

Mirror Lake and Mount Hood

Mount Hood

After the hike back to the car we were headed back to town.  We returned the rental car to the airport and jumped on the train taking us to the city center and our hotel.  We found our way to almost the last stop and the Hotel Modera, which is a very chic and trendy hotel.  After showers, we were picked up by a coworker and had a few beers.  He then took us to this local taco place where we enjoyed some tacos and margaritas.

The next morning, I, unfortunately had to go to work.  But Megan was able to get out and enjoy some of the Rose Gardens that Portland is so famous for.  That evening we met with some coworkers and business associates at Portland City Grill, which is on the 30th floor of a building looking over the entire city.  It was a great meal and we got to enjoy some delicious food.

The following day was Megan's birthday and although I still had to work, we made the best of the evening.  We had some beers from Rogue Brewery, then a martini and a canape from a boutique place in the Pearl District before finding out way to dinner at Oba!, where I can remember only two things from the meal.  We had table side guacamole, which was enough to feed a small army, and they had bacon wrapped jalapenos, which I have now altered and made my own.

The next morning Megan had to fly back to Indianapolis and go to work.  I however got to stay and enjoy more time in the City of Roses.  The lunch carts are the way to do lunch in downtown Portland.  You can get just about anything and they are very easily accessible with most of them parked in a row right next to a park to then sit and enjoy your freshly made lunch.  I had a gyros one day and a burrito a different day.  We also went to a Korean BBQ place with a guy from the office that had just moved to Portland from Korea and said this place was the best.  It was my first experience with Bi Bim Bop, which was incredible although I had no idea what we actually ordered.

On Wednesday night the Portland Timbers were playing.  Since I am a soccer fan and I have heard that Timber fans are the best I decided to go to the game.  The Timbers were in a fierce battle for the last spot in the playoffs and needed the win.  I walked to the game and found a bar nearby that had a deal going and decided to have a pint and slice of pizza because I was still early.  I approached a guy trying to sell an extra ticket to a scalper and was able to buy it from him direct.  I then purchased a Timbers T-Shirt because I didn't want to look like a tourist.  The game was a good one with the Timbers holding on to a 2-1 victory.  The fans were as good as advertised as they sang, cheered, danced, waved flags and did all sorts of soccer fan type things you only imagine to see in Europe.

Portland Timbers Game

On Thursday, I worked a half day and then left early because the rest of my Hood to Coast relay team had arrived.  We ventured around Portland for a few minutes before heading to our hotel out by the airport.  We checked in and met with the rest of our Office Max teams and made a quick trip to Target to fill up on supplies: food, drinks, socks, etc. We then took the train back downtown to Deschuttes Brewery in the Pearl District to have dinner and beers.

The Start Line for Hood to Coast

The next morning our team got to sleep in as our start time wasn't until the afternoon.  We made our way up to the top of Mt Hood for the start of the race.  The next 24 hours were a blur of smelly car rides, port-o-potties, trail mix, gatorade, short naps in the back of the van, traffic, and a few runs to top it off.  We did get a quick break back at our original hotel near the Portland airport which allowed us to shower and rest our heads for about 15 minutes before we had to jump back into the race.  My first run was on the East side of Portland right around dusk and my second run was by far my favorite.  It was a completely dark, hilly, foresty run through the middle of nowhere Western Oregon at 2 a.m.  I always love the midnight runs, the serenity of the middle of the night, the excitement with being in a new place, the adrenaline of a race; it all gives me energy and even if it is my toughest leg of the race, I will churn through my quickest miles.

My last run started a little early because I had to jump out of the van before my start line because the traffic was so bad.  I was able to get through my last few miles albeit, slowly.  I was glad to be done early in the morning around 10 because the sun was starting to warm up and it was going to be a hot day.  Our van was pulling together like a team and cranking our some good miles for the last leg and when one of our runners was cramping up and couldn't move forward, we all split the remaining few miles he had to cover to make it to the end.  We finally reached the coast at Seaside, Oregon where the party began.

The Finish Line, Seaside, Oregon

All 12 of us hobbled by sore legs enjoyed some live music, multiple beers, and some food as we sat on the beach.  Some of us braved the icy waters of the Pacific to cool off our aching legs.  We unfortunately had to drive back to Portland late that afternoon and with most of napping made it back in time to shower and have a dinner near the hotel at Buffalo Wild Wings.  The next morning we all staggered over to IHOP for breakfast and sat around there as people left to catch their flights.

Mount Hood from the Sky