Roller Coasters, Tigers, and Birds - Oh My!

Thank you Anheuser-Busch. Throughout 2008, members of the military and as many as three direct dependents may enter any one of Anheuser-Busch's Sea World, Busch Gardens or Sesame Place parks with a single-day complimentary admission. I had never been to Busch Gardens in the 7 years we have lived here. It was close to living in NYS for 35 years and not visiting the Empire State Building. Well, almost.





So, I don't do roller coasters but it turns out I love watching others ride them and listening to them scream! Check out Sheikra - Busch Gardens latest addition. That is a true 90 degree drop. Sheikra gets its name from an African hawk (shikra) that dives straight down for its prey.

Out of all the animals we saw, the white tiger was my favorite. If only he had been a little more animated. The chimpanzees were entertaining but not quite as picturesque.






Interacting with the birds, however, was the best part of our day. You can pick up cups of nectar and the birds will flock to you. Talk about eating right out of your hand!














This picture wasn't cropped and I love it for two reasons. That little bird was just pecking away at my cap and now you can really see my green eyes!

I've been listening to Hinder's "Extreme Behavior" a lot lately. I haven't listened to a cd over and over like this since Five for Fighting's "The Battle for Everything." In particular, I'm very fond of "Better than Me."

Bikin' Down a Dream

Ok, so Tom Petty sings runnin' down a dream but this is my blog, not Tom's. On August 9 Curt entered us in the 20th annual Tarpon Springs Rotary Sprint Triathlon as a relay team. I was so excited that he would include me. No pressure - it was all just for fun and I had a blast. Curt did the quarter mile swim in 8.24.1 and ran to the transition area where I had to wait for him to put the timing chip on my leg before I could even unrack my bike. The first picture is before the race even started.




I was up next for the 10.5 bike ride. I did my portion in 42.54.2 for an average of 4.05/m or, in other words, 15 mph. Not great but respectable. I like respectable. My performance at this year's Scrabble tournament wasn't respectable. :( As I headed out the causeway from Ft Howard Park in Tarpon Springs, I passed Marc and Diana. It's exciting to see people you know and having them cheer you. It propels you even though I was sailing at over 20mph at the time with a strong tailwind. As I rode through town, I passed Carl and Cindy and I pushed myself a little harder then, too. You do that until they can no longer see you - just kidding. I "lifted" this print off the official website.


Most relay teams have three people but Curt did the swim AND the run so he was waiting for me in the transition area as my wobbly legs carried me in. You have to stop your bike at the dismount line, get off, and run your bike in. My legs felt like jelly. Curt did the 3 mile run in 22.21 for a total time of 1.13.39 (which includes transition times). Last year he did this whole race in less than an hour.




After the race we all went out breakfast in Tarpon Springs at a place called Rodie's. Carl and Cindy, Marc and Diana, and Eric and Jayne (friends who live in Tarpon) joined us.







I didn't take the race seriously but there was something about being passed out there that you find a little unnerving. It's not like when the pack passes you at Flatwoods. That's different because they're riding and not racing. And then there was something totally energizing about passing someone else. All I'm saying is that I went out and bought new pedals and new shoes for my bike. I now have clip-in pedals. The guys at the bike shop said I'll ride faster - lol, we'll see...

I almost forgot - I've been listening to David Gray's White Ladder recently. It's not new - just new to me. I'm crazy about "Please Forgive Me." And I corrected your running time, Curt!

Take My Word For It

Yes, take my word for it. I did not play well at this year's tournament. I still had a good time because I got to see people I've met from around the country and I made several new acquantainces. The first person I reconnected with was my friend, Paul, from NYC. I stayed with Paul during the NYC tournament last summer. He found me at the pool trying to catch some sun after registration. Paul doesn't "do sun." We actually found a spot where he could sit in the shade while I was in the sun and we were side by side. Paul also treated me to dinner at one of Emeril's restaurants located at the hotel. Tom, my Scrabble partner, along with his partner, Andrew, also treated me to dinner one night, too. They took me to a Vietnamese restaurant for another wonderful meal. I'm a lucky girl, I tell ya...

Next up is a picture of me next to the board which gets updated each morning with something clever. Letter Rip. I loved it. I was in a better mood the second day. I played seven games the first day and won only one game. And the highlight from that game (against a club member, Brian) was "jounces" for 107 points. It was a close game though. Brian only lost by 15 points. On day two I won 3 out of 7 games so I felt a little better about that, too. My highest scoring game was on day two and it was for 482 points. I actually played 3 bingos in a row - haunters, atoners, and rebaited. Two of the bingos were 8 letters each. None of them scored as much as "jounces" though.

If they were giving prizes for the best t-shirts, these two would get my vote.

After we play Scrabble all day, we go back to our rooms and play more. I know, it's sick. ;) These are two of my roomies, Joan and Yvonne, with Brian (I keep transposing his name when I type it and it keeps coming up Brain!). Little wonder - he's an up and comer. Anyway, we decided to try out Super Scrabble one night. There are 200 tiles instead of 100 and 4 blanks. The board is bigger, too. It made for some interesting plays. And the next picture is with another club member, Jill.

And then we went to the reception. Here I am with Paul again. I love getting dressed up. Days three and four were uneventful. I won 3 out 7 games on day three and 4 out of 7 games on day 4 for an overall record of 11 wins and 17 losses. I wanted to play better but it's like golf. Guys have a bad round and swear off the game. Next day they're right back at it. And that's how it is with Scrabble. It's an addiction and you can never get enough. Word up!

A San Francisco Treat (Part II)

I haven't posted in almost two months. Worse yet is that I have to finish this blog before I can write about the National Scrabble Tournament I attended this past week. I feel terrible that it's taken so long but July was one of the busiest months I have had all year. I look back at my calendar and there wasn't a day that something wasn't going on. So, where was I? Oh, yea. The whole reason for our trip to SF was so that Curt could participate in the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon. It was all about the sightseeing and shopping for me. Curt rode his bike to the triathlon and left at least a few hours before me. We were at least a couple of miles from the race start but close enough for me to walk. It was a gorgeous morning and I overheard someone commenting about the condition of the water. I guess the Bay can be quite choppy but it was relatively calm this morning. This made for some great swim times for a lot of the athletes. My first picture is of Alacatraz. The boat between the prison and another larger vessel out there to the right has about 1800 athletes on it getting ready to swim to shore.

Even before Curt got out of the water, the male winner, Andy Potts, was out of the water and running! He's the guy in the black and red wetsuit. Andy had hopes of being a two-time Olympian but he did not qualify this year. He was the repeat champ at this year's Escape from Alcatraz. His time for the event was 2:01:57. His swim time was 24:59 compared to Curt's 41:13. But Andy is a professional athlete and this was to be expected. Curt's overall time for the race was 3:24:38. He escaped!!!

They look like whitecaps on the water but those are all swimmers you see in this picture. The crowd was huge and hard to get through so I was thrilled that I was able to see Curt come out of the water. I got ahead of him and saw him heading to the transition area, too, to get his bike.

There are three guys in blue jerseys in the next picture - Curt is the furthest one away. The Bay is on the right and even though you can't see the spectators on the left, the front windows of the homes on the left were lined with people inside. What a view. Next I headed to the finish line so I could see the first finishers. I was there when Andy Potts finished and that was very exciting. There were a few guys in prison garb which I thought was pretty cool, too. They make it look so easy, don't they?

And now it was time to start looking for Curt. He is coming down the chute to the finish line. And last, but not least, my hero in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. This blog was prepared while listening to the Flight 26 channel on XM Satellite Radio. Each issue of a free publication in the area called "Skirt" writes about the music they used to prepare each edition. I like that idea and now I'm going to adopt the practice. I've bought a lot of new music lately so you'll be hearing about it from time to time! Don't forget you can double click on each picture to enlarge that picture. You're going to want to see Andy Potts up close! And that's not to say that that isn't a FINE picture of Curt either. Curt is still training for his first Ironman in November but meanwhile he has entered us as a relay team in an upcoming triathlon. He is going to swim, I'm going to bike, and he's going to run. I'll keep you posted! ;)