For the past few summers, my sister's three kids have visited sans parents for a few days. Oh you would not believe the craziness. We stay up late, skip baths, eat ice cream, go to movies, go to the zoo. We've even been known to go as far as breaking out a T for Teen XBox game. (OK, we had my sister's approval on the XBox game.) Basically they stay with us for a few days and then we send them home completely off schedule, all hopped up on sugar and spoiled rotten. Hmmm remind me to think twice before sending "LuLu" to anything called "Camp Brian and Hope."
We have a large closet under the stairs in our house which we've always called "The Harry Potter Room." One year, I let them each take a wall and paint it how they wanted. Ivy was only 2 at the time. I can't tell you how many times I said "Ivy, you can not do this at your house." I'll have to post some pictures of "The Harry Potter Room". Can't find any and too tired to take any right now. It's pretty cool.
Anyway, camp Jon and Karen 2006 was scheduled to begin Saturday and end next Thursday. Since I've been under the weather this week, we have decided to wait until the end of July. Very disappointing - we were all looking forward to it (especially my sis). However, I need to be 100% so I can pull out all the stops while they are here. Now I have more time to think of something extra special to do while they are here.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Be Careful What You Wish For....
Early last week Jon came down with a nasty cough, sore throat, congestion, fever, the works. Jon never misses work and he stayed home for three days. He was sick. Miserable. I wanted no part of it so I started popping the Airborne as soon as his symptoms appeared. I am a big fan of the Airborne and I do believe it has helped in the past. I had to fly to Kansas City on Tuesday and did not want to get sick while out of town. Also, there are few things that compare to the fun of congestion at 30,000 feet. I kept thinking "please just let me get back from Kansas City before getting sick." What the heck was I thinking, why didn't I ask for more than that??? So, I loaded Jon up with Chicken soup, gatorade, herbal tea, every OTC severe cold remedy ever made and headed to Kansas City.
Got back Thursday night and woke up last Friday morning after apparently being invaded by the snot squad. Resigned myself for a weekend sick in bed. Unfortunately, yesterday (Monday) I was getting worse instead of better so I went to the Doctor. I'm not really all that picky but I need to be able to either breath through my nose or my mouth, either one is good with me. Attempting to fill my lungs with air resulted in a lovely display of caughing and gagging and my nose wasn't much help either. Had to sit through a short lecture about how I am not treating my allergies and therefore I am jeopardizing my immune system and getting sick more often. Blah Blah Blah. Can I please just have the prescriptions??? I know it doesn't make any sense. I continue to ignore my allergy meds which could have prevented this from becoming bronchitis but I am now begging for the magic pill(s) to make me feel better. OK, I promise to rethink that strategy. I will take better care of myself. As soon as I emerge from the snot.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
A New Book For "Lu Lu"
Jon's Mom (MIL) came over last Sunday (why are all of my posts a week late?) and brought this adorable book. It is a collection of poems all about bathtime. Carl Sandburg is represented along with some lesser known poets. Remember "Miss Susie Had a Baby, She named him Tiny Tim?"
Yep, that is in there as well. As cute as the poems are, it's actually the pictures that I love and is exactly what attracted MIL to the book. There are tons of beautiful pictures of children scattered throughout the book. They don't all look like me and they don't all look like "you". Yet, they look like all of us. Children of many races will identify with at least one of the pictures in this book. It's subtle yet very effective.
Thanks MIL - very thoughtful!!!!
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Katie Watch
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Three Months Down...
As of yesterday, we have been logged in for 3 months. At one point that would have meant that in three months we would be seeing a picture of our daughter. Today it means that we have been logged in for 3 months. Nothing more, nothing less.
Not sure if this is a good thing or not, but it seems that I am coming to terms with the longer wait. It seems, I've lost my sense of urgency to get things done. I guess that is why Madarin Monday is turning into Monthly Mandarin. And you know what, it's been nice. I realized I'd lost my sense of urgency when talking to my Mom last night and she was asking when I planned on starting the nursery since she wants to help. I couldn't believe when the words "probably in January" came out of my mouth!!!!! When we started this process last year, I would have thought that the nursery would be totally done by now; not to mention the guest bath which is also on the list. Last time I passed by the guest bath, the nausea inducing maroon and white striped wall paper and nasty carpet were still there. Guess it isn't going to magically transform itself. (Note to self: get Mom to help with guest bath remodel.)
That's not to say that I won't have anything done with the nursery by January. I am sure that bedding will be bought, paint will be selected, decorating ideas will be decided, and I will have a detailed plan of attack delegating all the tough or boring tasks to Mom and Jon. But unless referrals start tripling their current rate, I really don't picture assembling it all together until the first of next year. Is that bad?
Of course, even though I have not formally started the nursery, "Lu Lu's" closet currently looks like this. Yeah, she has a couple of dresses.
I also just remembered that she has a raincoat. I don't remember the last time it rained here.
We have Jon's childhood dresser that I am going to attempt to transform and my Mom has a rocking chair for us. Also, thanks to my sister we already have a crib. I tell you the best thing about becoming a Mom after your sister and most of your friends is all the free stuff you get. Free stuff works well with the adoption budget. My sister has loaded us up. And the timing is perfect - they are contemplating a move in the next few months. You know how people start getting rid of stuff instead of moving it all? Oh yes, we are cashing in on the opportunity. One morning when my brother-in-law was staying with us on a business trip, I came downstairs and it was like Christmas morning in our living room!!! Clothes, a crib, a carseat,plastic crap toys, books. (I'm not being ungrateful, the term "plastic crap" is a running joke with my sister. And she asked before she sent the plastic crap toys our way. ) Since we don't turn down anything free these days, we said yes. Not to mention that "Ivy's Magic Faucet" was included. That will have to be a whole different post....somehow I started out talking about being LID for 3 months and now I am talking about "Ivy's Magic Faucet." Time to stop rambling.
Not sure if this is a good thing or not, but it seems that I am coming to terms with the longer wait. It seems, I've lost my sense of urgency to get things done. I guess that is why Madarin Monday is turning into Monthly Mandarin. And you know what, it's been nice. I realized I'd lost my sense of urgency when talking to my Mom last night and she was asking when I planned on starting the nursery since she wants to help. I couldn't believe when the words "probably in January" came out of my mouth!!!!! When we started this process last year, I would have thought that the nursery would be totally done by now; not to mention the guest bath which is also on the list. Last time I passed by the guest bath, the nausea inducing maroon and white striped wall paper and nasty carpet were still there. Guess it isn't going to magically transform itself. (Note to self: get Mom to help with guest bath remodel.)
That's not to say that I won't have anything done with the nursery by January. I am sure that bedding will be bought, paint will be selected, decorating ideas will be decided, and I will have a detailed plan of attack delegating all the tough or boring tasks to Mom and Jon. But unless referrals start tripling their current rate, I really don't picture assembling it all together until the first of next year. Is that bad?
Of course, even though I have not formally started the nursery, "Lu Lu's" closet currently looks like this. Yeah, she has a couple of dresses.
I also just remembered that she has a raincoat. I don't remember the last time it rained here.
We have Jon's childhood dresser that I am going to attempt to transform and my Mom has a rocking chair for us. Also, thanks to my sister we already have a crib. I tell you the best thing about becoming a Mom after your sister and most of your friends is all the free stuff you get. Free stuff works well with the adoption budget. My sister has loaded us up. And the timing is perfect - they are contemplating a move in the next few months. You know how people start getting rid of stuff instead of moving it all? Oh yes, we are cashing in on the opportunity. One morning when my brother-in-law was staying with us on a business trip, I came downstairs and it was like Christmas morning in our living room!!! Clothes, a crib, a carseat,
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Sometimes Mother Nature Is Ugly
When I returned from Chicago last Wednesday night, I couldn't believe how much the latest baby doves grew in four days. Then by Friday, they were standing and starting to flap their wings so I knew it was a matter of time before they flew away.
Saturday morning they were in the nest when I went downstairs to make coffee. By the time, I came back to get some coffee, they were both gone. I have no idea why, but I decided to peek into the nest. I didn't like what I saw. In the nest was a broken egg and a baby bird that had clearly just hatched. "She" was about the size of my thumb, had no feathers and the eyes weren't yet open.
First of all, where did this egg come from? Minutes ago, there were two birds leaving this same nest. I've been watching doves for a couple of years now and I know that the mama bird sits on the eggs for at least a couple of weeks. It didn't seem like there was time for any type of "emergency delivery". Was this an unexpected late third egg from the same Mom? If so, did it hatch or was it broken by one of the other birds. Don't know. I do know that you usually don't see the babies when they first hatch because the mama dove sits on top of them for quite some time. I didn't like the looks of this.
I obsessively watched the nest Saturday. There was a dove that came and took away the broken egg pieces but that was it - never came back again. There was another dove that looked as if she was busy moving in next door to the existing nest - she was no help. I didn't want to intervene too early because if the mama bird was coming back, I certainly didn't want to discourage her. It was excruciating to watch. Finally by late Saturday, I couldn't take it anymore. This bird was abandoned, left behind, alone. Yes I know it's a bird and you can color me dramatic but the metaphor was not lost on me. (Great big shout-out to Mom who totally "got it" without me having to point it out when I told her the story on Sunday. I love you.)
I did some googling to figure out what I could do. Luckily doves are vegetarians so I wouldn't have to mush up any worms. All the pet stores were already closed so I made a "homemade formula" that I found online. I thought if I could get her through the night, I would look for more expert help on Sunday. I used a straw and got her to eat a little. In my extensive 15 minutes of online research, I learned that baby Doves actually stick their beak inside the mama bird's beak to eat - not the other way around. Therefore, the usual syringe trick doesn't work so well with doves. Not like I had a syringe around the house anyway. So I used a straw that she could get her beak into (trying to simulate the mama bird's beak) and I was able to get her to eat a little. A couple of hours later I got her to eat again. I also learned that without their feathers, they need to stay very warm. Luckily it was about 100 degrees during the day. I didn't want to remove her from her nest so I covered her up for the evening.
I checked on her about 6am Sunday morning and she ate quite a bit. She seemed pretty active - and her eyes were still closed. An hour later, when I came downstairs Jon told me that she was in her nest but she was no longer alive. Yeah, I felt awful. I knew this was a possibility from the beginning but she was so active when I fed her earlier I was hopeful. I had already named her "Squirt".
So we left her in the nest and buried her in our garden and also added a bird bath to the garden in her honor. OK, actually Jon bought the bird bath on Saturday but we set it up on Sunday after we buried her. She was the fifth bird hatched in that nest this year. There was already another bird waiting next to this nest - I guess she thought she was next. I swear there is a sign-up sheet somewhere. The new mama bird built another nest next to the original spot and she is now on our patio and hasn't moved since Sunday. I guess we will have another couple of baby birds before long.
P.S. Please do not leave me any comments telling me that I "could have done this", or I "should have done that." I don't watch Animal*Planet, it was Saturday night, I did the best I could and I already feel awful. If you do have some assvice, wait a week and email me.
Saturday morning they were in the nest when I went downstairs to make coffee. By the time, I came back to get some coffee, they were both gone. I have no idea why, but I decided to peek into the nest. I didn't like what I saw. In the nest was a broken egg and a baby bird that had clearly just hatched. "She" was about the size of my thumb, had no feathers and the eyes weren't yet open.
First of all, where did this egg come from? Minutes ago, there were two birds leaving this same nest. I've been watching doves for a couple of years now and I know that the mama bird sits on the eggs for at least a couple of weeks. It didn't seem like there was time for any type of "emergency delivery". Was this an unexpected late third egg from the same Mom? If so, did it hatch or was it broken by one of the other birds. Don't know. I do know that you usually don't see the babies when they first hatch because the mama dove sits on top of them for quite some time. I didn't like the looks of this.
I obsessively watched the nest Saturday. There was a dove that came and took away the broken egg pieces but that was it - never came back again. There was another dove that looked as if she was busy moving in next door to the existing nest - she was no help. I didn't want to intervene too early because if the mama bird was coming back, I certainly didn't want to discourage her. It was excruciating to watch. Finally by late Saturday, I couldn't take it anymore. This bird was abandoned, left behind, alone. Yes I know it's a bird and you can color me dramatic but the metaphor was not lost on me. (Great big shout-out to Mom who totally "got it" without me having to point it out when I told her the story on Sunday. I love you.)
I did some googling to figure out what I could do. Luckily doves are vegetarians so I wouldn't have to mush up any worms. All the pet stores were already closed so I made a "homemade formula" that I found online. I thought if I could get her through the night, I would look for more expert help on Sunday. I used a straw and got her to eat a little. In my extensive 15 minutes of online research, I learned that baby Doves actually stick their beak inside the mama bird's beak to eat - not the other way around. Therefore, the usual syringe trick doesn't work so well with doves. Not like I had a syringe around the house anyway. So I used a straw that she could get her beak into (trying to simulate the mama bird's beak) and I was able to get her to eat a little. A couple of hours later I got her to eat again. I also learned that without their feathers, they need to stay very warm. Luckily it was about 100 degrees during the day. I didn't want to remove her from her nest so I covered her up for the evening.
I checked on her about 6am Sunday morning and she ate quite a bit. She seemed pretty active - and her eyes were still closed. An hour later, when I came downstairs Jon told me that she was in her nest but she was no longer alive. Yeah, I felt awful. I knew this was a possibility from the beginning but she was so active when I fed her earlier I was hopeful. I had already named her "Squirt".
So we left her in the nest and buried her in our garden and also added a bird bath to the garden in her honor. OK, actually Jon bought the bird bath on Saturday but we set it up on Sunday after we buried her. She was the fifth bird hatched in that nest this year. There was already another bird waiting next to this nest - I guess she thought she was next. I swear there is a sign-up sheet somewhere. The new mama bird built another nest next to the original spot and she is now on our patio and hasn't moved since Sunday. I guess we will have another couple of baby birds before long.
P.S. Please do not leave me any comments telling me that I "could have done this", or I "should have done that." I don't watch Animal*Planet, it was Saturday night, I did the best I could and I already feel awful. If you do have some assvice, wait a week and email me.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Naming Babies With Ivy
Since the day my niece Ivy found out about the adoption, she has been asking what we are going to name our daughter. The answer "we haven't decided yet" doesn't sit well with Ivy. It never has. I have had more than one phone conversation with Ivy that went something like this:
Ivy: So, have you decided what you are going to name your baby
Me: No, not yet
Ivy: Hmmmm (said in a very disappointed tone)
Occasionally, she will tell me about someone who just had a baby and suggest the name that they used. Our inadequacy to decide on a name is really getting to Ivy.
When I was home for Mother's Day, I was sitting next to Ivy on the way home from church. Apparently the baby name topic was on her mind. She turns to me and suggests that when we get to her house, we get out all of her babies. She would tell me each of their names and maybe one of those names would work. I told her that sounded like a good idea. Now I have to tell you that Ivy has LOTS of babies. In fact, we just discovered recently that she actually runs a daycare out of her bedroom called "Lots of Babies Daycare". Who knew?
So, as soon as we got to her house she went to her room and with the help of my mom, she separated all the girl babies from the boy babies. This is when we discovered that her baby "Candy" is actually a boy. Again, who knew? (For the record, we've had a boy name picked out forever. It's the girl name that we are stuck on.)
Then she brings me in her room and one by one she points to them and tells me each of their names. She also suggested that I get a piece of paper so I can write them down.
(Tried posting a picture of the list here but blogger isn't letting me post pictures. Is it just me?)
Here are the names:
Shoo Shoo
Gi Gi
Fay Fay
Butterfly
Sick Baby (as soon as Ivy tells me the name, the looks at me and says "But I don't think you want to name your baby that.") "Probably not" I tell her.
Sleepy
Big Baby
Lu Lu
Santa (yes, Candy is a boy and Santa is a girl)
Berry
Carseat Baby (which had to be scratched from the list because all of a sudden Ivy remembered that carseat baby is a boy.)
I gently told Ivy that I wasn't sure any of these names were going to work but I told her that until we decide on her "real" name, we will call her Lu Lu. So for now, it's Lu Lu. And Ivy's satisfied....at least for now.
Ivy: So, have you decided what you are going to name your baby
Me: No, not yet
Ivy: Hmmmm (said in a very disappointed tone)
Occasionally, she will tell me about someone who just had a baby and suggest the name that they used. Our inadequacy to decide on a name is really getting to Ivy.
When I was home for Mother's Day, I was sitting next to Ivy on the way home from church. Apparently the baby name topic was on her mind. She turns to me and suggests that when we get to her house, we get out all of her babies. She would tell me each of their names and maybe one of those names would work. I told her that sounded like a good idea. Now I have to tell you that Ivy has LOTS of babies. In fact, we just discovered recently that she actually runs a daycare out of her bedroom called "Lots of Babies Daycare". Who knew?
So, as soon as we got to her house she went to her room and with the help of my mom, she separated all the girl babies from the boy babies. This is when we discovered that her baby "Candy" is actually a boy. Again, who knew? (For the record, we've had a boy name picked out forever. It's the girl name that we are stuck on.)
Then she brings me in her room and one by one she points to them and tells me each of their names. She also suggested that I get a piece of paper so I can write them down.
(Tried posting a picture of the list here but blogger isn't letting me post pictures. Is it just me?)
Here are the names:
Shoo Shoo
Gi Gi
Fay Fay
Butterfly
Sick Baby (as soon as Ivy tells me the name, the looks at me and says "But I don't think you want to name your baby that.") "Probably not" I tell her.
Sleepy
Big Baby
Lu Lu
Santa (yes, Candy is a boy and Santa is a girl)
Berry
Carseat Baby (which had to be scratched from the list because all of a sudden Ivy remembered that carseat baby is a boy.)
I gently told Ivy that I wasn't sure any of these names were going to work but I told her that until we decide on her "real" name, we will call her Lu Lu. So for now, it's Lu Lu. And Ivy's satisfied....at least for now.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
What Happened To Last Week?
Last week came and went as a blur.
However, a few things happened last week that I want to capture. They could each be a post of their own but I’m already behind and attempting to catch up.
Tuesday May 30- I was moving slow as a result of our biking weekend but I flew to Orange County, CA. for the day. Left for the airport around 6:00am and returned home around 11:30 pm. I described the term "day trip" in this post. However, 6 hours of combined flying time is total exploitation of the term day-trip.
It wasn’t a total waste however. I did have a ladybug sighting. My co-worker Rick and I had just settled into our fancy Ford rental car. He says “Oh, there’s a bug on you” and he swats it off of my knee onto the floorboard of the car as if he is doing me a favor. I look down and it was a Ladybug. I started screaming “Dude, what are you doing???” "Are you nuts!!!" “You can’t go around hurting Ladybugs!!!!” Yes, me the self-proclaimed Ladybug cynic was instinctively looking out for Miss Ladybug. I gently picked her up and set her free – out of harm’s way from Mr. Ladybug swatter. I’ve worked with Rick for about six years now, he doesn’t even ask anymore.
Also on Tuesday, my Mom helped out her community by getting an uninsured, under the influence, driver off of the street. Unfortunately it wasn’t by choice and was with the rear end of her vehicle. OK, how completely out of your mind do you have to be to rear-end a white SUV that is traveling around 40mph????? Yes, he rear-ended her while she was moving about 40mph. Which ironically is probably what saved her. He was going much faster than she was and he never slowed down. Mom is perfectly fine - she wasn't even sore which is amazing yet not surprising since she is one of the strongest people that I know. I had been complaining for days about my aches and pains from my bicycle when I found out about the accident. Yeah, I felt like a schmuck.
Thursday June 1 – Discovered that we have two new baby birds in the nest on the back patio.
Friday June 2– I haven’t mentioned this here but a very good friend was diagnosed recently with breast cancer. She had surgery on Friday. The final report isn't in but the doctor's feel that they caught it early. She will have a series of radiation treatments but the doctor's are hopeful. This is a direct quote from her "Get your mammograms!!!"
Also on Friday some good friends left for Russia to meet the little girl that will hopefully become their new daughter. The adoption won't be finalized on this trip but hopefully their second trip will come soon and they can get her home.
Besides the above happenings I estimate that I checked the Rumor Queen's blog approximately 2 million times for some big announcement that never came. If you are adopting or considering adopting from China and you do not yet know about the RQ site, I must warn you. It will be the best and worst thing that you have ever found. You will get addicted and as of now there is no cure for the addiction. I take no responsibility for the addiction that will consume your life.
However, a few things happened last week that I want to capture. They could each be a post of their own but I’m already behind and attempting to catch up.
Tuesday May 30- I was moving slow as a result of our biking weekend but I flew to Orange County, CA. for the day. Left for the airport around 6:00am and returned home around 11:30 pm. I described the term "day trip" in this post. However, 6 hours of combined flying time is total exploitation of the term day-trip.
It wasn’t a total waste however. I did have a ladybug sighting. My co-worker Rick and I had just settled into our fancy Ford rental car. He says “Oh, there’s a bug on you” and he swats it off of my knee onto the floorboard of the car as if he is doing me a favor. I look down and it was a Ladybug. I started screaming “Dude, what are you doing???” "Are you nuts!!!" “You can’t go around hurting Ladybugs!!!!” Yes, me the self-proclaimed Ladybug cynic was instinctively looking out for Miss Ladybug. I gently picked her up and set her free – out of harm’s way from Mr. Ladybug swatter. I’ve worked with Rick for about six years now, he doesn’t even ask anymore.
Also on Tuesday, my Mom helped out her community by getting an uninsured, under the influence, driver off of the street. Unfortunately it wasn’t by choice and was with the rear end of her vehicle. OK, how completely out of your mind do you have to be to rear-end a white SUV that is traveling around 40mph????? Yes, he rear-ended her while she was moving about 40mph. Which ironically is probably what saved her. He was going much faster than she was and he never slowed down. Mom is perfectly fine - she wasn't even sore which is amazing yet not surprising since she is one of the strongest people that I know. I had been complaining for days about my aches and pains from my bicycle when I found out about the accident. Yeah, I felt like a schmuck.
Thursday June 1 – Discovered that we have two new baby birds in the nest on the back patio.
Friday June 2– I haven’t mentioned this here but a very good friend was diagnosed recently with breast cancer. She had surgery on Friday. The final report isn't in but the doctor's feel that they caught it early. She will have a series of radiation treatments but the doctor's are hopeful. This is a direct quote from her "Get your mammograms!!!"
Also on Friday some good friends left for Russia to meet the little girl that will hopefully become their new daughter. The adoption won't be finalized on this trip but hopefully their second trip will come soon and they can get her home.
Besides the above happenings I estimate that I checked the Rumor Queen's blog approximately 2 million times for some big announcement that never came. If you are adopting or considering adopting from China and you do not yet know about the RQ site, I must warn you. It will be the best and worst thing that you have ever found. You will get addicted and as of now there is no cure for the addiction. I take no responsibility for the addiction that will consume your life.
Friday, June 02, 2006
Day 2. Trails 2. Injuries 1(if you only count flesh wounds). Flat Tires 1
After our 150 degrees noon start on Saturday, we decided to get an early start on Sunday. That really wasn't too hard since we were asleep by 9pm Saturday night thanks to Trail #1. We received a little local advice on some trails from our waiter while enjoying our well deserved dinner and Margaritas Saturday night. It is a good thing we got this advice since Sunday morning, we realized that we lost our Mountain Biking book - I swear I did not throw it over a cliff.
Our plan was to do a longer but nice, easy and partially paved trail. Sweet. Our waiter did however, warn us that this trail connects with a much more intense trail so be sure to stay on the main path. Right. First few miles was great. The trail was crowded which was fine with me because that actually slows Jon down to a much more manageable pace. Then all of a sudden, I notice there aren't many people on the trail. Next thing I know, we are headed down a hill of boulders measuring half my size. Much to my surprise Jon was the first to get a flesh wound on trail #2. Of course, his injury was attributed more to his poor shoe choice than his skills but at least I wasn't the only one injured. Misery does love company.
(Imagine a picture of Jon's bleeding ankle here. Blogger is not letting me upload pictures.)
Trail #2 however, did leave me with several lovely bruises. We stuck with the scary trail for a couple of miles and then headed back to the nice trail. I will say that Jon did a great job of announcing the trail obstacles. "Slight uphill coming up." "Tight squeeze ahead" "Low tree limb" "Loose rock" "Steep downhill cliff of huge boulders". Unfortunately, he was usually so far ahead of me that I couldn't hear him or I was dealing with something he did not feel was worthy of an announcement.
Jon: "Steep hill coming up"
Me: "OK, as soon as I free myself from between this boulder and my bike, I'll be sure to watch out for it. Thanks."
Jon: "You ok back there"
Me: "Oh yeah, doing great"
We rode for 2.5 hours but that did include a much deserved swim break.
Later that afternoon, we headed back to another part of the nice trail. No falls, no injuries to report. After a few miles, Jon however got a flat tire so we decided to call it a day. I would be lying if I said I wasn't somewhat relieved about that decision.
Our plan was to do a longer but nice, easy and partially paved trail. Sweet. Our waiter did however, warn us that this trail connects with a much more intense trail so be sure to stay on the main path. Right. First few miles was great. The trail was crowded which was fine with me because that actually slows Jon down to a much more manageable pace. Then all of a sudden, I notice there aren't many people on the trail. Next thing I know, we are headed down a hill of boulders measuring half my size. Much to my surprise Jon was the first to get a flesh wound on trail #2. Of course, his injury was attributed more to his poor shoe choice than his skills but at least I wasn't the only one injured. Misery does love company.
(Imagine a picture of Jon's bleeding ankle here. Blogger is not letting me upload pictures.)
Trail #2 however, did leave me with several lovely bruises. We stuck with the scary trail for a couple of miles and then headed back to the nice trail. I will say that Jon did a great job of announcing the trail obstacles. "Slight uphill coming up." "Tight squeeze ahead" "Low tree limb" "Loose rock" "Steep downhill cliff of huge boulders". Unfortunately, he was usually so far ahead of me that I couldn't hear him or I was dealing with something he did not feel was worthy of an announcement.
Jon: "Steep hill coming up"
Me: "OK, as soon as I free myself from between this boulder and my bike, I'll be sure to watch out for it. Thanks."
Jon: "You ok back there"
Me: "Oh yeah, doing great"
We rode for 2.5 hours but that did include a much deserved swim break.
Later that afternoon, we headed back to another part of the nice trail. No falls, no injuries to report. After a few miles, Jon however got a flat tire so we decided to call it a day. I would be lying if I said I wasn't somewhat relieved about that decision.
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