Hello Readers,
OK, this is a little bit different of a post than I would normally write. Normally I keep this blog for adventures and things I have done but in this post I will discuss a future adventure and the heartfelt gratefulness of someone being there when I reached out for help.
In June I will be flying out to Anchorage Alaska for the Anchorage Mayor's Marathon (aka Midnight Sun marathon). The marathon is scheduled for the 1st Saturday after the Summer Solstice (the longest day of the year). In Anchorage during the Summer Solstice there is no actual 'night time'. Of what I understand there are about 20 hours of sunlight and 4 hours of twilight but no darkness. Wow, what an interesting phenom. Most of us probably understand about the rotation of the earth creating a daily cycle and the axis of the planet designating the day & night periods and the revolution Earth takes around the Sun creating a yearly cycle, but that is all textbook for most of us. The thought of actually going to a place on the planet where it all comes together to create months of daylight and months of nighttime is almost surreal.
Anyway, on June 23rd this year is the Anchorage Mayor's Marathon. I will be running/walking the half marathon (this will be 2 weeks after doing the San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon). Jet Blue had a great deal for Long Beach Airport to Anchorage Airport and time worked out so that I can go to Alaska on the evening of the 18th. I will be taking my first train ride, ever, from Anchorage to Denali National Park and backpacking until the early afternoon of the 22nd when I get to take the train back to Anchorage to stay the night in a hotel to rehydrate and shut some heavy curtains to get some sleep to recooperate for the half marathon the next day. This is where my time problem happened: The train doesn't come into Anchorage until 8:00pm and I have to pick up my bib & timing chip before 6:00pm at the Expo. hmmm. It took me a while to remember I am a part of an International organization with chapters in almost every major city in the world. So going through the Mensa website and checking out the Alaska membership I contacted the president of that chapter to see if someone there can help me out to collect my marathon packet. I would not be able to do the marathon otherwise. Dana Spinney, of the Mensa Anchorage chapter, was more than willing to offer her assistance. And for this I am deeply grateful. Dana, through Mensa, was the missing key to allow me to plan my short vacation to include as much backpacking/hiking time possible and be able to include the marathon on my last day... for without her assistance I would have to spend 2 days in a hotel if I expected to do the marathon. And I am not really that much of a hotel-type person.
I don't really know what condition my feet will be in by the time of the marathon... 2 weeks before I will have done the San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon, and for a couple days before the Anchorage marathon I will be backpacking & hiking in Denali National Park (where there is no night time and there are plenty of wildlife (pronounced Grizzly Bears)) so I may not be hydrating or sleeping as I should before a marathon. Regardless, this is my birthday and this is an adventure I want to experience as much of as possible - whether I do it pretty or not. It's about completing, not competing. :-)
Dana, thank you for being there when I reached out for help. This is going to be my birthday adventure and I appreciate your hospitality and genersity in helping me. Perhaps on the 23rd after the marathon we can do a birthday dinner since we share similar birthdays.
I am looking forward sharing the pictures I will be taking.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Not much to share during these darker winter months
Hello All,
There hasn't been much to write about these last several months, since Sep actually. Sure, things have been happening, but nothing outdoors where I can take a camera along to share the adventures. I like winter but I think for me its for nesting; in my outdoor adventures I do like the sunlight and lately the days have been too short. I am a night owl, but night pictures are so dim and it really isn't very safe to take the type of hikes I enjoy by moonlight.
On Oct 09th, 2011, I completed the Long Beach International City Marathon. Half marathon really, but that was the plan. It was about the bling. I am back to getting into training and since I am a strong walker anyway it was about getting the medal to step up the motivation for a full marathon again. I will be making the plan for the real marathon but at this time I have not yet decided.
On Feb 05th, 2012, I completed the Surf City half Marathon (Huntington Beach). Again, it was about the bling and getting into a cycle. The Surf City medals are a metal medalian on a really cool wood surf board. Also like the Long Beach marathon, it was about completing, not competing. I am far from impressed with my finishing time; currently I am walking out the half marathons, usually in the back of the pack where the church walker ladies are. Don't let that sound like an insult, some of those ladies kick ARSE!
The next half marathon is the Orange County Marathon on May 06th, 2012. Now that I have been training I intend on completing the Orange County Marathon in 2 hours, 22 minutes. We'll see how that goes, but it's a goal. I will be happy with a 2:22. Heck, I'm happy completing so I'd be IMPRESSED with a 2:22. :-)
Upon completion of this Orange County half marathon I will receive a 4th medal for the "California Beach Cities Challenge". The California Beach Cities Challenge is a marathon series in that if a person completes any combination of half or full marathons in the Long Beach, Surf City & Orange County marathons, in order without missing one, the 4th medal is earned. This special 4th medal is a hybrid of the individual styles of each of the 3 marathons.
I am hoping to be doing the full marathon for the San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon on Jun 03rd, 2012. The proceeds earned from this marathon (registration fees, etc) benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, which as anyone who knows me knows I have a softspot for them since my own cancer was lymphoma.
In Jan['12] I had dinner with an adventurous dinner group called GASTRONAUTS. Google it, it's not for everyone but everyone there seems to have had a good time. People were nice, all walks of life (I actually feel a bit of a country bumpkin compared to most of them because those that I have met were world travelers and/or physicists and/or business owners, et al. Still, I am looking forward to the next gastronomical adventure.
This dinner was tagged as "A Cajun Feast at Villians Tavern" and featured NUTRIA (yup, swamp rat, river rat, call it what you will, it's a 4-6 lb rat!), 42 RSVPs and 50 lbs of nutria to share. yumm! I play, it was a fun night and the food was good. The meal was coursed, so it took a good couple hours to get through it, and here is the menu (pictures of the prepared foods are below):
° Grilled Lemonade with Thyme Syrup
° Turtle* Salad with Market Greens
° Country Rabbit* Pâté with Pickled Okra
° Crawfish* Boudin with Maque Choux
° Tomato Pie
° Braised Nutria* with Rockefeller Dressing
° Café Brûlot
° King Cakes
... and plenty New Orleans-Style punches
(* The snapper turtle, rabbit, crawfish & nutria were all trapped in cajun country, Louisiana, and flown in overnight for this event).
The afternoon started with the New Orleans-Style punches (one with rum, the other with rye whiskey, and surprisingly I enjoyed the rye whiskey). A nice time for the meet-and-greet and since I was one of the first people there (yes family, one of the FIRST, not one of the latest!) I got to meet a large number of the other diners. Then after taking our seats the dinner started with the apparatif Grilled Lemonade. Wow, who knew Grilled Lemons and vodka would make such a great tasting drink, sweet, but good. Those of you that know me also know I do not drink hard alcohol, but no worries, I did not get drunk, thank goodness my metabolism seems to burn alcohol off fast (is that the ADD?).
The first food course was the Turtle Salad with Market Greens... sliced marinated turtle meat (fried?) on frisée, a type of chicory I believe. Snapper turtle, friends, not the illegal stuff. Is turtle a salty meat or was the brinyness from a marinade? I like briny. I could have eaten an entire meal of the turtle meat., but on we went to the next course of Rabbit Pâté with pickled okra. Funny, it didn't taste like liver. I don't like liver, but the pate was tasty. The Crawfish Boudin (a 'sausage' for lack of a better word) wasn't my cup-o-tea but the first rule of the dinner club is to at least try to try everything presented to you. I finished it of course, food really doesn't have much chance of survival around me, regardless of what the food is. hehehe.
The Tomato Pie, well, can I say it was a DREAM! So much so that I looked up recipes after I got home so I can perhaps make it myself. If you have not experienced it before don't think of apple pie, think instead of PIZZA pie. Yup, savory, cheesy (ricotta mix?), a pizza between pie crusts. Seriously, a full dinner can be made of tomato pie and a salad. Now came the scary entré, the SWAMP RAT! Don't think of it and it wasn't bad at all. Actually, the course had a chewy and a pork texture... the small dumplings in it made the chewy, the nutria had the texture of pulled pork. I would have liked it far more without the rockefeller dressing (oysters!) because to me the oyster taste/smell along with the shredded pork texture reminded me of canned tuna. I eat tuna, but I did not finish the river rat. Not because it was rat, but because after 5 courses extending over time I WAS FULL.
The final course was Café Brûlot and King Cakes. The Café Brûlot was also imported from 'Noleans' area but the show was all Los Angeles. The coffee show consisted of igniting the coffee (alcohol) and ladling it over an orange with curled peel until the fire burned out and the orange oils saturated through the coffee. The orange oils and the spices (cinnamon? nutmeg?) reminded me of Christmas wine. Quite an interesting show.
hehehe. OK, so not much to share, but that has never stopped me from saying a lot! :-)
Oh, and today I went to the Scottish Festival & Games at the Queen Mary. My goal: eat haggis! Mission Accomplished.
I don't understand why sheep organs with oats & onions boiled for a few hours in a sheep stomach should get the bad reputation it has been given. It was actually quite tasty.
There hasn't been much to write about these last several months, since Sep actually. Sure, things have been happening, but nothing outdoors where I can take a camera along to share the adventures. I like winter but I think for me its for nesting; in my outdoor adventures I do like the sunlight and lately the days have been too short. I am a night owl, but night pictures are so dim and it really isn't very safe to take the type of hikes I enjoy by moonlight.
On Oct 09th, 2011, I completed the Long Beach International City Marathon. Half marathon really, but that was the plan. It was about the bling. I am back to getting into training and since I am a strong walker anyway it was about getting the medal to step up the motivation for a full marathon again. I will be making the plan for the real marathon but at this time I have not yet decided.
On Feb 05th, 2012, I completed the Surf City half Marathon (Huntington Beach). Again, it was about the bling and getting into a cycle. The Surf City medals are a metal medalian on a really cool wood surf board. Also like the Long Beach marathon, it was about completing, not competing. I am far from impressed with my finishing time; currently I am walking out the half marathons, usually in the back of the pack where the church walker ladies are. Don't let that sound like an insult, some of those ladies kick ARSE!
The next half marathon is the Orange County Marathon on May 06th, 2012. Now that I have been training I intend on completing the Orange County Marathon in 2 hours, 22 minutes. We'll see how that goes, but it's a goal. I will be happy with a 2:22. Heck, I'm happy completing so I'd be IMPRESSED with a 2:22. :-)
Upon completion of this Orange County half marathon I will receive a 4th medal for the "California Beach Cities Challenge". The California Beach Cities Challenge is a marathon series in that if a person completes any combination of half or full marathons in the Long Beach, Surf City & Orange County marathons, in order without missing one, the 4th medal is earned. This special 4th medal is a hybrid of the individual styles of each of the 3 marathons.
I am hoping to be doing the full marathon for the San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon on Jun 03rd, 2012. The proceeds earned from this marathon (registration fees, etc) benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, which as anyone who knows me knows I have a softspot for them since my own cancer was lymphoma.
In Jan['12] I had dinner with an adventurous dinner group called GASTRONAUTS. Google it, it's not for everyone but everyone there seems to have had a good time. People were nice, all walks of life (I actually feel a bit of a country bumpkin compared to most of them because those that I have met were world travelers and/or physicists and/or business owners, et al. Still, I am looking forward to the next gastronomical adventure.
This dinner was tagged as "A Cajun Feast at Villians Tavern" and featured NUTRIA (yup, swamp rat, river rat, call it what you will, it's a 4-6 lb rat!), 42 RSVPs and 50 lbs of nutria to share. yumm! I play, it was a fun night and the food was good. The meal was coursed, so it took a good couple hours to get through it, and here is the menu (pictures of the prepared foods are below):
° Grilled Lemonade with Thyme Syrup
° Turtle* Salad with Market Greens
° Country Rabbit* Pâté with Pickled Okra
° Crawfish* Boudin with Maque Choux
° Tomato Pie
° Braised Nutria* with Rockefeller Dressing
° Café Brûlot
° King Cakes
... and plenty New Orleans-Style punches
(* The snapper turtle, rabbit, crawfish & nutria were all trapped in cajun country, Louisiana, and flown in overnight for this event).
The afternoon started with the New Orleans-Style punches (one with rum, the other with rye whiskey, and surprisingly I enjoyed the rye whiskey). A nice time for the meet-and-greet and since I was one of the first people there (yes family, one of the FIRST, not one of the latest!) I got to meet a large number of the other diners. Then after taking our seats the dinner started with the apparatif Grilled Lemonade. Wow, who knew Grilled Lemons and vodka would make such a great tasting drink, sweet, but good. Those of you that know me also know I do not drink hard alcohol, but no worries, I did not get drunk, thank goodness my metabolism seems to burn alcohol off fast (is that the ADD?).
The first food course was the Turtle Salad with Market Greens... sliced marinated turtle meat (fried?) on frisée, a type of chicory I believe. Snapper turtle, friends, not the illegal stuff. Is turtle a salty meat or was the brinyness from a marinade? I like briny. I could have eaten an entire meal of the turtle meat., but on we went to the next course of Rabbit Pâté with pickled okra. Funny, it didn't taste like liver. I don't like liver, but the pate was tasty. The Crawfish Boudin (a 'sausage' for lack of a better word) wasn't my cup-o-tea but the first rule of the dinner club is to at least try to try everything presented to you. I finished it of course, food really doesn't have much chance of survival around me, regardless of what the food is. hehehe.
The Tomato Pie, well, can I say it was a DREAM! So much so that I looked up recipes after I got home so I can perhaps make it myself. If you have not experienced it before don't think of apple pie, think instead of PIZZA pie. Yup, savory, cheesy (ricotta mix?), a pizza between pie crusts. Seriously, a full dinner can be made of tomato pie and a salad. Now came the scary entré, the SWAMP RAT! Don't think of it and it wasn't bad at all. Actually, the course had a chewy and a pork texture... the small dumplings in it made the chewy, the nutria had the texture of pulled pork. I would have liked it far more without the rockefeller dressing (oysters!) because to me the oyster taste/smell along with the shredded pork texture reminded me of canned tuna. I eat tuna, but I did not finish the river rat. Not because it was rat, but because after 5 courses extending over time I WAS FULL.
The final course was Café Brûlot and King Cakes. The Café Brûlot was also imported from 'Noleans' area but the show was all Los Angeles. The coffee show consisted of igniting the coffee (alcohol) and ladling it over an orange with curled peel until the fire burned out and the orange oils saturated through the coffee. The orange oils and the spices (cinnamon? nutmeg?) reminded me of Christmas wine. Quite an interesting show.
 |
| Some Gastronauts on the patio of Villians Tavern (see, NORMAL people, not freaks that eat weird things) |
 |
| Turtle Salad with Market Greens |
 |
| Country Rabbit Pâté with Pickled Okra (sorry for the bad focus) |
 |
| Crawfish Boudin with Maque Choux |
 |
| Braised Nutria with Rockefeller Dressing |
hehehe. OK, so not much to share, but that has never stopped me from saying a lot! :-)
Oh, and today I went to the Scottish Festival & Games at the Queen Mary. My goal: eat haggis! Mission Accomplished.
I don't understand why sheep organs with oats & onions boiled for a few hours in a sheep stomach should get the bad reputation it has been given. It was actually quite tasty.
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