Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon

Weeks ago Cheryl and I signed up to be volunteers at the first ever Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon. We asked to be at the start area and were assigned a shift of 4:00 AM to 10:00 AM. The marathon and 1/2 marathon were scheduled to start at 7:00 AM.

Cheryl tweaked her ankle on Friday so we decided that she shouldn't go on Saturday - good choice 'cause we walked a LOT!

I got up at 3:00 AM and left the house on the Gold Wing at 3:25. As I rode past the Valley 6 Drive-In Theaters, the movies were STILL showing! Talk about an all nighter!! haha

As instructed I was confronted with a road closure along my route to the volunteer parking area. I asked the cop where volunteer parking was and he replied, "YOU are volunteering!?" "Yup," I replied. He asked where my parking pass was and I said in my pocket under my chaps. "OK", he said, "They'll want to see it up ahead." As I rode past a few more cops they all watched me suspiciously... Like, why can't a volunteer show up on a motorcycle? Huh?

I checked in about 3:45 AM and was almost immediately assigned to a team and whisked off to the start line area. There we had to attach banners to the portable fencing along the chute leaving the start area. It felt like we covered a mile of fence! haha

Then on to the bus unloading area. There we got on each bus as they arrived and instructed the runners where to go ~ what was where ~ especially the port-a-pots. LOL

Then back to the start line area where we performed crowd control. We initially were stopping runners from getting in to "corrals" or groups farther up than they were assigned. Some grumpy people when they realized their friend and they were assigned to different groups...

Once they reached the 27th group (there were 36 altogether) we were moved on to clean-up duties. I was assigned the duty of unclipping the poles/signs marking the various corrals from the fencing. I then unclipped the sign from the poles and disassembled the pvc pipe.

Following that I was done and home just after 9:00. A little sore today, but probably not as sore as the 25,000 participants who ran/walked 13.1 (Half Marathon) or 26.2 (Full Marathon) miles. Here's a summary of the event.

It was quite a festive event. From music and balloons at the start area to bands at every mile marker along the course.

The winner of the full marathon, Peter Omae of Kenya, finished with a time of 2:18:17. That means he ran a pace of 5:17 EVERY mile for 26.2 miles!!! Whoa!

I am thinking if I start training now...

Gold Wing Ride - May 17 2009

Today was my second long ride for the season and Cheryl’s first time on the bike since 2007!

We traveled 350 miles in beautiful weather, over a variety of road types (freeways, state highways and country (yes country, not county) roads!

We left Kent and headed north on I-5 to Marysville. There we exited I-5 and headed West on Marine Drive traveling through the Tulalip Indian Reservation enroute to Stanwood.

We took a quick break at a Dairy Queen in Stanwood which was originally intended as a bathroom stop, but turned in to an ice cream cone stop as well!! Haha

Following the great ice cream we were back on the road, headed north to Conway on Pioneer Hwy.

From Conway we headed west on Fir Island Rd and then north on Best Rd to Hwy 20.

From there we headed west again crossing the Swinomish Channel just south of Padilla Bay and then nipping the north end of the Swinomish Indian Reservation as we came on to Fidalgo Island.

We remained on Hwy 20 to Sharpes Corner where Hwy 20 turns South towards Deception Pass and Whidbey Island. Along the way we traveled along the shore of Lake Campbell for a few miles. We were literally feet away from the water!

Deception Pass was spectacular as always. After crossing both Deceptionn Pass bridges on to Whidbey Island, we parked the bike and walked back across the bridges. We were able to watch people fish below from boats and from the beach on the Whidbey Island side of the pass and kayakers skillfully maneuver the swift currents.

Then we began our journey home…

We traveled to Snow Goose Produce,
a remarkable little shop! They have seafood, fresh vegetables and fruits, cheeses, wines, flowers, plants, breads and ICE CREAM. The line for the ice cream seemed to go on forever!! Cheryl had some peppermint candy ice cream. They make the waffle cones as fast as people order them…incredible!!

We bought some locally baked bread (they are very focused on supporting local businesses), humus, smoked salmon pate and wine. We then went to a lone picnic table behind the store, overlooking the fields. There we played cards, Five Crowns, ate our food, had some wine and enjoyed the sunshine, the view of Mt Baker, the birds and the nice break.

As we were leaving I heard what sounded like the neighing of a horse…and it was! Haha Two girls had ridden their horses through a field, accompanied by their Chihuahua, just to get ice cream!


I am telling you, for all this store has, I think it’s the ice cream that sustains them!!!

We got back on the road heading for Conway and I-5. Once we hit I-5, we headed south for home.

We stopped at a rest stop just south of Everett and met a couple riding a Gold Wing. Turns out they are the Chapter Directors for a Gold Wing Touring Association out of Auburn – minutes from our home in Kent! We visited for probably half an hour! I think we’ll be joining them for some rides this summer! Check out GWTA ~ Destination Friendship!

We then headed on home arriving about 8:00. It was a wonderful ride and has really excited us both about getting out more on the weekends this summer!!

(You can see a few more pictures on our smugmug site here.)

Enjoying California...Day 5

Yes, on Friday we again eased in to the day! haha

Somewhere around 11:30 we showed up at mom and Ed's and after visiting a short bit, we head up Hwy 101 to Santa Barbara.

We started out on Stearns Wharf where we found one geocache at the end of the pier, bought some postcards and then hurried to get out of the wind!



Then we walked across Hwy 101 to the original Sambo's Restaurant (opened in 1957) for a late lunch.

We then drove up State St, the main drag through Santa Barbara. There are restaurants, bars and boutique shops galore! We found some parking and then strolled south along State St. We visited some stores, bought a Monoply card game and found some interesting street name signs...



We found this Douglas St sign in a shop called Retroville. Turns out this shop was opened in Port Angeles! The couple that own it just moved the store to Santa Barbara about 3 months ago after living in PA for 13 years. In fact the husband still commutes back to PA for work!



We then found a tasting room for a winery we didn't have time to get to on Tuesday - Kalyra Winery. The winery is owned by two brothers from Adelaide Australia. They make wines both here in Santa Barabara and in Australia. The tasting room definitely had an Australian theme going on!



After visiting the tasting room we headed north along State St back towards the car doing a little window shopping along the way. The crowds had both increased and grown in volume (noise is what I am talking about) since we first arrived!

We headed back to mom and Ed's in Ventura where we played a couple games of Five Crowns, enjoyed visiting with each other, had some cheese & crackers, fruit, popcorn...oh my! haha As the night moved along, everyone became a wee bit rummy and quite silly! LOL (THANKS MOM & ED for the visit to Santa Barbara and your hospitality!!)

And today (Saturday) we must return home.... And wouldn't you know it, the weather outside is the best since we've been here!!! Oh well, probably would have been too hot for us anyway!!

Until later...

Enjoying California...Days 3 and 4

Well, Wednesday turned out to be a bit of a slowwwwww day...

After easing in to the day (again...) we headed for the ocean with the hopes of finding some caches on Ventura Pier. The first one was gone - muggled, it turns out. We found the second one but couldn't find the third one - but we will.

Afterwards we came back to the hotel where Doug crashed for over 2-1/2 hours. He had a headache, his eyes ached and he just didn't feel well...

We did however, make it to Dougs mom's for dinner. We had a great time visiting, enjoyed a wonderful meal Katherine (Doug's mom) prepared, played Five Crowns and watched the American Idol results.

We were "home" just after 10:00 and went right to bed!

Today (Thursday) we eased in to the day (are you seeing the trend yet?) with breakfast at a local-yokel restaurant - the Vagabond Coffee Shop - here more than 40 years. We played cards over breakfast and then retreated to the hotel for a few more hours. We then headed for Ventura Harbor and Ventura Harbor Village. There we found 6 caches, walked along the beach, had some ice cream and even rented a motor-boat and "cruised" the Ventura Harbor and Ventura Keys - canals, lined with beautiful homes and boats, from kayaks to huge yachts!

As we rounded our first bend we were confronted with a HUGE barge coming from the other direction! Oh my! What do we do!? The barge was taking up ALL of the waterway... We veered right, staying away from the shallow areas, and successfully maneuvered our way past the barge. Whew!

Cheryl...always pushing the envelope...

A scene from our stroll on the beach...

A clever disguise for a cache...

Then we headed for another visit to In-n-Out before retiring to our hotel, accompanied by thunder sans lightening and rain!

Until tomorrow...

California Vacation Day 3

Rain was in the forecast, but we woke up to another sunny day!

We eased in to the day with plans to head north and do some wine tasting.

First though it was off to the post office for some stamps as we have 11 grandkids to get postcards off to!!

Ed (my step dad - he and my mother live here in Ventura) had mentioned they have a Sideways Winery Tour - a self guided tour of wineries that were in the movie Sideways.

So we got on Hwy 101 and headed north with a destination of Firestone Winery.

We headed towards Santa Barbara traveling along the coast and in sunny weather.

Just past Santa Barbara we turned off on Hwy 154, now going northwest up in to the Santa Ynez Mountains towards Cachuma Lake. We crossed over 2,225 foot San Marcos Pass (this would have been a great ride on the Goldwing!) and then dropped down to Los Olivos.

We stopped at the Los Olivos Grocery - quite the hub of activity - and then headed out in to wine country.

At Firestone Winery in the movie "Sideways", is where the four main characters, Miles, Jack, Maya, and Stephanie are bored with the wine tour and sneak away into the barrel room.

This winery was once part of the Firestone Family's wine and tire fortune. In fact, one of The Bachelor "contestants", Andrew Firestone, great-grandson of Firestone founder Harvey Firestone, made this winery even more well known while on the show, bringing dates here and sipping Firestone wine on the show. All the their wines were good, but their '04 Merlot Reserve and their '05 Cabernet stood out and are now in our wine box to come home with us! :)

Next was Foxen Winery with "OK" wines but our least favorite of the day. In "Sideways," you don't get to see much of this tiny winery. Miles and Jack are wine tasting and when the server leaves for a moment, Jack swiftly grabs the wine bottle and pours a healthy glass for both.

Then on to Rancho Sisquoc Winery. This wasn't a winery seen in Sideways but is near others that were in the movie, plus it was one that sounded interesting. Besides having a wonderfully friendly black and white cat to visit with, this winery had great every-day wines, all reasonably priced. "...as you drive the road that snakes along the
edge of the valley floor to the ranch headquarters
and tasting room, you leave the rush of the present
day behind. The farmhouse and barn date from the
early 1900s..." We ended up buying their '06 Sisquoc River Red and their '06 Syrah. AND we were allowed to pick oranges from one of their orange trees (they had grapefruit trees too)! Simple thing...but what fun!

And last winery for the day turned out to be the most fun... Tres Hermanas Winery in Santa Maria. Both the owner, Paulette Teixeira and winemaker Luke Lindquist were there and very enjoyable to visit with. While there, a family of eight came in - Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Mom and 4 kids. Also in the tasting room/gift shop was a mechanical horse with leather reigns and saddle. Aha! I asked the parents if it was OK if I paid for each of the kids to ride the horse. They were OK with that and the kids' eyes lit up! They all rode, from the youngest to the oldest. Turns out that if the rider pulls back on the reigns the horse goes faster and the rider looks like they are REALLY on a galloping horse! The gears below are covered in plexiglass so you can also see how everything works! Very cool. All the visitors in the tasting room enjoyed the fun the kids were having. While the oldest child was riding (maybe 10?) the grandma came over to me and said, "This is the first smile we've seen on her all day!" What fun! Tres Hermanas winemaker is the only, or at least one of only a few, local winemakers that uses a grape called Refosco. It's a grape that originated in northeastern Italy and is delicious! We bought 2 bottles of their '05 Refosco...and a watch for Cheryl! haha The winemaker signed our bottles as well...

Interesting note... Both the Rancho Sisquoc and Tres Hermanas wineries are on thousands of acres that were originally for cattle businesses which are still active. The wineries and vineyards are really a second enterprise on these properties.

We decided to swing in to Los Olivos to see if there was a place for dinner. We asked a couple on the main street - yes we just stopped right in the middle of the main street - reminds me of Darrington - where there was a good place to eat. They suggested the Los Olivos Cafe.

And yes, this too was a shooting location for the move Sideways! haha

We got "home" about 8:40, in time to watch most of the American Idol and all of Dance with the Stars - Results.

Oh, yes it did rain. The whole time we were up in the Los Olivos/Santa Maria areas! But it really was just a heavy drizzle at most and was very on and off - mostly off. Funny thing is everyone was HAPPY to have the rain. So happy in fact some folks were taking pictures of the rain! haha

Until tomorrow...