Back in California- Friends & Races

I got back to Patterson the same day that my old friend from Navy days Joe Palmer and his wife Judy arrived to visit for a few days. They were talking a long, slow trip from Arizona to Oregon with many detours and stops on the way. I asked what they would like to do while they were here when we went to El Rosal for dinner the first night. They said I was the only thing on the agenda so we just spent a couple of days hanging out and catching up on our lives since seeing one another in Eugene last summer. The day after they arrived was Cinco de Mayo and we had a really good Mexican food meal at home. The last day they needed to go to Turlock to Costco so we had another Mexican lunch this time in Turlock. It was great catching up. 

 

I had a race in Ripon the next weekend it was one I haven't run before because I was usually racing somewhere else but this year they made it a club Grand Prix race so I made sure it was on my schedule. 

 

 

The next week my good friend, Joe Brazil, came from Colorado for a quick trip. The motivation was to run the Bay to Breakers race in San Francisco. As we always do when he visits we made the most of the short time. The day after he arrived we went to Yosemite and hiked. The next morning we left at 3:30 to race and after the race we went to Santa Cruz. On Monday we drove down the coast stopping along the way for photo ops until we reached Big Sur. On Tuesday I took Joe to Sacramento to catch the train back to Denver. Short trip but we crammed a lot in the short time. Our next planned races will be back in Colorado in August. 

 

    

 

   

 

 

 

 

I next raced a race that I try to do every year the Modesto Memorial Classic. This year it was moved from the river park where it is normally held because of so much damage caused by flooding. 

 

 

Because we are considering doing a half marathon in St. Louis in October I decided to run a half marathon to find out how far I had to go to get in good enough shape to do it. I chose the Ventura Half because it was an out and back on the coast and was supposed to be a flat course. It was mostly flat but I am definitely not where I need to be to do a hilly one in St. Louis. I said if I ever got to where I couldn't run under 3 hours in a half I would be done with half marathons. I ran 2:59.05. Close to being done. Lol. So I've increased my mileage and planning to do the race in October. 

 

  

I was fortunate enough to go to another major track meet this year when USA Track and Field held the National Championship and World Team Qualifying meet in Sacramento. Because the meet got over so late some nights I just stayed in Sacramento for the three nights. In spite of outrageous heat there were some great performances. I got to visit with people I met last year in Eugene as well as meet new people who love track as much as I do. 

 

  

Getting Caught Up on Cross Country Trip

I've let way to much time pass between my trip and getting caught up on this blog. Time and again I say that I'm not going to do that and then I get frustrated with my computer and/or our internet service so I take a break that turns out to be too long. My last post I wrote about the three races that I did while I was in St. Louis. While in St. Louis we went to a Blues hockey game and ate at Schlafly's Brewery. The food was good and the game was outstanding. Stacie and I went to my favorite place twice for lunch, El Maguey and we all took a morning to go with Haley while she had her hair cut to donate. This is the 2nd time that she has done that. I also got to spend Easter with the kids. The last time I did that was when I drove out with Tom when the moved back to St. Louis the time before this one. While everything seems to be working I'm going to write quite a bit and then go back and try to insert pictures. Hopefully I'll get them in the right places, if not, they are mostly self explanatory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I left St. Louis the day after Easter and drove to Athens, Georgia to pick up Clarence to go with me to Florida for Jeff's 50th birthday. We had a really good time and like we do every time we're together we reminisced and laughed constantly. It was a good trip down and a good time while we were there. We spent time at some of our usual haunts like the Cocoa Beach Pier and the Sand Bar. The highlight of the Florida trip was celebrating Jeff's 50th birthday with family.

 

 

 

 

 

 
When we left Florida we went to visit Fred and Leah Mershon in Folkston, Georgia. We always have a good time when we all get together. We spent the long weekend and then I drove back to drop Clarence and spend a final night in Athens. I had planned to head home and call the trip finished but decided that since it was only 1000 miles north that I wanted to go see my Uncle Billy who has cancer. He is my Dad's last living brother and it had been too long since I had seen him. I spent a night with him and Aunt Isabel and got to see a cousin, Heidi. The next day I stopped to see Aunt Ginny and Uncle Okie who has also been sick for a long time. I didn't realize that he was about to turn 90. While it was a very short visit I'm glad that I did it.

 

 

 

 

I left Aunt Ginny's and drove to Lowell, Massachusetts to visit the Lowell National Historic Park and Kerouac Park. From there I drove to Manchester, New Hampshire to a brewery that had a beer with St. Bernard's on the cans. My niece asked me to get her some if I found any in New England so I just went straight to the source. I then drove back to Merrimack to have dinner with Tom and his parents Donna and Bob at the Brewery. We had a nice visit, I spent the night with them and we caught up on what's been going on since the last time we were together. When I left there I drove to Niagra Falls, New York to visit my youngest brother Rob and his wife Cindy.

 

 

I couldn't believe it when Rob told me it had been 23 years since we had seen one another. That's to much time between visits so I'm making plans to go back there for a longer visit in the fall. I really enjoyed getting to know Cindy. Rob and I went to Niagra Falls and spent some time.

 

 

 

 

 
After leaving Rob's I spent the first night in Corydon, Indiana; the first capital of Indiana. The next night I stayed with Stacie and the kids again and then headed home. I wanted to get home because my friends Joe and Judy Palmer were planning to be in Patterson for a few days on their roundabout trip from Arizona to Oregon.

 
It was a great trip because it included opportunities to see new places as well as old friends and family!

Running in St. Louis

When I arrived in St. Louis the plan was to run only one race while I was there, the GO St. Louis Mississippi River 7K. Plans change! After getting in a few decent runs I decided to see if there were any races close that I could run without missing out on the days activities. I found a 5K and ran it Saturday morning.

 

It was the Work Zone 5K in Chesterfield and like most races I've run in Missouri it was hilly. The next weekend Stacie, Tom and I ran the GO St. Louis events. Tom did the half and Stacie and I did the Mississippi River 7K. We all crossed into Illinois and back across two different bridges. Of course it was hilly. 

 

 

 

My final race in Missouri this trip was my favorite. It was flat but the real reason that it was my favorite was that Chase ran it with Stacie and me. It was his first race and he did great! The Super Heroes Run 5K. Tom and Haley came out to cheer for us.