Day 4 - Cape Point

Short recaps now. I'll edit and add pictures soon.

From Africa
After b'fast we joined our travel mates and headed to Cape Point with Jeremy as our guide. It was cold and damp. We couldn't see Table Mountain because of weather.


On the way to Cape Point we stopped at Haut Bay to take a ride out to Duiker Island to see the Cape Fur Seals. After a fun ferry ride in the not so calm water we returned to shore.

We wanted to proceeded further down the coast along Chapman's Bay but we had to cross over the peninsula to the other side because of a road closure due to a landslide. We drove through Constantia, South Africa's oldest wine district. Once south of the landslide area, we crossed back to the Atlantic side and continued to Cape Point.


Cape Point is incredible. Amazing views. We didn't walk up to the Light House but instead chose to go out along the coast a ways to take in the views. Along the way we had our first Right Whale sighting. We were going to walk down to Cape Point but there was some weather coming in and we didn't have time (unless we wanted to get very wet). It started to rain so we quickly returned to the visitor center where we got to watch the antics of a Chacma Baboon who has learned that humans often leave food in their cars. We drove down to Cape Point and were fortunate to see both Ostrich and Elands. We didn't get to see the Mountain Zebra, though we did see evidence of its presence.

On the way back to Cape Town we stopped at Boulders Beach to see the African Penguins. After a visit with the aptly named Jackass Penguins we enjoyed a delicious lunch at a local restaurant.

Back to the hotel and a little later, dinner at Balducci's.

Day 3

I guess it was day three.

Let's see, day one (Saturday, 6 Sep) we flew on American to LAX in the
afternoon then left LAX at 8pm (20h00) in a couple cushy business
class seats! That is the way to fly. Sadly it was the only long flight
we got "upgraded" on. It was a great way to start our vacation.

So, day two would have been arriving London Heathrow at 15h50 (eleven
hours of flying and an eight hour time change). After a four hour sit
in the fanciest terminal I've ever seen we boarded our BA flight to
Cape Town at 20h00. The economy seats in a 747 are not comfortable and
sleeping was near impossible.

Day 3 we arrived Cape Town at 07h30, got through customs and
immigration fairly easily, walked out of security and there was our
driver waiting for us. About a 30 minute drive to the Portswood Hotel
at the Marina took us an hour in rush hour traffic. After a shower we
decided to take a little "nap" at about 10h00. We woke up at about
21h00 when our friends called the room upon their arrival and asked us
to join them for dinner. We didn't feel like getting dressed and going
out so we opted for an in room pajama picnic, a little reading, and
then back to bed.

747-400

A little bigger than the MD-80s I fly. I think we're in row 473!

Sleep Aid

Enjoying a barley pop in LAX.

Next stop London!

The Adventure Begins

Blast Off!

Tucker P. Glerum, 4 July 1997 - 5 Sep 2008

I got home from a trip on the evening of September 4th and Leigh told me she was going to take Tucker to work the next day to have him looked at by one of the internists. He was very weak and bloated and she feared he may have a bleeding tumor in his abdomen.

She called from the office the next morning, she was right. He had many growths in his abdomen. It was impossible to tell which one or ones were bleeding. The internist said even if we operated and the bleeder was able to be removed it wasn't likely he would live more than 6 weeks if even that long. Chances were that we would find it was inoperable and have to put him down on the operating table. We were leaving for a two week trip to Africa the next day. Best case he would have to suffer through surgery and recovery while we were gone then maybe only have a couple weeks when we returned. I decided I didn't want to put him through that.

I finished up what I was doing at home then went and picked him up.

We went to the park. We rode in the Jeep...he loved going for rides. We played. We napped. We shared a bag of pop-corn (even taught Phanny to catch pop-corn).

When Leigh finished work I took him back to the office. We said our goodbyes. I held him while Leigh injected him. Putting my dog to sleep ranks high on the list of hardest things I've ever had to do.

He was my first dog as an adult.

He was my best buddy for over 11 years.

He went to work with me every day (3 hours in the car) for the first 6-8 months of his life.

He ran with me.

He chased me on my bike.

He loved to go hiking.

He was always happy to see me.

He kept Leigh company while I was gone and that was a tall order,

I was frequently gone with work for a night or two, occasionally for a week or two, and in 2005...well, I was gone pretty much the first 9 months.

He even tried on one of my cycling jerseys.

He was a good little brother to Crystal.

He was a good big brother to Phanny.

He kept me company while I was recovering from shoulder surgery.

I'm going to miss you little buddy...I already do!

Hmmm....

.....drinking Starbucks Coffee at the World Famous Cafe' du Monde in New Orleans.

Portola Redwoods State Park

The park is in a rugged, natural basin forested with coast redwoods, Douglas fir and live oak. Eighteen miles of trails crisscross the canyon and several streams, notably Slate Creek, Peters Creek and Pescadero Creek. Trails also connect to trails in adjacent parks. The Sequoia Self-guided Nature Trail and Old Tree Trail introduce visitors to the natural history of the area. The park has one of the tallest redwoods (over 300 feet high) in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

What will they think of next?

Motion activated automatic toilet seat plastic wrap changing device.

I was laughing so much I almost wet myself. Maybe that's why they have
the hands free seat cover changer!

Masters Track State Championships

Not a bad days work.

3rd 40-44 3k Pursuit
2nd 40-44 Points Race
2nd 30+ Team Sprint
2nd 40+ Team Sprint
3rd 40+ Team Pursuit

Ouch

How does one do that?

Juan Pelota

I had no idea who he was or why Lance would name the café in his shop
after him.

A lttle research was in order. Now I get it. Hee hee hee. Lance has a
sense of humor.

Mellow Johnny's

Found it.

You know...

...you need to lose weight when your Lincoln doesn't sit level.

Shiner

Texas favorite in a frosty mug at Railhead. Oh, and the BBQ was good
too!

Fort Worth

Hot. It might be hot at home but it feels much hotter here.

Tuesday Night Results

I kinda like this track stuff.

http://www.ridethetrack.com/blog/res_tues.html

In The Air

The fires are making it really smokey here. I woke up this morning to
dreams of camping out. On the way to the airport I had memories of LA
and the smog. 800+ fires...yikes.

No Good Deed

This guy was doing a little sunbathing. I tried to shoo it out of the
road but he reared up and took a fighting pose. Ballsy move for a
little lizard.

Screw it....dumbass.