Vacation to Riviera Maya 10/13-16

Well this year, Jennifer and I got to escape to Hacienda Tres Rios. It is a really cool green resort South of Cancun.

On our first day, we checked into our hotel and just explored the resort and hung out at the pool.

Our room was wonderful, here is the view:

Of course a visit to the Caribbean would not be complete without pool critters:

These guys are called Coatis and of course some redneck was feeding them!

We dined in the Asian restaurant and Jenny even ate sushi. They had some wonderful Mayan/Japanese fusion sushi that was amazing.

On day 2, we headed to Playa del Carmen for the requisite shopping trip.

Jennifer bought some cool jewlery and of course I bought cigars.

Here is what was left of the world's largest cigar:

After heading back to the resort, we had a very interesting and fun dinner. We ate at the "chef's table". Chef Oscar and the wait staff presented 7 courses. We dined in the kitchen and of course every course came with it's own libation. Lots of tequila was flowing!

The next day, we headed to Xcaret. The only way to describe this is a combination of water park and zoo. It was raining, like typhoon raining and was pretty miserable. We had a great session swimming with the dolphins, swam in some caves, saw some interesting animals and after a mexican lunch, high tailed it back to the resort.

Since the weather was still not cooperating, we headed back to Playa on Sunday to a sports bar!

We watched the Eagles (and drank Margharitas!) and then walked (splashed) around and had a great dinner in one of the many excellent establishments in town.

I almost had Jennifer scuba diving, but the weather did not permit it.

Lesson learned for next year, really check the weather forecast!

Getting away alone with Jennifer is awesome, regardless of the weather!

See the rest of the pictures here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/116220729005084753753/RivieraMayaOctober2011#

Philadelphia Rock and Roll Half Marathon-Sunday, 9/16

I made my yearly (ok, it is only the second year) trip to Philly for the Rock and Roll half marathon.

I started last year to challenge myself to run farther and faster.

Training this year was a little easier because I was on the road so much, all I did was work, sleep and run.

I convinced my dearest wife to come and meet me in Philly (honey, we can have a weekend to ourselves ;-) ). She was a saint, putting up with me pretty much sleeping all weekend when I wasn't running.

I drove down from CT and picked Jennifer up at the airport.

We had a wonderful lunch on Friday at the Valley Green Inn in Wissahickon Park. From there we went to the packet pick up. My wife the social butterfly talked to more people at all the booths than I did. We also got some cool hydration belts. I know you shouldn't try anything new for the race, but my current set wasn't getting it.

We had parked at the Reading Market. I was born and raised in Philadelpha and lived in or near Philadelphia for 30 of my 45 years and I have never been to the Reading Market. Probably a good thing given my love affair with food. Even though I was on a strict runners diet (I made that up), I had to sample the roast pork sandwich. (Protein and Carbs, just keep telling yourself that). Then it was off to see mom and Trinket.

Saturday, we pretty much hung out and relaxed and then met our college friends for a mini-reunion.

On Sunday, Jennifer and I woke up early and headed downtown. We found great parking and made our way to the starting point.

Jennifer decided to go to the art museum while I ran. You know you are a slow runner when someone can tour a museum while you are running.

Since I knew what to expect, I guess I was less nervous this year. Off we go with Jennifer cheering me at the start.

Last year it seemed like the first few miles went really quick. Maybe they did because of course I went out too fast. This year, on the run down Market street, it seemed forever till we hit the turn around point. Then right before mile 3, disaster, had to make a pit stop. There goes the world record!

Anyway, once I got going again, this is the critical part of the race. Mile 4 is back on the parkway approaching mile 5 and the art museum for the 2nd time. Fire up the Rocky music and grunt up the hill (okay, it's a small hill, but there is one).

Once you pass the Art Museum (and see the running gods finishing), it is time to blast the river drives. Flat and straight. For me, miles 6, 7 and 8 are the hump. In Philly, once you hit the mile 9 marker, you are at the turn around point at the Falls Bridge. Grab some GU and gut it out.

I actually felt like I was picking up speed and the last few miles flew by.

One of the things that irked me this year was the number of bikes on the course. The last thing I need at mile 12.5 is to try and dodge some idiot on a bike. The crowd was awesome at this point, and their was my gal waiting for me as I sprinted (okay, that is an exaggeration) across the finish lline. Brad Michaels was still on stage when I crossed the line (damn, if I had run a little slower I would have missed him).

Thanks to Jennifer for supporting me through this.

Amazingly, I knocked off 13:35 off my time (3:11:19) from last year, a mile a minute faster!

Keys to training this year-run with someone, the miles cruise by!

Lessons learned-strengthen the core and run sooner afterwards.

Crowders Mountain Carolina Orienteering Club-Saturday, 10/1

The new orienteering season is finally here!

Jennifer, Joey, Darwin and I made the trek to Crowders Mountain for the first meet of the year.

Jennifer and Darwin ran the White course, Joey ran Yellow and I ran Green.

I thought my course was pretty easy (here start the excuses), but my resistance was down after the Philly half marathon.

Anyway, started out pretty good. Point 1 was 400 meters away, no problem, easy find. Point 2 was 800 meters away, up the trial, along the creek. Point 3 was also easy to find, but the climb up Crowders Mountain was on. Over the ridge and down into a stream to point 4. I love the look of all the hikers when you come scaling up the side of Crowders Mountain. They look at you like "theres a trail here you idiot". I agree!

Now is when the fun begins. They did a whole bunch of work on the trails. I could not find point 5. I searched for 25 min and ran into another team looking for it as well. I eventually gave up. Skipped to 6 and 7 which were easy finds. When I went to 8, again, ended up lost. Decided today was not may day and packed it in for the finish.

Jennifer and Darwin finished 9th out of 15, Joey was first out of 36. Way to go Joe!!! Time to move up to Orange. I was one of 14 teams that did not finish on Green. It always says something ot me that when that many teams don't finish (especially when I am one of them!), the course was too hard.

I will have to make it up in November!!!!

Here is the link:

http://www.carolina-ok.org/results/season_2011-2012/2011-10-01/index.php

Hebron Rock Colony at App State-Saturday, 10/8

The whole family took a ride up to App State to see Mark Jr. He said he always wanted to take us on a hike so we headed out to Hebron Rock Colony.

This is a cool hike located nearby, where many students and locals go. It is essentially a hike up a waterfall.

(notice wonder dog in the foreground)

After a short .5 mile hike, the trail basically follows the river upstream. How you get up there is up to you, but there is lot's of boulder hopping involved.

Joey and Mark shot up, and Jennifer and I managed Darwin. This little dog has no fear, hopping across boulders like a big dog!

Jennifer was also a trooper, it was a little rough going especially at the top, but we all made it.

The rest of the pictures can be found here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/116220729005084753753/HebronRockColonyOctober2011#

2011 Mount Whitney Trip With Joey-Sunday, 8/21

OK, I have been really bad at my blogging, but I am going to try and reform myself.

To finish up the trip report, Joey and I spent the night at the Dow Villa Motel in Lone Pine.

It is a really cool place, old time, lots of antiques and they have a pool!

After a quick breakfast at a local diner, we decided to go on the "Rock Fantasy" tour in the Alabama Hills.

The Alabama Hills are steeped in movie history. Anytime you see a commerical with mountains in the background, it was probably shot in the Alabama Hills. Old Western movies to Iron Man were shot here. Now everytime Joey sees them on TV, he says "there they are dad".

Anyway, they have a bunch of rock formations that look like creatures.

We started to do that and found about 10 of them, but we got bored.

Joey said, "Dad, where does that road lead?" and off we went on the road to Horseshoe Meadows.

I had never been up there before. The road is better than any rollercoaster ride (thank God certain nervous passengers weren't with us).

It leads up to Horseshoe Meadows which is a pretty cool place.

We hung out for a little while and then started our trek back to LA.

Going down 395 is always interesting, the crazy houses, the airplane graveyard and we stopped for Jerky and Pistacios.

The flight home ended up being an adventure. We missed our flight and they re-routed us to Dallas where we got to stay an extra night.

We were both glad to be home, but it was a great trip!

2011 Mount Whitney Trip With Joey-Saturday, 8/20

Early rising? Well some of rose early.

First up, before hiking, Joey had to attempt the Whitney Portal Store Pancake.

Then we were on our way.

This year was the first year in 8 years that we decided to camp at trail camp. That meant carrying a heavy pack vs. doing as a day trip.

Well I was in for a rude awakening, I am not in that kind of shape to lug 40 lbs of gear (more on weight later) 11 miles and 6,000 feet of elevation gain.

So after a brief discussion, Joey and I decided to make it a day hike to Lone Pine Lake, eat lunch and return.

We arrived at Lone Pine Lake and Joey immediately began to explore while I made lunch. We were then raided by a chipmunk. They are fearless.

Once we had lunch, we rested for a bit (well I rested, Joey continued to climb around). We packed up and headed back.

You can see the rest of the photos here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/116220729005084753753/MountWhitney2011?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCP2utOe7xuSr_AE&feat=directlink

2011 Mount Whitney Trip With Joey-Friday, 8/19

I have not been keeping up my blogging duties!

Made my yearly trek to Mount Whitney, this year bringing Joey along.

We arrived in LA and hot footed it to Lone Pine to see if we could get a permit. While there were no overnight permits available for Friday, we got one for Saturday.

Our first stop after getting the permit was to get dinner and carb load. We stopped at the Pizza Factory and both of us got Spaghetti and Meatballs. Joey's verdict-"really good"

After food shopping and getting some odds and ends in Lone Pine, we made our way up to the portal to set up came for the night.

The obligatory "up the portal road shot"







We found a campsite in the walk in campground and set up camp for the night.

Our humble abode.

DuPont State Forest Orienteering 5/14/11

It has been a while since I have posted. I have to catch up!

The whole family made the trek to the DuPont State Forest for the last meet of the year.

Mark Jr., Jennifer and Darwin did the White Course and finished 1st out of 1, Joey ran Yellow and finished 2nd out of 11 and to keep it short, I ran Orange and finished 3rd out of 9. All the courses were pretty long and the green is already grown in.

I continued my crazy start process and wandered around to find point number 1, then it was through the first very green gully to #2. I took the easy way down the trail up to point 3. 4, 5 and 6 were all easy in a line. Had to break heavy brush to get to 7,needed a machete!. 8 was a little hard. I had been losing a lot of elevation and was about to make it up. Point 9 was difficult to get to because of the steep valley, so I opted to jog the trail all the way around. That cost me the win. The remainder of the points was easy and it was back to the finish.

Track:

Results:

http://www.carolina-ok.org/results/season_2010-2011/2011-05-14/index.php

Newman's Own Organic Special Blend

Coffee Variety: Guatemala Huehuetenango Drink Type: Brewed

On The Web: http://www.newmansownorganicscoffee.com/

Rating: Rating: 91 / 100

Characteristics Color Very dark

Aroma Strong, pleasant and smoky

Taste Bitter and smoky

Mouthfeel Strong

This note was taken with Tasting Notes

Green Mountain Coffee Breakfast Blend

Coffee Variety: Costa Rican Tarrazu

Drink Type: Brewed

On The Web: http://www.greenmountaincoffee.com/coffee/breakfastblend

Ratings

Rating: Rating: 82 / 100

Characteristics

Color Light to light medium

Aroma Slightly deep-good when super hot

Taste Earthy, fruity and light.

This note was taken with Tasting Notes

Run-Thursday 4/7/11

A beautiful night on the greenway! Started at Johnston Road and ran north. Super crowded in the parking lot because of the beautiful weather.

Haven't been training due to my PF, but it felt good to get out and run.

As usual, started out way too fast, but eased into it with a quick 3rd mile.

I needed the run because I am racing on Saturday.

Cool Coffee Mugs

From Facebook Friend Nancy Naigle

20 Cool Coffee Cups

Morrow Mountain Orienteering-4/2/2011

Scan of Map and my estimated track


Track from the GPS


Jennifer, Joey, Darwin and I headed into the wilds of the Uhwarrie for this weekend's meet.

Jennifer, Joey and Darwin did the white course, while I volunteered to pick up controls and run Red.

Great day for running in the woods.

From the start to point one was 150 meters, good way to start. Point 2 was an easy find. Point 3 started the fun off with a foray into the foot of Sugarloaf Mountain. Instead of going up and over to 4, I contoured around to the flag. Then I was off on a 1200 meter jaunt to point 5. I was way left as usual. Off to point 6 which was easy to find due to the howling boy scout standing at point 6. 7 was another easy find. I used an attack point off the trail for 8, but now it was getting steep.

Some great views of the lake, but I had to detour around a cliff to get to point 9. Point 10 was the last real steep climb, but I again opted to go around vs. over the hill. Then down the trail to a creek to scoop up 11 and finished up on the trail getting to 12. Jennifer and Joey also had 12 on their course. It was in a pit and a little hard to find from the trail. Then it was off to the finish for 2 hours 21 minutes for 7.7K. I am slowing down.

Everyone had worked up an appetite, so we stopped at the Fresh House.

We stopped here last year as well, funny how we are establishing routines! All home cooked food, an old country store and home made treats for dessert.

Results

HT Traders Limited Edition Kenya AA

One of the cool things about the Keurig brewing machine, is an attachment that let's you brew your own brands!

Today I am reviewing HT Traders Limited Edition 10th Anniversary Celebration Light Roast Kenya AA. What a pedigree!



Overview
Coffee Variety: Kenyan

Drink Type: Brewed

Rating: Rating: 85 / 100

Characteristics
Color
Medium dark
Aroma
Chocolate and earthy
Taste
Slightly but pleasantly bitter with a mossy aftertaste
Mouthfeel
Smooth-awaiting the next sip

This note was taken with Tasting Notes for the iPod

Weird Drive Home from DC

We left at 7:45 and made great time all the way. As we were approaching NC, we saw local and state troopers everywhere. At one exit, there were 6 state troopers lined up on an on-ramp ready to give chase. 5 miles down the road we saw another 3 troopers who had a truck pulled over with the driver hand cuffed and sprawled out on the hood of a car. We made good time anyway, 6 hours door to door.

Victory Cigar

In addition to coffee, another vice I have is a good cigar. I don't smoke anywhere near what I used to, so now I save them for special occasions. Today's victory cigar was a PDR 1878. I received this during a Lite Up Charlotte event at Outland cigars. These are great events where 100% of the profits go to The Bloom Project (http://bloomproject.org/bloom.html).



Appearance and Construction: A medium dark cigar with mild oils. The cigar had a good weight and a well packed foot. The band was black with silver lettering and a small second band. The top of the cigar had pig tail which had popped off by the time I was ready to smoke it, so there was no need to cut it!

Flavor & Notes: The draw was a mix of chocolate and raisin and the foot is slightly musky with some notes of wood. Once the cigar is lit there are noticeable wood notes with a touch of leather. The second third of the cigar has some complexity as the notes become a little citric and the wood continues and some bitter chocolate begins to develop as well. As we close out of the the final third of the cigar the wood remains, and the bitter chocolate smooths out some with a slightly leather like finish.

Smoking Characteristics: The PDR 1878 Capa Madura is a well-made cigar with a excellent burn all the way through. The draw was great even with the small pig tail hole and the cigar produced moderate amounts of smoke.

Conclusion: An excellent cigar from Pinar Del Rio. I believe the stick retails for $5 so it is a great value, which is why I rate high. A good beginner smoke as there is no buzz at all.

Washington DC-USPS Supplier Performance Awards

What an amazing honor to be recognized along with 12 other suppliers during the United States Post Office Supplier Performance Awards.

Lean Sigma Professionals was recognized for it's great work for Supplier Innovation.

It didn't really sink in for any of us until we heard that we were selected from over 20,000 vendors that the Post Office uses.

There was a wonderful awards ceremony followed by a brief social.

What a great way to start the week!

Donut Shop Coffee by Coffee People

First up is donut shop coffee. This coffee is a reminiscent of an old fashioned donut shop. While it is not Dunkin Donuts coffee, it is very good. A good breakfast coffee, it is mild with a great aroma. Taste is good with a mild Arabica taste, not bitter at all. It came in the Keurig sample pack and I think it is my favorite of all of the samples.

Aroma - 8 - very modest
Acidity - 9 - low acid and balanced
Body - 7 - not very complicated
Flavor - 7 - it's good
Who should drink? - Someone who likes a mild to medium blend
Overall Rating: 78 - Average

Out with the old and in with the new!

Everyone who knows me knows I love coffee. And gadgets. As always, I found a way to combine my love of multiple things.

I always have at least one cup of joe in the morning. Since I don't want to make a whole pot, I used to use a B&D, one cup at a time.



Well, since I lost the filter basket a long time ago, I always had to use paper filters. Not a big deal but way too much effort before having your coffee.

I have been wanting one of those modular units (Tasso or Keurig) for a while, but finally got one. The variety of coffees available is amazing as well as an attachment to just use your own brand. I will be working to bring reviews of as many coffees as I can to you in the future!

Georgia Navigator Cup 2011 Day 2

Joey and I were much less hurried today.

After having breakfast with the Duke baseball team, we were off to the park.

Joey started 10 min ahead of me. My foot was feeling pretty good, better than expected and it was 20 degrees cooler than Saturday with a nice breeze.

On the red course again, 7.7km today and 12 points.

Point 1 was only 100 meters from the start (?) and point 2 was an easy find as well. I ran into Joey between my point 2 and 3. 3 was another eash find and the legs were starting to get longer. Point 4 was a hike up and down hills and over a swamp and it was buried pretty deep in a gully. I came out right on top of it, but had to go down deep to find it.

Point 5 was 900 meters away, but also an easy find. 6 took me down the same trail I came out yesterday and back to the same swamp. The legs were getting longer now. 7 had me going back past the rangers house, across the road, down a trail and using a boulder cluster as an attack point. Point 7 was very deep in a gully, fun getting in, more fun getting out.

Point 8 was another 2K trek but easy to find. For 9 I ran down the road and used an attack point to go directly to it. I also used an attack on point 10 and then it was down and around to 11 and 12 and the Georgia event was over for this year.

Great meet and courses. Joey came in 2nd in his age group. I came in 3rd (out of 3 )

Maybe next year, Jennifer will come?

Day 1-Georgia Navigator Cup

GAOC accomodated us by giving us a late start time so we could leave early Saturday Morning. I fat fingered the GPS in the car, so we ended up near the park, but not quite. At least we got to test out the off-road capability of the Jeep!

We arrived in a hurry and then had a 10min jog to the start. It was hot, like Africa hot.

Joey scooted off and I went a few minutes later. On the Red course, 7.3km and 11 points. The first point was no problem, over the creek and along the hill. The 2nd point gave me fits. I tried to stay high over all the gullies and ended up South of the point. Ended up looking for it for 41 min, that would come back to haunt me.

Once I recovered, 3 was easy enough. 3 to 4 was straight up hill, luckily 4 was a water point! 5 was easy to find, but I had to sneak past the rangers house and his dogs. 6 was an easy shot down the trail and over the swamp, but off to 7, 1.5kms away, down the road and some trails.

Point 8 and 9 were straight forward, I used the trail to get to 10 and 11 was down by the finish point. A short jog (yea right) up to the finish, and for the first time ever I was overtime by 3 min. Ouch!

Joey and I made our way to the hotel for Temple Basketball, Outback and Battle LA at the movies.