Miscellaneous rambling:
Monday: 0
Tuesday: 4
Creaky, uncomfortable run at home, before uncomfortable, long day flying to Texas. Was really uncomfortable stuffed in the back of the plane and was fidgety moving around. Flight was delayed, and I met Mark in San Antonio airport after 1am, got to the car rental counter to find it closed for the night, and finally got to the hotel after 2am CDT (after 3am EDT).
Wednesday: 8 miles of walking!
AM: Slept in, then a 3-mile walk of San Antonio Riverwalk and The Alamo.
Noon: Aquatica Water Park, San Antonio. 4-miles of walking. Part of the Seaworld umbrella, so Mark got us in for free with his employee badge from Adventure Island, Tampa. Otherwise, it would have cost us $28 for parking and $60 entry a piece. Fun and refreshing.
NB: Dad wimped out on the waterslides that featured "drops".
PM: Natural Bridge Caverns. 1 mile of underground and above ground walking in very cool caves.
Thursday: 5 run, 4 hike
Brutal heat in Austin, even in the morning, right around 90 degrees. Just wilted. Took the run very slow.
Mid-day 4-mile hike with Mark. So surprised he picked this out, including the specific trail ("Homestead Trail"). It was an oppressive 94 degrees on our hike.
Post-swim, back in the car for the drive to College Station.
Friday: 5 run, 3 walk
Ran along the beach in Galveston at 7:30am when it was "only" 84 degrees. Run felt good, not great, but not terrible.
Post-run, 2 mile walk on campus tour and then another mile walking along the shore and swimming with Mark before heading to Houston to catch a night's sleep before flying out.
Saturday: 0
Travel return day. Up at 4:30am, showered and said goodbye and Happy Birthday to Mark, and drove off to to George Bush Airport (Houston). Today is Mark's 21st birthday. I'm glad his friend Joe came down to spend the weekend with him before Mark flies back to Tampa tomorrow.
Long day of travel in congested airports (Houston, Charlotte, Hartford) on congested planes. I bucked my own Scottish cheapness and paid $43 to sit in an aisle seat in Row 5 instead of crammed in an inside seat 30 rows back. I think I got one of the most unfriendly TSA agents when I went through security. For some reason, my cell phone boarding pass didn't scan, and she asked me if that was a screenshot as I wasn't supposed to use screenshots. I said yes, and said I always use a screenshot, and further stated in fact that's what American Airlines recommends to do and it's printed right on the electronic boarding pass. She raised her voice, said "That's not my problem. Now get out of line, and when you get your stuff together, you can come back.". Wow! I don't think she's going to win the customer service of the year award; sometimes employees need to realize ultimately who their customer is that's paying their salary.
No delays today, but too much down time and sitting on planes and cars for me. Was pretty creaky and stiff by the time I got home about 6:30pm.
Sunday: 4 run, 20 bike
AM neighborhood run. Back to totally creaky and stiff. Depressing. Contemplated quitting in first 1/4 mile or so, but slogged my way through at about a 9-minute pace. A lot of pain and stiffness for the rest of the day.
Evening ride with Matthew to East Beach and back Klondike / 216. Felt really good on the bike. Until I got off of it. :(
Weekly mileage: Why bother? 18 miles running, 15 miles walking, 20 miles riding
Weekly synopsis: Managing through whatever malaise that I have. Some days have been OK, but many of them uncomfortable and painful. Just depressing when I erroneously thought I was past this.
On a positive note, although Texas would not be my choice to visit in June (or probably any month), I was happy to spend some quality time with my oldest son, Mark. I am less than thrilled with his likely choice to study his Master's Degree in Galveston, but to be fair, that's for purely selfish reasons of having some unfounded hope that after Florida, he'd return to the Northeast. I imagine we'll see him (and Brady) twice per year only (Christmas and summer), as it's a 26-hour drive from Westerly to Galveston, and Brady can't come on the plane (it has to be above 45 degrees and below 85 degrees at all airports, and that's not likely in RI in December or TX in June).
I thought there would be a lot of down time sitting around on the TX trip, but we really packed a lot into each and every day (mostly through Mark's planning). I was proud of him for his maturation and planning, including pretty much his own prep for grad school (MS in Marine Biology) and lining up apartments to look at.
Weekly highlight: Spending time with Mark and seeing some neat sights, albeit in sultry Texas.
Weekly lowlight: Continued pains, aches, and discomfort, with no diagnosis. When will I be rid of this? Ever?
- Definitely had a few "senior moments" when I was down in Texas, including when I got in the elevator and asked another guest if he could please push the button for Floor 2. He responded, "Um, we're on Floor 2." Duh. Well, um, yeah, of course we are, I was just testing you. Ugh.
- Driving through rural Texas, I was shocked to see the following sign. You just can't make this stuff up. Makes me just want to go off the grid.
Monday: 0
Tuesday: 4
Creaky, uncomfortable run at home, before uncomfortable, long day flying to Texas. Was really uncomfortable stuffed in the back of the plane and was fidgety moving around. Flight was delayed, and I met Mark in San Antonio airport after 1am, got to the car rental counter to find it closed for the night, and finally got to the hotel after 2am CDT (after 3am EDT).
Wednesday: 8 miles of walking!
AM: Slept in, then a 3-mile walk of San Antonio Riverwalk and The Alamo.
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| Mark along the start of our Riverwalk walk. |
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| The Alamo. Site of the 1836 attack from Mexico, where all 200 Americans fighting for Texan independence died. Remember the Alamo! |
Noon: Aquatica Water Park, San Antonio. 4-miles of walking. Part of the Seaworld umbrella, so Mark got us in for free with his employee badge from Adventure Island, Tampa. Otherwise, it would have cost us $28 for parking and $60 entry a piece. Fun and refreshing.
NB: Dad wimped out on the waterslides that featured "drops".
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| Isn't this guy cool? Touched him as he went by. Kind of slimy, but fun. |
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| Very hot and direct sun. But lots of pools and waterslides for relief. |
PM: Natural Bridge Caverns. 1 mile of underground and above ground walking in very cool caves.
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| The formations were pretty wild. |
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| At this outdoor popular restaurant (The Gristmill) where we had dinner, the way you knew your table was ready was when the girl wrote your name on the chalkboard. |
Thursday: 5 run, 4 hike
Brutal heat in Austin, even in the morning, right around 90 degrees. Just wilted. Took the run very slow.
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| Hot. |
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| Waffle for breakfast. Guess which state I'm in?! |
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| Mark (left) off-balance jumping across sections of the river, before continuing to the trailhead. |
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| Tight single-track in places, but I welcomed the shade. |
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| Open full sun sections like this were just horrific. |
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| Interesting cactii along the trail. Don't touch. |
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| Ahhh! Finally, relief swimming at the Upper Falls. Quite refreshing. We were able to swim right up to the falls. |
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| Texas A&M main campus, College Station, TX |
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| Barbara Bush Floral Garden |
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| Did you know that the Bushes are buried on campus? I did not. Straight ahead is where George HW was buried just six months ago, Barbara to the right, and their young daughter Robin out of the pic to the left, re-interred from the family plot in CT. |
Friday: 5 run, 3 walk
Ran along the beach in Galveston at 7:30am when it was "only" 84 degrees. Run felt good, not great, but not terrible.
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| Galveston, TX. Not the prettiest of beaches, certainly not as nice as Westerly or Florida gulf beaches. Still, a nice flat beach to run on. |
Post-run, 2 mile walk on campus tour and then another mile walking along the shore and swimming with Mark before heading to Houston to catch a night's sleep before flying out.
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| This pier reminded me of Santa Monica Pier (CA). A little bit of kitsch. Mark got kicked out in the afternoon for not wearing a shirt (aren't we at the beach?!). So we went swimming here instead. |
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| View from our hotel room balcony. Not ugly. Post swimming in the Gulf, Mark and I ended up in this pool with a swim-up bar, before changing and heading out to Houston. |
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| To each his own, but I got pretty tired of hearing "y'all" by the end of the trip. "Are y'all ready to order?" I can't speak for "us all" in the restaurant, but Mark and I are. Obviously I knew "y'all" is a southern thing, but I associated that with SC, NC, and GA, and not TX. |
Saturday: 0
Travel return day. Up at 4:30am, showered and said goodbye and Happy Birthday to Mark, and drove off to to George Bush Airport (Houston). Today is Mark's 21st birthday. I'm glad his friend Joe came down to spend the weekend with him before Mark flies back to Tampa tomorrow.
 |
| Back into mobs of people and lines at the airport. Ugh. This is my 25th time in an airport this year. Tired am I. No more airports for ... um ... two weeks. |
Long day of travel in congested airports (Houston, Charlotte, Hartford) on congested planes. I bucked my own Scottish cheapness and paid $43 to sit in an aisle seat in Row 5 instead of crammed in an inside seat 30 rows back. I think I got one of the most unfriendly TSA agents when I went through security. For some reason, my cell phone boarding pass didn't scan, and she asked me if that was a screenshot as I wasn't supposed to use screenshots. I said yes, and said I always use a screenshot, and further stated in fact that's what American Airlines recommends to do and it's printed right on the electronic boarding pass. She raised her voice, said "That's not my problem. Now get out of line, and when you get your stuff together, you can come back.". Wow! I don't think she's going to win the customer service of the year award; sometimes employees need to realize ultimately who their customer is that's paying their salary.
No delays today, but too much down time and sitting on planes and cars for me. Was pretty creaky and stiff by the time I got home about 6:30pm.
Sunday: 4 run, 20 bike
AM neighborhood run. Back to totally creaky and stiff. Depressing. Contemplated quitting in first 1/4 mile or so, but slogged my way through at about a 9-minute pace. A lot of pain and stiffness for the rest of the day.
Evening ride with Matthew to East Beach and back Klondike / 216. Felt really good on the bike. Until I got off of it. :(
Weekly mileage: Why bother? 18 miles running, 15 miles walking, 20 miles riding
Weekly synopsis: Managing through whatever malaise that I have. Some days have been OK, but many of them uncomfortable and painful. Just depressing when I erroneously thought I was past this.
On a positive note, although Texas would not be my choice to visit in June (or probably any month), I was happy to spend some quality time with my oldest son, Mark. I am less than thrilled with his likely choice to study his Master's Degree in Galveston, but to be fair, that's for purely selfish reasons of having some unfounded hope that after Florida, he'd return to the Northeast. I imagine we'll see him (and Brady) twice per year only (Christmas and summer), as it's a 26-hour drive from Westerly to Galveston, and Brady can't come on the plane (it has to be above 45 degrees and below 85 degrees at all airports, and that's not likely in RI in December or TX in June).
I thought there would be a lot of down time sitting around on the TX trip, but we really packed a lot into each and every day (mostly through Mark's planning). I was proud of him for his maturation and planning, including pretty much his own prep for grad school (MS in Marine Biology) and lining up apartments to look at.
Weekly highlight: Spending time with Mark and seeing some neat sights, albeit in sultry Texas.
Weekly lowlight: Continued pains, aches, and discomfort, with no diagnosis. When will I be rid of this? Ever?
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