Sanibel
July 27, 2008 | Filed Under activities, travel | Leave a Comment
More Pictures
We just returned from a very relaxing week on Sanibel Island. Here’s a quick break down of the wildlife we saw:
alligator – and there’s a good story involved. Taylor, comment?
iguana
racoon
gopher tortise
alligator snapping turtle
sting ray
hermit crabs
sea urchins
ospreys
school of fish
lizards
frog
Now with Less Red-Eye
July 11, 2008 | Filed Under activities | Leave a Comment
Again, I apologize for not writing on this blog more.
after 40 miles…
May 12, 2008 | Filed Under activities | Leave a Comment
Jerry’s trip to New York culminated with the Five Boro Bike Tour. Ashley took the shortcut back across the Brooklyn Bridge at mile 30, but the two of us soldiered on to the end – Staten Island Baby (in the words of David Harris.)
Central Park in the Snow
February 24, 2008 | Filed Under activities | 2 Comments
We had a really pretty but short-lived snow this week. I went to Central Park at lunch on Thursday to grab a couple pictures. Maybe next year we’ll get snow that sticks around for a couple days and allows us to go out and play.
Snowmen on the Subway
January 20, 2008 | Filed Under activities | 2 Comments
I’ll add a better Christmas post later. In the mean time, here is a shot of my favorite Sak’s window this year.
Ashley and the red eyed robot dog
November 20, 2007 | Filed Under activities | Leave a Comment
Design update
November 6, 2007 | Filed Under activities | 1 Comment
I needed to do an update to Wordpress to pick up some security fixes, and Ashley and I decided to use this to try out a new design for the site. This theme fits our use of the site pretty well because we have so many pictures, and the simple look and lack of sidebars lets us add larger images. Please let us know what you think.
Also, I added gregfeightner.com/blog to the site links… check out his blog.
Catch up time: Matt, Jerry, Jeannie, and Becky
October 28, 2007 | Filed Under activities | Leave a Comment
Boy, it’s been a while since our last post. And for those of you who check here occasionally and find some small delight in seeing something new, I apologize. It’s not that there hasn’t been anything to blog about in the last two months since we’ve have had some great visits from our Georgia family and friends. And despite the fact that each of these could and should be in their own post, I’m going to give you the digest version.
First, while Ashley and I were traipsing about the North Country, Jerry flew up for a week of dog-sitting and sight-seeing. He also managed to have brief starring rolls in both the Today Show and 30 Rock. Although I don’t have any screen shots of his small screen debut, I do have a picture of his dog-sitting. (note – this is not a natural position for Murphy unless she’s REALLY tired)
P.S., we also went to the U.S Open and there is a screenshot of the back of Jerry’s head floating around on email somewhere. If you’re interested, email us or post a comment.
Next up: Matt Norton. This was a monumental trip for my brother who generally doesn’t venture this far from Newnan. Well, I shouldn’t say it’s unheard of because he has gone on trips to San Francisco and Alaska, but this was his first solo trip and pretty much his idea. We had a great time while he was here… in fact, Ashley, Matt, and I went to see a Yankees/Toronto game which was a first for all three of us. Although I’m not a Yankees fan, I definitely appreciated going to see a game at historic Yankees Stadium before it is demolished. Matt and I also spent Saturday afternoon walking midtown New York and did the NBC studio tour… who knew Conan’s sound stage was so small. After dinner, we went to see some improv comedy at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theater some of which Matt and I still quote – “you got Looned!”
That’s all for the recent visits.
PEI - Our Vacation Part II
September 10, 2007 | Filed Under activities | 1 Comment
After Quebec and my marathon recovery, Ashley and I drove through the woods, a.k.a. New Brunswick, to Prince Edward Island for a few days of relaxation on the beach. We stayed at the wonderful Dalvay by the Sea which had the BEST food, cute rooms, no TVs, and one computer for about 50 guests. We spent the first day doing nothing – a small walk to the beach and a few minutes of tennis. The next day we went to the Canadian Golf Academy for a half day lesson, and now Ashley is a killer from the tee – just keep those wrists straight. The next day we went to Cavendish where L.M. Montgomery wrote “Anne of Green Gables.” Canada turned the real Green Gables house into a national park and modeled the rooms after the description of the house in the book.
Oh, and did I mention the food? Breakfast and dinner was included at the resort and the restaurant was run by a chef who teaches at the PEI culinary school, one of the top culinary schools in the country. Oh, so good!
And I’m not going to get into the 38 hours of driving we did for this vacation… simply not going to mention the 2300 miles we put on our rental car and the endless, endless, endless trees of Canada, or how much we craved Starbucks as soon as we crossed back into the States. I will say that I LOVED the GPS unit that we rented from Avis although she constantly said “Recalculating” every time we didn’t turn where she said we should.
I’m a marathoner!
August 27, 2007 | Filed Under activities | 6 Comments
Hello everyone!
Now that I’m a little bit mobile, I thought I would write a post to let everyone know that I successfully finished the Quebec City Marathon yesterday. My time was just under 4 hours which was within my goal.
The run went very well for the first 20 miles. I stayed with the 3:45 pace group who were doing a run/walk mix where you run for 2 kilometers and walk for 30 seconds. I didn’t join in the walks until we had passed the 1/2 marathon point which I crossed in 1 hour, 50 minutes. After that, the walk breaks were just a good idea. I tried my best over the entire run to stay hydrated and cool. I usually drank a gatorade and a water at every station.
At mile 20, someone put a grand piano on my back, my legs got shorter, and the air got significantly thinner. This was the mythological “wall” that you hear about. Nothing in my training prepared me for
the next six miles. At first, I didn’t think there was any way for me to finish. My hamstring, quads, and calves were cramping; my pace had slowed to a shuffle. But I pushed on one kilometer at a time. I would usually run for a 1/2 kilometer, then walk for a minute, then run again. These last six miles took me 1 hour, 10 minutes with a
pace of 10:30. Although I had absolutely no energy and wanted so badly to walk, I ran the last 2 kilometers so that I would cross the finish line running… which I did.
Ashley was waiting just before the finish line, and seeing her gave me that final push that I needed (you can see my smile in the pictures.) She then ran down to the finish line to get pictures of me getting my medal and then to help me get home. My legs didn’t want to work anymore, but we still had to walk up a huge hill back to the hotel.
Once we got back to the hotel, I got a shower and then napped for 4 hours. Ashley worked… go figure. Then we managed to walk (err… shuffle) back down the hill to get dinner at a local pub where we could get some local Quebec brew.
Today everything hurts but I think I’ll manage. We are going to go jump in the hotel pool for a bit to let my muscles relax before doing some sight-seeing.
Oh, and don’t expect me to say that I’m training for another marathon any time soon. I’ll stick to 10ks and maybe 1/2 marathons for a while. And it’s definitely time to play some more frisbee.