Friday, August 29, 2008

Virginia Beach

Last year, we were here for the Famous Rock and Roll Marathon circuit, that we follow religiously and loyally.  They are always the best and the most fun!
I love their crew and the runners, always a good crowd, and an even better atmosphere.
Anyway,
I am almost finished with my book, I have three chapters left, it's weird but I actually don't want to finish them so that the book will never end.  I feel like this about a lot of books, but I have not felt like this recently.
It was funny, because today I was walking the expo carrying the book on my way to lunch.  It seems that EVERYONE has seen the movie and feels obligated to tell me that it is a GREAT movie!  I'll watch it when I am done with the book, but I wish more people would approach me and tell me that it is a great book!  ;)

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

The Lost Book

After Canada we left at midnight and drove straight into the Tacoma / Seattle airport.  I arrived early to the airport around four in the morning to catch my six o'clock flight.  While checking in, my rental that originally was going to be only 200 plus for the weekend was now 600 plus!
As you can imagine I was pretty upset and to say the least, I was a bit sidetracked.  Well with all of the above, lack of sleep, hustle and bustle, plus the extra unpredicted stress... I left my book in the rental car.
I have not had it for a week almost and was feeling pretty down that I did know the end of the story.  I hate hate HATE to do this, but I went to the Barnes and Noble in the downtown Chicago area and purchased a new copy of the exact same book!
At least this time I wasn't buying it in Euros!
I'll let you know the name of the book after I am done reading it (or you can take a peek on the right hand side).  Hopefully when I am in Virginia Beach I'll kill a couple of good chapters while the waves crash in front of me, and the eagles, I mean "seagulls" hover above me!   ;)

Monday, August 25, 2008

Now That the Olympics are over...

We can now look forward to the Winter Olympics!
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While in Vancouver I did some snooping around!
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The Rock Man - Vancouver, B.C.  Canada
If I decide to go we might watch the "biathlon"
I could stay with my couch surfing friends, or I could just make some new ones... I have not decided yet!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

It's called Couch Surfing...

So, we were in Seattle last weekend for the Danskin Triathlon. We are so close to Canada, which I had never been to. I am just checking countries off of my list this year left and right! My co worker says lets go to Canada and CouchSurf.
OK... you want to know what CouchSurfing is right?
It's a website that is similar to e-bay. You pick a location on the website that you want to travel to. You look at a couple of profiles, and you e-mail the very giving individuals. You tell them that you are going to be coming to their country, city or towns. These individuals will then let you sleep on their couch or any other accommodations that they have available.
I know this sounds really really REALLY crazy! AND IT IS!
But, isn't life about getting out and exploring? I mean why hide in our houses? Let's go out and see the world. Shake hands of strangers that are no longer strangers. Tell stories, talk trash to each other about their country, and have them talk trash back to you about your country!
The best way to get to know each other, and to really see the heart of the city is to stay with the locals right?
So needless to say. We did this, it was both our first times and it was amazing!
I highly recommend that you guys try this!
Get out and do something different, out of the ordinary and stop trying to be "safe." "safe" is just an imaginary word that we have created anyway to make ourselves feel better about our situations. We do this we relationships, friendships, and our jobs.
Sometimes we just need to let go...
Vancouver, British Columbia - Canada

This was one of the craziest knife holders I have ever seen. This was at our couch surfers house, we joked around and laughed about it the whole time, since it was the first thing that we saw when we entered his humble abode.

If everything I said made absolutely NO sense, then read this!


The Big Picture

CouchSurfing is not about the furniture, not just about finding
free accommodations around the world; it's about making connections
worldwide. We make the world a better place by opening our homes,
our hearts, and our lives. We open our minds and welcome the
knowledge that cultural exchange makes available. We create deep
and meaningful connections that cross oceans, continents and
cultures. CouchSurfing wants to change not only the way we travel,
but how we relate to the world!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Vancouver, British Columbia - Canada

So, you already checked out some pics from Lynn Canyon.
Here are some pics from Stanley park:
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Yes, that totally is a GIANT starfish in the seagulls mouth!
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These rocks remind me of Hawaii. In Hawaii they are white in black lava, so they really stand out.

Stanley Park is a great tourist area with tourist traps. It's ok, DO THEM! Most everything there doesn't cost money in the first place. Unless you are trying to eat hot dog and chips. Speaking of chips, my chips were stolen from some black crows! I left the table to add some mustard to my hot dog, when I looked bag a nice guy was chasing off the crows, it was too late. The black crow had grabbed my bag of chips from the bottom, so as he flew off the chips fell and spread out everywhere! All the other birds joined in the feast at my cost!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Seattle, Danskin Triathlon Series

All good things must come to an end...
This is my second year following the Danskin Triathlon tour from beginning to end. The crowd is wonderful, the athletes are even better! They are there to motivate,swim,bike, & run. The teamwork is endless, and I am one that is truly, truly, truly sad to see it coming to end end for me once again. There is NYC, unfortunately I will not be attending it due to the fact that I will be off in another location.
This is a situation where it is better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all.
Here are a few pics from Vancouver, B.C.

I am in Vancouver, B.C. Canada right now, I am off to Chicago tomorrow morning from Seattle, WA.

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I will title the above... "Still Standing"
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Marco did a little research before we came over and crossed a suspension bridge at Lynn Canyon. This place is amazing, let me say it again... this place is AMAZING!
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There were plenty of these HUGE slugs crawling ALL over the forest!
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An Amazing view at the Twins Waterfalls.
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you know.. you have to do at least "one" geocache :)
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Marco and I, while hiking through the woods near some HUGE cliffs accidentally discovered some ropes. These ropes were truly off the beaten path!
We lowered ourselves down, and up in and out of the canyon.
Being at the bottom was tranquility.
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Even though the water looked picture perfect, which it was. It was too cold for my taste! I know because my foot fell into the river!
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Friday, August 15, 2008

I Live in Georgia..............


Read the title :)
Georgia.jpg by you.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Life of Pi

Life of Pi - Yann Martel by Tobyotter.
I finished the book "Life of Pi" This was a recommended read from my brothers girlfriend.  I am REALLY glad that she recommended it!  I rarely pick up a book that I cannot put down to at least be distracted by something else.
I am not implying that I have not read any good books, but this one really had me hooked!  The author Yann Martel is amazing!  Almost every word he wrote , had me amazed, and left me with my eyes wide open staring into the book.
It has definitely been one of my best reads!

I am in Belleview, Whashington.  This is a rocks throw to Seattle, we are here for another Danskin Womens only Triathlon!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Here's A Map Of Nations That Don't Use The Metric System

Who can name the other countries?

The Dark Knight

New Dark Knight Poster by vball * LoveR.
I just checked out the crazy 'sick' with that term used lightly movie ,with piojo. The movie was great, and I highly recommend it.
I am probably wow'ed, since I haven't been to a theater for awhile, but the movie wanted you to feel all of the action, and you do.
The movie is being compared to the number one money maker 'The Titanic.'
The Titanic made 60 million dollars, The Dark Knight is a little over 40 million dollars. I personally do not think that it will beat it, since society relates themselves more to a normal human being, as opposed to a comic book hero. But this movie will give The Titanic a run for it's money!

Monday, August 11, 2008

Stage 21! Paris, France - - -

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Here are a few pics of my hotel on the last couple of days.
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Of course we had to go to the Moulin Rouge...
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Lighting a candle in the Notre Dame
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Pic of the guys just hanging around after the final stage.
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Here is a pic of the swag girls dancing away to make some sales!
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This guy cracked me up big time!
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He was walking up behind tourists that were taking pictures of the Notre Dame church.
He was scaring a lot of people really bad!
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Pretty much everyone in Paris is pretty thin, especially compared to Americans. The main reasons are that everyone walks where they need to get to. They use mass transits such as buses, and subways. If they are using vehicles they are all really really really small! Scooters, mopeds, and motorcycles are extremely common.
I think this moped is an attempt to encourage everyone to go green! What do you think?