The Twisties

For the final leg of my trip to DC I decided I wanted to put Calie into her designed elements...twisting roads. There are not many twisting roads in Louisiana, as there just are not that many mountains...ha! The route would take me up the final stretch of the Blue Ridge Pkwy and then up the entire spine of the Shenandoah National Park portion of Skyline drive, which can be seen here.

I will say that I never have had so much fun driving in a car on twisting roads. Absolutely amazing views and even better driving! Calie handled like a champ and I have a much better understanding of what she can do in her stock settings. So for her efforts, she gets a few of her poses in the blog for the day. We did pass seven other MINI's on the drive. British Racing Green was the color of the day, followed by a blue, Chili Red, and a Pepper White. Got some good friendly waves as well!

Oh, and I did make it to the DC area in one piece and noooo tickets...woot!

Ah...Topography!


3000' of Elevation...I'm winded


Another wonderful view...


Locals admiring the wonder drivers passing by...

Geriatric Club

I left "The Rouge" for good this morning in Calie heading east...goal...Abingdon, Va. Calie ran amazingly smooth and steady for this leg of the trip and has averaged around 37-38 mpg at 75mph with the AC on the whole way, which for me is VERY acceptable. Not the numbers that hypermilers put up, but hey, I'm not claiming to be a hypermiler.

I arrived in Abingdon, but unfortunately there were no hotel rooms available, just lots of old people. Again, I have nothing against the elderly, I just wanted a room to crash in. Another hour to an hour and a half later I finally have arrived in Wytheville, VA. I am in a smoking room...gross...and surrounded again by the elderly. LOTS of buses of elderly indivduals...LOTS! I guess I'm a youngin in a land of oldins :-P To much driving...I think so...

Goodbyes

Today was the final day of me being in "The Rouge" and so a fitting way to end my last day in this town was to finish with a good workout and hang out with the Varsity Sports running group. We did a good workout in a slight rain (perfect!) which included 4X400m repeats at Goodwood Park. Afterwards we headed over to Bobbie Joes place for a little cookout and celebration. They say it was for me, but I will say that it was just another reason to have good food and good company. It was sad to have to leave everyone that I have become close with within the group. I felt like I was finally starting to really become one with the group and, as it seems to be happening lately, was snatched away. I will miss them very much, but luckily I will have to travel back a few times for work. THey better bring their running shoes though...half marathon training has started!

Give me a P O D S

Time to Pack
I announced last week that I would be moving to the DC area in the very near future. Today, that reality started to take shape. I decided to use the PODS moving system for my move because I want to take Calie out and play in the mountains of Virginia when I finally drive up DC. This morning, my moving PODS was delivered. Interesting machine, the pod-zilla- that comes in and drops of the container.

This is where the Pod-Zilla removes the container from the bed of the truck. Now it can be positioned anywhere you like.


Positioning the POD


This is the amount of room I have to put everything in...hopefully it will fit.


Well its time to get started packing...wish me luck!

Work..Pack...long nights

I will not post much till this weekend. I have to pack and have SEVERAL hours of work to do. Not going to be a fun week. Check back soon for more posts..

U.S.A. U.S.A.

What dreams are made of...
I have lacked in Olympic information for quiet awhile. The furor over the torch has taken a back seat to the humanitarian efforts for those affected by the earthquake in China. But this weekend the attention will be turned back the track, at least here in the U.S., as the US Olympic trials begin at historic Hayward Field, in Eugene, OR.

The distance events, which I am the most fond of, should set the stage for some fun races. The 800m will see the revival of the hottest duel on the track between Khadevis Robinson and Nick Symmonds. The 1500m will bring old and new together again. Naturalized Bernard Legat will try to defend his title against one of the fastest in the world, and the American Record holder at the distance, Alan Webb. Webb has a bad habit of struggling when it matters most, so an interesting race to be had there.

Legat will also run in the 5000m, the other race he won in his historic 1500-5000 double at the world championships last year in Osaka, Japan. He has the best time for an American this year at 13:16. Matt Tegenkamp and Adam Goucher will be big names to look for in this race as well. Should be a good next couple of weeks for us track fans out there. You can see the event schedule by clicking this link.

Lets just hope that the TV coverage for these events will not be limited to just the 100m dash. I am not holding my breath though, as we all know that the 100m will get 20 minutes of coverage and ALL other events will get the remaining 5 minutes in the allocated 30 minutes of coverage for the sport.
Cheers!

Lagniappe

Negative Aspect of the Job
This article is a little old, but I have been wanting to write about it for some time, and now I have finally come around to writing my take on the story. I am down here to help with the recovery efforts for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and when I find stories like this one, I get very frustrated at the inability of people to do things for themselves.

Recently, FEMA has mandated that all remaining trailer parks be closed and are trying very hard to move people out of the FEMA Trailers who still have them on their property, like the photo above. With this push to get people out of these trailers, FEMA has provided these people with housing assistance until they are able to find a place to live. Well...what do they do with YOURS and MY taxpayer dollars in the hot Gulf Coast summers?

"The scorching heat puts many at the Quality Inn poolside, but for Gwenester Malone, she chooses to beat the heat by setting her thermostat to sixty degrees. Malone's room for the past three months, along with three meals daily, have all been paid for by taxpayers."

I completely understand this in the months following the hurricanes, but nearly THREE years and countless handouts later, it still a "what are you going to do for me?" mentality that is a big disappointment for me and the work that I do. This is not the case for everyone, which is highlighted by the marked improvements in New Orleans and other hard hit area's, but its this, for lack of a better word, laziness, that leaves me with some bitter memories of "The Rouge" and Louisiana. Like the saying goes, one bad apples spoils the whole bunch...defiantly true when it comes to this disaster.