Last day in Greece

We flew from Crete to Athens on Saturday afternoon, spending the night at a hotel near the airport in order to catch our flight home early Sunday. Saturday morning before our flight we drove back into Heraklion, originally planning to do some shopping, but instead we spent the morning exploring the Venetian port in Heraklion. We also drove on the old National road along the coast rather than the new road, which is more of a freeway. Much slower, but a very nice drive with beautiful views. We arrived back at the airport well in time for our Aegean airlines flight to Athens. Great service on Aegean Air, although they do charge for checked bags, 30 Euros each. Upon arrival, we walked out the airport and walked right across the street to the Sofitel. lovely hotel, very nice room and incredibly convenient.

Since we got into Athens in mid afternoon and the Acropolis Museum is open until 8, we decided to head in for a visit. We took the train from the airport into Athens. I would recommend the train to any visitors. From the airport, the first few stops are considered to be "suburban rail", and once it gets closer into the city, it's considered light rail. So it takes a little while, the first stops being relatively far apart.  But it's inexpensive - 14 Euros round trip - and it's clean and easy. It does get crowded, even on a Saturday night.  

We got into the museum and spent a couple of hours looking at antiquities mostly coming from the Acropolis. It's a very nice space, the building itself is airy and light and with good views of the Acropolis itself. The rooms are large, which is important as the house lots of very large marble statues. You sort of feel like you're walking through a garden of these huge statues. My favorites were the Caryatid, very large statues of women that were taken from an entryway where they were holding up the roof. There were originally six of them, the Acropolis museum has 5, including one that has been damaged by a Turkish cannon ball.  Here's a couple of photos of them. 

After our time in the museum, we headed up to Syntagma Square in central Athens and the Plaka.  These are the lively areas in Athens, lots of activity, restaurants, street artists etc. also very easy to get to on the light rail. We ate dinner at a nice traditional place right off the Plaka, sitting outside enjoying watching people go by. The food was good, we somehow miscommunicated with our waiter and both ended up with the same lamb dish, but it was excellent. Gordon thinks the communication went wrong because the waiter was drunk. He could be right.  We then took the train back to our hotel, had a nightcap in the very nice lobby bar and headed up for a couple of hours sleep before our 4 a.m. wake up call.  

Our flight from Athens to Rome left at six a.m. And we had a three hour layover in Rome before the 13-hour long flight back to LA.  Alitalia's service was much better on the way back!  The flights left on time, and the experience at Rome was so much better. I think that's because all non- EU flights come in to one very busy terminal. Because we flew from Athens we came into a much quieter terminal, had an easy time at passport control and then got on the bus to the larger international terminal, where we just had to wait for our flight.  We had a nice breakfast and then flew back to the U.S.  It was a long tiring day.  

We had a great time in both Athens and Crete, and would recommend it to anyone. A couple of pieces of advice: driving is crazy, just try to pay attention.  Credit cards are not accepted in some places you would expect, so do have cash.  Athens is better for credit cards than Crete. Be prepared to walk on hilly and uneven surfaces. Take time for the museums and historical sites. Enjoy the food!  And take your time at meals. Island hopping is expensive, but so worth it.  Wine tasting on Crete and Santorini is unexpectedly good. 

Greece Day 6

On our last full day in Crete, we decided to head into the city of Heraklion to visit the museum and do other touristy things.  So we headed out early in the morning. This is the day that Gordon really learned to drive Crete-style. We headed in on the national road, but then we got into Heraklion, where we had to negotiate city driving and parking. I was not a good navigator finding it very hard to match up the street signs with the streets on the map!  But eventually we got parked and walked toward the museum, finding it with some help from very friendly local people.

The Heraklion Archaelogical Museum (http://www.heraklion.gr/en/ourplace/archeological-museum/archeological-museum.html) has a fabulous collection of Minoan antiquities, particularly from Knossos and other Minoan palaces on the island. The collection also includes pieces that represent Crete's Greek and even Venetian influence. My favorite, however, are the frescoes from the palace at Knossos including the famous Dolphins.

It is really a spectacular collection. The museum itself is not huge. We spent a couple of hours in there, although I am sure we could have spent more time. It's just a lot to take in all at once!

We headed out of the museum into the walking area in Heraklion, which is full of shopping and restaurants. There are also a couple of examples of the Venetian influence on Crete here. However, the signs of the crisis, graffiti in particular, are all over. Here's a picture of the Venetian Loggia in the center of town.  It is beautiful, but not in great shape and with much graffiti. We walked the town, did some touristy shopping and then also took time to have the fish pedicure. You put your feet in a tank of little fishes that eat the dead skin, leaving behind nice soft skin. Very weird. Very ticklish.  But my feet did feel softer!

We headed back to the Villa and the Gordon and I headed to the beach to swim and snorkel. The water felt great, although it was actually one of the cooler days. Gordon snorkeled, but unfortunately the Mediterranean and Aegean are pretty devoid of marine life, having been pretty much fished out. It is not like being in the Caribbean or even Hawaii. But the water is spectacularly clear and blue.  We finished the day with a meal cooked on the grill, using nice local ingredients picked up at the local market and butcher. Just a great spot here!  

Greece Day 5

The thing I had been most looking forward to was going to Santorini. So even though it would make for a fairly long day, we decided to do a day trip. It was great, but one piece of advice up front, try to set aside two or three days if you plan to go. We would have really loved more time!  We got up early and headed to the port where the high speed boat was due to leave at 9:30. We got there an hour in advance and the ticket guy said that the boat was sold out!  Oh no!  But he advised us to hang out until just before departure to see if there were cancellations. About a dozen people did so and it was no problem for all of us to get on the boat. From what I can tell, they make reservations with tour companies and estimate the number of seats needed based on the number of buses coming, and it's always somewhat less than that. The board from Heraklion to Santorini is not cheap, about 120 euros round trip. It's just good to know that island hopping in Greece is going to cost you.

The boat takes about two hours to get there. It's a pretty smooth ride.  It docks in a port called Athinios. There is not much in Athinios other than services for tourists, although the views of the Aegean and the three or four smaller islands off Santorini are spectacular. But you want to get out of the port and into the other towns to experience Santorini. It is possible to take a bus or taxi from Athinios, however, we chose to rent a car so we could have more flexibility. This is definitely more expensive than Crete. We paid 35 euros for the day, which is really only five hours. We would have liked to have rented a scooter, but the road out of the port is not considered safe for scooters, so you have to get up to Phira to do so.  So we settled on the car, another tiny car, and went up the very windy road toward Phira. 

The car rental guy had suggested to us that we park in a lot right outside of Phira and then walk in as it is very challenging to drive in Phira and not really possible to park.  This was absolutely the right call. So we parked and headed into the town. It was spectacular. Just beautiful - the white buildings built into the cliffs, the spectacular views.  It was simply amazing and indescribably beautiful.  We had lunch at a nice restaurant with a great view. The food was great, including a wonderful fava bean soup, but it was the setting that was so special. After lunch we walked around Phira a little more before heading out to Oia.

So one word of advice for future visitors.  The drive from Phira to Oia is short, it's only about 5K, but very windy so it is actually a fairly long drive, and beautiful, but there are no gas stations on the way.  Fill your car up in Phira!  We drove this magnificent and slightly scary route and then we got to the outskirts of Oia to notice our gas light come on.  Not a place to run out of gas!  But we stopped at a rental car company and the guy there got on his scooter, drove to a gas station and brought us back four liters of gas. Did I mention how nice the Greeks are? It was wonderful. 

We drove up to Oia, parked, and went into the village. It may be the most beautiful place in the world.  Simply stunning. Beautiful vistas, beautiful buildings. All we did was walk around and be simply awestruck. I've added some photos and you can find much better photos than these on Pinterest and other places, but trust me, none of them do it justice.  Amazing. 

A word to the wise about Phira and Oia. There are lots of steps. Lots of walking in narrow streets and I am sure in high season, it is crowded. So be prepared for exercise!  Unfortunately, it is not possible to navigate these towns with a wheelchair or stroller. It would just be too hard. 

We left Oia and headed back to Athinios, but we had some time so spare so we stopped to taste wine in a winery called Santos near the port. Another big hit. Great wines, great views. If we had had more time we would have gone to the beach with black sand or the ruins at Akrotiri, but overall it was a great day and we will go back!

The trip back was actually better than the trip over.  For some reason, it was a larger boat and way more comfortable, so we slept the whole way.  Here are just a couple of pictures of Santorini.  

Greece Day 4

In Tzermiado

We got up pretty early our second day in Crete and headed down to the beach for an early morning walk by the Aegean. It's a nice short walk from the Villa, through some lanes and past some homes. One thing that's obvious in both Athens and in Crete is that the country still has some signs of the recession, or as the Greeks call it, the great crisis. In particular, there is lots of graffitit, pretty much everywhere, lots of unfinished buildings and additional security to mitigate against crime. Saw plenty of the latter on the way to the beach. Virtually every house had a guard dog.  Frightened me with barking as we walked by!  But we got to the beach, a very rocky beach but beautiful clear blue water.

We didn't stay at the beach long, as we wanted to catch a ride with Carol and Jo, who were heading to Chania, on the other side of the island, for a couple of days. They dropped us off at the airport in Heraklion on their way so that we could rent a car.  I have to say, the whole car rental business was very laid back. Negotiated with three different car rental companies, settled on 25 euros a day, for a tiny little Nissan Micra, supposedly including insurance, filled out a form and headed off. She told us there was about a half gallon of gas in there and to bring it back with the same amount. Also, she said, if nobody's here when we return the car, we should drop the key in a little slot. Very easy.  We headed back toward the villa with Gordon getting used to the Cretan style of driving. Don't stop at a sign. Pull toward the shoulder when somebody passes you.  He caught on pretty quick!

We decided to head up to the plateau of Lessithi for the day. That's more inland on the island and up in the mountains.  So it was a fairly long and very interesting drive. We were on the national road until we got to a village called Neapolito, then we got onto these extremely windy mountain roads, taking us through very beautiful scenery, going through a couple of tiny little villages on the way. James had suggested this route as there are very few tour busses. In fact, I don't believe a bus could make it across these roads, and there was just very little traffic at all. So it felt very remote, very slow going and gorgeous scenery. We stopped outside one of the villages to buy a local liquor called reki, pronounced rocky, from an old lady running a roadside stand. You can't go to Crete without buying some roadside rocky!  

We finally made it to a town called Tzermiado, where James had suggested we have lunch at a place called Kronio. Kronio did not disappoint, either the food or the experience. Tzermiado has a lot of the signs of the crisis, lots of empty building and graffiti, as well as lots of little shops catering to tourists, so not particularly picturesque.  There are a couple of other restaurants, all pretty quiet, but Kronio is bustling. Family run, very busy.  The teenage son served us and asked for our order by saying "Tell me what you want before my father kills me". When Gordon ordered the lamb chops he was repeatedly told us that this would mean we would have to wait, it's not fast.(in fact, the lamb chops came before my moussaka). The restaurant was so busy that they had tables on the sidewalk and had even set up some on the sidewalk across the street, so the son was running back and forth across the street serving customers. The food was great and it was friendly, I would highly recommend it. 

Diktaion Andro Cave

Tzermiado is right on the plateau. In essence, the plateau is a highly elevated green valley, beautiful, fertile, remote. Because of the elevation it was actually a little chilly up there. We heard from Tzermiado to the cave of Diktaion Andro, one of several,places that claim to be the birthplace of Zeus. We parked there, and several locals tried to rent us a donkey to carry us to the cave.  We declined, opting for the walk after being in the car for so long. And it was quite a steep climb up to the mouth of the cave, followed by a descent into the cave. But it was totally worth it, lots of stalagmites and stalactites and just generally cool.

We took a different route back, another windy road and more fabulous views. We came back through the tourist resort of Malia, hoping to visit the palace ruins, but we were too late. We drove through Malia, definitely very touristy, not really our type of place at all.  Since we are slightly off season, it was not too crowded but I understand that during the high season it's a madhouse, packed beaches and lots of partying. We arrived home around seven.  We ended the day by taking Joyce, James and Billy to dinner at a restaurant called Medusa, where we tried some local dishes, including Dakos, a sort of bruschetta thing on a barley rusk, and tignarito, a wonderfully meat dish with a nice sauce.  All in all a great day.

Greece Day 3

After a good night's sleep, thinking we might be done with jet lag, we planned our first full day in Crete with our friends Carol and Jo. We planned a trip to Crete wine country followed by a visit to the ruins of the Minoan palace at Knossos, Crete's best know and most visited historic site.

 We started by driving out to wine country, a little more inland in Crete due south of Heraklion. Crete has great wine weather, but the wine business has reall y gotten underway in the last decade our so.  The main crop in Crete, of course, is the olive.  Lots of figs too.  So we drove down into the tiny town of Peza, a little off the beaten bath and not particularly touristy. We ate at a teeny restaurant in Peza, very local. The proprietor, whose English was almost as limited as our Greek, asked us if we wanted omelettes or salad.  Apparently the only choices.  We selected omelettes, not really sure what would be in the omelettes. But they were good, with some feta cheese and some meat, and for some reason, each omelette had two French fries sitting on top. But it was good to get some food in our stomachs before tasting wine all afternoon. 

There was a wine tasting room right in downtown Peza, so we stopped in there for some tasting. Wine was perfectly okay, but nothing too exciting. However, the nice German lady behind the counter gave us a map of wine country to help,us find our way around. Unfortunately, the map only seemed to serve to help us get lost, and we then took a very pleasant, if not productive, 90 minute drive through Crete's lovely wine country. And while it was beautiful and enjoyable, we really wanted to get to some actual wine tasting.  So we backtracked, and finally got to our second winery, a co-op of wine and olive oil growers. Again, fairly underwhelming experience, not helped by the poorly flushing toilet. The less said about that the better. But again, the lady serving us was most helpful, and we did buy olive oil, so with her help we headed on to another winery. Driving through the next little town, we did witness a fight between locals sort of in the middle of the road, actually sort of needed to drive around them. But ultimately, we made it to Lyrarakis, an absolutely lovely winery. Would fit right into Napa or Sonoma. Tasted wine made from traditional Crete grapes, and some from better know grapes, like Syrah. Also tasted something called verjuice.  (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verjuice). Bought several bottles of that for chef friends at home plus several bottles of wine to drink here in Crete.

After we were done wine tasting we headed to Knossos. I'm won't say too much about it, you can look it up.  However, it is amazing to see something so ancient and so large. It's in a fabulous setting and I can only imagine how spectacular it must have been in its day. There's lots of controversy about an early 20th century renovation by an Englishman named Arthur Evans, and I can understand the issues with that. Sometimes it's hard to know what would have been Minoan versus what was Evans' take on it. But amazing nonetheless. 

At the end of the day, we drove to a bar on the beach near our villa before heading back for the evening. Friendly place in a lovely location.  Nice way to end a good day!

Greece Day 2

After a decent nights sleep, Gordon and I enjoyed breakfast at the Mare Nostrum, we decided to try out Greek public transit and head to the Acropolis in downtown Athens. We caught the bus right outside the hotel. The directions said to take the bus to a light rail station. The directions said this could take 40 minutes. So we get on the bus. It drove a meandering route, giving us a good view of all kinds of neighborhoods around Athens!  An hour and ten minutes later, the bus finally pulls into the light rail station. Quite a public transportation experience!  The light rail was fabulous, new, clean, efficient and took us directly to the Acropolis. It was great to see the Acropolis. Quite a hike especially on a hot day, and very crowded. But just an amazing site full of history and I am glad to have visited.

After we left the Acropolis we decided on a taxi back to the hotel, given the adventure with public transportation.  Evidently driving in Athens is challenging for everyone - our taxi driver stopped three times to ask for directions. He also was concerned about the A/C in the car. If it didn't feel cold enough, he restarted it by shutting the engine off and on again, even when on the highway driving 100 kilometers and hour. But we got to Athens airport safely and caught our very short flight from Athens to Heraklion. Piece of advice for future travelers. Aegean charges 30 euros for a checked bag. But other than that, great flight. Carol and James picked us up at the airport and while driving on Crete is not totally insane, it does appear that stop signs are simply a suggestion.  A red light, however, seems to mean stop. But we drove out to the villa, absolutely lovely, and very close to the beach. A good night's sleep and looking forward to tomorrow. 

Villa Athena

Trip to Greece - day 1, departure

View from our hotel room in Atehns

Last year, our friend James Wheeler retired. James and his wife Joyce scheduled a big trip to Crete, renting a villa for several months. We got ourselves invited to the villa for a week, and scheduled a trip to Crete in May.  Our plan was to be there at the same time as our mutual friend, Carol.  After all our planning the big day finally arrived and we headed off to Crete. 

We had scheduled a shuttle to take us from our home in Orange County to LAX. From LAX, we would fly to Athens on Saturday, going through Rome and arriving on Sunday, then spend the night in Athens and fly to Crete the next day.  Our shuttle arrived at about 11:30 to get us to LAX for our 4:15 flight. But that's how these shuttles are.  They pick  lots of people along the way and so it does add to the length of the trip. And of course, in LA, you can never count on traffic. It could be 45 minutes to LAX or it could be 3 hours. Anyhow, after he picked us up, he only had one more stop. We drove to Anaheim and picked up a family of three, a young couple and their baby. That family had so much luggage - three or four suitcases, boxes, lots of baby paraphernalia. We assumed they were taking a long trip overseas, but when we asked them where they were headed, they told us they were heading to Oakland, going to UC Berkeley for the woman's brothers graduation. Okay, so riddle me this - why so much luggage?  And why fly out of LAX, when you're going to Oakland??  Wouldn't it be easier to fly out of Orange County? The drive to the airport was fairly uneventful, but not because the driver was trying to keep it that way. Quite the opposite. It was a heart stopping ride on the LA freeways and especially around LAX with the shuttle driver. Talk about your LA driver!  Weaving in and out of traffic. Not afraid to cut off a city bus.  I seriously needed a drink when we got to the airport. And partly because of the aggressive driving, we had plenty of time for drinks at LAX. In fact we had time for a rather lovely lunch. Flying out of the Tom Bradley International Terminal, that's the way travel should be. Once you get through the long security lines, that is. The terminal itself is pretty spectacular. Very LA. Fancy restaurants, beautiful people, fabulous digital billboards that you can literally watch all day, and the shopping!  Between your Apple stores and your duty free, it has it all, at least for the 1%. I literally saw a bottle of whiskey that cost $46,000 in duty free in LAX.  

The only problem with our flight out of LAX is that it was delayed by an hour. Given that we had a pretty tight connection in Rome to get to Athens, this was a little worrisome. But we settled in for the 12 hours and just didn't think about it. As it happens, there was a young American woman sitting next to us named Chrissy catching the same flight.  So the three of us figured we'd hoof it to the gate together and it'd work. 

Finally, we landed, my first time in the Rome airport. So the plane landed on the runway, not next to gate, and we realized we had the dreaded bus ride to the arrival terminal from the runway. We've done this in London before, and it has cost us a connection, leading us to spend the night In Heathrow, so I wasn't thrilled when I saw this was how it was starting out.  Then Alitalia did not exactly blow us away with their efficiency and planning. The plane was a large Airbus. I think they know how many passengers it holds. So why was there only one bus waiting for us?  So we hung out on the runway for 10 or 15 minutes and finally a bus arrives.  Thankfully, it was a short ride to the arrivals gate, where we were directed to the place nobody wants to go  - passport control.

I am not sure if I can adequately describe the bedlam that is passport control in Rome. However, I'll start by noting that there are two very different experiences - passport control with an EU passport, and everyone else. The EU passport experience is so far superior - they actually have the appropriate number of immigration officers and they even have automated terminals where you can scan your passport. You literally sail right through. The non-EU experience is vastly different.  It appears there are about four officials for a queue of thousands.  No, not queue, a crush of thousands.  Going into that crush resembled going into a crazy mob during the French Revolution. Now most people know I actually carry an EU passport, so the easy experience awaited me. However, Gordon does not. But I thought, let me ask if I can bring my spouse through with me. The less than helpful Alitalia staff member asked if we had proof that we are married. Given that we have different last names and that I don't carry our marriage certificate with us, I sadly could not prove our spousal relationship beyond a reasonable doubt.  My options, Alitalia tells me, are to go with him or wait on the other side for him.  So off to the great unwashed non-EU masses for us.  The really frustrating thing is that I will probably become a US citizen next month, so this was my last chance to take advantage of the EU fast pass, a time when it would have made a huge difference and I couldn't do it!!

The experience in the immigration line lasted over an hour. An agonizing hour of pushing, shoving, people being angry. Oh, and did I mention that the air conditioning was not working, due to a recent fire?  We finally got up to the front, and after all that, the immigration officer did not even look at our passports!!!  By now, it was 10 minutes past the time our flight to Athens was due to leave. However, I figured with Alitalia's demonstrated lack of efficiency, we had a 50-50 chance to make it.  We had become separated from Chrissy, so Gordon and I continued on, found ourselves in baggage claim, which we thankfully didn't need to deal with, and  headed from terminal 3 where we came in, to terminal 1 where our flight was scheduled to leave from gate B04.  This involved going through security again.  And did I mention that we bought something in duty free?  Not the aforementioned $46,000 bottle of whiskey, but a nice sipping brandy for our hosts. We got into terminal 3, noticed on the board that our flight said still boarding, although moved to gate B28, and headed for security. Let me just say that security in European airports is different to American airports. It's not exactly pre-9/11, but it's a whole lot easier. No shoe removal, for example. And the duty free, well once the security guy determined that it was in a sealed bag with a receipt, we were golden. So we got through security and sprinted to our gate, now all the way at the other end of a very crowded terminal. I ran like Frank Gore splitting the backfield of the Oakland Raiders, cutting left and right to avoid my fellow travelers. And finally, we saw it - gate B28. With the dreaded bus to the plane!   But Alitalia finally came through and let us on the bus!  And Chrisssy was there!  yay!  We all made our flight, which was remarkably comfortable. We got to Athens airport, which is way more relaxed than Rome.  And our luggage was even there.  So a little late, but we made it.

We left the airport and caught a taxi to our hotel. The taxi driver was very friendly, but kept saying. Why are you staying there.  It's not near Athens. It's not near the airport.  It's nice, but remote.  We looked at the booking form - we had just picked something from hotels.com- and we picked it because it said 5km from the airport. Well, the taxi driver said, yes, as the crow flies, so to speak, it's 5Km, but with the windy roads it's a 30 minute drive.  Which it definitely was. So we were regretting choosing it until we actually arrived. Yes, it's remote, but the location is spectacular, and the hotel itself is a lovely resort. Not over the top opulent, but very nice. We walked into the lobby and heard a lively band singing abba songs in the bar to a large raucous crowd. What could be better - an Abba cover band in Greece. We got settled into our room, small but lovely and with a balcony with a glorious view.  Then we headed down to the restaurant where they serve a buffet - all you can eat and drink for 20 euros. A barrel of wine we could pour carafes from. And magnificent food. Heavy on the meat. Even salads were described as lamb salad, pork salad.  A half a pig on the carving table. Not a place for vegetarians. Or for diets.  We had a magnificent meal and lots of wine.  It may be a little off the beaten path, but the Mare Nostrum Hotel Thalasso is awesome.  The picture above is the view from our balcony.

American River Parkway Half Marathon

Last year, my daughter Aisling began running cross country for her high school team. She did well, and decided she wanted to run a half marathon. I agreed to do one with her, so in December we signed up for the American River Parkway Half Marathon.

We planned to start training in January, but then Aisling joined her track team, and naturally, the track coach doesn't want them doing road races during the season as it increases the risk of injury. So I started training by myself in January. I had always run short distances two to three times per week, I simply added a long run on the weekend to that. My long run actually started out pretty short - my first one being only 45 minutes - and I just increased it over the course of several months. A couple of things really worked to my advantage during training. First, I live very close to the American River Parkway and Lake Natoma, great places to run. The second thing that helped was my furlough days. It was so much easier to schedule a long run on a furlough day than a weekend day, just logistically. I increased my time and distance a little with each long run. Sometimes I felt really good with the increase, but some of the long runs were really hard. I remember the first time I ran 10 miles, I actually thought I was going to cry at the end. On the other hand, two weeks ago, I ran 12.5 miles, and felt really pretty good.

Yesterday was the big day. I arrived at the starting line at William Pond Park at the starting time of 8. We didn't actually get started until about 8:30, however. The race started with a Scottish band, with bagpipes and drums, marching across the starting line. It was great! It was also really crowded - about 3,000 people in all. The course was lovely, along the river, nice and flat. There were bands all along the way serenading us, and plenty of water/gatorade stations. I started out well, and as I hit the miles markers, I was feeling pretty good, all the way up until about mile 10. Then it started to get really hard! The mile markers seemed to be further apart at that point. So I would guess that I walked about .75 of the last 3 miles. Once I passed the 12 mile marker, there were many of the people who had already finished the race lined up yelling encouragement. So I pushed on and finally made it across the finish line. My time was 2:23:44. I had been aiming for under 2:30, so I was very satisfied. I did sort of feel like I was so tired and sore that I was about to cry! But instead of crying, I just went home and showered, that made me feel much better. I spent the rest of the day drinking probably gallons of water!

So will I do it again? I don't know - the length is hard. 10 miles felt okay, but 13 felt painful. So ask me again in a couple of weeks when the memory of the pain is gone!

Furlough day long run

So today was my furlough day. Many thanks to the governator for the day off and the accompanying paycut!! Anyhow, in an effort to not put my furlough day to waste, I decided to use it to stretch my long run out to ninety minutes. Rain was in the forecast for midmorning, so I thought I'd get out there early to miss that, so I started running at 8:30. While it wasn't raining it was overcast and slightly chilly - in other words, perfect running weather. When I did my last long run, 75 minutes, it was a little later in the day, and a little warmer, and I think I paced myself wrong, because when I got to the end of the run, I just thought I was going to die, or at least vomit. Happily I managed to avoid doing either! So today, I decided to pace myself slower by breaking up the run with stretches of short walks. So more or less, I ran for 20 minutes, then walked for a couple of minutes and continued on in that pace.

My favorite place to run is the American River Parkway. I usually cross the footbridge in Fair Oaks, and head upriver toward the Sac State Acquatic center and then back again. But that isn't quite long enough for 90 minutes, so instead I headed downriver. My plan was to run downriver until I hit about 50 minutes, and then head back. I had never run further than the Bannister Park bridge in that direction before, so it was good to get a change of scenery. You can see my route here. Because it was Friday, it wasn't too crowded on the parkway. And it is really a lovely run. I ran from the upper Sunrise are to the lower Sunrise area. Because the trail, the Jedediah Smith Memorial trail, winds through the recreation areas, sometimes you're close to the river and sometimes you're not. So it's heavily wooded in some areas, and more open in others. There's also a fair amount of interesting wildlife. There are warning signs for mountain lions (why are they down near a river if they're called mountain lions? there's no mountain) but luckily I didn't see them. I did have to run through a flock of turkeys though. They let me pass without pecking me too much. More information on the Jedediah Smith Trail can be found here.

Anyhow, perhaps it was the perfect running weather, or the time of day, or the slower pace I took, but it was a very good run. I ran almost 8.5 miles and I am planning to stretch it out to 10 miles next week on my next furlough day, following the same route, just going a little further!

Also, I really would like photos of the route but obviously I don't carry a camera on my run. However, we are currently dogsitting for some friends who are in Argentina. So perhaps we'll take their dog, Linus, for a walk on that route. That could be fun!

Weekend runs

So with two months to go before the half marathon, I am trying to build up more stamina with a weekly long run. Generally, to minimize the risk of missing it due to procrastination, I aim to do the long run on Saturday, rather than Sunday. This weekend, Ashling's track team was doing timed trials on Saturday, so I thought I could use that time for my long run. Rain was predicted for Saturday, but you can never be sure that's right. But when we woke up Saturday, it was pouring. Wet and chilly! Ashling's track team was meeting at American River College at 9, so off we went. When we got there, Ashling's coach, Sherri, had decided against the timed trial, so as to avoid having the girls sitting around in the cold rain in between being timed, and opted instead to do a short practice. I decided to do a short run around the track when the rain seemed to ease off. Well, that was a temporary easing off! I think I had done two laps when it really started to pour. So I managed to do about two miles in the pouring rain. It was fairly lonely out there at the ARC track, also. Just Ashling's track team, the Jesuit High School boys track team (apparently, they are not bothered by the rain), and a couple of very tough solo runners were out. I was glad to get back into the warm car, I tell you.

That meant that my long run needed to happen on Sunday. As it worked out, Sunday was an incredibly nice day. Last day in February, temperature in the 60s, and beautiful sunny skies. We took Ashling back to ARC to practice long jump and triple jump. That triple jump thing is wacky! Hopping and jumping? I wonder who thought that up and what they were smoking at the time? I also read that one of the women on the Irish Women's Olympic Bobsleigh team (yes we have one) is also a triple jumper. You must need the same special muscles (that I don't have) for both events. Anyhow, I had Gordon drop me off at a place called Bannister Park on the way home so I could start my long run. My plan was to do 75 minutes, so for those who know the Sacramento area, I planned to run through Bannister Park, cross the river on the footbridge, run up the River to the Sac State Aquatic Center, and then turn around and come back to the Fair Oaks bridge, cross there and then run home. For those who don't know the Sacramento area, I mapped my route using Runkeeper, and you can see it here. I've just started to use this runkeeper thing on my iPhone, and I won't say I've mastered it yet. I occasionally accidentally pause it (usually when I am trying to change a song or something) and I end up with a break in the run. But you get the idea.

This is really a very nice route. In fact, any route on the American River Parkway is just fabulous. And people who live here really take advantage of it. So on a beautiful day like today, the parkway is full of other runners, walkers, bicyclists, people walking dogs etc. etc. It means you have to pay attention so as not to collide with a bicyclist, but it it nice to see so many people out there. And of course, you're running right by the river, watching people fish, kayak etc. etc. It's also a good surface to run on - the bike path is in great shape, no potholes or anything - but most of the time you can run on the shoulder, which is a lot easier on the knees and ankles. Also, it's nice and flat! The only problem today is that there is some construction going on at the Aquatic Center end of the parkway, and the parkway is basically closed between the Nimbus Fish Hatchery and the Aquatic Center. That's not a huge distance or anything, but in order to make sure I got enough running in, I ran around the fish hatchery parking lot a couple of time. That was probably the low spot of the run, from a scenery perspective.

Today's run was the longest that I have done so far, and takes me beyond the halfway point for a half marathon. A quarter marathon maybe. But I must say, it was hard! When I crossed the Fair Oaks bridge, probably at the 6.5 mile point, I was really feeling it. There's a slight hill from the bridge going toward the village, and I thought that I would die, or at least throw up, at that point. But I managed to not do either, so that was good. I am not sure how it is going to feel to double that distance. I foresee a substantial period of time walking during the midpoint of the half marathon!

Next week I am aiming for a longish run on Thursday night with the Folsom Trail Runners, as Aidan is coming to spend the weekend starting Friday night. Maybe I'll do a long walk with Aidan instead of a long run.

Running by the river

I've been running for several years, but mostly short distances. However, I have decided to do a half marathon in May, the American River Parkway Half Marathon.. That's 13.1 miles. That's a long way. I have heard from other runners, who all think I can do this, that the difference between training for this and training for something short distance is pretty straightforward. In addition to the normal runs and other workouts during the week, you simply add a long run on the weekend. So I've been doing that, gradually increasing the length of the run. I want to get it to a two hour run by the middle of March. This weekend, I did a one hour run. For those who know the area, I ran through Fair Oaks village, down to the American River, across the Fair Oaks bridge, and then on upstream along the river, until I got to Nimbus Fish Hatchery by Hazel Avenue and then back again. I'm not fast, so I think it's overall under six miles. But it was a good run. Yesterday was the most lovely day so far this year weather-wise. After several weeks of rain, it was clear and warm (at least for January). The American River Parkway trail is very popular and because of the great weather, there were lots of people running and biking, and also people in the river fishing.

So I plan to keep up this schedule, gym workouts four or five times a week and a long run on the weekend, probably always by the American River. I am also hoping to recruit a team of runners (other than Ashling) to do the half marathon!

Colder weather in Sacramento

Sacramento has very hot summers. By comparison to places that get really cold on the east coast or in the midwest, we don't really get cold winters. But it is quite a bit colder than the bay area, where I lived for years, and as I am apparently a California Weather Wimp, I think it gets really cold.

Yesterday, Ashling and I went to Davis to do the annual "Turkey Trot" a 5K run just before Thanksgiving. We also planned to go to the Causeway Classic, the big football game between traditional local rivals, Sac State (the Hornets) and UC Davis (the Aggies).

For those who don't know the area, Davis is town about 20 miles west of Sacramento, home to UC Davis, a fine institution of learning. You get from Sac to Davis on I-80, and after you cross into Yolo county, the freeway is a causeway over the Yolo flats, hence the term "Causeway Classic" for the big football game. We left on Saturday at about 7 a.m. heading to Davis for the Turkey Trot, and man was it foggy! This Valley fog is way different to bay fog, much thicker and harder to drive in. I was just glad that there was so little traffic on I-80 as the visibility was very poor. In fact, when we crossed the Sacramento River, the fog was at its thickest and the river was not at all visible. But we got to Davis safely. But it was cold! Again, not by real winter standards, but by California wimp standards. I was glad to get running to warm up! And also to be around the crowds - there are about 5000 participants. It's a nice enough course through Davis, the best part being how flat it is. No hills! I clocked a time of about 30 minutes, Ashling, of course, was several minutes ahead of me.

After the race, we headed home so. Crossing the Yolo flats, we saw where the Davis fans had adorned the flats with the a rather large sign stating "Sac Iz Wac". I am guessing that spelling and grammar aren't a top priority for the Aggies. But it was cute, we giggled about it all the way home. Game started at 2:05, we headed over to Hornet stadium a little early and enjoyed the smell of the barbeque at all the tailgate parties on campus. Given that Sac State doesn't have a particularly prestigious football program, the stadium is smaller than, say, Memorial Stadium at Berkeley. However, I would say that Hercy the Hornet is a very cool mascot, partly because he has a stinger and partly because he can ride a unicycle. However, the first half of the game was filled with some of the sloppiest football I have ever seen, and I have sat through a large number of high school football games. That combined with the chilly weather led to us leaving at halftime, which unfortunately means that we missed one of the greatest comebacks in college sports history when the Hornets came back from a 14-3 deficit at halftime to win 31-28 with just 20 seconds to go! That's the price of being a California Weather Wimp and being unable to last a couple of hours in the shade when it's less than 60 degrees!

The new shed

The last of Gordon's big outdoor projects for this year is the new shed. When we moved in, the house had a shed. But, oh my god, what a mess!!! There was so much ivy in it. I think the ivy was holding it up. Not to mention all the nasty things left behind by critters that had been in there. Yuck! Anyhow, we have a two-car garage, but there is so much stuff in there, mostly tools and motorbikes, that I can't park my car in there. So I went through this summer parking my car in the driveway, and I really don't want to do that again. Honestly, some afternoons I'd get into my car after it had been sitting in the sun for a few hours, and I would get third degree burns on my fingers from touching the steering wheel. Not good! So the shed had to get built so that Gordon could put his stuff in it so that I could park my car in the garage.

The first major task was killing the ivy. That took a long time, because it was some large ivy. It was frustrating because he was working so hard but it didn't look like much was changing! Except for the big pile of roots that had to go out in the green bin that is. Once it was pretty much dead, and cleared from the concrete, then he could go to work on that. We used the concrete that had been poured for the old shed, but it need some serious patching and chipping. Then it was time to begin building the actual shed. Gordon actually bought a book "shed-building for dummies" I think it was, and just picked out a nice design and went from there. A picture is worth a thousand words, they say, so click here to see pictures of the shed in progress.

I think the most most stressful time was the day before our first big storms of the season. We knew there would be some serious rain and wind, so Gordon had to get the roof on that weekend, and then get something called housewrap around the shed. That was important because the windows and doors weren't in yet, and the housewrap covered that. Since we were storing all of his tools in the new shed, it was important to keep as much rain as possible out of there. The storm tore up some trees, even dumping some into the pool, and almost destroyed the sunshade, but the shed and the tools stood up well.

Keep checking the photos - it should be finished soon and I'll keep posting photos.

Summer in Sacramento

This week, there was a really good article about living in Sacramento in the Sac Bee. Click here to read it. The article, by a San Francisco native now living in Sacramento, talks about how the hot summers really define the lifestyle here. Now I've been really lucky - since I moved to Sacramento we've experienced one of the most delightful summers imaginable. But there have been a couple of hot weeks and I totally see what he means about how the weather defines life here. The cool active mornings, the slow midday and the lively evenings. I also think he's right on when he says we can look at day with a high of 92 (for my European readers, that's about 33 centigrade) and marvel at how cool it will be. It sort of reminds me, in an opposite type way of course, of how when I was growing up in Ireland, we would head to the beach if it got remotely close to 70. That was some hot beach weather then! On a personal level, it's pretty amazing how quickly I've gotten into the if-it's-not-100-it's-almost-chilly mentality. Also, how quickly I've grown to love the shade. It's way different in the shade! And the air conditioning. I believe in A/C!!

There are a couple of things I would also note about how Sacramentans deal with the heat. First is the use of water. When it's hot, I come home from work and get into the pool. I've gotten into the pool at 9 or 10 o'clock. Then you don't even have to worry about the sun. Pools are a big deal. And of course, there's the river. When I drive over the American River, I always glance to see how many people are out on the river. On the weekend, there are hundreds of people, either just hanging out or floating down the river in rafts. I've done it myself. It is so much cooler on the water. And even though you're in the river with crowds of people, it's cool, because, really, everyone is just so nice. I don't know if the heat contributes to it, but people are so friendly here, it rivals Ireland! The first day we went out on the river, we forgot to bring paddles for the raft (well, we were rookies) and someone just gave us one. I am not making this up! He had a spare, and he noticed that we needed it, so he just gave it to us. That would *never* happen in the bay area.

The other thing that the heat brings out is a totally different sense of style. It sort of makes sense, I suppose, it's hot so we dress skimpier. All of us. I'm a 48-year-old grandmother and it's completely acceptable for me to leave the house in short-shorts and a tank top. Admittedly, I'm in decent shape, but hey, other places in the world have rules about that sort of thing. Not here! And the skimpier clothing leads to more display of body art. There probably aren't actually more tattoos per capita here or anything, it just looks like it because they're all on display.

The article also talks about how we lean toward evening activities because of the heat. That's so true. I go listen to live music in the village near my house every Thursday night. I walk down by the river and it is simply full of people biking and walking their dogs, or kids. Restaurants in midtown serve food until the wee hours of the morning. If only we could get a siesta in mid-afternoon, life would be perfect! Maybe that's the way we should be furloughing - a two-hour nap each day.

I don't know how it's going to be in the winter. There may not be sun, there might even be rain! I might even get an early night. But I guess I'll just wait and see.

More progress on the house and yard

We've been in our house in Fair Oaks for almost a month now, and Gordon continues to make progress especially outside in the yard. Last week, he finished painting the pool. This week, after it sat for 7 days, we were able to fill it and then use it. It took 36 hours to fill it. We got it filled in time for a visit from Dara, Zach, Aidan and Zach's sisters, the twins Ciara and Cheyenne. So, along with Aisling, they spent two days in the pool having a great time. When Dara was pregnant, I bought a child's wetsuit with built in floatation device at a second hand shop. They all made fun of me at the time, questioning when a toddler might use it. But I guess I was right! Aidan wore it into the pool on Friday and Saturday and it worked beautifully. He came down the slide once, and just bounced up to the surface, so it feels very safe to have him in the pool with that on.

I got in the pool with Aisling on Sunday. I must say, it's very relaxing to float around on one of those air mattress loungers. Dara thought it had cupholders, but I didn't find anything that fit a wineglass. Oh well! It also seemed that Aisling enjoys shooting me with the watergun, both when I'm on the air mattress and on the side of the pool. Hmm.

The other major development is the shed. There was an old shed in the back yard. It really needs some serious work. Basically, I think the walls have to come down and be rebuilt. The foundation seems to be okay. Also, it was pretty overgrown with ivy and other trees and vines. So Gordon has been cutting back the growth over the last few days. As he cut back the ivy, he found that there was actually another shed buried under there, connected to the original shed. I would guess it has been buried under the ivy for years. That shed (on the right in the picture) probably needs new walls and a new roof. There were also things in there that had obviously been there for years, including an old crib and bike. However, there is also an old 55-gallon drum full of something, we're not sure what. We're contacting someone with the county's hazmat department before we do anything with it, just in case. But it'll be interesting to see what's in there!

Update from our new home

Well, we've been moved in for a couple of weeks now, and it's feeling like home! We've unpacked many many boxes. I admit, there are still a ton in the garage, but the house is almost box-free, and furniture is where it should be. I can find all my shoes, clothes and earrings. Not quite there in the kitchen yet, we keep finding things we haven't moved or unpacked, like a can opener, or cooking oil.

We've even had visitors, Nan, Dara, Zach and Aidan have all come up from the bay area, and Maureen and Nate have come over from my office. The cats are completely comfortable here now, Gordon put a new door in with a cat door and they come and go as they please. I'm pretty sure they like the big yard and the neighbor's dogs don't seem to bother them. Saki has always been a big killer and now he is finding more things to kill! Last week, he brought in something that looked like a huge worm to me, however, Gordon told me that it was a small garden snake. Yuck! There definitely are more creepy crawlies here, including the dreaded spiders, but I am choosing to ignore them.

The other major development is the pool. It was quite a mess when we bought the house. We talked to several pool contractors, and we thought we would get it completely refinished. However, the cost for that is pretty high - for the finish that we'd like, it'd probably be close to $10,000. So it sort of came down to a choice between the pool and the roof, so we are going with a new roof. We decided instead to have Gordon clean and paint the pool. What a process! First, it had to be cleaned with TSP, and then acid washed. After washing, it needs to sit for a few days. Then it can be patched in the damaged spots. Then it needs to sit for a few days. Then it needs to be washed with TSP and acid washed again! Then it needs to sit for a few days, and then it can be painted. After that, it needs to sit for a week before it can be filled.

So last week it was getting close to the painting time. I had a business meeting with Women in Technology International in Sacramento, and when I came home at about 9:30, Gordon was in the pool painting. I actually could smell the paint all the way out in the driveway! He thought it would take about three hours, and when I got home, he'd been painting for about an hour and a half and he looked like he was pretty close to halfway done. Boy was that wrong! He had mostly done shallow end, and the deep end is much bigger! He painted until about 5:30 in the morning! But it looks incredible, as you can see from the picture. We are looking forward to filling it up, starting this week. We actually have a pool going on how long it will take to fill up the pool! I have 60 hours.

Now that we're really in Sacramento, we are starting to explore a little more. Nan came up last week, so we took her to lunch at Rick's Dessert Diner. Yum!! We also have spent a lot of time in Fair Oaks with the chickens. And yesterday, we went rafting on the Sacramento River. Nate and Maureen have an inflatable dinghy from their sailboat and the five of us went out in it. We met up at one or so and sailed down the river for about 3 and a half hours. Our theory that people are friendlier in Sacramento was again proven when we realized that we had forgotten paddles, and someone who had a spare paddle just gave it to us. Which was good, because otherwise we would have been up the river without a paddle. Ha ha!!It was a very mild day by Sacramento standards (about 88) when we were out on the river, but it felt even cooler down by the water, so on a hot day, that's going to be fabulous. It is bright and sunny, so lots of sunscreen is the way to go. The journey itself is very relaxing, only one or two "rapids" and even they're pretty lightweight. Lots of people out on the river, all friendly and all in a really good mood, so all in all, a good time!

We're moved!

At last, after many months, we have moved from the bay area to Sacramento. We've been packing at our house in Hercules since April. Gordon has been working at our house in Fair Oaks since May. But the work that needed to be done before we could move in got completed a week or so ago. He installed new insulation, did some re-wiring, had a painter paint all the rooms (without wood), and had a contractor re-finish all the wood floors. Also, he did lots of out side cleanup and is continuing to work on the pool.

So the movers came to Hercules on Sunday. They arrived at 9 and got the truck all packed up about 4. We got almost all the furniture and boxes in the truck. Gordon packed up his truck and I packed a bunch of things in my car. Aisling and I took one cat and a turtle in my car and Gordon took the other cat in his truck. After we got to Sacramento, the movers were there until about 11 moving furniture and boxes into the house. My goal was to get our beds set up so we could sleep Sunday night, and also to get the big heavy pieces of furniture located. And we did manage to do that, so we could sleep in our beds on Sunday night!

I took off three days during the week and we unpacked and moved furniture around during that time. In addition, Gordon was continuing with some things that weren't quite done, like some light fixtures. The cats and the turtle have completely settled in. The cats love being outside and we haven't lost them yet. Dara, Zach and Aidan came up to visit over the weekend. Zach helped clear more stuff from the garden, and Dara helped unpack the kitchen. Aidan ran around and played with the cats.

So it's great to be all back together all the time. Aisling has started her summer program at Sac State. Gordon will need to finish stuff up at the Hercules house, as we have a new tenant moving in on August 1, which is great news!

ITLP Conference 2009

I just got back from Chicago where I attended the IT Leader's Program 2nd annual conference. I had a great time. I presented my leadership diary three times - mostly tongue-in-cheek presentations, recalling our various leadership concepts and gently poking fun at them. The third day was spent poking fun at the previous speakers sessions. However, the previous speakers were mostl very good, especially Professor Ronald Burt on Social Networks and how they create advantage and value; Professor Harry Davis on leadership as performance art (I know what you're thinking and you're wrong); and Clarke Stroud Vice President and Dean of Students from the University of Okalahoma on the role that students play in advancing technology. Clarke Stroud was almost (but not quite) as funny as I was and he also gave me tons of material for my final diary - just a lot to revisit and make fun of.

It was also good to reconnect with my ITLP colleagues from around the country. Many of us are dealing with similar issues obviously around budgets and crises caused by security issues. Many of us spent some quality time at a bowling alley in Chicago - great fun!

House update

It's been a while since I've posted to my blog; just busy I guess. We finally took possession of the house last week. Getting through closing was a really pain in the neck but it finally got done. Now we (and by we I mean Gordon) are spending a lot of time doing work to make it move in ready. Last week, he got a lot of electrical work done so now the house won't be a fire hazard. He also got some new drywall in the laundry room. And now he's focusing on doing some ceiling insulation. That'll take a couple of weeks and then we'll have it painted and have the floors repaired and refinished. In between that, we'll make the pool ready for swimming.

All of this while we pack and move and get our Hercules house ready to rent!

I am thrilled with the house, but I hadn't been there for several weeks until we got the keys last Thursday. There's been some rain in between those two times and the weeds in the very large garden are about five feet tall! That's a lower priority than the house interior, obviously, but it is a mess. We spent the night there Thursday sleeping on the floor. It was so quiet! On Friday the refrigerator and other appliances arrived.

So it's a work in progress. But it's exciting.

A new house!

So after several days of looking at homes in Sacramento, the offer we place on the first one we bid on was accepted yesterday! Woo-hoo! We have to get it inspected but assuming that it doesn't have some major strucutural issues, we'll close on the house in the beginning of May.

The house is in Fair Oaks, which is a suburb of Sacramento. It's about 15 miles from my office, so a bit of a commute, but the Fair Oaks location is great. It's only a mile from the American River and numerous trails for hiking and biking. It's also very close to Fair Oaks village, a cutesy little village with shops, restaurants etc. Because of the proximity to Fair Oaks village we're actually in walking distance to a pub! The house is on a half acre, so the yard is very big and includes a pool, two decks, and lots of trees. I honestly think there are camp sites out there! The garden does need work, but that doesn't have to be done before we move in. The house itself is very nice, four bedrooms and great living space. It sort of looks like a cabin. Also, even though it's close by stuff, the location feels pretty remote, so that adds to the cabin like feeling.

Once we close, Gordon is going to do a little internal work - mostly painting and new floors. Then we'll move in, do some cleanup on the house in Hercules and rent it. Once we're in, Gordon plans to work on the external stuff, making the garden a beautiful oasis and adding more sheds and workshops for himself.

We're really looking forward to it. It's a great house and garden and in a fabulous location!