Random recent photos

A collection of things we've been doing around Texas lately.

I've been riding around the streets of Tyler, and one notable stop was at the Tyler Rose Garden:

I found an interesting, nonstandard Peace Pole there:

Also a pretty pond and fountain:

And of course, lots of roses:

Finally a bit of sunshine to light up the flowers:

Our first Austin orienteering meet of the year, at Walnut Creek.  It was a bit of a mess, with trails not always matching the map and checkpoints placed in precarious positions.  John adapted the best of all of us (I'm sure he enjoyed it the most too) and came in 2nd overall.  Dave and I saw each other briefly in the middle of the course, before I started floundering, misreading creeks, and attempting a route along the top of a cliff that didn't work.

Here's Dave at the next-to-last control, photo courtesy of John who was hiding and taking pictures of us:

Making a plan to the last control:

And off he goes...

I apparently made up some ground in the second half, because I arrived at the same control just a couple minutes later:

Making a plan...

And away we go:

Hi John!  Displaying my "blazing speed" to the finish line:

Somehow it was enough for 4th place, with Dave just behind me in 5th (out of 10).  Certainly an interesting day, and good practice for adventure racing  :)

More practice - a fun day riding on gravel roads with Sheila and Sheila - thanks for letting me tag along!

My bike finally made it into a photo of "fun things along the roads of Texas" (not sure what Looney Litter is, but the sign sure is eye-catching):

Another day, another workout - this time back to the Barton Creek Greenbelt (yay!), finding trails mostly how I remembered except for a couple small detours, a bit of wet feet training, and a discovery that Bruegger's Bagels isn't all that far from the top of the Hill of Life (especially if you're doing a long run) - perfect mid-run refueling:

Jumping back to East Texas, and a Thanksgiving feast with the family, yum!

It's a good thing I've been doing all that running and riding lately...

John demonstrating the quadcopter to Collin:

Giving the kids a chance to try - and it turns out that a hay field is a perfect place for a hard landing, plus this quadcopter is (so far) pretty indestructible, surprisingly:

A short example of the quadcopter in action:


Fun times!