What time is it? Why, it's TOUR TIME!!!!

 Holy Moly...it's going to happen! I was super skeptical...didn't really think they would be able to have it. Of  course, there is still a LOT that could jeopardize the race....1 or 2 guys on a team test positive...bam...that team is out. How on earth can they protect the riders? And the fans?? Seriously...Millions of them...EAGER to get out of their homes...wonder if they will do better than most Americans (and WEAR their masks)?? 

Anyway...I just bit the bullet and signed up (for the first time EVER) for the NBCSportsGold package. I'm going to be on work-travel from the 10th thru the 18th of Sept...if I upgraded our Satellite package, for one thing I'd be competing with Jeannie for time on the big screen (and she HATES cycling, no interest whatsoever to watch it, and worse is hearing Phil's voice). And if it was just on the DVR I'd really be stuck. With the internet package I can watch it on my phone, laptop, or desktop...so when I am on travel in the hotel I can still stay tuned. I've never sat at my computer desk for hours every day before...we shall see how it goes. Here at home I have my new PC with a 27" screen...so that's actually pretty nice. My travel laptop has a 15" screen...still much better than the 6" screen on my cell phone. But anything is better than NOTHING! And...the subscription is good until May 31st next year...so I will also get this years Vuelta (in Oct I think) along with the Spring Classics (whatever ones they actually have...that depends on how things are going with this stupid virus). 

So...it's almost game time. I've seen ZERO cycling this year, nor have I even paid any attention to whatever races they have had...have to assume most of last years top guys will be in it and a threat...haven't even heard who Ineos is having as "their guy" (or "guys"). I did see that neither Froome nor Thomas are IN...that's hard to believe! But I haven't studied (or even LOOKED at) this years route...so I must gather it's a doozy. Who's left for Ineos...Bernal?? I really should read up some...I'd think Jumbo would be a serious threat..they were pretty great last year. I'd gather (if they are even riding) that Roglic, Dumolin, Landa...who else...Pinot? They would all be highly considered...How about Bardet?? He was killing it last year..the French were LOVING IT...and Porte (who is he even riding for this year? I've rooted for him several years now and got killed each time...but I think I'd still like to see him do well). 

Well..I'm so NOT up on things cycling wise (as you can tell)...that's what I'm counting on all of YOU for...the knowledgeable awesome banter we get every year! I don't yet have the buzz of anticipation that I get every year...not yet anyway. Maybe I'm still in disbelief...it's been such a wonky year...no racing to speak of...no OLYMPICS...no sports of any sort until just recently. On the news in the mornings as I'm eating breakfast getting ready for work they are showing Basketball...with the cardboard cutouts of people in the seats. Smart, but still SO very odd. College football will be something like a sad shell of it's usual I'm afraid...some teams / conferences not even playing...

And so...we are almost there. Tour Time...feels odd to even say that, cuz by this time of the year MY cycling viewing is usually over and I'm pushing hard-core on my own bikes to get BACK in shape (which I am actually doing..but this year it's been work-travel that's killed me...over 90 days in hotels SO FAR this year. Thank goodness the September mission is a short one...if it were another 45 day one that would be horrible...we've had two of those already. 

Gotta scoot...bed time. Can't wait to start hearing from ya'll...Tour Time is always the best time of year! Put on your Party Pants (stolen from Susie) and get ready to roll! Sure hope along with Phil they have the REST of the usual NBCSports crew...we will see soon enough (the only one mentioned on the NBCSports page was Phil).

Later Gators...Game ALMOST ON!

Home again after a whirlwind week of mid-pandeimic vacation!

And so...another trip down, and I'm back to home-base. Ahh....there's just no place like HOME!

It was a whirlwind of a trip....Wednesday to Wednesday. And boy, you can put a lot of fun into that short amount of time if you are so inclined. Which I was.

We flew from San Luis Obisbo to Denver to Raleigh-Durham in the middle of the pandemic, and from there it's just a bit more than a 2 hour drive to the farm. At the farm, the chillin' commences immediately. It's a different way of life, that's for sure. Things are quiet, almost too quiet (except for the night when the cicadas come out...dang those things are LOUD!) The night sky opens up when there's no moon, as there are relatively no neighbors...you need a car to go to the next house (unless you don't mind a long walk). Well, the one neighbor is about a quarter mile...guess that isn't really that far, it just SEEMS far.

I noticed right away that back in Virginia everybody seems a lot less excited about "the Virus" than we are here in CA. Like a lot of people aren't wearing masks....tho you still need them to go into most establishments. But everybody seems way calmer. 

On Friday my bro-in-law John (my Navy buddy who set me up with his twin sister Jeannie 20 years ago) and I had a "guys road trip" and drove his jeep to Cincinnati...took us about 8-1/2 hours including a few stops. I think it's about 450 miles give or take. About the same distance I was driving to visit Dad in Pahrump and later Las Vegas, or Mom down in Yuma. 

John and Jennie grew up in the Cinti area...and have many friends there...that's what this road-trip was all about. Jeannie and Peggy (Johns wife) flew out on Saturday as their plans had already been made well before John and I invited ourselves to come along. Saturday afternoon/evening was the first big EVENT: the Fake Corn Roast...hosted by good friends in their lake-association cottage. Basically everybody brings some kind of dish for the pot-luck, and everybody (each family anyway) bring something to "auction" off, all proceeds going to the association to help cover costs of maintaining the facilities. Michelle (recently retired...used to be one of the VP's at Go-Jo) is both the host and auctioneer...and she is hilarious, and good at the job! All kinds of things were donated, and many great bargains were had on all kinds of stuff. It was a blast! (and enormous quantities of Purell products (turns out Purell is part of the Go-Jo family) ends up inside auctioned items, or outright in the open. 

Prior to the auction was the pot luck lunch/dinner...and the feature item is the roasted corn-on-the-cob. (this event was called the "Fake Corn Roast" as the association has the "Real" corn-roast but we missed it, so Michelle and Pat (the owners of the cottage we were at) held one for family and friends...tho all the friends are pretty much family one way or another...probably about 30 to 40 people counting the kids). 

After the Fake Corn Roast we drove back to Cinti, and on Sunday was the Pontoon Boat trip on Lake Brookville Lake IN, which was only about a 45 minute drive from Cinti where we were staying. Jim and Jackie (our hosts in Cinti where we are staying, and lifelong friends of Jeannie) are the owners of the pontoon boat, and they, Jeannie and I, John and Peggy, Bob and Terry (Terry is Jims sister), and Pat and Michelle all were on the boat. So there were 10 of us, but it's a quite large boat (turns out a Pontoon boat is basically a "Party Boat"...I didn't know that before, having never been on one). We spent a goodly portion of the day on the lake, and I personally spent a goodly amount of time IN the lake (I'm a water-dog at heart...LOVE being in the water). I did get a pretty good sunburn on my forehead...it's STILL peeling 6 days later. It's been a LONG time since I had a sunburn! 

And that was pretty much it...on Monday John and I drove back to the farm, and Jeannie and Peggy stayed behind for the MAIN EVENT: "the girls trip". That is a road trip for 8 gals up to Putin (sp?) Bay, somewhere north at the Great Lakes (not sure WHICH lake). They drove up on Weds as I was flying home (almost)...and are still there today...I think they drive back south tomorrow maybe (Sunday)? I'm not really in on that plan. I know Jeannie doesn't come home till next Saturday...after the "girls trip" she and Peggy fly back to Richmond and drive back to the Farm, and Jeannie then hangs out for the rest of the week sucking up some relaxation. Also we will be flying back to the farm for Thanksgiving...so that's just a few short months away....wow. 

And so, I leave you with some pictures of the week. 

 

 

Jeannie and I on our flight from San Luis Obisbo. We were doing our part to protect ourselves At the farm, Watching TV with a beer. Bosley (mini poodle) on my lap. Dogs like to lay on me.

Wednesday, around 3pm, Raleigh-Durham airport strangely quiet. It's a pretty big airport too!

 

Our road trip almost over...here is the crossing of the Ohio River from Kentucky into Ohio heading into Cincinnati.

And of course, right off the highway, the home of the Reds.

And the home of the Bengals.

This is Jim and Brody. Brody is a super-cool dog...so mellow...just like Jim! They even have the same facial expressions! Brody of course is wanting Jim's beer.

And THIS is Jungle Jims! Don't know if they are elsewhere, but it's the Super-duper-whooper-pooper of liquor/food/whatever stores. It's enormous! We shopped for a while and only saw a portion of the store!

Here are Brody and Bella, waiting for food.

Starting the party a teensy bit early, Jackie and Terry ON the boat while driving down the road (just down to the boat-dock).

Girls gone wild! L to R, Jeannie, Michelle, Peggy, Terry and Jackie. There is some serious American Idol singing going on here...

And back at the farm, the next morning, sipping coffee on the front porch (LOVE this part of vacation/farm-life). That is an Amish wagon clip-clopping down the road. Just a beautiful morning.

Here is an evening just-past-sunset shot looking across the same road from the same porch.

Raleigh-Durham airport, 12:15pm, Wednesday. Keeping my eyes open for zombies leaping out from the empty stores. Almost NO people, so there MUST be zombies. I've seen it in the movies!

Here is Denver airport, just a BIT more crowded than Raleigh-Durham airport. This is taken AFTER I got off my late-departing airplane from R-D, hence late-arrival in Denver, and myself and another guy RAN clear across the airport, switching terminals (taking the train) from B term to A term, and missing our plane by MINUTES! (they actually left 3 minutes EARLY damn them!) Now the other guy is United Premier Gold, and I'm Premier Silver, and being as San Luis Obisbo is an end-airport, NOBODY is missing a connection at 9pm...that plane will spend the night and fly somewhere the next day. They COULD have waited for us (a small regional jet), they KNEW we had landed. But NO! You have to admit, that's how you piss off loyal high-mileage customers! And they gave us NOTHING for our troubles, except for the lovely SIXTEEN HOUR (yes, 16) layover for the next flight to SLO. Paul (the other guy, a retired Army officer) spent the night lying on the floor of the airport. I was going to, but Jeannie rather insisted I get a room (I'm also a pretty good customer at Marriott...they at least treat me pretty good with my Titanium Elite status...just need ONE MORE YEAR of Titanium to get it for LIFE! I've now got 9 straight years....just one more!) Yeah...I travel too much. For work I mean.

Descending to San Luis Obisbo airport. You know you are back in  California by the crispy-brown countryside. Except for the trees that is.

And the Marine Layer (some people call it "Fog"). This is quite typical on the Central Coast...our summers can be cooler than our winters as the winds shift and the layer moves onshore a LOT during our summer months. Temp at 1pm/landing time was a cool 62 degrees in San Luis Obisbo (SLO).

 

 

Here are the monsters on a walk the next afternoon (Friday) after I got home from work. They have matching pink harness's (different sizes). They walk together pretty great. I started daily walks way back in March after I came home from the mission and was stuck on 2nd shift (and had all day off, in to work by 4pm). Now they expect their walk, and Jeannie and I do a pretty good job keeping them moving. Sophie is a good weight, Abbey has a few extra lbs (the vet says she has "no waist"...needs to lose 3 lbs). 

Here is Sophie after the walk and dinner. She looks rather beat, doesn't she?

 

And here is Abbey after the walk and dinner. Also somewhat tired. She is such a clown!

 

And finally, the monsters coveting Daddy's ice cream during movie-time. Yeah...they sure woke up for ice-cream!

Speaking of ice cream, I think it's time to post this and get some! (and you can bet your bippies that I could take another picture pretty much identical to the one above...they are food MONSTERS!)

And so...have a great weekend/week. Later gators...the game is back ON!