Chinese "Year of the Horse and a Not So "Super" Bowl!

As a Denver Broncos fan since the mid 1970's I was excited to see them return to the Super Bowl. I was living in Colorado Springs when they won their Super Bowls in 1997 and 1998 and I was also in Colorado when the lost big in Super Bowls. The reality that only one team can win the final game of the year is just that - reality. And the reality this year is that one team was not the Denver Broncos. The build up was fun, sharing it with my daughter in New Jersey who is also a Broncos fan in a world of Patriot fans. (Full disclosure, she and I are also Patriots fans as long as they are not playing the Broncos). Unfortunately the game itself was a debacle for the Broncos beginning with a safety on the first play of the game. Oh well, like so many things in life, while the outcome may not have been what we hoped for the experience as a whole was full of good memories.

Lousy game but still a good day with good food. I even ran my workout that morning with Bronco colors.

CHINESE NEW YEAR - "THE YEAR OF THE HORSE

My niece Brandy and I signed up to run a 5K in San Francisco's Chinatown. I was hoping that maybe the "Year of the Horse" was a good sign for the Broncos but as you read, that was not the case. The race took place in the middle of the first really wet spell we have had and the fact that it rained the entire race was still looked at as a good thing because we are in the middle of such a bad drought. 

While the race was cool and raining as well as "San Francisco" hilly, it was a great experience running through such an historic location. Because of the rain we didn't hang out after to soak up any of the post race atmosphere so it is a race that I would certainly consider putting on my calendar again in the future.

Tribute to Robert Louis Stevenson

Old Bay Bridge

Running has been a great way to stay connected with friends. These three pictures were taken on the same weekend when we were racing in California and Colorado.

Left to Right - Three decades - 40's, 50's 60's
Gerald Romero - I was his 8th grade history teacher and high school coach.
Robert Spell - I coached and ran with him at UCCS and he assisted me at Sierra
Dana Anstey

Florida - January 2014 Part 3

I've got to stop procrastinating and write this final post for my Florida trip. In a previous post I mentioned that I have been making an effort to do more on trips as far as seeing things that may not be on the usual tourist agenda. A lot of this started when I visited my daughter in each of the new places she has lived over the past years. She and her husband are great at making sure there is always something to do in addition to just visiting. It is the fun of visiting while building memories.

On my last trip to Florida, Clarence and I started at the New Smyrna National Seashore and then stopped at every National Park, Monument, etc. between there and Athens, Georgia. Since I had visited them so recently I decided to look for different things to see and actually found two Florida State Parks to visit; one close to Daytona Beach where I was staying and one close to Sanford where I drove my last day there to watch my granddaughter compete.

The first that I visited was the Tomoka State Park near Ormond Beach. A pair of rivers, the Tomoka and the Halifax meet to form a peninsula. There is a nature trail as well as some historical information provided throughout the park. One of the best things about Florida State Parks is that their entry fees are so reasonable; unlike here in California. Here are some pictures from Tomoka State Park.

After visiting the park I drove to New Smyrna Beach to pick up my race number and shirt and I decided to take a brief side trip to visit the Ponce DeLeon Inlet Lighthouse. It is the second tallest lighthouse in the United States and was completed in 1887.

My last day in Daytona Beach was on Martin Luther King Jr Day and I had read that Jackie Robinson appeared in his first professional game at the park that is now named for him. I couldn't think of a more appropriate day to spend some time before leaving town. While the park wasn't open because of construction; I was still able to walk around and get a sense of the place. It is a small park but I could feel the history. It is located right near historic downtown Daytona and a beautiful river park area. Here are some pictures.

I also stopped at Port Orange Causeway Park to see Sea Bird Island before leaving town.

I left town and drove west to visit Blue Spring State Park, a winter sanctuary for manatee. It is advertised as "Florida's premiere manatee refuge" and I believe it. What a great place to visit to see aquatic life up close in the clear blue water. When Clarence and I were in Florida we even took a guided kayak tour hoping to see manatee with no luck so I was really excited to visit this place when I saw it in a tourist brochure at my hotel. I'm glad I didn't leave Daytona Beach later than I did because the park was packed when I got there and the cars lined up to get in when I left was insane. I forgot that it was a holiday. Here are some pictures that don't come close to doing the park justice but still show some of the beauty.

It can definitely be fun to take some time to get off the beaten path and see things that were not on the itinerary. Actually it's worth it to make some time. I am constantly reminded of how much there is to see and do in this great country.

Florida - January 2014 Part 2

Im finally taking a few minutes to sit down and do the second entry from my recent trip to Florida. It isn't that I haven't been sitting down because I've been doing plenty of that; it is just that I have been struggling with finding motivation to do much of anything lately. Hopefully, "this too shall pass".

First Morning on Daytona Beach

Like almost all of my trips lately, either day trips or trips involving travel, running was a part of this trip. As a matter of fact, I ran my 100th Race Since Turning 60. The race was in New Smyrna Beach just south of Daytona Beach where I spent the majority of my time. The race was a 5K fundraiser for the Humane Society and plenty of people brought their dogs out for the pet friendly 1 mile; there were quite a few people running with dogs in the 5K as well.

The dog in the picture was a lady that was in her 80's at least. I saw her coming from her house with the costume and stopped to speak with her. She was so proud of the fact that it was her 17th year dressing up in the dog costume. She was gracious enough to put the head on and pose with some of the runners for pictures. It probably felt good having the head on anyway because it was cold and the wind was blowing. Florida or not, it was still winter.

The reason there is a picture of my foot is because that is what it looked like after the race and more than a week after I was stepped on my the largest horse we have on the ranch. It wasn't her fault, she spooked and reared up and when she came down she landed on the foot. I took pictures of the foot as the days passed just for a fun record leading up to my 100th race. The race was no big deal really but I enjoy reaching milestones. I finished 5th in my age group 65-69 but the four guys who beat me were all 68. I told family and friends that apparently all the fast 68 year olds lived in Florida at least in the winter. I also pointed out that I was the fastest 65 year old in the race. :)

I was lucky enough to get to run on the beach several days while in Daytona Beach. One thing I noticed about Daytona Beach that I liked much better than Cocoa Beach is that there are public restrooms at a lot of the beach access locations. Another difference and one that was neither good or bad is that in Daytona Beach you can drive your cars on the beach.

But, while you may drive on the beach, just like Cocoa Beach, "No Dogs Allowed". What?

I did enjoy the times that I ran on the beach when I was there even though I had to wear double long sleeves and gloves most of the time.

I'll do one more post about this trip in the next day or so because I want to share pictures and comments from some of the other things I made it a point to see while I was in Florida. Many of my trips the past five years have been totally focused around a race and so I didn't do as much sightseeing/exploring as I probably could/should have. I decided that while the races are fun and important and in many cases the main motivation for the trip, I'm still going to do what I can to see and do other things when I am in new places. Or to make old places seem new.