Day 11 Words can’t describe how proud I am.
Wonderful, magnificent, breathtaking, superb, amazing, astonishing, fantastic, brilliant, great, outstanding, superlative, bravura, glorious, splendid, out of this world, spectacular, incredible, awesome, awe-inspiring, excellent, terrific, fabulous, marvelous, miraculous, remarkable, startling, astounding, astonishing, beyond belief, shocking, exceptional, admirable, commendable, praiseworthy, laudable, exemplary, impressive, striking, exciting, electrifying, thrilling, exhilarating, moving, rousing, gripping, enlivening, elating…and the list goes on!
Travis completed his first marathon, the Big Sur, a 26.2 mile run along Highway 1 in Monterey, California in 5h32m19s. He got up at 3am to walk down to catch the shuttle that brought him to the beginning of the race, which started at 6:45a.
there were over 4,200 competitors at the starting line
That, in itself, is commendable – especially since the temperature was in the low 40’s!!!
Teeny filming her Daddy coming across the finish line - was caught on camera herself!
The girls and I went to the finish line to wait for him at a much more reasonable hour! That’s where we saw him finish with a huge smile of gratification on his face. He said, “hills were brutal, but the wind was worse. I met a lot of interesting people along the way and the scenery was great!” This was punctuated by his 101 pictures that he took along the route. He saw various bands, but his favorites were the Japanese drummers encouraging him up to Hurricane Point and the piano player.
We ditched the post-race food for something much better. On one of his co-racers recommended some clam chowder from Fisherman’s Warf, so that’s where we headed. You can walk along and sample the various restaurants until you find the one that’s perfect. We found our favorite, along with some killer calamari, roasted garlic with toast, and a shrimp and crabmeat ravioli covered with creamy pesto sauce. We sat next to the window so we watched several more albatross and a few sea-lions while we ate and left no room for dessert!
We took Travis back to the hotel where he promptly passed out! At the race registration the day before we learned that the Cirque le Masque was performing that evening and participants in the marathon could get 2 for 1 priced ticket. Travis said he would treat us for cheering him on…more likely because he wanted a quiet room to recover in. So I took the girls; Teeny was excited to introduce Mao to this type of show. It wasn’t as big as a Cirque du Soleir, but they still had several very entertaining acts. Our favorites were:
Mao – hand to hand balancing by the Garzas
Teeny – risely by max & Roberto Laurino
Me – the German wheel by Andrei Roublev and cube juggling by Danny Perez
Unfortunately, as in most performances, photos were not allowed.
For those of you that know me well you might think another bike is the last thing I needed…but this is absolutely perfect and I have been yammering about wanting one for over a year!!! Although I never thought I would actually get one because he’s thoroughly enjoyed giving me a hard time, something about “needing another bike like a hole in the head.” But I really DID need it :-D In pink, too!!!!!!!!!! It’s perfect for riding around the neighborhood…it makes me feel like I’m 12 years old again! I LOVE IT!!!!!! 
And it’s the perfect bike for Samson and O’Malley’s trailer; now we can hop in and go to the new dog park they just opened!!!!!!!!!! They don’t mind riding behind a pink bike!!! 
She’s beautiful…all pearly and iridescent! I can’t wait to get my 
He’s been in a few tournaments, 
Can you see the enthusiasm!?!?!?! We enjoyed our time with our instructor, Chris, and learned to at least appreciate the game a bit more. That will make it more enjoyable to ride in the cart with Travis and open another door of opportunity for Teeny.
We saw several interesting things and learned quite a bit; that's nice since we actually live here! Our first stop was close to the starting point and we saw a motion sculpture that represented a flock of birds; 
Teeny and I were distracted with the awesome embroidered biking shirt 
and even cooler helmet, though. 
Then we moved on to the downtown buildings that incorporated intricate tile work with the native Louisiana iris 
and the state flower, the magnolia. See – there are some more smiles!! 
Next stop was close to the Centroplex 
and a memorial to 
Then we went on to a synagogue. The first piece we saw was an intricate work celebrating the freedom of both Jews from the 
I also learned the difference between a holiday 
along with the fact that they allow no human art reference within the synagogue itself. 
We saw the 
and kept in a cupboard, of sorts, with tiles on the front depicting the Jewish holidays that are celebrated. 
My favorite piece actually came at the end of our tour from the place I would have least likely expected, since I dislike the work as a whole. It was hidden inside the West Dale sculpture and it personified my family from one extreme to the other so perfectly that I couldn’t help but fall in love with it! 
I still do not like the sculpture and have the unlucky fortune to live in it’s vicinity; I do, however, have a much better appreciation for it and what it represents now. 
