I managed
to get away for 9 days on a little family vacation. Brought the DW and
the DT, and planned to visit lots of family. Which means time to get
dorky in the airport.
First stop, Northern Kentucky, where we visited DW's sister and her niece, who is due to pop a baby out any day now. I had hoped to get in a run with a local running group and meet up with loopster lawrenceaa, but it was 95 and she bailed, and then I bailed. DT and I went to see Batman instead.
The next day we hit Kings Island. Part of the lure to get DT interested in this trip was to hit two amusement parks and lots of roller coasters. Had a good time there; short lines, great rides, got wet. I managed some modified BPs.
The next day, DT and I went out with Nephew to shoot pistols and rifles, cuz that's what you do in Kentucky. I also managed to get a run in with my Bro in Law: 7 miles at 8:33 pace. Then we all went out to the local county fair to get more Kentucky flavor.
The fair was pretty awesome, I must say. A fine collection of fried foods. I had the fried pork tenderloin sandwich, followed by the fried Oreos. The midway was quite spectacular. And the main event was a tractor pull. Now I had heard of these, but didn't really know what it was. Apparently they hook up your tractor (or driving mower, at least when we were there) to a big trailer thing that has a weight which gradually gets harder and harder to pull. Whoever pulls it the farthest before stalling out or stopping wins!
Here was my response.
Got some kettle corn and skipped the henna tattoo booth and got out of town. But first here is a shot overlooking Cincinnati.
Saturday we said goodbyes, rented a car and drove the 6 hours south to Asheville, NC - a lovely drive over the Appalachians. There my parents met us and we spent the next 4 days with them.
Sunday I needed to get another run in, so we went to a local lake in a woodsy residential area and I did 5 laps around the lake for 8 miles while the parents hiked and DW got some sun next to the water. I was feeling good and averaged 7:52 even though it was pretty warm.
After 5 laps I was running out of poses.
Relaxing with the 'rents post run.
Relaxing harder a little later.
The next day it was off to another amusement park, Carowinds in Charlotte. It was also not crowded. The rides were pretty good, but the park overall didn't have a whole lot of personality. I was mainly impressed with my 74 year old pop who rode several of the biggest rides, including this huge one (which was awesome).
Next day was my anniversary (7 years with DW) so we packed it full of more activities. First we went to Chimney Rock state park and enjoyed the views and did a mile and a half hike to a waterfall.
And if you're going to a waterfall, you might as well get in it, right? So I did.
DW came close. No one else around was getting in.
After the hike, we took a 1-hour boat tour of Lake Lure, which had pleasant views, and many very nice houses above our retirement home budget.
Then my parents took us out for a very good French dinner in Asheville.
On the last day, I managed one more 5 mile run in the hills of NC. So I managed 3 runs in 8 days. Luckily, I was due for a cutback week. So now I am ready for 6 weeks of serious marathon endurance training. But that's for another blog.
First stop, Northern Kentucky, where we visited DW's sister and her niece, who is due to pop a baby out any day now. I had hoped to get in a run with a local running group and meet up with loopster lawrenceaa, but it was 95 and she bailed, and then I bailed. DT and I went to see Batman instead.
The next day we hit Kings Island. Part of the lure to get DT interested in this trip was to hit two amusement parks and lots of roller coasters. Had a good time there; short lines, great rides, got wet. I managed some modified BPs.
The next day, DT and I went out with Nephew to shoot pistols and rifles, cuz that's what you do in Kentucky. I also managed to get a run in with my Bro in Law: 7 miles at 8:33 pace. Then we all went out to the local county fair to get more Kentucky flavor.
The fair was pretty awesome, I must say. A fine collection of fried foods. I had the fried pork tenderloin sandwich, followed by the fried Oreos. The midway was quite spectacular. And the main event was a tractor pull. Now I had heard of these, but didn't really know what it was. Apparently they hook up your tractor (or driving mower, at least when we were there) to a big trailer thing that has a weight which gradually gets harder and harder to pull. Whoever pulls it the farthest before stalling out or stopping wins!
Here was my response.
Got some kettle corn and skipped the henna tattoo booth and got out of town. But first here is a shot overlooking Cincinnati.
Saturday we said goodbyes, rented a car and drove the 6 hours south to Asheville, NC - a lovely drive over the Appalachians. There my parents met us and we spent the next 4 days with them.
Sunday I needed to get another run in, so we went to a local lake in a woodsy residential area and I did 5 laps around the lake for 8 miles while the parents hiked and DW got some sun next to the water. I was feeling good and averaged 7:52 even though it was pretty warm.
After 5 laps I was running out of poses.
Relaxing with the 'rents post run.
Relaxing harder a little later.
The next day it was off to another amusement park, Carowinds in Charlotte. It was also not crowded. The rides were pretty good, but the park overall didn't have a whole lot of personality. I was mainly impressed with my 74 year old pop who rode several of the biggest rides, including this huge one (which was awesome).
Next day was my anniversary (7 years with DW) so we packed it full of more activities. First we went to Chimney Rock state park and enjoyed the views and did a mile and a half hike to a waterfall.
And if you're going to a waterfall, you might as well get in it, right? So I did.
DW came close. No one else around was getting in.
After the hike, we took a 1-hour boat tour of Lake Lure, which had pleasant views, and many very nice houses above our retirement home budget.
Then my parents took us out for a very good French dinner in Asheville.
On the last day, I managed one more 5 mile run in the hills of NC. So I managed 3 runs in 8 days. Luckily, I was due for a cutback week. So now I am ready for 6 weeks of serious marathon endurance training. But that's for another blog.
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