Tonight is game 3 of preseason football, and the Seahawks have a rare nationally televised game. So I get a chance to watch them! We’re rooting them on from Austin.
At the beginning of the year, I had scheduled today as an extra day off after the long weekend. Bonus! I relaxed, swam laps at the gym, and then this evening monte and I zipped over to the newly renovated Morris Williams golf course for the sunset rate. We usually can only squeeze in 9 holes before sunset. But we made good time today and finished 14. The golf course looks really great and there is a fabulous new clubhouse.
This is a shot from the 15th green looking west right before sunset. You can see the old Robert Muller airport control tower still standing in the distance.
And this is a shot of the new clubhouse as we were heading in.
After work today, Noreen and I met up with Francine to watch one of her soccer games — they can play year round in a really nice indoor facility. Fran’s been playing soccer since she was a wee lass. 30+ years later, she’s still playing, and turning her kids onto it as well. Pass it on…
We made a trip down to southeast Austin to run an errand or two this morning. Since we were heading down there, we planned to play a round of golf at Jimmy Clay Golf Course. So, we loaded our clubs into the car on our way out.
We played 18 holes. Not only has it been a while since we played golf together. It’s been a very long time since we played 18. We usually play a twilight 9 holes after work. But we got there early enough today to hit the range, the chipping and putting greens, and then play a full round. We even got a cart today… a treat… as we usually walk it.
It was a nice day – sunny with highs in the 70’s. I wasn’t quick enough to get a photo, but when we got there, we found a big flock of Monk parakeets (aka Quaker parrots) in residence at the golf course. They were noisily greeting golfers from the oak trees around the clubhouse. When we finished our round, they had gone – they must have returned to their nest for the evening.
I took a walk down E-dock this morning after scrubbing Nirvana stem to stern. There are some big boats on this dock, and most seem to be used frequently and are well taken care of. There are one or two that haven’t been boarded in many, many years. The photo above is of one boat that has lichens growing all over the top of its deck and cockpit. Sad.
As I was walking along in my flip-flops looking at the boats, and not watching where I was walking, I kicked one of the dock cleats. OW! Luckily just a scrape. A few minutes later, CRACK! I did it again, and this time brought blood. I thought I had broken my toe. That brought an end to my dock walk. Live and learn: no flip-flops on dock walks.
Cleat toe.
The rest of the day was spent lounging around. Until the afternoon, when the beer can race took place. This week Wally came aboard Nirvana and gave us some lessons in racing a sloop. Kurt and Kevin won on Dancer. Marty & Sue came in 2nd this week. And Monte, Wally & I took third. That’s better than last week when we came in 4th! 😀
The shot below is of Marty & Sue on Caribbean Hug approaching the starting line.
When I arrived in San Francisco on Monday I saw signs welcoming the America’s Cup World Series races that were taking place here… this week! Unfortunately my hotel and meetings were across the bay in Emeryville, so I had no chance of getting a glimpse of the heats and qualifying races that started every day at 2pm and went until about 4pm. I would have LOVED to see them race, but was going to have to settle for getting a picture of the boats.
We did drive over to the city on Wednesday night, but didn’t make it to the Golden Gate Yacht Club, the home marina of the America’s Cup holder Oracle Racing, where the boats were moored.
So today I had a tiny window of time between meetings and the drive to the airport. I was determined to make it to the waterfront. So I braved morning traffic and made it to Marina Green and was able to walk up and down the boardwalk about 50 yards from all the boats.
The shot above is a bit into the sun, but it shows all the boats moored in San Francisco Bay. Alcatraz is in the background. The boats above are the AC45 (45′ class) boats. The mainsails are “wing sails” and they are catamarans. These World Series races are practice for the America’s Cup Finals racing next summer with even bigger boats. In February they will introduce the 72′ (AC72) catamarans that will be raced in the Challenger races of the America’s Cup. If you think these boats are fast, just wait until next year. The final America’s Cup will be in September 2013 in San Francisco. If you want to see them in action, NBC will be carrying this Sunday’s final races live on national TV @ 11:30 AM Pacific. And, you can follow the standings of this week’s races here.
The shot below is a closer picture of the Oracle Racing boats.
Oracle Racing #4 and #5 AC45 boats.
And, a trip to San Francisco would not be complete without the obligatory shot of the Golden Gate Bridge: 🙂
The marine survey was scheduled for today. I took the day off work so that I could be there with Monte for it. The marine surveyor was fantastic. He spent about 10 hours on the boat with us, inspecting virtually everything on the boat while explaining how everything worked as he went along. He didn’t find much wrong, and no surprises. So, pending getting the final report from him, I think we will be upgrading from our beloved, homebuilt wooden catboat that we’ve been playing on for the last 8 years, to a big-kid, plastic boat that we will be enjoying for the next 15 or so years. 🙂
We went to a Round Rock Express baseball game tonight. On Friday nights they have a post-game fireworks show. We had great seats right along the 3rd base line. The game didn’t end well, but the fireworks sure did.
We camped out at home today to recharge, and also to watch the Euro2012 championship. Spain vs. Italy. Marty came over to help us cheer on Spain. España did not disappoint, winning 4 – 0 over a strong Italian team.
They have now won 3 World / European championships in a row. It’s building up to be an exciting 2014 world cup in Brazil.
This is the weekend of the annual Houston-to-Austin MS-150 bike ride. I don’t ride, but I am a sherpa (along with Irene) for 3 friends that are riding: Lori, Doray and Laura. For the last 10 years or so, they have been riding and fundraising for the MS-150. And I ride in the truck with them from Austin to Houston. We eat every year at Lomonte’s, an awesome Italian restaurant right off I-10. We stay in the hotel overnight. I take them to the start line in the morning, and then drive the truck back home. It’s a sweet deal for me, because I’m home by 10AM saturday morning. They pedal their way back all-day saturday and sunday.
It’s time. I’m not saying it was a resolution or anything, since I’m so bad at sticking to resolutions, but just a change. I don’t know if i can keep it up, but i sure hope i can.
TIme to get in shape.
It’s SO hard for me to carve time out of my day to exercise. I’ve tried so many times over the years, to fight my calendar for time to myself. My calendar always wins. Getting up for calls at 5 and 6 AM…. working late in the night. I’ve used that as an excuse for way too long.
It’s time, dammit. I’m worth it.
So, I’m trying. Wish me luck. I’ll need it.
I have reached out to Amazon.com for a little help. I bought a new heart rate monitor watch and transmitter, and a neat little gadget that will transfer the data off the watch and upload it for tracking. No, it’s not necessary, but it helps incent me. And I need all the help I can get. 🙂
Today we walked 9 holes at Morris-Williams Golf Course. I’ve been looking forward to golfing with my sweetie since vacation started. The rain put a damper on that for a bit, but today was beautiful with temps in the 60’s.
This is a shot of the Number 6 hole, taken from the Number 5 green. The rain we’ve had the last few weeks have greened things up a bit. You can just barely see the UT Tower – the one building visible on the horizon.
I really enjoy Morris-Williams. I am still quite the novice golfer, but this is the course that I know best – by far. The tee-to-green distance of the first 9 holes is about a mile and a half. So I figure we walked 2 or so miles. Though the way I hit today, it might have been more like 3-4 miles. 🙂 And, on this course, every hole seems to be uphill. But no matter, it was really nice to be out there.
I did not lose any balls in the out of bounds or in the water hazards. I did, however, hit several trees that popped out of nowhere. Oh well. Maybe one of my New Year’s resolutions will be to play at least once a quarter in 2012. We’ll see….
This is the weekend of the MS-150 ride from Houston to Austin. Each year up to 13,000 cyclists participate in this 2-day bike ride / fundraiser for multiple sclerosis. For 10 years, several friends of mine have done the ride.
I don’t ride, but I am proud to be a sherpa. 🙂 In the last few years, Irene has joined us and we are co-sherpa’s for friends Lori and Laura, and until the last 2 years Doray, too.
We have an annual ritual: we take off the afternoon the Friday before the ride, then everyone piles into one car with the bikes. We drive from Austin to Houston. Check into the hotel. Stop by the St. David’s team hospitality suite. Enjoy a lovely beverage. Go to dinner at Lomonte’s (delicious!). Then back to the hotel.
Up the next morning. Get the bikes and riders ready. Schlep the riders’ overnight gear to the trailer. Take the riders to their start and bid them adieu.
Then I drive back to Austin and am home Saturday morning before 10 AM.
The bike riders, however, get home Sunday evening.
I think I have the better deal. 🙂
Either way its a fun thing to do with friends…and it’s for a good cause.
Sheila365 