Our USA and WS experience.

I have now had a little time to catch up with a few things, so I will give you a brief outline of holiday.


Months ago Blue Dog suggested with fly via Taipei and have a two day stop over, which would no only give us the benefit of a cheaper air fares but provide us with a cultural experience. Let just say it was a cultural experience. Let's just say I was very happy to leave.

We arrived in LA with our accommodation booked for the first night and a car booked for the month, which I must say was a real bargain. I had arranged a Jeep 4WD Commander for the month for the mere price of $591 (US). With no real plans of with the exemption of needing to be in Truckee on 20 June, we had a look at our lonely planet and loosely planned the trip.



After a good night sleep with jumped on the I-405 and headed to Venice Beach for a run, and the photo on the left shows what we stumbled across.

We then drove to San Diego, which was absolutely beautiful. After a nice couple of days which including sightseeing, running, cycling and some great Mexican food. Our next stop was Las Vegas.

We drove across the Mojave Dessert, and it was spectacular, and very hot. It was 114(F), but a very dry heat. We stopped off a couple of times to get a few photos, and to grab a couple of drinks being fully aware of the risk of dehydrating.


"Sin City"

Vegas did not inspire me at all, given that I have very little interest in gambling, and did not wish to pawn any items it was not my cup of tea. However, we did enjoy a great day to the Grand Canyon which including air flights, helicopters and a boat ride.

I have already confessed to my nearest and dearest, Blue Dog and I did not renew our vows. We both felt it was far too tacky and value our marriage far too much to cheapen it with some dodgy service.

After a couple of days in Vegas it was time to move on so we headed to a small town Beatty, with plans of staying there but on arrival we decided to push on and then drove through Death Valley, yes the home of Bad Water, to a beautiful little town call Lone Pine. This was probably one of my favourite places. After a swim we decided to do what every other like minded runner would do when it's 114 degrees... go for a run along the Bad Water course. We then shared a romantic dinner together to celebrating eight years of living together.

The next morning we decided to go for a run at Mt Whitney which was the beautiful view from our bedroom window. When we arrived and found the rather large signs regarding "Bear Country" and general information about bear safety, I think the during of my run was ran with an elevated HR, and I don't think it had anything to do with the altitude.


The next stop of Yosemite. We hadn't booked any accommodation and knowing it was holiday season we were very lucky to have picked up some accommodation in Curry Village. Curry Village has been a holiday destination since 1810 in Yosemite Valley that provides tent like accommodation with electricity. However, all guests are required to remove all items for their vehicle and no food, drink or toiletries are allowed in the cabins. Items must be stored in a bear safe locker. When I woke up a 2am needed to go the toilet, I was hoping Blue Dog would escort however he advised me where to find the torch and assured me I would make back to bed safely.

After a few more days exploring we finally made our way to to Truckee, to join up with the Aussie Assault gang. The couple days before the race seemed to go very quickly, filled with pre-race meeting, Blue Dog purchasing nearly every item in the WS store and few pre-race gatherings (ie drinks and dinner).

Blue Dog and I has some lengthy discussions regarding this race plane and my role as support and crew. The course had a large number of aid stations that were well stocked and with the addition of his drop bags the logistics of getting crew to some of the check points were not easy, so our plan was finalised. We decided I would meet him at Forest Hill and then see him at the finish.

When the big day had arrived, Blue Dog was very relaxed and definitely in the zone for the challenge ahead. We arrived at the start nice an early, with enough time for him to have a light breakfast and mentally prepared for the day ahead.

From a spectators point of view the atmosphere was unbelievable at the start. I was surprised at how slowly everybody seemed to drift into position on the start line. The race was started with a shot gun and I watched everybody slowly climb up the hill to the sound of someone playing the bag pipes.

I arrived at Forest Hill in time to see the lead runner come through and very quickly leave. I waited patiently for the Aussie runner to appear was happy to see Blue Dog arrive looking pretty happy and insisting on a kiss before his medical check in.

After a few hours at the checkpoint I went back to the luxury of my motel room for a shower and a couple of hours sleep before making my way to the Placer High (WS finish). I was very proud to see Blue Dog arrive and ran across the field to cheer him across the finish line.

We then enjoyed a couple of lazy day in Auburn relaxing by the pool before referring to you faithful Lonely Planet book and mad. We found selected our next destination.The last couple of weeks included Clear Lake, The Valley of the Giants (Redwoods), Port Fragg, Occidental, San Fransisco, Berkeley, Nappa Valley, The Big Sur and eventually back to LA.

Some of the highlights:

* hiking in Yosemite
* my first American Ball game, San Francisco v's Atlanta
* eating mulberries and thimble berries whilst running through the woods
* walking Blue Dog eight miles through some dodgy streets in San Fransisco on my mission to purchase some running skirts.
* clam chowder

I will post a few more photos over the next couple of days.