Back in a couple

It's Monday morning and we're off to Peaceful Bay for a couple of days. The place is located between Denmark and Walpole on the bottom coast of southwest Australia...look way west of Albany if you use Google Maps. We should be back by Wednesday night and I can update this blog properly.

Yesterday was the big Christmas family reunion with 68 in attendance. Lots of snags (sausages) to munch on and lots of people to talk to. I was asked by several folks about the economic situation in America and what the hell are we doing? I could say that the guys in Congress who caused the problem are the same ones who are trying to fix it...so I'm not so optimistic in the short term.

Here's a look at the spread on the barby. Enjoy.

Finally See It

We saw "Australia" last night and it would be safe to say we liked it. Brandon Walters, the kid who plays the Aboriginal boy, Nullah...the "creamy"....pretty much steals the show from mainliner stars Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman though they do pretty well themselves. It lasted 2.5 hours but it didn't feel that long, however, we had to put up with a long pre-show screening of ads and movies to come. We didn't leave the movie house until after 10:30 pm with the 7:30 pm start time. I saw an interview with Jackman on FoxNews where he said that Australia is as much about Australia as Casablanca is about Casablanca, and he's right. This is not a history of Oz as much as it's where this particular story takes place. I recommend it but be sure to hit the loo before the movie starts! The cinematography is fantastic and really does justice to the Kimberly region in the northern part of Western Australia. I'll have to go check that area out someday.

Slow Day in Oz

It is nice when you go out on a trip and you don't have to rush about. Thursday in Perth was generally slow. Jonnene got her hair done up and she looks great. We spent some time at the mall in Innaloo where I dropped off my Teva sandals at a cobbler who has a stand in that mall where he repairs shoes, bags, and such. The velcro straps were wearing out and I wanted to keep the sandals, so he will replace the straps for AU$20 and we can pick them up on Saturday. Hey, I don't usually go to Australia to get shoes repaired...honest. (The Teva website link shows an updated version of my old sandals.)

For the afternoon we went up to the in-law's so that Jonnene and her Mum could alter a pair of pants and shorts so they can hang better on her fabulous triathlete figure. That evening we went out to the Dome for supper. The intent was to get something with turkey in it for Thanksgiving but after going thru some of the other restaurants we were having no luck finding anything...and we're weren't going to Subway! So I reasoned that since I had a turkey croissant on Tuesday, that it would count as my Thanksgiving meal and I ended up with a chicken foccacia which was quite tasty.

It's All About ME!!

Well, it's mainly about me only because Jonnene had the camera and she didn't take any photos of herself. So feast your eyes on this fine example of American manhood!! Or look at the pictures of me instead.....
Here's a shot from when we were in Melbourne on Monday. This is on the South Bank along the Yarra River where there are plenty of shops, restaurants, a casino, and nice views of the city. It's even better when the sun is out. I always like taking time out during a trip to Perth to stop in Melbourne where we can go downtown to the CBD (Central Business District), stretch our legs, and see what's changed since the last time I was there. I can tell you right now that there's lots of new buildings going up and the city's as vibrant as it's ever been.

Chompin' down on my fish n' chips at a shopping mall in Perth. We spent most of Wednesday going into various stores, shops, and other places to see where we can get the better souvenirs for friends and family. We found some swag that will score us big points with those back in the States. We might have to get a few things for ourselves, too!

We found some kids and decided to adopt them. Then their real parents showed up. This is at the Sorrento Quay at Hillarys Boat Harbor north of Perth which is a real boat harbor with a rather large shopping center out over the water. As you can tell, the sun was out and the weather was rather pleasant with a cool breeze coming in from the ocean. Souvenir-wise we didn't find anything that we couldn't get back in Perth but it was a nice drive and seeing the Indian Ocean was pretty cool...beautiful blue colors out there. And check out the new Centenary Cycling Club T-shirt I'm sporting here!

We dropped in at the Revolution Pilates Studio where Jonnene used to teach pilates so she could schedule some private sessions. We arrived unannounced so we got to see the surprised looks from the folks there when they looked up to see Jonnene. That was fun and they were so happy to see her. The owner, Neil, wasn't there when we dropped in but we'll see him soon enough. He was born in Shreveport, grew up in Colorado, and has lived in Australia for over 14 years.

We prepped Jonnene's old KHS bike so she could give it a test run around the neighborhood (she was going to do a ride this morning but got rained out). She's got a triathlon this Sunday before we go to the Christmas family reunion/party that afternoon.

Right now it's Thursday morning and she's gone to her old hair dresser for some hair work and catch up with the news there. I'm enjoying a slow morning, watching the news shows and updating this blog. I'll take a walk to a nearby art supply store later. For lunch we'll go somewhere that I can get a turkey sandwich or po-boy so I can celebrate Thanksgiving!

First Full Day

It was an easy day on Tuesday, our first full day in Perth. The sun was up before six am which really got our attention! Jonnene had an appointment with her old massage therapist at 11 in downtown and we went early to walk around a bit and scout out some of the shops to look for potential souvenirs for friends and family. Her mom, Faye, picked us up and dropped us off at the Stirling train station where we took the commuter train into town, finally stopping at the brand new Perth central station which was under construction when I was here two years ago. When Jonnene went in for her appointment I continued to explore the shops...went to the London Court mall where we got a picture of my Mom standing at the entrance when she came to our May '06 wedding. Checked out some shops that specialized in shaving gear and sports apparel. It was sunny and warm, very nice to walk around and do some people watching. Saw this HUGE billboard for the Australia movie...I'll get a pic of that soon.

After she was done (and all loosened up!) we met up with her sister and brother for lunch at a sandwich shop. David went back to work and we headed to the parents house where Jonnene got to drive the Australian way for the first time in 22 months. She did fine albeit she hit a few reflectors with the left wheels early on...no worries after that. We picked up Jonnne's old Forester which her parents bought from her and we'll use it some of the time we're here (I might get to drive).

Tuesday night we had a pizza night...they have Domino's here...and David's family came over. His wife, Olga, has her parents in from Russia and they're in the second week of a seven-week visit. Their English is limited but we were able to say the usual greetings and I think her mom knows a bit more english than her dad. It was a fun night with the kids around. Jonnene went thru a lot of the stuff she left behind when she moved to the States and will bring a few items back with her. But she's going to throw out a couple of boxes of things, donating some of it to Good Sammy's (like our Goodwill stores) and trashing the rest. It'll give Raelene a bit more room in her house, too!

Going to Oz...Arriving in Oz

Holy Ka-moley, we're in Australia! Finally hooked up to the internet and spending our first full day in Perth. Jonnene's already gotten a massage from her old masseuse, Steve (yeah, I let some other guy put his hands ALL over her! Anything to make her happy, y'know?), while I walked around the shops in downtown Perth. We met up with her brother and sister for lunch, and now I'm back writing up a few things for this blog. I think I'll show some photos with captions instead of a long boring write-up that goes on forever.


On our way from Houston to Los Angeles...this is somewhere over California as the sun was setting on Saturday. We left out of Alexandria, LA with a transfer in Houston. We had to spend about six hours at LAX before our flight to Melbourne but we had to deal with using a bus to get to our Qantas 747 from the international terminal. The terminal is undergoing renovations and there's a limited number of gates available at this time. So all 250+ passengers on our flight had to board buses...two buses at a time...out to a converted maintenance building where we walked up ramps to board the plane. Jonnene wasn't impressed.

We sat on the right side of row 52 with a young lady from South Carolina, Alisa, who is going to a arts and sciences college to become a fashion designer. Our flight over the Pacific lasted over 14 hours and had to take a more southerly track to avoid some bad weather sitting east of Australia. As it turned out, the weather was not as bad as the pilots had been told so we took the route for nothing but I guess it's better to be safe than sorry. Generally, the flight was pretty good...I slept great compared to other trans-ocean trips, saw three movies, and didn't accomplish any of the little projects I had in mind while we were in the air.

This is the inside of our 747 during our flight over the Pacific, somewhere about 8 hours into the trip. You can see some of the video monitors located on the back of the seats so passengers can watch movies, TV, documentories, and other stuff....good ways to waste time and forget to get some sleep. You take off around midnight, eat dinner about two hours later, and somehow we're all still awake. You almost have to force yourself to sleep (well, some of us) and you HAVE to sleep if you have any hope to feel like a normal human being when you land in Oz.

Jonnene walks with friends Pam and Gary along the Yarra River in Melbourne. We landed in Melbourne about 10 am local time, got through immigration and picked up our bags (no problems at all with customs), cleaned up a bit, and headed downtown to mail a birthday card to my nephew, get my customary Farmer's Union ice coffee at a 7-11 near Bourke Street, and meet up with some old friends of Jonnene's for lunch on the South Bank. It was nice to relax after all the travel.

One of the many seagulls you'll find along the Yarra River as you walk along the South Bank of Melbourne. The sea is not that far away and the harbor area is even closer.

All told, our total actual flying time was 22 hours, 19 minutes. We also kept the total time we spent traveling from the time our first plane taxied to the runway in Alexandria to arriving at the gate in Perth...we're talking a total trip time of 40 hours, 56 minutes!! Yeah, we kept track of that. All true.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

It's 31 degrees outside, below freezing, and we took the dogs out for a long walk in the neighborhood since it'll be the last time we can do that for the next three weeks. In about 90 minutes we'll head out to Alexandria and stop by my brother's house before we go out to the airport to catch the first of four flights in a row to Perth, Australia. It'll be a lot warmer there, about 40 more degrees! Jonnene and I are ready for this trip...we need the break. But I have to get my shower first!

The past week has been tremendously busy, getting ready for this trip while working and maintaining some semblance of normalcy around here. I had to finish up three jobs for a local helicopter company and "star" in a video for a new website for those saddles I got pictures of a few weeks ago (hey, Paul, you'll be getting a check after I get back! Yea!). Did a couple of rides, a spin class, and lots of work around the house.

I'll try to post daily reads about our Down Under adventures along with photos. We're bringing the laptop. We're surprised that our bags are way underweight at this point...we could probably carry an extra 23 pounds between us but there's not much more I want to carry in the bags for now. It'll allow us to bring more souvenirs and gifts back for sure.

Well, that's it for now. We're off to fly around the world.

Two Days to Go

A few months ago I joined up with a small group of guys who do an easy 4-mile run every Wednesday morning. During the summer we start out at 6 am and then once school starts it's moved to 5:45 am so a couple of the guys can help prep the kids for school when they get home. I run from the house to get an early warmup and run back after we're done, so I get 4.71 miles for my efforts according to the map I worked out at MapMyRun.com. It's a nice time to spend with the other fellas...there's four others besides me: Matt, who owns Sportspectrum, the place to go if you want the right sports gear and real live personal service; Rex, an accountant (I think); Mike, a financial officer for one of the hospitals here and lost about 30 pounds to prepare for a 1/2 Ironman triathlon this year; and Jeff, who I believe is an enviromental engineer and the group's enviromentalist. That means Mike and I make fun of him, but Jeff can hold his own.

In fact, Mike and Jeff couldn't be more opposite on the political spectrum and have had a few interesting discussions/debates during some of the runs. But there's no doubt that each would help the other in an instant if they had to. Basically, we've all known each other for at least 10 or more years, however these runs have allowed me to hear them talk about what else they do in their lives. I can tell you that I've learned more about Shreveport politics as well as youth soccer leagues than I ever thought I'd want to know! This morning Rex wasn't there as he's been battling a knee problem and has missed the last 3-4 weeks. We were dressed for the cooler temps except that Matt was bare-legged and bare-eared...this guy has a store with all the stuff he needs and he isn't wearing any of it! Anyways, we did the usual pace, about a 9:30/mile which allows us to talk and still work up a bit of a sweat. My pace when I'm running by myself is around an 8-minute mile and around 7:20 in a race.

I learn all the current stuff...like our mayor is known as "Heavy G" and that the two major youth soccer leagues in town don't like each other. We keep up with Matt's plans on building a new store so he can move out of the old location. Mike and I are the relative new-comers to the group. I think 5 or 6 runners is as big as it'll get since the size allows everyone to talk, listen, and make smart-ass remarks at the appropriate times.

In the meantime, we now have two full days left to prepare for Oz and it'll get done. Look for a rush of activity Friday night! I'm finishing up my free-lance art jobs and will be in a video for Johnny Cobb's new website on Thursday. I'll let you know how that turns out. I made a rush out to the old house in Bossier City to trim the bushes which I've been meaning to do for the last month or so...did it all, trimmed and bagged, in about 25 minutes...a new record! I don't think I'm going to get much else done here at the new house. The place is covered with leaves and I'm not making much headway. I overloaded five bag-fulls of leaves yesterday and you can't see where I made a dent. I also want to finish the gutters before we go...good luck with that...maybe it'll happen?

The Rush

Here we are, four full days before we leave for Oz, and I'm already worn out. Today was busy...worked in the yard and knocked the leaves off the roof, worked on three design projects, sent some items off with FedEx, trying to finish up bike club uniform orders, and some other stuff I can't remember right now. The Wife is equally as full with her schedule and aggravated her shoulder when she took a tumble on her bike yesterday morning, not even a quarter mile from the house. She caught the edge of the pavement with her front wheel and went right over as she was coming around to get alongside me. She went back home and I continued on to see if any of the kids were going to show up for a ride in 38-degree temps. They didn't and I went back home to visit the wounded.

The weekend was pretty much the same....lots to do, made the mandatory visits to family members (not as bad as that sounded, just needed to be done before we fly out and the weekend was our last chance). Had a nice easy ride with one of the girls on the Centenary cycling team. I raised her saddle halfway thru the ride and it made a lot of difference in her spinning style and efficiency. It was cold that Saturday morning but the sun was full-out and it felt warmer than you would think.

Started the process of packing, making sure the luggage tags were updated, folding up the clothes for the summer season down under. The only cold weather clothing we're taking is light stuff for while we're in the States. Once we start flying we'll be in planes and airports...we'll only be outside when we're in Los Angeles transferring between terminals and it'll be in the mid-50's out there. But if the Qantas flight is cooler than usual then we'll have what we need to stay cozy along with a blanket and pillow.

I'm looking forward to the travel but the run-up this week is going to be brutal!

Sometimes We Gotta Go Walkabout

In less than two weeks we are off for Oz! The movie "Australia" will be opening soon and it is raising hopes in the island continent of increasing tourism there. Most of the movie was shot in Jonnene's home state of Western Australia in the Kimberly region.

There was a good story in The Western Australian.

But you can check out two new online commercials at the Australia Tourism website. Click on the box called "Come Walkabout" and take a look. First is a short called "Billabong" and then one called "Boab". They both star the same kid who is in the Australia movie.

Pretty good stuff.

Making money on cycling

Today's ride was a good one...I made eleven cents!! That is, I found a penny and a dime in two different parking lots during stops in our Sunday 54-mile odyssey. I'm pretty good at that. I can spot a coin in a parking lot quicker than most people. My biggest payday was when I found 65¢...two quarters, a dime, and a nickel...in a church parking lot. I tell Jonnene that this bike riding thing is paying off, although it might take about five years to collect enough money to buy a pair of riding gloves! Does this make me a professional cyclist?

It was a busy weekend, as far as the bike was concerned. I totaled 107 miles for two days of riding but my legs felt lousy for the most part. Last Saturday I knocked out 73 miles like it was nothing but this weekend it felt like I had no power and my legs just ached mostly the whole time. I could keep up with everyone but it was an effort to do so. Jonnene had some PT credit classes she had to take so I did my riding and some work around the house both days. The leaves are falling constantly and I'm raking them up constantly. I think the leaves are winning the battles but I'll win the war...eventually....I hope.

Okay, He's In

I paid little attention to the news after I voted, so I woke up to the radio alarm clock and found out Obama is our new President. Not a big surprise but I was hoping for a miracle that I suspected wouldn't come. The next four years are going to be very interesting. About 43% of Americans don't pay any income tax and if Obama's able to get that number up to 50% with his "spread the wealth" tax ideas, he'll be able to guarantee himself another four years. "If you plan to rob Peter to pay Paul, you can always count on the support of Paul."

Half of American knows what's coming...the other half hasn't the slightest idea and I doubt they even care. "Change" is a-coming! The new Congress will see to that. Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi said that the House will be more bipartisan with a super-majority Democrat presence. That's a joke, because with that kind of power they don't have to listen to anything the opposition says to do what they want. The Republicans will, basically, be taking up space in the Capital Building. They'll be unable to get any of their bills passed which will make their constituents unhappy and eventually be voted out of office to be replaced with Democrats...that's what the current Democrats are counting on. This will be an ugly time for our country. Sad to see it in my lifetime.

The Vote

Well, I voted today. Stood in line for about 20 minutes (my precinct line was shorter than the other one, thank goodness!) but soon after I got into my place there were about 40 folks who lined up behind me. I timed it just right!

Overheard in line at the voting place:

"The first time I voted for President, it was for Roosevelt."

"Which one?"

Tomorrow morning I'll either be surprised that McCain won or saddened because he lost. If Obama wins, there'll be millions of Americans who will be adjusting their financial status to lessen the damage he will cause in the next four years. If McCain wins....well, it won't be as bad. I can hardly wait for 2012.......

Good turnout for this morning's ride with eight hardy souls out in the cooler temps. The speed always drops like the temperatures as opposed to when we ride during the spring and summer. I doubt we spent any kind of real time above 22 mph and that was fine with me since my legs didn't feel too spritely, almost like they felt at the Tour de Ouachita a couple of weeks ago. But nobody in this ride would be able to ride away from me, no matter how I felt today. There was lots of talk about some of the local propositions on the ballot and how dumb some of them were. We have a few guys who are well versed in the local politics and they can be quite frank about it all. Makes for an entertaining ride before we get to the parkway to speed it up.

Miles

Knocked out a 2 mile run this morning. My left heel has been feeling pretty good since Jonnene worked on it last Wednesday but I felt it during part of the first mile, with it easing toward the end of the run. It seems okay now. I'll know more as the day goes on to see if it stiffens up or not. That'll let me know if I should lay off the running for a while.

Speaking of...I forgot to mention that I set a new personal record for miles run in a calendar year. My previous high had been a total of 237 miles in 2006 and with today's run I now have 255 miles in 2008. Wonder if I can hit 300? That will depend on how my heel feels.

This is My Say for Tuesday

This Tuesday is the BIG election day...Super Tuesday, I think it's called. And it's an important one since our country's also electing a new President. I'm worried plenty about the possible new direction we could be taking and it's beyond me how half this country is taking the American Idol approach to selecting the next Commander-in-Chief.

As I've said in an earlier post, Barack Obama is not a choice for me in this election. He is NO choice. I'm not big on McCain but he's the only choice I've got. Regarding Obama, I don't understand how so many people want to elect a man who has absolutely no experience on the national or international stage, has virtually no idea what the Constitution really means (he demonstrates it daily), is openly advocating socialist ideas without using the word, and suggests things that are a violation of common sense (at least if you're a capitalist, which I am).

I mean, when I hear his recent suggestion of forming a "Civilian National Security Force", all I can think about are Hitler's "Brown Shirts". Yeah, I'll admit that's a stretch of my imagination but what is the need of this? An organization that he says should be as powerful as our nation's military? With Obama, words mean things and there's too many people who aren't listening. If you ask an Obama supporter to tell you what are his accomplishments in his government career, you can't get an answer (there isn't one). If you ask that supporter what Obama means by "Change", you can't get any specifics. They don't know what the change is but, by damn, they know they want it. That's the problem here....nobody knows what Obama stands for and yet there are so many who want to elect him to one of the most powerful positions in the world. This man chooses Marxists for his friends (he said so in his first book) and hangs with people who are anti-American (how can we think he won't surround himself with the same people in the White House?). As others have said, he is an empty suit and will be controlled by others who want to make this country less about freedom and more about "fairness" which we know doesn't exist in the real world. I can only hope that the Senate will not get the super majority of Democrats so that there's hope of slowing Obama's plans for all of us. Better yet would be if he isn't elected President. McCain will be better for the USA, not great, but better in the long run for all of us.

If Obama's being endorsed by our enemies around the world, then what do you think? They still want America destroyed or beaten down, and they think it'll be easier with him as President. That is really all I need to know about not voting for him.

I'm afraid for my country for the first time in my life. And all I can do is vote, using all the heart and soul and knowledge that I have.

Saturday

A bit of conversation from our ride yesterday where we covered 65 miles:

We've approached a "T" intersection and stopped because a car was coming from the left. After it passed, we made a left turn and Joe says "We could have made that." (meaning we could have pulled out before the car got there...which was doubtful).

Me: "Joe, what is your definition of the term 'we'?"

Joe: "You, Tom, Jon, and Duece."

Me: "What about you?"

Joe: "I would have stopped."

I got in about 73 miles all told and for the record I had a great ride. It was totally unexpected since I hadn't been on the bike much the last couple of weeks and the Tour de Ouachita ride a week ago wasn't one of my better efforts. I averaged 20.6 mph for the distance, enjoyed the company, and you couldn't have asked for better weather. Just cool enough to put arm and knee warmers at the start but got warm enough to take them off later in the ride. Jonnene rode with another group and got in about 54 miles. I met her in the parking lot of the church where we ride from after she had finished and I rolled in with the small group I was with. I dropped off the arm warmers and the vest in the car, then got an extra 8 miles by riding to the house while she drove home.

Later that evening we went to a birthday party for an old friend of mine who had turned 60 and it was a lot of fun. Saw some folks I hadn't seen in several years and even Jonnene knew a handful of folks out there!