It's a Small World (no, wait -- that's Disneyland on Sunday)

We missed the shuttle van back to the hotel from Sea World yesterday. (We later found out we weren't two minutes late; we were 58 minutes early.) It wasn't a long walk, but with three little ones, no stroller, one really busy street to cross, and the cool, dark night closing in fast, we took a cab.

We struck up a conversation with the cab driver, and it turns out he was originally from Yankton, SD.

Road race: 2005 Jack 15

On Saturday, for the sixth year in a row, I ran the Jack 15 road race on a relay team. The conditions were almost perfect -- cool temps and low wind. It had rained earlier in the day, but the rain stopped shortly before the start.

Our team managed to win our division (co-ed 5x3 relay), which we hadn't done before, except for the crazy 15x1 in 2002. That year we had only one team to beat, and they were walkers. We also had our best time this year (again, except for 2002).

Carousel

I couldn't get this photo to upload for last night's post. Looks like the problem is fixed.

Reality

We spent a few hours this evening on the periphery of the entertainment business. The TV show Three Wishes came to town. I don't really know much about it other than it's some kind of "reality show" (we called them "game shows" when I was a youth). Apparently they go from town to town granting three wishes to the locals. It's hosted by pop singer Amy Grant.

There was to be a concert by Grant, but the children & I left before the music started. Besides the concert, there was a small carnival with about five rides, a few games, and food. The food lines were prohibitively long, and most of the ride lines were pretty long, too. As with most carnivals, the merry-go-round had short lines, which is just fine with us -- our kids are still young enough to enjoy it.

Another movie list

Jambo's at it again. This time, he's making a list of the best movie scenes ever. Make your nominations now; there will be a poll after a while.

Company picnic

Our company picnic was yesterday. We had a terrific time. The weather was perfect, and the organizers did a good job. The rec center staff did their usual outstanding work with the activities for kids, and there were several of those large inflatable whatchamacallits - slides and obstacle courses, and a trampoline-like room. One large slide was shaped like the half-sunk Titanic, which was appropriate. A couple of times something went wrong (tripped circuit breaker or something) and it deflated.

We even won some good door prizes: a big umbrella and a 12x18 screen house. We could have used that screen house last month, when the mosquitoes had taken over.

Road bike

I dusted off the old Trek 2000 bicycle today for the first time in several years. I bought it in 1987 for the Seattle to Portland ride. I see now it's the "Group Health Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic." Back then it was just the STP. Anyway, I'd been thinking of getting a fairly serious road bike, and that ride was my excuse. By today's standards, I suppose the down-tube shifters and six-speed freewheel would be considered quaint, but back then it was nearly a full-out racing machine. I made one concession to my less-than-race-ready self: my spindly little legs couldn't handle the standard gearing. I had the corncob-like rear gears replaced with something a little more forgiving.

Karen, Dan, and I pooh-poohed the idea of taking two days to ride the 200 miles to Portland. We'd do it in a single day like any real cyclists would.

Ha.

We made it about 50 miles, to Spanaway, WA. It's a little foggy in my memory, but we had a number of problems: there was something wrong with my bike; one of the people riding with us was throwing temper tantrums; Dan was bleeding from a crash. I'm pretty sure it was raining, too. Funny -- you'd think I'd remember that meteorological detail before the others. I know it rained at least a little.

I don't think we were all that far behind our predicted pace, but we just weren't having the fun that would normally be guaranteed by, say, 13 hours on a bike.

We bailed out. Called it quits. Went home and dried off.

I put thousands of miles on that bike over the years, but today I was still surprised at how it feels to ride it. What little riding I've done lately has been on a heavier bike with fat, slow tires and a trailer carrying two children. Switching to the 2000 was like going from a Suburban with a boat trailer to an MX-5.

It's a sweet ride.