Accident

So, I can't say I'm not surprised, but I was hopeful that I could bide my time in New Orleans and not be involved in a "motor vehicle incident" (that's what Chevron calls them). I call it what it is, an accident. I'm not at fault...but it is still a PAIN in my butt. I'll let the pictures do the talking, but I feel sorry for my poor little car, la bala de plata (that's "the silver bullet" for those of you who, like myself, don't speak Spanish). Oh, and there were no injuries, so I'm alright too. Worry more about my car than me.

RAGBRAI XXXV

WARNING!!! The following contains graphic pictures of people of all shapes and sizes in spandex. Proceed at your own will.

I remember oh so well the first year of RAGBRAI. I was 11 and riding a bike 500 miles across the state of Iowa. For those of you who think Iowa is flat, I would suggest riding a bike across it and then giving your opinion of it's topography.

So, some of the legacy members of Team Blarney (our biking team) rode this year--Pat and Dave Schulte, JoEllen, mom, dad and myself. Lance Armstrong also rode this year, but he's not fast enough to join our team.

I had a special request from my sister to eat the following in honor of her: a porkchop, a smoothie and homemade ice cream. Check, check and check. I was kind of glad that I went this year because it was Mr. Porkchop's last year (I got a picture with him thank goodness).

As usual, we met some amazing people. We are impressed year after year, as people we have never met allow us to stay with them in their home. And we got to see some of the beautiful scenery Iowa has to offer. "Is this heaven?" "No this is Iowa." Name that movie!! Well, a picture below should give you a bit of a hint.

My lack of training did prove to be a bit of a problem, I was glad to see Saturday and to finally finish. Let's just say...I was sore. Enjoy the photo's (as much as you can)!!

YSA, Florida and a Lavalava. 2007.

After last year's huge ordeal with the YSA conference and swearing them off for the rest of my life, I went to another one. Something about Florida...it's this state and it is known for it's beaches and...well, I don't want to spoil the surprise for those of you who haven't been. Oddly enough, we didn't spend a lot of time at the beach, and by that, I mean no time at all.

The conference was held at this adventure camp by Pensacola. To be honest, I knew there wouldn't be much beach time, but the idea of an adventure camp and tubing did sound enticing. I won't bore you with the details and there are no real exciting stories to tell like the "Gold Digger" and "Creed air guitar" incidents of yesteryear.

Peter had just returned from Hawaii. And he came hailing gifts of lavalavas. If you don't know what a lavalava is, see the picture above. I guess there is a first time for everything.

New Orleans Bonanza

Okay, so Bonanza implies a wild and crazy time. Which it was, just don't think I did anything too wild. My two friends, Emily and Chera, drove in from Houston to have a "wild and crazy" time here in NOLA. Emily is leaving for her mission to Chile in a week or so--she will be missed.

Emily and Chera got in late Friday night. We went to Port of Call on Esplande in the Quarter to get a hamburger. It was delicious, as usual. I'm just waiting for Port of Call to offer french fries instead of a baked potato. By the time we got done eating, it was pretty late. I gave them a quick car tour through the Marigny and showed them were I used to live in the big green house.

The next morning we got up and went to Oak Alley plantation. I had never been to a plantation, and neither had they. My NOLA friend Kip joined us for the day. The plantation was way cool. I can't believe they lived in this weather without air conditioning. Oh, I overheard a conversation in French, un bain pour moin (one bath per month), pretty gross huh? This particular plantation is known for it's big row of 28 oak trees that are almost 600 years old, hence the name, Oak Alley.

We then went to eat at Cheesecake Bistro. Chera doesn't like seafood, but she vowed to give it a try. So, she got a healthy dose of crawfish (the tails, not actually eating them from their shell). It was delicious, as usual; and Chera liked the crawfish. But, I decided never to get anything else there but their crawfish ravioli.

We returned to my house in Algiers Point and rode the ferry across to the French Quarter. Of course, Emily and Chera had to get their picture taken under a Bourbon street sign. And we just walked around, looked at the famous sites and ate beignets (the powdered sugar all over my face). That pretty much took us to the end of the day and we were all pretty pooped. But, we managed to find the energy (and space in our tummies) for a snoball!!

The Smoky Mountains

Some friends and I went camping in the Great Smoky Mountains in Tenneessee and North Carolina. It was so pretty there and I really enjoyed getting out of New Orleans to enjoy a little bit of fresh air. As you can see, it was really green. All the coverage got really annoying for me bacause I knew we were climbing up and down mountains, but you couldn't look out over the ranges. There was finally some relief towards the end of the three day hike.

There was a little bit of everything--waterfalls, streams, greeness. I guess that isn't everything, but what the mountains had to offer was nice. All my hiking experience has been in a desert environment from when I lived in Arizona (and that one time I almost died in Utah), so the change to a cooler, more green eco-system was a nice change of pace, especially in June.


I went with my friend Autumn and her two friends, Ben and Katherine. Sometimes it is very difficult to get along with Texas A&M alumni. These three weren't that bad, it could have been worse. They mainly just wore their A&M apparel, sometimes they would drop an arrogant "why Texas A&M is the best" comment, but I have heard those so much at work, I have stopped acknowledging them. In case you were wondering, Texas A&M isn't the best (I have proof).

Enjoy the photos. I hope to be able to return sometime this fall when all the leaves change color and do another hike!!