Purple...

has always been my favorite color.


As I kid, I thought grape candy or gum was the best.


I loved grape soda, too.



I have lots of purple shoes, purses, clothes, you name it.


Our master bedroom and bath are purple.

The Pioneer Woman was having a giveaway of Fiestaware. To enter you needed to choose your favorite color of Fiestaware. Of course I chose Plum.


So it is only fitting that I now have a purple knee...

Friday Foodie

I didn't try any new recipes this week, but I did get a high compliment from Les. "This is the BEST pizza you have ever made." Pizza? How hard can it be and what made it so great? I racked my brain trying to figure out how I earned such a compliment! Here's all I did:

Ingredients:
Rosalie's Marinara Sauce
1 refrigerated pizza crust
Sliced tomatoes, bell peppers, olives, turkey pepperoni
Mozzarella cheese

1. Make Rosalie's Marinara Sauce, per instructions found here.
2. Roll out crust, sprinkle Italian seasonings and garlic salt on crust. Bake approximately 7 minutes, using temperature on package instructions (350, I think.)
3. Take crust from oven, top with warm marinara sauce, vegetables and pepperoni. Bake another 7-8 minutes.
4. Take crust from oven, top with cheese. Bake 3-4 minutes, until cheese is slightly brown.

So what made this so special? I think it was two things - the seasonings on the crust before it was baked and the fresh, warm marinara sauce. I'm guessing warm sauce on warm crust is much better than pulling sauce from the frig and slapping it on cold crust! I've never worked at a pizza parlor, so I don't know how it's done professionally, but this really worked for us!

NAJBQT Update

I am sad to report that Hannah's team just lost their second quiz, which means they have been eliminated from the tournament. They lost their first quiz on Tuesday, then won one yesterday and two more today. They placed in a eight way tie for 17th, with three wins, two losses.

I know this has been an unforgettable experience for Hannah. No time is wasted when it is spent memorizing His Word.

An Epic Climb and a Mighty Fall

After our bike ride on Tuesday morning I told Les, "I want to go up Santa Su on Thursday." Santa Su is short for Santa Susana Pass Road. This is a steep, 2+ mile climb about 3 miles from our house. Les looked at me in surprise, but once it was out of my mouth there was no turning back!

I wavered in my commitment quite a bit yesterday. I was trying to figure out how to get myself out of that little promise. I knew the challenge was only to me, Les has ridden it hundreds of times. I went to bed last night thinking, "What have I gotten myself into?"

We were up early this morning and I was getting more nervous by the minute. Just before we left, I reread yesterday's post and made a few promises to myself. "I promise to trust myself." "I promise to try something new."

And I Did It!! I made it to the top of Santa Su without stopping. I was in my lowest gear, but I did it!! I was so happy, surprised, and relived!! Yeah for my first Epic Climb!


At the top of Santa Su, we crossed over the 118 freeway. At that point we had a decision to make - turn around and go home or go up a dirt trail called "Rocky Peak." This is where my "Mighty Fall" took place. We started up an extremely steep dirt trail and I just toppled over! Right into the bushes!! I have the scraped knee to prove it, but I'm not hurt too severely since I was barely moving at the time. Les says I am now initiated - I've fallen off my bike!

The final result: The Epic Climb outweighed the Mighty Fall!

Promises to Make or Break

I read an interesting article in the latest edition of Endurance News which is published by Hammer Nutrition. Although the focus of the article is geared toward athletes, it was easy to relate it to other areas of life as well. What goal would you like to accomplish and what is holding you back? Have you made promises to yourself that you need to break?

Promises to Make

Resolve that you will do this for fun
The pain = gain crowd eventually loses interest, because in the end it is impossible to keep up something you don’t enjoy.

Promise not to focus on beating someone else in a competition
Why should you let someone else decide for you whether you are successful? Your true competition is yourself.

Promise to trust yourself.
You are not lazy, you are not inept, and you will improve. So many athletes negate their success by telling themselves they cannot succeed. They are right.

Promise to do what you are doing.
I often see people who want to be fit trying to read a book while they stair climb or listen to music while they ride. They never seem to make any progress. All the best athletes I know
pay full attention to what they are doing.

Promise to keep other life goals intact.
A friend of mine let his business languish while he put everything into qualifying for the Hawaii ironman, and almost did. It cost him five years to put his business affairs back together. He became overweight and stopped his athletics. But there is a happy outcome. I now see him running and riding and since he has aged up, maybe he will achieve his objective.

Promise to try something new.
If you find the long distance cycling training for triathlon pleasant, maybe a double century is the direction you should go. How about unconventional multi-sports events involving kayaking
and mountain bike legs?

Promise to finish.
A finish in a challenging event is always more satisfying than having gone fast at some point, only to fail and DNF.


Promises to Break

Limits to ambition.
If you vow you will never do an event longer than an Olympic triathlon, you may later find that a half iron distance event is actually more fun. I once told myself I would never do an event I
couldn’t complete in one day, only to find I really enjoyed multi-day bike races.

Promises to slow down.
So many athletes reach a point where they stop trying to go faster and from there they begin a slide towards giving up entirely. The essence of these sports is that they are a challenge, so a promise to participate half-heartedly is to miss the main point.

Keeping to a preordained race plan, no matter what.
You can sometimes save a race by abandoning intended pacing in favor of one that that feels right and matches the conditions you experience on the course. Last fall in a very hot 12-hour time trial, I slowed after hour 9 when the temperature became an issue. Several of my age group competitors then passed me as they kept hammering onward. But they all dropped out by hour 11 and I won the age group.

Promises to maintain a set schedule of goal paces and times.
You might be observing these standards, when they are beyond your ability or current level of fitness. If you blindly persist it will likely lead to injury or sickness. If your plan is going south as you approach race day you may well find that a somewhat more freeform approach will work better. Once in a while forget about pacing and do some runs and rides just for pleasure. Often your fitness will improve and your goals become obtainable as you find your own natural pace.

Promises to quit.
Some athletes do this at some arbitrary age or when they can no longer maintain some previously obtainable pace. I once promised to reach my athletic peak at age 55 and indeed I did finally do an ironman when I attained that age. Then I realized that I could still get better, so I broke that promise and went an hour faster the following year.

Thus, I have found that many promises I have made were unworthy of me and I have benefited greatly from abandoning them. Do you have commitments that are not working for you and holding you back? If so, by all means break those promises.

- by Bill Nicolai

Win Free Shoes

MoMoMod blog is having a giveaway. What is MoMoMod you ask? It's short for More Modern Modesty and you really should check it out.

They are giving away a $25 gift card to DSW. Perfect timing after yesterday's post! Now who wouldn't want to win that?


Run on over there and tell 'em I sent you! Click right HERE!

NAJBQT Online

This is it! The final week of Bible Quizzing for Hannah and her teammates. They are at the North American Junior Bible Quizzing Tournament (NAJBQT) in Saint Louis. There are forty beginner junior teams and sixty five junior teams in attendance.

The tournament started yesterday afternoon, but Hannah's team will not quiz until sometime today (Quiz 14, against North Dakota). We will be following the tournament online. This is a link to the matrix. When a quiz is going on, there is a "LIVE" button that you can click on and watch the score as it progresses.

Update at 9:00 a.m. - they lost their first quiz! Bummer! Here is a link to the score sheet - whoever is in charge of this is doing a great job!

Quote of the Day

"Cinderella is Proof that
Shoes Can Change Your Life!"



All the Ladies say, "Amen!"


All the men just shake their heads...

I believe Dorothy would have agreed...


But a good pumice stone is often necessary!!!

Friday Foodie

I usually do my grocery shopping on Mondays. That means I'm trying to figure out what we will eat for the week on Sunday. It had been HOT around here (like everywhere else!) so I was trying to think of meals that wouldn't take much effort in the kitchen and still be nutritious and tasty. On our way to church Sunday morning I said to Les, "What can I make that is a good Summer dish?" His response, "Lemonade Pie." Okay, not exactly what I was thinking about, but I made it this week anyway!

Lemonade Pie


This recipe came from Grandma Luella and I have made it many times through this years. This time I used all reduced fat items to bring the calories down, it tasted just as good.

6 oz. frozen Lemonade (bring to room temperature)
4 oz. low fat cream cheese, softened
7 oz. fat free sweet condensed milk
8 oz. lite Cool Whip
1 graham cracker crust

Mix lemonade and cream cheese well
Add sweet condensed milk, whip until foamy
Fold in Cool Whip until smooth - do not over-stir or your pie will be runny and not set
Add to pie crust and freeze for 1 hour or until set.

This is a favorite summer dessert! It's tart and sweet, but not too heavy. You can also top this with fresh berries.

Nutritional info: 317.5 calories / 9.6 g fat / 0 g fiber / 7 WW points per slice, makes 8 slices. Not as low as I hoped, but not too bad for a yummy dessert!

We did eat some "real" food this week, too. I tried two recipes from Rosalie Serving Italian (my Favorite cookbook!)

Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes and Basil


4 oz. Whole grain Linguine, angel hair, or vermicelli pasta
1/2 Tbsp. salt

2 large tomatoes, cored and chopped, about 2 cups
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp. garlic, minced
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, tightly packed and shredded
1 tsp. salt, or more for taste
1/4 tsp. pepper, or more for taste

freshly grated Parmesan cheese for garnish
crushed red pepper flakes for garnish (optional)

1. Cut tomatoes in small chunks and place with juice in large pasta bowl. Add the olive oil, minced garlic, fresh basil leaves, and salt and pepper. Mix together lightly.

(Doesn't this look yummy? I think I could have eaten it without the pasta!
Or made bruschetta...)

2. Boil pasta in an 4-quart pot of boiling water with 1/2 tablespoon of salt added. Using spaghetti spoon, remove pasta right out of water into pasta bowl with tomato mixture.

3. Toss together, adding reserved pasta water if pasta gets too dry. Serve immediately garnished with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes, if desired. Serves 4.

This was really good - light with lots of flavor. The original recipe called for one pound of pasta - I knew we'd never eat that much, so I reduced it but left all other ingredients the same. I'm glad I did - it would have been too dry for my taste otherwise.

Nutritional info: 183.5 calories / 4 g fiber / 6.25 g fat / 3.4 WW points per serving


Stuffed Zucchini with Couscous

2 medium zucchini, stems removed and halved lengthwise
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small zucchini, cut into 1" pieces
1 medium onion, chopped small
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine

2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup cooked couscous

12 cherry tomatoes
8 fresh basil leaves, shredded
1 Tbsp. toasted pine nuts or chopped walnuts
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 375. Rinse zucchini under cool water. Pat dry and remove ends. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise. Place halved-size down on lightly oiled baking sheet and bake until soft, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and cool.

2. Scoop out centers of the zucchini leaving 1/4" thickness in shells. Place scooped out zucchini in large frying pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the small chopped zucchini, onion, and garlic. Saute altogether until lightly browned, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the chicken broth, couscous and remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Bring to boil and cook together about 3 minutes.

3. Add tomatoes, basil leaves, pine nuts, or walnuts and salt and pepper. Then stir together.

4. Fill zucchini shells with couscous mixture and place in 13" x 9" baking dish, lightly coated with olive oil. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in oven for 15 to 20 minutes until set.

5. Remove from oven and garnish with freshly grated cheese. Cut stuffed zucchini into halves. Serves 8.

This was another winner! Tomatoes and basil are a wonderful summer combo. I had to do a little improvising because the store didn't have any medium zucchini - they were all little guys! I used 3 little ones but still ended up with some leftover couscous mixture. I just poured it on top of everthing in the baking dish. I either needed to reduce the chicken broth or cook it longer so it would evaporate because there was a lot of liquid even after baking for about 30 minutes. I'm assuming larger zucchini would have been the solution!

This is not a good picture - this was before I put it in the oven. As you can see, too much liquid, although some did evaporate during cooking.

I didn't cut the stuffed zucchini in half, so we had a total of 6 servings. Nutritional info: 85 calories / 2.2 g fat / 2.2 g fiber / 1.4 WW points

I paired the zucchini with leftover pasta and it was a great meal!

Happy Birthday M&M!

Not the candy, y'all! McMoments and Memories, my little blog, turns two today! Thank you to everyone who has joined me the past two years. Blogging is a lot of fun. More than once I've said to Les, "Who knew I had so much to say?" He gives me the same knowing look each time, so I guess he did!
Upon Les' advice, I started using Google Analytics in February 2009 and here are some of the stats:

I've had 22,531 visitors from:
6 continents (hello, Antarctica??)
35 countries/territories,
including 46 states (come on Montana, South Dakota, Maine, and Vermont!)
The highest number of visits comes from:
my home state of California with 16,524 visitors
followed by Tennesse with 1,905.
Thank you Fresno for being the city with the most visits - 4,832!

I thought I'd share a few of MY favorite posts. If you're new around here, you might enjoy going back for a while. Feel free to tell me any favorite of yours.

My second post was titled "Memories," followed the next day by "Mom's Bible." These definitely set the stage for much of what I have written. Mom, and the memories she left, continue to influence me today. A couple of lighthearted "Mom" posts were "When Mom Became Grandma" and "Good Cake, Mom!" If you know our family at all, "Fultz's Funny Farm" will bring back a host of memories. I am not the animal collector that Mom was, but we do have "McElhaney's Menagerie."

There is a very special guest post by Les, "Her Price is Far Above Rubies," written after he spent eight days in the hospital. There are posts about when Les and I met, his proposal, our wedding, and so many adventures!

And finally, my most popular post with more hits than any other (per Google Analytics) is "My Hero." My first post about Rod. I've thought recently about how much fun Rod would have had with a blog. If you ever heard his answering machine, you know his blog would have been hilarious! But he also would have continue to be the encourager he was known for.

Thanks again for reading. Your friendship and comments make this blog a blessing to me!

I Am Specialized

I haven't written much about Myka lately, but we've been having a blast! I didn't ride much after I first got her because Les was in major Death Ride training mode. With that behind us, we've been riding a couple times a week. We've ridden Las Llayas Canyon a few times and it's been quite a ride. A few weeks ago equipment of some sort was brought in and the trail is a mess! It went from hard packed dirt to sand. Riding uphill in that is challenging every running muscle I have and then some.

Last week I had to walk my bike at least two times because of the sand. I just couldn't gear down enough. Yesterday I made it about a mile farther than before, which included a part that had a 12% incline, and didn't have to walk her a single time! Although I did get my heart rate up to 169 beats per minutes! Here are before and after pictures.

Nice and clean:



A "little" dusty:


And you should have seen my shoes and ankles!

We have lots of cycling magazines around our house and they always have ads for Specialized bikes, which is what Myka is. The ads say, "I Am Specialized." While riding on the trail yesterday, the spirit of Dr. Seuss came upon me and I wrote this verse:

I do not like riding in the sand
I do not like it, Specialized I Am!

I do not like this soft-packed dirt
I do not like it on my skirt

I do not like this granny gear
but falling over is what I fear

I do not like this cloud of dust
I do not like it, but ride I must

I do not like riding in the sand
I do not like it, Specialized I Am!

I'm actually having the time of my life! There's nothing like it when my speed gets over 20 mph and I'm literally screaming down the hill!

This is Good!

I received the following in an email from Dad:

An old story is told of a king in Africa who had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good!"

One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!" To which the king replied, "No, this is NOT good!" and proceeded to send his friend to jail.

About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake. As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way.

As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. "You were right," he said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. "And so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this."

"No," his friend replied, "This is good!" "What do you mean,'This is good'? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?" "If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you."

- Author Unknown

Sunday night we had in service with us Bro. Robert Dansby, pastor in Grants Pass, Oregon. The title of his message was, "That Happened to Me." He shared many things that have happened in his life, starting with a treed bear, joyful times, and difficult times. But through it all, he has clung to Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Just like the story above, even when we don't think it's good, God is working it for our good. It's not what happens to us in life, but how we react that makes the difference.

On the way home, Les asked, "Do you ever question God about what you've been through with Rod and your Mom?" I thought about it, it's a hard question. I definitely miss Mom and Rod, many times I'll think "I wish Rod could see or hear this..." or "I wish I could talk to Mom about that..." but questioning God doesn't do me any good. I choose to trust and say "This is Good" even when it doesn't feel like it or I don't understand. Somehow, I have to trust that God has worked it for my good. So I'll trust His heart...

Trust His Heart

All things work for the good
Though sometimes we can't
See how they could
Struggles that break our hearts in two
Sometimes blind us to the truth
Our Father knows what's best for us
His ways are not our own
So when your pathway grows dim
And you just can't see Him,
Remember He's still on the throne

Chorus:

God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too good to be unkind
So when you don't understand
When don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
Trust His Heart

He sees the master plan
He holds the future in His hand,
Don't live as those who have no hope,
While our hope is found in Him.
We see the present clearly
But He sees the first and last
And like a tapestry He's weaving you and me,
To someday be just like Him

God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too good to be unkind
So when you don't understand
When don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
Trust His Heart

He alone is faithful and true
He alone knows what is best for you

God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too good to be unkind
So when you don't understand
When don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
Trust His Heart

Written by: Babbie Mason and Eddie Carswell

When God Unfolds a Rose

I thought I'd share how much my roses are unfolding...

There have been times when I thought my prayers
Didn’t even reach the ceiling of the room
Where I knelt to pray
And a voice inside kept asking me
Did I think God was really listening
To anything I had to say
I just kept on a praying
And holding on by faith
Knowing God is always in control
And I waited like a rose bud in the garden
Only God can unfold a rose

When God unfolds a rose
He always gets it right
When the petals are in place
Oh, it’s such a beautiful sight
God knows when to hold on
And the perfect time to let go
So let Him have his way
And watch God unfold the rose

There are trials and tribulations
We must all go through
When it comes to heartache
We’ve all had our share
Oh, but when times are the hardest
We need to hold on to the promise
He said He’d never give us more than we could bear
So I’ll just keep on a praying
And holding on by faith
Knowing God is working for my good
And I’ll wait just like a rose bud in the garden
Cause only God can unfold a rose

When God unfolds a rose
He always gets it right
When the petals are in place
Oh, it’s a beautiful sight
God knows when to hold on
And the perfect time to let go
So let Him have his way
And watch God unfold the rose

Friday Foodie

I combined and tweaked two recipes this week to make a really tasty dish! I took the sauce from Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta and added it to Baked Penne Pasta with Meatballs, minus the marinara sauce and substituted Italian Sausage for the meatballs. Here's the complete recipe:

• 1 whole Butternut Squash, Peeled & Cubed
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1-½ cup Chicken Broth
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1 teaspoon Cracked Black Pepper
• 6 cloves Roasted Garlic
• 6 oz. whole wheat penne pasta
• 2 Italian turkey sausages
• 1 shallot
• 1 red bell pepper
• 5 white mushrooms
• 2 oz. sliced turkey pepperoni
• 8 oz. low fat shredded mozzarella cheese

Bake butternut squash at 350 until softened. After baking, cut off the ends of the squash first, and then cut it in half and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds/guts. Peel the skin off with a vegetable peeler–you may need to make more than one swipe to get all of it. Slice crosswise, and then cut up each slice to cube it.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet and when it’s hot, dump in the cubed squash. Salt & pepper the squash to taste and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning.

Go ahead and start boiling your water to cook your pasta. Cooking the squash is a very fast process. But before you drain the pasta, be sure to reserve 1 1/2 cups of the pasta’s cooking water and set aside.

Also, start cooking the sausage per package directions. When it is finished, slice and return to skillet, saute with shallot, then add bell peppers, mushrooms, and pepperoni.

After cooking the squash in the oil, add in the chicken broth (which can be replaced with vegetable broth to make it vegetarian-friendly) and cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid. Cook for up to an additional 10 minutes or until the squash cubes are easily split in half with a fork (they should already be somewhat soft due to baking the squash.)

Put the cloves of roasted garlic into a blender or food processor along with the squash and any liquid still left in the skillet. Blend until the squash is smooth with no lumps remaining. Put the puree back into the skillet and put it over very low heat. Expect the puree to be too thick–that’s what the reserved pasta cooking water is for. Add in a little at a time until the puree is thinned to your liking.

Add a little of the sauce to the bottom of a 9" x 13" baking pan. Combine remaining sauce with pasta and meat mixture and add to pan.

Cover with foil. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until bubbling. Uncover; sprinkle evenly with mozzarella. Bake 7-9 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned. Cool 10 minutes.

This was just the right mix of sweet and spicy! The leftovers were good, too!

Nutritional info: 200 calories / 4.8 g fiber / 4.6 g fat / 3.5 WW points per serving. Makes 6 large servings. FYI - the Butternut Squash sauce is only 36 calories / 1 g fiber / 1.2 g fat / 0.6 WW point per serving (6 servings), so if you had it with just plain pasta it would be very low!

Lake Tahoe, Part 2

After a wonderful night's sleep Saturday night, our time in Tahoe was quickly coming to an end. While we slept we had a visitor - our trash can was knock over with the trash scattered on our front porch! We were told the bears had been active lately, I'm pretty sure whoever it did it was disappointed with the burnt popcorn... We had read positive reviews about Heidi's Pancake House and decided to head there for breakfast.

With about a 450 mile drive ahead of us, we decided not to get in a hurry and take the long way home. It started with a drive up Ebbetts Pass, one of the mountain roads that Les was on the day before.

This is a very windy road, but the scenery is amazing! It includes this waterfall...


And lake...


In case anyone was wondering, here are a few tidbits about Les' ride that weren't in his recap:

• His maximum heart rate was 164 beats per minutes with an average of 136 bpm.
• His maximum speed was 45.8 miles per hour (fast!) with an average of 11 mph.
• He burned 7,492 calories! (We rode 17.5 miles this morning and I burned 872 calories in comparison.)
  

One of the greatest things about the Death Ride is both Monitor Pass and Ebbetts Pass are closed to all motorized vehicles during the ride. Cyclists can enjoy (or endure) the ride without worrying about being run off the road. We turned around at the top of Ebbetts and headed over Monitor Pass, back to highway 395.


We later took a detour to Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort. The Gondola is open year round, so we rode to the top, along with mountain bikers who were making their way down the trails!



Still lots of snow at the top! The last day of skiing was July 5th, just six days before we were there!


I wasn't quite prepared for the little trek we took...


I also got caught in a wind tunnel, which was hilarious!!


Les left his rock on the top of the pile...


Once again, a great time with my best friend!

Enjoy some more "cool" pictures...

Lake Tahoe, Part 1

As Les mentioned in the previous post, we had a wonderful time in Lake Tahoe! Even with the Death Ride looming, we enjoyed ourselves on Thursday and Friday. We are blessed to live in such a beautiful state. Just a couple hours from Los Angeles and we were on highway 395 heading north. Red Rock Canyon, Mount Whitney, Mammoth Mountain, Mono Lake, huge trees, mountains, rivers and streams were all part of the scenery.


Our first destination was the town of Markleeville, home of the Death Ride. Les checked in, received his number to put on his bike and jersey, turned in his paperwork and filled his goody bag. On our way back to our car we saw Les' former boss, Kevin Cramer. Kevin has ridden Death Ride 15 times and completed all 5 passes 13 times! He told Les to just keep his own pace and Les would be fine (perfect advice!)




We then headed into the city of South Lake Tahoe, which is on the California side (for those who may not know, Lake Tahoe is shared by California and Nevada). We stayed at the Tahoe Keys Resort and were pleasantly surprised with the size of our cabin! We had decided not to stay in one of the many chain hotels so we could make sure Les got proper nutrition leading up to his ride. Our cabin had a full kitchen (stove and oven!), living room with fireplace, bedroom with walk-in closet, bath, backyard and hot tub!


I admit I was a little nervous about Les' ride, which was evident by what happened early Friday morning. I had a dream that Les and Kevin met up in the parking lot prior to the ride and were able to ride together. I awoke from my dream, looked over at the clock and said, "Les, wake up! It's 5:30, you've missed the start of the ride!! Oh... never mind... it's only Friday morning." Yes, I really am blond at times!!

We enjoyed kayaking on Lake Tahoe Friday afternoon. We have kayaked numerous times in the ocean, but never in a lake. What a difference! No crazy waves or currents, just easy stroking. The pollen was extremely high - there was a film of yellow over parts of the lake and covering our car. Yes, that was me you heard sneezing!!


We even saw someone walking on the water...


Friday night we had pizza at our favorite Tahoe pizza place - The Brewery. Then it was an early bedtime because Les was up at 3:20 Saturday morning and out the door by 4:00. After walking by the lake, I spent some time relaxing and studying for an upcoming Sunday school lesson (I'll tell you about it after I teach it!) I was sitting outside when I was visited by a very young squirrel who didn't realized I was there! Once he saw me, he chattered away, but he sounded more like a squeaky toy than anything!


I was SO happy when Les called to say he was in the car and headed back! I've lived through one bike accident with him and that is enough!


Here are SOME of our pictures. For those of you sweltering in the heat, just pretend you're next to the river, or sitting under one of the trees, or breathing in the cool mountain air!