Pedernales Camping Weekend

Friday after work, we went straight out to Pedernales Falls State Park. We knew it would be close to dark by the time we got to the primitive camping area since it's a 2.5 mile walk from the parking area. We got in, chose a spot and got the tent up just as it was getting dark.

Our tent and packs are orange because I rented them from the UT outdoor center. I wonder if the A&M outdoor center rents all maroon stuff?

We planned the camping trip as our 5 year anniversary trip. We weren't going to get each other gifts because the trip was really our gift to each other. I have been saying for at least a couple of years that I need a "fake" wedding ring to wear when I do stuff like swimming, bike riding, camping, triathlons and anything else where my real ring would be likely to get messed up or lost.

Jeff surprised me by getting me a sterling silver "fake wedding ring" for our anniversary. I wore it the rest of the weekend, since camping and hiking out there definitely qualifies as a time my real ring would be likely to get messed up or lost.

We didn't have time to hike Friday night, but we got up Saturday morning and found a place to hike down the bluffs to the river. The primitive camping area is high above the river so it won't flood, in most places there are cliffs that go 80+ feet straight down to the valley, but in a few places you can hike down into the valley and over to the river.

Pedernales River, south of the falls. Looks pretty peaceful here.

Jeff by some maidenhair ferns growing on a cliff.

The river was pretty calm when we were there, but there was evidence everywhere of flooding and fast moving water. Jeff was impressed that these big bald cypress trees had been pushed over by water at some point.
We hiked back out to the car and drove over to the Pedernales Falls area, it was raining by this time and pretty much rained all day Saturday. Good thing we brought the underwater housing for the camera!

Jeff told me to put my arms up so it would look like I am holding the big rock behind me. It was also getting windy and a little cold, but we walked and climbed around on the rocks at the falls anyway, the rocks were really slick from the rain.

Jeff found a landmark everywhere we went so we could find our trails back, specific rocks, plants, piles of rocks, etc. This broken piece of prickly pear marked our trail to climb back up the cliffs where we got down to the river.

When I was cold and Jeff was tired of being in the rain, we went into Johnson City. We found this shop with beef jerky, candy, jams, and all kinds of other stuff. As soon as we walked in the lady at the counter told us to check out the tasting table- we weren't going to argue. Some guy came in a little later just to buy some jerky and she told him she wouldn't sell it to him until he had tasted it! Too funny!

We found a little cafe for lunch, the food was pretty good, but the best part was the cinammon ice cream for dessert. Jeff loves cinammon.

At this point, the rain had slowed to just a mist, so we hiked down to the swimmng area.

Jeff figured out how to work the timer on our camera

I waded in the water

and Jeff took pictures of the beautiful river

Around 5 we hiked back into the camping area. It was still early, so after we made sure the tent was reasonably dry, we hiked around for a couple of hours. We found some way better campsites than the one we chose. Some of them were right at the edge of the cliffs and far enough out that no one really goes there.

We found a geocache, it was the biggest one we've found, in a huge ammo box.

We sat on the edge of the cliffs, it was a LONG way down and we tried and tried to take pictures that show how far it really is, but it never worked.

The view from the cliffs was great.

Jeff even tried to throw rocks down to the valley and then take pictures to try to show how far down it was, but it didn't work.

The clouds looked pretty ominous and we decided we should get back near the campsite before it really started raining again.

We liked hanging out on the cliffs so much that we decided to have dinner on a cliff near the tent. Dinner was MREs that Jeff got at an Army surplus store. I was not too excited about them, I assumed everything in there would taste like cardboard or worse.

Jeff put the "chicken fajita" into the heating unit. While we waited for that to heat up, we ate some crackers that did taste like salty cardboard and peanut butter, which didn't taste like cardboard, but didn't taste like peanut butter either.

The warm chicken fajita stuff

The "cheese" for the fajitas was salty cheese whizish stuff. That's me squeezing cheese onto my tortilla.

First taste of MRE chicken fajita, I'm obviously not too excited about it, but it wasn't bad. After a couple of bites Jeff found the "fajita seasoning packet" and we added some of that, then it actually tasted kinda like fajitas, we decided the seasoning packet was the essence of that entire meal.

Jeff drinking MRE cappucino beverage.
After dinner we hiked around some more with our flashlights, we hiked up a mountain to a viewing platform, you could see forever from up there! While we were up there the sky started to clear a little and we could see a few stars come out. A few minutes later the sky was full of stars! We walked back to our dinner cliff to watch the stars a little more, but the clouds were already rolling back in, so the stars were diappearing fast. You could only see the stars for about 20 minutes, so we were lucky to see them. I'm pretty sure we walked and hiked at least 10 miles on Saturday, maybe more, so we slept pretty well considering we were camping.

We hiked out to the truck Sunday morning. and found a couple of geocaches on the way

We went back to Pedernales Falls to hike and climb on the rocks since it wasn't raining.

Some of the rocks are huge!

climbing up on top of a really big rock

made it! look at the cool cliffs!

and waterfalls! The waterfalls were so loud we couldn't hear each other talk at all.

It's amazing how much different the river looks here than down by the camping and swimming areas.

Pretty bald cypress trees

Jeff by some cool bald cypress trees

We found this little lizard

We had so much fun and can't wait to do it again! Jeff says he might want to go back for his birthday in June.

Bike to Work Day

I was excited about Bike to Work day in Austin since I have never lived anywhere where biking to work is celebrated before. I ride my bike to work most of the time and I really enjoy it. For Bike to work day, there were about 10 or 15 breakfast stops around town and 4 of them were pretty much on my way to work. I got up a little earlier than usual so I would have time to hang out at each stop. First stop was the Peddler bike shop, I was excited about this one because I ride by the Peddler everyday and I had never stopped in before. The Texas Culinary Academy made ham and cheese breakfast pastries and homemade croissants and fruit- yum! I talked with a few people there, one girl who decided to use Bike to work day to start riding to work, and a guy who does almost my opposite commute, he lives off 51st and works near 183. A few people were admiring my bike and asked about the Brooks saddle and hand grips. One of the Austin Culinary Academy chefs told me it was a really sweet bike.
Stop 2 was the Orange Bike Project stop at Speedway and 21st. They had breakfast tacos and fruit. At this stop a couple of guys really liked the drum brakes and internally geared hub on my bike. Next stop was the parking kiosk at 24th and Whitis. All the parking attendants were giving out apples and granola bars for Bike to work breakfasts. I also signed up to win something at that stop, I’m not sure what, but maybe I’ll win and find out.
The last stop for me was Freewheeling Bicycles, I was excited about this one because I heard they were going to have Cuatros breakfast tacos, I love their regular tacos so I assumed their breakfast tacos would be yummy too. I was not disappointed. I told the people from Cuatros that they had the best breakfast tacos at Bike to work day. They asked if I had been to all the stops, unfortunately I hadn’t because I had to go to work (maybe next year). I saw my neighbor, Jim at Freewheeling too and chatted with him. The guys at Freewheeling mostly liked the teakwood rims on my bike and the fact that it’s an old steel frame. I talked with the owner of Freewheeling for a few minutes too, he seemed really happy with the turnout for Bike to work day. We decided that no one should have to work on Bike to work day so we could stop at all the stops, but then we decided that might defeat the purpose. So instead we decided Bike to work day should stay the same and there should also be National Bike Day, where no one has to work and everyone just rides their bikes around all day.

Armadillo Hill Country Classic and The Rookie

Last Friday night Larry came out from Houston to ride the Armadillo Hill Country Classic ride on Saturday morning. We went to Mother’s Café for dinner. I think Larry was a little skeptical when we told him everything there is vegetarian, but he was impressed when he got his food.
Saturday morning Larry and I drove up to Liberty Hill for the ride. It was a beautiful day for riding and the Austin Cycling Association did a super job organizing the ride. I did 43 miles, it was hilly, but it actually felt a little less hilly than the last time I rode in Liberty Hill at the Spokes & Spurs ride. I’m not sure if it really was less hilly or if I’m getting stronger riding on the hills. I really enjoyed this ride, just had a great time the entire day. When I finished riding I had lunch and found a good spot to watch people coming in and wait for Larry. Larry ended up riding 100 miles! He broke a spoke on his rear wheel about halfway through and luckily a really nice woman from Team in Training traded him wheels, she had finished her ride and driven out to check on her teammates. When Larry finished the first thing he said was “that was EXTREMELY hilly!” Compared to Houston that ride was definitely extremely hilly! But I think Larry is ready for more hills, the other day he sent me an email “when is the next Austin ride? Must ride more hills!”
Photo by Tom Marek
On Sunday I went down to the Texas Ski Ranch to volunteer at The Rookie Triathlon. A few of my Tri Zones friends were racing and a few others were volunteering, so I was looking forward to spectating and hanging out with friends while volunteering. Sandra, Annette, and I volunteered at the finish line. It was an action packed spot and it was fun to see my friends cross the finish line up close. Brendan Hansen the Olympic swimmer was there with Pure Sport and he was handing out towels at the finish. It was pretty awesome to get swimming advice from an Olympic medal winner! He is taking the year off from swimming (but still swimming 4000m 3 times a week) and thinking about doing a triathlon this summer. There is a picture of Sandra and I with Brendan, but it's on Kristen's camera and she hasn't found the computer cord for it yet.

First Thursday

Jeff, Jim, and I went out to First Thursday tonight, it was a beautiful evening and we had a great time! We started at Homeslice Pizza and managed to get there before it got too busy. Jim had never been to Homeslice before and of course he was really impressed with the super yummy pizza.

Jim and I near Guero's

After pizza, we walked down to Hey Cupcake and Jim got a red velvet cupcake, Jeff and I had eaten too much pizza for cupcakes. Then we walked SoCo and checked out all the stands with photos, painting, jewelry, clothes, and all kinds of other stuff. We went into lots of the shops including the Big Top Candy Shop, Jeff and I had never been there before and I'm pretty sure they had every kind of candy in the world! Jim went crazy in there! He must have said 5 times "Heather, you shouldn't have brought me in here" and ended up with a big bag of all kinds of different candy.

Jeff and I in front of Jo's Coffee. Jeff was really excited about his CAN of Shiner.

We found Vince at his Jamacian stand and talked with him.

We saw this dog with tiger stripes! The stripes looked and felt totally real, but the dog's owner said a guy near Hey Cupcake had painted them on!

We walked down to Lucy in Disguise, Jeff and Jim had never been there before and were really impressed with the number and variety of costumes, they must have over a million costumes in there. Jim and one of the workers about his age reminisced about leisure suits and platform shoes with goldfish in the heels!

Just down the street a groups of was giving out "Free Hugs" everyone walking by was hugging them and they looked like they were having so much fun! That's me holding the pink sign.
As we were walking to the car, we heard a marching band coming toward us. Jim is a drummer so of course we had to stop and watch. It wasn't actually a marching band, but a casual group of drummer playing and walking down the sidewalk.

Skeese Greets Triathlon

The Tri Zones team at the Skeese Greets Triathon. Photo by Tom Marek

Saturday after Ingrid got into town, we went over to Lane 4 to get her packet for the Cap 2 K swim (she had an awesome swim on Sunday morning!), and I got a new swimsuit and goggles. Then Jeff, Ingrid and I went to dinner at Chez Zee for dinner. I went to bed early since I was planning to leave home at 5am. When I got up Sunday morning, it was raining. I looked at the radar and it looked like it would probably stop. It rained all the way to the Texas Ski Ranch, but it stopped just after I got there.

Coach Tracy trying to make me look tall. Photo by Tom Marek

As soon as I got there there I saw Sarah G. and Tom and Carolyn were body marking. I racked my bike right next to Julie M. We had a Tri Zones team rack, which was a lot of fun. It was so much fun to see so many of my Tri Zones teammates before the race and to wish the beginners good luck, this was the very first triathlon for many of them!Some of the first time triathletes! Photo by Tom Marek

Me in transition
Coach Jen in transition
Sandra in transition
Julie M and I doing a swim warm up. Photo by Tim McDonald
Julie M and i at the swim start. Photo by Tim McDonald

Julie M. and I did a swim warm up, the water was a little dirty and mucky at the bottom, but the temperature was perfect. Desiree Ficker sang the National Anthem, who knew she could sing too! and then the first wave took off, I was in the second wave and lined up right at the front, I look over and right beside me was Desiree Ficker! I told her she did a great job singing and she said "oh thank you so much! That was WAY harder than racing" How often do you get to start a race right next to a world class professional triathlete!

I had a good swim, I really tried to focus on my technique and swimming strong vs. swimmng fast (with bad technique) and I feel like it worked well. Even though there were a lot of people in my wave, I felt like it was easy to find my own space in the water and I didn't really run into anyone and didn't really have anyone run into me either. My swim time was 8:02.

The pavement from the swim to transition was really wet from the rain, and it was super slick, so I walked from the swim to transition, my transition was pretty long at 3:43. I got out on the bike course and quickly realized that even though a few people had told me the bike course was "mostly flat" it was pretty hilly by my standards. The hills were all doable, nothing as steep as at Decker, but there were definitely some fairly long tough hills. It was a fun bike ride, I had fun seeing so many Tri Zoners out there. Going up a hill, someone passed me and said "nice job", I replied breathlessly "thanks, you too" then I realized it was Coach Tracy! All of a sudden I wasn't so out of breath! "hey! I didn't realize that was you!" She said something about not recognizing me at first and that I was doing great as she powered by me up the hill. It's amazing how seeing someone you know can give you a boost of energy! I finished the bike in 47:31, a little slower than I'd wanted, but I was also expecting a "mostly flat" course. As I came in to transition, I heard Tom yell my name, as usual Tom and Carolyn were all over the place taking pictures! Thanks so much guys!

Photo by Tom Marek
finishing the bike, it looks like I'm smiling pretty for the camera, but I didn't see Tom at all, just heard him yell my name, he's just that good a photographer and caught me at the right moment!
Photo by Tom Marek
A few of the awesome Tri Zones volunteers Coach Gina, Coach Cindy, Little Pam and Vickie

In T2, I saw Sandra and we left transition at the same time and she said, "great! now we can run together". T2 was 1:33. Sandra and I ran together a lot during half marathon training. We ran the first mile together and saw lots of Tri Zoners heading back for the finish, we high fived Coach Tracy, Coach Jen, Julie and a few others. At the turnaround, I tried to get a cup of water, but ended up with Powerade, I never drink powerade, I thought about turning around and getting water, but I just drank a little of the powerade, I slowed down enough during this that Sandra got a little ahead of me, I thought about really trying to catch her, but I knew we still had a hill to run up at the end and I was already working pretty hard, plus Sandra is usually a little faster than me. I saw lots of the Tri Zones beginners going out on the run as I was coming in, I high fived a few, and cheered them on! As I came back toward the finish, I saw Sarah G. and high fived Kendra. My run was 20:03.

Almost finished. Photo by Tom Marek

I had a great race and a lot of fun! I ended up finishing in 1:20:53. Photo by Tom Marek
After I finished a few of us walked out a little way to cheer for the rest of the Tri Zoners. Coach Jen won her age group, Jody won her age group, and I think a couple of other Tri Zoners placed in their age groups.
Jody with her first place award. Photo by Tom Marek
Coach Jen accepting her first place award

The Kindness of Tri Zoners

This morning Tri Zones had the first open water swim practice of the season out at Decker Lake (where Danskin, Longhorn and Couples tris are). I got there early to help the beginners. But as soon as I got out of the truck to say hi and figure out what was going on, I realized I had locked my keys in the truck! oops! And of course I hadn't taken anything out of the truck yet. I was wearing my swimsuit under my clothes, but my wetsuit, goggles, swim cap, phone, wallet and everything else was locked in the truck.

I eventually decided I could get someone to take me over to Performance so I could get Jeff's keys and walk home, then when Ingrid got to town we could go get the truck and then I could go do packet pickup for Skeese Greets.

I also decided I could still help the beginners, I just wouldn't be able to really do my swim after with out goggles and everything. I figured I'd be really cold just hanging out in the water without a wetsuit.

But then everyone started showing up and I got at least 20-30 offers to help me out. I really don't even know how many times people said, I have extra, goggles, swim cap, towel, etc. etc. I ended up borrowing $1 from Julie M. for park entrance fee, a swim cap from Julie W., goggles from Susan, a towel from Sandra, and food from Kenneth and Vickie.

The water wasn't even that cold without a wetsuit. We helped the beginners for about an hour and they did an awesome job! After the beginner swim, those of us who had been helping out did our swim. I had a good swim, I think I only did about 600 m or so (couldn't miss my ride!), but Decker is a really nice place to swim and I really enjoyed it.

Jenny took me to Performance and on the way I told her my plan for getting into the truck and she said, "well why don't I just bring you back to get the truck now, that way you don't have to wait for Ingrid to get here and worry about getting your packet before they close" That was awesome!

Thank you so much to everyone who offered to let borrow stuff yesterday!! I really appreciate it. and a super huge thank you to Jenny for taking me to get Jeff's keys and then driving me all the way back to Decker to get the truck! You guys are the BEST!