2007 New Orleans Jazz Fest
A group of 10 of us traveled to New Orleans this weekend for Jazz Fest. Below are just some of the memories:
Friday
Are we there yet?
Backseat porn (in the car next to us)
Shell or Chevron?
You gonna be that way all weekend, Bret?
Can we eat at Chilis?
Remoulade!
Want to see my compost pile?
Sweet Caroline!
Does anyone know what this is?
Saturday
It's Showtime!
David bringing sexy back
Slap ya mama!
How do you get an elephant out of a safeway bag?
Crawfish bread and orange mandarin tea
Rebirth
Smoking is SO last year
Helen and Lisa's flip flop
David, what did you do for those beads?
Hey baby, wanna party? We're going to the seminary!
Funky Butt
I am sixteen going on seventeen
Sunday
I got me a photography degree!
HOOOO
CHEE
The Rocks of Harmony
I wish you well
Slap ya mama (again)
Who around here voted for Bush?
For you guys, I'll do it for $15
B-E-A-utiful sunset
photos at left
All for now,
Lisa
Monday, April 30, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
Biking it to Austin!
This past weekend, I rode my bicycle over 150 miles to Austin. Well, I wasn't alone. 12,999 cyclists went with me! I did the MS150 bike tour.
It took 2 days and was my fourth time to ride my bike to Austin. I had an incredible time. Especially, the last day, after lunch, when I and 9 others steamed into Austin in a draft line.
But there is so much to the bike ride than actually riding your bike. As a matter of fact, I wrote the following in an email to some fellow riders, who had not ridden it before, where one was talking about the more hard-core cyclists:
Safety
Personally, I had one or two close calls - where my breath was taken away when I got too close to a wheel in front of me - but I am so thankful for arriving safely to Austin. I'm sure there were more, but I know of just one person (so sorry Marie) who was injured on the ride. The good news is that I do believe Marie was able to finish the ride.
Fun
Yes! The fun started when we got to our off-site starting location at 6:00. The fog had rolled in pretty heavily that morning so we were delayed a bit. But it surely was nice to start away from the crowds and to have a bathroom at the ready! Thanks Scott!! (And speaking of being thankful, I am also so thankful to Tarek for the EARLY MORNING drop off, Stacy for the showers in Austin, and Melissa for the roundtrip pickup in Austin!)
There were a lot of fun things along the way. I saw a bicycle built for 3!!! A unicyclist (whom I think made it all the way to Austin). I saw plenty of fun things attached to bicycle helmets and innovative bicycles. The funniest "flick flub" I saw was the huge MS150 welcome banner in Fayetteville. It said "MS150 welcomes you to Fayettville". If I had been faster with the camera, I would have gotten it on film!
Now, the bicyclist's banter was a lot of fun too. Mostly inside jokes, but lots going around. It made the miles go by very quickly. For instance, if I said bananas and sunblock to you, you probably might raise an eyebrow in question. But it would cause some of my fellow riders to snicker!
Strength
As some of you know, I have a fairly bad knee resulting from knee surgery 20 years ago. Basically, the maniscus was removed and my knee is now "bone on bone" and, resulting, I have a large bone spur. So, long story short, it's painful. However, the Lord was so merciful. I am so thankful that I was able to "ride the park" - which is the most challenging portion of the bike ride. But I have a more touching memory of strength. And it involves a bit of a confession. Although we were not allowed to listen to ipods while on our bikes, I confess, I did listen, but only the last 5 miles coming into La Grange. But it was worth it! I had downloaded Lincoln Brewster's version of "Everlasting God" right before leaving for the trip and synched it to my ipod without listening to it. So, the first time I heard the song was the last few miles coming into La Grange. The song is great; I love it. But it was this version that got me. At the very end, there was a small child reciting scripture. Man, it brings tears to my eyes just as I type this. The child was reciting Isaiah 40:31:
I wasn't expecting that! But it surely came at the right time. Praise Him!
Divine Appointments
This is a wonderful story that happened to one of my fellow riders. It was his first MS ride and, initially, he was mostly doing it for the goal of riding to Austin. However, God had another idea. It was the last lunch of the last day that he happened to meet a woman who had MS. Her story was amazing and he was able to put a face to this tragic disease. As he told me the story of meeting this woman, tears welled up in his eyes and I just knew the Lord had met them there also. He was even able to pray with her. Praise Him ever more!!
Well, that's a quick story of the MS. So much more than a simple bike ride.
photos left.
All for now,
Lisa
This past weekend, I rode my bicycle over 150 miles to Austin. Well, I wasn't alone. 12,999 cyclists went with me! I did the MS150 bike tour.
It took 2 days and was my fourth time to ride my bike to Austin. I had an incredible time. Especially, the last day, after lunch, when I and 9 others steamed into Austin in a draft line.
But there is so much to the bike ride than actually riding your bike. As a matter of fact, I wrote the following in an email to some fellow riders, who had not ridden it before, where one was talking about the more hard-core cyclists:
Yes, some people do the whole bike ride in one day (and are in Austin byI re-read that now that I've finished the ride and couldn't agree more. In fact, before we got on our bikes the first day, we specifically prayed for safety, fun, strength, and divine appointments. And God met us there! I thank Him for providing all of that and more. And I can tell you specifically about all four:
3:00). It's amazing. I'm not in that category... but then again, the
journey is fun, but you have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy it as you
ride (and not get caught up in finishing fast). There are amazing views,
and amazing people along the path. Truly, in the 3 times I've done it,
that's what I remember most (not what time I get to where).
Safety
Personally, I had one or two close calls - where my breath was taken away when I got too close to a wheel in front of me - but I am so thankful for arriving safely to Austin. I'm sure there were more, but I know of just one person (so sorry Marie) who was injured on the ride. The good news is that I do believe Marie was able to finish the ride.
Fun
Yes! The fun started when we got to our off-site starting location at 6:00. The fog had rolled in pretty heavily that morning so we were delayed a bit. But it surely was nice to start away from the crowds and to have a bathroom at the ready! Thanks Scott!! (And speaking of being thankful, I am also so thankful to Tarek for the EARLY MORNING drop off, Stacy for the showers in Austin, and Melissa for the roundtrip pickup in Austin!)
There were a lot of fun things along the way. I saw a bicycle built for 3!!! A unicyclist (whom I think made it all the way to Austin). I saw plenty of fun things attached to bicycle helmets and innovative bicycles. The funniest "flick flub" I saw was the huge MS150 welcome banner in Fayetteville. It said "MS150 welcomes you to Fayettville". If I had been faster with the camera, I would have gotten it on film!
Now, the bicyclist's banter was a lot of fun too. Mostly inside jokes, but lots going around. It made the miles go by very quickly. For instance, if I said bananas and sunblock to you, you probably might raise an eyebrow in question. But it would cause some of my fellow riders to snicker!
Strength
As some of you know, I have a fairly bad knee resulting from knee surgery 20 years ago. Basically, the maniscus was removed and my knee is now "bone on bone" and, resulting, I have a large bone spur. So, long story short, it's painful. However, the Lord was so merciful. I am so thankful that I was able to "ride the park" - which is the most challenging portion of the bike ride. But I have a more touching memory of strength. And it involves a bit of a confession. Although we were not allowed to listen to ipods while on our bikes, I confess, I did listen, but only the last 5 miles coming into La Grange. But it was worth it! I had downloaded Lincoln Brewster's version of "Everlasting God" right before leaving for the trip and synched it to my ipod without listening to it. So, the first time I heard the song was the last few miles coming into La Grange. The song is great; I love it. But it was this version that got me. At the very end, there was a small child reciting scripture. Man, it brings tears to my eyes just as I type this. The child was reciting Isaiah 40:31:
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
I wasn't expecting that! But it surely came at the right time. Praise Him!
Divine Appointments
This is a wonderful story that happened to one of my fellow riders. It was his first MS ride and, initially, he was mostly doing it for the goal of riding to Austin. However, God had another idea. It was the last lunch of the last day that he happened to meet a woman who had MS. Her story was amazing and he was able to put a face to this tragic disease. As he told me the story of meeting this woman, tears welled up in his eyes and I just knew the Lord had met them there also. He was even able to pray with her. Praise Him ever more!!
Well, that's a quick story of the MS. So much more than a simple bike ride.
photos left.
All for now,
Lisa
Monday, April 16, 2007
The Adventure Continues
Perhaps this blog entry should aptly be renamed, The Adventure (Racing) Begins, because I competed in my first Adventure Race at Inks Lake this past weekend!
For those of you who have never heard of an adventure race, it's kinda like competing in a triathlon in a state park. You compete in multiple events, each timed (even the transition is timed). The events I competed in (with my race partner, Jon) included a mystery event, paddling, mountain biking, and trail running (all while orienteering and navigating to hidden check points).
Our race was a "sprint" race, which meant that it would only be one day (we started at 9:00 and the course would be closed at 6:00). There are some races which will continue over multiple days (can you believe??)
So, here's our story:
Four of us drove up to Inks Lake Friday night (through some pretty fierce thunderstorms). However, praise God, the rain stopped just in time for us to set up our tents (we were to camp the whole weekend at Inks Lake). The race folks were amazed that two teams fit into one car to make the drive up to Inks Lake. Actually, we were pretty amazed it all fit into one car also! One kayak, 4 bikes, 4 people and their stuff (race stuff, camp stuff, personal stuff) all crammed into my 11 year old Toyota 4-Runner (which was dubbed "Myrtle" for the trip).
Saturday morning came early as we had been advised to put "slime" inner tubes in our tires due to the abundant cactus in the park (more about the cactus later). So, having a quick power breakfast, changing our inner tubes, then setting up our transition area became our order of events before the real "pre-race" events began.
At 8:30, the race directors gave us the "coordinate points" for leg 2 of the race. Leg 2, that's right. They gave us 30 minutes to plot the points then come back to the start to receive leg 1 coordinates (since leg 2 was the paddle event, they had to give us something to break up the masses. They didn't want everyone dashing for their boats at the same time). The first leg was a mystery event of sorts... had to figure out the clues to run to different points in the park. Once finished, we went straight for our canoe.
This is where the interesting leg began as the wind on Saturday was as strong as I've seen it! So strong, in fact, there were white caps on the water (it looked more like an ocean than a small lake). What was more challenging was the fact that the wind whipped around a couple of times while we were out on the lake! It seemed as if we were ALWAYS canoeing against the wind. We finally finished our canoe check points and headed back to dock our canoe. Once docked, we received our biking coordinates. While Jon plotted them, I changed clothes as I was soaked from being in the front of the canoe (whew!).
Off to the biking portion! Well, the half biking / half trekking with your bike portion! The trails were actually hiking trails, not biking trails, so some of the course was too rocky (way too rocky) to navigate on a bike. The trails were beautiful though!!! I don't think I've seen as vibrant of bluebonnets as are what is at Inks Lake. But don't take your eyes off the course! The cactus are right there among the bluebonnets. And I know very intimately how prickly cactus can be. I actually fell into cactus (well, right by it... where are the spines had fallen). Yes, I got a backside full of cactus spines. OUYEEEE!!! That's all I could yell as I sat smack dab on my backside. Jon turned around and came back to check on me. After I got up and got most of the ones I could see off me, I realized my backside must have looked like a pin cushion. After we got as many off as we could, we headed back to camp (we had gotten all our check points by the time). I managed to sit "just right" on my bike to avoid the sharp pain. When we got back to camp, I had hoped to find either some tweezers or some duck tape (neither of which I could find). The EMT, Mary, ended up getting an up-close and personal view of my backside and she plucked with her fingers one-by-one the cactus spines from my backside. I'm forever indebted to her!! Thank you Mary!! Well, with still quite a few spines in my backside (and yet another clothes change), and after Jon did his wonderful job with mapping the trekking check points, we were off to the trails!
The trekking portion had six checkpoints and let me tell you Jon honed in on them like a magnet! It was amazing. My favorite checkpoint was "top of the world" and we stopped to get some photos while we were up there. We made it back to the transition area around 5:15.
The bottom line is that I had a great time on this race, challenged myself, saw some beautiful country, had a great time with my race partner, Jon, and thoroughly enjoyed meeting a lot of new and interesting folks.
More adventures to come. Next week is the MS150!
All for now,
Lisa
P.S. Photos at left
Perhaps this blog entry should aptly be renamed, The Adventure (Racing) Begins, because I competed in my first Adventure Race at Inks Lake this past weekend!
For those of you who have never heard of an adventure race, it's kinda like competing in a triathlon in a state park. You compete in multiple events, each timed (even the transition is timed). The events I competed in (with my race partner, Jon) included a mystery event, paddling, mountain biking, and trail running (all while orienteering and navigating to hidden check points).
Our race was a "sprint" race, which meant that it would only be one day (we started at 9:00 and the course would be closed at 6:00). There are some races which will continue over multiple days (can you believe??)
So, here's our story:
Four of us drove up to Inks Lake Friday night (through some pretty fierce thunderstorms). However, praise God, the rain stopped just in time for us to set up our tents (we were to camp the whole weekend at Inks Lake). The race folks were amazed that two teams fit into one car to make the drive up to Inks Lake. Actually, we were pretty amazed it all fit into one car also! One kayak, 4 bikes, 4 people and their stuff (race stuff, camp stuff, personal stuff) all crammed into my 11 year old Toyota 4-Runner (which was dubbed "Myrtle" for the trip).
Saturday morning came early as we had been advised to put "slime" inner tubes in our tires due to the abundant cactus in the park (more about the cactus later). So, having a quick power breakfast, changing our inner tubes, then setting up our transition area became our order of events before the real "pre-race" events began.
At 8:30, the race directors gave us the "coordinate points" for leg 2 of the race. Leg 2, that's right. They gave us 30 minutes to plot the points then come back to the start to receive leg 1 coordinates (since leg 2 was the paddle event, they had to give us something to break up the masses. They didn't want everyone dashing for their boats at the same time). The first leg was a mystery event of sorts... had to figure out the clues to run to different points in the park. Once finished, we went straight for our canoe.
This is where the interesting leg began as the wind on Saturday was as strong as I've seen it! So strong, in fact, there were white caps on the water (it looked more like an ocean than a small lake). What was more challenging was the fact that the wind whipped around a couple of times while we were out on the lake! It seemed as if we were ALWAYS canoeing against the wind. We finally finished our canoe check points and headed back to dock our canoe. Once docked, we received our biking coordinates. While Jon plotted them, I changed clothes as I was soaked from being in the front of the canoe (whew!).
Off to the biking portion! Well, the half biking / half trekking with your bike portion! The trails were actually hiking trails, not biking trails, so some of the course was too rocky (way too rocky) to navigate on a bike. The trails were beautiful though!!! I don't think I've seen as vibrant of bluebonnets as are what is at Inks Lake. But don't take your eyes off the course! The cactus are right there among the bluebonnets. And I know very intimately how prickly cactus can be. I actually fell into cactus (well, right by it... where are the spines had fallen). Yes, I got a backside full of cactus spines. OUYEEEE!!! That's all I could yell as I sat smack dab on my backside. Jon turned around and came back to check on me. After I got up and got most of the ones I could see off me, I realized my backside must have looked like a pin cushion. After we got as many off as we could, we headed back to camp (we had gotten all our check points by the time). I managed to sit "just right" on my bike to avoid the sharp pain. When we got back to camp, I had hoped to find either some tweezers or some duck tape (neither of which I could find). The EMT, Mary, ended up getting an up-close and personal view of my backside and she plucked with her fingers one-by-one the cactus spines from my backside. I'm forever indebted to her!! Thank you Mary!! Well, with still quite a few spines in my backside (and yet another clothes change), and after Jon did his wonderful job with mapping the trekking check points, we were off to the trails!
The trekking portion had six checkpoints and let me tell you Jon honed in on them like a magnet! It was amazing. My favorite checkpoint was "top of the world" and we stopped to get some photos while we were up there. We made it back to the transition area around 5:15.
The bottom line is that I had a great time on this race, challenged myself, saw some beautiful country, had a great time with my race partner, Jon, and thoroughly enjoyed meeting a lot of new and interesting folks.
More adventures to come. Next week is the MS150!
All for now,
Lisa
P.S. Photos at left
Friday, April 06, 2007
Seeing the Cross
Outside the campus of my company's worldquarters in San Ramon, CA, there is a wonderful view of a simple cross on a mountain. I had not noticed it until a coworker pointed it out last time I was there. He told me a story of how a friend of his knew the people who built it. A few weeks later, he sent me (and his friend) some photos he took with his camera phone (one of them is at left). Well, his friend (and now my friend!) sent me some WONDERFUL shots of the cross. Here they are:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/131/412247606_d11566fc62_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/152/371356584_1cd8ff3aa0_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/124/321593363_fa3ed1886f_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/110/277921763_2d4f58e51f_o.jpg
He also told me the rest of the story of the cross on that mountainside. Here are his words:
I urge you to see the cross clearly as we enter this Easter season. I pray for you a reflective day as we observe Good Friday today... to discover the real meaning of Easter - Jesus Christ loves you.
Outside the campus of my company's worldquarters in San Ramon, CA, there is a wonderful view of a simple cross on a mountain. I had not noticed it until a coworker pointed it out last time I was there. He told me a story of how a friend of his knew the people who built it. A few weeks later, he sent me (and his friend) some photos he took with his camera phone (one of them is at left). Well, his friend (and now my friend!) sent me some WONDERFUL shots of the cross. Here they are:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/131/412247606_d11566fc62_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/152/371356584_1cd8ff3aa0_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/124/321593363_fa3ed1886f_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/110/277921763_2d4f58e51f_o.jpg
He also told me the rest of the story of the cross on that mountainside. Here are his words:
My wife used to attend a Bible study with the lady who lives up
there. She and her husband run a farm (ranch?) with cattle and such.
Her husband wanted to do something to show his faith and decided on putting up a
cross on the ridge. They tried several things using large pipes and such
but nothing was very visible. A neighbor asked them to help him dispose of
a large dumpster that was falling apart. They took the dumpster, cut it
apart and welded it into the cross. They had to drag it up the hill with a
large tractor as the cross weighs about 3000 lbs. Then came the inevitable
legal challenges. Nothing too serious but they did end up having to get a
“use permit” from the county.
And now you know the rest of the story!
John Wright
http://bikejohnsdailyphoto.blogspot.com
I urge you to see the cross clearly as we enter this Easter season. I pray for you a reflective day as we observe Good Friday today... to discover the real meaning of Easter - Jesus Christ loves you.
All for now,
Lisa
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Austin Adventure
Two words... LOVED IT!!!
This past weekend, a few friends went to Austin for an adventure. We all had a great time. The weather could not have been better (were were slackjawed in amazement). It was absolutely gorgeous.
Friday night began our fun with an outing to Threadgills (we were hoping for some live music). Dinner was great though.
Saturday moning, we drove to Boomer's Rocky Hill Ranch for some trail riding. The bluebonnets at the top were fantastic... and even though there was heavy rain Friday night, we made it up to the top on our own (we didn't need no stinkin' ride!) But because of the rain, there were probably a few more water hazards than usual... which only made for a more interesting trip.
We made it back to base around 2:30... just in time to clean up our bikes, get back to Austin, and head to Town Lake for some kayaking! After munching down on some good fajitas, we kayaked to the Congress Avenue bridge just in time for sunset (and the big bat release!!!)
Migas at Trudy's began our Sunday morning... only to be topped off by worship at Austin Stone Community Church.
Our leisurely drive back was dotted by beautiful vistas of bluebonnets... and a great burger in Bastrop.
Photos at left.
All for now,
Lisa
Two words... LOVED IT!!!
This past weekend, a few friends went to Austin for an adventure. We all had a great time. The weather could not have been better (were were slackjawed in amazement). It was absolutely gorgeous.
Friday night began our fun with an outing to Threadgills (we were hoping for some live music). Dinner was great though.
Saturday moning, we drove to Boomer's Rocky Hill Ranch for some trail riding. The bluebonnets at the top were fantastic... and even though there was heavy rain Friday night, we made it up to the top on our own (we didn't need no stinkin' ride!) But because of the rain, there were probably a few more water hazards than usual... which only made for a more interesting trip.
We made it back to base around 2:30... just in time to clean up our bikes, get back to Austin, and head to Town Lake for some kayaking! After munching down on some good fajitas, we kayaked to the Congress Avenue bridge just in time for sunset (and the big bat release!!!)
Migas at Trudy's began our Sunday morning... only to be topped off by worship at Austin Stone Community Church.
Our leisurely drive back was dotted by beautiful vistas of bluebonnets... and a great burger in Bastrop.
Photos at left.
All for now,
Lisa
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