Tympanic Membrane.

I was wakeboarding. I landed on my ear. My face hurts from the bottom of my jaw to above my temple. Sometimes, there is some ooze that blocks my hearing. Other times, it drains out and life is good for a while. I feel like I just came out of the gym after a high school dance and all the sounds are muffled. Luckily, that is only in one ear.

So now I sit on the internet looking at fish porn. This is a good one. Fishy Steve has started a blog here. I also got health insurance. It has been a long debate (is it worth paying monthly for a service that I will rarely use, or is it cheaper to just pay when something goes wrong) with myself. I gave in and went with Tonik, a Blue Cross plan.
We are planning a trip to Vancouver Island for this weekend that we have off. Stay tuned!

This week,

Ben has gone to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Before he left, we sailed his boat to a dock where it can stay for the winter. The wind was blowing the strongest it has been all week, so we had a lot of fun. Check out the two pictures. The look on everyone's face in the first pictures is great. totally not posed, we were actually a little concerned about how far over the boat was leaning. Ben knows what he is doing, but likes to push the limits and has a broken wrist. Courtenay looks scared and Moj can't see beacuse the wind is pushing her hat in her face!

A 3 hour tour.

Bury the rails!

 We went on a 3 day camping and fishing trip into the mountains of Washington. The morning that we left, I saw a Bald Eagle scoop something out of the lake right in front of the house. It was amazing.

 This is how we prepare.

Then we got ready for our trip and took off east. The mountains are beautiful and remind me a lot of Colorado. It was cloudy and rainy in Seattle, but 75 and sunny on the other side of the mountains.

 

The fishing was successful.

I caught about 40 fish over the 3 days. None of them over 10 inches. Icicle Creek is magical on small orange stimulators. The Skykomish provided lots of fun as well. I tried putting larger flies on to deter the small fish, but these trout are aggressive. The prince nymphs were a hit and the royal wulff was decent as well. Anything orange was good, but stimmies killed it. I think that my new outfit helped with my luck. Before Ben left we got dressed for the day and we were both amused.

Ben and I in our respective outfits.

I recently picked up some sweet Simms Guide Boots and Simms Headwaters Stockingfoot waders. It made my trip much more comfortable as Icicle Creek is as cold as its name implies! Here is a short video of me getting a little fish and letting him go.

Then, returning to the Collins' household, we brought a box of peaches and Ben's mom showed us how to make peach cobbler. We showed her how to eat it.

Mmmmm.

Mojdeh pickled green beans.

I made some pesto.

It has been a great week. Now we are off to work. Maybe I can get an hour in on the trainer.

Lake Washington

 

Last week's race.

I am having a blast hanging out with old friends from Hawai'i. Ben has taken us wakeboarding and tubing on the lake almost everyday.

 The good life.

His girlfriend Courtenay won the largest women's race in North America this weekend. Trish is doing the Leadville 100 running race next weekend.

If you look closely, you can see the baby fish that I caught off the dock in front of Ben's house. It was great to see an evening rise and be able to go out and catch one. Size doesn't matter!
Life.Is. Good.

Lake Washington

Leaving Redding, CA we drove to Seattle over a couple of days. Arriving here was like a sigh of relief. The most important thing was that our van made it. I am always nervous for it. The weather is perfect. It has been 75 degrees with a little rain from time to time. We are staying with Ben, Courtenay, and Ben's parents. We have been out on Lake Washington everyday tubing and/or wakeboarding.

Santa Cruz Race Report.

Another triathlete reviews "In Defense of Food" here. I raced the Santa Cruz Sprint Triathlon today. Full results here. The work side of it was more mellow that the other races that we have been to. It was a fun race. I was confused at a certain point, avoided a crash (with no one else involved), and managed to rip the cleat of the bottom of my shoe. I came in 4th in my age group only 2 minutes behind the winner of my age group. The swim was freezing 59F. First my hands went numb, then my feet, then my lips and face. All in 10 minutes. The day warmed up and I felt good on the bike until my near mishap. I limped it in to transition, but didn't get passed. The run was good as only one person passed me. I loved my new shoes from Avia. I wore the Avi-Bolt II. Super comfy, no socks, no blisters, all good things to say.

Avi-Bolt II

I always like getting on the podium and I am bummed that I missed it. It is more incentive to train. I really should start that whole training thing soon. We drove up to Redding this afternoon. There are 14 fires here. Firefighters are taking most of the rooms in all of the hotels here. We have no plans to stay here longer than we need to!
Hopefully I will have pictures from the race soon. Until then, eat food, not too much, mostly plants.

Monterey.

We are in the strange town of Santa Cruz. It is nice camping in the mountains nearby. There are lots of redwoods and small streams. It would be peaceful if the 7 kids in the site next to us weren't constantly playing "war". All I hear is "Private, the Koreans are bad!" Or, "How many Vietnamese have you captured?" Someone is teaching these 10 year old kids their history. Interestingly enough, some of the kids were speaking German with their parents.

My morning view.

I thought that there would be one fancy area somewhere, but they have managed to suppress that here. We did get to see Katchafire which made us happy.

Before the show, we got to hang out and talk with the band for a minute. We hit the Monterey Bay Aquarium today with my Dad.

The jellyfish exhibit is awesome.

He is driving up the California coast by himself and happened to be here at the same time we are. This weekend, we both get to race. I have planned on looking good, no matter how the race goes!

Vineman fishing.

Vineman was fun. I really like watching people finish long distance races. Let's be real, I am here for the fishing. How's my new hat?