Kavanagh-O'Connell
Occasionally up to date

PPTC Century route

September Celebrations

Mary Ellen and I had birthdays, and a wedding anniversary, in September. So congratulations to us. These weren't the big birthdays, though. Those are next year, when there will be a kickin party.

Civil War Century Route

I rode in the Civil War Century on September 12. The 100 mile route goes through four Civil War battlefields, and has some good size hills. It was cloudy, cool and wet, so I opted to bail out of the route before Gettysburg and make it a 75 mile day. Like the Livestrong Challenge ride in Philly, I really liked climbing and descending. I'm going to try to make hills a regular part of my weekend rides.

Livestrong Philly Route

Recorded by my GPS. MapMyRide is kind of clunky, but you get to zoom in on the route if you want to do that. As you zoom in, you can see the 4 places I stopped -- my track goes off the road a bit.

Livestrong Austin

I raised $850 for the LIVESTRONG Challenge in Philly -- and I had a great weekend with Team Fatty and the LIVESTRONG folks in August. Now, I'm at it again. Although it's unlikely that I will go to Austin for the ride (there is a small chance) I am still raising money for Team Fat Cyclist. I think it is a good cause, and Team Fatty is a great way to support it.

For anyone who would like to help those fighting cancer, you can donate here.

Livestrong Challenge 2009 Philly Ride Report

or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Hills

It's customary to write a report after a ride or race -- here's mine
(update: pictures added)

The Goal Posts: How I Kept Score

I had 4 goals for the Livestrong Challenge:

1) Raise the money
2) Finish the 100 mile course
3) Stay upright
4) 5:45 riding time

The Monies: Thank You for That

The purpose of the Livestrong Challenge Ride/Run, and of Team Fat Cyclist, is to raise money to help people fight cancer and to commemorate those whose fight is over. To those of you who donated, thank you very much for contributing to my effort to be part of that. I know that there are a lot of good causes that compete for your time and money. I appreciate that you helped with this one. Raising money and awareness is the important part. The rides are just gravy. But who doesn't like delicious gravy?

My Small Part in a Big Effort
My original goal was to exceed the $250 minimum funds raised needed to participate in the Challenge ride. When it became clear (very early) that I would beat that goal, I upped it to $500. As a incentive (perverse, I freely admit) to family and friends, I promised to shave my legs if I hit the $500 goal. My college roommates, in a decades long effort to enable, and even promote, my self humiliation, put me over that threshold. With legs shaved (blood free, and oh so smooth), I raised the bar to $1,000 - and got pretty close to that, at $850.

The Big Effort
The nearly 200 Philly members of Team Fatty raised $275,000 (by far the biggest total of any team.) Fatty himself, the Team Captain, raised over $100,000. Team Fatty won every award that the Lance Armstrong Foundation has for the Challenges: most money raised by an individual, most by a team, greatest number of donors, most team members with more than $100 raised, and several more. We even won Best Team Jersey. Team Fatty is closing in on $700,000 combined total for the Seattle, San Jose, Philly and Austin Challenges, with one ride - Austin, in October - remaining.

The Story: Fatty, Team Fatty and Fighting Like Susan

Fatty
Fatty is Elden Nelson, a guy living near Salt Lake City, who a few years ago started a web site called Fat Cyclist (www.fatcyclist.com) in an effort to goad himself into losing some weight. Employing the tried and true strategy of humiliation, he posted his weight every day and wrote about cycling: his favorite rides, stories, jokes, and satire and carving a niche in the ultra competitive world of Cycling Humor blogs. For example, one of my favorite posts is about choosing your equipment.

Susan
He also started writing occasionally about his wife Susan's battle with breast cancer (he wrote about it with her blessing) that metastasized and moved to her bones and brain. Those posts are worth finding and reading. I'm unable to describe them in a way that does the story any justice, only to observe that he wrote about his wife, her gifts, her fight, cancer and the effects on his family with extreme grace.

Team Fat Cyclist
In late 2008, Fatty announced that he was forming a team to raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation through the Livestrong Challenge events. The team would enter each of the four events, with the goal of raising $1 million. The team name was Team Fat Cyclist: Fighting for Susan. After Susan died, three weeks ago, Elden changed that to Fighting Like Susan.

Team Fatty in Philadelphia has nearly 200 members. We are a virtual team; we'd never seen each other prior to this weekend, and no one had met Elden. Jen Yuan ("Philly Jen") was the co-captain and local hero.

The Kickoff: Cake Before Dinner

On Saturday afternoon, Mary Ellen, my brother Kevin, and I joined other Team Fatty folks for a meet and greet and a bit of cake - a huge and delicious cake. Fatty was there, looking shorter in real life, and drawn, like a guy who's recently been through a lot. He's not fat at all. I chatted with him about the event, and how he felt after his crash last week

Fatty won the big award at the Livestrong Appreciation dinner that night, and gave a very moving talk about Susan and cancer. He invited the team (only about 30-40 could attend the dinner) on stage and Jen made some remarks, and we danced a little dance. Elden posted a video of the speech and our little dance (I'm safely in the back.)

The Ride: Are We There, Yet?

The rides and run would start and finish at the Montgomery County Community College campus, near Blue Bell, PA. The route was shaped like a lollipop, with the "stick" heading northwest for about 15 miles, and the "candy" being an elongated loop (the 70 and 40 mile coursed closed the loop at shorter distances). The course profile was gently rolling along the "stick" with sharper slopes in the loop, including two section of bigger climbs, the longer extending from about mile 25 to mile 35, and the steeper at mile 56 or so - the big hill up to a village called Landis Store. The only part of this ride I was really concerned about (apart from the mass start) was riding up the hills; I don't do that around here. Oh, and the twisting roads down the other side. I don't practice descending, either.

There were rest stops located every 10 miles or so, with water, Gatorade, PBJ sandwiches, fruit, ice - a few had massage available and mechanics for cranky bikes. My general plan was to make four stops, at miles 20, 45, 60 and 80.

Start Me Up
On Sunday, before 6:00 AM, I joined many teammates in front of the hotel, about 5 miles from the campus. Mary Ellen drove over to the campus to volunteer. When it was time to ride to the campus, our "pace car" (with Kevin hanging out the window shooting pictures) took off far too fast, and we had a comic scramble involving about 50 cyclists chasing the car through the office park and onto the main roads.

As the top fund raising team, we were directed to the first starting pen, and would lead out the 6,500 cyclists and runners. The scheduled start time was 7:30 AM, so we had more than an hour to wait, which turned more than 90 minutes. I updated my Facebooks status a couple of times, as I decided that was my ride update vehicle. When we finally moved to the starting line, I was positioned about 4 rows from the front (although "rows" implies more structure than was apparent.) I was a bit nervous that somebody would tip over at the start and take down about 20 cyclists. By chance, I was behind two guys wearing racing kit and in front of another racer - I assumed these guys wouldn't be a problem and I could focus on not being "that guy" myself. At 8:00 AM we started - without incident - and rolled out of the campus onto the roads with a police escort. I remembered to start my bike computer which tracks distance, speed and heart rate.

Run, Rabbit, Run.
I anticipated that I would head out too fast, too soon. And I was right. Given the long wait, the fresh legs, the adrenaline and the fact that guys were hammering past, it was not possible to moderate for the first dozen miles. It wasn't just me - I was surrounded by speed freaks. The fact that at every intersection, police had stopped traffic and to let cyclists shoot through at full speed just fed the high.

Feeling Groovy
I realized that I would be a cooked goose unless I got sensible, so I slowed to a more sustainable pace and ignored the folks passing me. I was really surprised by the number of times riders passing would call out "Way to go Team Fatty" or "Great job" or the like. And there were residents sitting on their lawns with signs and balloons, cheering as we rode by. That was cool.

I rode into the rest stop around mile 20. I didn't stay long - a trip to the restroom, a couple of bites of PBJ sandwich and a refill of water, quick Facebook status update. The first uphill sections started a mile or so up the road. The sharpness of the inclines was a bit surprising. At first my heart rate shot up (I confirmed my max heart rate on this ride) and I was gasping. But then I found a rhythm for pedaling and breathing, stayed in my seat and actually began passing some riders on the inclines. I started to suspect that if I could keep this up, I could do the hills. And the hills kept coming - some short and sharp, some more gradual. I was really pleased with myself that I was rarely passed, and when I was it usually by younger, faster riders.

The descents were wild - 30-40 MPH down roads that were narrow, curving and in many places wet from condensation. I managed to avoid crashing. I didn't care who passed me on the descents.

Waiting for the Big One
I stopped at the rest area at mile 45 for more PBJs, a couple of orange slices and water. The temperature was in the upper 80s, it was sunny and the humidity was high - not a bad day for a ride. I stayed a bit longer at this stop and hoped that the rest would prevent the twinges I felt in my legs from turning into full-blown muscle cramps. I remembered to updated my Facebook status before I rolled on.

More up and down, but I was starting to enjoy it. I was more worried that it would be cramping, not fatigue or lack hill-climbing ability, that would take me off the bike on the hill up to Landis Store. The pitch would be very steep, but it would only be a mile long. I felt like I could do anything for a mile as long as I didn't cramp up.

The climb up to Landis Store was very tough for the first two thirds. Certainly a steeper pitch for a longer distance than anything I've climbed around here. Near the top, I saw Mary Ellen and Kevin on the side of the road ahead, cheering. The slope eased a bit there, and I tried to put on a smile as Kevin was shooting pictures: it looks more like a grimace in the photos. I made it to the top on my bike, without cramping - so I was pleased about that.

The rest stop at Landis Store was crowded with other riders, friends and volunteers. There were more food options, including hot dogs (I couldn't imagine eating a hot dog then.) I updated Facebook again, and spent time talking with Mary Ellen and Kevin. I stayed there a long time, eating and drinking water.

Until We Meet Again
The most distinctive memory I have of the next twenty miles or so was going up a very sharp incline, slow but steady, passing a few riders (and several folks pushing their bikes up), and hearing a woosh woosh behind me. A woman who looked maybe 20, wearing racing team gear, flew by me up the hill. She wasn't even breathing hard.

As I neared the rest area around mile 80, the road flattened and I heard a car approaching from the back. I glanced back and saw that it was my car, with Kevin hanging most of the way out of the window shooting pictures. Mary Ellen drove alongside as I rolled into the rest area, prompting somebody to ask if I had a personal photographer. Why, yes - yes, I did.

I spent only a few minutes refilling water. I should have had more to eat at that stop, and I paid in the final miles for not doing so. I was getting tired and forgot to update Facebook.

It's All Over Now
The last 15 or so miles were back along the route we had ridden out in the morning. I skipped the last rest stop at 10 miles to go. Just around the sign announcing 5 miles to go, I was really losing steam. The slope was generally slightly uphill, and the last few miles dragged on – I should have had something to eat at mile 80. Seeing the campus sign perked me up, and I rolled across the finish line feeling instantly better. As I was walking though the chute, I spotted Elden approaching. We shook hands and the first thing I said to him was "Let's do this again next year." We talked for a bit about our rides and the event. I was really impressed that he stayed at the finish greeting fellow Fatties - he was still there later as Mary Ellen and Kevin and I chatted with him again and took pictures.

The Impressions: Images I've Been Thinking about Since the Weekend

Elden's speech at the Appreciation dinner. I think everyone in the room was crying and inspired at the same time.

The countryside west of Philly is beautiful scenic rolling farmland.

The residents who came out to cheer even though we were clogging their roads, sweating and wearing lyrca.

The sound of riders frantically dumping gears to start climbing.

Mental note: if I ever get a really expensive carbon bike, I'm going to make sure that I don't walk it up a hill.

There were a lot of riders cramping on the side of the road, especially on the uphill sections.

The fantastic volunteers: friendly, helpful and thanking us for coming out to the ride.

"Way to go Team Fatty" "Great job Team Fatty" from other riders, "Go Team Fatty" "Here comes another Fatty" from the spectators.

Mary Ellen and Kevin on the climb to Landis Store.

Elden at the finish line, greeting and talking with Fatties as they came in.

Our team co-captain Philly Jen pulling together a great Team Fatty weekend.

The Hills: What About Those Hills?

I now like hills. I realize those weren't the biggest or the baddest hills around. But, there were a lot of them, with some very steep sections. I realized vaguely during the ride, and very clearly after, that I really enjoyed climbing. I can't do it fast, and I probably can't do much more of it than what I just did. But I liked it.

The Scorecard: Pretty Good

Let's see...

1) Raise the money: I surpassed my first couple of targets, but not my final - but if I had hit that, I would have set another, higher goal.
2) Finish the 100 mile course: Check.
3) Stay upright: Check
4) 5:45 riding time: I finished the course with 6:00 riding time, so I just missed.

My brother Kevin uploaded hundreds of pictures from Saturday and Sunday in the "Team Fatty" gallery at www.kevkavpix.com

Thanks again for your support!

Spring Update

The school year is winding down, with end-of-year tests for the state Standard of Learning, Advanced Placement and course finals starting to pile up.

Sean's had a great lacrosse season so far, and I'll post a few pictures soon. Katie is contemplating getting a real (read low-wage) job instead of (decent wage) babysitting gigs this summer. And the colleges are starting to send junk mail -- it seems like 5 years too early for that.

I'm spending as much time on my bike as I can (which is not as much as I want to) and putting in a few miles.

Consider giving some money to the Lance Armstrong Foundation to help fight cancer: http://philly09.livestrong.org/kellykavanagh. Many thanks to those who've already donated.

Happy Birthday

Katie had a Girls Night Out birthday party -- with some sort of chocolate mousse pie after. We'll have another family party this week with the John and Joan and Ev and Arnie and Joe.

Happy Birthday

Sean is officially a teenager today. For his birthday he got a snow day yesterday and a delayed opening today.

Another Century

Happy birthday to my Aunt Betty, who turned 100.

Fundraising update: Thank You

Thanks to Mom, and to John and Joan for donating to the 2009 LIVESTRONG Challenge. I'm closing in on the $250 minimum donation goal to ride the event. See the previous post for an update on the route, and the possibility of seeing my chicken legs.

Fundraising: 2009 LIVESTRONG Challenge

I've joined with a bunch of other folks who enjoy cycling and want to raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation to fight cancer. Eldon Nelson, Fat Cyclist, AKA "Fatty" has put together a virtual team of people to raise money for the 2009 LIVESTRONG Challenge. There will be Team Fatty riders in all four cities where the LIVESTRONG Challenge ride/run/walk takes place.

I've signed up for the 100 mile ride in Philadelphia, and I hope you'll support the effort by donating to the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

What's in it for you? Most importantly, you contribute to a worthy cause. I made a donation in memory of my Aunt and my in-laws. A secondary benefit is that your donation will give me added incentive to get fit for the 100 mile ride in the August heat. That means you'll be reducing the chances that innocent bystanders will suffer the mortification of seeing me huff and puff and collapse in a sweaty, cramping heap. And if I exceed the minimum $250 in total donations, I'll do something stupid, like shave my legs for the ride. There will be pictures -- you've been warned.

What's in it for me? I need a total of $250 in donations to attend the event. As a member of Team Fatty, I also get the chance to win cool bike gear Fatty will raffle off -- not worthy, but fun.

By the way, if I can't ride the event due to injury or family or work considerations, I'll ride 100 miles in a day on the Washington and Old Dominion Trail. I'll take photos, including hairless legs, and send copies to everyone who donated to my 2009 LIVESTRONG Challenge fund raising page.

Go to http://philly09.livestrong.org/kellykavanagh to make a donation.

And thanks!

UPDATE: I hadn't anticipated the hills... Ascent 6421 ...Uh oh

UPDATE, the sequel: Due to the unanticipated presence of hills on a ride "in" "Philadelphia" and the resulting near certainty of insult and injury to both my dignity and my pride, the donation threshold for leg shaving has increased to $500.

A Nice Fall

The weather is cooler, it's dark too early and the leaves are starting to change. We're into the school year and the kids have developed their homework/playtime rhythm -- at least until next week, when field hockey ends and Katie will have free time to fill.

We saw Andy and Lynn in Baltimore last week for our now annual birthday get-together/music fest at the Living Classrooms Maritime Magic fundraiser at the harbor. This year we saw The Subdudes, and the weather was again great and the food was excellent.

Tomorrow is the end of my "exercise year" which runs from October 11 to October 10. I track my workouts (maybe a bit obsessively) so I know I managed to increase my biking mileage 30 percent over last year, pedaling almost 4400 miles, on moving bikes and the ones in the gym that don't move. I got in almost 1000 miles on my new bike, which I bought in August. I'm pretty happy about seeing my distance and speed improve. And the 2.1 is a fun-to-ride bike.

Despite a ride that featured getting stung by a bee AND getting hit by a car, I haven't had any serious mishaps. I have, however, learned two important lessons about the sacrifices needed to increased my riding.

Being on the bike for 3 or 4 hours can be irritating. Shirt fabric flapping in the breeze is fine for the first 20 minutes, but after an hour, it hurts. A little fold in the cloth of my shorts turns into a very sore bum. Pedaling 90 times a minute means a lot of opportunity for repetitive friction. I'm not the first to realize this, which is why cyclists wear shorts with a built in pad (Depends!) -- close fitting clothes that wick sweat away and don't flap around -- yup, Lycra. So the first thing that suffered was my modesty.

On longer rides the straps on my pedals irritated my feet, so I put clipless pedals on the new bike -- they require shoes with a cleat on the bottom that attaches the shoes to the pedal. They work great for pedaling the bike. When slowing and stopping, it means unclicking a shoe from the pedal in order to put a foot down. It takes practice, but after a few hours, I could do it easily. And after nearly 1000 miles, I did it without thinking.

Until last Sunday, anyway. Approaching a street crossing, I pondered which foot to unclick, for some reason, and screwed up. Going about 1 MPH, I fell over like Arte Johnson on his tricycle. On the ground, feet tangled in the bike and very embarrassed, I realized that the second thing to go was my dignity. I was more embarrassed to fall over than I was to find myself sprawled across the hood of that car a month earlier.

I think there were only 2 witnesses. From that point on, I had a really strong ride. This weekend starts another exercise year.

20 Years

Mary Ellen and I took a little time away to celebrate our 20th anniversary. We farmed the kids out to friends and relatives then took off early on Friday to a bed and breakfast in Washington, VA.

Friday evening we had dinner at The Inn at Little Washington. We'd been to the Inn about 15 years ago, as a sort of last treat to ourselves Before Children (Katie arrived six weeks later). Since then, it's been our private standard for food and service. Our dinner on Friday confirmed that first impression -- we had a fantastic meal and a really fun evening. For all the fancy decor and high staff-to-guest ratio (and the high price) it isn't stuffy -- or even centered on the food, which really was delicious. Somehow, they make you feel like the evening would not be complete if you hadn't shown up and enjoyed yourself.

On Saturday we hiked Old Rag, which I'd been trying to convince Katie and Mary Ellen, and especially Sean, who would love the rock scramble, to do for years. It's a great hike -- the rocky parts are challenging, there are great views in all directions from the summit, and the way down is long enough that you feel like you worked a bit by the end.

Later, describing the hike to Sean, I mentioned that the rock scramble was about ten times more difficult than our local favorite, the Billy Goat Trail, and that he might not be able to handle it. He was incredulous: "What the heck? if Mom can do it, you know I can."

End of Summer

UPDATE: Code Black Band video

The kids are back in school, and the transition from summer was pretty smooth. Sean's moved up to a new school this year, with changing classes, lockers and gym uniforms. Katie is no longer a lowly freshman, and is on the way to running the place two years from now. She's playing field hockey again, and we're all happy she made the squad -- there was tougher competition this year.

Highlights from the summer included our annual beach visit -- early this year to accommodate August field hockey, a quick trip to Rochester to help John turn 50, and Sean performances with Code Black at the School of Rock.

Happy Birthday

Mary Ellen celebrates another year...

Busy weekend

As we talked during the family gathering in Garching in March, we learned that Bernd sometimes travels through Dulles airport on business trips to the US, so ME and I extended an open invite to stay over if the chance arose. This weekend it did, and we had a nice visit with Bernd as he was returning home from a trip. Rather than do the tourist stuff, he wanted to see what we normally did on weekends. So we saw Sean play lacrosse, invited Ev and Arnie and Kevin over for pulled pork, coleslaw and potato salad, watched the kids run the service at church, ate bagels and went out for ice cream. The weather didn't work out so well, but that was just payback for a snowy March in Munich.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Katie.

Random notes: food

Our apartment had a small cook-top and refridgerator, and the bakery was only a short walk. We ate more bread than we usually do: the rolls, pretzels and croissants were fresh and great tasting and we had them everyday for breakfast. Several nights we cooked pasta or wurst. Because the end of the day for us was pretty variable, between traveling and visiting, we really liked the flexibility to eat later.

The home-cooked meals we had with relatives were wonderful. Even food-court eating was good -- although Katie sometimes had just a couple of vegitarian options -- Sean liked schnitzel sandwiches. For me, the jury is still out on the curry-wurst. I brought back some sauce mix to try at home.

Based on a quick look, bottled beer and bottled water cost about the same in the store, so we avoided buying water.

The kids both liked the mix of cola and limo (citrus-flavored soda) (name: TBD). They didn't seem to mind the lack of ice in drinks. Both also tried a radler (beer and limo mix) and didn't like it. I think Mary Ellen and I had Weissbeir exclusively, though not by intention.

"Ein beer' was almost always offered when we visited. But it was only offered to me, which ME and I both thought was interesting. No slight was intended, of course.

Random notes: travel

A few observations from our trip...

The afternoon departure from the US and mid-day arrival in Germany was a good way to go. The kids were in bad shape, but they would be the same with an earlier departure, and when we arrived, bedtime was closer. The 3:00 PM departure and evening arrival on the return worked well, too.

We were upgraded to an Audi A6 with GPS at the rental car desk. The A6 is a very nice vehicle, and we needed every bit of the room to get our luggage to and from the airport. The GPS, however, was fantastic. It got us everywhere we wanted to go with only two hitches (due to road construction/temporary closure) and saved Mary Ellen from demonstrating her map-reading proficiency. I'd pay for the upgrade in the future.

Driving on the autobahn, at any speed, is much less stressful than the Beltway. Drive right, pass left: everybody does it. Gasoline is expensive: around 1.3 euros/liter. We haven't added up the total cost for fuel yet, but we'll be shocked when we do.

The area around Berchtesgaden was beautiful to drive through -- although we couldn't see much because of the blowing snow and the clouds. Still, it was worth the trip.

The Allianz Arena looks striking from the outside. Inside, it looks and smells and sounds like a sports stadium. The fans, as far as I could tell, spent 90 minutes actually watching and cheering (or complaining about) the game. I didn't see any traveling food and drink or program and pennant vendors in the stands. And no replays on the jumbo-tron, although there were commercials.

We went through security three times at German airports, and were able to keep our shoes on each time. Lufthansa serves free beer and wine in-flight. I think the Germans are bringing elegance back to air travel.

Back

On Tuesday we got up early, ate whatever we could from the food we still had on hand, and got packed up. Then over to Elfriede's (stopping along the way to get gasoline and return empty glass and plastic for cash) for a visit. Herbert, Gisela and Maxi were all there, as well. We headed to the airport and returned the car. As we were standing at the ticket counter, Edmund and Ushi arrived -- I think Edmund has been at the airport every time we've left Germany for the past 20 years. We joined them for a coffee and good-byes, then hurried to the flight.

It was pretty uneventfull from there, and we were at our house by 9:00 PM.

Monday

We actually got an early start this morning -- the first of the trip -- and drove towards Salzburg. We exited the Autobahn in Germany near the Austrian border and took back roads to avoid a hefty toll on the Austrian Autobahn. We drove through some nice wooded areas, over the hills and along some one-lane paths. Unfortunately, it was too overcast and misty to see much.

We stopped at Bad Durrnburg and toured the salt mine, then drove to Salzburg, just a few minutes away. We walked around Old Town for a few hours just looking around, taking pictures and touring the fortress Hohensalzburg.

Although the GPS did steer us briefly into a pedestrian zone on the way back through the city, it did successfully get us back on the Autobahn in Germany, and we again avoided a toll.

We'll shoot for another early start tomorrow, visiting with Elfriede on our way to the airport and home.

Easter Sunday

We called Hubert and Maria late this morning to ask if it was OK to come a visit for a bit with them and with Bernd. By the time we arrived 15 minutes later, the table was set and they fed us rouladen and potatoes and cake. Later we headed into Munich to see Bernard and Berti and the kids. We had coffee and cake there, as well. We went to the close-by Olympic park for a walk around in the brisk air for some exercise -- we'd had breakfast, dinner and two desserts and it was only 4:00 PM. The soccer stadium and the swimming hall were interesting to wander around. We went to the top of the observation tower for a great view of the city and surrounding countryside. At dark, we returned to Garching for an early evening: we'll try to drive to Salzburg tomorrow.

Saturday

We slept in this morning: everyone needed it. In the afternoon we went shopping at the food store, then visited with Helmut, Renate and Bernhardt while Christoph and Miriam played soccer with Katie and Sean. Afterward, we went for a visit with Sepp and Inga, then for a quick pizza in town.

A few pictures from the trip so far are at Facebook

Bronnen, then family fest in Garching

On Thursday was drove to see Franz and Sabine and families in Bronnen. The first hour was in heavy traffic due to road construction, but once we got past Ulm the countryside was very nice and the driving was easy. We ate lunch at Tante Kathi's, then Franz took us to visit the castle at Sigmaringen -- a which had nice tour. We ate dinner at Franz's with Sabine, Joseph and all the kids.

We stayed up very late talking, sharing photo albums and watching videos of family gatherings. We stayed with Sabine and Joseph, and Katie and Sean were excited to see their goats. We might have a summer exchange to think about next year. We woke up on the first day of spring to blowing snow -- about 4 inches to shovel. It made for a longer drive back to Garching.

Friday morning headed back to Garching, where we attended (arriving late, thanks to the snow and traffic) the family gathering at Gasthof Neiwirt. There were more than 50, including us. Mary Ellen, with Katie always at her side listening, recorded the names and birthdays of all. Sean played with the other kids, and overcame the mutual language barrier pretty easily. I spent a lot of time talking with Bernd, who speaks perfect English and provides seemless and simultaneous translation. We took photos of every family. We'll post some here, later.

Wednesday

We spent the afternoon at Dachau -- the kids asked many questions and we all learned a lot. It snowed in the early evening as Mary Ellen and I walked to the store for food shopping. A bit later we walked across the street to visit with Uncle Edmund and Ushi.

Tomorrow we get an early start to Bronnen to visit with Franz and with Sabine and their families. Friday morning we drive back to Garching.

I've dumped some photos on Facebook .

Tuesday in Munich

We took the subway from Garching into Munich this morning. After watching the Glockenspiel at Marienplatz, we visited the Frauenkirche and St. Michael's for our fill of big churches, and walked around the Vikualenmarkt where we had lunch (first currywurst experience) before Sean noticed the Subway shop. We also visited the toy museum and some stores (prices looked familiar: a $800 TV was about 800 Euros: except for the 50% loss on the exchange rate).

We toured the Residenz, which just about exhausted the kids' reserves of patience and goodwill, had coffee and cake (and when we came out of the coffee shop noticed it was right across from Starbucks, oh no). We headed back to Garching and ate pizza (Katie's first Radler).

Blue Monday

The time change is still affecting us, and the overcast, rainy and chilly weather isn't helping. After a late start this morning, we drove to Dachau, to find it closed on Mondays. We stopped at a supermarket to pick up some things for the kid's school classes, then drove to Freising and had a snack at the Weihenstephan brewery, then to Elfriede's to drop off the graham crackers we brought with us from the US (for pie crust). We visited for a bit, and ate, of course, and the kids practiced their German.

Oh yeah, happy St Patrick's day. We didn't realize it until this evening. Not a big holiday here, for some reason.

Sunday sleep in

Everybody slept in after a late night, and we had semmels and butter for breakfast. The refrigerator and cook top in the apartment are coming in handy. We're off to see 1860 Munich play. The stadium is right down the road and is pretty cool lit up at night.

Update: so 1860 tied Mainz 1-1. It was an exciting game, and a must win for 1860 to have a chance to finish in the top three and move up to the first league. Now, the chance is slim. Bernhart was bummed. Afterwards we visited with Maria and Hubert, then Renate and Helmut.

Castle on a whim

We planned to head into Munich today. Before leaving, we had a quick visit from Bernhard and Miriam, who reminded us that although it was really nice this morning the weather is supposed to be lousy for the next several days, with snow and rain. When we got in the car to go to Munich, we figured out the GPS (which let Mary Ellen off the hook for navigation) and decided to take advantage of the nice day and headed down toward Neuschwanstein. We followed the firm, yet not too pushy directions from Inge (the GPS, although Katie insists on calling her Heidi) and had a really nice day at the castle. We had Greek food for lunch, and ate dinner back in Garching: Mexican (sort of). Tomorrow we see a soccer game with Bernhard in the Allianz stadium down the road.

Katie understands, or recognizes, a surprising amount of most conversations. Sean is writing down as many German words and their definitions as he can. Just in case we lose the dictionary.

A Long, Long Day

We left the house at 5:15 PM, the plane took off at 9:00 PM. We landed in Frankfurt at 9:00 AM, stood in line so long at the security check (not the model of German efficiency) for the transfer that we missed our flight. Arrived in Munich at 2:30. Weisswurst at Elfriede's house. Into Garching at 6 or so. Asleep at 9:00 PM. Cranky, too.

Renamed

I should just get it over with and call this the Happy Birthday blog.

Happy Birthday

Happy number 12 to Sean

Updates...

A couple of brief updates. Since April, we've survived the end of the school year, Summer camp season (both Katie and Sean went to camp for two weeks, but not at the same time), a week at the beach, a visit with Connie and Dave and Ian, and about 60 hours of driving to make all those things happen.

Mom-mom turned 75, we had our possibly-annual Labor Day cookout, and mercifully, the school year began.

Katie is playing field hockey (when I am allowed to attend a game, I'll report on the action.) and Sean is attending the Fall lacrosse clinics, again, and taking guitar lessons.

I've got lots of pictures, waiting for that new computer and editing software...

Updates?

Updates and pictures have been scarce recently, so here's a brief look at what is going on...

Katie is now officlally a teenager, with phone and iPod to prove it. She'll be playing soccer this spring, then taking some field hockey clinics in preparation for trying out for the high school team in the fall. She's already got a full summer schedule with camp, visiting with friends and the beach. She'll do a lot of babysitting, as well, to pay for the phone and the music.

Sean is playing lacrosse this spring, and has a renewed interest in his skateboard. He'll also go to camp and the beach this summer. He and Katie are both doing very well in school.

I still take a lot of pictures, but I'm unhappy with the software available on my computer to work with them, so they've been piling up. Also, I've got the oldest, slowest computer in the house, by a couple of years. And that is just not right. So, a new computer and image editor upgrade will get the pictures up here soon.

Happy Birthday

Katie turns 13 today, after a seemingly endless party Friday night.

Happy Pi Day

Sean won the "memorize pi" contest: 220 digits.

Birthday

Sean's birthay: friends over, running around in the nice weather, then a movie, then pizza and cake, then X-boxing. Verdict: "My best birthday ever."

Milestones

Travel and work have kept the updates here light, but I wanted to note a few birthdays (John and Arnie and Mary Ellen) a wedding (Steve and Allison) and the passing, yesterday, of Aunt Ann. She was going on 101, lived in her own house and was, until recently, pretty independent. She was the family matriarch and care-giver and she did things her way. For the past several years, we've brought the kids to Florida to visit with her and Betty and Angela. The kids think their great-aunts are pretty cool. I'm glad they've had the chance to discover that.

Happy Birthday

Kevin. You're catching up.

Coming home

It's been a week of travel for most of us. I had a trip early in the week, Mom went to Florida to look after Ann and the ladies, Mary Ellen returns tonight from a few days in Massachusetts, and Sean returned last night from a week at camp with the scouts. I'm pretty confident that no one else in the family has or will return with as many soaked and muddy clothes and shoes as Sean did.

Summer update

Soccer and baseball finished before school ended, and both Katie and Sean had successful seasons. Katie has been babysitting pretty regularly during the days, and spending lots of time with her friends. Sean has been to overnight camp and skateboarding camp, and is all set for another week at camp with Scouts.

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday Erin Grace -- and congratulations to Diane and Kevin.

JazzFest 2006

Update May 7: more pictures added

Ethan and I had a great boys night out (well, long weekend out) in New Orleans to catch the first weekend of the Jazz and Heritage Festival. The company, the music and the food were great. We spent some time with an old friend of Ethan's who was in town on his honeymoon (turns out the friend and I grew up in adjacent towns way back when.) Andy was as droll as I remember him a decade ago, and Jenny was charming and funny, too. And thank you, Andy for introducing me to the Sazerac.

We had our pick of acts to see from a pretty strong lineup.

... Mahogany Brass Band

... Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers (Dwayne is on the right) on Saturday was the first act we saw that really shook up the crowd.

... June Yamagishi (left) and John "Papa" Gros (right), from Papa Grows Funk, who ripped up the stage on Sunday morning.

... The Mighty Chariots of Fire

(more in the extended entry)

Other music highlights included Cowboy Mouth and Ani Difranco, who normally wouldn't get me too interested, but they both put on great shows on Friday. Dwayne Dopsie (son of Rockin) was the first act we saw that really brought it on Saturday, and we were lucky to have front row space for it. Hugh Masekela did a nice job on Saturday, and Juvenile, a New Orleans hip-hop guy, was interesting to listen to for a little while.

Sonny Landreth really got the big-stage crowd going on the strength of his guitar pyrotechnics. For someone with such a low-key stage presence, he got folks jumping in the hot sun. The gospel group The Mighty Chariots of Fire got the crowd up, too, stomping and swaying and clapping in the tent.

We watched some of Springsteen's show, which I liked, but we were about 500 yeards from the stage, and the sound was poor. We decamped and caught The Meters to close out the Festival. All of this music and a lot more is at Louisiana Music Factory.

It was nice to fall into a comfortable rhythm: early coffee at the little neighborhood cafe, a bus to the Festival for the day (softshell crab poor boys, Crawfish Monica, jambalya were hits) then to a little place around the corner from our hotel for a couple of dozen oysters, and crawfish, as an appetizer before changing and heading out... to eat more. I miss it already.

Walking and riding around gave us a sobering view of how much damage there was in the Quarter and midtown -- and we didn't get near the really devestated neighborhoods. Most of the locals we talked with had Katrina stories, and they viewed the Festival, and the crowds, as a sign that New Orleans was working its way back.

Spring Things

Soccer season has started for Katie...

Baseball season has started for Sean...



(more below)

We popped up to visit John and Joan and family over Easter weekend. This kids got a taste of the Driver's Seat...

Another Happy Birthday

Katie celebrated #12 with a few friends and Cosmic Bowling.

Happy Birthday

Sean turns 10. We celebrated with a mini-party outing to the ice skating rink and a sleep over. The Official Party is a couple weeks away.

Boys Night Out

I saw Anders Osborne last night at a little club in Baltimore. It was a great night: good friends, good food, loud, live music, munchies at 2:00AM. I need a regular and frequent BNO.

No Satisfaction

None of my several attempts to explain to the kids the Rolling Stones during the Super Bowl halftime was adaquate. Sean's comment to Katie during the second quarter ("It's gonna be like Paul McCartney stuff.") was as good as it got, I think.

Christmas, the Early Days

Last weekend, Kevin and Diane and Diane and Tom and Jeanne came to town for an early Christmas/Tom's 40th dinner. Yesterday - Tom's actual birthday - we found out he and Jeanne are engaged. Congratulations, you crazy kids.

Chris Whitley

This is pretty sad -- dead at 45.

Turkey Day

We braved the Wednesday traffic to spend Thanksgiving in Rochester, where we braved hot flaming death to enjoy deep fried turkey again this year. It even snowed a couple of inches for some nice winter visuals and a family snowball fight.

Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown

(1924-2005)

This picture of was taken at JazzFest in New Orleans in 2003. Brown died September 10th in Texas shortly after leaving his home in Louisiana to escape hurricane Katrina. His house was destroyed by the hurricane.

Picture update

I added a couple of pictures to the Beached entry. Plus another to Vacation part 4.

A Cure for the Radio Blues

This is too much fun... Pandora.

Finding something to listen to during ther day has been a frustration. I want to listen to music that I like, or hear new music that I might like, and avoid the crap. But, broadcast radio is awful, and I don't want to shuffle CDs, and I don't want to pay $120 bucks, plus gear, for satellite radio and streaming radio is flaky. So far, Pandora is the best option I've found, and the price is right.

Picture update

I added a couple of Grand Canyon pictures in part 4.

New Season

The first week of school is over, and the first baseball and soccer games take place today. Fall is here, really.

What I did on my...

We're back from the beach, and the last week of summer vacation is over. The kids are in for a huge dose of reality on Tuesday morning, especially Katie, who will be standing at the bus stop an hour earlier than she started to climb out of bed last year.

They had a pretty active summer: Katie had drama camp and two weeks away at overnight camp, as well as her first few weeks of babysitting gigs. Sean had a few sports camps and his first sleepaway camp. They both still talk about the Las Vegas/Canyons trip, and the week at the beach was filled with boogie boarding, kayaking and sitting in the spa tub. Pretty sweet.

Ok, ok.

I've got more vacation photos, photos from the Nationals game, etc. I'm backed up editing and posting. This weekend, Kevin and Diane and Tom and Jeanne are visiting to celebrate Mom's birthday. So the photos will wait a bit more.

Update: Zion pictures updated.

Vacation (of a different sort)

For the past two weeks, Katie has been at camp, as has Sean for the past week. This is the longest time we've been childless in 11+years. In some ways, it has been very relaxing -- no running to and from day camps or practices, eating grownup meals at grownup times, etc.

On the other hand, it's been too quiet, and every day we look for the kids' pictures on the camp web sites and look for Katie's letters. It seems like they are both having a great time at their camps, but it will be really nice to see them both this weekend.

Back East

We had a great vacation in Las Vegas, Bryce Canyon, Zion and the Grand Canyon. The kids were more impressed by Bryce than the others -- it seems more people-scale, and we went on horse rides and hikes through the hooodoos, saw a rodeo. Zion gets a thumbs-up because the kids went swimming in a river there, which is just what we needed at that point in the trip. I think the Grand Canyon is too big and incomprehensible for them to really appreciate. It might be for me, too. We did see lots of fossils, though, and that was a hit. Pictures will appear when I get them sorted and edited.

Viva Las Vegas

...they’re all livin’ devil may care.

School's Out

I imagine Alice Cooper has retired in comfort from the royalties that roll in this time of year. Anyway, the summer camp madness is about to start...

Spring is Done

After a few weeks of pretty nice weather, we had temperatures in the upper-80s and low-90s with some humidity for the past few days. That's normal -- unfortunately the heat arrived just as I had to commute downtown on the train for the last 5 days. It's nice to see clients and colleagues, but there is a lot to be said for kicking back, barefoot in shorts and a tee shirt, and yammering into the headset while typing.

NYC

We had a great visit to New York over the holiday weekend. Thanks to Ethan and Ronit for putting us up (and putting up with us) and showing us around. We played in Central Park, wandered through a street fair, saw Grant's Tomb and Riverside Church. In between there were playgrounds and ice cream and several great meals.

NO JazzFest

Spent a couple of days going to Myrtle Beach and Atlanta. So close to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, yet so far.

Happy Birthday

Katie turns 11.....

Yikes!

St. Patrick's Day

Corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots. And Guinness.

Number Nine

Happy Birthday Sean!

Happy Birthday

Aunt Ann turned 99 yesterday. The kids think that is really cool - and I think so, too.

Construction update

The footers are poured, which is nearly the last job to be done by the contractor. Don't ask why the footers were poured after the job was nearly done: it makes no sense to me, either. We're just waiting for the final shower hook-up and inspection.

We've still got painting and carpeting to do, but we're not using the contractor for that, so it should go pretty quickly.

It is January, right?

Last week the kids were off to school in shorts, because it was 60 degrees. Today, the schools have delayed opening for 2 hours because of the low temperatures (it's 11F now.)

2005

Happy New Year

Merry Christmas

and Happy Holidays.

Construction update

We're getting closer, I think. At least there are fewer big tasks ahead than behind. We hope to be moved in by Christmas. Or New Year.

Construction

Here's what we've learned so far...

Despite several trips to our house to make measurements, despite several conversations and emails, and despite the availability of software that does the mundane work of making sure that geometry is respected, it is still possible to get a drawing that a) does not match the physical dimensions of the things measured, b) does not meet code and c) cannot be constructed.

Fortunately, when this is discovered, the designer/contractor offers to split the cost of making the construction meet code. Great deal!

Construction underway

The roof is off where the addition is going in, and some of the framing is started. So far, there's been a lot more noise than visible progress.

No demo yet

It's raining like crazy, so the roof is still on the house, and the lumber is still in the driveway...

Preparation

There's a big dumpster on the street in front of the house, and several stacks of lumber in the yard. Demolition starts Monday. I'll be in Dallas, avoiding the noise...

School's In

The kids made it to the first day of school. It certainly seemed to sneak up on them...

Back from the beach

Katie and Sean couldn't decide on favorite beach activities, but they had some strong likes. Katie had a fun tim on the waverunner and the kayak. Sean played a mean game of catch and Frisbee and noodle war on the beach. We saw the Wright Brothers memorial, the dunes, the lighthouse, crabs on the beach at night. All in all, a great time. We discovered that the kids like to eat crabs.

August update

We heard from Sean that the beach is great and he's having a fun time. Looks like there is a good chance we will miss the hurricanes (or they will miss us) when we join him.

Busy Days

Yesterday Katie had Swim Team time trials. The whole meet atmosphere was a little intimidating, I think, especially as she had to swim up with an older age group. There is a swim team culture like there is a gymnastics culture: kids put in a lot of hours, and parents spend several hours waiting to see their kids in action for 45 seconds at a time.

Today Katie leaves for a week of sleep-away camp. She's very excited about it -- Mary Ellen and I are a little more subdued, because she's still our little girl. Sean plays for the town baseball league championship today, capping a season that saw him start slow and really improve his hitting, fielding and baserunning. Now he loves baseball, too. Happy Father's Day.

Update: Sean's team lost an exciting 9-8 game. Sean played well, and wowed the crowd with a perfect round-off back handspring as he ran out to get his runner-up trophy.

School's Out

Today was the last day of school -- Summer has started. Katie will head off to a week-long sleep-away camp this Sunday, and Sean's baseball team will play for the town championship.

They're Heeere

Spotted at the bus stop this morning, to the delight of the kids: the first cicada.

Brief update

We've been busy -- with work and play. Sean's gymnastics competitions are over, but 8+ hours per week of practice continues, and Katie has stayed with her weekly classes at the gym. Sean is playing baseball and Katie is playing soccer this spring, and practices for each have already started. Mary Ellen and I have each travelled a bit for work, and have more upcoming. And it looks like we'll be building an addition to our house.

Happy Birthday

Happy 10th Birthday, Katie!

Birthday

Happy 8th Birthday Sean!

Happy Birthday Isaac

Welcome to Isaac Silverman on his birth day. Congratulations Ronit and Ethan and Eve.

Aggghhhh!

No school again today -- and freezing rain to boot.

Return of the King

It was Girls' Night In around here this evening, so Sean and I went out to see The Return of the King. We both liked it best of the three. I'm looking forward to either a theatrical or DVD release of the director's cut of all three together.

Happy New Year

We had a happy and hectic holiday. We had a great time in Baltimore visiting with Andy, Lynn & Sophie and Ethan, Ronit & Eve. The kids got a taste of duckpin bowling and liked it. Connie and Dave and Ian visited on the return leg of their holiday excursion, and we made plans to get together in a couple of months.

Now the kids are adjusting to the reality that school is back in session.

Katie announced she wants to play soccer this Spring and Sean wants to do fencing. Fencing?

Merry Christmas

We're half way through the winter break from school. The weather has been pretty nice, so the kids have spent a lot of time working on their skateboard skills. When indoors, Katie has been in lava lamp nirvana and Sean in Lego heaven. And there are Gameboys, now, too.

Shakin

We had a magnitude 4.5 earthquake this afternoon, which was exciting for a few minutes. I was on the phone with a colleague a few miles away, so I knew it wasn't just me. Within minutes info was on the USGS site, which was pretty impressive.

First Snow

Katie was thrilled to see the snow start last evening and went to sleep assuming there would be no school today. Well, about 2 inches of snow is on the deck, with more falling, and no word whether school is closed. Update: 2 hour delayed opening.

Thanksgiving

We had a really nice Thanksgiving in upstate NY. John and Joan tried deep frying a turkey -- and it worked. It even snowed a bit and the kids got out in the snow and walked through the woods.

Nerves

Sean has been a bundle of nerves for the past several days, anticipating the first meet. I think he realizes that he will be in front of a lot of people, doing his routines alone, and that the scoring counts. That's a big change from soccer.

Upcoming...

This weekend Katie appears in a church play and Sean has his first gymnastics meet.

Seasons

Soccer season, rain-delayed and shortened, is finally over. For Sean, gymnastics meets will start this month. Katie turns her attention to the clarinet.

Goofy grin

Sean finally lost his second front tooth--his 7th total, he informs me. He's got a very goofy grin again.

Back from the wedding

We spent the weekend in NJ attending Kevin and Di's wedding. They had a wonderful ceremony outside, followed by a nice meal. The weather cooperated, and we all had a great time. Plus, later that evening, the Yankees lost.

The only downside is the lack of sleep for the kids. We pay for that!

There were 4 photographers covering the ceremony and the reception. They were all using digital cameras. They had a table set up in the back, with a large flatscreen LCD that they used to display a slideshow of pictures taken during the afternoon.

There were usually several people standing around looking at the monitor. The pictures were updated throughout the afternoon, so several people, like me, made repeat visits. It was a great idea for marketing and as a feature of the reception -- several guests commented on how nce it was to see pictures the same day.

Katie's place

Check out KT's place...

trying a new thing

This is a new web site format. There is also a new tool to create it, and I hope that making the site easier to update will mean that we do it more often.

Happy Birthday Katie

Happy Birthday Katie

Happy Birthday Sean

Happy Birthday Sean

December hike

Happy Holidays... Christmas pictures on the way. In the mean time, Sean and I had a great hike (four pages, big pictures) and I tested the camera at gymnastics class.

Trip to Disneyworld

We surprised the kids with a few days in Disneyworld (9 pages, big pictures), before driving to Ft. Lauderdale for Thanksgiving.

At the airport before our flight down, we ran into an old friend from Boston. Then, a few minutes before our delayed flight was due in, the terminal was emptied for a security violation--more delays. In the end, we arrived in Orlando a couple of hours late and got the kids in bed about 1:30 AM. Disneyworld was fun, hectic, tiring and expensive (in just about that order.) More about Disney in the picture pages. It was very nice to see The Aunts and our cousins in Ft. Lauderdale. It is amazing how well the aunts get on -- all over 90 -- and it was tough to keep them out of the kitchen while we put dinner together.

October pictures

Catching up on pictures, including my hike with Katie in October (5 pages, big pictures) and Kevin and Dy's Masters graduation.