A busy weekend ....

We had a great weekend. Grant it was a bit cool for mid April but it was sunny and there was lots to do.

Saturday started with our normal walk over for coffee and then I did some garden work to make sure I had all the stuff out of the way as I was going to spend the afternoon doing the final upgrade to the Jeep - putting on a new rear bumper and tire carrier. Over the last few weeks I had upgraded the suspension system, put on new wheels and tires, a new front bumper and a new winch along with upgrading the battery system. I had been able to do all the other work myself but this rear bumper was heavy so I enlisted Dave and Jukka, a couple of my old Canadian friends to help out.

We spent the better part of 3 hours doing the install. I say the better part as breaks for beer interrupted and the actual elapsed time was like 4 hours but that include the congratulatory bourbon and cigars. The install itself is not tricky but there is some precision needed to make sure the tire weight is carried right on the carrier and I had to drill a couple of extra holes in the frame to add some extra bolt points. That meant putting on and taking off the bumper 2 times before the final install. But it does look good.

Sunday myself and Laura had an afternoon event, we will get to that, so I picked up Sam and Kris after my morning run (a nice 6-3/4 mile run - legs were a bit sore from the lifting the day before) and we headed out for breakfast. Silver Diner was Sam's choice and I actually loved the idea. We ended up at the Silver diner where Laura and I first had a breakfast date and I, of course, had pancakes. The girls seemed to love having breakfast and I think I will need to do that more. A quick trip to the mall as we drove Kris back to GMU and we headed home so myself and Laura could get ready to head out.

Our Sunday afternoon was to join the other barrel owners at Barrel Oak Winery for a spring tasting. We were hosted in the barrel room and they had snacks and, of course, lots of wine. The crowd was a mix of people and dogs. One couple had two beautiful Newfoundlands, another a wonderful greyhound and of course many more. We had some great wines and met some great people. Brain Roeder, the owner of the winery was there to greet us and we got to meet some of the other staff that we have only emailed with. The highlight was finding Laura's barrel with her plaque on it. She was very excited. They have not used our barrel yet so we are anxious to see what they will put in it.

We will be doing our custom case this fall so the spring tasting was a great time to see if any of the new varietals would be of interest to us. Maybe we will need a couple of more trips back to make that final decision :-)

2013 Cherry Blossom Sunday

Yesterday was the annual Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. This was my 4th running for this race and it is one race I always enjoy running and yesterday was no different.  It was a bit cold at the start although it was forecast to warm up so when I got ready to head down I threw on just some shorts and a long sleeve technical shirt to run in.  I grabbed an old fleece to keep me warm at the start line which turned out to be a good idea as a bit of a breeze made it a bit cool.

I started the race in the red wave,  the first wave behind the elite runners, and I managed to be in the front part of the wave so fewer people to have to run around.  The start was nice and fast and I quickly got into a pace that was comfortable. I did end up having to run around a few people who did not seed themselves properly - if you are an elite runner why are you plodding along at a 11 min/mile pace before mile two?  In general I was running with a great crowd,  friendly, polite and keeping a great pace.  When we hit mile 6 at the top of Hains Point Park we did hit a strong winds right in our faces.  It made it cold and was creating some chop on the Potomac but did not show us down.

The last few hundred meters, up and over the rise by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, was great as I had left a bit in the tank so I kicked it a bit to cross the finish at the Washington Monument. I had two guys come up to me after - one saying how my kick motivated him and a second to say how he had been spotting me all through the race,  due to my orange shirt,  and how great a race I ran.  It is always nice to get some compliments on the course.  Finish time was 1:17:33 - more than 10 minutes faster than my first Cherry Blossom in 2009 and another personal best for the course by 1:42. It was a great race.

The race was not the best thing about the day though.  After grilling some burgers and squash for the girls for lunch the 4 of us headed to the Mason Centre forthe Arts to see the Russian National Ballet Company perform Swan Lake.  Kris had wanted to see a ballet after I told her about Alice in Wonderland that Laura and I had seen at the Kennedy Center, so I got her 4 tickets to Swan Lake for her birthday.

The performance was wonderful. The company has some wonderful artists,  both dancers and set designers.  The lady dancing Odette impressed all of us.  We all thoroughly enjoyed the performance and it made a great end to a great day.