A long weekend ....

Well it was a long weekend from an activity perspective if not from a federal holiday perspective.

I took the red-eye back from San Francisco on Wednesday night. It was a good couple of days in the Bay area with meetings etc... I did get to do some walking in San Fran before we caught the late plane and did manage to snap a couple of shots on my phone. On the right is a view of San Fran Bay from Polk St looking out towards Alcatraz. On the left below is the first Tesla roadster I have ever seen. It looks pretty slick for an electric car. Not sure that you can see the plate - ZZROGAS.

After getting back from San Fran I had to get ready for the Marine Corps Marathon 10K and pack for Switzerland. The 10K was Sunday AM - starting at 8:05 so it was an early morning making sure I had all my stuff for the race. I got to DC nice and early had just under an hour before the start. The start was pretty dramatic - how could it not be when the starting "pistol" was a howitzer. The race itself was good - ran comfortably - the slopes were nice. I do not wear a watch so I had to rely on the Marines shouting out times at each mile marker. At the finish I felt I did ok for me - first race since April and first since the bike accident. Turns out I finished in just under 51 minutes which placed me 603rd out of 5385 runners. Not too bad for an old guy I guess.

After the race I took the girls out for dinner, finished packing and then we grabbed a cab for the airport. The  flight to Zurich was good but I did not sleep much, neither did Laura. We arrived in Zurich and took a train to Jona and a short cab ride to our hotel. Laura went off to work and I went walking around. I visited nearby Rapperswill and the castle there. After work one of Laura's colleagues wanted to take us out - we were beat but figured we did not have many opportunities like this. We were ever so grateful, for a great meal and a trip to a nearby abbey church, Einsiedeln, which was absolutely stunning. We could not take pictures there but suffice to say it was awe inspiring. This morning I went for a run and Laura went off to work. Before she left she took a quick picture of the view from our room - may qualify as stunning as well.

OK - off for more sight seeing, walking and some lunch. I will post more pics later.

..... cu

Back from one trip ....

... and onto another.

Well I guess technically I was back from two trips and I literally am on the plane for my next. October and November are turning into travel month. Florida, Texas, California, Switzerland, Ottawa, Ottawa again and then Tennessee - all in a matter of 6 weeks.

That being said I am not complaining, especially after last weeks initial trip. Grant it I did have to leave earlier than planned due to having to get to Dallas for meetings but I did have a fun few days. Laura's sister, Lisa, has vacationed twice a year for the last 7 or 8 years in a little place called Seaside which is on the Florida panhandle. As you can guess it is on the Gulf and quiet nice. Large beautiful homes and white beaches. This trip she invited Laura and I and Laura's younger sister, Leslie, and her family came in from Australia as well as Laura's mom, from Texas, also were in Seaside. (Pic on the left is Laura's Mom, Lisa, Laura and Leslie) Lisa's daughters were coming in a few days after we left so we did not get to see them this time but we will on Thanksgiving.

The trip was great. Lisa had a wonderful little house with a great kitchen just a short walk from the beach and from some great little shops that included the requisite coffee shop. The shops had galleries along with your regular clothing and jewelery and beach wear stuff. In some cases the art was on display in wonderfully manicured gardens.

We did take great advantage of the beach. Not excessive but every day for a couple of hours of walking, swimming or playing with the kids, who were a whole lot of fun. Gracie, quite the little cutie, loved to play in the sand and the water, and would always want to involve her mom who is on her way to number 3 (woo hoo!). Daniel, Gracie's big brother, loved to get in the water, whether swimming or body surfing or just playing in the waves - he would stay in there forever but we did find time to play on the beach with some airplanes we got for them.

In the evenings we would try to catch the sunset from the beach but a little cloud cover in the evenings kept the sunsets elusive for us, so instead we enjoyed the glass of wine on the beach and then a great meal. It was hard leaving Seaside. Not only was the few days off fun but the company was great and the wine and food matched. I look forward to Thanksgiving in Nashville to see most of the Bell family again.

So for now I am off to San Francisco for a couple of days then back to race Sunday before I fly off to Zurich Sunday evening. What a busy few weeks - but worth every second.

.... cu