Sailing again!!

Happy times once again! Our new sailboat is in the water!

Tuesday evening we headed to the boat for an easy sail. Light winds & hot day!
It was a perfect evening for our first sail.

Good times!
Heading back to the harbor

Missed these sunsets from the boat! Looking forward to some long day sails & some more sunsets & sunrises!

Taking reservations - the more the merrier :) But hurry, we have a lot of visitors this summer ;)

Providence 70.3

Chris was ready to race, since he bypassed Coeur d'Alene. Fortunately, there was a half ironman in Providence (1.2 mile swim; 56 mile bike; 13.1 mile run)

It was a 2 transition race, so we had a lot of running around to do on Saturday, the day before the race. Here is Chris waiting for his race packet at the RI convention center in downtown Providence.

Then on the road to Lincoln Woods Park, so he could drop off his bicycle & 'Bike gear bag'.

Here he is finding out that the water is too warm (nice), so wetsuits won't be allowed. Much better than the freezing water in Idaho! He was very happy!

Testing the water to see if it was actually as warm as they said.... it was!

Back to Providence - to the run transition, so he could drop off his Run Gear bag.

Then it was back home because my college roommate was visiting! She was in town to drop her daughter off at camp on Cape Cod (lucky girl). We went out for a yummy dinner in Bristol.

Next morning came early - 3:30. Chris was up & heading out the door for his race. Kelly, Alex, and I were going to meet him later. He had to catch a bus in Providence that would take him to the swim start. He was going to swim at Lincoln Woods Park, then bike 56 miles around the area & into Providence. Then he was going to run around Providence. We were going to drive to Providence & wait for him there.

Here is Alex cheering on the cyclists!

And Kelly cheering with a cow bell they were handing out. She got a lot of smiles & thumbs up!

The cyclists flew by us! They were ready to get off their bikes & start running.

The bike transition after most of the cyclists had arrived! Lots of bikes!

Here's Chris running up the Capitol hill! He had a decent swim (he was warm, so that was good!); a strong bike ride (he said it was endless hills); and was looking really good on the run!

Up the hill towards the Capitol, then they had to turn around & do another loop.

Back on the second loop!

Waiting at the finish line - hot sunny day

Finisher!! Great Race! (Chris said it was also super hilly on the run - no relief)

Campus Tour

My nephew is thinking about attending college in New England, so while he was visiting we took a campus tour of Univ of Rhode Island. 13,000 students, so a nice mid size university. The campus was very appealing and the tour was excellent. Makes me want to go back to school!
They are big on updating and expanding, so summer is busy with construction. They do a great job - the 'new' biology building was very impressive and clean (it was built in 2009).

It was fun to do something completely different for a change.

IM Coeur D'Alene official photos!

Here we all are - lined up at the start of the swim! Green caps = men; pink = women. Only 27% are women. Approx 2500 raced!

Photos courtesy of ASI Photography:

And we are off! (I stayed towards the back - didn't feel like getting punched that day)

Typical punch fest! There was a little more room than at Lake Placid. Definitely tight around the turn around buoys though!

Coming out of the water - on the right - I was very disoriented & very cold. I couldn't get my goggles off or unzip my wetsuit!
Coat & arm warmers (and leg compressors too) Took a while to warm up. But the sun was very warm (even though the air temp was in the 60's)

Lap 1, I gave my coat to Chris. Kept the arm warmers for a while though.

There weren't too many spectators on the bike course, once you left downtown. But, the ones who were out on the course were great! Good music & loud cheering - which really kept you going. Lots of loud 80's music - great!

Onto the run. I don't look like I am having fun - but I was. I knew I was going to finish & that is a super feeling! Plus the aid stations were amazing! One had a Wizard of Oz theme - complete with the witch's feet sticking out from under a house; tin man; and scarecrow! And another had a pirate theme. The costumes were amazing & you could hear their music & cheering from 1/2 mile away! They really do take care of you out there - it's amazing!

Ahh, the finish line! Yippee!!

Ok, when is the next one?!!?!? :)

Cruise night at Bourne

Just over the Bourne bridge - on the Cape is a Tuesday cruise night. It usually draws a pretty big crowd, but due to the holiday, the crowd was small. Too bad for Bryan - his first experience with a cruise night - but there were still over a hundred cars there.

Holiday weekend fun

My nephew came to visit us for a week. We picked him up from the airport on Saturday & put him right to work! Mission: Get our new sailboat launched as soon as possible!
What needs to be done: quick cleaning on the inside; wax & buff the body; one coat of bottom paint; clean the teak; and get the mast stepped (done by the Marina)
Here is Chris waxing

and buffing

Bryan helped clean & wax the cockpit
Look at that shine!

Hoping to have it in the harbor by the end of this week!!

We also managed to relax a little on Saturday...

Polo match!! USA vs Kenya

Toules sporting his new summer buzz cut.

Sunday was workout & errand day. We had plans to continue working on the sailboat; but an afternoon shower put an end to that. Instead we had a cookout!

Monday started early with long bike ride and then we had to get to Bristol to see the famous parade! It's the longest running parade in America & people come by the truckloads to see it.

Fortunately, we don't have to worry about parking - we park at our friends who live a block from the parade route.

Before settling in to watch the parade though, we had to partake in Bob's famous mojitos! Yum!

Then it was time for the parade to start! It's not the most amazing parade; but the crowds really get into it- that's what makes it fun.

Chillin' or actually Cookin' as the day was pretty warm! We didn't stay to the end - it lasts for hours!

Instead we headed back to our friends house to get into the shade and eat some good food!

Happy 4th!