5 posts tagged “roadtrip”
i desperately need a gps. i apparently cant go anywhere without getting completely lost. i forgot to make a post about new jersey and the swim clinic, but the only important story about that trip was getting lost on the drive up.
so im driving my car with two passengers, the head coach and a kid, riding with me. everything is fine leaving virginia, all the way up the eastern shore and into maryland. we have a slight misguidance in delaware taking a small detour on the business route, but nothing that takes us out of our way or throws us off track. we cross from delaware into jersey, and upon landing on the jersey side of the bridge, we get lost. like, off the fucking grid lost. it happens so fast we dont even know were lost until the streetlights just disappear. we were using google map directions, and it was at hitting the jersey turnpike that things just got all sorts of messed up. well we work back to the turnpike and find our way back up to where we really needed to exit (28 miles later). so we get off at a more appropriate exit and are working our way through the directions and towards cherry hill when all of a sudden the highway dead ends into the delaware river (i assume). well, we must have just missed our turn, so ok; we uturn and try a different direction, trying to find the right street. well, that is just the wrong fucking street. we go from a touristy/business harbor straight into the ghetto in 2 blocks. and not only do we hit the ghetto, but we get stuck there. in trying to turn around, we end up on a dead end street that empties into nowhere. i have to uturn in the dirt shoulder to head back. we cross where we originally exited the highway and try the same street, other direction. well, this is more promising, we recognize the street names from gmaps, but its still not making much sense AND were still in the middle of the fucking ghetto driving further into it. we finally hit some major roads take them the wrong direction and since its jersey, have to drive for a few miles before we can make a turn to go the other direction because jersey has no left turns. well, we finally make it to the hotel; and we NEVER leave it. not really. there was a wegmans a little further down the street. we had to hit that as many times as possible before leaving. when we did leave, we were doing just fine until right before the delaware memorial bridge where the signs get all weird and we did a full cloverleaf because jersey was trying to SUCK US BACK INTO HELL.
and thats the story of the swim clinic in new jersey. this weekend i went to blacksburg. you know, the place where i lived for 4 years, and a place where ive driven to/from at least 12 times just this semester. well i was taking 460, and i got lost. i missed the exit from 85south to 460, and didnt realize it until i was in mecklenburg. granted, it was more because i woke up at 6 than being actually lost, but it added an extra hour plus to my drive time. also, i had to rummage through my glove compartment to find a map and figure out where the fuck i was and how i was going to get to blacksburg. fyi, i could have taken 58 straight out of suffolk and not driven through the chain of dead towns that is the trail to petersburg. is it weird that virginia has so many ___burgs? anyways, i took 58 from mecklenburg to danville to martinsville where i caught 220n up to roanoke. bam. back on track. it was actually a pretty nice drive once i woke up and the weather brightened.
moral: buy me a gps. or at least an ipod so i have music while im lost in the middle of nowhere.
this weekend, if i decline my friends' requests to go to either nc or dc, will be the first weekend spent at home in 5 weeks. its been a pretty hectic fall semester; mostly filled with driving. i recently changed my oil, it had only been a month and a half, but i had driven about 10,000 miles. so it was a little overdue. but i mean, it was fresh prior to all the massive traveling so... hopefully no engine seizure.
last weekend i bussed down to the obx with the swim team for a training trip. i titled it "obx boot camp" and it was essentially a one day exercise fest. friday we split from virginia beach and got down there for some minigolf; and broke the 30 kids into two teams. saturday was the marathon, starting with a 6am practice, going straight into surfing in rough seas, and then a short trail run (3 mi). break for lunch, a few hours of mental training tips and repurposing, then back to the pool for the double. a stop at a strip mall for dinner and then back to the meeting room for group activity stuff. sunday we got up at a reasonable hour: 8:30, had the kids do some teamwork/bonding, and then i got to send them off on another run (5mi) before a short final swim practice and "waterpolo" game.
overall i enjoyed the trip, i guess. it seemed like i was mostly there to babysit the little kids who werent mature enough to focus on training; and when i was free, instruct the older kids. there was barely any time between events to talk and joke around with people because i spent a lot of my life and energy keeping kids from ruining the trip for everyone else. i dont know why some of the little kids (11-13) were on this trip, they didnt seem to get much out of it and they gave me a hard time with all their questioning our practice ideas and exercise routines and activities. not that they dont do it regularly at practice, but thats only 2 hours a day; these were long days just filled with it. it made it hard to stay upbeat and enthusiastic, that lasted all the way till lunch on saturday. i already talked about it all with jay and we decided to invite people or veto admission on the trip instead of leaving it an open event. at least i got to go surfing.
so i mentioned i took a trip to the national zoo, well i finally got the pictures up. i must have taken 200+ pictures but most of them were duplicates because i had auto focus on through most of it all and it had trouble distinguishing animals from backgrounds; or it would focus on the cage bars as they were much closer. so i basically threw out half of my pictures. but thats the great advantage of digital. i also went through and fixed levels here at home in development so it all looks nice and engaging. also, as always, shooting through aquarium glass causes massive problems. most of my pictures were taken in the aviary, where i spent a whole hour watching birds do absolutely nothing.
on the right: the eighth picture down is a giant fish from the amazon exhibit. the thing was seriously like 6 feet long, and it was in a tank with three or four friends. as you enter the exhibit which fills a small building, you round a corner in the darkness of aquarium and WHAM! theres a school of giant fish confronting you. right below that picture is a fish kissing the glass, its all blurry but i was scrambling to take that picture.
further down is an anteater, which is probably one of the coolest looking animals ever. somewhere below that, an orb weaver spider. there wasnt any glass between the audience and the spider exhibit, so i took that picture from about 1 foot away. i was really scared it would jump onto my camera and crawl onto my face and eat me.
down at the bottom: panda! panda! panda! he was inside eating. probably a better choice since it was 90+ degrees outside. after he finished eating a few stalks of bamboo he tossed his meal scraps aside and flopped over and napped. it would seem that pandas are pretty much real life snorlax.
so i spent like 4 hours at the zoo just walking around and taking pictures. i didnt have anyone to talk to so i just watched the animals sit around and be lazy. i didnt bother reading any of the information or appreciating any of the culture rooms because i firstly wanted to see all the animals, and then later wanted to get the hell out of the zoo. its a pretty big zoo, and though i had all day to wander around, it was hot as crap. i passed a 7-11 right before entering into the zoo, so the whole time i was in there i found myself dreaming of a slurpee. about 1/2 an hour into my journey i decided to get one when i left, not realizing it would take me so long to get through the zoo, so i neglected to buy their $3 bottles of water and trudged through everything i could in a meager pace because i also wanted to make sure i didnt miss anything. i mean, i doubt ill be going back anytime soon; its been about 8 years since i visited any zoo. so when i finally got out of there and picked up a slurpee i was dying of dehydration and heat exhaustion. i finished 40oz of frozen sugar within two blocks of the walk back to the metro. it actually made me feel kinda gross, but in an uncontrollably excited sort of way. i had mad tentative plans to take the metro to the smithsonian station to go see the national gallery, but i decided i was tired enough of walking around in the heat so i just headed back to chris' to shower and rest up for saturday's meet.
well, perhaps not "start."
ok, so in my previous entry, i mentioned i was going out of town on business; well im back, and ive got pictures! after picking up the vans and splitting the kids into "guys" and "girls + a 12 year old", we started out with a short stint in busch gardens on saturday afternoon, staying until close. i didnt get the chance to ride the new roller coaster, the griffin, but ive got a full season pass thing, so theres no rush. after walking around all night i drove the kids out to waynesboro; they pretty much all fell asleep during the 3 hour journey which was nice because i just listened to my music and drove like i would normally when i trek out to blacksburg. arrived at the motel around 1, had to wake up and get everyone out to the van by 9.
sunday was pretty much summed up by driving, swimming, and driving more. we made two trips to charlottesville for sightseeing and food, only to be disappointed twice. apparently jay, who loves uva, has no points of interest he would like our swimmers to note (not that they would actually listen to anything educational or trivial we had to say) and charlottesville did everything within its power to remind us that small college towns close down on sundays. as for food, i dont know how but over the past two years jay has managed to brainwash these kids to believe that gusburgers are the most delicious food ever produced by man. gusburgers, are a late night staple at the uva diner "the white spot," where they serve preformed beef patties with cheese and a fried egg on top. thats it. thats the big appeal of a gusburger, an egg. its really bland and highly unappetizing served up with a shred of lettuce on a bleached white enriched bun. although it may actually be just the nauseating atmosphere of a greasy hole in the wall diner not cleaned since it first opened. i just dont get it though. i understand how delicious it might be if i were a drunk college student stumbling back to campus, but for all these kids, it should be a gross statement about bad mom and pop diners in small towns. there are so many cool little eateries on the same street so close to campus, but 23/23 swimmers DESIRED to eat there. and normally we (as coaches) would not let them eat there (as nutrition and energy goes, burgers offer very little) but it is one of the promised places to visit on the roadtrip because it holds such high esteem in the minds of our children. and we were done with driving to charlottesville, so we just thought wed get it out of the way and cut our losses. oh yeah, in the afternoon we had our swim meet. i sprinted a 26.2 in the 50m free. yeah, its an open meet, so i just swam with the 15 and older group. i wasnt the only 23 year old though, my friend and colleague doug from TAC swam too (and beat me. once again).
monday was another swim meet day, but we got up extra early to drive out to wintergreen resort and swam in the mountains. nothing like some high altitude training to remind you what being out of shape is like. more meet stuff in the afternoon, then back out to wintergreen for some fun. they set up a bunch of things for the spring time including a minigolf course, a paintball course, and some random things. theres a 25 ft rockwall i scrambled up, and the two pictures to the left are of me doing a bungee trampoline. basically its like jumping extra high and with a slowed fall so you can ... jump. and do flips.
tuesday we woke up to swim the dreaded "monster set." its basically an 800 of fly, back, and breast, followed by an 800 IM. boring and exhausting, but a fitting end to a training trip. after that we drove to scottsville (a one street town that looks like an old western movie set with buildings all connected together lining the two lane road) where we went rafting and tubing on the james river. it was really slow moving and shallow, 1.5 mph and average depth of 4 feet. not really exciting. i think it would have been fun had there been more team interaction, but it was sort of "float and talk amongst your friends," and the kids in rafts pretty much took off and did their own thing. now we know for next time i suppose. so 3 hours in the sun later, we drove back home. i was super tired from staying up to make sure the kids were all in their rooms and then getting up early to kick them out of their beds, not to mention the grueling training i endured with them; so i was extra vigilant in staying awake on the drive back. its really scary to realize their lives are in your weak and feeble hands as you speed down the interstate in an extra tall, extra long rental van with poor handling.
but all in all, good trip. i learned everything i need to know about my kids and more. if i were to compare my memories of swim trips with what they did, i think id be jealous of the opportunities they have. im also sort of upset at their money handling habits, diet, and other basic lifestyle choices; but maybe thats just the responsibility in me rearing its over-inflated head.
for the past few days ive been trying really hard to find something to post about because i know i havent in a while. or at least it seems to have been an incredibly long time since ive posted anything significant.
but maybe this will do?
im reading to kill a mockingbird for the Xbillionth time. ok, maybe like the fourth or fifth? i really like it and sometimes ill just pick it up out of the blue and read. its like one of those comfort fall-backs.
but what i really should be reading is harry potter. i have to reread all of them. except half-blood prince; because i sort of neglected to read it X( i know, blasphemous; but i just never got around to rereading the series to remember where everything was in order to read hbp. but with the movie coming out and me having a ton of free time, i suppose i no longer have legitimate excuses not to catch up /prepare.
anyways, to kill a mockingbird showed up the other day on one of my favorite blogs, passive agressive notes: in a found message.
and while im sharing things, i started making the swim kids do these exact yoga stretches (no balance poses though) during our medicine ball exercises. have i yet mentioned that im taking a yoga class through school? yeah, exciting stuff. i love it, minus the fact that its a really fast paced class. i barely make it to some poses before we change over to something else. im not really sure why we run through routines so quickly, but it doesnt give me much time to work into things. i think my teacher is just abnormal like that. shes got this heavy-as-a-lead-elephant accent from russia or ukraine or something that makes it impossible for anyone to really understand what shes saying. we all just kind of look around and mimic what we see. but still, that corpse nap at the end is nice and meditative and awesome so i still enjoy everything.
umm. what else... i bought and watched the first two seasons of veronica mars? im sad it got cancelled it was a pretty good show. oh, and im going out of town this weekend all the way till like wednesday for work. its a training trip, so ill be driving a big 15 passenger van across virginia to wintergreen and waynesboro and stuff. we'll also be stopping by busch gardens williamsburg, im pretty psyched about that new rollercoaster the griffin.
