Hawaii Photos

Here are a few photos from Hawaii. It was pretty windy the day we went to Volcanoes National Park, as you can see in the photo of Lori.


This next picture shows ropey and pillow lava together.


Later that day we went to see the lava flow. The lava flow is outside the park and access is controlled by the county of Hawaii. They are very conservative, so we couldn't get very close -- about a mile away. Sunset or night time is the best time to actually see more than the steam cloud. We went to the flow at sunset, hoping to get a nice sunset and some good lava shots.

The sunset was fair. Fortunately, there seemed to be a lot of lava activity. The huge steam cloud is constantly changing, but often looks like heads and faces. It was definitely worthwhile, but could have been even better if we could have gotten a bit closer.

Meet an Ultraman

We have been in Hawaii (on the island of Hawaii) for the Thanksgiving holidays. One of the reasons we came here was to support our friend, Duane Franks, as he competed in the Ultraman competition. This race included 6.2 miles of swimming (day one), about 262 miles of cycling (day one and two), and a 52 mile double marathon run yesterday. Duano finished in fine style. Even the Cowman was impressed, as you can see in the picture.

Today Duane and our other good friend Dorette get married. That will be the fourth day of his event, and surely the most ultra of them all. More photos to come tomorrow I guess.

We've had a great time so far, and are looking forward to a few more days here. C U again soon.

Welcome to the Capshaw Family!

Yesterday afternoon Lori began her initiation into the Capshaw family. Over the last few years my dad and brother have established a tradition of crashing their bikes to get attention (that's the best reason I can come up with). And, if you want lots of attention, of course the crash has to be bad enough for a hospital visit (at least), and surgery if possible.

We were out for a mountain bike ride to the top of Mt. Tam, enjoying the sunny day. After riding to the top and almost all of the way back down, Lori took a dive into the fire road. We were going, oh, maybe 15 mph on a gently down-sloping, smooth but loose, fire road about .5 miles from our house. Rounding a corner, there was a couple hiking up the hill and Lori adjusted her front wheel slightly while breaking to give them some extra room. Her front wheel slid out as she leaned into the right hand turn and down she went! She hit her right shoulder and hip first, but also hit her head pretty hard.

I was behind her and stopped to see how she was. She said her head hurt. Uh oh. Her helmet was cracked in two places. Uh oh. But, she didn't black out. Whew! I un-clipped her left foot, pulled the bike off her, and we assessed the damage. Her head hurt a little, she was a bit dizzy, but coming around quickly, her nagging back pain over the last few weeks seemed cured, her shoulder didn't hurt, and she had trail rash on her hip. After deciding there were no major injuries, she sat up and we sat for a few minutes gathering ourselves for the trip home. When Lori stood up, we realized that the trail rash was pretty bad -- she was bleeding quite a bit.

At home, we assessed the damage to her leg and decided she would need some expert medical attention. We ended up going to the Marin General Hospital Emergency Room. During the interview/assessment process they tested Lori's neck. She passed all the tests but one - leaving the door open for a broken neck. We had gone in looking for a little bit of expert contusion-cleaning, and the next thing we knew she was in a neck brace waiting for a cat scan! All along I had been thinking that she was taking the easy way out of this Capshaw rite of passage with a simple bit of rocks-under-the-skin trail rash. Oh no, she wasn't. She had a broken neck!!!

Well actually, I didn't think so, but the only people that seem to think they are more right than I think I'm right are ER doctors. Anyway, she had her brace on and went off for her cat scan. After another 45 minutes of waiting, it turned out I was right (of course) and she didn't have a broken neck.

After that crisis was averted, they could focus on cleaning her wounds. That all went fine and she was discharged. Last night and this morning she was sore, but it looks like she will recover quickly. So, she had punched the "crash-your-bike" ticket as a Capshaw, and managed to avoid surgery and a broken neck. What a catch she is! :-)

Muir Beach Sunset

Cookie and I went down to Muir Beach for the sunset last night. She was kind of bored by the photography, but met a couple of dogs whose owner brought the "red dot" laser pointer. Cookie loves the "red dot", so she had a blast with that.

That is Definitely Snow

Apparently Mt. Tamalpais and the rest of the Bay Area are experiencing warm, potentially, record temperatures this week. I wouldn't know.

I've been in NW Pennsylvania and Philadelphia so far this week. So I only know what sfgate says. When I check the weather at the Duck Shack, I don't see it yet.

I flew to Buffalo on Monday and drove to Bradford, PA that night for a sales meeting the next day. It had snowed that day and was a bit of a winter wonderland. The next morning at the meeting I asked about the snow, and they reckoned it wasn't enough snow to be counted as "a snow". I may be a California boy these days, but even I know it was definitely snow. I think the Lake Effect has probably knocked the local snow gauge out of calibration.

After my sales meeting I drove all the way across Pennsylvania to the Philadelphia area for two sales meetings today. Lots of fun. One thing I did learn, Pennsylvania is hilly from corner to corner. Very hilly. Not quite mountainous -- except when you are in the mountains of course, but very hilly. BTW, there is no snow in Philadelphia.

Tonight I am traveling to Memphis again. I told you I would get to go back! I understand it is rainy there. Can't wait. I get to stay until Friday evening. I get home after Midnight. Oh boy!

No pictures to show, though I did bring my G9. I just didn't have the time to take anything other than windshields and airports so far. I'm sure folks are bored of those pictures by now. Maybe tomorrow in Memphis.

Wedding Pictures

I'm still working on the pictures from the wedding, but I have posted a few on Flickr. Click here to check them out.

Cataract Trail

For our honeymoon we stayed at the ranch a couple of extra days and then came home to the mountain. It took us all day on Tuesday to clean the ranch house, load all the stuff in the Jeep and camper, and then drive home.

The last few days we hung around here. We went to the beach. Rode our mountain bikes on the mountain, enjoyed the sunsets, grilled yummy food, etc. Yesterday we went for a hike on the Cataract Trail. I had never been down the trail to the waterfalls. It was really beautiful. And a great workout coming back up the mountain. Lori took the picture of me using the G9. I shot mostly with the Hasselblad, so we'll have to wait a while to see how those turned out.

Anyway, lots of fun and a fantastic trail. Oh yeah, a fantastic week too.