Countdown to Triathlon – 195 Days, 27.85 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 53 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -  To My Dear Bob

It's not that I can't live without you...it's just that I don't even want to try.

Super Bowl Sunday - We spent the afternoon and evening with our very pregnant daughter, Laurel and her husband Danny.  Since I'm not a football fan, I spent the Super Bowl time upstairs sorting photographs and really enjoying myself not having to watch football.


The Journey - Installment Fifty-Three

This is Hollen surfing.  He could walk to the end of his yard and jumpt in the water (literally).







Barb and Grandson Kaleo in Hollen and Morena's backyard, Ewa Beach Hawaii.

Irriquois Point is just to the right of red dot at Ewa Beach. 

This is an aerial view of Irriquois Point Naval Base - a view which of course we didn't see because we were on bikes.  All we could see as we passed by was the sentry gate where MP's were stationed.  It is located near the entrance to Pearl Harbor.

       

        During  that long ride that day,  we had to pass by Iroquois Point Naval Base twice.  The first time around the base it was still slightly dark and when we passed by a Military Policeman was standing along side the road, outside his vehicle.   I wondered why he was just standing there. I wanted to shout at him for help to save me because this son of mine was torturing me and making me ride. On the second trip past him, twenty-five miles later, it was light outside and I noticed he had a radar gun pointed at the road.  By then I had greatly improved my attitude and hollered at him, “I’m not going too fast, am I?”  The ridiculousness of that statement is comical and I meant it that way since the fastest I ever rode on the flat land was 15 mph.   We completed the ride of 48 miles and I was never so happy to be free of the bike.  I enjoyed the rest of the day and began to pack for the trip home.  I wrote a thank you note on Hollen’s computer, which I sent to all the people who had contributed to this bike ride both financially and through prayers. I included some of the highlights of the training and the story about the dead birds.    Hollen had taken a digital photo of me with the bike and all my riding gear, palm trees in the background.  I inserted the photo onto the top of the letter.  I have to confess that when I saw how heavy I looked in the picture, I just couldn’t send the photo as it initially appeared. Hollen took some “artistic license” and digitally “shaved off some pounds” from my derriere. 

This picture shows that I am missing about 20 pounds from my fanny thanks to Hollen and Photoshop.