Vacation Week 1

The first vacation week of two has passed by quickly in spite of not seeming to have really done too much. I only rode a little, letting my legs recover for the races to come. That will change this week though as I will get out on some longer and higher intensity rides. To continue my wildlife sightings while riding a red fox ran in front of me between subdivisions.

I played in a golf outing last week courtesy of Chris Werth who had an extra ticket from work. I used to play in these quite a bit but it's been a long time. We always tried to be competetive in the past but this time it was just for fun. Good thing too, we weren't in any danger of taking home the top prize. We played a scramble format which is nice because everyone on the team has a chance to contribute, no matter what type of game you have. We all hit good and bad shots and Chris was just missing the hole on a lot of long puts. On one of the holes for the longest drive I was able to put mine about 10-20 yards past the previous hitters but someone got me in the end. I have a hard time in scramble formats compared to playing my own ball in a normal round. I walked 18 holes the next day with my son and overall played a lot better, just missing an eagle putt and birdying two holes in a row. Of course the bogies were there as well.

We rented the movie End Game yesterday, a movie that was filmed in a large part in Spokane last year. It stars among others Cuba Gooding Jr. and Angie Harmon. My son Jason had gotten a few parts as a extra in the film and had called to say it was finally out and that he had made a few scenes. Sure enough, in the first nine minutes of the film he is in it three times. Twice in the crowd and once as a secret service agent in the hospital. You have to look quick to catch him. Later in the movie he appears once more as a secret service agent in the background and you can see him for several seconds. We played one of the early scenes frame by frame since he went by so fast. The president had just been shot and the crowd is running in panic. Too fast in regular viewing but in the slow motion Jason has a big grin on his face. Somehow I don't think that is quite the reaction they were looking for but they left it in since you can't really see it.

One of the nice things about vacation these two weeks means that I can see the Tour de France live on TV. My wife has been watching it with me at night as well and has been enjoying it and been discussing the various stages and riders. Sometimes when I come home she has the rebroadcasts on earlier in the day so she already knows what happens if I missed the live telecast. She has stayed up to watch the finishes after I have fallen asleep. Maybe some year we can get over there to see a few stages.