Day 8 - Race Final/Glenelg Beach

Our group

Our ride today was a short, flat one to Glenelg Beach. We were able to spend the day with our entire group, as everyone opted for the "easy ride" today. We went out and back (24km) by noon in order to be down at the race by 1300. The pros rode a 4.5 km circuit twenty laps today to finish. Once again we had  VIP seating so we had a clear view of the start/finish line completely catered and shaded! I can see why people do these tours, they take all the hassle out of everything. No showing up 6 hours before the event to scope out a shaded spot, no packing your lunch and drinks, no worries about anything except what drink to order.
For Dinner we went out to a tapas restaurant complete with sangria. It was great to sit back and relax with our new found friends and hear about everyones plans before they return home.

Day 7 - Willunga Circit

Top of the King of the Mountain!!

Today we were up and on the bus by 0730 on our way to Willunga to watch this stage of the race. Our ride consisted of a 40 km loop with an additional 20km loop which included a KOM hill (king of the mountain hill). The professionals would be doing both loops twice and we had a VIP viewing area located at the start/finish line. Tom and I opted to do the first 40 km loop and also did the KOM which started the second loop. In total we did 51.9 km!! The KOM was a killer but we made it. The picture above is us at the top of the KOM.
Tonight’s dinner was a suit and tie event (being true to Portlander’s we were semi-casual). They called it “Legends’ Night Dinner” and it included Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwin, and of course Lance Armstrong. The guest list was 2000 but it included a fancy steak diner, dessert, and your choice of unlimited alcoholic beverages…..who could ask for a better night? Anyway we had a blast and for those of you curious, even though we are with trek travel (the bike Lance rides) no autographs from Lance.

Day 6 - Mutual Community Challenge Tour

Today we were able to participate in the Mutual Community Challenge Tour, a unique opportunity to ride stage 4 of the Tour Down Under; the same route on the same day as the world’s elite riders. We had three distances to choose from, 155km, 97km or 32km. We considered the 155km….ha,ha,ha…..and then the 97km….but that one included a king of the mountain hill so it was out….and then we realized that the 32 km would be just right. We had a great time on the race course, sporting our yellow cycling jersey’s. We tackled a few small hills but nothing like our first three days of cycling. We had lunch, re-hydrated and watched the professionals finish.
For dinner our guides took us to this fabulous fancy restaurant, where they had made up a menu just for us (I’m sure to limit our choices to help the cook). It was three courses with a savory wine to match. It was so fancy I felt I couldn’t take pictures of our food/settings, as I would be embarrassed! As a scrapbooker, that’s fancy!! This is definitely a great vacation!!

Day 5 - A day on our own, petting the Kangaroo

Today Tom and I took the day off from cycling to take in a few of the sights (since we opted not to extend our trip at all in order to get back to Alex). We were still up at 0600 and unable to go back to sleep so we grabbed breakfast and then off to the Adelaide Zoo. They have a children’s petting area where you actually get to pet and feed the kangaroo. Tom and I were both hesitant to touch the animals, not sure if they would startle. Then a little two year old girl comes running past us and hugs the kangaroo around the neck, like it’s a dog. We both laughed and decided it was safe to touch him. It was surprising how open most of the cages are, it feels as though the animals could just walk out of the displays. The zoo was great but seeing all those kiddos made me miss having ours so we made yet another call home to see how Alex was doing. Grandma reports he is doing fine and slept all the way though the night for her last night. They are taking him to all of the hot kid spots in Salem. We really miss him and tears always fill my eyes during every call but he seems to be doing great and so does Grandma and Grandpa. We are over half way though so we will see him soon, I can’t wait.
We had lunch and then went to check out the National Wine Institute in Adelaide. It had a large interactive display on wine making. Towards the end we were able to make our own virtual wine by answering questions on how we would prepare and bottle our wine, my shiraz was a silver wine with a good bold taste, Tom’s was “appalling”, and would ruin Australia’s good name in wine making. Then we sat down to do some wine tasting. We were also able to get in a little shopping and a rest today before meeting one of the guys from our group for a Thai dinner. Better get to bed, tomorrow we are up at 0400 for the Community Challenge Ride.

Day 4 - Stirling

Kangaroo Fillet

Today ride they scheduled 61.9 km through Stirling, a quaint little town in the Adelaide Hills. The pro-riders came by 4 times and finished this leg of the race here. Tom and I opted to ride 29km today, ensuring we were off the course before the pro’s showed up. For lunch we tried Kangaroo Fillet, a lean meat which was very tender- I liked it, Tom did not. In the evening we went over to the tour village for a fancy VIP affair for dinner and drinks.

Day 3 - Stage one race loop with KOM

Lance is in the middle -with the black/yellow helmet and blue/yellow jersey. His shirt is half way unzipped

Watching the race after our hard climb!!

Day 3 One Tree Hill
We awoke today at 5 am!! Unable to go back to sleep I was just happy that we weren’t jarred awake during the night by leg cramps. I’m shocked we feel so good, muscles are slightly sore but not crippling soreness I expected. Our bottoms are sore though from those tiny hard seats.
After breakfast they shuttled us out to One Tree Hill a tiny community where the pro-riders would be passing twice. Our ride for the day mimicked part of their ride, a 43.5 km ride with two king of the Mountain hills (one a 16% grade). It was important to us that we make it back to our lunch spot before the pro-riders did so Tom and I opted to skip the first half of the ride (which included both KOM’s) and start at the 21km mark. That worked our perfectly, the rest of our group caught up to us the last 1.5 km. We had one climb but nothing like yesterday. We felt good at the end, the weather has been in the 90’s….

Day 2 - Mt. Lofty 45km ride

Mt. Lofty Summit!! We made it!

Today after a buffet breakfast at the hotel (priced at close to 60 Australian dollars, yikes!!!) we were fitted with our bikes. Tom and I took advantage of a few minutes of downtime and tried them out by riding around the block….I had to do this just to figure out how the gears worked! As a group we headed out for our 45km ride through the Adelaide Hills. Our guides called it a gradual climb with a 2,362 foot summit. We informed our guides that we are not the avid bicyclists that the rest of the group is (although I’m sure they knew that just by looking at us). Our group is made up of 10 Japanese bicycle shop owners, one couple who owns a bicycle shop in Hawaii, Susanne who works in Singapore, and Chris, a bank VP that was laid off from Chicago. Everyone has lots of bicycling gear and most came with their own helmets, petals, and seats.
Our goal for the day was to get out and have a good time. After riding for awhile we decided if we wanted to be able to ride at all tomorrow we should stop at 15km(hey that‘s one third the ride). By the time we made it to our mark though the ride had reached a more manageable grade so we continued, enjoying the beautiful scenery, the watch for koala bear signs, various birds, and trees. Before we knew it we were half way and the summit was just around the corner. We decided we could do it so up we went. Good thing we knew we only had 4 km left to summit because it was steep!! We took several breaks that last little leg but we made it and it felt great! We enjoyed the view of Adelaide and took a few pictures. At this point our muscles were so fatigued, I thought well I made it to the top, now I can just get in the van. Tom was not having that though. He said we did all this work now is the fun part…riding down hill. So with hesitation I said okay. Coming down was fun, a little sketchy at times but a lot less work and so much faster. We made our way back to the hotel, as we entered the elevators with our bikes Chris exited having already showered and was off to find lunch, that’s how far behind everyone we were. We were still proud of ourselves though for concurring the first ride.
Tonight we headed over to the Hilton where Team Astana is staying. We were introduced to the Team PR guy, the team mechanic, and the director of the team, the guy who tells the riders what to do during the race. His name escapes me now but Tom was really excited about it. We also met two of the riders and Johan Bruyneel. They took pictures with all of us and signed autographs. Our fellow group members were all so excited about all of this which made it tons of fun. They even brought in Lance Armstrong’s bike and we all of course took pictures and even got to touch it. Dinner was done about 9:30 pm so we headed back to the hotel for much needed rest. Day 2..lots of fun!!

Day 1

Lance Armstrong riding the Down under Classic

From the airport we took a taxi to our hotel and took much needed showers. Our hotel is way nicer then we would have ever stayed at if we were paying for it on our own. I took some pictures of the room before we made a mess of it and then we were off to meet our tour guides, Jon and Dave. After a bag of goodies and a briefing of the week ahead we were off to the tour village to watch the Down Under Classic, a 51 km circuit race, complete with Lance Armstrong. Luckily we had VIP seating for the event right near the finish line up in a grandstand. They had all the free drinks you wanted (alcoholic and nonalcoholic) and a full fancy buffet style dinner. Every time the riders would come by everyone went crazy trying to get pictures and cheering. You all know we aren’t big bicyclist but the excitement in the air is contagious and the race was fun. After the Race (about 9 pm) they were showing a movie about the history of the race but Tom and I were exhausted so we went back to the hotel for a dip in the pool and hot tub. Still can’t believe we won all this, having a great time.

Australia...here we come!!!

Off to Australia!!

Off To Australia
We dropped Alex off at Grandma and Grandpa’s house today with only a few tears (from Mommy not Alex!!). Then off to the airport for 24 hours of travel! Yuck!! We went from PDX to San Francisco to Sydney to Adelaide. It took us 3 hours to get our luggage, go through customs, and get our new tickets in Sydney. As I watched kids around us meltdown (and parents getting upset) I was happy that Alex was happy at home playing with Grandma. We arrived in Adelaide at 2:15, the sun was shinning, the weather was hot…life is good.

House Pictures Taken 1/9/09

Inside, first floor, looking toward kitchen

Back of house/Yard

Front of House

They say it should be done in March....

Our Future Home Site

This is the site of our Future Home!!!! We are so excited. Should be done by March 09.

London

Stonehenge


Big Ben








Buckingham Palace
Okay, so it took me two weeks but I finally got some more pictures on the blog. I have added them throughout the blog so scroll down to see the new ones. For all of you die-hards, I am putting together a disk of our Best Europe Photos out of the 2000+ pics we took. Thanks for all of your comments and support. See you all soon.

Scotland

Yesterday we took a day trip to Scotland. We wanted to go salmon fishing on the Tweed River so we looked into that and found that at this time of year it is only fly fishing, that most of the rivers are on beats which are on private land, and it would cost about 1000$ to fish for a day (not including the pole and gear). That's out! So we went to a little golf course in Eyemouth, St. Andrews, and played nine holes of golf. We had a great time. It was my first game and I didn't do too bad except I broke the shaft of the 5 iron of our rented clubs (I didn't even hit the ground...that time! I was not happy. Tom had a great game and even took a shot at "Scotland most extraordinary golf hole" hitting the ball over the cliffs and sea to reach the green on the other side. His first shot went...well that was practice, but his second landed with a bounce on the green. Scotland was beautiful,too bad we don't have more time.

England

Hello,
We flew to England on Friday, spent one night in a small caravan park after being stuck on the motorway for an hour in bumper to bumper traffic. We took our chances and pulled off at some little town and luckily they let us stay even though we didn't have a reservation (which the lady felt she needed to say, twice)! On Saturday we drove to Bridlington, our very nice friend Denice has a house here which she graciously said we could use. It is a beautiful three story home that she is redecorating, therefore it is completely empty. It does have running hot water, with a kitchen sink, and bathroom with tub. We feel like royalty compared to the two months of camping in the tent. It's nice to have electricity again and our own space. She has a brand new fireplace she just had installed and central heating so we are nice and toasty in the evening. Except for my great fear of spiders, and let me tell you we have seen some monster ones, we are quite happy. Yesterday we went to Scarborough to see the International Gold Cup Motorcycle Races, couldn't miss that! We are having a great time. Take care, Heather and Tom.

Ireland

Jamison Distillary







Carrack-a-reed Bridge





Cliffs of Moher






Dingle, Ireland





Blarney Castle








Giants Causeway


We have been in Ireland for 5 days now. Our first day we took a tour of the Old Jameson distillery and Tom was selected to taste test 5 different whiskey's for the "good of the whole group" as our tour guide put it. After which he received a double shot of Jameson whiskey and a fancy Diploma he can frame when we arrive home. We spent an afternoon out in Howth, just outside of Dublin. Driving in the countryside is quite beautiful here, green hills covered with flowers and spotted with cows, sheep, and of course castles. We spent two nights in Northern Ireland, camping in Balleycastle. Saw the Carrick-a-rede bridge, the Giant's Causeway, Bushmill's distillery, and went deep sea fishing. We didn't catch anything impressive but it was quite tasty off the grill. Last night we stayed in a tiny village in Western Ireland about 8 km from Sligo. Lots of surfing going on dispite the small waves. Tonight we are in Doolin near the Cliffs of Moher which we plan to see tomorrow on our way to Cork. Hope everything is well at home. Heather and Tom.

Bordeaux and Nantes France to Ireland

Sorry for the delay in posts, we thought we were on vacation and all :)   We spent three nights in Bordeaux, took a wine tasting course, visited many little statues and fountains, and of course did some shopping. Then we took a train to Nantes, where a jazz festival was going on, rented some bikes and took a tour of the French countryside. The rain followed us to both Bordeaux and Nantes. On Sept. 5th we took a flight from Nantes to Dublin. Ireland is a blast!! Our Eurail pass ran out so we rented a car. Tom says driving here is like throwing a ball with your left hand (if your right handed). Riding shotgun is also quite wierd. We still want to drive on the right side of the street and reaching for the gearshift to the right. We are in Ballycastle, near the Giants Causeway. We plan to see the sights tomorrow. Hope all is well at home. Heather and Tom.

Paris/Barcelona/Lisboa

The Louve



Eiffel Tower








Paris Eiffel Tower




Rabbit -Barcelona outdoor Market







Morning after overnight train ride







Ola From Portagal!
The last week has been a whirlwind. We spent two days in Paris, saw the Louve (a crowded tourist spot) and the Eiffel Tower. Went to Riems, part of the champagne district in France, toured the caves of Pommery cellars and tasted champagne. We took an overnight train to Barcelona (six people jam packed into a tiny space!!),  all I can say is it smelled like feet! Spent a couple of days in the campground that was right on the beach and went to the aquarium (supposed to be the biggest in europe but we found it small). It was a nice aquarium though. We then took a first class train to Madrid that had a fancy meal and then another overnight train to Lisboa Portugal. The overnight was a chair that we slept in, not comfortable at all, but we are here and it is sunny and warm and very nice. We will try and post more pictures when we get the chance. see you all soon!
Heather and Tom

Amsterdam!!

Hieneken Experience






Anne Frank House




Friends we met on the Train






Hey everyone,
Amstersdam is tons of fun!!  We went to a couple of coffee shops.....(you know what we mean) just to check them out. We didn't indulge as it seems all locals do.  We also went to the Hieneken brewery and took the tour of the original place where it was all started. We have had a lot of fun and a considerable amount af rain one might even call it a torrential downpour to be exact!!  Maybe staying in the tent in Amsterdam was a bad idea.  Anyway, we are off to Paris tommorrow and we will update you again soon.
Heather and Tom

Germania

Holocaust Monument








Munich








Munich Pub Crawl






Berlin Wall





Brandenburg Gate





Hallo,
The last week we have been on the move. From Zermatt we went to Zurich for one night then on to Salzburg, Austria to see the sound of music sights (no laughing) and Motzarts birthplace. From there to Munich where we went on a Pub Crawl, don´t worry we had a drink for each and everyone of you! Maybe two!! After a few days there it was time to find another military base to send items home so we went to Ramstin Airforce base. At this point (just over half way!) we both caught a little cold...to many late nights, rain for a week straight, oh and did I mention the pubs? So we checked into our very first hotel of our vacation the Airforce inn for two nights in a warm cozy bed ( a good deal being only 32 dollars). We rented movies, drank hot tea, bundled up on the couch, slept late, and ate out! It was nice to not have to worry about anything and just relax! We were feeling rested and a bit better so yesterday we traveled all day to Berlin. Today we are on a walking tour seeing all the sights including the Holocaust Memorial, what is left of the Berlin wall, Brandenburg Gate, the grass that lies over Hitler's bunker, checkpoint charlie, and a ton more. Having a great time.
Auf Wiedersehen,
HeatherandTom

The Matterhorn

Hello Everyone,
Writing to you from Switzerland at the Matterhorn in Zermatt. Is absolutely breathtaking here, there are climbers everywhere waiting for conditions to be right to make a go at the mountain. The views here are so nice that we were inspired to do our own climb,  a hike from town to the base of the mountain to get some more views (we about fell over from exhaustion). When they tell you it is a two hour hike, they really mean two hours nonstop at a jogging pace.  It is really similar to the cascades up hear, but a little more extreme in altitude. We hope be able to post some pictures from here and the other places loaded up here. All is well with us, and we are having a great time. See everyone when we get back.
Heather and Tom