farmsteads

glowworms & sheep shearing

Published March 6, 2017

Plane, taxi…and now bus, Auckland to Rotorua. By the time I leave New Zealand expecting to use all forms of transport, except train. Ticket I pre-purchased, exchanged. All train travel on South Island shut down ‘til March 22^nd because of extensive forest fires. Yikes!

Waitomo, Agrodome & Te Puia – 3 tour stops, then dropped directly at my hotel…not a bad way to travel.

Waitomo, home to New Zealand’s famous glowworms. Stalactites, stalagmites & limestone…typical cave stuff – but glowworms? Never have I ever. WOW WOW WOW! Loaded onto a long gondola, pulled forward via a rope pulley thru Glowworm Grotto [subterranean cavern illuminated by THOUSANDS of tiny glowworms]. No pictures allowed, no sound permitted. Magic.

Back on the bus, next stop: the Agrodome. Toured this working farm in an all-terrain vehicle. SHEEP, New Zealand SHEEP, that’s the reason one comes here. Watched a Romney being shorn, then attended a live sheep dog trail. BIG fan.

End of day, bit rushed thru Te Puia [Māori meeting house] & neighboring Whakarewarewa Thermal Valley. Luckily my travel bestie scheduled additional geyser viewing on tomorrow’s Happy Ewe bike tour. (Thanks Dawn!)

Hotel check-in. Early to bed? Heck no — ’cause every day’s a run day 🙂 Laced up, quick change-o-clothes. 10 minutes from The Redwoods, my first amazing NZ run (first of several). Massive trees, tropical vegetation & cicadas – the forest sang (12 mile FUN run).

Day 3 plans: morning run (geysers), bike tour (even more geysers) & a puddle-jumper to Christchurch (South Island).

: stalactites, stalagmites, limestone & glowworms

: cicada season, the forest sang

: no pics allowed, no sound permitted — quiet magic

: sheep shearing

: newly shorn Romney

: working sheep dog

: all trail, 12 mile FUN run

Waitomo Caves — NZ cicada season (Dec-April)

Agrodome – Sheep Shearing

Agrodome – working Sheep Dog trial

Posted in New Zealand | Tagged caving, farmsteads | Leave a comment

ping pong, FOOD & fireworks

Published July 3, 2016

2016 ‘Stealth’ Fireworks Show

After a 6 mile morning run, the rain came down – and would keep falling intermittently all day.

Started ‘Indoor Activities Day‘ at Purina Farms – cows, pigs, chickens, sheep AND a dog agility show. Touring the livestock barns, kinda like a county fair – a personal fave, tight reminder of my childhood. Lotta laughs, super FUN start!

Lunch at City Park Grill (niece’s workplace), then sported an afternoon of games – ping pong & Uno. Folks rotated in-n-out of both activities all day, ‘til the family’s next gorge session (my people love to eat). Sis’ husband fired up the grill – hamburgers, hot dogs & all the fixin’s…anything/everything one expects of a July 4^th celebration. FAANNNTASTIC spread!

Took advantage of a 3-hour ‘no showers’ window & caught a local fireworks display at nearby Memorial Park. Cool summer temps (rare for St Louis), few bugs & no rain – pretty much perfect weather. Think the precip possibility kept a lotta folks home so secured a mighty sweet viewing spot.

Low-hanging clouds made for one of the worse firework shows ever. LOL> No fault of the town itself, just unpredictable weather. Firework launched, blast ricocheted off nearby tennis courts (sounded like sniper fire), then color would illuminate the blanket of clouds above. FUN memory!

Holidays with family, absolutely nothing like it.

: my people love to eat

: girls ruled the day

: nephew talked a whole lotta smack 🙂

Tomorrow: Anheuser-Busch Grant’s Farm

…281-acre ancestral home of the Busch family, named for Ulysses S. Grant who originally worked a portion of the land.

Honoring both the 18th president of the United States and the Busch family legacy, the Farm is a refuge for more than 900 animals, representing more than 100 different species.

Grant’s Farm is the official “prep” school of the Budweiser Clydesdales. The Budweiser Clydesdale Stables are home to over 50 head of Clydesdales that vary in age from weanlings at 6 months of age to retirees of fifteen or older. Anheuser-Busch has one of the world’s largest herds of Clydesdale horses and owns approximately 200 nationwide.

Purina Dog Agility Show

2016 ‘Stealth’ Fireworks Show

Posted in Family, Heartland | Tagged farmsteads, holidays | Leave a comment

Sioux Falls Marathon

Published September 13, 2015

Woke tired, body stiff – pre-marathon activities didn’t serve me well this morn. Train hobo Friday night; drove 4 hours thru 3 Midwest states to see Little House. Would I do it again? Heck yeah – it’s the journey I’ll remember, not missed sleep 🙂

Early 6:30am marathon start made it easier to coordinate a post-marathon shower. No begging the hotel for a late check-out this go-around. PLUS ya’ll know, I’m not a fan of running in summer heat. Thanks Sioux Falls!

Arrived early at Howard Wood Field. Struggled to locate the Start (parked on wrong side of the Arena).

Minute to go, ran across a field, hopped a fence & bang – we were off.

Started slow, real slow. ‘though I stayed active all August, hadn’t run 26.2 in 5 weeks – not since marathoning at Crater Lake (Oregon). 4:15 pace group passed at mile 2. Sloooooow start, real slow.

Lotta loops & turns – course reminded [me] of Casper. Entered Falls Park at mile 5 – again, lotta loops & curves (notta fan) but mighty scenic. (Finally) picked up pace & hit stride after looping Downtown. Sioux Falls has an extensive trail system – course stayed on paved path. Nevertheless, appreciated Sioux Falls’ extended Greenway, off and on from mile 8 to mile 21. Well done.

Tagged a runner early at mile 8, caught him on a hill, then stayed close. Mile after mile we jockeyed for lead. Goal: stay close the first half, then to mile 15, then thru 18 miles. Never caught the 4:15 pacers, but wasn’t passed by the 4:30 group either. I could live with that.

‘Tag’ finished mile 19 a tenth-mile ahead, never saw him at 20.

Slogged the last 6 – sluggish 10-minute/miles but didn’t walk. Miles 21 thru 25 were a mix of sun & breeze – not a lotta trees along Kiwanis Avenue. Quads tight, legs heavy – wouldn’t sub-4 or PR today, but mentally a-ok.

Lapped the final point^2 around Howard Wood Field. Nothing like a stadium finish – FAAANNNTASTIC!

1002 HAGA, K R 04:35:06.8 LOUISVILLE CO Marathon

Showered, post-marathon lasagna in Sioux City [Iowa] – then caught a movie (‘A Walk in the Woods’), before travelling another hour-half to Council Bluffs for BBQ & casino hopping. Not a gambler – but I’m a HUGE fan of BBQ 🙂

Denver 7:15am Monday (overnight train), then bus returned to Boulder. Got a nod from a homeless guy also unshaven, long hair, toting a backpack. Would need to pull off ‘restroom sink magic’ to be work-presentable in 10 minutes. All part of the journey, folks. LOL>

Next week – Morgantown, West Virginia.