Family First

I’ve just had to cancel my vacation to RAGBRAI this year. Paul’s Dad has gotten very ill, and I’m needed here at home. We’ve been very lucky to have both of our parents’ live long lives. They’ve been able to watch and enjoy our children growing up, and our kids have been lucky to get to know their grandparents and their family history. Even though our families seem to be all over the map, we’ve still managed to stay pretty close, and the times we’ve all gotten together has always been fun. Family just has to come first.

Paul’s family

Dawn's Family

The bike training has me pretty fit, and I’ve really enjoyed the training my friend David and I have done as we prepared for RAGBRAI. There’s always next year, and/or possibly another bike trip.  And we have some nice kayaking trips coming up soon with our kayaking club.

I’ll now plan to use some of my unused vacation days with Paul out at the coast for some rest and relaxation on our sailboat later this summer when things calm down a bit.

Growing Bolder

As soon as I get pictures, I'll post a trip report of our last weeks ocean paddle.  "Growing Bolder" pretty much describes it, as we were in very challenging conditions, on that edge of danger and exciting fun.

I've also discovered that "Growing Bolder" is a TV show on American Public television, though I'll need to check my local listing for it.  It's 1/2 hr shows are empowering stories that inspire audiences of all ages to believe that it’s never too late to achieve their dreams. It features stories of masters athletes, cancer survivors, musicians, health experts, entrepreneurs and more.

I learned of this show when getting a link to a video of adventure canoeist and canoe racer Rod Price.  Rod is a good friend of the WaterTribe, a Tribal Elder who has completed an Everglades Challenge among many other adventure races. I hear will be joining us in this years North Carolina Challenge.  He describes much of my feelings about the adventure sea kayaking I do in this video about his adventure canoeing.

Rod keeps a blog here, and has authored the book  "Racing to the Yukon", about his experience racing and winning the Yukon 1000 with Ardie Olson (another great WaterTriber).  A great article of their adventure is also found here.

Kristen (KiwiBird) and I still talk about paddling in the Yukon 1000 together some day.  Unfinished business!!