Hope this post finds you all fit, healthy, happy and in high spirits!!!
You have probably been wondering where we have been and why the blog has been quiet for the past couple of weeks. Well..I tell ya..you can't be in two places at once.... although I have tried..trust me it would be a blast to be able to do that!!!
Anyway..why so busy?
Hmmmmmm......
1. training...swim/bike/run/...check.
2. racing...check.
3. working with clients .....check.
4. food shopping for three...check.
5. keeping friends in the loop....check.
6. checking up on family scattered all over the world....check.
7. walking lessons....check.
8. english lessons....check.
9. playing tourist with Dedan.....check. Ahhh....what? Playing tourist?
English lessons at home:
You beat ya sweet boots we have been playing tourist!!!! So there lies the dilemma...how can you post blogs which require sitting in front of a computer when you are out and about eating ice cream and drinking totally amazing fruit smoothies at all the tourist spots that San Diego has to offer? Huh? now try and answer that question!!!!
So, where is Dedan? or should I say where has Dedan been?
1. Casa Quero....Our local Peruvian restaurant owned by the lovely Monica has a second business which is a house in Leucadia - one suburb over from Encinitas. She has made it into a very cool hang out place with table and chairs in the South American themed garden where you can buy food and drinks and enjoy the beachy, laid back atmosphere. They have Tapas evenings every Wednesday from 5-7pm and I thought it would be a novelty way for Dedan to socialise and use his new - hard earned English skills. Works a treat!
2. Sea World...Dedan loved this place and was chuffed to see the show with all the dancing and prancing whales, orca and dolphins and their respective handlers. The penguins and polar bears were also one of his favorites. Chris and Dedan spent all day at the park and he certainly got an honest days walking in. Poor little residual leg ala the stump was quite tired after the mammoth effort.
3. The Midway....is an aircraft carrier that has been restored and sits down in the water front of San Diego. Once again it was a boy thing..I had already been to it and spent hours there when my dad was visiting from New Zealand so Chris and Dedan made this trip together. Once again they were there for hours and then topped off the visit with dinner in La Jolla.
4. Children's Pool and the Seals at La Jolla..La Jolla Cove is a really nice part of the shoreline of San Diego and we spend alot of time swimming in the Cove. There is a 1 mile swim race every year - starting from La Jolla Coves and swimming across to La Jolla Shores. What's cool about this race is the fact that you are swimming through a marine nature reserve and so as you swim all you can see are brightly coloured fish, stingrays, mantarays if you are lucky, harmless baby tiger sharks..(they make you swim faster) and lots of kelp. Around the corner is an area known as the Childrens pool which is also where the seals come to shore and bask in the sun.
5. Mount Laguna and Garnet Peak..Mount Laguna is south east of San Diego and a great area to go hiking and walking - sometimes trail running and mountain biking and it is about an hours drive out of the city. It is also where alot of the professional road racing athletes live and train (it's at altitude)and so it is not unusual to see packs of African runners doing narly hill repeats up the mountain. Chris and Dedan went there this weekend and Dedan loved the view and the vertical drop of about 2,000 feet when you get to the top of Garnet Peak and look over.
Besides all the tourist visits Dedan has also experienced two baby earthquakes. One a couple of weeks ago and one last night. Los Angeles had a 4.5 quake at 8.36pm and we could certainly feel it all the way down here. The house shook for a while and yep Dedan's eyes definitely had a look of surprise.
Chris has also ramped up Dedan's training in the last couple of weeks....we all did the last Fiesta Island time trial together (I finally got my act together and beat all of Chris's male clients who were there. I did pull out the speed weapon as in my Cervelo P3 bike which gave me an aerodynamic advantage but I still had the legs on the day!). Chris has specifically been working on Dedan's time trialing skills as it is an area of weakness compared to his other strengths. We got the estimated times that Dedan should be striving for from Craig the USA Paracycling Coach whom we met during our OTC training sessions...added bonus..and so we now know what Dedan has to achieve in order to get on the podium. Cool huh!
Dedan also had dinner with one of our neighbors last week. Too funny. Each evening we make him walk to our house from his house as 'walking practice' and when he gets to us we assess his leg and check that all went well. Well, he changed his route a couple of weeks ago to include more of an uphill route than a flat route. Just so happens that one of the neighbors on the corner of Requesa and Arden had been in Africa for 2 months so missed seeing his daily ritual of walking until last Monday when they arrived back to Encinitas. They had spent time in Kenya and Tanzania and had picked up a little bit of Swahilli and so spoke to Dedan as he strolled by. Their conversation and Dedan's natural energy got him a dinner invite...so there you go!!! I tell ya..if he stayed long enough I'm sure he would be adopted!!!
The owner of his guest house is also going to miss him and so has arranged a farewell BBQ for him next Sunday..too cool!
We have also been collecting things for Dedan to take back to Nairobi. Can't believe it but he leaves next Monday...3 months has passed so quickly. Chris picked up a bike box so we can pack his bike and he will definitely be needing a second suitcase for all his new cycling gear and the gifts of clothes that our clients have given him..ranging from sunglasses to shoes!
OK..I have to go to work so I'll be adding photos in the next post.
Hope you are all peachy..
hugz
Janet
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