Blast from the Past

As I was searching "My Pictures" for something, I came upon these pics of Gwen. Wow! These were some good times!

Gwen at about 18 months old. Pic taken at our place (now gone) in Ocean City. She wasn't walking yet, and was scooting around on her butt. Love this pic with Grandpa.And a very timely pic of her at Halloween when she was 2 years old, getting ready to head out trick or treating. Kera did a great job making the Blues Clues costume.

Time is flying by!

Flocking Up

I know I've mentioned my lovely back road travels to work and how much I enjoy the wild life. This morning there were at least 30 turkeys flocked together in a field. This is the time of the year when the turkeys begin flocking together for the winter. I hate mornings but views like these make my day a little brighter.

GAWT VI

Each year over the Columbus Day holiday, my family congregates in the Finger Lake region of New York state for what we affectionately call the Great American Wine Tour. Four of my Brooks cousins started this 6 years ago - many thanks Memory, Marcia, Marta, and Jacqui!

Each year is different: lake toured, wineries visited, family members attending - and this year my SIL, Chris, made us fabulous shirts. But, there are some things that remain the same: connecting with family, camraderie, and Memory's birthday.

This year, we chose the western side of Seneca Lake and visited a record 9 wineries. How are the wineries selected? Well, Brent does a little research through Wine Spectator and other wine publications to see who's getting good publicity. Then, a meeting of the minds occurs in the bus on the way to the first winery. As you can see, Marta, Brent, and Jacqui debate the pros and cons.... ....while Duane and Theresa peruse the most recent Seneca Lake Wine Trail guide.
The rest of us just sit back, enjoy the ride, and catch up with news. The big news this year is Maureen's engagement to Dickie. Here Jacqui congratulates Mo. The ring is gorgeous!

Our first stop was Fox Run, the previous scene of a "Brent faux-pax." Really, does that fox look like a cat to you?The 2006 Cabernet Franc/Lemberger here at Fox Run was yummy. Jacqui says, "This would be perfect with pepper encrusted steaks." The description for Fox Trot Red suggested it was a "fruity red wine blend of Cabernet Franc and Concord Grapes. Okay, I admit it, I turned my nose up at the concord grapes. But, Jacqui says, "don't prejudge." I took a deep cleansing breath, swirled, sniffed, tasted...yeah, Welches is okay for juice but not so good for wine! we did pick up their 2006 Pinot noir though. A little pricey but delish.

We were all in high spirits as we sported our new shirts. Obviously one of us was a little more excited than the rest!Back into the bus and on to Seneca Shore Wine cellars. This place is known for the medieval wines. I believe we picked up a Gewurztraminer Trimanette and their Reserve Port. Other reviews weren't so great: Jacqui says, "Their port tastes like cough medicine." And, you know it's not good when Mo says, "The no-oak chard smells like dirty feet."

Anthony Road has a beautiful garden and view of the lake. One pricey bottle of Herman Wiemer Riesling and we were on the road again.

At Prejean Winery we were looking for a place to picnic, but it was a no-go. After purchasing the 2007 Un-oaked Chardonnay (ugh) and a late harvest vignoles, our driver kindly snapped a photo of all of us.

We're all happy that Paul was able to join us this year. So....ya got your knees fixed and just passed the pain on to me?

Torrey Ridge Winery had a beautiful gazebo. Our race bus driver cut off the other bus who thought to picnic there. Brent and Mo ran like the wind to claim our picnic spot. It was perfect. Unfortunately, this winery is not. They have little to no customer service, they are rude, and quite frankly their wine isn't very good either. I didn't feel bad using their picnic spot and then not buying anything here.

If you love oak, you'll love Villa Bellangelo. We didn't purchase anything here, but thought their gewurztraminer was good. Jacqui says, "The White Scooter would be great with pancakes." Do you suppose it was something Dad drank?

It was a stupendous year for gewurztraminers and Glenora Wine Cellars had one worth buying too. We also picked up a sparkeling that was so-so, but I'm sure we'll enjoy. We picked up serveral selections at Fulkerson - Traminette and their Reserve Red. The best exchange of the day though was between Maureen and Memory:

Mo says, "Dornfelder's bouquet is like ass."
Memory responds, "Yeah, it's Bumfelder."

By the time we reached our 9th winery, Arcadian Estate Winery, the tasters were dropping like flies. There were only 7 of us and I think Dad's the only one who made a purchase.

Each year we wrap up the GAWT with dinner. This year, we chose the Red Newt, on the eastern shore of Seneca, and one of our favorite winteries. We were thrilled that Aunt Carolyn, cousin Paula and her husband Bill could join us for dinner. The food was fantastic, unfortunately, sorting out the bill was less than wonderful. But hey, we were all together for another year and what a great way to end the weekend.


Celebrating Memory's birthday has kind of become tradition for us. I thought the stirrups were a great gift, and so was shocked that she was so embarassed. We already have next year planned, but now I'm having second thoughts about it! Oh what the heck, it's just family! LOL!

Next year, GAWT VII - Keuka, here we come!

Disney's Expedition Everest - Day III

When you're at the most magical place in the world, time just flies by. I think I'm the idiot who scheduled our 7:45 a.m. Segway tour at EPCOT - what was I thinking. I had a lot of trouble getting up after staying up so late drinking champagne. We had some issues getting to EPCOT on time (note to self: In January when you do this same thing, drive over).

This was a 2-hour ride where you spend the first hour indoors learning the how-to, and the second hour is an outdoor tour of the World Showcase. Everyone told me that Segways are not the easiest things to learn to ride, and I did have my problems. It looks so easy. I actually was pretty good with everything until you had to get off to go over an obstacle. I was unable to keep the handles upright...not once, but twice, and darn near ran myself over. Then I was just nervous about the whole thing. But, the trainer was very good, very patient, and when we went outside, he stayed with me until I was completely comfortable. Thanks, Renee, for the pictures!

Seeing how things went indoors, I was a nervous wreck going outside into the World Showcase. This part of the tour was really cool. As we did different things in various countries, we would eventually group together and the guide would tell us different bits of trivia. Once I got the hang of it, I really did have fun.

When we finished our tour, we decided to leave our car at EPCOT and take the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom. Although Renee loves to be in the MK with her daughter, Kendall, she was excited to do some things she can't do with a 5-year old. We went to the Haunted Mansion (which Renee hasn't been in since the refurbed), and Snow White's Scary Adventure - neither of which are good rides for little ones. Look who we saw when we came off Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin! To my friend, Bill, here's 2 thumbs up to you!

We went to Cosmic Ray's for lunch, did a little more souvenir shopping. At this point, I was practically falling asleep on the rides and desperately needed a nap. We decided to hop back on the monorail, pick up the car at EPCOT, and head back to the hotel for a nap. We had dinner reservations that night at the Wave in the Contemporary and our plan was to head back to the MK for our last evening.

We drove to the Contemporary and our Wave experience was okay despite the fact that our waiter was a boob. About 7:30 p.m. we hopped back on the monorail for the MK. Renee was the first to realize that we had a problem: the park closed early for Mickey's Not So Very Scary Halloween Party. We checked to see if any tickets were available only to find that the cost for the tix was $59/ea. Yikes! Now what to do.

Since the Animal Kingdom closes early, MGM Hollywood would be getting ready for Fantasmic, we didn't think we had much choice but to head back to EPCOT. It was very crowded, but we rode the rides in Mexico and Norway and then found a spot for Illuminations. I usually watch Illuminations over by France, so I was very pleasantly surprised to find that viewing near Mexico was even better. It was a great way to end our trip.

Disney's Expedition Everest - The Race

I was pretty nervous about this. Yes, I know, it was my idea, but I never anticipated the bad news I would get from the orthopedist shortly after we registered for the event. If I could actually have trained for the 5k, I would have felt better about it, but that just wasn't in the cards for me. The doctor gave me cortisone shots the day before we left to get me through the race, but made it clear, "After this race, you cannot run again."

Disney provided race buses to transport everyone to the Animal Kingdom. We got to the race location around 6:00 p.m., which gave me an entire hour to worry before the 7:00 p.m. start.
We were in the 4th wave (total of 11 waves) and we would complete the run, tackle the obstacles, and then get our passports for the scavenger hunt in the park. The waves were staggered in 5 minute intervals, and since we were in the 4th, it bought us a little time in case we (read "Donna") couldn't meet the 16 minute per mile requirement. The other piece of good news was that if you couldn't complete an obstacle, you could basically go around it.

I just felt so bad. Renee is a very competitive person, and sets goals for herself each time she races. She assured me that if she was looking to win, she would have paired up with someone who could really run! She didn't mean that in a derogatory way, and when I could finally accept that she really just wanted to have fun- about 2 minutes before the race started - I felt better about the whole thing. BUT, I certainly didn't want to be LAST! Renee and I go back quite a few years, so she knows me pretty well. I'm expressive and talkative, but when I'm nervous, I get quiet. Renee remembers this well from our skydiving experience! I might be excited about what I'm doing, but I'm worried about it too. Just in case you've ever wondered, this is what fear and worry look like.As the waves in front of us took off, Renee and I discussed our strategy. Brent provided me with a spreadsheet with every imaginable combination of paces we could possible do to meet the required pace.

The problem is that you really do get caught up in the excitement. My plan really was to basically power walk the first mile and get my knees good and warmed up, then slow jog/walk the remaining 2 miles. But the adrenalin kicked in and we did a combo the first mile which didn't go quite as well as I'd hoped, but was an okay 15:30.

Mile 2 just sucked. My right knee hurt every time I tried to jog a bit, I was sweating like an oinker (it was very hot and humid), and I was worried about those other walkers who were now ahead of us. But, two things happened to give me a little boost. First, I would have laughed if I had any wind left when Renee said, "If you can smell the elephants, we're near mile 2." Ha! Yes, I could smell the elephants as we passed one of the animal outbuildings along the service road. At this point, people had made the turnaround (which I still couldn't see) and were coming back. "Look, there's the Mile 2 sign on the other side." Cool, that meant the turnaround had to be right around the bend....or not. Sheesh, it was still a good 1/2 mile to the turnaround, but hey, there for a second, I was optimistic I could make it. The interesting thing is that we actually did the second mile in 15:00. Crazy.

One more mile to go as we went past Everest. By this time though, racers who had finished the 5k and the obstacle course were back in the park doing the scavenger hunt. I was feeling a little better though because we passed a few walking teams that I knew were in the wave in front of us. Good news for me. Renee tells me we finished the 5k in around 48:00, which actually met the 16:00 pace requirement - we didn't need the buffer we picked up by being in wave 4.

Whew, we finally reached the obstacle course. The first obstacle was a series of corrals. You had to climb over the first beam, drop into the corral, climb the next, etc. I got over the first beam no problem, but landing in the corral was clearly bad news for my knees. I didn't yell, I didn't cry, but I didn't do any more of them either. I helped boost Renee over them and I ducked under.

Next was a net wall we had to climb up, over the top, and down. I didn't have any trouble with this one except for the crazy woman who seemed to be taking a rest - on top. I couldn't get my leg over without hitting her. A close call, but she finally moved a smidge and over I went.

Balance beams were the 3rd challenge. Renee and I hopped on beams next to each other, held hands, and flew across them.

The last challenge was a crawl under netting that was staked low to the ground. We didn't have any trouble with it, but boy were we filthy! We were now one hour into the race.

We grabbed our passports and headed back into the park for the scavenger hunt. The passport had 4 clues with questions that had to be answered. The clues took us to various parts of the park (we were lucky that we knew the park well and that Renee had grabbed a park map earlier in the day!). We had a little trouble with the first clue, but the remaining 3 were a piece of cake and we headed for the finish.

We crossed the finish line at approximately 1:31. After crossing the finish, we picked up our very cool medals, had our scavenger hunt answers checked (we got all 4 correct), and we were done. Whew. I have to say, it was a lot more fun when it was over than it was while we were doing it! Although, that's not altogether true. The obstacles and scavenger hunt were fun, but the 5k really sucked! I must say, Renee was awesome. She was very encouraging the whole way through the race. I know that I would never have had the thrill of finishing if it hadn't been for her. The good news is we were FAR from last!

The park was opened to participants and their families. Renee bought me a beer, and we headed over to Everest to take a ride at night. That was awesome. You're so high up and looking out over the Disney property at night was great. Neither of us have ever ridden the Kali River Rapids. I just hate to be wet and walk around the parks all day in sopping wet clothing. Since we were dirty and sweaty and weren't staying long, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to do the ride. We got a little wet, but there were some in our raft who really got drenched - yes, it's funny when it's not you!

We headed back to Coronado Springs where we picked up a bottle of Iron Horse's Fairy Tale Cuvee (which is only sold at Disney), changed into our bathing suits, and went to enjoy that huge hot tub and sip our champagne. All was right in our little world.

Disney's Expedition Everest - Day II

Those of you who know both Renee and me are fully aware that one of us is a morning person and one a night person. Having said that, however, I must point out that while it may not be pretty, when I'm at Disney, I typically am up and at the parks for the rope drops. On race day, by unspoken agreement, we slept in and casually made our way to the Animal Kingdom. We knew we were going to have a long day, but we didn't want to miss at least half a day in the park.

Renee spotted Chip and Dale, and couldn't resist the chance to flirt and tease the poor chipmunks. "Chip," she whispered in his ear, "you're my favorite." "Dale, you're my favorite, shhh, don't tell Chip." Those poor chipmunks never had a chance.

Since there were no lines, we took the opportunity to hop on Dinosaur. I love this ride. No matter how many times I do it, I still scream even though I know exactly what's going to happen. On our way to Everest, Renee took the opportunity to hop a ride in the convertible. I was pleasantly surprised by the short lines on this trip. We practically walked right onto Everest and then headed for the Kilimanjaro Safari and we hopped right on that too. We took a moment to pause at Camp Minnie Mickey for a few photo ops. We had reservations for lunch at the Tusker House. The Tusker House is a buffet, a bit pricey, but the food is really awesome. Renee and I made a late lunch reservation since we knew we really wouldn't eat dinner before the race. The Tusker House has a show periodically outside with these drummers.It was time to get out of the heat, take a little rest, and get ready for the race.