Escalade 2007...RUN RUN RUN!!!

The first week of December came and went with a lot of running, lycra, rain, chilling, and some good memories. This weekend the crew and I planned to run the Escalade race here in Geneva. We had been doing some mild training over the past few weeks to get ready for our 7+KM run up and down the old town of Geneva. (Read the link here for some background to the race..LINK) Friday night was very nice and KK and I had dinner with a work friend in Veyrier. Saturday rolled around and it was race day. The morning started with a little walk in Carouge and some chow prepared my moi. KK was up first for her race. We arrived at Parc Du Bastion at around noon and got K her number. The place was filled with crazy runners in tight pants a lot of kids and families checking out the festivities. KK preparing:

I left here about 10 minutes before the race and got a good spot for the start. She was running in Femmes II:

GoGoGo!!!

During the race I was able to follow the run:

KK KICKED ASS!!!! ...out of 800+ runners she was 105. A little after she finished it started to rain so we headed home and waited fo the "Hommes" race to start at 5.
At around 3ish Paul showed up and it we headed to meet Pedro and Mike in the Parc. Once there is was time to stretch. I was so inspired by all the lycra earlier in the day I need to show my "steeze" with the pink camo and purple pants!

Warm up 2:


Team HOME STEW! (Pre Race)

There were 1200+ runners in our group and we had a blast running together. The crowds were very supportive and it just had a good vibe:


TEAM HOMESTEW finished 1100 ;-) Not a great result, but we did the 7KM under 41minutes. If we pushed it a little we could have done a 38 or less, but we were really having a good time running in the rain with the crowds. Finish area:

CHECK THIS LINK FOR OUR FINISH CLIP...LINK
After the race we got together for a few beers and a little food at a local pub:


Before the night ended we did the traditional Marmite breaking...good work girls!

Overall another cool Swiss experience and a great weekend with friends. As I sit here typing this the snow is coming down in the Alps so next weekend the ski season is offical on...(thanks Ullr)! Much love to my family and friends as always...more to come this weekend! L, G

V and Z....days 2 and 3 of 07-08

Last weekend ended with me coming home from Germany on Turkey day...lucky enough I had Friday off to sort some things out. I dropped KK off at the office and then headed to get my winter tires on, food shop, get some poles, and just chill on Friday. That night we adventured to the new outlets and hooked up with some gear. KK and I now have a one-in-one out policy, so we came home and had to put a bag together for donation. We hooked up with some cool gear and I got a nice new jacket from Marc Ecko Cut and Sewn.
Saturday rolled around and it was off to ski. We were meeting J and Verbier for a little piste riding. The weather was very cloudy at the bottome, but turned out to be a great day...here is the evidence..the crew:

First lift:

KK:


J:


Views:


The day eneded with a beer with some another friend PeterK and a decision to stay in the Valais and ski Saturday....this was the adventure.
As KK and I left Verbier we formulated a plan to check out Orvonnaz. After a quick stop to get some local wine at the "caves" in the Valais we headed up the 29 switch-bakc road up to village. This was not very successful. Most of the hotels were closed and the hot springs were packed. After a few minutes we decided we would head back down and check out Sion. We got to Sion, which is a very cute town, but for some reason we couldn't find a hotel even somewhat close to downtown...these Swiss ;-)Strike two...so with a few options left I knew Crans Montana would have hotels...maybe ;-) We arrived in the town and I used my best French to find two of the open hotels in town. I guess it us just early season and everything is still closed. We stopped at the open hotel and they were full....except on HUGE apartment. Sick of driving we decided..screw it. This place was huge..and I mean huge. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitched, backyard, living room....but most important it was some where to sleep. So after a nap that last a little too long we found the town was closed except the Chinese restauarant literally in the same building. Chinese in CH it was:

Overall the hotel was fine and in the am we decided to head to Zinal. This place is not very well know and I hope it satys that way! The day was great and so was the snow and views:






G:

The day ended with a walk through town collecting brochure of the cute hotels and thinking on how great this place will be in January....tops on my new list ;-) Last but not least....KK heard there was going to be Finnish...yes like in Finland...X-Mas singing at a Lutheran church in the Old Town. So after arriving back from Z we checked it out...and yes it was in Finnish.

It was cool through...crazy kids, crazy Fins, and a nice vibe. We returned home not ready to go back to work on Monday but feeling blessed for the great life we share together. As always more to come this week. L, G

Rerun...Engelberg!

Someone bumped this thread on TGR today saying it was one of the best trip reports of last season and I agree...the pics are some of the best!
CLICK HERE