10 Alive Day (10 Years after the blast)

Today was a great day to get outside and enjoy the wonderful weather down here. It was a little on the warmer side, but the sky was clear and blue and the entire day was great. We got up a little early, though, in hind sight, it wasn't early enough. The girls got up and so we were now all running around down stairs doing different things. Jason and I were supposed to be getting ready to take off, to go to his dog training up in Oceanside. It normally takes about 40 minutes to get there, in normal traffic conditions, and being Saturday there was going to be a little heavier traffic to contend with. The girls were all happy and having fun, but in their playfulness they were slowing us down, especially Jason, since it was, "Daddy, look at this!" or "Daddy, can you draw me a picture?"

We finally did get out of the house, and left Linda there to take care of the girls. We got to the training a little later than we wanted too, and then found out they got started later than they wanted too, so it all worked out. It usually does anyway, and that's the way I was taking today. I wasn't driving faster than normal to make up time, and it turned out that I didn't need to.

The training went well, as Jason worked on a couple of things with Gracie, and he got to meet with a couple of new trainers. Gracie is a smart dog, and the training coordinator made comment of this. She said that German Shepherd were smart dogs to begin with and Gracie was a smart German Shepherd, and it shows in the way she learns new things so well. One of the things that Jason and I have really noticed is how well she and Jackie get along. Jackie has absolutely no fear at all with Gracie, and Gracie seems to love all the attention that Jackie gives her. Jackie will put her face into Gracie's face and give her big squeezes, and in return Gracie will give her little licks on her hands and nuzzle her around... it's great to watch.

We got home and had lunch; I later left to pick up my bike from the shop. They called me last night to tell me that it was all ready. Of course this meant that I was going to get to go for a ride! The girls were now down for their naps; Jason had showered and we did the dressing changes, and he was ready for a nap; and not to be out done, Linda wanted to take a well earned nap. Since this was going on I wanted to get out and ride. I went out to Cabrillo again, and road around a bit. There are a couple of challenging trails, with a couple of good hills, and I will be going back to eventually try all of them. This time I ended up with close to 19 miles, and my legs felt like I had ridden some good hills. I need to strengthen them if I am going to be ready for the October ride... Still looking for sponsors... ;-)

Tomorrow we will be going over to Anthony Netto's for a barbeque. My guess is that we'll end up having a great time and at the end of the day everyone will be exhausted, I know I plan to be. Thank you, for all the continuing support and prayers and take care and stay positive.