Dichroic Reflections

a hectic trip, even for us

Since I've paid for the hotel Internet and I don't really feel up to sightseeing at the moment, I guess it's time for the trip-report-to-date. This trip was unfortunately planned backwards; we had all our relaxing time at the beginning and all the strenuous stuff toward the end (we do get to do a wee bit of relaxing the last couple of days, which for me began about two hours ago).

We loaded up the boats Friday morning, then started our trip with the luxury of being able to leave on a Saturday morning, instead of having to rush out after work. We drove about 10 hours north that first day, stopping at Los Banos, CA, then drove the remaining 8 hours to Rudder's parents' house in Grants Pass, OR, on Sunday. Our time there was all about eating well, sleeping well,and good conversation. We got to see some updates to their house and their beautiful front and back gardens (pics later) and my MIL helped me make a repair to my boat cover on her sewing machine. She also went with me to the local yarn stores, where I carefully refrained from pointing out to the exuberant character who ran one that she (MIL) was a local knitter for fear of entrapment. The highlight was July 4th, our 13th anniversary. The four of us visited several of the wineries which have sprung up in the Rogue Valley of Oregon - Rudder and I came home with a Wooldridge Chardonnay, a John Michael blush champagne, and some artisanal garlic-olive cheddar (sold at RoxyAnn winery, not sure who made it). Then on the way home we stopped at one of the ubiquitous fireworks shops. I'd never bought any before, because Pennsylvania is strict about such things and AZ is too hot, but I've gained a new appreciation for small ground-based fireworks. I kept thinking of the Bastable children, setting off their Guy Fawkes-day Catherine Wheels. Pictures of those to come too - Rudder took some great ones.

On Thursday, we drove two scenic hours to Klamath Falls, where members of the local Ewauna Rowing Club kindly let us store our boats in their boathouse and even gave us the combo so we could come row at any time. Rudder's parents followed us down, and on Friday his paternal grandparents came from two hours away in the other direction, and an aunt from another nearby town, so most of those days was spent hanging out, chatting, and taking family photos in the big comfy leather sofas in the hotel's lobby or it's little loft seating area.

On Saturday Rudder and I raced in the Rural Henley Regatta. This was the first time these grandparents had seen Rudder row (the other set are in Sacramento, where we race often) so that was a major reason to do this small regatta, but it was great fun in its own right, warm people and lovely cool weather. The Royal Henley, in England, is one of the world's most famous rowing races, a stake race (that is, between two stakes) of about 1.3 miles. In the Rural Henley, the top two finishers of each 1000 event get to race the Henley distance, after all the morning races are done. And the winner of each race gets a gorgeous commemorative plate with a steak (raw, sealed) on it, so it's a steak race.

Here's where the trip got exciting. The weather was perfect, except for one minor point: the wind was so strong that the waves in the first half of the course were scary. I was in the very first race, and Rudder was in the second. Rudder won his race, of course, so he got to compete with someone who won in the other heat of the men's singles. The women's singles only had one heat, but I came in second of four (second! I got second!) so *both* singles Henley races featured Arizona Outlaws. Only after that did they decide to hold the small boats to 500 meters because the water was so rough. We raced again in the double, our very first race rowing together. (We'd raced together before, but with me coxing a four or eight he rowed in.) We won by 5 seconds in raw time, but when the age handicaps were added in, we came in second by only 0.3 seconds, out of six boats.

By the time of the Henley races, the water had calmed down just enough to let us row the full course. Rudder won his, I lost mine - no surprise, since the woman who won was well ahead of me in the morning. The people running the regattas were generous enough to give medals for the Henleys as well as the other races, so the Outlaw take was three silver medals for me (!!!!); two golds, a silver, a plate, and a steak for Rudder. (He gave the steak to his parents.)

Right after that we had to load up the boats, say goodbye to the in-laws, and drive 6 hours south to Sacramento. And yes, I did wear my medals for the entire drive. The weather was getting warmer than it had been even while we were loading, and it got much hotter as we went South. By the time we got to Sacamento the outside air temp reading on Rudder's car was claiming 109 degrees. She-Hulk met us to unload the boats, but even with three of us it wasn't fun doing that in the heat, leaving us worried about the races. We went out for pasta and got very nearly a full night's sleep before the next set of races, the Southwest Masters Regional Championships. This was a much bigger race, but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much, though I think Rudder did. I came in DFL by a long shot in the women's lightweight singles, the first race of the day, then served as photographer and pit crew for the rest of the day. The other Outlaws did much better, with three gold medals and one silver for Rudder, two gold and two silver for She-Hulk. They were especially pleased because both felt they'd rowed extremely well, and done well in very competitive races and in trying conditions. The water was perfect and smooth here, but the heat was fearsome. Rudder and She-Hulk dealt well with it, mostly by keeping their shirts wet with ice water or the almost equally frigid lake water (it comes down from the mountains). Despite similar measures, the heat was really getting to me, and by around 2PM I apologetically borrowed She-Hulk's rental car and went back to the hotel to lay down and cool down. After a short nap, I woke up with sore tonsils and a feeling that my body economy was still fragile enough to make staying put a better option than returning, though I felt bad about leaving them to load up without me. They called when they were nearly done, and I did go back briefly for a few photos, and to join them for dinner and celebratory beers (margarita for She-Hulk).

Sometimes beer seems to help me feel better, but not that time. I woke up feeling much worse, with a very sort throat and snorting crap from my sinuses. Rudder and I had a twelve hour drive (She-Hulk was flying home) and no possible leeway, so I made the best of it by trying to get as much sleep as possible while not driving. Rudder drove most of it, as always, but this time we had me doing two shorter legs (120 miles or so each) which gave him enough of a break and a nap. The sore muscles didn't help, especially the ones in our sides from balancing on Saturday's rough water. The cold sapped my appetite, so I ate a few pretzels, a little dried fruit, and not much else all day.

We'd left early enough to get to the boatyard at about 6, where She-Hulk kindly came out to help us unload in yet more 109-degree weather. (According to the truck; it actually felt a little cooler.) The three of us got that done in under half an hour, then Rudder and I went home, ripped everything out of our suitcases and packed them up again with different clothes. The cat complained vociferously about our absence.

Once again we got very nearly enough sleep, got up at 5 and left for the airport before 6. I wasn't feeling any better, except that the muscle soreness was gone. Once we got on the plane, I took some night-time sinus meds on the first leg of the flight, then Nyquil on the international leg. It turns out those very long flights are much better when you spend large chunks of them asleep or half-conscious. The quarter of the airline meal I ate was my biggest meal in two days - not queasy, just uninterested in food and painful swallowing. When we got into Amsterdam, we had another two-hour drive into Eindhoven, in the southern Netherlands. Poor Rudder had to go to work right away; I got to walk around the very nice shopping area opposite the hotel, then try to balance resting (to get better) with not sleeping (to acclimate to the time zone). His meetings ran late, and it wasn't until 8:30 PM that he called to ask if I wanted to eat dinner with him and some coworkers. I did want to socialize, though still not to eat much, so I went and just picked at an appetizer. I did enjoy meeting the coworkers, though.

Today, my throat was slightly less painful, though I still didn't want to eat more than a little fruit at breakfast. I had meetings, four of them in four hours, for which I prepared with a 12-hour Sudafed and rode in with Rudder. The meetings went well, or would have if I had been able to talk. Still, the people I met with were patient with my croaking, and fortunately only one wanted to ask me many questions. By the last one, though, the cold or the Sudafed or the caffeine from the tea they kept feeding me (from complex mqachines that prodcue varied types of coffee, chocolate or tea) had combined to have me very ready to lay down. Rudder had talked about meeting me for lunch, but a bed seemed like a much better idea, so I got someone to call a cab, which brings me to dateresting here in the hotel room. Tomorrow, I hope to feel well enough to visit an open-air history museum in town, and on Saturday Rudder and I will go to Amsterdam for a day there before we fly home Sunday.

And then I have to go to work Monday!!!

Posted by dichroic at July 13, 2006 07:00 AM