Beware: KY/ OH Road Hazzards

The roads in my neck of the woods are never boring for sure... This is a list of items that I witnessed or seen on the side or in the roadway in one 24 hr time...I don't drive that much really!

• A Kitchen Chair


• Many Tire parts


• A huge garbage can (in the passing lane)


• A Box-o-styro foam cups.


• Too many cars with 'blown out' tires to count


• Biker with a bummed elbow from a car that took him out. (I stopped to help, but he sure was ticked off!) Needless to say, I was unable to do anything. I think I will not pedal bike on KY roads in the future.


• A box spring.

1. My oldest wants to be a pharmacist and our middle child is thinking about being a doctor! Woo Hoo!

2. We now have a resident wood chuck that is going in for the Zucchini! I tell ya, it may be cute, but if he takes aim for our Pumpkins he is HISTORY! Our poor pumpkin plants are in recovery from the deer-fest!

3. My future 'physician' said to my future 'pharmacist' today... "Hey, it would basically be like it is now. I tell you what to do!"... ahhh brotherly love!

4. We spent the evening at a local soup kitchen called Hosea House. I am trying to spend more time helping out with people in the community, after all we are made to help each other. We live near some pretty hurting people. We (the hubby and I) also brought along the kiddos to help out. This place was adorable. I was the passer of BBQ and carrots. Brock passed out bread, jello or fruit, Duner and Reece gave out beverages. The people in charge keep a tight ship. They were not afraid to tell the people like it is! I was so afraid of saying the wrong thing.

5. I am told that there is 'camps' of homeless people in the area. This weekend we are going (the hubby and I ) are going to one of the local homeless camps to give out lunches.

6. Child number one's feet are now smaller than child number two. I believe that spells... T.R.O.U.B.L.E.

7. The hubby picked up a second job at DHL. He rotates his full time job between first and second shift, then works some overnight time at DHL. He only works part time but he gets benefits like insurance and vacation time! Crazy! I am not getting to excited about it, if he can't handle all the hours and wants to quit, I am ok with it.

8. Our future 'physician' had part of his toe nail removed last week. That was intense. They sprayed his toe with something that upon hitting the air became something like 40 below, giving him frostbite, then they inject the pain med in his toe. In more than one location. Then the podiatrist, JAMS a wedge down under the nail, to create a path for the scissors to cut both sided of the nail out. Ewww! It looked painful (!) but he did GREAT!

9. We are on pace to break a record here in the area. The most consecutive days of temps over 90 was 15 and we are on pace for 19. (depending on if the rain comes on Saturday as they predict) Thankfully about a week later they are predicting a nice cold front! Yahooo!

10. I have spent the past few days school shopping. Online only. I love not driving to a store and being able to compare sales with just a few clicks! There are so many websites that have 'free shipping' or 'discount' codes. My least favorite thing to shop for was the mens/ boys underwear. Really? Why on earth are some 3 pairs for 7 bucks but others are 3 pairs for $18??

Clifty Falls State Park: Without kids!

For all times I left my memory card in the computer at home and my cell phone was dying so I wasn't able to capture my own pictures, so all the pics here are borrowed, but some are FAR better than I could have done myself. (so I have linked them from the direct sources)

On Saturday, we ventured from Kentucky to the big state of Indiana.

If ever, I am feeling the slightest bit homesick we found we can travel a short distance to Madison, Indiana. On the way the roads are flater, wider and have farms spotted along the way, just like Wisconsin. Plus they have similar hometown names such as Madison, Seymour and Schofield! Didn't see many cows, but did see lots of fields of corn!

Our goal was to head to Clifty Falls state park. We have been somewhat disappointed in the Kentucky state parks. They don't charge much, if anything, unless you are camping... but they don't have the nice signs or roads either.

We easily found the park, paid our 'out of state' fee of $7 and wandered to the camping area. We miss camping with the kids so we are hoping next year to get some camp time in. This state park had FOUR waterfalls. It was a balmy 97 degrees that day so my goal was to get wet. The park has 8 trails. We decided to start with big Clifty falls first. Trail #8. This pic was taken from trail #2 (I believe) which is a 3 mile one way trail, ending at the water fall then you have to travel another 3 miles back. It was too hot for us to attempt that, so we settled for #7 and 8, which stay on the top parts of the falls.

This was the picture (below) I wanted to take myself when I realized I had not brought the memory card. D'oh! The falls are to our right from this view.
This state park also has a tunnel that was dug to make way for trains but they lost funding so it was abandoned and now is home to bats. We were greeted with this sign at the enterance:

Please Note: Clifty Falls Tunnel is closed until further notice

All caves, sinkholes, tunnels and mines on DNR properties are closed to provide protection from white-nose syndrome, a fungus that is killing bats in large numbers in the Eastern U.S. and is now spreading west. This includes the old railroad tunnel at Clifty Falls. To learn more about WNS visit www.dnr.IN.gov/batdisease. Thank you for cooperating with DNR in this effort.

This was one of the coolest parts of the day. Litterally! It was about 10-15 degrees cooler standing infront of it. I wanted to go inside just to cool off, but didn't want to find any critters...

We never did find a place to use our swimsuits but I did manage to make a splash in a small stream (about 18 inches) that flowed accross our path to Tunnel falls. We did get wet, but it was from sweat!

We then hit the local town and found a place called The Pines (which is also a name of a resturant back in WI) that reminded us a lot of Romy's Nightingale Supper club back home. We managed to cool off there before heading back home.

On our way home we drove to downtown Madison, "Prettiest small town in the Midwest"
according to their brochure. It is cute. Old world charm. We liked it.

As we headed back along the Kentucky side of the Ohio River, we stopped at General Butler State Park. We did like the cabins there, but we are still in search of a campground WITH a beach. They are so far elusive around here... but next week, we may have found one! We will see!

The Saga Continues...

*sigh*

March. Nancy left me.
May. Michelle left me.
July. J.D left boot camp. cry.cry.

I now have been completely abandoned by my personal 'training'.
The ONLY reason I stayed and didn't 'buy out' of the contract was because at least I still had JD every Saturday to kick my butt! Now he is leaving to go to something called Crossfit Hustle. It is a hard core training facility. You know it is 'hard core' when you have to pay $200 a MONTH to be part of it. Why so much? Cause it is technically not a GYM. See video here (or below)...


ok. You can pick up your jaw now. All kinds of crazy fun!!

So. I am not made of that kind of cash. Now, I am buying myself out of personal training. I am asking them to kindly drop the 'buy out' and just cancel my contract due to the fact that I was dropped by them multiple times.
I am not asking for my money back. Even a reduction in fees would be nice. Then again, just to not have to deal with all that mess will be nice too.
I LOVE the gym. Love the spin classes. Love the running track. Love the tanning, smoothies, and theater! But the personal trainers? Not so much.

But on the upside, Cross fit Hustle has a WORKOUT OF THE DAY, open to the public for $10 on Saturdays at noon.

I think I found my new boot camp. Even cheaper! Oh, yeah!! Score!

: )

Garden Update or Barking Doesn't Scare Deer...at least from a human.

Even thought the top of this Tomato plant was eaten by the deer it is still growing two little tomatoes! Yay!
NOW deer have taken a liking to our Zucchini!
Hopefully this little one will survive the DEER invasion!!
We have a little water melon starting! Yay!
The pumpkins may have been taken over from the deer... bummer. Cat litter didn't work...
So far the deer don't care for the cucumber plants... we have a few growing well!

Interesting, yet kinda useless factoids...

Ugh. What a week. Put a fork in me I am done!

1. Genetic testing is 3,000 bucks, so you better hope your insurance covers it! (and you don't have a $$$$ deductible, like yours truly)

2. If you have a close relative with a specific type of cancer it is only $475 bucks. What a bargain!!

3. Did you know that a manger is not necessarily a barn? Yep. Learned that one too!

4. ER staff are pretty amazing. Why not bring 'em a treat along with you next time you want to calling the ambulance cause 'need something checked out'.

5. My kids are mellow compared to some. I heart my kids. Currently de-stressing as we type....

6. I followed the county Coroners pick up truck into work this week... It got lots of stare downs from pedestrians as it passed by... kinda eerie like.

7. Deer like tomato AND pumpkin leaves. Now, we will see how much they like cat litter... REALLY strong stuff too!

8. 110 degree heat index is intense. Even walking was rough. I have no idea how critters with fur handled it.

9. I am so. very. very. glad. to. have. boys.

10. Hollah! is a greeting, like a good happy one. (for us white folk) I love learning African American speak... so fun and colorful.

Have a great weekend all!

Random-ness: Tighty Whitey Edition...

1. Life is good. Life is not perfect, and not meant to be but WOW! The hubby never picked up a book before but now has been reading daily. Lately it's been Radical by David Platt and the Bible. And Reece professed God as his savior and was baptized with the hubby and about 16 other people this past week at church! Blessings abound here in our family... we have a growing relationship with God and its getting better. Although saying grace seems to fall on my shoulders... but thats ok.

2. We are now running again. Together...ur, kind of. (during the week we are on our own, since he is on another shift every other week) I like to get my run in before work, if I am going to run outside. The hubby likes to get it done just before he goes to sleep. After the temps cool down. At least now the hubby is also a member of the gym too, so he can join me for Boot Camp! : )

3. Saturday mornings we have decided to get together with Les, the assistant Pastor at our church. He has been in track in school but hasn't really run much in years. Walks a lot but not running. He has an awesome stride and makes it look easy! (Plus, we are STILL going to hit boot camp every week!)

4. Endomondo is awesome. But I don't think it likes me. It is an FREE app that you can use with your mobile phone to track your pace, distance, speed and calories. PLUS it does all this while you are running without having to post it. For instance, it will say 'Rachel is out running at a 5.8175 pace and so far has gone 1.2 miles". I love it, but I have asked it to send a like to my mobile phone. It still hasn't sent it and it is not in my 'app market' either. Bummer.

5. We are in the middle of a crazy week! VBS 'Gold Rush' week. Complete with cowboy themed everything. I am helping with 24- Karat crafts. Reece and Brock are 'shepherding' the kids around and Brock will find a place to help out. Zeb gets to have fun. Duner gets to work... at his job...

6. Duner took the kids fishing (the two youngest) and Reece was pretty happy that he caught a catfish AND was able to get if off without getting 'stung'.

7. Saturday I spent the day helping out at Fairhaven Thrift Store. They give poor people vouchers to get clothes and housewares at the store. We are only open from 10 am to 2 pm, we had 33 people come in with vouchers. Plus some came in with money.

One of the men was telling me how he has not had utilities in over 2 months. He can't afford to go to the laundromat so he has to keep buying new clothes to wear. (with vouchers) He said he is running out of room to store them all. He has five roomates. Crazy huh?

Well, what really hurt, was hearing how he had to use swim trunks as underwear.

Underwear? Yep, 'cause they are very hard to come by. A guy passing him when he said 'Oh yeah, you bet they are!'

One of the most basic things we use everyday. Wow.

So, dear people in blog dome. Got any undies you haven't worn 'cause they don't fit right? Or not the color you wanted? Please donate 'em.

Thank you!

A good laugh..

As I am mashing together the potato salad last night, the hubby asked if he could help.

"Sure!" I said. He mashed it up and added some mustard.
I got busy doing other things and didn't think much of it until I went to put some potato salad on my own plate and asked him if he put any Miracle Whip in it.

"No" he said. Then when on to tell me why he didn't... Brock perked up and said 'Reece didn't seem to mind'. Reece, who had his recently found his long lost ipod. Was watching Netflix with his ear buds in and was unable to hear us. We all look over at him and see his plate with just a few potato and egg crumbs on it.

Funny how you know when someone is talking about you. He looked up, as if on cue, and said "What?".

What a good kid. Apparently, not a complainer.

It felt so good to laugh so hard.

Natural Bridge a.k.a Red River Gorge

This picture was a rare. Most of the trek to the bridge was uphill. Steep hills.

Along the way they had huts to stop and rest. Lots of people took advantage. I was determined to keep going and not rest until we reached the top!
We saw lots of these in the trees. Not sure what they are but they sure are pretty!

Kinda expect some creatures to crawl outta there, Eh?

Almost there!
Oh, wait, stairs... and more stairs.

You can see the arch in this picture.

Really? I thought we were almost there! *sigh*

What a great reminder of just how big your butt is...

And Breathe! (yes we had to get through there to get to the top!)

And MORE stairs!

*not us. Just some people I do not know. We did walk over to the ledge in the distance after.

Not recommended for the handicapped.

What descriptive names! Not sure what Lovers Leap and Needles Eye Stairway was, but Devil's gulch sure was scary!

Someone's artwork. Carving is against the rules, but was pretty neat.

Chillaxin'

Again. Don't know who the dude is, but he kinda puts the pic in perspective.
Devil's gluch. glup. Yep. That would be down.
One of my very favorite parts! Even had Raspberries along the path! (No, Mom we did not try them)

Love this pic!

And This!

More pics of Nada Tunnel (Click here for a video from you tube.. not my video) We did drive thru it. Traffic goes both ways, but drivers seemed to be nice and back up and wait if you were already in the tunnel.

This was a foot bridge that you had to cross before getting to the hill. Guys loved freaking out girls on the bridge. It was hard to walk straight on the thing!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Hi There!

I am crazy busy but have some awesome pics from the weekend! Can't wait to post 'em... but no time today! Hopefully Soon!! Here is a quick one...

The Nada Tunnel. Way fun! Yes, traffic goes both ways thru this thing, you have to stop and honk then proceed 900 ft thru it. Very Fun. Especially when your automatic headlights don't come on right away!! Yikes!

Have a great week!!

All things outdoors: 4th of July, Freedom Edition

So I am lucky enough to not have to work until Tuesday! After some appointments Friday we will be checking out some of the Kentucky sights on Saturday and Monday.

Red River Gorge is one of the 'most visited' Parks. It is within 2.5 hours from our house and would be a easy day trip away. My goal is to see a few waterfalls, such as this one and that one. Oh, and who doesn't love the name of YAHOO ARCH? They are all part of a State Park called Daniel Boone State park. It is huge! (like 1,338,214 acres big) So huge, they broke it into the 3 or 4 different parts. I'd like to stay within the Cumberland Section, which is the first or top part of the park.

We are trying to keep the spending of money to a minimum so it is going to be a challenge to spend as little as possible.

Part of the adventure is to checkout some local campgrounds and 'water holes' to see if we would like to attempt to vacation there later.

One of the campgrounds is called Twin Knobs Campground. Which is 1.5 hours away from Huntington, West Virginia.

With temps supposed to be in the high 80's this weekend, I am hoping to maybe be able to try out the swimming hole or enjoy the breeze from a waterfall.
Let's just hope for no snakes or giant water bugs! Eek.

p.s. did you know...
Timber rattlers will migrate from the denning site in the spring (mid-April through mid-May) and to their summer habitat and back to the den in the fall (mid-September through mid-October). The average home range sizes for timber rattlesnakes are 160 acres for males, 42 acres for barren females, and 9 acres for pregnant females.
Wow. That is a huge area!

One Sweet Surprise

We dropped off the older boys at a youth camp for the week on Friday and since it was just the three of us we decided to surprise Z.

We told him to get his shoes on 'cause we were going for a 'ride', but didn't tell him where. He was bummed. He was looking so forward to spending tons of time on the PS3 since he was an only child for the week.

I jokingly kept saying to him "Aren't you excited? I would be if I were you". He just mumbled how he would rather be home. To his credit, he really didn't grumble or complain, just sat quietly as I tried to get him excited.

We pulled into the local mall and found a place to park, specifically on the side of the building, as to not get him to notice WHERE we were.

As we walked up to the front door he begins negotiating with me how he DESERVES a stop at Target and a lego toy for this...

Then we open the door... and then, he says...

'What the?' (insert big smile here) As he is looking around he says "You tricked me!"

Yep. We had a date with the movie, Cars 2 and my race crew.

It was great, just like Christmas in July. Oh, and after we got in the theater, I asked him if we were square. He said "OOOOOH yeah!".

: )

P.S. My favorite time of the movie was when Mater said to the 'zen gardener' "Ya, done good the leaves are all gone!" lol. How can you not love Mater?

Ow.

How is it I can swim, bike and run for just over two hours Saturday morning and feel fine... and then I workout with a trainer for 30 minutes and feel immediate lack of control over the arms, having to wait to shower until I can shampoo??? ... cautiously driving home without excessive turning required...and the next day feeling every angry muscle, still very angry at me...

Well, listen up kids, here is how!


First. This here trainer, we will call #3, since she is my now THIRD trainer in 5 months,
says to me : Okay, lets start by doing push-ups.

I begin to look around for a mat to cushion my knees, since I ALWAYS do the modified push-ups, cause I am a girl and can get away with it. UNTIL she says: Oh and you won't need a mat (she must have read my mind) because you are not going to be doing them your knees.

Oh, GREAT! Happily I begin thinking this chic is going to let me do them against a wall!

Then she said: You are going to do the full regular push up. (whimper) You are going to go flat on the floor lift your hands in between each one, keeping your hands at your chest level, then push up again.


So, I begin. Pretty pleased with the first 5, then I patiently continue, waiting for her to tell me to stop, or feel sorry for me.

But she didn't. After a few more, I ask "how many do I have to do?'


"40" she says. Like she was ordering a latte.

Deep exhale from me. Panic creeping in. Clearly she wasn't informed of my weakness here peticularly in the ARM REGION. Heck, she didn't need a memo, there is NO definition going on in these arms! She must have sized me up and said 'Yep, she needs a good wipin'!".


I replied "What? You couldn't have said 4 sets of 10, or 2 sets of 20, maybe sugar coat it a bit?"

She laughed and said "You are almost half way there."

"Really?" I asked. Wow. I am impressed with myself, until I found out she lied! After 8 more she said I was half way!! I was barely a quarter of the way there!!! I know the last 10 were the most pathetic push ups ever seen. Might I also mention I was in the 'weight room'. Like the real, manly room. With real studs that can actually do 40 push ups. Probably with a single arm. Yep. Good times. Nothing like a good emotional and physical whipping to crack you into shape!

So next she decided to 'rest my arms' a bit. Lets do air squats.


I run. I bike. I have leg muscles. That was not the problem. Her version of not using arms was having my raise them as I squated. My shoulders were still pretty ticked at my four minutes of fun. Yes. It took me a WHOLE FOUR MINUTES to do 40 full on push ups. I had to stop to whine and get blood back into my arms and toes, to make sure there were still there.


So how many Air Squats? 35

Next? Pull-ups. Thankfully assisted. How many? Only 45! First 15 without a lot of counter weight, the next 15 with more counter weight and the last 15 with pity.


Then she grabs a bar. Just a white tube you would see in a home for plumbing.

She says "Okay, hold this over your arms like this and push it up, lock your arms up over your head. You want your arms to be BEHIND YOUR EARS. While you lunge across the floor and back. Make sure you touch your knee to the ground each dip."

This requires coordination. My body doesn't coordinate well. I concentrate on one part the other fails, I knew how this was going to go.

I was trying so hard to make sure I touch the ground and hold the bar up that I kept forgetting which leg I just used to lunge on. I can't tell you how many times she yelled "LOCK YOUR ARMS" or nicely say 'You didn't touch the ground.' At least she didn't make me do over!


I must say this. Since this whole personal trainer thing has started, my balance has gotten better. But that's a blog post for another day... Any who...

Next up? Sit ups! How many you ask? 25 of course. Not just plain old sit ups... NO! I had to sit down on my butt. Knees out. Bottom of feet together. As to 'completely engage the abs and take everything else out of play'. I didn't know muscles played, but now I do! Ouch. I hope they had fun 'cause I am feelin' a bit old now.

You see, she was doing a Pattern, but it got messed up since someone was on the pull up machine. It was supposed to start at 45 pull ups, then 40 push ups, 35 squats, 30 lunges and 25 sit ups.

Now you so... so get your but in gear!! There. For FREE I just gave you a personal trainer workout.
Your welcome.

Casen and Duner

Cayson and Duner, a photo by ziemendorf on Flickr.

Isn't he the cutest nephew? Oh wait.. we have 10! lol.

Rachel and Dr. Al

Rachel and Dr. Al, a photo by ziemendorf on Flickr.

The guy responsible for all this craziness!

almost there! finish line!

almost there! finish line!, a photo by ziemendorf on Flickr.

Oh, yeah... done!

rachel, post-race.

rachel, post-race., a photo by ziemendorf on Flickr.

Very. Happy. to be done! : )

2011 High Cliff Tri Race Report

First and foremost, I just want to give a shout out to all my friends and family that showed up at the finish to cheer me on! I loved it! Thank you so much for fighting the crowds and showing up to see me! (Even if we didn't meet up, sorry Julie, Wendy and Jennifer!)

It meant a lot to me that you all were there!
THANK YOU!!

At the start of the day air temp was 60 degrees, according to my phone. I chose not to wear a sweatshirt, 'cause I did not want to be 'to warm'.
Notice the people in wet suits? Yep. It would have been nice to have one. But no. I didn't.






Here I am coming out of the water. All of the sprint athletes had bright green swim caps. Half Ironman, had silver. I like this pic 'cause it looks like I made an effort on the swim. Just before this pic, I was walking. I knew I had a hill to run up so I was trying to save some energy. Although, I was excited to leave the cold water!!






Transitioning to the Bike.
This was the first year ever that I 'sat' and put on my shoes. I was taking my time. I 'borrowed' a cushion from the guy next to me that just left the transition area. Thanks #591! :)
He was a very nice guy, so I am sure he didn't mind.
The guy in the pic, by me #589 kept me going for the last 7 miles of the bike. We kept passing each other. I knew I could keep up with him since he had an ankle brace on.

After the bike I REALLY did not want to run... just like normal. I posted FB status updates during T1 and T2, I was worried about rain, so I ran out of T2 and tossed my phone to the hubby and got my ipod on while I struggled to get a rythum on the run. I was tired. I decided early on to work the 'galloway' method that geekgirl and I did for the Flying Pig Marathon. I worked! I ran most of the hill, by the time I was 'supposed' to stop I had my breathing down and really didn't want to take my 1 minute walk break, but did anyway. #589 passed my on my 2nd walk break, shouting some words of encouragement. I passed him again once but otherwise stayed behind him the rest of the run. He finished a whole 4 seconds before me.

2011 All done!!
Turns out, my swim improved (probably due to water temp! Brrr) and my run, but my bike seemed to be holding strong. It did improve by about 1 minute, but that is it. The run was backwards this year, from the last time I ran this race. We had more grass to run on which I hate!
I do love to run on the shaded trails! The best part of the race was all the encouraging words the fellow Tri club people yell as we are all working toward the goal of finishing the race. It was great fun to see the ol' Fox Tri club buddies! Even got to start in the first wave with Dr. Al and the winner of the women, as Dr. Al announced just before we started the swim. (no pressure, right? but she did win!!)
Here is how it breaks down for me...

Swim	00:07:51.6	0:01:57
T-1	00:04:21.1	?
Bike	01:13:23.2	17.9
T-2	00:02:37.0	?
Run	00:33:41.6	0:10:52

Finish Time 02:01:54.7
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010 skipped out

2009 skipped out

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2008... website didn't have the break down for this year.(had popped cartilidge in rib cage earlier that week, then tripped on the run)
Finish Time 02:04:47.1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2007 (FIRST TIME WITH THE ROAD BIKE~)

Split	Time	Pace
Swim	00:09:18.0	0:02:18
Transition 1	N/A	N/A
Bike	01:14:15.8	17.7742548446627
Transition 2	N/A	N/A
Run	00:35:54.4	0:11:34

Finish Time 02:04:28.0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


2006 (FIRST EVER TRIATHLON, used a mountain bike for the ride!!)
Finish Time 02:28:20.6