Journal Entries

Only 20 degrees today! I was chilly on my scooter ride to work, my body isn't used to cool weather. At least being able to turn the air conditioning off at home and in my classroom, and opening the windows, and wearing long sleeves makes it feel more like the Christmas season!

I could not survive living in Bangkok without Rama 9 Park just a 5K bike ride away from where I live. Currently I am training for the Khao Yai North Face Trail Run coming up in February, and I can get nice long runs in at this park. It has many paths (paved, no dirt trails), and right now it is Cool Season here, so day temps are 23 to 29 and breezy - way better than running in the heat and humidity. This park is one of the largest green spaces in the city, and it is right next to a reservoir with a 4k bike track loop, which I also often take advantage of as well. Amen to Saturday and Sunday mornings outside!!

Wish I had better camera. Look closely- 4 large monitor lizards, one carrying some debris from the recent storm. I spotted them on my run through the park I frequent in Bangkok. I have never seen a group of them, and I've never seen such big ones up so close.

A place to forget I live in a second-world country in a smoggy city of over 10 million. This is a pond in the huge park that is 5k from my house. I cycle here and run here every weekend, and get grumpy when I have to skip it ( I missed a few weeks due to health issues and injuries)

In our exploring, after another (shorter) portage to Pesciwesk Lake we discovered a lovely campsite (#32) with a beach. NOTE to self for next time!!

Even with the roots and rocks I had to bump over, bringing my wheels along for the two-kilometre portage from Kejimkujik Lake to Mountain Lake was a very good plan.

I signed my family and myself up for Spartan Sprint a few months back, but due to some physical issues I myself could not participate this past weekend. But I still enjoyed cheering them on! There were 23 obstacles, spectators could only see the last 4. As soon as my peeps took off, we got a typical tropical thunderstorm lasting over an hour - I loved it because it cooled it off a bit, and they loved it because it made the obstacle course that much more fun!

This is the lightning monitoring app (Spark Bug) we use here in Thailand to keep an eye on when to seek shelter. School rules are if it's 10 miles out we clear the fields, etc. At the Spartan race just outside Bangkok this last weekend, the lightning was all around for awhile during an hour or so long thunderstorm. It started just after my family took off to start their race, and the race leaders delayed the next heat for a bit. But they let everyone on the course continue, even with all the metal obstacles, barbed wire crawl, water obstacles, etc. Everyone was safe in the end, no one was struck by lightning! And I enjoyed hanging out under my umbrella refreshed in the cooler temps brought on by the rain.

There was a little hiking that needed to be done in the slum area of Pnom Penh where we were on a short-term mission trip this weekend. Had to hike from the church to the soccer field via some old tracks.

Even though we were in the middle of the Cambodian countryside, many kilometers from the nearest town, an ice cream motorcycle came along. Of course the kids wanted us to buy them ice cream, and we obliged. It was hard to eat it before it melted!