Romney-Edwards 2008

Assault on Western Europe: Part VII. Final Fantasy

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:12:00 +0000

France
Thursday, April 23, 2009
How happy am I in the Loire Valley?

I spent just three and a half weeks there and my entire being still aches to be back in Europe; Alisa and Bruce no doubt see this coming and are aching to figure out how not to leave!

This day started out with a visit to a B&B that might have served as a viable option for Bruce and Alisa to stay on the continent. Might have, had it not been saddled with a satanic past. It was gorgeous, but I’m pretty sure the low price was not because the owner was anxious to be generous… it was cheap because she was anxious to disconnect from it.

The B&B did take us within walking distance of the glorious village of Cordes, so after I ran screaming from the house of the well, I high-tailed it to Cordes for a few hours of shopping. Shopping without Edwards hurrying me on to the next café or a spring classic bike race! This was my only chance to get any real souvenir shopping done and I do hope my mom and sisters like their gifts!
Edwards climbing at the Roc de Gorb with Bruce on belay.

After finally, no thanks to the South African realtor, reconnecting with Edwards and the group, we all headed out to the Roc de Gorb for some climbing. Bruce, Alisa, Ben, and Anka cycled there, while Edwards and I took the Hippo. It was nice to see Bruce harnessed up again, and to see him kill a few routes. It was humbling to see Anka so comfortable on her first climb. Darn athletes and their darn athleticism!
Bruce and how he feels about climbing now-a-days.

Later we had dinner in Najac where I learned that there is nothing better than dinner with new friends, old friends, and a view of a castle. I recall that the hot chocolate crepe we had for dessert was so tremendous that it made the entire dinner; whatever it was, fully spectacular! The great addition to the evening was Fenwick, Alan’s dog, the little black version of Ratso. He came in and said hello, but was shortly off to do whatever it is smart, independent dogs do. At the end of the night he came running to Alan’s whistle… just like Ratso would have. It was a cute goodbye to very good people: Ben, Anka, Alan, and sadly, even Alisa and Bruce. The next day we’d be off to the Loire Valley.
A perfect setting for our last meal with friends.

Friday, April 24, 2009
The Manoir les Minimes

After much gratitude to Bruce and Alisa, as well as leaving some climbing gear in case Bruce decided to get out again, we departed to do girl stuff. I’d been a (pretty) good sport about all the cycling and climbing, but I wasn’t leaving France without seeing some fairytale castles!

At Alisa’s suggestion, we booked a room at the Manoir Les Minimes. When we arrived, it could not have been more perfect. I don’t know how to describe it, as I’m not well versed it period furniture, or the different flowers that bloom in France, all I can say is that this was the France that the little girl in me recognized and adored.

Our room was number #12, with a view of the river and the castle, and parlor area in which to enjoy it. The windows were “storybook” perfect and opened to the scent of the freshest purple blooms. I was certain a blue bird would alight on my finger and we would have a song together. Didn’t happen.
Out our perfect window

While I could have lounged in my French Style princess suite for the entire afternoon, Edwards has no patience for such things. We set off to see the home where Leonardo DaVinci spent this last days and to tour around Amboise. The trip to Leonardo’s house was most intriguing; I still can’t get over how many things he invented. The anemometer? We use these to site wind farms today.
The home where Leonardo daVinci spent his last days.

Next we strolled down Town Square and had our first Ricard in France. We sat next to the Amboise castle wall at a bustling café. Edwards ran down to the shop and purchased tobacco and rolling papers for a smoke with his pastis. He’s so adorable.
Amboise Town Square

Our concierge booked us dinner at the best restaurant in Amboise - Pavillon de Lys. The establishment has one seating per night and they had one table left. It was the most incredible dining experience of either of our lives. They had two menu choices: Menu or Menu Legumes. I did the Menu Legumes and this is what I had:

Carrot Soup
Artichoke Spread
Poke Egg
Mushrooms
(Each more spectacular than the last)

Tomato soup with cucumber cake – in a glass, with a straw.

Spicy and sweet vegetarian lasagne

Almond chocolate tarte with vanilla glace
Strawberry Ice
Chocolate crisp with mango sauce
Crème in a cup
Macaroons and jam

Two courses of soup and 5 desserts? This meal must have been designed for me personally and it could not have been more perfect.

Edwards had the Menu and with it came four goat cheeses that were unlike any cheese we have tasted on the planet. Surely Wallace and Gromit found them on the moon. They were absolutely spectacular. This is what happens when you can use raw dairy.

After dinner we walked down the dark, narrow streets. It was so beautiful it reminded me of Zurich after our elopement. We went back to the hotel and enjoyed ourselves as we did on our honeymoon, but before I slept I wrote:

If rural France is about the lifestyle, the Loire Valley is about the Fairytale. Even though I’m tucked tightly into my bed, my heart is doing cartwheels down the street.
The streets of Amboise from Amboise Castle

Saturday, April 25, 2009
Amboise Chateau

Chateau Day in the Loire Valley. My notes were slim; the memory was captured digitally.

We on-sighted four Chateaux:
Amboise
Chenonceau
Cheverny
Chambord

All pictures are from the Chateau in Amboise. There are more photos, from the other castles, available on my Facebook page.
Even the instruments were glorious
A beautiful reason to go to church? The Chapel at Amboise
Our Manoir from Chateau Amboise
Loved, loved the luggage!
Edwards, always attempting to be where he shouldn't be.
Artistry in architecture
Amboise castle grounds
How beauty was captured before the photograph

Sunday, April 26, 2009
Fontainebleau, France
Our last B&B outside of Fontainebleau

After cramming the girl stuff into two days, we were back to climbing and both of us were excited about it.

Edwards had been going on about the boulders in Fontainebleau since our plane landed in Paris. Upon seeing the forest, yes, there is very much to go on about!

The forest is quite lovely, if you like that kind of thing (I prefer the SKY), but it does have 20,000 boulder problems going for it…
The only dry area in the rainy a.m.

Unfortunately, the rain had picked back up in France and the sandstone boulders were soggy. We managed to locate the one dry, overhanging area in the forest and shared it with a couple of nice chaps for most of the day.
Edwards getting a spot from one of the Brits while he worked this traverse.
Bill on a dry boulder in the afternoon

Bill Lucia, who had just returned from Bangladesh, was at this dry boulder and he shared the rest of the day with us as well. We bouldered; went into town to view the Fontainebleau Chateau from the outside, have some pastis, the’, café, and snacks; and then went back to bouldering. Later in the day things had dried up a bit and we were able to mess around on some Fontainebleau boulders for real.
Edwards working a dry problem in the afternoon

We had a wonderful B&B our last two nights in France with very kind owners and a perfect, perfect breakfast. While the dinners our last two nights were utterly disappointing for France, the ambience of the restaurant couldn’t have been better. Adjacent to the Dame Jouanne area was a real back-woods, climbers paradise of old shoes, equipment, rugged service, and cheap eats. The autographed pictures of Lynn Hill and other famous climbers were bonus. http://bleau.info/jouanne/
Our last room, fitting that it was called, "Voyager"

And that’s it. Our entire trip in a nutshell.

While this ending to a very, very long blog might seem abrupt, it is not so jarring as having to tear ourselves away from Europe after three and a half weeks, only to come home to Salt Lake City – where our food is dead and our responsibilities lie. The final note I made from our final day…

“Must leave tomorrow. TERRIBLE!”

Assault on Western Europe: Part VI. Escalada Conquistadors

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 17:03:00 +0000

Rodellar, Spain
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Rolling into sunny Spain

Although it was still pouring buckets of rain in Luchon, our gorgeous hotel was warm and dry inside. With coffee and tea for breakfast, and the company of swallows painted and diving happily all over the walls - artistic and joyful - our moods were warmed for the adventure that lay ahead.

After an exciting drive up the Pyrenees - with Edwards chattering endlessly about cranking on his bike up this twisty mountain road - miraculously, there it was, like a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, El Sol.

The Spanish mountain towns were glorious with new stone architecture that perfectly mirrored the old, and lush spring mountain climates. Down in the valley's it was a much drier landscape, but familiar and beautiful. Not to mention, the highways were straight and well signed, though we still managed to get turned around a bit on our way to Alcazar.
Alcazar, Spain

Alcazar. A lovely tourista town. The mountain guide there was very friendly and recommended that we get chalk for climbing at the large market in Anahuesca. "Well, large for around here." In my minds eye I pictured something the size of, gasp, a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. I should have been thinking more along the lines of a large 7-11! Anahuesca was pretty much on our way to Rodellar and the mercado was magical. The couple was very nice, and though the wife spoke very good english we still tried to do our best with Espanol. We found chalk, cheese, pastries, other odds and ends, and my favorite Brian Froud book, 'Faeries", but in spanish, "Hadas" Oh, glorious day! The Mercado owners booked us a room near Rodellar in a hotel where we could also get cena - dinner.
Our inn near Rodellar

It was very kind of them to book us this room, for we had a wonderful time chatting in our broken spanish (with some assistance from our English/Spanish phrase book) with the owners. Their son is currently playing basketball for Midlands, TX and is being recruited by the best college teams... Kansas, etc. They wanted to know which team Edwards thought was the best... all of them were impressive teams. Their kid must be an amazing player! We would discover all this over cena a la ocho, but after checking in, we ran to check out the cliffs at Rodellar. First glimpse of the cliffs in Rodellar

Talk about making it to Mecca! Until this day I was luke warm on climbing in general. After a few hours at Rodellar, I have to admit to being pretty stinking stoked! Now I'll climb anywhere, so long as the next time we go to Rodellar I can make a reasonably impressive showing on more of the routes. Of course, I'll only be impressing myself. Most of the climbers there are GOOD climbers. Better than I'll ever be. We explored the entire valley within sight, and crossed the FREEZING river twice, but settled on climbing at El Camino... one of few walls with routes easy enough for me. El Camino, Rodellar

I can't say enough about El Camino. Belay bolts say it all... a secure belay for a 100 pound girl to belay her husband in comfort. AWESOME! The Spaniards have yet to let me down!

All in all, this was an amazing and perfect day. I can't wait to explore more of Spain. Apparently I've made it sound so fantastic even my younger brother bought himself and his friend a couple tickets to Madrid to go see what all the fuss is about. They were not disappointed! Espanya es muy bueno!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Round up

Wednesday turned out to be another perfect, sunshiny day in Spain. Edwards rounded up coffee in the morning, and happened to catch the morning sheep round up through town as well. He says it was quite the attraction. After breakfast, a few important purchases (olive oil), and checking out we headed back to El Camino cliff. It didn't take long to get worn out. The climbing there isn't easy, so fully pumped and with a little more exploration on foot, we had to hit the road back to France.
View from our room at the inn
last look at El Camino

We made one last stop at the Mercado to thank them for their help and pick up some more delicious road trip food. We met a refugee there this time. He was from, oh no! I can't remember the African country, but... somewhere and was excited to speak English with us. He was not as in love with Spain and wanted very much to join his brother in New York City. Apparently he wanted to work hard and make some money, and the Spanish lifestyle shuns such things... not a bad in our book, but I can see where he is coming from.
Scenic Drive

Our drive back over the Pyrenees (for the last time) was filled with more spectacular scenery, and while we had much to look forward to during our last few days in France, we were sad to say goodbye to Spain. No worries though, we'll be back for more exploration soon. Yeah, as soon as I have available vacation time again!
Spanish winery. One thing they take seriously.
Parting shot!

Assault on Western Europe: Part V. Fear and Loathing in Andorra

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 22:49:00 +0000

Andorra
Monday, April 20, 2009
The Unholy Country of Andorra

Without any real intent to see Spain this trip, we decide to wander on over (and over) the Pyrenees Mountains through Andorra and then to stay the night in our "home country" of France before settling into Spain. I was excited to be on the move and very excited to see Andorra.

Well...

Andorra is a sandbag. If you took Las Vegas, NYC, and Vail and put all three areas into Little Cottonwood Canyon you would end up with Andorra la Vella - and that's the best part. Okay, the setting is lovely (you keep trying to think), but what the French politely describe as a "hard edge of tax evaders" was really just a beautiful geography made grotesque by money and greed. Driving through was disappointing, but the appalling nature of what is being constructed and the high end retail of fashion and cars allowed room for amazement, if not actual enjoyment. Instead of stopping in this place for even a souvenir magnet we stayed in bumper-to-bumper traffic to roll through as quickly as possible to the freedom, beauty, and sunshine of the Cataluya Region of Spain.

Crossing from Andorra to Espanya was glorious. Spain has not thought to rub elbows with the gluttony of Andorra, so the border becomes what the Pyrenees aught to be - with no gilded opulence and cheap concrete construction. Just mountains and sunshine.

Unfortunately, we were not staying in Spain this night. We had to head round to Luchon, France. The weather in Spain was perfect. The air was dry and the views lovely. The one town of any notable size, Sort, was perfectly enjoyable. There were happy people and we could communicate just enough to laugh and ask questions.

Also, we were stopped by the police on the way down to Sort and they were SO nice. Obama fans and willing to speak Spanish with us despite our struggle to understand. I liked that!

In Sort there was also a baker, who wanted to speak English a little. She asked where we were from and told us she had never left Sort before. It felt so nice to interact with people again. It was not as easy to do in France. In St. Antonin we could, but still much easier in Spain.

After Sort we drove back over the Pyrenees to Luchon. It was a downpour and town was deserted. It is probably quite nice in the right season, but that night of, "it's raining it's pouring the old man is snoring..." just really made us anxious to get back into Spain.

Assault on Western Europe: Part IV. The French Revolution

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Thu, 21 May 2009 21:28:00 +0000

FRANCE
BONJOUR!

Monday, April 13th: Today we drove. It is a long trek from Roubaix to Sanvensa, and just when you think you are almost there, you hop off of the highways and onto country roads. Country roads in France rarely point the direction you need them too and always come in quadruplets (meaning: you’ve got to take at least four of them a long way before you get to where you are going). It is a lovely way to see France though, and Bruce and Alisa sure found themselves a perfectly charming home in the French countryside for their sabbatical. Solid rock, lavender shutters, wood-burning stove, a little bit of rangeland, and a swimming pool. It was so nice of them to share it with us!
Les Costes - Bruce and Alisa's sabbatical home.

Tuesday, April 14th: On the menu for our trip to France turned out to be sleep and food. These are two of my favorite things, particularly when I don’t have to feel guilty for enjoying them. Before we left, I did have dreams about waking up in the morning, hopping on a bike, and riding to the village for bread and flowers. Unfortunately, my sleep patterns were not synching with the French lunch hour (when everything closes), and the weather didn’t want to cooperate either. Never has the adage been truer… “April Showers Bring May Flowers.” Too bad we didn’t get to stay long enough to enjoy the blossoms.

Some shots from a rainy'ish day

Today, after some morning rain, things dried up enough to go explore some climbing areas in the region. First we stopped in Saint Antonin, Bruce and Alisa’s favorite village, and walked around a bit. I, of course, got some Haribo gummy candies at the shop, and we both fell in love with this little town. We approve of the “favorite village” choice!

After St. Antonin, we stopped at a few walls, until Edwards happily found one with a ridiculous approach that he said was perfect… just like a climber would make. At this cliff we met Paul and Lisa, and their German Shepard. Paul and Lisa are two ex-pats who had moved to the area for the climbing. It was excellent to talk to them about their experiences moving to France from Britain. It seems that the language is the first hurdle and then finding work in a country that aggressively protects the jobs of citizens is the second. They were very nice to visit with us for so long, but they clearly wanted to get back to climbing and we hadn’t come prepared so we headed off.
Color-coded routes at Bor et Bar climbing area

Hungry by now, we went back to Saint Antonin and ate at the pizza counter. Really: a window/counter that opens to the sidewalk. I had to muddle through some language barriers having to do with cutting the pizza, how many times to cut the pizza, and whether or not my husband had already paid, but that was fun. The pizza was, of course, delicious. We considered our pizza an aperitif and were already thinking ahead to dinner… Alisa was cooking.

Bruce and Alisa had a marvelous idea to have the couples take turns cooking each night. This is a splendid idea for any kind, hardworking, and unselfish set of couples. Unfortunately, not knowing me, they couldn’t factor in my fear and loathing of the kitchen. Instead of taking turns cooking… we took turns providing meals. Alisa is a wonderful cook and made us amazing dinners. On our nights to cook… we ate out. Fairish, no? Also, we wanted to see and experience French culture and some of the best places to do so are in the restaurants. It was very nice of them to take nights out on the village as a reasonable trade for a home cooked meal (which would have been TERRIBLE if I had cooked it).
Something that doesn't hate rain.

Wednesday, April 15th: Arg, wet again. I think we slept in and went climbing. All the rain was making me disoriented. Of course, finding a dry cliff in the afternoon was a bit of a challenge. When we thought we had, we found wet pockets all over the place. The climbing area was pretty interesting though. Hard and moderate routes that were immediately off the road, behind a bunch of trees, and next to the river. Really not too shabby.
The roadside climbing area

One thing I discovered more fully about myself while we were in France is that unless it is coming down as snow, I really dislike precipitation. Nothing is more depressing to me than rain. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for an afternoon thundershower that dries right up like in the Rocky Mountain West, but the desert in me doesn’t like for things to be soggy.
Penne from the Amiel climbing area.

After climbing a bit, we went to Penne. This hamlet has a medieval castle perched high on the hill. We decided we very much loved Penne, it is so beautiful how could you not? We had un café’ and un the’ au lait at the little lunch place in Penne and met a most friendly German Shepard. He again belonged to some ex-pats. Maybe the only dog they allow to go back and forth between Britain and France is the German Shepard? I’m still bitter that you can’t take a dog with a drop of pit bull blood onto British soil. Poor little Beata, she’ll never see London Bridge!
Edwards' buddy in Penne

After the café’ stop, we went to Amiel, a little cliff that Paul and Lisa had told us about. We only had time for a few climbs, but it quickly became my favorite cliff in the world (this opinion would be amended later).

For dinner, we again found much joy in French cuisine! We had a most fabulous pizza dinner in Villefranche. I had a goat cheese and honey pizza… unbelievably good. (In fact, it inspires me to go get a pizza crust, some goat cheese, and apply some of my raw honey. I think I can do this at home…). Also, we had some lettuce that was out of this world. If anyone knows where to locate tasty butter leaf lettuce in Utah, we are in the market!
Funny climbing area at Bor et Bar

Thursday, April 16th: The weather looked like I might stay dry and while Edwards desperately wanted to get some climbing in, it was market morning in Villefranche. Not to mention, we needed to swing by a sports store and get Bruce some shoes so he could come climbing at Amiel with us.

Oh, the market! Beautiful and crowded. We had a little shopping list and a map for the vendors we needed. With very, very little French in our verbal arsenal, we needed that map to be correct. We found everything we came for (plus some gummy candies) and after perusing just a few shops on the square, and stopping for un café’ and the’ au lait, we headed to Les Costes to round up Bruce and Alisa for some climbing at my “favorite cliff in the world.”
Market Day in Villefranche

That day Amiel was sitting in a banana belt for weather. The hours we were there, we watch countless rain storms wrap around us but leave us dry. Blessed location. The climbing at Amiel is mostly really brilliant. Edwards, of course, found some weird route that was super sharp and ultra un-classic, but called it a classic and made everyone get on it. I don’t know how Bruce endured it with such a huge smile, when I would climb it the next Sunday, I would not be smiling. No matter… this day, everyone had fun.

Friday, April 17th: There was probably more climbing this day, but mostly, there was Cordes. Cordes and Gaillac Wine. If Cordes wasn’t a tourist destination it would beat Saint Antonin for “favorite village”. However, it is certainly up there on the list. French Winery in the Gaillac Region

Before we saw Cordes we went wine tasting, we didn’t do the big tour from place to place, but just went one place and sampled from several wineries. I must admit, I’m not a huge fan of Gaillac wines, but Edwards like them and now has a red Gaillac shirt that I can rarely get him to take off… he’s such a little boy. Despite my not loving the wines, we purchased a couple of bottles to have on hand. You can never have too much wine on hand when you are in France.

After wine tasting it was off to Cordes for dinner. Cordes is picturesque. Lovely, quaint, and French in every way. Not to mention, Edwards was in absolute wonder at the steep, steep cobbles. Belgium has nothing on Cordes! It was at the bottom of town that we found our magnet from France… a tiny toy bottle of Pastis. My well traveled little sister has taught me that magnets are the perfect souvenirs: small and fun to look at. Our magnet collection is growing fast! We ate up at the top of town (one of our few meals we have pictures of). Of course, again, it was delicious! Superb!
Restaurant at the top of Cordes

Saturday, April 18th: “THE SUN CAME OUT FOR REAL!” (This is the only note I wrote for the 18th. I don’t think the sun stuck around, but I must have been pretty excited to see it!)
Obviously, somewhere cool.

We went climbing at Amiel again. I only did 3 climbs, but they were all 5.10s. Later, we went back to the cliff that was sorta dry and right off the road. Here, I got on a 5.12, but it was too hard and I stuck my finger in a hole that was already occupied by something slimy (small frog, slug, deadly eel?). Gross. Let me down! I do not like slimy 5.12s!

That night we had dinner with three of Bruce and Alisa’s closest French friends. Ben, the ex-pat; Ahnka, the German; and Alan, the original Beatnik. Not to mention Alan’s dog, Fenwick! Fenwick was awesome! So much like Ratso, but all black and about a third the size. The company was amazing, the food and ice-cream couldn’t be beat, and the whole evening made me wish two things very much: that we could stay, and that we could speak French!
The Rosetta Stone Monument to help me decipher French!

Sunday, April 19th: Today the rain was back, so Bruce and Alisa took us sightseeing. I honestly must admit to not having any idea where we were. I recognized some of the rock from photos I had seen of them cycling, but other than that… no clue. We saw lots of beautiful country, learned about “plague houses”, and bought our way into the Museum of the Absurd! The pictures speak volumes, but kudos to Bruce and Alisa for being able to speak both French and ART! They gained themselves an invite back in the summer for dinner. Way to win over the “outside artists.” The artist is the man holding his dogs’ butt… again… volumes!

I’m not sure what we ate or did after that. We were all still pretty wrapped up in the Museum. What a tremendous amount of creative energy to walk through and explore.

Because the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain… we decided the next day it would be time to check out the Spanish side of the Pyrenees Mountains.
I know it is sad, but gummy candies really are just my favorite!

Assault on Western Europe: Part III - Hell of the North

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Thu, 21 May 2009 05:16:00 +0000

Paris-Roubaix
Sunday, May 12, 2009

Last year Edwards made one of his infamous, daily, my credit card is already in the system, and online purchases of a coffee table book that later arrived at our house. “What is this?”, I asked. It looked like an overpriced book of photographs taken of muddy cyclists. Is this my husband’s version of porn? “No!” he emphatically refuted me. It’s Paris-Roubaix. It’s awesome! Look at it...

Less than a year later, there we were lining up along the cobbles with the crazy Flemish fans… waiting for muddy cyclists to pedal past. The only disappointment, this year the weather was perfect and the boys were dry.

Slideshow on Facebook... you might have to be a part of Facebook AND a friend of mine to see it.

What is there to say about Paris-Roubaix? Having ridden the cobbles in Belgium, I cannot comprehend how they do it. The cobbles are so jarring on a road bike that they made me black-out when I tried to ride them fast, and my fast is those guys’ get off the bike and walk pace. This one-day race is brutal. Really, really brutal. For the fans though, it is a good excuse to trot out the majorettes and local hack musicians, get drunk on Jupiler, eat brats, and cheer on the obsessive-compulsive pro-cyclists. It’s like a festival for indulgently bad behaviors.

But, when the sound of the helicopter cuts through the air, and you know the riders are on their way, it gets pretty exciting.
Tom Boonen

We started our day at the beginning of the Pave’ d’Arenberg. They say the race is decided by the end of this forest, so we decided to see what things looked like going in. We got there early to partake in the festivities and cleared out as soon as they passed to catch another glimpse further down the course.
Fabien Cancellara

After our roadside stop at Section 13, we headed to the Velodrome to catch the finish. While we were in transit, Thor Husolvd wrecked and Tom Boonen took a commanding lead. The race was his for the third time and thousands of fans cheered him through the finish. We had cheap seats (free) outside the ‘drome. It was great.

After the race, we went back by all the buses and checked out all the bikes. At the bar, there was a toast that past between Edwards and Bruce, and lucky for us, Boonen came through on his bike. I believe Bruce got b*tch-slapped by a guard for patting on the back!

The whole day was truly quite awesome. Go Boonen! (And here’s hoping you get off the cocaine and race again real soon!)
Tom Boonen knows he's the man

Assault on Western Europe: Part II - The Battle of Belgium

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Sat, 16 May 2009 22:40:00 +0000

BELGIUM:

Wednesday, April 8th
The ferry ride back to France was a bust. For some reason, this one carried no scones or clotted cream. Rather unpatriotic, don’t you think?
Classic and Flemish

LAND-HO and it was off for a frustrating and confusing drive to Belgium. Fortunately, we found the town we were looking for; unfortunately it was ten minutes after the Gent-Wevelgem classic bike race ended. To add insult to injury, it started pouring down rain AND (as was to reoccur whenever we split up) we separated for two minutes and lost each other for thirty.
A picture Bruce took of the Gent-Wevelgem Classic we missed.

Reunited, we headed for our hotel in Gent. Bruce and Alisa found it, and though it sounds funny, “The Holiday Inn Express” it was quite nice and very European. When we arrived they were shooting some TV show, or something, and had to ask us to move our car. This woman ran up looking really annoyed and speaking ticked-off French to us. Our blank stares gave away the fact that we had no idea what she was talking about and her demeanor changed when she switched to English and politely asked us to move our car. They speak Flemish in Flanders and we later found out that the offenses of the French against the Flemish have not been forgotten. You do better to speak English in the area than to address them in French.
Our Holiday Inn Express Room. I wish our house was this... Zen.

The bicycle culture in Belgium is a beautiful thing. Half the population gets around on commuters, even in the rain, and they all look quite stylish while they are pedaling. I love it.

The restaurant recommendations from our hotel hosts were ridiculously nice, so we found our own way to the Café du Arts and continued the trend of fantastic food in Europe. Belgium has become know for amazing eats, a village outside of Bruges seems to be all the rage for restaurants. Gent was plenty delicious for us, and when we finally caught up with Bruce and Alisa, they met us at the Café for round two of our dinner. Fantastic.

Thursday, April 9th, 2009
Bruce and Alisa are very relaxed travel companions and kindly let us sleep in as late as we liked. Edwards got up before me and headed downstairs for breakfast and café. The three of them met this awesome couple - husband works for Sram bike components and wife just loves to ride her bike - who taught them all about Belgium (because they’ve been coming to the Spring Classics for 8 years) and gave them some tips on watching Paris-Roubaix.

After I finally emerged we headed out to pick up a rented bike for me and then to tour the classic climbs on the cobbles. Once we found Jowan’s Bike Shop, the boys and girl were in heaven. I might have been, had my bike not been a ridiculous 1970’s color orange, but I was alone in this opinion. Everyone else loved it.
Jowans Bike Shop.

We all took off on our bikes only to face around the first corner one of the steepest climbs of our ride. At least it wasn’t on cobbles, but… ARG! I’ve been sitting on the back of the tandem so long I’ve lost my technical riding ability. Trying to balance my bike up that hill was a mentally crippling challenge. What was I going to do on the cobbles???
COBBLES

Bruce, Alisa, and Edwards are all much faster riders than I am, and I’m stubborn and had no intention of keeping up. More than ride my bike… I wanted to see the country. Edwards would just have to wait for me at important intersections. Phhhhttt!
Someone... on the cobbles.

For Edwards, finding the first cobbled climb in Belgium was like striking gold in Alaska. So cute my husband is! He rode them fast and got WORKED. I rode them slowly and bumped along. We toured around between proper pavement and cobbles until we reached what Edwards was really looking for… 20% incline cobbles… The Koppenberg. Alisa rocked it almost to the top and then took pictures. Bruce had his back tire slip and was toast, just below where Alisa was standing. I hopped off early and Edwards climbed the whole thing… with a huge smile on his face. Man on a mission, he loves the cobbles.
Alisa rockin' the cobbles

After the climb, it wasn’t far to Oodenarde for a snack, tea, and café.

The ride back to our vehicles was torture. Flat, but maybe windy and further than I expected for sure! Edwards came back to let me draft, but I couldn’t keep up. Finally we got back to the bike shop and the cars. Jowan himself came out to see how we did. It was super nice of him and Edwards was thrilled.

Showering back at the hotel was a miracle and at 10 p.m (soon after returning from our ride) we headed out for dinner at Amadeus. Amadeus is an All-You-Can-Eat Ribs restaurant that looked NOTHING like our rib joints in the U.S, but still looked ridiculous. We all enjoyed our meals, and left at midnight completely exhausted, but happy. It was a marvelous day.

Friday, April 10, 2009
Lazy morning, again, but poor Edwards woke up with a sore throat and a mounting cold. Terrible for him, but it means I got a rest day without having to ask! We poked around, even took a 20 minute nap, and finally decided to leave the bikes and go climbing.

We drove towards Luxembourg and I wished a whole lot that we could go there. There is a long standing joke between me, my little brothers, and MST3K about Luxembourg. Sadly, before arriving in Luxembourg we found our cliff… just to the side of an old castle, now army base, there was a very polished limestone cliff covered in routes.

The first couple of routes were quite nice and it felt excellent to be doing some easy movement after the bike ride the day before. We ran into some brits with a guide book that Edwards sprinted off with, while I chatted. Then, we headed off in the opposite direction of the routes he had looked at in search of a 3 star route he read about in the guide. Let me just say, we did not find it. Instead we found a beautiful cliff that looked great and fun from the ground but was an absolute NIGHTMARE once on it.
The NIGHTMARE

First off, there were so many routes and bolts that Edwards led the most divergent route in the history of rock climbing. Then he put me on it. I was total crap and by the third bolt and the struggle I had unclipping it, I was coming unhinged. I went to the fourth bolt under much duress, but colorfully convinced Edwards to let me bail before I made it to the fifth. On his trip back up to clean… he noted that it really was total crap and really hard. After that, we left.

I nearly died on this climbing trip, and it wouldn’t have been the worst way to go, but I’m not going to detail it out because it is too incriminating. I’ll just say that if they don’t want you taking the clear and defined trail then someone should put up a sign.

Dinner that night was rest stop food. Some of the rest stops in Europe are just awesome and the food plenty good enough to eat. We had a sandwich and frites and made our own fry sauce with purchased condiments. Of course I picked up some Haribo gummy candies as well. Unfortunately, easy climbing wasn’t easy enough and Edwards felt worse by bedtime.

Saturday, April 11, 2009
The eve of Paris-Roubaix and another bike ride for the four of use. Two more classic cobble climbs were slated for the day. I did one, but uninspired, bailed on doing the Muur. Edwards loved the Muur and kept doing it, finally in his big chain ring. He’s such a doll! The best part of the day was sitting outside at the café at the top of the Muur and watching all the amateur cyclists make the climb. The best was the old guy, on his old fat tire bike, smoking past the young hipsters. Awesome.
Yep, I rode cobbles too

After the ride, we finally journeyed to where we said we were going all along! France! We stayed in a bad looking French town called, Vaneciennes in order to be well staged for the race in the morning. There appears to be considerable World War relics in this area of France and Edwards pointed out how great it would have been to have my little brother Scott there because he could have told us the history of EVERYTHING. Scott says, “yeah, or I would have made up something that sounded awesome.”

It sorta feels like we just disappeared from Belgium, but that's okay as we moved cleanly into our adventure in France.
Happy, happy Edwards after riding the cobbles in Belgium.

Assault on Western Europe: Part I - Conquering the Empire

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Sat, 09 May 2009 02:06:00 +0000

ENGLAND:

April 3, 2009
For all the wrong that Delta Airlines has ever done to us, we give thanks for the right that is the Salt Lake City to Paris direct flight. Now, you can check in at the world’s most convenient airport, take a nap while experiencing the miracle of human flight, and wake up in Paris! What a perfect way to start a 3.5 week adventure in Europe.

On April 4th, we landed at Charles De Gaulle Airport and picked up our little “Hippo”. Hippo is the name we gave our leased Peugeot after we discovered the awesome European automobile feature of rear view mirrors that fold in when the car is parked and locked. These folding mirrors looked like hippopotamus ears. Thus, Hippo. No time for Paris… we took Hippo straight to Callais, France and caught the ferry boat to Dover, England. Onboard the ferry there was proper tea, a scone, jam, and clotted cream. Our trip to England really couldn’t have started out any better than that, and we were glad we didn’t take the tunnel.
Little Hippo

Once we arrived on British soil, Edwards had to make the physical and mental switch to drive on the left side of the road. He noted that it is easier to do when the driver gets to stay on the left and not complicate matters by altering the side of his body he has to drive the stick shift with.

Our destination was Canterbury to visit with Todd and Patty who shared their flat, a delicious home cooked meal, martini’s, and wine with us. Todd is a bit notorious, being the co-writer/creator of the renowned and oft’ quoted film, Icarus Descending. Actually, maybe he is more notorious for the photo of him doing a one armed pull-up while drinking a beer. Obviously, one of Edwards’ closest friends.
Todd, Patty, and Lisa in the flat in Canterbury.

April 5, 2009
The next morning Todd and Patty blessedly let us sleep in and then poke around the flat for awhile. At some point the boys decided that we were to head off to Brockwood School to visit Brian immediately after lunch. We had lunch in the back garden of The Dolphin pub in Canterbury… the best part for me… proper tea! I adore ordering tea and having all the important bits and pieces come with it! – tea, tea pot, tea cup and saucer, tiny pitcher of cold milk, sugar, and a little spoon. Why is this so hard in America?

After lunch we actually did make a feeble attempt to see the Cathedral. We got right out front then discovered that I have already seen it, Edwards simply doesn’t care about such things, and Patty and Todd left their “locals pass” at home. We walked on by… in a hurry. Do you know there is a Starbucks Coffee immediately to the right of the entrance door to the Cathedral? Seems a little… commercial?

Brockwood (sort of, I like the daffodils)

After that, we said goodbye to Patty (who had much work to do), and the three of us went to Brockwood School, Hampshire, England. Brockwood is special. The landscape is special. The sheep had just had lambs and birds were singing the sounds of the British countryside.
Sheep and Lambs at Brockwood

Brian was on-duty until 8:00 p.m. so we all chatted and explored the school for a bit… had more tea… then headed to a perfectly appointed, quiet Sunday night pub. Edwards had the best fish and chips in all of England – so said the owner, and at least relatively close to truth – mostly though, it was the setting that made the night. Just perfect.
An evening at the pub

April 6, 2009
Todd and Brian made fun of us for sleeping in again… I think this was before Todd made fun of the luggage we brought. I believe he called it, “ugly” which is entirely unfair. It was good looking luggage in its day. Plus, it made my first journey to Ireland with me and that position demands respect! (even if that did happen an entire half of my lifetime ago). You cut me deep Todd, you cut me real deep.

We ate brunch at another pub, this one of particular importance to Edwards and Todd. The Thomas Lord, or “the Tommy lord”. When the boys filmed Icarus, they spent a lot of time in this pub and even filmed here. Not much has changed, except the food. The food was awesome. Even after 3 weeks in France, etc. this was one of the most memorably delicious meals of our trip! I had a cheese and pickle sandwich. That’s it. Cheese and pickles and bread. Memorably delicious. Oh, and tea.
Edwards and Brian on the coast with a British sky.

This revival of delicious food in England apparently comes from the leadership of Prince Charles. He started with his own garden and some chickens and began to vocally promote fresh, local food. The trend caught on, certainly in Hampshire, and all the pubs that we ate at were just brimming with fantastic local fair.
The approach to Dancing Ledge

After brunch, and dropping Todd off for the train back to Canterbury, it was time to go climbing. We drove to Dancing Ledge located somewhere along the coast. This was the most beautiful climbing approach through fields, a farm, and down a steep slope to the rocky ocean shore. It was absolutely magical. I only did one climb, and Edwards barely three because it started raining, making the hike out a bit treacherous. The climbing was nice though. Parts of the rock had been so polished by they ocean that they looked as if someone had pour hot wax over them.
Climber and Belay at Dancing Ledge

That night we ate at another great pub. I had my first fish pie and Celtic Coffee. A Celtic Coffee is really just an Irish Coffee of another name and with two inches of straight cream on top. If only we had such delicious cream in the United States.

April 7, 2009
My biggest disappointment before coming to England was that I Capuleti e I Montecchi at the Royal Opera was sold out the nights we would be in town. This was devastating news as my favorite soprano, Anna Netrebko, was singing the Juliet role and another woman I had been hearing about, Elina Garanca, was singing the Romeo role. I most desperately wanted to go.

Fortunately, Brian found out that the morning of a performance 67 tickets will be available to the public and all you have to do is queue for them. The box office opens at 10 and to be safe we needed to be in line by eight o’clock. This meant leaving Brockwood at 5:30 in order to drive to London, park the car, and walk to the box office.

The line when we arrived at 7:40 a.m, having made very good time, was short. We were 13, 14, and 15. Surely, this meant we’d be getting tickets! Now all we had to do was survive the cold, windy London morning for a few hours. We all took turns getting coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. We had friendly neighbors behind us and we rested easy as the gentleman at the front of the line was making sure that absolutely no one cut the queue! Actually, we firmly believe that that gentleman attends every opera, but has never pre-purchased a ticket because he LOVES the line so much. Just the kind of cheap but cultured man he was.
FYI: Romney is a FULL Dragon. Conceived and born in the year of the Dragon.

Promptly at 10:00 a.m. they opened the doors and we got three tickets, not all together, but three tickets just the same! We then took breakfast at a Parisian Café (our little taste of the Paris we wouldn’t be making time for) and then started walking to no one really knew where. We did no shopping and only sight-saw the things we walked passed. Of course, when we found the burrito place in London, Chimayo, the boys had to stop on the simple principle of the thing. It wasn’t good, but it was entertaining just the same.

Brian set up a rendezvous with Valentine, one of the actors from Icarus. Time: 1:00 p.m. Place: Mayflower Pub all the way across town. Even though it was far, we had nothing better to do, so we walked… finally arriving at 1:25 and definitely ready for some Guinness.

Valentine is great and has been invited to Utah any time he would like.
The best cup of coffee in London Town

After a meal at the pub, we took a double-decker in search of the best cup of coffee in London. The boys all imbibed. After that we changed clothes and went in search of the best Martini in London. Turns out the Savoy, the home of the best martini, is closed for renovations. So, we went for the second best Martini in town. There, I had a delightful cupcake that made me smile and that Brian said was the type of cupcake an Aquarius would be interested in.

The opera was absolutely brilliant. Anna Netrebko and Elina Garanca singing together was otherworldly. I was enchanted by the entirety of the opera. The simple orchestration, the minimal set, and the siren voices on stage. It was so beautiful my heart ached. I Capuleti e I Montecchi by Bellini remains one of the highlights of the trip.
One very bad cell phone photo as everyone left the opera for the evening. What can I say? They don't allow cameras in the Royal Opera Hall.

It was the best day in London my daydreaming mind could have conjured. I am so lucky to have my fantastically energetic husband who was more than willing to go on this adventure with me. Not to mention his wonderful and peaceful brother, Brian. Thank you both!

Simply exhausted we put Brian on the train back to Brockwood and slipped into Todd and Patty’s flat in Canterbury at 1:00 a.m. only to wake up to catch the ferry in Dover by 8:00 in the morning. Thanks to Todd and Patty for their patience given our whirlwind tour!

Mucho Gusto El Amate!

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:58:00 +0000

With all the cross-country skiing I did with the dogs did this winter, I didn't think the cold and grey was getting me down. Then we spent a weekend together in St. George... there was sun. Beautiful, warm sun.

Saturday I got to toddle around with Beata and take intermittent naps in the glorious rays while Edwards and Bob worked on their climbing. I found a perfect goat skull on one of my brief adventures and delivered it back to Edwards as a prize. He was impressed. When Edwards asked if I wanted to climb, I was in such a good mood, I said yes! I completed the most perfect pitch in my climbing career right before we all called it a day. Finally, after a winter of hustle, I was outside in a lazy and delicious way!

Speaking of delicious... Bob Banks has great eye for mexican food. On Sunday, the boys spotted a new place and encouraged me to stop working and come with them because, "there are Mexicans in there. It's a good sign." In all earnestness, El Amate turned out to be the best mexican food in Utah. The guacamole would have made my Grandaddy proud and flooded my mouth with memories of growing up in El Paso and Las Cruces. The salsas are just perfect for added flavor and the enchiladas... my staple... they were better than any I've ever had... I think... I mean, I haven't been to Cruces in awhile. Everyone, please, eat there! It absolutely must stay in business and right now it is so new people in St. George don't even know it's there.

El Amate
974 W Sunset Blvd
Saint George, UT 84770
(435) 688-2324‎

With three tummies full of the best mexican food in Utah, we headed out for more adventures. Bob's adventure was getting he and Tuco back to Santa Barbara. That adventure sounded super sucky. Our adventure was Mt. Biking with Beata in a wind storm. Our adventure was better. WAY BETTER. Beata sprinted, sprinted, sprinted after Edwards, while we both tried to convince her that she didn't know what she was in for and she'd be healthier trotting along with me. She wasn't having any of it, so she just kept sprinting. Into the wind was hard, wind at our back... we flew. It was joyous. The sun was still warm.

Poor little Beata couldn't barely walk the next day, but she got to rest. We had a full day a meetings with one of us starting at 10:00 in St George, and one of us ending at 7:00 p.m. on the internet in Cedar City. Then... the sinking feeling of heading back to the cold.

What is this white stuff? Where is the sun? We want away. And... away we soon go. The bipeds in our family are off to France, etc., for 3.5 weeks starting Friday. Neither of us can wait.

stupid, fat couples, rolling their eyes about... that's just rubish

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 05:01:00 +0000

Edwards has decided that in "Amadeus" when Mozart says, "watching italian opera, all those male sopranos screeching... ...stupid, fat couples, rolling their eyes about. That's not love, that's just rubbish." he must have been referring directly to Puccini.

We attempted our third Puccini opera today. Madame Butterfly. At intermission Edwards said, "watching a Puccini opera, produced by Anthony Minguella... I would rather be strung up by my toes and dipped into a vat of boiling oil." (actually, he didn't say that, he said something clever, but now neither of us remember exactly what was said). I also admitted to being quite bored, so, we left.

It feels strange to be opera snobs. When I first started going to Utah Opera performances, they could do no wrong. Now, it is rare for them to do anything right. Blessedly, the Metropolitian Opera started live HD broadcast that, at first, were absolutely captivating and precious in their perfection... today, we walked out.

First, when you see, listen to, perform arias from, opera often enough, you become discerning. It is no longer just music, it is like spending three hours with a stranger, seeing if you get along, hearing what they have to say, and ultimately... you might not like everyone you meet.

Second, when you are choosing to spend three hours in the middle of your Saturday indoors, butts-in-seats, it had better be good. We wracked our brains for a modern soprano who could have made that opera okay... we couldn't think of a soul. We do not like it Sam I Am. We do not like Butterfly Madame. (Really, it's more Puccini's fault directly.)

The upside is, when opera fails you, Utah's landscape doesn't. I picked up Beata for some cross-country skiing in Millcreek Canyon, and Edward's took Tuco climbing in Deaf Smith Canyon. (Note: one winter sport, one summer sport. A few miles apart) My sincere thanks to Puccini for sucking. Had that been a Mozart opera we would have missed a grand day out!

Hello, hello, bonjour, bonjour, hola, hola, konnichiha, konnichiha-ha

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 17:19:00 +0000

This was a typical week, for typical people. Meetings, back pain, business lunches for weight gain, PowerPoint madness, driving the sales road, paying bills... Okay, we could never be totally typical. There was also some happy making "hang-boarding", gorgeous, peaceful cross-country skiing, spectacular "favorite-time-of-the-day" (cuddling/film watching), and other types of living our life.

Boring Week collided with Best Week on Thursday when hours on the sales road meant hours of talk radio. And what did I hear? Something about a free Michael Franti concert on Main Street Park City? Yep! Edwards confirmed online, Free concert! That very night! Top five favorite artists!

No big deal for the people who already knew and planned for this, but this is why I love our life! Me: Ski first. Edwards: Hangboard first. After: rendevous (with the dogs) in Park City for pizza (Davanza's, Tuco's favorite) and an evening outdoor concert in the middle of winter in the mountains with MICHAEL FRANTI!

Our pictures are as fun as the concert in that blackness doesn't facilitate knowing what you are going to end up with, so you end up with this. The sea of knit hats says it all! It was a throwdown!

When life and "our life" collide like this in one week, it wears a body out. Friday ended in a sick day. Saturday, the same. Sunday... we'll figure out a way to get back at it. We'll start by downloading the new Michael Franti and Spearhead album and dancing around to the Obama Song! "Barack Obama. Yes We Did!"

Best New Year's Eve Ever

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 23:01:00 +0000

Edwards is really having quite an influence over Romney when the best New Year's Eve EVER is comprised of running. Usually I put on a fancy dress and fake eyelashes and have a night on the town. Not this year.

For our First New Year's Eve together we decided to take part in the Salt Lake Track Club's "Beat the New Year" 5k race. It begins at 11:30 p.m. and the goal is to finish the 5k before midnight. We did a pre-run this week to make sure I would be capable of jogging for more than the few stumbles it takes to recover from tripping off my high heels. I can.

New Years Eve came and we made the extraordinarily bad decision to eat a plate of nachos and drink beer before the run. Because of this, Edwards had made noise about possibly running the whole thing with me, which was sweet. However, he got injured on our warm-up lap and he had no choice but to hobble along beside me. Of course, this made the whole experience much more fun. Additionally, Edwards isn't as concerned with "the rules" as I am (and really there was no expressed rule against this) so he decided to bring Beata along. Beata is the cutest, most focussed little 5k'er in the world! She doesn't even mind being on-leash.

Every now and then I'd have to remind him that I'm not really a runner and that he was going too fast, but mostly we just trotted the course together and came in with 3 minutes to spare! Just enough time to meet our friends who also ran and grab a bottle of champagne out of the car. With a big cheery slug straight out of the bottle and a nice wet smooch, we toasted the New Year.

Sadly, no pictures. No proof.

Kick, Glide, and Giggle!

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:45:00 +0000

To avoid the holiday hazards of too many tourist on the mountain, we've been cross-country skiing this season. We spend the odd calendar days at Millcreek Canyon dodging dogs, hikers, snowshoers, and other skiers on a silly, icy, snow covered road that really doesn't get nice until after the first 1.5 miles. On even calendar weekend days, we can go adventure a bit... Today we went to my favorite hiking trail, behind Jeremy Ranch, to see if it was skiable. We weren't even sure there would be road access miles out, but there was and the trailhead only had TWO cars at it. Two cars is quite different from the 50+ cars parked at the Millcreek Trailhead. This place was car to car skiing, and easier terrain for Tuco. We only saw one guy, one dog, and one small family out there today. Silent, beautiful, snow covered forest was our lot. Plus, Edwards got to learn lots of things about x-country skiing, because the variable terrain made him practice all the little tricks to controlling your skinny skis!

All our friends and family are invited to join us any time they want to come out! Edwards can't believe he found something that Romney loves to do so much! And I do, I do love to x-country ski!

These pics aren't from today, they are from our hike in the snow yesterday, but close enough!

Sadly, families like these are the reason Edwards and I cannot have children.

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 07:10:00 +0000

In the news today was the headline "Woman in Arkansas gives birth to 18th Child". One mother, one father, 17 other smiling children. A simple google search revealed this story from July, "Canadian woman gives birth to 18th child." Two families; one westernized world.

At this rate, it would take Edwards and I, and 17 other couples not having children, to counter-balance the decisions these two families alone have made. Now, add in everyone you know with more than 2 kids, then imagine the people you don't know and the developing world, and try to figure out how many committed non-breeders it would take to bring the world in balance. I only know three other couples like us...

This is nonsensical. We must rise above our most basic animal instincts and bring reason to bare on our decisions. Is it not our reasoning skills that sets homosapien apart? Is it not unreasonable to insist that our species overwhelm the carrying capacity of the earth?

All I can say is, at least I'm not leaving anyone behind to live in an world overpopulated by people. To parents of one or two children, you should be even more disturbed by these burgeoning families... don't your kids need resources?

“I finally got the venue I’ve been looking for."

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:38:00 +0000

That's right, I'm performing in an early holiday voice recital!

Keith Trickett, Lisa Romney and Danny McDonnall
Accompanied by
Chris Smith (piano) and Charlotte Bell (oboe)

Monday 10th November 2008
@ 7:30 pm
First Unitarian Church
569 S 1300 E
Salt Lake City, UT 84102

Admission Free

Please join us for a reception after the concert

This concert is a charity event. The aim is to raise $2500 for the Peoples Health Clinic in Park City. Members of the audience and well-wishers are encouraged to make a donation. This means, admission is free, but you have to pay to leave. Okay, you don't have to...

Pink Helmet

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 18:35:00 +0000

This photo is a follow-up to my "Mean Boy" blog. I am a brat and my husband loves me anyway!

A Change in the Weather

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 18:28:00 +0000

Things have been a little cold and wet around here. We're all getting a little bored.

If She Were A Rich Man

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:37:00 +0000

I've been putting miles on the Prius lately driving up and down the Wasatch Front for work. Company policy prohibits operating a vehicle and talking on a cell phone, even with a hands-free device, so this has given me plenty of time to listen to news radio. I heard my first Hannity Show last week, enjoyed the superior reporting of BBC World News, and just today got to listen to a "Talk of the Nation" session focused on Sarah Palin and how women voters feel about her.

I listened to two females support her and one woman argue against her. No matter how often they, or the callers, said that it wasn't about her being a woman, I became quite certain that it was/is. This made me explore my own opinion of her and whether I had any underlying sexism in my ardent opinion of her candidacy. My findings... I don't. I'm certain that most others who share my opinion also do not. Let's think about it...

Had John McCain produced a man who was the former Mayor of a town of around 7,000 and the current twenty month governor of Alaska, who had: spent a large part of his time as Governor growing his family; used his office to wage personal wars; hired in a preferential and nepotistic manner; left his small town $20 million in debt; forced rape victims in his town to pay for their rape kits; sought vast federal earmarks for projects the State was unwilling to fund; sued to remove polar bears from the endangered species list; did not believe global warming is caused by humans; hunted wolves from airplanes, and offered a bounty for others to do the same; was a "creationist", anti-abortion even in cases of rape and incest, and refused to teach anything other than abstinence to children; attended 5 different colleges, finally gaining a degree in sports journalism; lacked the intellectual curiosity to travel, read, and pursue other cultural and creative growth opportunities; who could not respond to questions on the current "ethos"; believed he had strong foreign policy experience because you could see Russia from his State; etc. etc. ... I would be HORRIFIED, and so would more than 50% of the American public.

What is happening is actually the opposite of sexism. Worse than "white privilege" it is "white WOMAN privilege." So, for today, another film recommendation - "Burn After Reading" - a film where no matter the damage... an entitled white woman will get what she wants.

And we thought Romney-Edwards was unbelievable...

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:28:00 +0000

When Sarah Palin was nominated by McCain the Democratic Party cheered, "No better disaster than this!" There was only a faint whimper that people might buy what the Republicans were selling. As blind Lady Liberty's scales tip to McCain/Palin, we should be aware that the whimper we heard may actually have been a visceral sob of defeat.

I know this woman. In our democracy, there is a breed of mean-spirited, over-confident person whose ignorant, one-sided values bring them to City Hall as a place to heap their misery on others. They find their happiness in brow beatings. They internalize abusive behaviors as personal accomplishment.

In the lower 48, these people are known as the "squeaky wheel." You would be astounded at how much influence they have, for no other reason than to quiet their constant assaults. It seems that in Alaska, one of these people had the tenacity to take her misery to the Governor's Mansion. Now, she has been plucked from the cold north to feed our societal narcissism.

I am aware that the culture that runs this country shares a belief that only they should have money, because only they are responsible enough to handle it. I am also aware that they want us to vote for McCain/Palin. War Heroes R Us. Hockey Moms R Us. If "We" are in the White House, "We" are content with power by association, and the wealthy elite continue their "business as usual."

The offense of McCain/Palin is not in the names I could call her, or the smears easily slathered on the man. The offense is the roars of laughter coming from above as they watch us slide rapidly from Democracy to Idiocracy, and if you haven't seen this film, "Idiocracy," you should.

Mean Boy

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 04:27:00 +0000

Memories of my orthopedic surgeon screaming, "God Hates You!" at me, came flooding back as I tried to get my head out of the way of a 12"X4"X3" rock that my loving husband knocked off of a climb this weekend. Luck got my head out of the way; fate kept my left hand in the boulder path. Today, a millenia of evolution does nothing to help me button my trousers as my thumb is no longer opposable. However, with all the tender loving care being administered by my husband, I have great hopes for a full and speedy recovery.

In order to reduce the risks of brain trauma in the future, I would like a small, pink climbing helmet. Perhaps Edwards will get me one?

When the cat's away...

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:51:00 +0000

The mouse goes to Kauai!

Edwards "had" to go to Beijing for the last week of the Olympics. I am told that this was work related, but mostly it sounded like a trip to fantasy island. Can you imagine, Mr. Most Athletic surrounded by the best athletes in the world? I soon realized that I would be lucky to get him back. You can read all about his trip at www.steve-edwards.blogspot.com

As a very last minute decision, Andrea (little sister) decided she needed a quick trip out of Vegas, and offered to cover lodging and car rental if I could get my butt to the Garden Isle. Right before he left I said, "Edwards, can I go to Kauai with my little sister" and he said, "ABSOLUTELY." Really? Cool.

We had 4 days to explore the entire island. We had time to snorkel, take long walks on the beach, lounge by the beach, skinny dip in the ocean, view a distant Luau from seats in a hot tub, rest, drive from end to end, eat lots of organic-local-delicious food, do some waterfall viewing, and get a little sandbagged...

Sandbag: brush fire closed the Na Pali trail, so there would be NO seeing the coast on foot; rough waters canceled our boat trip, so there would be NO seeing the coast by boat; illness put me in the hotel room watching bad TV almost one entire day.

On the upside, we did rejoiced the entire time on our decision to stay up in Hanalei and not down in Poi Pu. I got a Puff t-shirt, "In a land called Hanalei" and the town had the best vibe of anywhere we found on the island.

We took lots of pictures, but unfortunately none of the Swiss Family Robinson. There was an adorable surfer bum family with two toe-headed kids living out of their truck on a secluded beach. We figure the cost of living in Hawaii can be pretty low, even with kids, because weather permits nothing more than a diaper for clothing and the island provides everything else they need. So cute.

My trip to Kauai had some truly perfect moments, I missed enough to definitely want to go back, but my husband says Thailand looks similar, is cheaper, and has real climbing... so maybe that's my next trip. Maybe next time, if he's not busy fraternizing with the athletes, I'll take my husband with me.

The UnCool

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:13:00 +0000

I can't imagine Romney/Edwards ever doing anything geeky. We're so cool, we should wear our sunglasses 24 hours a day, right? "Because when you're cool, the sun shines all the time..."

We love bad movies - cool, cooler than you.
Our political opinions are robust, well informed, rooted in historical experience, and right - again, cool.
I read graphic novels - freaking cool.
Edwards reads books on nutrition and fitness - so, he's pretty cool.
We both read the paper every day - smart and cool.
We own property in all the best neighborhoods for gentrification - one day we'll be rich and cool.
We have no offspring - our freedom and generosity is cool.
We have two perfectly behaved mutts. - the coolness runneth over.
We ride a tandem bicycle...

uh, oh, here is where a friend planted a viscious little seed... Perhaps all this doesn't add up to cool. Perhaps we are so cool, we've gone past cool, and now, we are... uncool.

Please consider the rest of the list:

1. We compost.
2. We recycle.
3. He rides a fixed gear, I ride a cruiser. For transportation.
4. I said, "Hell, yeah" outloud when I saw the movie preview for, "The Watchmen."
5. We got on the waiting list and bought a white Toyota Prius, because, you know, it gets the best gas mileage.
6. We regularly recommend, "The King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters." to people as a totally awesome movie.
7. Our dogs are the best dogs ever and we talk about them incessantly.
8. We replace all burnt out lights bulbs with compact flourescents.
9. We eloped to Switzerland because of a b-movie that very few other people find entertaining.
10. We like each other so much, we ride the same bicycle.

We are uncool.

Whatever. It don't matter to Jesus.

Pictures of our uncoolness: two geeky kids by their tandem, two perfect pooches, compost bin, that's a plug-in lawn mower, and the crowning glory... the prius.

Utah Mermaids

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 05:07:00 +0000

Something my loving husband does is let me put mermaids up in prominent positions around the house. Once, when he was sick and trapped on the couch, he even let me put in the Hans Christian Anderson \ Japanese Animation DVD of The Little Mermaid that I used to watch when I was a wee babe. He's the best husband ever.

My fascination with mermaids comes from how stubborn, hard working, and creative that sweet and feminine creature was. And how loving her spirit remains.

Today, the ROYAL "WE" bought OUR first mermaid. She is glorious.

We also had a wonderful day at the Utah Arts Festival. We had beer and brats, and caught some music by our friend Misty Murphy before coming home with our new oil painting.

Yesterday we rode up Emigration Canyon on our Tandem. I love that bike. I always say it is because, "when I'm suffering - at least he isn't still getting away from me"... there was a moment on the climb that I wished he could get away so I could pedal at my own pace. I survived and it's good training. He took this picture at the top. My friend, Amanda, gave me the flashy jersey. I don't look like a gorgeous mermaid, but I doubt they'd look so pretty all dried up either.

Hot BAM!

lisarromney@gmail.com (Lisa Romney) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:46:00 +0000

For some strange reason (eloping to Switzerland, buying a house, throwing a party, injuries, etc.) our focus has not been on fitness and training this year. It has been six months of relative inactivity for the Romney/Edwards clan until this very day when two of us got off the couch and kicked some serious tail!!!! (pun intended, you'll see.)

Edwards recently looked into a duatholon called The Battle At Midway (BAM). He might have taken a pass on the competition but one of the categories caught his eye... DOGGIE "DOO"ATHALON. A category for humans and their dogs.

Beata isn't a pup anymore, and she's never run at a human cadence. We know she is fast in short sprints, but neither of us knew how she would hold up for the 10K. As for Edwards... he hasn't jogged more than a couple steps since last November. He did get on his Mountain Bike yesterday, but I wouldn't call it "training".

All of this added up to an Adventure, so we loaded up the car... mt. bike, race shoes, leashes, and poop bags... and made our way to Heber City this morning. Beata and Edwards were the team. The challenge: Run 5K of trail with your dog, Mountain Bike 11 miles while dog waits back in the transition area, Run another 5K with your dog.

They started the race by firing off a snow cannon. Twenty six minutes later the two of them came back... happy as clams and in second place for the "doo" category. Edwards jumped on his bike, Beata got some water and waited impatiently for him to return. 5K, hah! She was just getting warm. The biking wasn't easy and took everyone some time. Edwards rolled in, in first place for the "doo." He thought it was pretty cute when I handed Beata back and said, "She's ready to run" and they took off. Another twenty plus minutes later and our CHAMPIONS came running past the finish line!!!! Woo Hoo!

Overall, I would say this was the best morning of Beata's life. I wasn't on the trail with them, but the story goes that she would look back and pick up the pace when other dogs closed in on them. She was hungry for first. She couldn't have been prouder.

Ratso was also in his element: bumming bagels, sniffing the joint, and locating the food. "Hey, you got some pizza there? Pizza's over here guys!"

I am just a proud and amazed wife and dog mom. I'm related to the two best off-the-couch athletes in the whole world! WooHoo and ArrOoooo!

Thanks For Joining Us!

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Edwards) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:30:00 +0000

Here's a pic of the cards we got at our party. We're still waiting on some more photos to post, which should be coming soon, along with our official tandem shot. Thanks to everyone for coming to our party, especially all of you who came from out of state! The weekend couldn't have been better. High school "Dirk Diggler" shot came courtesy of my mom and has greatly impressed Romney ever since. Yeah, that's right.

Thanks Beachbody

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Edwards) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:50:00 +0000

Shout out to the folks at Beachbody for their wedding presents and oh-so creative (and oh-so true) card (click on the pic to read it). I think we've probably got Jude to thank for the creativeness on that front. We should have a pic of us whipping a shake with the blender or sipping some coffee with the over-the-top but very cool coffee grinder from Team Saeco but, since we haven't managed to snap that one yet, we'll provide a pic of Jude's handiwork instead.

Special thanks to:

Tony (your check went straight to the bike fund, pics to follow)
Jude, of course
Joe
Renata
Tycene
Kenny
Nick
Trish
Brian
Bala
Monica C
Monica G
Ashlee
Delane
Carla

and

NeilE

Beachbody rocks.