Long Holiday Weekend

Over the long holiday weekend, we were able to fit in a little bit of fun with my dissertation writing. I got the last portions of my lit review very close to submission to my advisor over the course of Saturday and Sunday which freed up Monday for a little bit of family fun.

The first thing that we did on Monday was to head out to Moorpark College to see the last day of the California Cup, an annual field hockey tournament that includes teams from both the US and abroad. This year included teams from as far as Argentina and Taiwan. Nuria was in heaven, running around yelling “Hockey, Hockey, Hockey!” as she saw each person walk by with their field hockey sticks. After spending a few hours out in the gorgeous weather, buying one flourescent pink and one flourescent yellow hockey ball for Nuria and a set of shin guards for me, we headed for home.

After lunch and getting Nuria to bed, I headed out for a quick mountain bike ride (zoomed view) that I was able to turn into my typical mini-epic that consists of Las Llajas Trail to Rocky Peak Fire Road and down the Chumash Trail. If you are interested, follow the two previous links for a few photos of the scenery along the route. The photos are all taken with my phone so please excuse the lack of sharpness in the images.

“But how was the ride?”, you might ask. Well, I like to say that “sometimes you beat the mountain and sometimes the mountain beats you.” Well, on Monday afternoon, I was on the receiving end of a mild beating by the mountain! The steep back side of the Rocky Peak fireroad turned into a little bit of a hike-a-bike section for me. The weather was perfect for my outing, not too hot and not too cold. But it still took a while to complete! I slept very well that night.