Day 22

Oh the glorious daybreak! W tossing and turning and finally waking up, "Daddy, daddy, wake up. Wake up, the pajamas are wet." You think it is just a ploy to get you up but when he backs up his rear end next to your face, you realize he is not bluffing. He has a diaper about the size of Texas and of course it has leaked enough to be uncomfortable to sleep. So, up we get, get changed, and head downstairs for some oatmeal, blueberries, and yoghurt. While going down the stairs, I realize what I have done the night before and what my legs are not doing at the moment. Oh, the joyous feeling in the hamstrings and calves! Life is boring without pain, pain keeps you real (my old wise saying).
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Since everyone was at work, we did an excursion to the local TJ Maxx and Ross stores in High Point. I mainly got to try a football since W decided that we have a minicamp for the upcoming NFL season. He was the quarterback and I was supposed to receive his throws, according to him. He surprised me by tossing nice spirals, with two hands. We had our share of good fun. Finally, I was able to lure him into having a timeout like real players. We sat in the furniture section, testing some garden set, and had a snack with our team manager Maaret who supplied the refreshments after snooping around the clothing racks.
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While 2/3 of the team were taking a nap, the oldest and wisest went to the local Gold's Gym to show the meat heads some real power. Missy was nice enough to sneak me in as her guest and then embarrass me while doing shoulders. She kindly let me go first and huff and puff, then she quietly picked up the same weights and did the same number of reps. Thanks for making me look like Arnold in his heyday!
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Meanwhile, the injured wannabe sprinter Danny went to see an orthopedic doctor for his tendon issues and came back with instructions to go get a MRI test later this week. They think he has an inflamed or partially torn Achilles tendon. Come on, no pain, no gain. The rest of the evening was reserved for the kids and a real Class A baseball game. You do not go to the game with an empty stomach, so some great Thai food did the trick with Wilmer and Zoe extensively practicing their shrieks in a half full restaurants. Turned out that you do not go to the game at all if it rains. As it happened, the thunderstorms ruined the game. So, we had to move to plan B: NBA Finals, Game 4, in front of the TV. -- Late night update, Lakers 3 - Orlando 1. Compass to Virginia tomorrow and then home. The car odometer shows 2500+ miles (4000 km) at the moment for this trip. Night night.

Day 21

What is the name of your Japanese car mechanic? - Hajosiko Toyotasi.
That is exactly who we tried to find at the local Toyota dealer where we drove in the morning to get a repair estimate for our poor Camry who had been victimized in an accident a day before. We ended up test driving a brand spanking new Camry while hanging out at the dealership. We were ready to make a switch right there but they wanted a bit too much money to do that. Hmmm, keep your car. It was nice though.
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Trip to a nearby High Point University where Missy works as a professor. We had a chance to sniff out the renewed campus and see a third chemistry department on this trip. Quite nice, we got free Animal Crackers and water, courtesy of HPU. It is amazing what money can do to a campus look.
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Quick nap with Wilmer and mama and it was time for the Ultimate Runner practice run. They had all the five distances on tap but we decided to skip the first one, the mile, after our extended warm up with Danny the Usain Bolt. Danny had brought his red Flash Gordon spiked track shoes and was ready to send Michael Johnson's 400 m world record into history. He started fast, so fast that he left part of his calf somewhere in the second turn. That was it for him. Rest of the night was spent holding the ice bag on the foot. I on the other hand enjoyed my time on the track and almost got lapped by the fastest people. One down, few more to go, 800 m next. It is weird but your legs start behaving funny when you only have 5 minute break between the races. Well, I made it, only 50 seconds behind my best time from few decades ago. Next was 100 m, oh yeah, the sprinter in me came out. Let's just say that Mr. Bolt is safe for a while, I gave him a nice 4 second cushion. The fourth and last distance of 2 miles was spent attempting to keep the big Mexican lunch down and trying to figure out why my legs didn't want to go in straight lines anymore. It probably looked like having a drunken person trying to walk on a two inch line. - Done! I even beat the 8-year old kid by a chest's length. She wasn't happy... let's just hope that she does not opt for plastic surgery.
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Helen and Derek invited us for a dinner after the track session. Helen being Maaret's former co-worker and Derek her husband and a member of my dissertation committee. Derek did the race as well and it did not seem to bother him too much since he basically sprinted home from the track. I tried my best to follow him but my wooden legs refused to allow anything faster than a tortoise on ice. It became clear very quickly why he flew home so fast, there was a great meal waiting for him. Helen had put together a feast. Yummy!

Wilmer had a chance to play with the big boys at the dinner. He was so proud to join Zach for some endless fun with a ping pong ball. The cats also received their share of exercise after having ran away from him all night.
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Driving back, we were treated to a nice light show by thunder and lightning. So magnificent that us late bloomers had to go to bed in complete darkness after a half night power outage. Danny and I were doing our customary late night surfing, sitting on the couch with laptops in our laps when the power went out. It was kind of comical to sit there in the glow of the screens with no internet connection, surrounded by a complete darkness everywhere.

Day 20

Life is good in the fast lane. Except when you get tired. Wilmer had expressed yesterday that he is willing to go home now. I think partly because the last week or so he hasn't been anywhere with lots of other kids to play with. Today he got his wish when we went to Hanes Park in Winston-Salem where we hit a park with swings, climbing area, tennis courts, track, and about 30 other kids. He ended up making sand cakes with three girls about double his age. Way to go W!

He had some slick lines. He first climbed a rope ladder half way up and saw the girls underneath and said in his manly voice: "Hi girls! What are you doing?" They kindly replied "sand cakes". Wilmer asked two more times what they were doing and finally after two similar replies he was sure about his intent and smoothly joined the girls in their sand cake operation. They got along very well and baked a bunch. At this time mommy had joined us boys in the park as well. She had been lunching with her former boss from the Law Firm days. We men had lunch in a nearby cafe with "Uncle Mike" from my Wake Forest days. He gave Wilmer a big present that he agreed to set a side and wait until we got back to Missy and Danny to open it. Oh my, it wasn't just any kind of present. W got six individually wrapped top of the line sports cars, including two Porsche 911, Camaro, two Ford Mustangs, and a BMW 850. He took them immediately out for a spin and we were racing them for an hour until the late thunderstorms moved in and forced us indoors. We wrapped the day in Winston by visiting Helen and Charles in their law offices and running up and down the stairs of the building. Wilmer changed the oil and tuned up the engine in Helen's pink Cadillac (he claims). Charles had an aquarium in his office that did not have any fingerprints prior to our visit. Now it has. When you bang the glass, the fish tend to swim away and hide. Wilmer proved that theory with exhaustive experimental data. Fascinating.

Back at the house and escaping the rain, we needed some more action and decided to play "stuff Zoe in Danny's cooler". It was fun, everyone was laughing until the bellies were hurting. Zoe herself was enjoying it since she was able to reach the side pocket with 6-7 containers of Danny's protein portions and what's more fun than keep tossing them to the table. Danny on the other hand was a bit uneasy and fidgety because he did not want to lose a gram of his carefully measured and portioned "man juice" powders. All the fun makes you hungry, an old Chinese proverb. So, we had some delicious hickory-grilled salmon, and wine, and ice cream, and pecan pie, and...

Well, better pack some calories since tomorrow evening we are forced to participate in some "Ultimate Runner" practise sessions, a race where you run 5 races from 100 meters to 5K in one evening and try not to pass out or puke in the end. I am the one who is supposed to participate in the running whereas the other family members are there to socialize - nice.

Speaking of other family members. Maaret has added almost 45 pounds (20 kg) of extra weight. She is trying to become the world's strongest mom. You should see her bicep... To be honest, her belly is even more impressive. She has Wilmer's brother waiting to pop out in mid-July. She has been doing great so far and threatens to do a half marathon in Finland next summer. She keeps her running to minimum at the moment, only about 20 miles per week. Just kidding! About the mileage. The doctors cleared her for up to a three 3 week trip and I guess we will use it up pretty much completely. We still have Virginia to conquer before heading home. The two villes, Danville and Charlottesville, respectively, seem to be the final two destinations.

Busy evening. Penguins 3, Red Wings 3. Lakers 2, Orlando 1.

Day 19 (Kernersville, NC)

Monday morning was a blur. People running up and down the stairs, hot weather outside, a kid itching to get outside, conference calls, getting ready for a trip, new IKEA in town. Too bad we managed to rush in the night before Chris and Bess were leaving for Europe. I hope they had a chance to pack and settle down for few minutes after our "tornado" swept through their household. However, they managed to sit down for a photo session in their front lawn. By the way, if you need tennis outfits for junior girls, I can find you some good deals for the products from here: Tennis Star. Hopefully, next time we have a bit longer visit and we can make it to, say, a tennis court. Hey, our backgammon game found its way back home. It was "on loan" for 5 years. Anybody want to play a game or three? Regardless, we emptied our hosts' fridge and hit the highway. We made it only 25 miles until we had to pull over for a brand new IKEA store and have some Swedish Meatballs. I have always wondered what makes those meatballs Swedish, I still do. I have to ask how they differ from Finnish or Norwegian meatballs? It is probably because when you mention Scandinavia here, people think of Sweden first, it is something exotic for the local folk.

The rest of the way to central NC was very familiar since we have driven it tens of times before. The circle had closed and we were back in Kernersville at Missy and Danny's Roadhouse. Danny proudly showed us his new firetruck-red track shoes. He thinks he is the fastest man in his family now. His daughter and wife had their reservations but quietly agreed.

On a side note, I had a chance to see yesterday's Formula 1 race from Turkey. What is the deal with Ferrari and McLaren? They seem to be "badder than worse"... Jenson Button, I am getting tired of hearing his name on top every time. Just like Rafa Nadal's. Luckily that streak was just snapped by a Swedish meatball, I mean a tennis player.

Day 18 (Charlotte, NC)

This is getting to be a routine by now, wake up, eat, pack, and hit the road. Exactly what we did. The morning was great, sunny skies, very hot and humid (great when you try to use your engineering skills on the parking lot to figure out how everything is supposed to fit back in the car and the sun is coming down at you like a Ford Excursion on a highway). After two gallons of sweat (and a trophy for Mr. Wet T-Shirt) the car was ready with the passengers strapped in. The only thing that remained was to check out and fill the cooler with ice for the food items. Turns out that every single ice machine was out of order at the hotel, every single one! Highly annoying.
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We did not have to wait too long for the first pit lane. Maaret drove like possessed when the outlet mall was the target. The male passengers had their knuckles white and knees buckling for an extended period of time afterward. We (read her) somehow found new items to fill the already full car even more. We had to leave the first outlet mall rather hastily since W launched a torpedo in one of the stores and they probably ended up evacuating the store for the afternoon. Well, the damage was contained in the diaper department but the smell, oh so fresh. One of the other things worth mentioning took place in J.Crew store, where the music was a bit more loud and rocking than the typical elevator music that you hear most of the time. Wilmer seized his moment and climbed to the store window and made it his stage for one of the best impromptu air guitar shows ever! The other customers seemed to enjoy it too, based on their smiles. Let me tell you, the sound coming from his "guitar" was quite tough, not for Yanni lovers for sure.
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Finally out of the "shopping paradises" and on the road to Charlotte, NC, where we were scheduled to arrive at 5:30 pm. I think Maaret thought she was in a NASCAR race. She really put the pedal to the metal and caught us up and we made it to Charlotte several minutes ahead of schedule to see Christopher and Bess, our long-lost German-American couple who we visited just recently, but turned out it had been 5 years from our last visit. Are you kidding me, who says the time flies? Such a cliche. They looked great, Bess had found a fountain of youth and, if you do not count Chris' slightly thinned hair and a bulging forearm, he looked like regular Chris. We had a nice quiet evening of taped French Open Men's Final, grilling, and catching up.

Day 17

My gosh, a late wake up! Finally. I had stayed up until 2 am with my blog and a disappointing movie (Bucket List). We all felt the effects from the previous day and slept until 9:15 am. It was perfect since we had a chance to see the women's final from Roland Garros in the morning. Too bad Dinara came a bit short, now she will have to endure the crap about being number 1 and not having won a Grand Slam. I can sympathize with her, I was number one in North Carolina at one point and never won a Slam, ha ha haa...

We pretty much repeated the day from yesterday with all the outdoor activities. My back is really killing me now. I could not take the waves one more day... After lunch, W found an activity that has not been tried here yet, throwing rocks in a water fountain.

While W was taking his late nap, I tried to get back with "conquering the elements 3". No not a video game, just my continuing struggle against the forces of nature. I had this urge to run on the beach in the evening sun. I mapped three routes this time to prepare for the possible gated communities that I had ran into two days ago. I had one short run that I wanted to take and two back up plans in case some of the roads were blocked off. As some twisted law bearing "Murphy" in its name would put it, of course I ended up taking the third and the longest option for my run. This time 12 km (7.5 miles). Man, how are people supposed to get to see all these resorts and vacation paradises if you can't even get in to them in the first place?? Just book your next vacation in one of them without seeing them first? Maybe I need to schedule a viewing session or something first... I can tell you that trying to outrun the officers at gates does not seem to work. What works is that you get some extra mileage for your runs that way. Regardless, I got my nice beach portion in but that freakin' sand takes so much out of your calves and you.

I finished off the water supply at the hotel. Penguins went down hard tonight, Detroit had their number in the NHL. Maaret seems to snore quite loud occasionally. I need to go to bed, tomorrow we hit the highway again. This time to Charlotte, NC. Christopher and Bess, get ready, the circus is coming to town near you!

Day 16

We hit the included breakfast like carnivores. To typical American fashion the breakfast was centered around sweet and sweeter items, like muffins, and strudels, and donuts. Then you wonder why this country has a weight issue... gee! Waffles was the name of the game for us. I think we even ate few apples on the side.

Half an hour later we had already thrown on the sunblock and were at the beach. It was a good day for that, the semi-cloudy day kept the temperatures from getting too hot. That was evident from our aquatic monster's activity level as well. Wilmer made it known from the beginning that he is going for a swim in the ocean, with or without adult supervision. Well, I volunteered to be the second wheel in that fun. We (read he) jumped against the waves for 1.5 hours straight, I was reduced to holding his hand and occasionally pulling him back up from under the waves. He probably laughed about an hour straight. ...I think he liked the waves. I, on the other hand, started almost cramping on one side of my back. (Why can't he be about a foot taller?) Finally, just before I was about to pass out, he graciously allowed for a break and we sat in ankle deep water and started piling wet sand on each others legs. That was so much fun that after a while it looked liked we had taken a mud bath. At that point the responsible adult, Maaret, came in with orders to stop the fun and wash ourselves, it was time to go get some lunch but we looked like no sane restaurant owner would ever allow us in their establishment.

Half an hour later we were all cleaned up at Harbor Town, in the west corner of the island. We found ourselves in a recommended and quite well-known establishment called Crazy Crab. If you want the honest opinion, my god, stay away. Unless you prefer fried this and that fish and chips type of menu. It was unfortunately quite far from good seafood. My father-in-law's smoked salmon would bring a happy tear to your eye when compared with my Salmon Kabob at the Crazy Crab which was completely tasteless piece of salmon with some veggies, and pitiful rice mix. Maaret had a little bit better luck with her Crab Cake Sandwich but really nothing worth writing home about. Wilmer ate only half of his portion, that should tell you something. Well, we stayed a while admiring the big boats and the nice suroundings that allowed for a few quite nice photo opportunities. I like the colorful kayaks and the sky behind them.

On the way back to the central island, I had a deja-vu feeling that dated back several years to our previous visit when Maaret was training for her marathon. Another family was there with us and one half of them had the same goal, so the two marathon nuts went for a 13 mile (21 km) jog on the island. Of course, I had to go with them even though I was running only 5-10 km once or twice a week to stay in shape for my competitive tennis in North Carolina. Well, I finished the 13 miles with them but the next day and a half I had a high fever and was completely exhausted from my brilliant brain fart type idea. Maybe that run was the reason I finally ended up running and finishing my first marathon last April. Now I have the bragging rights as well, I belong.

The evening was spent at the South Beach where we wanted to hunt for some seashells and hopefully catch a glimpse of dolphins that frequent the area. We were walking in the water ankle deep and saw few parents with kids approaching us promptly. They wanted to make sure that we knew that someone had spotted a shark few feet away from the shore where we were, just minutes prior to our arrival. The bull shark was supposedly a 4-5 footer. Well, that ended any thoughts of swimming there. However, it did not stop us from seeing the dolphins that were out in full force. W had finally a chance to see "Kiiltopaa" in real life (a dolphin in Moomin books). It was a quite nice evening stroll, except that the rain cut it short a bit in the end. That did not stop W from taking his promised dip in the hotel pool. In a cold rain, at 9 pm in the evening! I loved it too...

Day 15 (Hilton Head Island, SC)

Hilton Head is always a very nice place to visit. All the commercial "hoobla" is to the minimum and the island has kept its natural state without crazy concrete and asphalt jungles everywhere. The beach is very nice, wide and super long. The island is a haven for any sport nut, especially for tennis or golf players.

The first breakfast at the hotel offered an inventive way to scam some free food. No, not us, rather some middle aged fellow came in and wanted to make a reservation for the next night. He also asked to have free breakfast even though he had not stayed the previous night at the hotel but I guess the clerk was nice enough to allow that. Well this son of a gun ate his breakfast and then marched back to the counter and asked the clerk to cancel his reservation. He said he had changed his mind. He cold-bloodedly just walked out the door afterwards. The breakfast wasn't that disgusting... I think.

Beach - very tranquil and calming, there is not much else to say, I just let the pictures speak for themselves. Wilmer enjoyed his first encounter with the Atlantic Ocean to the tune of 1.5 straight hours of jumping in and out of the waves. He collected some seashells, built few sandhills, dug ten holes in the ground, and got sand in places where it should not go. We did not have to ask once whether he wanted to take a nap or not.

Meanwhile, Lady Maaret wanted to treat herself to a new hairdo and saw a hairdresser. Well, let's just say that she wanted to get out of that place so fast that she even left her book there (that was from the library at home). She got highlights alright. Once she got back I chose to continue my wild streak of "daring the elements". They had forecasted a pretty intense storm here including heavy rain, damaging winds up to 60 mph, hail, thunder and lightning. Hey, no intense sun, so I should be ok. I mapped quickly a 4 mile nice loop so I could beat the storm and hit the road. Well, things got interesting rather quickly as I realized that they do not have street names in every corner here, only the major roads. Having just memorized the four main roads in my loop, I kept running until I had ran a mile and a half too far. Hmm, simple u-turn and I was back on track. My second part did not go much easier as I found that many resorts have guarded gates and they do not let any kind of sweaty runner in without a resort parking sticker glued in his rear end. Hmmm, I just ran to the next intersection and turned there. Well, now I was on my own since that was not part of the original plan. I kept running until I found myself at the Marriot Beach Resort. Being a bit tired and thirsty I chose to gauge the resort out and wandered to their pool and restroom area that offered a refreshing water fountain and a pissoir. Having caught my second wind I sprung back outside to the rain and dark skies. I made it back to the hotel without any hail damage. The 4 miler turned to a 10K in the end. Oh well.

The evening was spent by eating, what else. Hilton Head Diner offered some great food that we all enjoyed. Wilmer ate about an adult portion and a half (swimming perhaps?). He finally had his belly so full that he even declined ice cream. I was afraid his belly was going to burst. Speaking of which, yesterday when we had just arrived to the island and had stopped at Walmart to get a beach chair and some other supplies, we were walking towards the front doors and three black girls on each side of their 20's were coming our way to their car. W not being too shy nowadays with the command of his newly found English language, went ahead and spontaneously greeted the first of the girls by raising his hand and casually and confidently quipping "Hi, honey!" You should have seen the girls' faces when this fire hydrant size man greeted them with such a poise! One of the highlights of the day.

By the way, the Lakers beat Orlando in the spectator sport of the night.

Day 14

Last day in Florida. The master plan was to get Wilmer tired first, feed him, and load him in the car so that he would sleep the most of the way of the 5 hour drive to Hilton Head Island, in South Carolina. Pool anyone? You do not have to ask our "water beast" twice, he is game. Good 2 hours went by quickly, mainly in the form of he jumping, me catching. Our newly found Finnish friends were at the pool as well. They were returning to Lapland the next day. (If anybody happens to visit Uppeli at Rovaniemi, make sure you say Teijo and his family hi for us.) Quick lunch and a diaper change and we were ready for the road. We thanked and said goodbyes to 2/3 of the Ropers. What a nice family and house. All the best for you.
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One of the longest stretches of this trip so far, a 5 hour drive across the northern Florida to Jacksonville and up to South Carolina via Georgia was ahead. To all you statisticians, Jacksonville is one of the largest cities in the whole US based on the land area that it occupies. The drive was quick but boring (only 2 turns), if you do not count the fun we had when passing about 10 cows and an occasional old fart that did not seem to know where the gas pedal is in their Cadillacs or Crown Victorias. One place on I-95 just north of Jacksonville brought back some memories of when we were almost stranded with Valtteri and Raisa at the parking lot of an outlet shopping mall on one fateful Christmas Eve. That day we were returning from Key West and the radiator in our good ole' Mazda decided to spray its contents on the faces of two brave souls who had managed to pull the car over and open the hood to figure out why the engine was overheating. Well, we eventually made it home from that trip and this time also to Hilton Head without another radiator incident.
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On a side note, one thing that has bothered me lately is the Hyvinkaan Tahko in the Finnish Baseball league where Valtteri from the above mentioned Key West duo plays. (You Americans who I have tried to unsuccessfully explain the differences between the Finnish and American baseball, be sure to click that blue link for more details.) Tahko won the Finnish National Championship in 2007 and then started a trip down the rankings. Now, the new season on the way, they started 0-5 before finally winning their first game. Come on, what's up with that?

Day 13

Good morning, Tallahassee! They say the Florida sun is hot. Especially Christelle tried to tell me that but I had a plan (like I often do for many things) to beat the heat. Nothing was going to stop me. So I had a glass of water for breakfast and decided to head out for a brief run. I had mapped out a nice route to a nearby park and back. Laced up the sneakers and hit the road around 8:30 am. Sun was still low and the air cool (25C) but very humid (~97%). The first mile went flying, during the second it started getting a bit wet and hot. Third mile and I was looking for a nice route back, fourth mile and I cursed the sun, and finally the fifth mile and I almost collapsed behind Mike and Christelle's door. Son of a beach, the sun was hot indeed! Life wasn't any easier since I did not have any water with me (I have not carried the hydration belt since last year's marathon). Looking like a wet dog who had just swam across the English Channel I sheepishly made it back in while the others, except the early bird Mike, were still eating breakfast. I quietly tried to finish the Tallahassee water supply by drinking as much as the faucet would give me. See Christelle, the sun is not THAT hot. The morning "beat the heat" escape was finished with the cold leftover oatmeal and half a yoghurt from Wilmer. Thanks bud!
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The day's first family activity was Wakulla Springs, one of the largest and deepest freshwater springs in the world. The Spring flows up and out from an underground river at a rate of over 400,000 gallons per minute. Even at its deepest point of 185 feet, objects are oftentimes visible near the bottom because of the very clear water. The older audience might find this a fascinating detail: several of the early Tarzan movies starring Johnny Weissmuller, as well as the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Airport 77 and Joe Panther were filmed on location at Wakulla Springs. We took a boat ride to see the multitude of animals inhabiting the "lagoon". Wilmer was excited beyond control when he was watching the big fish swimming in the water and the numerous alligators that were tanning themselves. (Those suckers can move quick when food is close!) The day at the park was completed by a walk at the beach. The spring water was surprisingly cold. Great place to visit. I feel like Tarzan!

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After a mandatory rest period (a.k.a. nap), we craved for some brain activity. What better place than the mecca of world class chemistry, Florida State University's Chemistry Department, where Mike is a successful professor occupying about half the building by himself. No wonder that he is the one with great success, there was nobody else there, it seemed! Regardless, Mike had some stimulating chemical activities for Wilmer in a form of a plastic glove, a piece of chalk, and a gator head. Lil' Cara in turn, was stimulating Christelle's milk production most of the time in Mike's lab. Of course a campus tour was in order and we have to say that FSU is a big school and their website boasts the following information: "Florida State's more than 40,000 students are dedicated to academic excellence and providing leadership in our complex world." Ha, another ACC university, Wake Forest, has had their number in football the past few seasons though.
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The long day was almost over. The only thing that remained was to unbox and set up the new exercise machine that was sitting in the garage. Of course nothing gets done if you are hungry so we threw a lavish pizza party first, complete with breadsticks, cinnamon sticks, and cheesecake to make sure the calorie intake was maximized. Somehow the installation was not just unboxing the thing, it took probably closer to 2 or 3 hours before it was said and done. (Bonus question: How many PhD:s does it take to set up an exercise machine?) Well, it was a bundle of fun, after few beers and two containers of lubrication anything is bound to turn that way, don't you think? To prove my point, see the picture to the right where Mike is lubing his rod with a crazy laughter. (Sorry Mike, I could not resist.) Good times. - Now we are anxiously waiting for the daily training blog to be published.

Day 12 (Tallahassee, FL)

The first morning in Florida. Giddy up! The car odometer shows 1500 miles or 2400 km so far. I feel like I have been in Paris-Dakar rally, tired, sweaty and sandy with a sore rear end.

Once we got it going, we ended up at a pool nearby. That is the only way to handle the heat of the day, other than by sitting indoors on top of an air conditioning vent. At the pool, we quietly went about our business, mumbling about how we can't find a car here with a great fuel mileage, huge amount of trunk space, and a good price, and what do you know, we hear Finnish being spoken at the pool. Our batman ears pick up the accent and we place the people to Rovaniemi, the place at the arctic circle in northern Finland where the Santa Claus himself lives (click the red text). In North American culture, Santa Claus lives in the North Pole, though North Pole is in the middle of the Arctic Ocean and there is no land!! Go figure... these Americans. Well, regardless, we spent the next few hours roasting our white bodies and talking to our tribe mates from Finland. It turned out that a family was visiting their daughter who had migrated here years ago and gotten married.

The rest of the day, naturally, we spent napping, eating, playing soccer and baseball, and by going to Walmart to pick up Mike and Christelle's fancy new exercise machine. They want to burn some extra calories (like the hot sun is not enough) and lose weight. We celebrated the occasion with some yummy and rich cheesecake.

Note from the editor: Sorry, no pictures. We got scared since we left our own camera in the hotel room in Opelika, AL, and had to use Chris to supply our pics yesterday in Auburn. So, now the camera is locked away until we feel comfortable carrying it again. Yes, we luckily got it back, thanks to the honest hotel employees.

Day 11 (Auburn, AL + Tallahassee, FL)

A bit slow start for the day. Chis and Joy were scheduled to tour us around Auburn University's campus. Chris is a brilliant scientist from our University of Virginia days. He even knows how to use pH paper (which I am still learning). Joy and Maaret were pregnant at the same time with their first ones and we lived 100 meters/yards from each other in Charlottesville. In addition, Chris and I were both offered positions at Auburn last summer. Had I gone there, we'd have had offices two room apart. Speaking of eerie similarities. However, they were probably itching to hear from us and get going. We finally made it to our rendezvous point.
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The town and campus were very nice and neat, close match to UVA. We had a chance to feel the southern warmth, the temperatures were close to 90F/30C. The sweat was pouring from every possible body orifice. It is funny how fast you forget what the heat feels like when you live in the north for a while. My old bones loved it though. No creaks, no aches, all loose and limp as a yoghurt in a cup. People mostly stayed out of our way and we had all the sidewalks to ourselves. The only congestion we met at the Mellow Mushroom (restaurant) where the lines were 15 minutes long. (I am not going to tell you what we ate, it will be a secret.) We had a chance to rid the boys of extra energy in a nice park with nice climbing/sliding possibilities. Liam and Wilmer even stopped to smell the flowers! Come on, how often have you done that? Try it, take a minute of your busy day and stop and smell a flower. It gives you a nice warm feeling, or a stuffy nose...

We were feeling the time crunch and Florida was calling our names. We finished the Auburn tour with an inspection of Chris' Lab in the Chemistry Department (see Wilmer demonstrating a correct lab technique with his gloved hand) and a visit to his house where Maaret and Joy ended up swapping some pregnancy horror stories. The boys played with their toys, the smaller ones mainly with trains and cars and the bigger ones with their tech gear to download the pictures of the day. Thanks to freelance photographer Chris for the pictures you see here. It was great to see our old neighbors. Goodbye, take care, go Tigers!
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Our final destination, the final frontier, Tallahassee, the capital of Florida was reached after a painfully slow driving through Georgia peanut farms. We made it just before the nightfall. Despite their growling bellies and hunger pains, Mike and Christelle were kind enough to patiently wait for our arrivel before they served their grill feast. It had been advertised containing the local delicacy, alligator tail, but I think it was dropped off the menu by our cautious chef. Man, a cold beer had never tasted so good after a long hot drive!

Day 10

"Wake me up before you go go..." and so we went to the lake that was known as Tennessee River in the tune of WHAM! (Remember them, huh?) It was the first completely beautiful day for a while. Rains were gone and the sun was out at full force. We pointed the Demon Deacon caravan (coincidentally everyone over the age of 6 had graduated from Wake Forest University at some point) to Andrew's parents' gorgeous house where Grammy-Huck had a warm welcome for us. The boat had been waxed and the "special" brownies baked the night before. Andrew went to get the boat (see picture) while we lathered the sunblock on and hit the waves. Man, that felt great! Wind caressing your hair and the sun toasting your skin. Oops, a bit too poetic if you consider my full locks of hair flapping in the wind. You get the point.
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Lunch was organized in Hucks' special place. So special indeed that I forgot to even check the name of the restaurant. Few hungry kids and adults will do that to you. Regardless, it was a very nice place on a tall hill overlooking the lake and marina. The patio included a perfect little fence as a bonus for our 2-3 year-olds to climb up and try to break their necks. The brick-oven pizza that some of us had was so good that we actually smuggled few leftover pieces across state lines to Georgia and Alabama later in the day. Also, the Grammy-Huck's special brownies shared the same fate and were quietly consumed in great secrecy in the hotel that same night (why hasn't anybody thought of the idea of combining solid chocolate inside the brownies before? Brilliant!!). Do I hear the Biggest Loser, anyone? On the way back from the restaurant, vice-admiral Wilmer got to be at the helm.
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The five-hour drive to Alabama went surprisingly quick after only one wrong turn at Beals Chapel Rd. (The biological compasses where still jumping the waves.) People drove on average only about 20 mph over the speed limit. We drove past the KIA Motors US assembly plant and it was about a mile long. They probably make lots of cars or perhaps long cars... At one point, Wilmer summed up the last few days quite well from the back seat: "Wilmer had a great time. He had very much fun with Turrrrnerrr and Ellekate. Wilmer liked the elephants." We did too.

Day 9

We slept like ants on a birch leaf. (If you have no idea how that happens, go out to nature and observe, it is fascinating!) Probably because some of us didn't really have their daily naps and others did something else that exhausted them. Regardless, the day was reserved for a zoo (http://www.knoxville-zoo.org), which happened a bit spontaneously. Emily tapped her magic wand and came up with a great deal for the tickets. Wilmer finally had his chance to see all the animals live from the Madagascar movies. Let me tell you, his eyes strecthed to new dimensions after just the giraffes, elephants, and zebras that we saw first.

W, as we ironically call our house president, also made friends with Turner and Elle Kate quite fast. They had been sharing the toys already the night before and were running together around the zoo in no time, like they had known each other for all their short years. Turner was the the big boy who kept the younger ones in line. Elle Kate and Wilmer, however, hit if off and toys and snacks were shared, hugs and kisses exchanged, rides taken together, and finally on the way back hands held in the car. Reminded me of my courtship with my dear wife...
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The rest of the day kind of disappeared with eating, shopping, napping, soccer, couch tennis, baseball, and grilling with the kids. The night was capped off with some NBA playoffs, computer surfing, and securing Andrew's wireless access. All you hackers, come and try us now! (Says Andrew).

Day 8 (Unicoi and Knoxville, TN)

Packing was a breeze when you had slept 6 hours the night before. Everything fit in the trunk, it almost looked like Camry had gained some space in the rear (or because we left half the stuff at our hosts' house). We left the central North Carolina only 30 minutes behind the schedule. We had a great week back "home". Thank you McC:s! You may rest now...
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The first pit stop was scheduled in the NC mountain community of Boone. Home for the Appalachian State University, one of the places where I applied for a job last year. We had to make up for the lost time so we changed to a one pit stop strategy and to the medium soft tires (more grip) since it had stopped raining and the sun had come out. We took gasoline for another 2 hours and were on our way in 9.2 seconds due to a speedy pit crew (see picture).
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First stop, Unicoi, was just across the border in Tennessee. We drove through the grand and beautiful Appalachian mountain ranges on some pretty curvy roads. Timo and Laura looked like they had not aged at all, incredible! The secret was their own garden in the backyard, no steroid grown lettuce or additives other than chicken poop. We even ran some quality control on the lettuce and sweet peas that passed with high marks, along with a nice lunch that was timed perfectly for our hungry bellies. We also had a chance to meet the kids for the first time, Janey and Richard. Very loving and sweet siblings who would give you the best bear hugs on the western side of the Appalachians. Wilmer had another chance to get to know his new buddy, the trampoline. After his calf workout it was time to pose for a picture and say good-byes. Too bad we did not have more time allocated for Timo and Laura. Enjoy your vacation!
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Knoxville was quickly found through the interstate, although they closed it off in downtown and made us find our own rest of the way. The tires worked great but the downforce could have been a bit better in turns, I guess the same problem than what Ferrari has been struggling with all season in F1. Another great timing, Andrew and Emily were waiting with pots and pans full of food and table set. We could get used to this kind of service. Another Tennessee miracle, they hadn't aged a bit either. I am starting to question my eyesight or my memory... Andrew even proved his mad physique by dragging me to a tennis court in the middle of the night after all the 4 kids and 2 wives were tucked in their beds. It wasn't just a friendly slap or two on the ball and 45 minutes of heart to heart. It was rather a full blown practise session that produced a nice set of blisters in hands and feet to show to the skeptics!

Day 7

Time to pack, fun time in NC is over. We will turn our thoughts to Tennessee tomorrow where we have two scheduled pitstops. The first one is in the center of the universe, also known as Unicoi. That's right, have you ever heard of it? We'll briefly visit the famous Finn, Artsi Harkonen and his family. He will surprise us, no doubt, and will be forced to come clean with where he has been hiding the last few years.

The second stop is a bit longer in Knoxville, a city named in honor of the first Secretary of War, Henry Knox.

"Knoxville was once also known as the Underwear Capital of the World. In the 1930s, no fewer than 20 textile and clothing mills operated in Knoxville, and the industry was the city's largest employer. Knoxville is also the home of the University of Tennessee's primary campus. The university's sports teams, called the "Volunteers" or "Vols", are somewhat popular in the area."

Yep, we have a sort of family reunion in Knoxville. We will be meeting two other Wake Forest alumni members, my long-lost BoyToy and his wife and kids. The fitting name comes from a time when we all lived in Charlottesville, VA, and used to play some tennis. I quite frequently "toyed around" with my faithful practice partner on the court and his quick but short legs had to cover so much of the court after some wicked short backhand crosscourt shots that he fittingly received his fancy nickname, BoyToy. He also goes by his second name Andrew. I think I get him a rubber duck.
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Lunch at Msala in High Point. Great heavy Indian food from a buffet, will put you to sleep for hours. Matt, you will have to keep us entertained later this afternoon or we'll just snore away! We have a date at Bermuda Run Country Club, hopefully the thunderstorms do not interfere with that reunion because W is determined to have some quality swim time at the pool (he needs to burn off his big lunch and the two pounds of water melon he ate prior to it).
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Tennis, swimming, steak, and trampoline. There is nothing else you need for a balanced diet and healthy body. We had great time in Clemmons! Somehow the packing for tomorrow did not happen tonight. (Note to myself: Upgrade the luggage to a self-packing model.) Instead, Danny and I witnessed the Lakers take a command in the series and beat Denver in the fifth game.

Day 6

Ok, the backs are snapping and the wills are being broken. No, I am not talking about what happened in Abu Ghraib. Rather, what it feels like to wake up in the morning when you realize that you are not a Superman (anymore). If you were, you would not be sore, tired, tight and exhausted. In other words Danny's bootcamp has worked!
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We went down the memory lane and drove around Winston-Salem and Wake Forest University campus. Ended up spending a fortune in the Deacon Shop. Why don't they give a discount to alumni?? It feels like we were gouged rather than given a nice warm welcome back greeting.
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Lunch at Coppola's in the footsteps of Dave Odom and Skip Prosser (famous Wake basketball coaches). Lots of food, bellies full again. Time to hit the Hanes Mall on this shopping spree. Maaret did her thing and we boys got dizzy in the escalator. It was fun until I lost the count and got nauseated after the 11th trip up and down the two levels. Let's just say that Wilmer knows how to ride an escalator now.

On the way back we almost had our front third of the car chopped off by some nutcase North Carolina driver that thought he is entitled to cut across three lanes without any warning or sigal usage. It must be the heat and humidity that makes people drive like they had a chipmunk in their brain.
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Missy got her files and wireless connection working after the brain trust of Danny and myself went through some heavy frustration, crappy manufacturer support, and some unwavering belief in our IT skills.

Day 5

Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 25 in 2009). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War (it is celebrated near the day of reunification after the Civil War), it was expanded after World War I to include American casualties of any war or military action.

We did not have a chance to participate in the festivities but enjoyed the official day off work, as anyone. Also, barbecuing did not quite work due to a thunderstorm that soaked the town. However, that did not stop the bravest of us who decided to do "rain dipping" and then eat themselves all too full. Earlier in the day Danny had kept the whipping to a maximum by dragging some of us to the Gold's Gym and forcing us to lift weights until there was nothing left in the tank. (See the pic below in which he is afterwards out cold on the patio. Also, note the baby monitor next to him. He was on call...) Luckily he had a nice stock of Margaritas (that we had to mix ourselves) waiting, along with some great food.

After the kids were in their beds and Margarita tanks dry, we chose to reformat Missy's laptop hard drive (without the driver disks). That fun lasted 'til wee hours and, boy, did she have a funny face when all her files were gone and the wireless network would not work in the morning!

Day 4

The day got a great start, live Monaco Formula 1 race. Wilmer and I watched the comeback of Ferrari. He was giving his full support to our own Kimi Raikkonen. See the picture on the left of Wilmer sitting in "Kimi's Ferrari". He raced that thing around the house so much that the rest of had to fear for our toes. Supposedly, he needed more downforce and would have appreciated the double diffusor in the back.
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Next was up some "stupie" action. Danny, Maaret, Wilmer and I set out to conquer the local track and do some 400 m sprints. Why? Good question, will let you know the answer once it becomes clear. Regardless, we managed to do enough to be sore the next day. Wilmer showed to us that he is no wuss and completed 2 full laps without stopping! He was sweating and panting and so proud that he ran with daddy and Danny. While walking out from the track we noticed that we were surrounded by probably 150-200 Mexicans who had congregated at the High Point Athletic Complex to play their Sunday league soccer games. Couldn't help but think about the swine flu.
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We are here to party! Don't have to ask Wilmer twice, whether he wants to have one or not. Colyer Lab congregated again at Missy's and Danny's and Wilmer ate his burger with a big smile and a great appetite. He capped his dinner with a huge piece of strawberry cake made from yesterday's pickings. Of course, it was fun to play hockey, soccer, and games with Ethan, Luke, Zoe, and the big boy Eli. Wilmer got popped on the wrist with a hockey stick and after a short cry promised to come back with a tackle! That's the spirit, son. The more adults of us talked about strollers, diapers, how time goes by so fast, sports, cars, flower business, little chemistry, and how to pick the best snow mobile for Cathy and Frank for their move up to snowbelt. Great night, as usual. Mike was even dressed in his trademark suspenders.
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French Open! Day without sports, what's that? We shared some quality late night time on the sofa by alternating between NBA semifinals and Roland Garros highlights. Now, half past midnight I look around and I seem to have been left sharing the quality time with two cats and a remote. Hmmm... good night.

Day 3

Alarm goes off 6:45 am... 6:46 am, 6:47 am, 6:48 am... THE RACE, everybody UP!
Based on the enthusiastic responses, there was no excitement about the race. Nobody wanted to get up, even our regular alarm clock Wilmer did not do a thing.

Well, we all got up, had a half a banana for breakfast and made it to the starting line around 8 am. What a lovely morning, sunny, upper 60's, and 100 sweaty people next to you, getting ready to sprint 5K like madmen out of the asylum. The anticipated mano-a-mano race with Danny did not take place (since he wussed out and chose the stroller division) and we all did our own version of the race. Points go to Missy for doing her first ever solo race. Of course, some of us had some silverware to bring home. Well, we are all winners in this game called life, just in our own way. (That quote should be included in the "Famous Quotes" book.)
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What's up with Danny and the grass, you may ask. Me too. He finished the day last night with cutting his lawn and he's at it again. This time with the trimmer. I can hardly wait for tomorrow! Probably some chicken poop to fertilize and then some watering perhaps on Monday. Why don't they just come up with the invention of the 21st century and design a grass that needs to be cut twice a year and looks as magnificent as the White House lawn??
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Wilmer had a great day today. He did some strawberry picking (mostly eating) and got to run buck naked outside to neighbors' horror, and swim in the outdoor pool. Later in the evening, he had a chance to cross off one item from his "10 Things I want to do before I die" list. Number 2 on the list was to play golf on a real course, on a green with a hole and a flag in it. The evening included soccer practice, some eating, guitar playing, some more soccer and golf, dessert, and more golf. Thanks, John and Shannon, for making this a big day for Wilmer. He literally fell in his bed and most likely won't move for another 10 hours. Man, we really packed a bunch of activities in one day. I wonder if we can keep going like this. Tomorrow is the yearly Colyer Lab reunion from Wake Forest and it involves another set of outdoor activities. We also get to play with "Uncle Mike". Let's hope he is ready for the mental torture. Bring it on!

Day 2 (Kernersville, NC)

We slept like kings in our king size bed. Hmmm, there must be a connection. V-a-c-a-t-i-o-n-! Leisurely breakfast and a dip in the hotel pool, Wilmer was in heaven. So were we, he would be tired enough for the rest of the drive to NC. Driving was speedy and weather sunny, until we hit an accident on I-77 where a beer truck had overturned and they were cleaning up all the broken beer bottles and cans off the road. Such waste, all that good beer… We spent an extra hour on the road as a courtesy of that truck driver who had probably enjoyed a bit too much of the contents of this truck. Winston-Salem, NC, hello and goodbye, is what we said as we passed the city on the way to the neighboring mighty Kernersville. We made it, with 490 miles in the odometer and 2 collective gallons in the bladders. Now off to get ready for the 5K race in the morning, oh dear...

Day 1 (Mount Hope, WV)

Preparation
Three full straight days of workshops, what better way to prepare. So, of course packing took place mostly in the morning of the take off. Wilmer had packed all the essentials days in advance in his backpack, to name few, his baseball bat and ball, couple books, Lightning McQueen, formula one cars, binoculars, camera, water cup, and a frying pan. What else could you possibly need? Well, yesterday morning the rest of us got ready with a few more useful items. Maaret had herself checked at the doctor’s and she was given green for the trip. Meanwhile Wilmer and your humble captain, fed the cat, watered some tomato bushes and packed the car to the brim. Why do you always have more stuff than space for it? Eternal paradox.

Take off
The trip commenced just after lunch, Maaret behind the wheel, not because of her race car experience but rather being the only one licensed to drive legally. I had tried to renew my license a week prior only to find out that some bright individual in the government had managed to feed a wrong birthday for me in the computer and I had to wait for a confirmation from the Pennsylvania capital that I am not trying to be a terrorist by supplying false information to the authorities, which was out of my control in the first place! As Murphy’s Law would say, of course the confirmation arrived in the mail 20 minutes before we left for our trip. So, the first stop was south of Pittsburgh at the last Pennsylvania DMV. Come on, can you think of anything better than to spend an hour in the line at DMV when you only have 1200 miles to go? Can you really?

First pitstop
The goal for the first leg of the trip was to make it to our tribal home land, North Carolina, where Missy and Danny would anxiously be waiting for their godson and hopefully for our yearly migration to the South for the Memorial Day. North Carolina has and always will be our home in the US, no matter where we live. That is the place where we grew up and became adults. Well, some of us at least got a little closer to that stage…

We spent the first night in the wild and wonderful West Virginia. We happened to have a hotel next to all of the world-class whitewater rafting that we did once in the same place, oh so many moons ago. To work on the appetite we embarked on a brief excursion to see the seco\nd highest bridge in the Western hemisphere. It was still as grand and high as the last time we had seen it. O cap the evening off we had the pleasure of enjoying some local authentic food. We had the best Grande Burritos ever, full of white chicken and as large as Arnold’s bicep. To cap the day, we watched some NBA playoffs in the hotel. Well, Wilmer and I saw the Lakers lose to Denver in a great game. Maaret appreciated the game by turning to her side and by some snoring few minutes in to it.