La Jolla, June 15h, 2009 (Day – 2)
Hello! So first of all I will introduce myself. I am Maite Balda (better known as MJ) and I am a rookie as a RAAM crewmember. Patrick, Aude, Jerome,Gregory and I arrived yesterday to California. Patrick and I flew from Boston while the other three had quite an adventure driving our following van from Boston, which includes a night spent in Las Vegas. Rob's plane arrived to California an hour ago and he will be joining us shortly.
At "La Jolla" we are staying in an absolutely beautiful house owned by Amy Snyder and her partner Pat. It is a gorgeous house just at the ocean shore and it is most appreciated by the fact that their owners have been the best and most wonderful welcomers.
Yesterday we had our first crew meeting at California and talked about strategies, organization and general rules. We went over the different penalties while driving and stopping and then had pizza and wine while talking about the essence of the race with our hostesses.
This morning we got on our feet and went to have breakfast at the most charming "petit dejeuner" place just some steps away from our current home. Patrick had an omelet with bacon, peppers and lots of protein, perfect for a person who is about to cycle back to where he flew from on an over 6 hour period of time.
After Breakfast Jerome and Patrick went to Oceanside to have Patrick take his picture and do his interview. Greg and Aude stayed home organizing and preparing the follow van with not only labels and bumper stickers but creativity to make everything fit in the bets way possible. I was more than 4 hours trying to convert the code posted on the RAAM webpage to GPS readable code. I must say with immense sadness that I failed in my task after trying with three different computers and multiple variations of programs.
While Greg and Aude finished their assignment and I reluctantly observed the GOS with great disdain, Patrick and Jerome arrived with part of the lunch and other food. Jerome cooked some pasta, and we ate it with a roasted chicken they both bought.
After having some time to do digestion we all left to Oceanside for a general crew and participants meeting. It stated at 5, the RAAM director went over the instructions emphasizing on various points of the RAAM manual. Later on he proceeded to introduce all the RAAM participants, which was fun. There is actually a guy who has done RAAN 22 times, being this his 23rth! Patrick got to see some friends and talk to them, shake hands with a lot of RAAM involved people.
Don't forget to check Patrick's website at www.patrickautissier.org.
Thank you for your support.
See you tomorrow and take care!
Maite J. Balda
No comments:
Post a Comment