A trip to the grocery.

A while ago, Clare's mom Patricia (or Thea, auntie in Greek) took me on my first grocery excursion... Here are some photos from my adventure:

And, It was pretty exciting that the grocery store was an IGA, which is actually the grocery store that I grew up going to! There are more 'organic' groceries around... but this one is always convenient.I was surprised to see the butcher in the meat department actually butchering... not just slicing cheese and ham...

appetizing! :)

You can actually buy 1 single serving of creamed corn. What a cute, little can! :)

Condensed milk comes in a tube. I would probably confuse it with tooth paste!

The fruit here is TASTY and plentiful! I have learned hot to properly cut (and eat) a mango... and also how to drink Ouzo with Clare's dad Arthur... yum :).

tutu~

k

New Year's Resolution!!

In light of the New Year, I'm going to make a resolution:


I'm going to get BACK on the blog wagon! :) My mom and pop have been bugging me for updates, so here goes!

It's New Year's Eve here in Melbourne- I'll be celebrating NYE 16 hours before y'all! So perhaps, I'll celebrate twice! I'm at Bec and Arnaud's house for an excellent French-ish dinner -- stew and we'll be having CREPES for dessert! I'm excited for crepes.

The other night, Arnaud took out his indoor grill! It is definitely awesome-- 4 meats, including kangaroo! A bit gamey, but it truly reminded me of Venison. They continue to take very good care me here in OZ!

In two days my team here in Australia will be heading to the Jayco Bay Cycling Classic-- a 5 day criterium series in Geelong. I've been here in Australia for just over a month now and have been coming along with my training and some local crits.

Here are a couple photos of some training rides!

Clare and I went on a pretty nice ride on Christmas day- before we headed to her brother in-law's family's house for a traditional Greek Christmas! Very fun- very good food!

All is good here in Australia!

Have a safe and stellar New Years!!

~

K

Epic with a capital E.

~~I wrote this entry on 3 different days... it may be confusing- but after today, it shouldn't be.

Thanks to Garrett for taking me around Boulder yesterday morning… or 2 or 4 mornings ago? I don’t even know what day it is right now. Garrett is planning a 2 week trip to the mountains to climb 15 forteeners. He has already done 10 in the last month—so this will be a big deal for him! Check out his blog and climbing adventures here.
On to DIA/LAX/NZ/OZ!
DIA on thanksgiving... not very crowded.
I asked for 'spicy' tomato juice and ended up getting bloody mary mix-- with 85% of my daily dosage of sodium--

In the LAX bar, I was told by a fellow at the bar that I look very Scandinavian… I think I’ll take that as a compliment-- He was on his way to Hawaii to get married to a woman he met at his class reunion… (30 year I think). They had never met each other before! Funny how things work!

So far so good! I’m currently writing in Auckland NZ—funny thing is that I didn’t even know we were going to stop on Auckland. My ticket said—Melbourne and I didn’t ask questions. I have already learned that American Airlines and Qantas Airlines are both under the “one world” agreement… and basically it means that they are the same thing. ? Who knows... Anyhow, I’m here in NZ for an hour and then getting on another flight over to Melbourne. So far… it has been 22 hours since my first flight- the flight from LA to Auckland ended up being 12 hrs. AND I only remember about 2 hours of the entire flight. I caught some serious Zzzzz’s.

I won’t really get to see much of New Zealand. Just now, I’m sitting in the airport- and some guy just bought a beer-- it is 6:14 am! That is the last thing I would want right now. bleh. I’d like a coffee but haven’t exchanged currency yet- and I have plenty to eat… no need to indulge- I’ll wait for the plane.

Clare was at the airport to pick me up- everything went well and I'm settled into my new room at Clare's house!

~~now the blog is updated I'll be better at posting :)

~~Kate

Tomorrow- OUT.

If you ask my mother she'll definitely agree that I am a professional PROCRASTINATOR. I'm leaving tomorrow-- my flight is at 11:30... I am unsure of exactly what time I need to catch the bus-- but I know that I'll have a ride to the bus stop! (I'll look after I'm done posting!)

Anyhow, despite all that- I have had an amazing November. This fall, overall, has been excellent. I'll will reflect on that tomorrow at LAX during my 6 hr layover when I'm hanging out at the airport bar, while y'all are eating turkey and stuffing!! :) ... but get this. I get 2 bags-- 70 lbs each. No cost. AND my bike bag can count as 1 bag. Awesome. I'm bringing my down comforter AND my full sized french press that serves 20.

plush. high stylin'. for sure.

until then! Happy Thanksgiving! I will miss you all.
~~
xo--K

PS... I just got skype, so search for my email address and add me as a friend! Or just let me know if you have it.

The Albino Deer and the Metric System.

My dad sent me photos of a deer that is living by our house in Northern Wisconsin-- an albino deer-- he said it is one of the biggest deer he has ever seen, with a very well developed rack... and I'm not talking about boobs here... Anyhow, It is always cool to see things like this- especially an OLD albino deer! Thanks dad. I started my ride this morning at 10:15 and decided that today was going to be the day that I switch to the metric system. In order to function well in Australia AND converse with my Norske-esqe friends, I need to speak in metric! I changed the settings on my garmin and headed up the hill to 4th street. The Kilometers just fly by... unlike miles... However... elevation, unfortunately does not fly by. For example... I rode 86 miles (138 k), climbed 6675' (2035m). A bit to get used to, but a good change nonetheless.

My ride to Estes was pretty awesome. Gorgeous day, good tunes and podcasts (http://www.thislife.org/) and plenty of wildlife. Crazy thing though- I only saw ONE cyclist out on the road today, at the beginning of my ride. Weird. Check out the elk hanging out on the side of the Peak to Peak--and the people taking photos of the elk. Always my favorite.

This church is on the peak to peak hwy too- very beautiful!

More rides & metric mayhem to come!

~~

K

Australia and my Mom's blog.

I haven't made the official announcement, but here it is: I'll be heading to Australia from Nov 27-Jan 27 to do some wicked training and racing down under! Check out the cycling news announcement for the "Jayco Bay Cycling Classic" aka Bay Crits... http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2008/jan08/bayseries08/

More updates to come.

Not only does my mom kick my ass in Guitar Hero and any thing she plays on her Wii... she has started her OWN blog. And it is effffing hilarious. And she is posting more often than I am. But what a surprise since I have only posted ONE time in October. Check it out if you have time: http://www.denterwhalen.blogspot.com/ She calls it 'cornland central'

Here is (in order) Dalton, ME, Dennis (my step-pa) and my Mom. :) Check out her blog.

~~

K

Kate Ross = Lamest blogger ever.

Okay... so... Here are the excuses:

1] I got a new camera... and I can't find my new cord.

2] My computer is using 79.6 of it's 80 gigs and it is running slower than molassas in the middle of January. So, I have been fixin' to go to the store and pick up an external hard drive so I can clean some house!!!

3] I can't be bothered to go to the store or to look for my cord... :)

Party! I have plenty of photos coming-- and a video for my mom if I can get it uploaded, etc.

In the meantime, here is a photo of me hard at work.

tutu-----

k