My friends in Oklahoma City tell me the wind always blows there, but in the past few years of being down there, it hasn't been quite so noticeable, nor so obstinately across the course. It made Toli's 2nd place dead heat with Gavin all the more impressive, since he's an international and gets stuck with lane 9 on the outside edge!
Murphy proved to have a ready hand again, hanging the actuator on lane 9 at the 200m line. This meant no boats used the gates, and really put pressure on the officials to get the starts off quickly - which they really did. I've some small amount of experience as a starter in other sports, and I was impressed by the calm demeanor and great control on the line.
The announcer really needed to spend a little time with the Hawaiian contingent and learn pronunciation of names - including a number of mainlanders as well. But by and large, he did fine, and a couple of people probably have new nicknames as a result.
So lots of racing, lots of wind, and a fair amount of sun. The left side of my face and neck is noticeably redder than the right side.
One of the great things about this trip was that I had no real responsibilities. One of my athletes was there, but since she was competing in the club races on Saturday instead of Trials, I had no pressure and could visit with people and pay attention to a lot of external things instead of focusing on my club, which can sometimes feel like you are this guy:
I did make a few excursions into the entertainment side of Oklahoma City. A little setup is in order here. OKC is the possibly the reddest city in the reddest state in the country. Mostly it's conservative, and you'd figure there isn't a tax they generally wouldn't want to kill. But, they have a civic pride that seems to have overcome the reluctance to be taxed for things like ballparks, convention centers, boathouses, rowing and kayaking venues, a whitewater park. This stuff is all paid for before it's built! So why does this matter to me? 20 years or so ago, I was in downtown OKC for a day - seemed a whole lot longer... And I must say, I understand the imagery from Grapes of Wrath, Last Picture Show and other films get their inspiration. Dusty, decaying and depressing. But they have brought OKC around to where, while I don't want to live there, I do enjoy visiting!
Downtown has really done a job of rehabbing a lot of the old, and inbuilding new - preserving a lot of the character while still featuring the new and vibrant areas. Bricktown has a feel very similar to San Antonio's River Walk - bars, restaurants and shops bordering a mile long promenade and canal (complete with tour boats). There's a botanical garden/conservatory that has lots of street fest type vendors, all sorts of other goings on, and then there's the American Banjo Museum. I know - lots of folks think *all* banjos should be in museums, but I like them. I was blown away by the variety and particularly by the glitz that went into early 20th century instruments.
Food was decidedly not part of my trip this time. Cafe Kacao, which is _the_ spot for breakfast doesn't open until 8:00, and since we needed to be at the venue at 7:30... Fuzzy's Tacos is always dependable, and Earl's BBQ isn't bad, but it's just OK. Dinner was covered nicely by my friend's mom, who was in town to run the marathon on Sunday after trials. Awesome cooking, Ms M!
And there I was - kidnapped by a bunch of pretty good looking paddlers, dragged off to a bar called Cowboys, which offered 25 cent domestics and bull riding shows at 11:00 and 12:30. And dancing. Well, some people danced. My wife puts up with me, but she won't let me do two things in public - play basketball, and dance. And there's a pretty good reason for it. I mean really - N - sorry about the toes, but I did warn you I danced worse than this guy:
Thanks again to my good friends who let me couch surf, made me drink cheap beer and tried in vain to teach me to dance. It was a pleasure and a fun weekend - we'll do it again. Mi casa, su casa.
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