So I realize that I totally owe a blog to my birthday, and I promise I'm getting there, but since the birthday celebrations haven't come to an end quite yet (it's still June, people!) I'm holding off on that blog. Teaser: Husband was did an AMAZING job! Lot's of surprises involved!
Now...onto being hardcore, or at least attempting it.
After a long & amazing weekend Husband & I finally made it home. Don't you worry we didn't have any plans to stay sedentary just because we were home, oh no! We had been invited by the Bro & Sis-in-law to go try out a mountain bike trail here in town! Whoo hoo! Right? Oh, yeah!
Bro & Sis-in-law were bringing their lovelies down to the In-Law Hizzy for safe keeping during their upcoming Youth Trip Vaca. Husband & I decided we'd leave our fuzzy bundle of joy, Georgia, with the pack while we rode the trail. We got this new fandangled leash for Georgia...it's a harness for the person so that if running or biking, your hands are free, but your dog is still contained, awesome, right? Decided to test out this new leash as we rode our bikes to the In-Laws (out meet up place). It was awesome, Georgia was doing great! She was loving being able to run by my side, greatness. That is until (for those of you that have seen "UP"), "Squirrel!"
Yup, that's right, Georgia took off across my bike path. Like a nanosecond after this decision she looked up at my bike barreling straight towards her and her face said it all, "SHIT! What the crap did I just do, and WHY?!?" There was no stopping; I tried, to no avail. Ran over the poor dog, flew off my bike, and yes: slid across the pavement! Don't worry, I had a helmet on & Georgia was totally ok...not even a limp! Dumb dog! So I pass the dog off to Husband and work on getting my bike to the In-Law's house. The handlebars were turned and the chain had come off so I got to walk it the rest of the way. That is after being made fun of by an eighty-two year old man who was taking his daily walk.
Here's what my hand looked like after that little spill:
Anyway, we got my bike fixed up & all our bikes loaded, and we were off! Bro & Sis-In-Law informed us their friends would be joining us. The more the merrier, right? You would think so, and we did, despite the fact that these very friends are superb Andventure Race participants. That means this chick is REALLY going to be put to shame...but this couple is super awesome & totally encouraging so off we go! Before the others got there the four of us (Bro & Sis-in-law, Husband, and I) rode a few laps on the Blue/Red Trails aka the Bunny Slopes. It was AWESOME! Not overly technical but SO pretty! Who knew this existed in the Red Stick?!? Easy breezy aside from the slight run in my bike handles had with Sis-in-law's rear end. (it was totally her fault...she took a detour off the trail & my breaks just didn't go into effect quickly enough...see her fault?)
So the Adventure Racers show up, we do the Blue/Red Trail one more time then get bold and do a Red Trail! Woot, Woot! Moving up! This trail wasn't too bad, a little more technical, but nothing major. Then it happens...Adventure Racer Husband strokes our egos telling us how awesome we're doing and encourages us to take on another branch of the Red Trail. I must say this was pretty awesome! I mean we were biking crazy curves, then uphill, then the insane (for me, the beginner) down hills!
Adrenaline pumping, we took more & more branches of the Red Trail and soon I totally knew why I should have stayed on the bunny trail! There was this one ravine that wasn't even that bad...just stay hard right. Well my wheel decided to get snatched by a rut to the left and BAM! I was flying through the air over my handle bars for the second time that day! The bad part, I was totally bringing up the rear, and the plummet knocked the breath out of me while tearing up what was remained of my left palm, scrapped up my elbow, and yes, added more bruises. But I couldn't call ahead to let anyone know I'd fallen because I couldn't BREATH. Husband was good though & circled back when he didn't see me behind him any longer. We caught up with the group (by caught up I mean the Adventure Racer Wife circled back to tell us which way to turn on the next 2 paths). Well, that's the last we saw of human life for a while...as the sun began it's decent the other guys found us, and were all, "Whew, the four of you?"...Husband and I were all, "Uh, the two of us..." So Bro-in-law told us to follow him & Adventure Racer Husband took off to find the other ladies (who somehow made it around the lake!) Obviously we all made it back to the car & we were all so stoked at the fun we had! Here are my battle wounds:
Anyway, I washed out as much gravel & dirt as I could...and I already had a doctors appointment for Tuesday so I had them take a look at my battle wounds and they removed the few pieces of gravel I hadn't, shot me up with some Tetanus anti-bodies, and wrapped me up to look like this awesomeness:
many of you know of my love affair with Africa. i would move there no questions asked if the opportunity were to arise. i can only imagine be able to offer such an opportunity to my children. i recently discovered Tippi Degré through a friend of mine, Maddie.
i instantly fell in love! Her parents, Alain Degré and Sylvie Robert, moved from France to Southern Africa in newly independent Namibia living in the freedom of nature as wildlife photographers and film makers! 
y'all, seriously i would do this in a HEARTBEAT! i mean i want this life myself, living in the wild, but to be able to offer such an experience to my child? WOW!
Tippi Degré grew up living in close contact with wild animals, including elephants, leopards and ostriches, who treated Tippi as one of their own.
The animals allowed Tippi to cuddle them, dance with them, and ride on their backs.
Tippi Degré grew up and spent ten years travelling round Africa with her parents French wildlife photographers Sylvie Robert and Alain Degré. Tippi’s mother Sylvie, 52, gave birth to Tippi in Namibia in 1990. Sylvie said, “My daughter was a very lucky little girl. She was born and raised almost completely in the wild. “It was magical to be this free in nature. It was just the three of us living wild with the animals and not too many humans. “Tippi always said that this was her gift. She was in the mindset of these animals, believing they were her size and her friends.” Tippi’s friends included a leopard called J & B, and an elephant named Abu.
Sylvie and her husband Alain Degré have compiled a book about their lives called Tippi: My Book Of Africa. Sylvie said, “She had no fear. She did not realise she was not the same size as Abu and would look into his eyes and speak to him. “Tippi was just 18 months old when they met and it was a special time. “Their friendship was incredible.”
Sylvie Degré insists that she always put Tippi’s safety first, she said, “Wild animals will either run away or attack you if they are frightened. You must always be on the watch. “Tippi was hurt only twice. First a meerkat bit her on the nose. “Then, in 1994, she was at a water hole with a baboon called Cindy.
“Cindy attacked Tippi’s hair and pulled out a handful out of jealousy. That was terribly painful.”
Sylvie, Alain, and Tippi moved to France in 2000, but the family visited Africa in 2006.
Sylvie said, “When we returned to Africa in 2006 Cindy ran up to Tippi and played with her hair, grooming her. It was quite beautiful.” Sylvie added, “My daughter will always be African. Hers is like Mowgli’s story, but Tippi’s is true.”
Tippi Degré grew up surrounded by wild animals in Africa and learned to hunt with the San bushmen of northern Namibia.
Tippi is now 18, and she is studying for a degree in cinema at the Sorbonne in Paris, France.
