All Over But the Shouting

Exactly one year ago, Mrs. 'Hat Rack was camped out on the sidewalk in Penticton, BC. She had flown from SLC to Spokane, Wash., rented a car, driven 300 miles and rolled out her sleeping bag. All this just for the privilege of paying $500 the next morning for one of about 3,000 coveted slots in tomorrow's Ironman Canada triathlon. (These things aren't cheap, or easy.)

Last night, the Lil 'Hat Racks and I trekked into the SLC wilderness, pitched our tent, rolled out our sleeping bags and camped - in our backyard. Shhhh! - two out of three are still asleep here at 8am.

We talked to Mom last night and are really missing her - and the fact that we can't watch her leap into Okanagan Lake at 7am tomorrow... cruise the city streets, most of the way back to the USA and legendary Richter Pass on her bicycle... and finally agonize with here every step of the way through her marathon. She's missing us too - consuming her final 48 hours of preparation with easy swims, a quick jaunt on her Cervelo bike to make sure its ready to go, and countless other check and double-check processes. One year of training, planning, early mornings, prep races, protein shakes, energy bars and 3,000-calorie-consuming training sessions are done. It's all over but the shouting. Check in regularly on Sunday for updates. (Photo courtesy: www.rice.edu/ ~jenky/photo.html)

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Meantime, as September dawns, I invite you to flip to page 162 in United Airlines' Hemispheres magazine if you're traveling... a very short article about the NBA D-League Showcase in Boise in January is the first piece of published writing that I've ever been paid for. I'm a professional writer! (I find it interesting that mega-blogger, Dooce.com, wrote recently with similar enthusiasm for getting her first article in Real Simple magazine... it's a rush!)

Anyways, it's the first of 8 stories I've written for four different publications this summer. There is MUCH MUCH more to come in the coming weeks and I'll humbly point them out if 'Hat Rack visitors want to track them down.

Along these lines, I have accepted a contract with Fodor's Travel Guides to write the 2008 Pocket Guide to Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks. My responsibilities are for Yellowstone NP and West Yellowstone, Mont. I will spend at least two weeks of September researching in the park. I can't wait! More on this in the days to come. (If you have Yellowstone experiences - good or bad - I want to hear about them!)

And on the last writing notes, I'm in conversations with www.snowlion.com to potentially do some work for them. They are a SLC-based adventure trip planner that takes the most incredible trips to 15 Asian countries annually. Anyone gone on a trip with them?

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Check back all weekend... GO TERI GO!