The Gillens.net

I had been accepted this spring into another TRIO training program, this time in New York! I didn’t want to pass up the offer, even though I had just barrelled through finals, gone to San Diego, and am planning to leave for San Francisco in a couple days for David’s race, since NYC can be a great location to mix work with some fun.

The training took place at The Roosevelt Hotel on 45th and Madison Ave. Theater, shopping, Grand Central Terminal, and Central Park were all within reach. I’m not a big shopper, but I did have a blast strolling through FAO Schwarz picking out cute items for Molly and gawking at $7,500 hand-carved rocking horses. (Sorry, Molly, no rocking horses from FAO for you!) I spent the majority of my free time, though, either looking for new places to dine or running at Central Park. I did a short 4-miler on Thursday, followed by a 10-miler on Saturday. Within those two runs, I expect I dodged roughly 1,000 bikers, 5,000 other runners, 900 strollers, 700 dogs, 8,000 walkers, 20 horse carriages, and a few, unexpected taxis. I didn’t get an exact count, but that felt about right. Wow! Am I blessed to live in Flower Mound where a “busy” running day means I shared the side walk with 4-6 others, or what?

Of course the highlight of the trip was taking a short visit on Friday to West Point to see Clint. I was easily able to catch a train at Grand Central to Garrison. A couple of taxis were waiting to cart passengers to WP. Knowing that the next day was graduation, I didn’t completely realize how busy post would be the day before. I thought I had left the mayhem and people in Manhattan…but I guess they followed me! Clint and I met up at Thayer Statue and headed to find his pick-up and get away from the crowds. We took a short drive to see the new rugy complex, and I did manage to get a couple of pictures. (It’s my habit to forget to take pictures.) I offered to treat Clint to lunch, and the thing he had his stomach set on was chicken fried steak at Chili’s. So, we went. It was a great opportunity to spend a couple hours visiting about all kinds of things - the war, family, his coursework, and, of course, a few well-animated stories about various “crazy characters” he’s encountered lately.

Although the trip to WP as short, it was excedingly worthwhile! It was a tough realization afterwards, though, that not only was this one of the first times in the past few years that I had this much alone-time with my brother to talk, but it may have been the last before he graduates. I will definitely try to make it a priority to get out at least one more time to share some good conversation time before he is assigned to a mission.

More pictures here.

After a long and tough semester, Sarah had earned a well deserved vacation and we decided to go visit my sister in San Diego. Cyndee had to work on Friday, so Sarah and I went to our favorite attraction, the Zoo! We absolutely love this place, especially the hippos and the polar bear exhibits. There is something really cool about seeing such majestic and large animals underwater and up close! The elephants and sea lion show were also a lot of fun. After the zoo but before Cyndee got home, Sarah and I drove to La Jolla cove so I could get in a practice ocean swim in preparation for my Escape From Alcatraz triathlon in 3 weeks. After that, the three of us grabbed some burgers and then went to see Spiderman 3.

After a Saturday morning run, we went to eat a really popular brunch place called the Hash House. We then drove down to the Harbor and Seaport Village to see a street performers competition. The performers themselves were not as interesting as simply the scenery down there. We then went the Birch Aquarium and “Children’s Pool” in La Jolla. Children’s Pool is this small protected cove where a whole bunch of harbor seals lay around and play. After another nice meal at 60s diner called Corvettes, we just chilled at Cyndee’s place. It was a great, albeit short vacation.

More photos here.