Fiesta San Antonio Gymnastics Invitational
February 25, 2006 on 6:29 pm | In just photoggin... | No Comment

Always fun with the Grey’s. The Fiesta Invitational is held annually in San Antonio. This was the first time we had gone to this meet, and also the last road trip we made in the Expedition. It poured!!! almost all the way there, for some reason - we seem to have had rain every time we have traveled to SA. The hotel was usual…had a nice area in the middle for pictures - the girls of course had to play in the fountain area. 



The meet was mmmm, so-so…It was D’s first meet of the year - having had to miss the first part of the season with a fractured elbow. That was one of those freak things..caught a geinger a little too close to the bar and mashed her bones together more or less - by muscling away so she wouldn’t face plant the bar. Anyway….
Pam Mayer and Brian Jones were also there, Pammy used my cam - didn’t get very many good pictures, however Brian saved the day and was nice enough to send me all of the pictures he took. 

The meet had a hilarious moment - d’s second tumbling pass - her hand slipped on the floor as she went into her round off, and we really aren’t sure what happened next - but somehow or another instead of a rudi back tuck - she did this really funny forward roll….Pam and I cracked up! We were all laughing so hard - it’s a good thing D’s good natured, cause we teased her about it the rest of the evening.
We all went out to La Pogata? afterwards - cold as shit sitting outside. The food was good..the day was long - and then we got up the next morning and came home.

IGI Gymnastics Meet - Chicago IL
February 11, 2006 on 6:27 pm | In just photoggin... | No Comment



This meet is even bigger than COS. This time I wasn’t near as nervous - the area was better, the lighting was better. Nelse had us all set our gear to a Kelvin WB - which really helped with those freaky gym lights.

The IGI meet is on the Navy Pier in Chicago - which sits on one of the lakes - which means - IT’S FREAKING COLD! It snows like off and on all day. We got a little time to ourselves between sessions, as this meet was run so much better than COS. 
Rick Perozzi was a little lost in the airport area - picking us up - but with the help of Betty (the navigation computer) we managed to figure it out. I really wanted to ride the “L” like they did in ER. Maybe next time.

There’s really not much to say about these meets, other than it’s long hours, and repetitive photography. Everyone is so tired by the end of the day - it’s not worth trying to do anything (at least at my age it isn’t).
I roomed with nakey marie (if you know, you know) who talked my head off - i thought I was chatty….

I had hotdogs every day for lunch - chicago hot dogs are really good. We didn’t get to do any sightseeing at this meet either, but I did get to take some pictures of a really awesome stained glass exhibit they had in the same buidling. The pier is humongous! It’s filled with shops, resturants - but usually the only thing open when we were done..was bubba gumps shrimp. Oh well, good thing i ADORE shrimp. Chicago has some really cool old historical building that are really lit up nicely at night - remember to take the tripod if i ever make it back there.
This meet had a little bonus thing going on - john maccready and rothlisberger? were there to do an exhibition - i missed it as i was over doing a level 5 session.
I ran into the usual “unusual” people - ones i’ve met on the internet over the year - that’s always so much fun.

Valerie and Diane drove to Dallas to attend UNH vs. TWU while i was gone this weekend. They had a great time - stayed at Sharon and Alex’s. It was fun for D to get to talk with Ed freely now that she’s no longer a “recruit”. They had dinner with the team - D had a good time. I’m sure Val was tired of driving!.