Running the National Mall in Washington

While in DC for my nephew's football game, I had a little opportunity to get out and run the National Mall in Washington DC.  It is really a pretty fantastic place, with lots of history.  Unfortunately the week while we were there was one of the weeks that the government happened to be shut down.  This was pretty disappointing in that we didn't get to go into any museums as planned, or get really close to any of the monuments.  Oh well, I guess we'll have to go back. 
My run started off at the Smithsonian Metro Stop. 

 

From the Smithsonian Metro Station, you can see the capital building off to your right, and the Washington Monument off to your left.
Here is a shot of the Washington Monument from the Metro Station.

And here is a shot looking right toward the Capital building.

I started my morning run headed right, toward the Capital building.  As you run along, there are many beautiful building.  All of the museums are along this run.
Here is a shot of one of the great museum, can't remember which one.  Great architecture was found all around.

As I passed a few museums, the sun started to pop up over the Capital building. 

As you approach the Capital building, there are some great reflecting pools out front.  Once you pass the guard shacks, you start to make the climb up Capital Hill.  Here is a shot of the capital building from behind, looking up at the fantastic architecture and stairs.

As you can see, everything was very empty due to the shutdown.  Worked out better for us.
Once around the other side of the building, you get a great view looking toward the Washington Monument and into Virginia.

After you make the full circle of the Capital building, you head back down the hill and back on the mall.  Here is a look at the running surface while running through the park. The running surface is either concrete or dirt, depending on where you are.  You even have some grass options as well.

As you run through the mall, you see many runners, bikers, and people just strolling along.  It is really a fit city.  From the bottom of Capital Hill, I continued along until I got to the Washington Monument.
Along the way, you pass a bunch more museums and great buildings. Here is a shot of one of the museums.

Here I am approaching the Washington Monument.

I finally made it to the monument.  Here it is over my shoulder.

Still lots of construction, and the scaffolding actually makes it look pretty cool.   With the construction, there is fencing all around.

From the monument, I made a right and made my way to The White House.  Approaching it, there are usually tons of people out front taking pictures.  Not today.

All by myself out front.  I tried to see if B & M wanted to go out for coffee, but apparently they had some other plans.

Hello Obama's.  Its me.

Once you complete the circle of The White House, I headed back to the Washington Monument and started on toward the Lincoln Memorial. 
I ran along the Reflecting Pool and up to the monument.

All fenced off, but barriers were moved and lots of people out and about.

I got to the memorial and made a quick right heading toward the Vietnam Wall.  Unfortunately this was closed as well.

 



And another view of the Vietnam Memorial

Oh well.  I headed back to the memorial for a couple quick shots, then back up to the Monument.

Here is a look back toward the Washington Monument from the end of the Reflecting Pool.  Might look familiar from Forrest Gump.

And a selfie looking toward the monument.

I ran back up the Reflecting Pool and to the Monument.  Here is a look back over towards the Lincoln Memorial from the Washington Monument.

And from there, I headed back up the Mall and over to the Metro Station where I started.  It was a nice slow run with lots of great scenery.
Here is a shot of the map at the station.

And a shot of my actual run via the Nike app.

It was a fantastic trip.  My nephews team beat Howard, which was the actual reason of our trip.  We will have to go back now that the government is actually open and experience a whole bunch of stuff we didn't get to see.

Happy Running
Dave

#washingtondc #Washington #running #governmentshutdown

 





Sealy Big Bass Splash

Here is a piece that I wrote about the Sealy Big Bass Splash event at Lake Fork in Texas for our Okuma Fishing Tackle blog.  I had the opportunity to fish in this event, and even won a little money.

Dave

Sealy Big Bass Splash

Every angler dreams of the opportunity to go out fishing, catch a big largemouth, and walk away with a paycheck.  We’ve all grown up watching the bass pro’s holding the giant paper check up over their head.  Now there is a tournament series for the every day fisherman.  The Sealy Big Bass Splash series is just that.  It is an amateur fishing tournament series that takes place all over the south and affords the everyday anglers the opportunity to win some money for doing what they love.  The Sealy events attract anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 anglers per event.  The events will be going into their 30th  year this year, and plan to have a giant 30^th anniversary event at Lake Sam Rayburn in April 2014. 

Then event itself has a great pay schedule that allows everyone a chance to with great cash and prizes.  Some of the top prizes include trucks, boats, and big paychecks. 

The check-in takes place the day prior and run right through the night.

 

Once all of the anglers finally get checked in, they get out on the water and catch fish.  There are hourly prizes that in some events, start as far down as 12’th place.  It doesn’t always take a big fish to win some hourly money either.  Dave Brown from Okuma fished the Lake Fork Texas event in September, and netted a 5^th place hourly fish taking home a nice little $600 check for a whopping 2.12 pounder.

 

Some of the hourly winning fish were even smaller than Dave’s little guy, and netted themselves $1,000. 

Once the fishing comes to an end, there is a great finale event with raffle prizes and big checks being given out.  You don’t even have to enter to win.  In fact, at next years 30^th anniversary event, the plan is to give out 25-30 Dodge or Toyota trucks as prizes.  Well over $1,000,000 in cash and prizes will leave the event that weekend. 

There are many great sponsors that attend the event, and Okuma is one of them.  For the 2013 series, Okuma stepped up and offered up an additional $10,000 if you happened to catch your fish on one of a few select Okuma items. 

The next event is at Lake Ouachita in Arkansas on Oct 12 and 13^th.  Will you be there to hold that big check over your head, or perhaps drive home a new truck and boat? 

Next years schedule is up and fisherman are getting excited.  Stop by the Sealy Big Bass Splash website for all the details. 

http://sealyoutdoors.com/

Happy Fishing!
Dave

#fishing #okuma #okumafishingtackle #sealybigbasssplash #bassfishing

FLW Forrest Wood Cup Shreveport Louisiana Run

FLW Forrest Wood Cup Shreveport Louisiana Run

Last month I was in Shreveport Louisiana for the FLW Forrest Wood Cup.  This is the Superbowl of the FLW bass fishing tour.  After a year of fishing various rivers and lakes throughout the country, the whole season culminates at this event.  Its really a good time and well attended.  I was there with Okuma and Savage Gear displaying all of our fun new stuff in our booth.
Here is a shot of our booth at the show.

 After each day of the show, I would squeeze out a little time to get a run in.  It was actually a fantastic, 3.5 mile jaunt that ran over, and around the Red River and into Bossier city. 
I would start at my hotel, Sams Town.  From there I would head up to the main street, then over to Texas Street which is the street with the bridge.

There is a nice wide, guarded walkway that leads you up and over the Red River.  From what I can tell, it was about a 1/2 mile up and over.  Once you hit the top, you have a spectacular view of the surrounding area.
Here is a look at the actual iron structure of the bridge. 

 

Looking down to the river, you can see for miles.

Once you hit the top and start your way into Bossier City, you can start to see the Louisiana Riverwalk shopping area.

Once I cross the bridge, I would make a quick right and head on over to the Riverwalk area.  In the shot above, you can see a few of the running areas. The shops and restaurants go on for about a half mile on each side of the bridge.
The Riverwalk is a nice little area with lots of restaurants, bars, and entertainment.  And as the name states, it also have a Riverwalk that you can run along.
Here is a shot looking back up at the bridge that we just crossed.

Of course being in Louisiana, all of the casinos have to be on water.  Here is a look over to the Sams Town hotel and Casino.  You can see the riverboat in front.  The riverboats up and down the river are all permanent fixtures and don't do too much river boating.

And one more looking back at the bridge from farther down the Riverwalk.

One of my favorite parts about Bossier is the Bass Pro Shops.  At the midpoint of my run, I come across the Bossier City Bass Pro Shops.  Of course, being in Louisiana, the Bass Pro Shops down here has Gators in front.  Big suckers too!

From the Bass Pro Shops, it pretty much a wind your way back sort of thing.  Back through the Louisiana Riverwalk, and up and over the Bridge.  Its a fun little run for a good 3.5 miles.  It was in the mid 90's that week and HUMID.  Probably typical for that time of year, but a little miserable for a California boy.
As I usually do, I like to follow up a run with a meal that I probably should be eating.  Being Vegan, I always try to at least make the most appropriate selections, but when in Rome!
One of my favorite places to eat when in Shreveport is The Blind Tiger. 

Good Cajun food, and the beer is always cold!

 A southern favorite, fried dill pickles!!!  These were very good, and probably not totally vegan.  Oh well.  They were awesome with the cajun honey mustard.  One of the other nights I opted for the faux turkey veggie po' boy.  It was actually very good too. 

Keep on runnin!
Dave

#running #Louisiana #Shreveport #vegan #therunningfisherman #okuma #okumafishing #blindtiger

Red Rock Canyon Run Las Vegas

Red Rock Canyon Run Las Vegas

While out in Vegas for ICAST, I had the chance to get out for a little trail run through Red Rock Canyon.  For those that don't know, Red Rock Canyon is an awesome little area just outside of Las Vegas.  Its within a thirty minute drive of the strip, and feels as if you are in a totally different world than the hustle and bustle of Vegas. 
Driving up to the Red Rock Canyon recreation area, you get a great view of what I think is the Mt. Charleston range.

 

Once you get in the gates of the park, it is a one way 13 mile drive.  When running Red Rock, you can run the full loop for a good Half Marathon run.  Not totally advisable in July, but a great run none the less.
As you drive along you'll see different parking areas.  We stopped at the third parking area and jumped on the trail from there. 
As soon as you step foot on the trail, you enter a different world.  Towering cliffs, red rocks, and a great run. Not totally technical, but slightly difficult.  Most of the trail is a hard packed dirt to light gravel.  The path itself is fairly narrow and a single running trail. 

As you near the bottom of the canyon, you come across the dry river bed.  This is a small rock/pebble bed that is pretty easy to run on.  For the most part, the trail runs along the riverbed, but in some instances you actually cross the bed or run on it.

 

As you run along you see towering cliffs with climbers dangling perilously from their ropes as well as very large boulders.

This boulder here was a good 30 plus feet tall.  Probably closer to 40.  Either way, if you need a quick shade break, this was a nice spot.  Beware, other critters are probably hiding there too!

Once you do make it down to the river bed, you can run on the path, or on the riverbed.  I did a little of both.  Here is a shot of the riverbed and the running you can do along it.

Along the riverbed you can see more beautiful sites and interesting rock formations and features.
Here is a big boulder overhand that you run along for a good 50 yards.

At some points the riverbed turns into a bed of stone.  I'm not sure what kind of stone it is, but it makes for a nice had surface to run on.  Here you can see the gravel turning into the harder stone surface.

 

Here is a better look at the hard surface.

The day we chose to run Red Rock, it was a cool 103 degrees up at the car.  Down in the canyon, it was probably a couple degrees warmer.  But as they say, its a dry heat!
We went through a lot of water on that run, but we all made it out unscathed.

Here is a quick shot of me standing along the trail.

Red Rock Canyon is a great little run if you have a few extra hours while in Vegas.  Its surprisingly close to the strip, but miles away from the craziness.  We've done this run in the winter and its much more comfortable and cooler.  This day we only knocked out about 4 miles, but it was hot, and we all wanted to survive to make it back to the pool or casino. 

For more info and directions, you can check out www.redrock.org

Happy Running!
Dave

#redrock #running #lasvegas #vegan #ICAST

Moloka'i West End Run

Moloka'i West End Run

Had the opportunity to get over to Hawaii at the end of last month with the family.  13 of us to be exact.  We had a great time relaxing at the Manahale Estate.  There isn't a ton of things to do on the island which was perfect.  We all lead such busy lives, that some time to just sit back and relax was much needed, and very, very nice. 
During the 8 days we spent on Moloka'i, I had the chance to get out and get in a couple of runs.  Unfortunately...and fortunately, the weather was very hot.  Great for soaking up the rays, but not so much for getting out and running.  Oh, and it was pretty darn humid too.
From our house, we would make a run down to Dixie Maru beach.  This is a small cove at the end of the road near where we were staying.  It was a nice 4 mile run.  Two out and two back. It was a nice street run and pretty darn scenic.

Here is a shot as I am approaching Dixie Maru.  You can see that it is old pavement and not totally well maintained.  There isn't much traffic on this end of the island, and in fact, if you do the 4 mile run and actually see a car, consider yourself lucky.

Its a long, hilly, curvy road.  It was also quite windy while we were there.  The wind was a blowin', and it actually took a little edge off of the humidity and cooled me down nicely.

Here is a shot along the road approaching the estate where we were staying.

On one of the afternoons I was running, it had just finished raining.  We had pretty much an unlimited amount of rainbows in most directions. 

Here is a shot as I was leaving the beach and looking back at our estate.  You can't tell here, but the rainbow was ending right where we were staying.  Very beautiful.

 

After multiple runs during the week, I generally ended up back at our place relaxing on the porch or swinging down on the hammock.  Here is a quick view from our porch looking down at the beach.  Everyday was absolutely gorgeous and hard to leave.

 

After our time on Moloka'i, my wife and I stopped by to visit her family for a couple of days.  The are dipping their toe into the vegan lifestyle, and have really embraced it.  In fact, every time I am out, they are trying out new recipes and experiments on me.  I'm always game for a great Vegan meal.
Here is one of the meals they made us while visiting.  Great Hawaiian Vegan Chili over white rice.  Fresh Maui Greens with Maui onions and other fresh toppings.  They even made us a batch of vegan Pad Thai, that I thought was absolutely fabulous.  To top of the whole meal, they brought out a batch of freshly made vegan chocolate macaroons.  Scrumptious!

 

 

We all had a great trip to Moloka'i, and though it was very slow and different from what we were used to, it was fabulous.  I'd go back in a heartbeat.  And its always great to spend time with family and to visit my wife's family at the end of the week, made it all perfect.

Mahalo! and Happy Running!
Dave

#Molokai #Hawaii #running #vegan