Bass Pro Shops Lake Havasu Open and Running the London Bridge

Had the opportunity to spend a little time out at Lake Havasu for the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor Festival and Lake Havasu Open.  This was a bass fishing tournament that we sponsored.  It was a great event, with lots of fun things to do and see.  We had some great deals on Okuma and Savage Gear, had the chance to fish a little, and even got out for a fun little run.
The run was probably the best part of my trip.  I haven't been to Havasu since I was pretty young.  having just spent some time in London, I was excited to get back out to the lake and see the London Bridge.  it is a very beautiful spot.  Very scenic, and luckily, I only caught the tail end of some of the residual spring breakers (no pun intended).
I started off at my hotel and ran toward the bridge.  One you pass the casino, there is a nice stairway that leads you up to the bridge.  At the top you get a pretty nice view of the channel.  Here is a shot of where I am just about to start to enter the bridge.

 

Here is an actual shot of the bridge itself from up above.  Nice clear running space, and this day, there were quite a few runners out.

I ran across the bridge and down a block or so, then I turned around and headed back over the bridge.  Once on the other side, I headed off to my right down the stairs and down toward the water front.
There is a great little pathway that runs along the waterfront.  It wasn't too crowded this day, so made for easy running.

I guess you'd call this southbound.  I ran this direction for about 3/4 of a mile.  I got to a little point, then decided to turn around. 
As you run along the channel you see all kinds of fun things.  This day I caught a few of the left overs from spring break.

Loud music, beer, boats, bikinis, and did I mention beer?  Lots of that going around.  This was mid afternoon, so they were all pretty wasted by this time. Hope they all had fun.
I am now going northbound back toward the bridge.  Once you pass the party boats, you get your first glimpse back at the bridge.

It is a really pretty structure, and feels pretty out of place out in the middle of the desert.
There are a few street vendors selling glow sticks, beer, and souvenirs.  Lots of boat and wave runner rentals are found along this path as well.  As you pass all of that you actually get to the bridge.  Here is a look up at the bridge from down below.

Here is a look back underneath and toward the rental area.

Empty pathways made it pretty nice.
As you continue north past the bridge, you eventually come to the end of the pathway.  From here it turns to sand.  A good little leg workout ensued from here for a bit.

Way at the end of the point in the above picture is where we were holding the Bass Pro event.  From here, I doubled back and made it back to my hotel just in time for a little evening float tube fishing session.
The smallmouth bass fishing is said to be excellent, and i did nail this little guy on my first cast.

Lots of largemouth followed over the next couple days, but only that one smallie.  Kind of strange.

Fishing was fun, and I got out as often as I could before the event and after.  I'd get on the water by 6am and fish until 9, then back on at 5pm after the event finished.   I'd fish until dark and saw some pretty incredible sunsets.

As I mentioned, the event went very good.  I hope this is something they choose to do every year, and let Okuma be a part of.  Here is a quick look at my office for the weekend.

All in all it was a lot of fun.  Some great exposure for Okuma and Savage Gear, fish were caught, and a great run was had. 
 

Happy Running...and Fishing!!



#Fishing, #LakeHavasu, #BassFishing, #Running

Houston Memorial Park Run

While out in Houston for the 2014 Houston Fishing Show, I had a little window of nice weather, and had the opportunity to get out and run the Houston Memorial Park.  Conveniently located pretty close to downtown, right off of the 59 and 610 freeways, it was easy to get to, and really close to my hotel.  I was told that this was a nice 3 mile loop that surrounds the park.  And that it was.
I started right on one of the corners next to this sign.  Apparently the actual trail name is the Seymour Lieberman Exer-Trail.  There were some exercise areas along the way. 

Be sure to follow all of the rules while running!  There were a lot, but all seemed to be observed.

There were quite a few runners out running while I was out.  It seemed to be a pretty popular spot.  The trail  looked to be a well groomed mix of hard dirt and small gravel which made it very easy on the feet.

The trail is a full circle loop of the Memorial Golf Course in Houston.  According to my Garmin watch, it taped out at just about 2.92 miles.  As I mentioned, there were quite a few runners out on the trail, which was good to see.  I stayed on the inside with the park to my right.  On the left would be a circular road that travels around the loop as well.   The trail is tree lined for the most part.

You wind around the corner and you come across the tennis court facility, then the driving range for the golf course.  There were some bare patches of trees, but when I saw the bare patches, I would generally see these signs.

From what I read, there was quite a bit of damage from Hurricane Katrina as well as a couple others, and they lost quite a few trees.  it still seemed quite lush, coming from LA, 2 trees, seems lush.

The park itself is said to be one of the largest urban parks in the country.  It did expand on the others sides of the road with an Arboretum, and several other trails that I saw, but don't know where they lead.
I had a great time on this trail.  Nice and easy run, with lots of runners out there.  It was very clean and well kept.  When I'm in the Houston area, it will definitely be a place that I return for a quick outside run.

The Houston Fishing Show itself, is also going very good. Here is a quick Flipagram Video of the Houston Show so far.

Happy Running!

#running, #houston, #houstonmemorialpark, #trailrunning, #houstonfishingshow

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

 





Running through Salt Lake City

Running through Salt Lake City

Had the opportunity to spend two days in Salt Lake City on a little business trip.  Unfortunately, when my plane landed at 5pm, it was 97 degrees outside.  Regardless, I still laced up the Free's and went for a run.  Asking the lady working the front desk of my hotel where to run, she directed me to the Murray Parkway Trial which happened to be only a block from where I was staying.

I was told that this was a nice, paved run that runs along a river that runs through the entire valley for miles and miles.  I was also told that it was probably the coolest (temperature wise) spot in the valley as well.  So I thought, what the heck.

I took a quick jog on down to where I would be joining the trail and made a little loop down through the tunnel.  There were several tunnels along the trail and each was decorated with some urban artwork...if you know what I mean.
Once through the tunnel, I ran along a nicely paved trail.  There were a few runners out as well as bicyclists.  In the below shot, you can see the trail as it runs along the river.  You can kind of see the river in the background.

The trail continues on and I eventually get to a marsh area.  As I approach, I notice that the trail turns into a planked trail.

This wound on for a good half to three quarters of a mile.  It wound on through tall grasses, trees,  and wetlands. 

Toward the end of the tall grasses, came more of the wetlands, and I think we were actually running over water at this point.  I still had the planked trail, but now there were railings to keep me safe.

It was very nice and cool, probably a mid 80's type of day at this point in the shade.  But not too bad at all.
After getting off of the planked trail, I ended back on the paved surface.  We slowly work our way close to the water, and further away, and close again.  At a couple points, you actually cross the river.

There were numerous planked bridges over the river.  And the river itself was flowing nicely.

All in all, it was a nice little find that I did a couple of times in the two days I was there for about 4 miles per run.  Always good to get out and hit the pavement.

Happy Running!
Dave

#running  #saltlakecity #vegan #therunningfisherman