Some New Gear

This year's December camp new gear includes a pair of Nikes,
new Pearl Izumi socks, a new Thule backpack and a suitcase.

I also received a nifty new suitcase and was told the old one has a 10-year guarantee.

What A Disaster!

At least we were able to crack a smile at the top of the mountain.

What was supposed to be an eight-kilometer hike to complete six missions turned into a nearly four-hour debacle that saw us take the lead, then get lost and hike more than 13 kilometers, arriving at the hotel four hours later slumped over with fatigue and in last place.

I'll keep the details short because I am simply exhausted. But we can blame a faulty map and guide for getting us lost. Then we tried to make up time by running, only to get lost again. A hike up and over a mountain was exhausting enough without the added distance. And to top it all off, I was the only one who brought along any water. Wow.

The second task involved being blindfolded. That's me on the left.

By the third contest station, we had already moved into first place and had to wait.

Gavin Chilcott killed this contest, doing a track stand for 90 seconds – twice!

An hour later, we had given up running and started walking, apparently the wrong way.

At least the view from the top of the mountain was a nice one.

Even the trip down the mountain was a treacherous one. And we got lost again.

One reason why we got lost? Someone had covered up the red dots marking the rocks.

Lauren Gets A Reply

We know at least one friend of Sean's – Krissy – read Lauren's part of the letter!

Arrival In Spain

A familiar view, this time from the third floor.

Trans-Atlantic Travel

I landed in Paris as dawn was breaking.

Paris – I have gradually worked my way up the status ladder on Delta airlines enough that typically, I am seated in "Economy Plus" on international flights. This section boasts a bit of extra legroom, it's located closer to the front of the cabin (meaning you are served meals faster) and typically, I can get in a bulkhead seat, providing me even more extra legroom.

Unfortunately, for my flight from Atlanta to Paris, I was back in the "peanut gallery." And the flight was a code-share with Air France. That means fewer movies, cuisine that's a bit more international and no personal air conditioning device above your seat. It's not a great mix. But not too bad, either.

I always tell the person seated next to me (in this case, I was on the aisle in the middle of a 2 seat-4 seat-2 seat configuration) to elbow me if they need to get up. Generally, I get up more than they do. But on this flight, the woman next to me decided it would be easier if she just crawled over me. So twice, I woke up to her trying to creatively crawl on top of me to get to the aisle. I don't believe she tried to wake me up either time.

Anyway, my always-sleep-going-east strategy didn't work this time, despite taking three sleeping pills. It was a bit of a nightmare. I finally started getting drowsy in the seventh hour of an eight-hour trip. That's never good. So when I landed in Paris, I was not at "full strength." Here's some photos of my travel today – 18.5 hours door-to-door.

It was a busy Sunday morning at Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport.

Fortunately, I was able to enjoy lounge access in Paris. I always go downstairs. It is less-crowded.

In this terminal, there's no mistaking you are at Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport.

I exited the plane out the back upon my arrival in Valencia, Spain.

Off To Spain

These sure looked nice (and new). Too bad I'm in economy on my eight-hour flight to Europe.

Atlanta – It's "Groundhog Day" in the cycling world. The time of year when everyone ventures off to training camp before the Christmas and New Year's holidays.

For me, this means a flight from Omaha to Atlanta, then on to Paris, and finally to Valencia, Spain. It's a much longer haul than most of the staff and riders (who are mostly exclusively in Europe) have to endure. But it's one I have been making since December of 2010. And for sure, the warm temperatures in Spain will be a nice change from the (sometimes bitter) cold of Omaha.

The south terminal at Eppley Airfield was nearly deserted Saturday afternoon.

I've never heard of this place, but the food was pretty good.

The view from my seat in Delta's Sky Lounge in Atlanta.

Life Around The Apartment

Veronica was more than happy to pose next to a pie Lauren helped get ready to bake.

She was also ready to be the "first eater."

These are busy times as the days get shorter and it seems the holiday rush is upon us.

For example, last night, we blitzed through the final processing of the Christmas letter, fixed dinner, hustled it down to the main post office, zoomed out to Aksarben Cinema to see a movie and then back home to prepare cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Thankfully, the girls are extremely helpful and handy around the house.

This morning, we were in full-out cleaning mode so they could attend the annual "Christmas Cup of Tea" with Grandma Bep.

The girls did a great job getting their room in order.

Coming Soon To Your Mailbox

Julia (foreground) and Olivia got the folding started at CopyMax.

Getting our annual Christmas letter together has become one of our favorite traditions. Especially now that the girls are older.

They look forward to answering questions for the "bio" section and they are efficient in the folding (Julia), return address label affixing (Olivia and Lauren), addressing (Olivia and Lauren) and stamping (Veronica). Emily was on "quality control" this year, making sure everything was in proper order before the finished product headed out the door.

This year's newsletter comes to you in full color for the first time since the third edition, back in 1995. That year, it was only single-sided and letter-size (compared to legal size and double-sided). So it was not the financial outlay it was today. And we certainly weren't mailing out 160 letters back then.

Finally, if you see any mistakes on the letter, please don't tell us.

Lauren had the envelope stuffing process in order. Well, sort of.

Julia folded every letter. Every. Single. One.

Olivia was rocking the labels – address and mailing.

Veronica had the stamping process going in her bedroom.

Before Emily checked everything over, she was scaring Sean by saying she found typos in the letter.

Peter Pan Live Panned

What looked promising quickly sunk into the depths of disappointment.

I was looking forward to last night's broadcast of "Peter Pan Live." I really was. I remember seeing it as a stage play when I was growing up and have a few memories of Mary Martin playing Peter Pan on TV.

I was also curious to see how Allison Williams (daughter of NBC News anchor Brian Williams) handled the musical numbers, as many of the teaser commercials failed to include that aspect of this "musical" production. That led to rumors that she couldn't sing.

All of my (somewhat high) expectations were dashed in the first 10 minutes. That's when I noticed the actors were lip-synching to a music track, likely recorded in a studio (not even in a rehearsal, I'm guessing). What a major fail. No wonder NBC didn't put a "live" bug in the corner like it did during the "Sound of Music" last year.

So what did others think of this $10 million production that included 46 cast members and a few of 350?

Here are some of the headlines this morning:

• Peter Pan Live! Review: No Amount of Clapping Brings It to Life
• Peter Pan Live Was the Worst Three-Hour Drag Show We've Ever Seen
• 'Peter Pan Live!' musical fails to take flight

So I wasn't the only one who suffered through the three-hour – yes, it was three hours – production that seemingly included the same set of commercials every half hour.

I don't know if I can stomach another live musical and its pre-broadcast hype. Let's just end it with Tinkerbell and her glorious exit:

Huskers Hire A New Coach

This was my tweet to Coach Mike Riley after watching him ride his bike in an ESPN feature.

Well, that was fast. It only took four days for Nebraska Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst to hire a new head football coach. He's Mike Riley, a 61-year-old Oregon native who has been coaching at Oregon State for 16 seasons. While he's never won a championship of any kind there, Husker fans are excited because he supposedly gets along with everyone (the media included).

As my buddy Bob Cullinan wrote upon hearing that, we'll see how how happy fans are when he fails to win games.

When Live TV Goes Bad

Christopher Walken looks like he's already two sheets to the wind in rehearsal.

I don't know if anything is going to go wrong during tonight's live broadcast of "Peter Pan" on NBC. But it could. And for sure, that's why I will be tuning in.

The prospect of a flub-up or other faux pas like a blown line, microphone malfunctions, some off-key singing, etc., is why I love live television. The big awards shows are live. But networks typically  put them on a delay for censorship purposes. I haven't heard if that's the case for this show, but regardless, slip-ups are possible.

Last year, NBC’s live performance of “The Sound of Music” attracted 22 million viewers. I was watching on my way back from a training camp in Salt Lake City – on a Frontier flight out of Denver. (I wish more airlines would offer live TV, but that's another post.) “Peter Pan Live!” has been promised to be "a glitzier and more expensive show." Peter will be played by Allison Williams (better known as the daughter of NBC News anchor Brian Williams) and Oscar winner Christopher Walken will play Captain Hook.

The original "Peter Pan" TV broadcast was also on NBC – way back in 1955. It starred Tony Award winners Mary Martin (Peter Pan) and Cyril Ritchard (Captain Hook). The production was so popular that NBC followed it up with a second live telecast (watch a clip on YouTube here) the following year.

Most memorable for me in "The Sound of Music" broadcast on NBC last year was Audra McDonald belting out "Climb Every Mountain."

It's Christmas Time...

The lights have gone up at my apartment.

It's That Time Of Year Again

There are new questions to be answered in this year's letter.

Here's a sneak peek...

You can hardly say it sneaks up on you. Come October and early November, the task of putting together our annual Christmas letter starts hanging over my head. The pressure usually ramps up around Thanksgiving Day and accelerates greatly as departure day approaches for winter training camp in Spain.

The good news is that the letter is nearly finished. Selecting the photos is always the toughest part. Writing the girls's summary statements on the back is also a toughie. But Veronica gave me some help this year, which was much appreciated.

If everything goes as planned, the letters will drop Saturday and start arriving next week. In between, there will be addressing, folding, affixing of postage and, hopefully, some personal messages!

Retro Photo

This framed photo of me and my cousin, Melissa, was found at Grandma's house.