Surf’s Up at St. Andrews State Park

This is my second time camping at St. Andrews State Park. Both were with my travel trailer and since the last time I was here, there are twice as many sites! Because of a hurricane that came through a few years back, the campground had to be rebuilt and they’ve done a wonderful job. Not only are there campsites for all kinds of campers (see pics below for a few favorite campers I came across), but also a handful of yurts that look downright cozy.

I wasn’t sure what to expect in regards to wildlife. My first visit was in the winter so I saw a few eagles, ospreys, deer, and cold mornings. Now that it’s spring, what was in store? Well, unbeknownst to me, the last few days have been double red flags which means two things: 1. no swimming and 2. the surf’s up! Beautiful waves with skilled surfers all day long. Here are a few pictures I took from the adventures… Note: I do not appear in any of these photos. In Kip Dynamite’s voice *I’m more of a bodyboarder*…

-Out of the Wilderness

The GEICO Bangs Commercial – The Music, the Actress, and More

GEICO has a history of great ads including their horror spoof, the Billy Blanks workout, and the Wright Brothers conversation, and we all know the Caveman saga. Now GEICO is back with a bang… or bangs, to be more specific. Take a look then scroll down for more info!

The Music. The song is called “Hello Hello Hello” by Remi Wolf. If it sounds familiar, you might be remembering it from this iPhone 12 commercial a few years back. Here’s the full song…

The Actress. Not in her house. Showing up with a solid rejection for that young man’s layup attempt, it’s actress/ director Victoria Park. Check out more of her professional endeavors, and maybe a few free basketball lessons, on Instagram @HeyBVP.

-Out of the Wilderness

American Idol – Train Wreck Kayko Goes Home, and Just Sam Saves the Day

Another one gone and another one gone…

Last night we witnessed two more contestants bite the dust on American Idol. I wanted it to be Julia and Kayko but American sent home Mia and Kayko. I kinda enjoyed watching the train wreck that Kayko turned out to be. So it’s bittersweet to see him go, like when the Alabama Crimson Tide get eliminated from the college football playoffs, now I have no one to cheer against.

I’m still a little ticked off that Ziggy and Julia Davo weren’t given a chance for America to vote. Am I holding this grudge a little too long? Probably. But it just really blows that performers like Kayko (and Blake, sorry I’m being rude again) made it into the top 24 when they were never, ever going to even have a chance of winning the show. And last night, this hurt a little, when Lionel said to Kayko: “If you keep fooling around here, my friend, you’re gonna win this thing.” 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

Yet another case where the judges couldn’t have been more wrong. And what was with Katy trying so fervently to have some angelic nugget of abstract wisdom after every contestant? The judges try so hard to shape their comments in a positive way and I would guess it’s because they are thinking about their own careers. Kindness = keeping their fans. Honesty = losing fans/money.

Simon Cowell, if you’re reading this… come back! We need you now more than ever.

The best performance of the night goes to Just Sam who sang “One Moment In Time.” She gets it. You have to sing songs that people will remember. Come on, newbies! I hope Jack and McKenna read this and pick a great song for tonight’s round. My prediction is that eliminations will be dealt to Julia Gagnon and/or Will Moseley. If there’s a judge save, they’ll save Julia for some unbeknownst reason that we’ll never fully understand.

-Out of the Wilderness

American Idol Eliminates Two… But Who?

Things are getting tricky on American Idol. It’s always a little crazy when there are fewer and fewer contestants left and tonight we’ll hear the top 10 sing as they are mentored by Shania Twain. Allegedly, two will be eliminated and I have fun guessing who those folks will be. The second half of last week’s two-episode eliminations was not just a little boring. It was good ol’ fashioned snooze fest. Here’s a recap that’s more entertaining and a lot shorter.

I can’t even remember which songs Jack Blocker or McKenna Faith did and they’re my top 2! It was rough. You know it’s bad when the only reason the show had any entertainment value was how bad a performance was. That award was shared last week… Roman, who did a very underwhelming rendition of Katy Perry’s “Roar” and Kayko who had an eye-opening take on “Somebody That I Used To Know.” The kind of eye-opening where all you can do is stare in disbelief and wonder: Where did we go wrong?

Hopefully tonight they’ll correct the song choice mistakes (and maybe a mentor mistake? Although I don’t know how much Meghan Trainor had to do with the song choices or the final deliveries). So let’s get to tonight’s eliminations. If I had my druthers, I’d eliminate Kayko and Julia. One is just too much like a bad actor playing the part of a singer and the other is a good singer but so far, really boring. I’ll let you sort out who’s who. But I’ll try to be fair in my picks. Here are the top 10 and in *bold are who I think will be eliminated based on a little bit of research.

Kayko
McKenna Faith
KB
Julia Gagnon
Triston Harper
Emmy Russell
Jack Blocker
*Mia Matthews
*Will Mosely
Abi Carter

Who are your favorites and who would you guess is going home tonight?

-Out of the Wilderness

Nerves and Anticipation When My Triathlon is a Week Away…

The next triathlon I’ll be participating in is exactly a week away. Hard to believe how fast time flies when you’re having fun training for a race. It seems like just yesterday I wrote about how it was a month away.

Without having official data to prove it, I strongly believe I’ve improved my swimming (which is hugely important, the first leg of the three-discipline race). Will I be a dolphin speeding through the water? No. But I *think* I’ll look less like a cat in a bathtub. That was me in my first tri race. Gosh, that first triathlon seems SO long ago (last April). I finished 93rd out of 128 and vowed to never do another race again. So dramatic.

But since then I’ve improved in speed and efficiency. It also helps that I am using a newer bicycle and clothing better-suited for triathlons. So that April race when I finished 93rd, it was a 600 yard swim, 19 mile bike, and a 5K run.

Guess what next week’s distances are? Yep, pretty much the same! The only difference is 3 miles less on the bicycle course. I’m excited, a little nervous (I’ll be very nervous as it gets closer), but really just full of anticipation. This morning I joined a group bicycle ride and we did 33 miles. At the very same time, doing these longer (for me) rides is encouraging and humbling because 1. I’m happy to be part of group rides and 2. These cyclists are fast. Huge quads, huge calves, sometimes I take a look at my own chicken legs and think I must be an imposter!

Hoping next week I’ll feel less like a chicken and more like a roadrunner. Meep Meep.

In my last triathlon post I included a photo of my training calendar. Here’s the updated calendar with just 7 days left till race day.

-Out of the Wilderness