Time warp

We arrived in Durham just a little over a month ago and since then, we entered an alternate time-space continuum that brought us into the end of August in a fully functioning house and fully functioning lab. Looking back, we've accomplished a lot. Every time I go out running, I tell myself that each step on my run is analogous to each step in the launching of my career. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other, and remember to breathe.

Caballero has officially assumed his role as domestic manager, and has also taken a trip back to the Emerald City to finish up some Indiana Jones work and see old friends. I've set up the lab and survived my first three weeks at the new position. In the midst of the craziness I have somehow felt at peace because we're starting to deploy the Plan. We're starting to live the dream. Man, does it ever feel good.

We have met a small group of wonderful people in Durham: coffee roasters, cheese makers, bakers, farmers, scholars, and artists. We've been invited to parties, dinners, and bike outings. Everyone is so welcoming and open. We feel truly blessed in every way. If we can make it here, we'll make it anywhere.

Sunny and sandy Florida

After 4 days of crisping ourselves like pieces of bacon, we're leaving Mexico Beach and heading to the International Disc Golf Center near Augusta. The missus really really really wanted to see the 3 championship disc golf courses there and I figured I'd best humor her. Hanging with Jonana, Eric, and the boys has been a joy filled with abundant beach time, stellar 'ritas, and saving the dogs from getting abused by two pair of zealous hands. The twins are full of energy and are the perfect age to toss into the waves at the beach. Good times. Here are a few pics from our past few days - unfortunately I didn't get any good shots of us becoming complete bacon. I'm not kidding, I reapplied sunscreen numerous times and still got totally roasted. I hope to eventually stop radiating heat, but that could be a couple days yet.

Just two more days and we'll be at our new digs! We're looking forward to setting up our lives and welcoming guests. Come on down for a visit y'all!

The Big Dirty

Sure, it's a great town - lots to do, lots to see, great food, ass-wallopin' drinks... but man, New Orleans is dirty. I'm not talking about cabarets, sex shops, barely legal dance clubs, and "couples get free entry" clubs (although there did seem to be a plethora of these along Bourbon St), I mean the nasty smells that emanate from somewhere to assault the olfactory glands. Peeeyew! We hit up the Red Fish Grill last night and got treated well by Josh, a Buffalo transplant who was hooking us up with good suggestions and food. The first Cat 5 Hurricane that we threw back had light and dark rum and Cruzan 120 proof - amazingly it actually tasted like fruit juice, never mind the side effect of getting us bombed. Post dinner we hit Pat O'Briens courtyard bar for yet another hurricane, and despite its sheer club you on the head power, lacked the refreshing flavor and quality of the well mixed Red Fish bevie.

Gotta back up though. It was really the walk down Bourbon St. that has made this part of the trip so funny. Funny weird or funny funny I'm not sure. We were just overwhelmed with neon, boobs, people, and mango daiquiri places. I never realized that Bourbon St. was so narrow either. We were there on a Wed night fer Pete's sake, and it was fairly well packed. I can't imagine how crazy it'd be during Mardi Gras - assholes to elbows as the missus might say. Anyway, we are do to pack up after hitting Mother's for some brunch in a little bit and then on to the pan handle of Florida to see Jo-nanna, Eric, and the twin beach bums. We're looking forward to some chill out beach time in me'sco city.

A brief wrap up of Texas - HOT. It was great to see Marmy and Poppy for a few days capped off by seeing the financial wizard and Stoli extraordinaire Chuck just before leaving Ft. Worth. Spending time with Mindy in my native San Antonio was great too. Good food, good people, and Tex-mex done right. Yeah, I'm talking Taco Cabana (and other places, but TC just has that special place in my heart!). So, we've realized that the vast majority of our fun time is over and we've been rolling on interstates now rather than scenic routes. A little less fun, but definitely quicker getting us too and fro. A last note - man do we stick out. I haven't seen one bike on a car since we got east of Houston. I can only imagine what 'bama and Missip drivers will think of our NW stylings.

Gotta get rid of my hotness.

Texas is hot. Africa hot. Especially after spending so many years in Seattle, where the temperature goes above 75 degrees only a handful of days per year. Being in Texas heat reminds me of the summer that my family took a road trip to Washington, DC. After riding in the hot car all day long, my little sister, around 5 or 6 at the time, sighed loudly and said, "Mom, does the hotel have an indoor pool? Cuz I've GOTTA get rid of my hotness." I would venture to say that staying cool has been foremost on the agenda the last few days in Texas. Caballero and I arrived in Fort Worth punctually at cocktail time, which consisted of the (in)famous Gill family maragaritas. Limey, strong, salty, yummy, but most of all, refreshing. The next day, we hit up TJ's muscle gym to pump ourselves up with a workout in the air conditioning, followed by a leasurely lunch at Joe T's. Yummy Mexican food! I also had the chance to try my hand at golf. All the Gills were very patient and effective teachers. After many tries, I managed to hit the ball a few times during the course of 18 holes! The highlight of golfing was lunch in between the two sets of 9 holes (which I think is called the "turn"). Since the golf course (Starr Hollow) doubles as a ranch, we were treated to locally raised beef burgers and -- get this-- UNsweetened iced tea! Going out for dinner tonight...such fun with the Gill family!!

Don't mess with ....

Yes, that's right folks, we got our visas and made it through customs today to enter the foreign country of Texas. We left Chez Chadrick early this morning after breakfast and coffee, relaxing to the sound of the Pecos river and looking at the view of the red buttes and mesas of northern New Mexico. I was reluctant to leave that sanctuary, but Parent Time calls: we are now on our way to see Luke and Donna, the next refuge on our long journey. Today we made it as far as Lubbock, where Caballero got his masters degree, played frisbee and brewed beer oh so long ago. During the drive there, the landscape gradually changed from sagebrushy mesas and canyons, arroyos and playas to flat blonde grassland dotted with antelope, cattle, and pink-blooming cholla cacti. Soon we were in the land of feedlots, silos and sorghum fields. We're staying tonight with Don, the last of the liberal Lubbock diaspora. Kind of strange to think that it's been 7 years since we were in this tumbleweed town. Tomorrow we continue our eastward swing toward Mommy and Daddy Gill land, where the margaritas are good and strong, golf is the commodity of choice, and HQ sleeps like it's her job.

Hammockophobia

I should back up a bit. Our time in Denver was very relaxing, mostly due to the fact that I valiantly overcame my hammockophobia, thanks to Gretchen, my fearless hammock coach. We arrived in Denver on Saturday noontime, and got directly into the relaxy taxi and drove it around. We lunched on burgers and mexican food on a sunny patio and ate too much yummy handmade ice cream. During the lazy afternoon, the boys ventured to the liquor store while Gretchen supported me through the difficult process of overcoming my fear of hammocks. Those of you who witnessed my prolonged and difficult struggle with the Clubhouse Hammock in Seattle will know that I not only tumble out of hammocks immediately after entry, but I also spaz out once in the hammock, making a relaxing place into a location of horror. To help me, Gretchen held my hand as I climbed into the swinging monster hanging in her backyard. Luckily, the conditions were in my favor that day, with a cool breeze,~80 degrees, and sunny with the shady ash trees providing significant protection. Gretchen talked me through the initial shock of hammock mounting, and gradually I relaxed over the course of about three hours. Together, we even prevailed during a vicious fight with a local squirrel who attempted to climb the tree which secured the hammock. Ever since that lazy afternoon swing in the hammock three days ago, I have either been half asleep or extremely relaxed. I'd like to think it's the latter. Thanks, Gretchen, frearless Hammock coach! I hope you can help many others like me overcome their debilitating hammockophobia. Best of luck in your travels!

road biking and garvey bliss in new mexico

Today's blog is brought to you by our infamous ghost writer, mike garvey, our host in beautiful New Mexico:

wowzers, we never would have thought northern new mexico was such a gem! well, maybe el caballero would have thought, but really... land of enchantment indeed.

leaving denver sunday AM, we rolled down through southern colorado and doglegged it over through taos until landing in garvey's little 'town' of rinconada--20 minutes south of taos, an hour north of santa fe, and smack dab in the middle of awesomeness.

after getting over the initial disappointment of garvey not living in a trailer (the kid's actually almost living respectfully now. how quick they grow up!), the HQ let him finish his beer before coyly demanding a li'l trail run--in a sandy wash, uphill, muddy quicksand, threatening clouds, and 6,000+ feet elevation. beautiful views, gorgeous arroyo and geological formations abounded.

mind-blowing sunset on the facing cliffs from the casa, tummy-gratifying fish tacos, and soul-satisfying tasty beverages capped off the day.

this morning we hippity hopped onto the road bikes after b-fast, pit stop, etc., and hammered up a long climb along highway 75 through dixon and up to penasco. manly man matty tried to shame garvey, but garvey refused to let it happen. those boys! there being no frisbees around to spike, we had to dissuade garvey from spiking caballero's bike, but after i put him in a headlock and matty punched him repeatedly in the calves it all worked out.

screaming descent back down through lush high desert gorge put a wind-blown slobbery smile on all of our faces. bueno, land of enchantment!

Eastward Ho

Our week of being stationary is coming to an end. Our stay here at Silver Creek has been just what the doctor needed. We've gotten in mt bike rides every day at SolVista or Winter Park and have thoroughly enjoyed our time with Chad - no good spills from that man to report. Even egging him on to give a show failed to produce even one endo. Good for him, but bad for stories to share. We're off to Denver to hook up with Gretchen, HQs old roommate from MU and her hubby Matt. The time here was certainly well spent as we're now very relaxed and rested. Signing off until the next time we have some stories to share!

View from the top of SolVista resport - reachable via a solid grunt of a climb on our bikes.

HQ watching Chad navigate the mud slick on Creekside Trail near Winter Park - hoping for a show perhaps?

Some nice ladies took a group photo for us - good times indeed.

Chad and Zos on our last ride here. Had some rain but the mud made it more fun!

Rocky mountain high

The eagle has landed. The dynamic duo has parked it for a week in the Rockies at a cozy condo. It's great to chill and stay out of the car for an extended period of time. We have been mountain biking every day since we got here. Who knew that Winter Park was the "Mountain biking capitol of the USA"? (Self proclaimed, according to the banners as we drove into town. In response to this, one of the local bike shop guys also proclaimed himself, "the coolest guy in the USA." Heehee. People are pretty fun and very nice to visitors up here). We have explored a bit of the cross country terrain, and also tried our hand at a downhill trail called Silky Johnson (after climbing up, of course. We prefer to earn our turns. In other words, we prefer to become completely lightheaded from the altitude prior to bombing downhill. Makes it more fun ;) ). I think we counted over 40 high banked burms on Silky, that speedy, snaky joy of a trail. We talked to the guy who built it, who rightfully called it his pride and joy. Such fun!

Afternoons are spent napping, relaxing by the pool, reading. Last night we marveled at the post-storm heat lightening flickering in the evening sky amidst towering thunderheads. Pretty amazing. We're also eating well again, thanks to a half-kitchen, a grocery store across the street, and Caballero's home cooking. We have managed to fend off the dreaded cookie cravings the past couple of nights as well. Clean living here at high altitude. One of the local bike shop guys has offered to take us out on a tour later this week. Looking forward to that, and we'll fill you in later. Chadrick is also on his way up to us. It'll be fun to see him again and watch his bull-in-a-china-closet style on the trails. We're considering a downhill group lesson at the ski area. Might have to huck it big time off the booters, yo.

Moab and Fruita pics

Time is short due to a low battery, but I just wanted to get some of the more stellar pics up. Well, maybe not stellar quality, but cool views that we've had recently. Check em. This is one of my favs due to HQ heading left with the lines of the petrified dunes of slickrock heading right. Pretty slick, eh?

Yup, all the way out of the saddle and no tire slip. Totally incredible. Awesome even.

HQ getting to the top of a climb and ready for the downhill.

Annnnd there were some sweet downhill sections.

But it seemed like mostly uphill...

Got in some disc. His this monster hole for a bird. Kind of a fluke, but I'll still take the 2.

Hiking up to Delicate Arch there are some petroglyphs. Sweet. Love the SW archaeology. It's right in front of your face. NW coast archaeo? Ehhh, mostly hidden or just plain gone.

Annnnd here was Delicate Arch. Pretty awesome. The wind was howling up there.

Partition Arch? I dunno, there were a bunch of em.

Pretty cool features on the way out.

Then there was the Fruita trail system just today. This is Zippity do dah. Fast, flowy, ridge ridin' fun!

HQ above a sever side cliff.

And evidence that she's got some mongo cajones.

More will be written and/or edited later, but hopefull HQ will gimmie a break now so I can get in 18-holes at the little course here in Fruita. I love yay-cation!

Zippety doo dah

We finished up our time in Moab with a day exploring Arches National Park, again saying "wow" all day long. It felt like Disney World, but for real. We saw huge red buttes that were shaped like elephants (i.e. Elephant Buttes hee hee!), balanced rocks shaped like spoons, arches that looked like bridges in the sky, and the fiery furnace, a landscape bristling with pillars of red and white striped sandstone. Afterwards, I got a pedicure to recover from the sensory overload, followed by a fantastic meal at the Desert Bistro (I ate ostrich and Caballero ate some antelope with corn cakes). The next day, we hopped on our road bikes up hwy 313 toward Dead Horse Canyon State Park, a fantastic ride through canyons with stellar views back over Arches. Unfortunately, were stymied by the threat of thunderstorms on the northern horizon and turned around shy of the Park. We were lucky not to get caught in any. Apparently we're catching a weird summer in the desert, since the temps have been in the 70s-80's with lots of rain. We're not complaining, though, because the alternative is dry and burning hot (in the 100's).

Yesterday we pulled up to our next BnB stop in Fruita, an old ranch house on the historic registry built in the late 19th century. It's a house complete with creaky floorboards, antique furniture and sepia-toned photographs of scary-looking old ladies. I was afraid the house might be haunted. I'll keep you posted on that: we have one more night left. Luckily, we have the place to ourselves, and Caballero made a delicious home-cooked meal in the huge farm-style kitchen, putting my fears to rest and making the house feel cozy.

This morning we hit up the trails, which are named after childhood songs and games (e.g. Chutes and Ladders, Zippety doo dah, etc.) All they need now is Candy Land and Old Maid to make it a complete set. After riding the trails, I know why they are named that way: we felt like we were riding a roller coaster made of smooth singletrack, yelling "Wheeee!" gleefully.

On another note, I just realized how great it's been to have very few decisions to make on this trip. Which bike to ride and when, and whether to eat ice cream after dinner or not. Next week the decisions will also be minimal, but different. We'll be up at a resort for a week near Rocky Mountain National Park. So...tune in next week to see if HQ decides to take up golf, hang out at the spa, or both.

The Big Hook

Just a brief post about getting "The Big Hook" as friend Ferry once said at Real Chili in Milwaukee after a long night doing... well, whatever one does in Milwaukee. What I mean is that we keep getting hooked up. Huge. The past several nights accommodations have been sheer brilliance of good fortune. Most recently here in Moab, we stayed at the Gonzo Inn for a night and the woman knocked off about $40 of the price of a sweet room. Now we're at the Cali Cochitta B&B in Moab and we were upgraded to a two room suite after chattin' with the owners. SWEET! Before this we were hooked up by friends and friends family on the way south and east. I guess I just wanted to express gratitude. We fully appreciate just how much people are giving us "The Big Hook". It's great. So thanks everyone, it certainly feels like we have someone watching over us making sure that we make it to our new home safely, and in style.

Slickrock rocks

Woooow! I've been saying that for the last couple of days since we drove into Utah, with its red needle-like columns, canyons, mesas, buttes. Wow. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Nevada was surprisingly green for being a desert. We drove Hwy 50 out of Reno, the "Loneliest Road in America" according to the map. But it wasn't so lonely with Caballero at my side (insert cheesy grin here). We made quick work of it, pushing through to Salina, UT from Truckee in one day. During the long drive, Caballero drove and spaced out while HQ invented car-yoga, a new style of Vinyasa. She's mastered a modified Camel pose, supine pigeon, janu shurshasana and downward dog (with rear end toward the windshield), all within the confines of the passenger seat. Our hard driving was rewarded the next morning with a sudden change in landscape: all I could say is "wow" and "cooool!" like a little kid as we drove along I-70, the flaming red columns of rock in the Utah desert and the wide open vistas rising and falling past our windshield like a slow movie. A highlight was a view from the San Rafael Swell at a roadside photo op. HQ and Caballero ran around on the rocks for a bit and soaked in the vastness of the 360 degree view (see Caballero's pics posted). It feels simultaneously dizzying and freeing to be perched like a bird up there.

Since arriving in Moab, we've been driving the Relaxy Taxi around a lot. We lounged in the hotel pool yesterday during cocktail time, then went out and ate a huge pizza followed by a huge cookie and ice cream. Ugh. We burned those calories today, though. We woke up at an unreasonably early hour to ride Slickrock before it got too hot (to those of you who doubt HQ's ability to wake up early, it was BEFORE 7am). What an amazing trail. The rock is smooth but grippy, so riding up ultra-steep pitches is do-able if your legs are up to it (Caballero kept quoting Ralphy Wiggam from the Simpsons, saying, "I rode that?! That's un-possible!") After ~ 7mi of riding, we saw the most incredible views: deep yawning chasms of red rock falling away to the Colorado river to the north, miles and miles of undulating smooth sandy rock behind us to the south, and the quietest silence I think I've ever heard. Not a bird, not a buzzing fly. Just the sound of the wind, my breath, and my heartbeat. Shortly after that Zen-like moment, I fell down and bumped both my knees on the rock. Just a bruise, though. Caballero fell, too, and got some rock rash his arm. All in all, it was fun yet humbling trail, and the views and the sense of wide-open perspective and accomplishment made it SO worth it.

After another lounge by the pool, we're headed to a cozy Bed and Breakfast for check-in and naptime, dinner and a movie. Life is rough on vacation here in Moab ;)

No-vada

This was Nevada.











Seriously. That's it. Well fine, here's another to show the variety.



It was beautiful. Just desolate is all.

Truckee by bike

Feeling the need to make a couple picture posts. Here's us at the top of Donner Pass (about a 3-mile climb of ~1500 feet at elevations from about 6000 to 7300 feet and this after 56 miles of riding- really, I'm feeling worse than I look and HQ was frustrating the hell outta me by constantly sticking to my wheel and actually riding like a total climber!).Day 2 of 3 in Truckee was indeed laid back. After couching it for hours and hours after the ride yesterday, we enjoyed a thoroughly chill day. My office time was well spent with two near aces and a decent 5-under at a very cool course at the Truckee River Regional Park. To make it even better, the annual Brew Fest was about to get going as I was playing my round. Sadly, time constraints didn't permit me time to really enjoy the local flavor. It was all good though, a grill fest set us up proper.

Huge thanks to Vince and Judy (Kat's wonderful folks - you can see where she get's her hospitality and warmth from!) for their willingness to take in a couple of homeless travelers not only in Sac-town, but putting us up in their cabin in Truckee as well! Anyway, Truckee was great, even though we shamefully didn't do any mt biking. Next up, a BIG push to get into eastern Nevada or western Utah if we're feelin' up to it.

Truckin'

Truckee is pretty cool. After a most enjoyable time with Vince and Judy at their place in Sac-town, they suggested that we stay at their cabin up in the Donner Pass area. It is absolutely perfect (THANK YOU V&J!!). We found fantastic road biking right out the front door. Exploring on the bikes a bit on the first day led us to spectacular view of Donner Lake from the pass. Feeling adventurous, we set out the next day on a burly 4-hr ride up over Donner Pass (with one of the most spectacular descents I have ever experienced. It rivals Washington Pass in the Methow), past Donner lake, around through the mountains to spectaculary lakefront views of Lake Tahoe. 65 miles and ~5,000 feet of climbing later, we felt a great sense of accomplishment and, more importantly, a sense that we needed several hours of couch time after eating a few thousand calories. Caballero rustled up some mighty fine grub on the grill to nourish us, body and soul. After a long refreshing night's sleep to the sound of the creek and the wind in the pines outside the cabin, we set out for a day around Historic Truckee (cute little town with Old West charm). HQ rejuvenated at a vinyasa yoga class while Caballero went to "the office" to play a couple of rounds at the local disc golf course (of course!). We're planning for the next few days on the road. After nearly two weeks of vacation, HQ is finally starting to relax a bit. She must have been pretty stressed out to need so much time off to unwind. We're looking forward to seeing the piney, wooded Sierras and mountain lakes change to flaming red slickrock on the next leg of the trip. Eastward ho!

More on Bend

So HQ did mention that we decided to change our handles. Sorry Hillbilly, but C-Cup just doesn't really apply anymore. I mean, I lost my moobs so it just didn't seem right to keep the nickname - time to pass it off to some other unfortunate soul. HQ is clearly synonymous with all things "in charge". She IS upper management after all. While Caballero seemed to suit me just fine, HQ seemed to think that another name might be more appropriate after coming across a banner at the Balloons over Bend fairgrounds:







Yeah... I had to put the kibosh on this one as it just didn't have the same sort of ring to it. Nice try though.

Another photo op we couldn't pass up came when this scarily large pink bunny balloon was being inflated. HQ was feeling a little rabbit like:













And finally, I couldn't resist. It just looks like the bunny MUST get hot-butt! Shouldn't they have thought about this before they made a balloon of an animal with fire up it's butt?!?!

California Dreamin'

We decided to bomb it down to the Bay Area to catch Gcor and Seymo before they moved out of the Crystal Palace (an artwork of a house, filled with artwork, made of glass and steel). The drive was long. HQ went bonkers after just 2 hours...luckily we found a rest stop with a "Pet Area" so that she could run around and do pushups for a bit. After a while it was calming for both of us to see the landscape change gradually, from high desert to cindercone alley, wooded mountains of NoCal to the gilded hills of Sac Valley. Besides, running in the sparkly late afternoon sunshine was well worth the drive.

We also managed to have a yummy Thai meal with Brooke and Steve (so dubbed circa 2006 by Rico), and their adorable blue-eyed baby. So good to catch up with them after nearly 2 years. The drive into the big city was also lots of fun: Caballero enjoyed jockeying through the late afternoon traffic, and HQ relished the sight of the old brownstones with gaily painted gables and gingerbread trim.

After a rousing game of Mexican bean poker (to his chagrin, Caballero was the first one out), we had another night of good long sleep. It is with honor yet great sadness that we are the last guests of Queen Gcor and King Seymo in the Crystal Palace.

The rice-a-roni treat

There will be a bit of redundancy here, but I can't help it. I'm trying to catch up on my blogging and am already several days behind. In short, we did a big push on Sunday from Bend to San Francisco to get down here and hang out with Seymo and Gr at the Crystal Palace. Lots has gone on since I last posted. Bend really was pretty alright. At first, we had a bit of a downer feeling about the town because of a fair bit of sprawl in the past several years. When I passed through this way 7 years ago on my way UP to Seattle from Lubbock, it seemed like a one-horse town. Now, you've got the Wal Marts and the icky any-town America kind of feel outside of Hwy 97. It also seems like quite a bit of wealth has moved in - good playground with all sorts of activities?! Great, let's go retire there and drive out the locals who established the trails and recognized the enourmous outdoor potential!! (watch out Bellingham, as it appears to be happening there too). Anyway, I guess there's no way around it.

As HQ mentioned, our stay in Bend was delightful. We tried to catch a room at the McMennimens just south of the downtown corridor but they were fully booked. We'd heard from fellow Marquette alum Matt in Portland that the Turkish hot soak at the hotel was fabulous and we were initially bummed that they couldn't fit us in. The fella at the desk recommended calling Carol at the Mill Inn. Carol is an eccentric, high-energy, NY Jewish American Princess, who sized us up and put us on the insiders path to authentic Bend. She reminded me of my "surrogate mother" Steffi, who has the same ability to bring energy, smiles, and joy to anywhere she mingles. Anyway, we'd highly recommend staying at the Mill Inn based on cost and the ENORMOUS breakfast with good, strong coffee. I'm not kidding, it'll blow your hair back.

Our second day in town was great - the power breakfast provided plenty of energy for our mtb ride from the front door of the inn. We rode our a couple miles to the Cascade Highlands trail and then to Phil's Trail, basically a network of miles and miles of sweet, smooth, and fast singletrack. We were given a heads up by a wrench at Hutch's East, one of the many local bike shops. After hitting Phil's trail, we headed south down Storm King that kept us on our toes... or brakes as it may be. The trails were slightly downhill allowing plenty of speed to be built up, only to have a crazy hairpin turn just when you're thinking "wow! So fast!!" So yeah, there was definitely some excitement out there. We eventually cut back to the east and headed for C.O.D trail and some great rock gardens. There really wasn't a whole lot in the way of technical riding on the trails we hit, but there were a couple opportunities to ride some skinnies a couple feet off the ground. I tried to get HQ to photodocument these (see right), but the dreaded 'hangries' had set in and my proud moment of riding this long bending log bridge was poorly recorded for posterity sake. Guess we'll have to find ever more technical ramps, kickers, teeter-totters, and skinnies to ride.

We finished up our ride with the first couple miles of Phil's Trail that we rode slightly uphill and away from the trail head on. It was great on the way out since it was an easy spin (despite the Hammer Queen putting down the hammer). What was beautiful was how I never had to use my brakes. I tried this on the downhill and sure enough, they oughtta call this section of the trail "No Brake" because of how you could really lay into the turns and maintain your speed. Bummer we didn't make it further out since as HQ mentioned, the moto-dude told us about all the "Candy" at the Whoops trail we just HAD to hit. Despite my best efforts to get back out that way, other fun activities beckoned.

A good lunch back at the Inn and we were off again. I dropped off HQ at coffee shop so she could order lab equipment and I'd go check out the 9-hole disc golf course at the COCC (Central Oregon CC). It was alright. I mean, any disc golf course is better than no golf course, but many of the holes were tight and one might say unfair. I played the first 9 to get the layout, and then managed a 1-under through 18. Ehh.

We would be shirking our responsibilities if we didn't manage dinner at the Deschutes Brew Pub. I've always loved their beers and we were able to sidle up to the bar and chow on our elk burger and garlic burger with grilled jalapenos. I'll let you figure out who had which burger. A nice hoppy IPA for me and a Nut Brown Ale for HQ made the meal complete.

Due to having an extra day to relax, we decided to skip some of our early planned stops. We were thinking Crater Lake would be cool, followed by a trip out to the coast and down the legendarily slow but beautiful Hwy 101, but we opted to just bomb it down to Berkeley to catch up with Seymo and Gr before they left the XYZ house. It's an incredible place to stay - great views over Oakland and the bay, the hills of Berkeley just behind us and of course the generally warm and sunny California weather (sure, it's been cloudy for two days, but hey, what's not to love?). The drive down from Bend wasn't as long as we thought it would be and man alive was it beautiful! We took 97 all the way down to Weed, on the west side of Mt. Shasta. HQ needed to be run and while I made lunch she ran around the pet area at Grass Lake. Stellar little rest area - unless you're HQ and rest area it was not! Mt. Shasta dominated the view for quite a while and we thought that the folks in Weed sure were lucky! I guess you could say the grass in Weed really is greener.

A couple of filled gas tanks and we pulled up into the Berkeley Hills and immediately got back into the car to head out to Miraga to play some disc golf with Seymo. HQ was a little less than excited about this, but she got in a good 45min run. I had to punch the clock and bill some hours at the office (yes, the courses are known as the office). The rest of the time here has been similarly spent- out to Novato to hit the Stafford Lake course (2 rounds!) on Mon morning followed by a jaunt over to SF to see Charlotte and Alex and their little shoulder riding 11 mo old. It's been great to catch up with friends and visit them in their environment. Lord knows we've had plenty of guests and haven't done as much visiting of our own! Our time here is winding down and we'll be planning our next week in this evening. Rather than do a huge southern swing through SoCal and AZ, we're leaning towards heading east. This should cut out several hundred miles and hopefully keep HQ on the up and up! I'll try to remember the camera next time we head out. I've been a dope and forgotten to keep it with me of late.

Phil's Trail

Bend is full of fun and interesting characters. After our drive (through the vicinity of Mt Hood, complete with fog and snowy patches, lovely forested country, then descent into the relative desert), we rolled into town and met the eccentric New Yorker. She's the owner of the great BnB where we stayed and is ageless, exuberant, and efficient. She turned us on to a great yoga class at the local swim/fitness club. The yoga instructor was beautiful and effervescent, her class refreshing as a gin and tonic on a summer afternoon after a frisbee tournament. Feeling renewed, we strapped our feed bag on at McMenneman's (served by Shilo, our jonny-on-the-spot server), then stayed overnight at the BnB for just a touch more than the Cheetah Sheet Motel AND we got the hugest breakfast I've ever seen. We ate homemade Belgian waffles, yogurt, fruit, sausage, bacon, eggs, potatoes, juice/coffee. Yes, my friends, we ate it ALL. Well fueled, we rode for 4 hours through the hemlock, cedar, and dusty chaparral forests on Phil's Trail, a twisty gradual climb interspersed with rock gardens. Our climbing effort was rewarded with a rippin' cross country descent on smooth, high-banked dusty/sandy trail. After getting directions from the motorcycle dude ("Dude, that trail is SO CANDY! You totally totally have to ride it, man!"), we spun it back into town for some lunch and afternoon sleepies. We decided to change our aliases today. Ccup is now Caballero (insert crazy Mariatchi guitar and castanet music here), so dubbed this morning at breakfast by the Spanish-speaking lady when she served him sausage and eggs. Muddy Grrl is now HQ (Hammer Queen, or Headquarters, depending on your perspective).

Photos are on the way once Caballero gets back from the disc golf course :)

Surveyor's ridge

Two mountain bike rides in two days here in Hood River. The first was a short but fun one up Post Canyon, which boasts several miles of pump-track style buttery smooth singletrack along a creek. After a bit of a climb up out of the canyon, we reached a playground of teeter-totters, skinnies, and log rides. Ccup rode many of them, and I watched, very impressed. Both of us were impressed by two locals hucking it huge off of some 15-foot drops. WOW. Back in town, after a yummy fish dinner with bike racing friends (they're doing the Mount Hood Cycling Classic, a burly 5-day stage race. Go team!), we stayed at a yucky motel with cheetah-patterned bed sheets. I think we'll camp from now on. Today: Epic mountain bike ride: 5hrs, 23miles, >3000 ft climbing, perfect weather. It started with a grunt of a climb for the first couple hours up the Dog River, followed by a lovely ridge ride on Surveyor's Ridge with meandering climbs and fun twisty descents. We were treated with stellar views of Mt Hood all day: it was huge, triangular, glaciery, and right in our faces just across the valley. And that's right, we forgot the camera. OOPS! After about 10 miles of ridge running on smooth forest duff, we headed down Oak Ridge for a hair-raising descent on loose rock/sandy switchbacks. We made it back to the car just in time to miss the squall moving in off the mountain. Lovely views of Mt. Adams on the drive back to town. After a delicious dinner with friends and homemade ice cream, we are spent! Looks like a rest day is ahead of us tomorrow.

Stumptown

Here we are roasting in Portland enjoying very fine caffeine beverages at the Stumptown Annex. What a world of info regarding the bean that we never really knew existed. muddy grrl is busily chatting away on her phone ordering equipment for her new lab - rather amusing coffee shop chatter to me. Such is life in the PNW - everyone with their laptops up in front of them and cell phones at the ready. A far cry from the coffee shops back in the early 90s - Perkins in the Minnesota and the Fuel Cafe in Milwaukee. I digress...

We had a fantastic dinner last night with Sirikit and Greg in their stunning early 20th century house. They undertook a HUGE project renovating it from the ground floor up and it's shaping up beautifully. Original crown moldings, cross room ceiling beams, a stellar kitchen and a great garden make for their house to be a spectacular crash pad. Gelato and a walk around the 23rd NW area capped the night and sent us well on our way to "Snuggle Bunny Island" - Muddy grrls childhood land of sleep (always have to watch out for the menacing King Bunny Kong!).

We departed this morning to meet up with a fellow MU grad, Matt, his angel of a newborn baby and later his wife Amy - funky coincidence, eh? We experienced the newest Stumptown rage, a biscuit joint that served up large sandwiches on a buttermilk biscuit. Mine was the Reggie Deluxe, fried chicken, bacon, cheese, and a fried egg covered with gravy on a biscuit. I did have collared greens to offset some of the heaviness of the gravy...

No pictures to add yet - I keep forgetting to grab the camera and download whatever we shoot. Eventually we'll get the hang of blogging! For now, I'm itching to get off to Hood River to hit the trails on my new 2-9er and hook up with some of the Wines folks for some carb loading.

Ok I lied, I ran back to the car to grab the camera and post one of our send off shots. We always drove by this downtown lookout and it seemed an apropos spot for our final spot:

Two Bliss.

TwoBliss. Two people, two bikes each, two months off. Two x two thousand miles to travel. Bliss.

Final Countdown. 5/28/09

This week was crazy. Between finishing up at work, running errands, packing, loading the moving van, (a truck with a Big A on it…boy those movers are fast packers), and saying goodbye to all of our friends, we are cleansed of the detritus of life, paradoxically refreshed but drained. Letting go of more than a decade of life in Seattle is strange…sigh. But we’re so excited to start our trip!

Sending Forth 5/29/09-6/2/09

We went to church this morning to say goodbye to our friends there. It was Pentecost, rather apropos, we thought, for sending us out into the world to bring good tidings and cheer to everyone we meet on our journey. All of our marriage prep friends were there: Elsa and David, Kathy AJ and Coby. Victoria and Father Tony said a blessing for us to send us off on our trip. We feel so lucky to have experienced such a wonderful community at St. Catherine’s, where we got married. Father Tony was very excited about the prospect of having us in North Carolina, which is one of his favorite places.

The “go away” parties (to borrow an idiomatic mistake from my German friend) this week were amazing and fun: we had a BBQ at Chuck’s on Sunday night with the Brown Trout Frisbee crew and cycling friends, and dinner at the Pac Inn on Monday. These were great cappers to the festivities. Our support network here is fantastic and we will miss you all. Thanks to everyone for gifts, hugs, and love, with special kudos to Tony and Kim, Chuck and Cory for letting us couch surf while we packed up our house in Seattle. We are setting off equipped with a deep cache of support and hope.

School’s out for summer 6/2/09

I feel like events in my Seattle life are pushing us out of our nest like little birdies. I almost cried when I left the office on my last day of work yesterday. It’s curious how one can get connected to a place. I suppose I spent more time there than at home over the last years.

Mixed emotions abound as we head out: It was tough to keep it together this week. I’m still in denial, thinking that we’ll be back in Seattle after our cross-country trip. But we’re so excited about the new adventures awaiting us in the Triangle Area. We’ll be in Portland tonight hanging out with Sirikit and Greg from the cycling team. It’ll be so fun to see them!

Matt has tetrisized the car: all four bikes on top, bins for food and clothes stacked and stowed, with everything fitting just right so that it doesn’t move around while we’re on the road. So here we go into the wild blue yonder! Remember, this is good night and not good bye, my dearest Seattle friends.