This is what summer was made for.

I am loving summer.  This is my first summer since the summer after ninth grade where I haven't had a job.  I mean sure, I've been putting in random hours at the Y, but you can't really call bowling with first graders work.  Ahh the benefits of teaching.  So what have I been doing?

Well I arrived home in Minneapolis in late May.  I spent the next couple weeks on a spending binge - food, drinks, things, groceries.  Not sure what all I bought, but it had been months since the simple pleasure of immediate gratification could be fulfilled in the shopping world.  The instant return on my wants was, well, intoxicating.  Following that bender, I set off on another binge of sorts - biking.

I missed biking.  A lot.  And so I went on some bike rides.  I spent a weekend riding from Duluth to Minneapolis with the fund raising event known as the MS 150 (a charity ride for the muscular sclerosis society).  This was my second year completing the ride and, as before, it was nice.  Our team raised over $2300 (thanks to all who donated by the way) and rode about 100 out of the 150 miles in a light
drizzle.

Using the MS 150 as a warm up, I left a week later on the Amtrak with two friends, Aaron and Adam, headed for Portland.  Our bikes safely boxed were stowed aboard ready to carry us south down the Pacific Coast.  Unbelievable weather (a total of zero days of any form of precipitation and a considerable tailwind) followed our trek to San Francisco, approximately 850 miles up, down, and around the coastal mountains.  Elaborations on this ride will follow in future posts, for at the moment I am letting the experience ferment a while longer before getting into it.  Needless to say, bicycle touring is one of the most incredible ways to travel.  For anyone interested, Aaron, one of my riding partners has a nice little blog where you can read and see some nice bits of media from the ride here:  The Western Expanse.

Now I am down to about three and a half weeks left in Minnesota before I return to Alaska.  I have many things I still want to get done, but am actively looking for more things to add to that list.  If you have any ideas, want to hang out, or whatever, get ahold of me.  I am in.