Close Calls

I haven’t posted in quite a while, mainly due to the fact that I no longer have a functioning camera and I feel that posts without relative pictures associated are just plain boring, but anyway…..
I had a rather eventful weekend in terms of close calls. Finally a couple of storm systems have moved into northern CA bringing feet of snow to the higher elevations. I wanted to go to Salt Lake City this weekend to meet up with my Uncle and cousin for some dead prez. day skiing, but due to the severity of the storm system, I only made it as far east as Sugar Bowl on Friday. Nick and I skied the majority of the day Friday, enjoying 18+ inches of fresh, dry, steep and deep powder all day. In a hurry to leave GV Friday morning, I forgot my helmet at home. Because the powder was soo good, nick and I spent the day hucking cliffs and rocks all day at Sugar Bowl. Enter close call numbers 1 thru 100 – let’s face it, I’m not that great of a free ride skier yet so, needless to say, helmetless cliff dropping can get a little sketch.

We returned home Friday night without too much damage inflicted to anything other than P-tex. After a nice Pizza dinner, everyone settled down for the evening around 7:00. Abdul left to run some errands and I remained curled up on the couch nursing my shredded quads. From 7 to 11 I stayed on the couch in and out of consciousness. Around midnight Abdul returned only to find the house reeking of natural gas, Nick and Yung fast asleep, and myself passed out on the couch. Apparently, one of us left the front burner of the gas stovetop on hi all night without a flame lit. The house was quite literally ready to blow and I was far off in never never land, fast asleep, or passed out, I’m not sure which. Close Call Number 101.

Since I passed out Friday night, I was unable to make any phone calls to any buds with 4WD vehicles, and Saturday was rumored to be the best powder day of 09 thus far. So, like an idiot, I decided to drive to the mountain in my 2WD Chevy Malibu with very bald tires. I started the trip with two cable-style chains securely fastened around the two drive tires. I made it about 10 miles before the driver’s side chain wore itself loose and flung free. Somehow, and I’m not sure how, this occurred without any damage to the car’s body, amazing! Close Call Number 102.

I finally made it to Alpine Meadows to meet up with friends Sam and Jennifer. The powder was exceptionally deep and took a little getting used to. But after a couple head plants, I got the feel for it and it was time to hit the steep and deep. Sam and I were skiing off of Scott’s Chair, a slow double that services advanced terrain in an area on the mountain known for sustained high angle runs, untouched forests, and numerous cliffs. Sam and I had the plan on one particular run to ski the steep just before this cliff, scope out the cliff, then decide to either go for it, or ski around once we got there. Sam went first. Like a jet-eyed knight, he powered his Rossy 193 free rides through the steeps to the edge of the cliff in world cup fashion. Next it was my turn. I dropped in and lowered to my left knee to make my first left turn. Classically, I over rotated and washed out my tails. In a last ditch effort to retain control, I threw my weight forward to get back on top. In doing so, I drove my right ski deep into some fresh and I went ass-over-tea-kettle on to my stomach and began a 100 ft. free slide down to the cliffs edge, head first. I managed to get my skis back underneath me during the slide so that I’m sliding towards the edge on my stomach, looking up the hill, with my skis running uphill underneath me. This sliding position stops me RIGHT at the cliff’s edge as my skis careen over the rocks and dangle from my boots 15 feet above the rocky landing. I laid there on the brink of doom for what seemed like 5 hours, clawing at the snow, struggling to regain control and save my ass from the fall that was sure to come. Despite my best efforts, the snow was just too loose and I never achieve an adequate hold. I slid over the edge on my stomach and fell backwards to my ass where I landed on an assortment of rocks partially covered by snow. I slid for a few more feet where I finally can to a rest against a strategically located pine tree. Sam skied down to me, helped me gather my head, and I slowly skied the rest of the way down feeling like I had just gotten raped by the Sierra Nevada. Close Call Number 103. The damage: an unusual gate to the coffee pot this morning, a couple of wild-MLB-fast-pitch style bruises on my left ass cheek, and a core-scratch in the P-tex of the new K2 Hippy Stix. I really wish I had a picture of that cliff….

So, no pictures or exciting new places to report, just a few close-call stories. Until next time.

Happy New Year.

2008 ended rather roughly. A storm blew in the day of our company Christmas party, so instead of working that day, a few of us decided to check out the fresh snowfall instead of our computers.

Unfortunately, the storm bringing the snow also brought high winds to the lifts so the day was spent throwing back drinks at the bar and clownging around (clowning around + lounging = clownging).

We returned to GV in time to be casually late for the Christmas party.

I was damn drunk to start the night and it only got worse - a pic that I don't remember taking with the ladies of the Mining Group.

I drunk myself stupid and did some typical drunk Dave stuff then missed my 7:00 am flight to Denver the next morning. When I finally DID get dropped off at the airport, I found myself without wallet or cell phone. After some quick emails and a of luck, I was able to make it to Denver by 8:00 pm to meet up with my uncle Don for the rest of the trip home. Thank you Southwest.

Once I got to MO I united with the Famdamily. We ate lots of good food. Sang jolly songs and were quite merry - classic family Christmas photo.

X-mas day was a lovely day spent on the farm with the fam, dog Pauli and horse Archie.

On my way out of town I got to meet up with some old buds for a good ol' night of college drinking!

I got back to GV in time to half-ass a work week until New Years, which started for me Wednesday afternoon with a disc golf match between Dave, Rocco and I.

New Years Day on the bike. A good start for 2009. Ride details can be found here.

Nick and I with the Forest Hill Divide Bridge in the background - the tallest bridge in CA.

Friday Dave and I headed up to Sugar Bowl. He took off on snow shoes to bag some peaks and I got treated to some terrific conditions.

Saturday Nick, Dave and I headed to N. Lake Tahoe to do some backcountry skiing around Mt. Rose, NV. It was a good day to avoid the crowds in the BC. Trip details can be found here.

The views from the climb up Relay Peak.

The climbing CAN be fun sometimes - if you come across the right drop. Good job Rocco on the shutter.

The Daves and Rocco clowngin' at the summit of Relay Peak.

The view from Relay Peak looking south across Lake Tahoe.

The backcountry left me with a pretty sore right hip flexer so I'll be laying low for a couple of days. Hopefully both weather and body are on my side for this coming weekend...

Oroville Loop

This weekend was the REI Garage sale in Roseville. Basically, REI does not resell any of their returns, instead, once a quarter they open up and have a 'garage sale' where REI members can purchase the returned items at serious discounts. Ryan, Rocco and I headed down to meet up with Juice who was holding a good spot in line for us. We spent a couple hours there and I think everyone found a few good deals. I ended up with a Northface Gor-tex ski jacket, some Patagonia base layers and some Pearl Izumi leg warmers.

After the sale, Ryan, Rocco and I headed north from Roseville to Oroville to ride a winter time favorite of Rocco's. Oroville is located along the central valley but in a caynonesque area. The three forks of the Feather River come together and feed Lake Oroville, a large hydroelectric reservoir that boasts having the largest earth dam in the US. As geotechs, this was worth seeing.

The ride started down along the tail waters below the 750' dam. Essentially, the ride consists of a 7 mile climb to the dam along the north side of the tail waters, a ride across the dam, a 3 mile decent from the dam back to the tail waters, then a 5 or 6 mile ride along the south side of the tail waters to a rail road bridge that crosses the water and brings you back to the beginning.

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No pictures of this ride, though some great views were had. Ride details can be found here.

We returned Saturday night for a pretty uneventful evening. Today we are planing on doing the "Snow Dance" in hopes of getting some powder before Christmas. Snow Dance means waxing skis and tightening bindings.

Thanks Gave

This year the working world dictated my thanksgiving plans, which is a first for me. So instead of a ham breakfast at Grandpa's, and a classic Turkey Day Dinner with the Krazy Kramer Klan (and by no means related to the other more infamous KKK), I spent the day giving thanks the only way I knew how, a bike ride of course.

Thursday morning I cruised down to Auburn to ride one of my favorites, the Forest Hill Divide Trail. The parking lot was PACKED with vehicles totting empty bike racks, but much to my surprise I found the trails rather vacant. I was also thankful for the vast trail improvements that had been put in place since the last time I was on the trails. I took it easy and enjoyed my 65-degree sunny day off.


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Ride details can be found here.

Abdul's mother graciously provided us with a wonderfully prepared bird and we (Abdul, Zarah, Adam and I) provided all the other fixings. And for the four of us, there was definitely not a shortage of food. We rounded out the evening making music with full stomachs and happy hearts. Oh... and then Abdul and I found some Karaoke at Coopers in N.C.

Friday was another beautiful day so I got up early and headed for another bike ride. I got an early start so I could have time to get to Sugar Bowl to pick up my season's pass and then head to Reno to the Sierra Trading Post outlet for some x-mas shopping. I picked a trail that I've hiked a bit and always wanted to try on bike; it was also high in the mountains on the way to Reno. The Grouse Ridge Loop is a beautiful, under used hiking, and even less used biking trail that circumnavigates several glacier lakes in the massive granite formed Sierras. It's about a 40 minute drive northeast on hwy 20 and another 40 minutes drive into the Nation Forest on roads that look like they were designed to eat Chevy Malibus. Once back there, I could have sworn I was in the middle no where without a soul to be seen - A much welcomed treat from the migraine-headache inducing 'holiday cheer' ramping up for the 2008 season becoming evident throughout urban USA.

Grouse Ridge is primarily a hiking trail that sees one or two bike every couple of weeks. The trail is a moderate hike or a strenuous bike ride. Due to both snow and rock gardens the day turned into more of a nature hike with a bike as an extra complication than a mountain bike ride. I still greatly enjoyed the day just being alone in the peaceful wilderness doing what I enjoy.

Some of the bolder fields the trail went through.

One of the many glacier formed lakes the trail skirts around.
A little waterfall created from the natural spillway of a lake.

Another glacier lake, this one with some bushes growing in it, I wonder what this looks like in the summer at full bloom?

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The loop I had intended to ride is comprised of two loops and is actually about a third longer. I turned back after about 1 mile of the southeastern loop because the trail was in pretty bad shape. Ride details can be found here.

Once I reached the car I was far too tired to do anything else (like pick up my Season's Pass and check out Sierra Trading Post) besides drive home, and that even proved to be a challenge.

Friday night I tagged a long with Abdul as he painted up the street of Nevada City. The bars were slamming for once on account of everyone being home for Thanksgiving. I felt like I lived in a town that actually had a night life for once!

Saturday, after a slow start, several of us (Abdul, Amil, Jimmy, Michelle, Kristin, Myself and 3 others who's names have escaped me) ate brunch at Ike's in NC. Normally I would leave such mundane details out, but it was at this brunch that my weekend plans became abruptly altered. Saturday and Sunday were beautiful days and I had planned on using them by hitting up some more great trails, picking up my pass, and doing a little x-mas shopping (and, if super productive, maybe even a little engineering). Unfortunately though, as I was entertaining a youngster, the little devil accidentally poked me in the right eye with his little, sharp, pinkie nail. I can't say so for sure (because I did not see a doc), but I'd say his little serrated finger nail sliced a tiny cut into my eye causing a rather uncomfortable sensation for the remainder of the weekend. Whatever it was, just focusing the eye caused enough aggravation to stop me in my tracks. So for the remainder of Saturday and all of Sunday I was reduced to my pillow, I could not read, watch TV, drive and for sure not ride without the eye tearing up and forcing itself shut. The aggravation ensued until Wednesday, when my eye finally healed and I got back to 100%. And boy was I thankful.

Persimmon Season

As a youngster in the Fall, cold, sunny Sunday afternoons were often spent with with my family riding horses around the farm. My father, ever the salesman, would often try to convince us kids that the un-ripe persimmons hinging in the trees were tasty treats. Every couple of tries he would succeed and we'd lay into a few only to discover that the sweet goodness he'd spoke of was replaced by the most awful bitterness imaginable that would last for the remainder of the ride. I think Dad would do this just to shut us up (it's extremely had to talk with such a bitter taste in your mouth) so he could enjoy the country in peaceful scilence.


I never actually believed persimmons were eatable until lately. Fall in around GV, similar to Fall around Vienna, produces an abundance of apple-sized persimmons ready to be plucked. The taste, not quite as I remembered it, but less sweet than a mango with just a hint of bitterness, delicious. The taste sure doesn’t remind me of home, but the story always does.

A Couple of Rides

The weather around here has been absolutely miserable for the ski season, but that always means the mountain bike gets more use.

Saturday I played bike guide for a few guys at work new to the area and one Ausi in town from our parent company, Ausenco. There's no better trail to hook anyone on biking than the Pioneer Trail, or as it's commonly referred to, The Nevada City Downhill Classic. As far as enjoyable trails go, this one is not lacking, a 4,200 vertical feet net elevation loss, scenic views, rider-friendly pine duffed trails, and something for everyone and then some (if you know where to look). Oh yeah, did I mention it ends at a bar? The day was beautiful without a cloud in the sky and a cool 65 degrees.

The group consisted of Upendra, our friendly IT guru, Darren, our newest lab manager, myself, head of bull shits and looking busy, Ryan, cadmaster supreme Engineer, and Jason, the Ausi in from Brisbane. With the exception of Ryan and I, the rest of the riders had logged few hours on tails of this caliber. So the day consisted of a lot a waiting, but I've been sick lately, so the frequent and lengthy stops were welcomed.


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On the Trail: (L2R) Ryan, Darren, Jason, Dave

In the background you might be able to see a bunch of smoke. They were burning the forests in this section of trail so we had to detour for a couple of miles to get around it. (L2R) Upendra, Darren, Jason, Ryan.

North Ridge Bar after the ride. LR: Ryan, Darren, me, and Jason.

Possibly more pictures to come. The ride is cataloged here.

Sunday I had plenty of things to get accomplished, but it was another gorgeous, clear, 65 degree day, so I went mountain biking instead (typical). Ryan, Jeff and I headed to Bullard's Bar Reservoir to ride some of the trails around the reservoir. The trails were in good shape. Some local dirt bikers had built up some little doubles at the trail head which started things off right. The rest of the trail was 100' climb after 100' decent around hairpin corners. A hard, moist trail surface overlain by leaves and pine needles, turned the day into a drift fest. If nothing else, the three of us improved our cornering skills.

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Of course, no pictures. The ride is logged here.

South Yuba Trail

The South Yuba River, one of three arms that makes up the Yuba river, is a gorgeous riverway that is peaceful and littered with great swimming holes in the summer, and a raging torrent of whitewater during the spring. In the Fall, the river's 30 miles of shoreline trail has something for everyone and lots more.

A couple of co-workers (Rusty and Big Dave) and great mountain bikers leave for Columbia Sunday for three weeks to do some site work on a future nickle mine down there. Before leaving they wanted one more epic ride to tie them over during their absence. An epic ride is just what Rusty had planned, the South Yuba trail - in it's entirety. I've been meaning to ride other sections of the trail for some time now, but had never really planned riding the entire trail in one day. But the weather was phenomenal, everyone was in good spirits and chalked full of energy (at least at the start).

We dropped a car at the North Ridge bar and shuttled to the scenic overlook on hwy20, about 20 miles up the road. From there we bombed down Washington Road to the South Yuba River town of Washington. This is where the South Yuba Trail begins.











Our route (minus a 3 mile section in the middle where I forgot to press start on the GPS).

The S. Yuba River follows some pretty rough terrain and is confined by steep canyon walls on either side. The steep canyon walls make for some of the most technical, exposed and exciting riding in Northern CA. In many places, one error could result in a helicopter ride out of the canyon.

The South Yuba River Trail, like many river trails, follows the course of the river. Except the topography governs where the trail can and can't go, so the trail will often climb into tributary canyons, climb over secondary ridges and sometimes just climb for the hell of it. Riding the Yuba trails makes you think that you're constantly climbing.

The ride on the South Yuba was great with few conflicts or incidents. The group was spaced out most of the time, as hilly climbs will often do to a group. I broke a chain about 15 miles into it. The link that broke was right next to the master link, so a trail-side fix was easy. My shortened chain meant that I had two fewer gears to work with though, which made the remainder of the trip seam like a single speed ride.

So we rode the South Yuba from Washington to Edwards crossing, about 30 miles, in 5.5 hours with little conflict. The only thing left to do was to climb out of the South Yuba River Valley back to the car parked at the bar, about 8 miles and 2500 vert feet away. It was a poor sight, 5 tired, beat and spent riders waging an epic battle against gravity motivated by the crisp taste of New Bel Fat Tire and hopes of sitting on something besides a bike saddle. The last two miles of the trip nearly killed me. We stumbled into the bar, ordered a couple pizzas and enjoyed a picture of beer.

The ride topped off right at 40 miles, took us from 10:30 to 5:30 (7 hrs) with ample stops and a calculated energy of 5000 calories. It will probably be a while before I ride the South Yuba in it's entirety again, but I definitely had a blast this time. Once again, my lack of a decent camera produced no pictures of this ride. The ride stats can be found in full at: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7153424

Hello Internet. Goodbye Summer.

As I'm sure everyone has noticed by now, the days are shorting up and its getting dark sooo damn early. This is seriously cutting into my outdoor activity time. So, as an alternative outlet for my a.d.d I'll be turning to the internet. First item of business, update this crazy blog.

Well, California is great.

I could do a all inclusive write up on everything that has gone down over the last 100 days but I think I'll just summarized it by saying I've been doing a lot of mountain biking. That has been consuming the bulk of my free time and I can't complain about that. The trails here are some of the best I've ridden with lot of variety. I got tired of getting lost so I got a GPS bike computer that keeps me on track and documents my ride stats. HERE is a list of some of the rides. If I were to describe my CA mountain biking experience with one word it would be: undersuspended (is that even a word?). The 29er hard tail is hanging in there, but I can't remember the last time I rode with another hard tail, and I for sure haven't seen any other 29ers. So maybe in the Spring I'll treat myself the a fancy full suspension ride, Giant makes a pretty good bike for easy money (Trance X1). If I make it through the ski season unscathed, I may look into picking one of these up.

Just last weekend we got the first real snow storm of the season and I couldn't be more excited. This fall I have been able to find some really great deals on skiiing exiptment so I've been slowly updating my ski closet. I was able to pull some strings and get a student season's pass to Sugar Bowl for real cheap. Sugar Bowl is only 45 minutes away and is far less traveled than the other Tahoe area mountains. With any luck I'll be posting about my first run shortly.

My current camera really sucks so I haven't many pics to document my travels so far. I hope to get a new camera soon, but until then, you can expect the blog posts to be quite boring. These few pictures are what I have and give a bit of a summary of the last 100 days.

The coast is 3 hrs away and a great weekend trip. I headed out and chilled on that rock for seveal hours one day.

Plenty of hiking/camping possibilities near GV, I'm not striking a Travolta here, I'm pointing out our route.

Headed to Reno for John Butler Trio Show. We had front center seats, the show was amazing.

More hike/camping (Sierra Buttes in the Background)

Classic Picture. We had to hike out the next day and did not want to make 2 trips.

Got some new skis. K2 Hippy Stinx. Why do I look 12 in this photo?

Hit up Tahoe finally for some mountain biking before the snow came, I was 1 week too late.

Did some hiking in the Desolation Wilderness along the southwestern shore of lake Tahoe.

Did some full-on snow camping and fine dinning.

And, just a little more beach.

So that's pretty much all the pics I have. I noticed a real lack of biking pictures, which is strange since that consumes most of my time. I'll try to get some more of those up soon.

Hopefully I'll post again soon. Cheers!

Westbound - all

I awoke to the spectacular views of the Grand Tetons Wednesday morning, broke camp and headed into town (Jackson, WY).

Campsite 1, Jackson, WY

I fueled the car and ran a couple errands in the morning and stopped into a few local bike shops to find out where the biking was good. Pretty much everyone said to stick to Jackson and ride the trails covering Snow King ski area. So I did. This was my first taste of true mountain biking. By that I mean the trail started off low in elevation, climbed feverishly for several miles followed by a downhill run. The climbs were like nothing witnessed in Missouri, where climbs are generally moderate and the end typically in sight; in the mountains, the end is never in site and climbs are often technically challenging :( I spent the majority of the morning climbing until I reached the mountain summit (3 hrs later). At this time I was completely spent so I looked for the most direct route down, which was a network of service roads and singletack that meandered down a ski run. To add to the excitement, upon my summit the freewheel on my bike froze up and would not spin freely making my 1x9 essentially a fixie. I remedied this on the spot by just taking off my chain and cruising to the bottom chainless. By the time I got to the bottom I had fried both my front and rear brakes with the front pads being completely gone. Once again, not something I'm use to in Missouri.

View of the Tetons from the bike ride.

Looking back at Snow King and the trail used to descend.

After the bike ride, I stopped by Mile High Pizza Pie in Jackson to refuel and refresh then I headed west again to Craters of the Moon National Monument in south central Idaho. Craters of the moon is a landscape formed by volcanic activity many years ago, but instead of there being a violent eruption from a mountain (like St. Helens) the earth just opened up and oozed liquid hot magma forming impressive lava fields, obvious cones and a maze of lava tubes. This was a no brainer stop for a geotech nerd.

Pitching the hammock proved difficult at Craters due to the lack of trees, I was able to make something work with a tree, picnic table, car and bbq grill. Half the fun of tarp camping is coming up with the crazy configurations unique to every site.

Campsite 2, Craters of the Moon NM, ID

While pitching the tarp a friendly camper in a neighboring site came over and offered up some cool beer, a much welcomed offering. Andy, the friendly camper, was returning from Yellowstone to the Bay Area where he had spent the last 12 weeks working on a grizzly bear study. The evening was spent enjoying more beers and listening to some of Andy's great stories.

The next day I spent the morning exploring the lava fields and lava tubes with Andy. We climbed in some pretty dark tunnels and saw some pretty neat, un-Earthly structures before departing from Craters of the Moon NM.

Crazy Lava tube.

I continued west to Boise, ID where I stopped at a local Radio Shack to pick up a new phone, I was using my Mom's phone because I had lost mine the night before I left. Mom's phone ran out of battery and instead of buying a car charger I just decided to use buy a whole new phone instead since it was time for me to upgrade anyway. I got a Blackberry Pearl with the full data package and have really enjoyed it.

I pushed on all the way to Bend, OR which is just east of central Oregon. Bend is home to the eastern most reaches of the Cascades. I fueled the car (or the attendant fueled the car because it's illegal to pump your own gas in OR) then headed out of town to find a campsite. Bend is pretty much surrounded by national forest where camping and use of the land is free to the public. I headed down county roads for a while until I settle on a spot. There was a meteor shower going on that night so I enjoyed the night gazing into the abyss at the numerous shooting stars.

Campsite 3, near Bend, OR

Saturday morning I hiked around a little then loaded up the car for the final push, a due south movement straight to Grass Valley. I detoured slightly to scope out Crater Lake in Southern Oregon. Crater Lake was more beautiful that I had ever imagined. I only had time to drive around and snap a few pictures, but I definitely look forward to going back in the future.

Crater Lake...to be continued

That's the extend of my road trip to California, it really was one of the most relaxing and enjoyable trips of my life. I have one week of work under my belt now and I think I'm really going to like it here. The folks of Grass Valley are very nice and welcoming for the most part. Work is very relaxed with an interesting workforce that shares many of the same interests and views as I. Mountain biking is a big deal here and that's what I've been occupying most of my free time with. There are plenty of epic trails within an hour of Grass Valley with plenty of people willing show me around. I'll start posting on those soon.

Here are some other pics I snapped from the windshield:

Coming into the Grand Tetons

Sunset in the foothills of the Tetons

Lava Field

Sunset over the Cascades

First Major Town I entered coming into CA

Western bound part duex

After my time spent with the cousins in co springs, I headed up to Boulder to say hi to some buddies. My original plan is to make it to the Rocky Mountian National Park Tues night, but after mild persuasion I ended up hanging out in boulder watching the Olympics instead.

Wednesday morning I headed into the mountains near the RMNP to do some mt biking at a place recomended by Josh called Hall Branch. Hall Branch was great, it had very technical climbs, flowy singletrack, and of course those spactscular co rocky views. The ride basically consisted of two sections, a rocky technical section going from the parking lot to the ridge summit, and then a brushed out singletrack loop on the ridge top. The climb was intense in the co summer heat and elevation but the technical aspect made it extremely enjoyable. After the climb the ride turned into a fast singletrack that linked banked turns to burm jumps followed imediately by another turn. This was by far the best designed trail section I have ridden so far. About the time I started thinking about that, I wiped out. After the singletrack I pointed the bike back down the mountain and bounced through the rock gardens back to the car. The decent was fairly uneventful and really made me wish I had more suspension.

View from Hall Branch bike trail, I think that's Long's Peak in the Background

Hall Branch Road Rash!!

After the ride I loaded up and headed due north to The Tetons in Wyoming. The drive was beautiful and plesent. I camped in the Grand Teton National Park Wednesday night in a new hammock I picked up at an REI in co springs. The hammock slept great.

West Bound - Part 1

Well, I finally finished up the thesis and turned everything in, my college career is finally over for a while!

Saturday (Aug 9th) was Matt and Dianne's wedding which turned out to be an amazing event in which I am truly grateful for having been a part of it. I wish Fred wouldn't had brought the Jamison in the Limo, I believe that was my demise for the evening, but besides that, the day was amazing and I couldn't be happier for Vitellos.

I woke up Sunday morning in a soiled tux on a plastic lounge chair in the pool room of the hotel, I have know idea how I got there, but apparently that's were I landed sometime after the reception, which I honestly have no recollection of. Needless to say, I was hurting, still somewhat drunk, and completely confused. I made it back to my house where I started packing up the car. Dealing with 100 pound containers full of shit in the 90 degree sun quickly took its toll on me and made packing process that much worse.

I finally got the car loaded up and said goodbye to 405 E 11th for the last time around 2:00 pm. I swung by the newly weds to once again congratulate them, apologize for my drunken self the night before, and say goodbye. Then it was off the Vienna.

New Car fully loaded

Mom put together a real nice farewell dinner for my family and grandparents that afternoon. The food was excellent and it was great visiting with all the family. I'm really going to miss them all very much.

Me and my sisters.

The first stop on the trip was KC MO to visit old high school buddy Joe Barnhart and crash at his place for the evening. Joe had just made some oysters when I arrived so I got to expand my pallet and try some for the first time - I gotta say, not really a huge fan. We spent the evening shooting the shit and jammin' on the Taylors.

The next day Joe showed me the latest project he's been working on - customizing a Honda Super Hawk 996 sport bike with hand built fairings, custom air intakes, seizure inducing lights and more.

Joe's freshly customized Honda Super Hawk.

I left KC around noon Monday to take on Kansas and Eastern Colorado. My final destination for the evening was Colorado Springs. I have always driven Kansas at night because I thought it was such a terrible state that wasn't even worth looking at. I don't know if it was the fact that driving across Kansas was the first mental break I had had in a while, or if it was the new car, but something made Kansas and eastern Colorado very enjoyable and relaxing.

About 150 miles into Colorado on CO State Hwy 94, I intercepted a group of 6 guys who were biking across the country. They started in Vancouver B.C. and were traveling to Mane. I stopped and chatted with them for a while and offered them some of mom's lemon squares. They seemed to be a pretty cool group and I would have like to camp with them that night, but I already had plans. They're making a documentary on their trip, check them out at www.bikethestates.com.

I met up with Uncle Don, Matt and Josh at a local brew pub (Rock Bottom) in Co Springs. I enjoyed great conversation and tasty beers with them. It's always nice meeting up with my CO cousins.

We headed back to Matt and Josh's house near Garden of the Gods in CO Springs - both the house and views were amazing.

The scenic view from the front porch.

Matt and Josh's house.

Josh gave me a grand tour of the house which included an 8-foot Burmese Python. The snake was really cool and loved to check you out very inquisitively - non-typical of a reptile.

The Snake with No Name.

Josh and I jammed on the guitars for a while before calling it a day. Day One of my trip was amazing.