Crazy, Busy Summer...

Well, it's been a fast week and a half since STP weekend blew right on by. We have been going like crazy since our return from Portland, and we are now getting ready to turn around and head right back down again this weekend! Tour de Cure weekend has arrived!!! :-)

Evan has formed our team, Evan's Peloton, and we will be riding together in the 43 mile course, raising money to help fight and find a cure for Diabetes, a disease that is becoming more and more rampant in America. Evan, myself, Tracie, Papa, and our good friend Gene Taube, will all ride together this Saturday morning. As of this time, we have reaised $1500 towards our goal of $2500. It appears we won't meet our goal this year, but we certainly have done well just the same!!!

With sickness hitting our household since the return from STP, it has been difficult to get much done. Tracie came down with strep throat, and was down and out for nearly 4 straight days. Then I came down with a sinus and throat cold sort of thing, and have been fairly miserable since Sunday. Hopefully we can all be better by Friday, ready to go to Portland and have a good weekend. :-)

Today Faith is heading to the vet to deliver her lates litter of puppies, vis c-section. We should have her and her new pups home this afternoon, and they will be going to Portland with us this weekend.

Well, I have an awful lot to do to get ready.... shower, shave my head, get the bicycles and stuff ready, get the trailer ready, do yard work, and get all packed up as well.... since I go back to work again tomorrow morning for one more shift.

I will post puppy pictures this evening, and then Tour de Cure weekend pics when we return next week.

Adios!!!

STP 2010... AWESOME!!!

What a fantastic weekend we had for Seattle to Portland, 2010. Myself, and my two really great friends, Scott Taube and Stu Hodnot, all rode the Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic together. Each of us rode as members of the Medical Support Team, on behalf of the Cascade Bicycle Club. This was also Scott's very first ever STP ride, and it made it that much more fun for both Stu and I.

We had an incredible weekend of riding together, logging a total of just over 206 miles over the two days! It was an awesome journey, and we all three had a fantastic time together. We helped around a half a dozen or so people on Saturday, which ended up putting us in to Winlock a full 3 hours behind schedule.... but all for good reason! When we arrived, ice cold beer and hot spaghettin were waiting, so we were very happy indeed!

On Sunday, we enjoyed a nice hot breakfast and fresh coffee before hitting the road again. It must have worked, because we increased our speed average for the day, and made good time into Portland. We helped ust a few people out on day two, and spent most of the day just cruising along at a very nice clip! It was a lot of fun. Scott did absolutely wonderful, and rode very strong for his first time out. He certainly did NOT hold us back at all. :-)

We arrived in Portland around 3:15pm, with family and friends waiting our arrival. We celebrated with pictures, story telling, and a few cold beers in the beer garden. After refreshments, and some shopping from the vendors, we headed on out to my folks' place, with exception to Stu and his family, who were not able to join us this year. At my folks' place, we indulged in a most delicious farm fresh pork steak bbq, along with baked potatoes, corn on the cob, and more. Dessert came in the form of fresh raspberries over vanilla ice cream. We enjoyed the evening, shared our stories, and talked about next year..... already planning!!! :-)

What an awesome ride, fantastic weekend, with great friends!!!

WOW...What a week!!!

Yes, my last post was back on July 4th, Independance Day!!! Since then, I have logged 117 miles on the bike, attended 7 of 8 baseball games Evan has played, put up over 1100 bales of hay in the barn, gone to work at the BFD, got our online banking and bill paying done, and worked on getting ready for this upcoming weekend.......

The Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic!!! :-)

I admit that I have not stayed updated here during this time. It has been a schedule of up early, go all day, get to bed, and repeat... for the past week. I am at work today once again at the BFD, and have a few minutes to quickly give an update.

When we return from STP weekend, I will finally sit down and post with more details, as well as photos from all of the happenings that have been happening around LBF during the month of July! :-)

Until then.... please stay tuned! ;-)

Happy 4th of July (Independance Day)

As unimaginable as it may be, today is the 4th of July!!! Absolutely crazy, and nearly impossible for me to grasp. Especially as I look at the pictures from last year on this very day!!! You can see from this picture that the weather was very much different last year at this time. The kids were outside playing and having a grand time in the water.... and it felt like summer!!!

This year I am still waiting for June to arrive, and yet the calendar says today is July 4th...... doesn't make any sense at all. I actually just fired up the pellet stove to heat up the living room, so we can all sit around and watch television and do nothing, while it remains cloudy and cold, with the wind picking up more and more as the afternoon moves on. n fact, it is starting to look like a chance of rain may visit today as well.

Well, I guess we will just have to wait until tomorrow, see if summer might decide to show up on July 5th this year?!?!?!?!?!?!

Be safe you all, and enjoy the holiday :-)