It's been awhile since I last had an entry. Here is a quick run down of what I've been doing since Escape from Alcatraz.
We had a great family reunion in Toledo Ohio in early July. It was the first time I have seen some of my cousins since 1984, the year Scott graduated High School. We stayed at a resort on the shores of Lake Erie, Maumee Bay State Park. We spent a glorious day at Cedar Point Amusement Park! If you are ever in Sandusky Ohio don't pass up the opportunity to spend a day here. The high point, literally, was Top Thrill Dragster! We got to knock about Uncle Ed's printing shop with his very high tech 4 color printing machine, a Heidelberg. Another highlight of the trip was going to the center of culinary universe, Tony Packo's. If you've never had a Tony Packo pickle your life isn't complete and their chili hot dogs aren't to shabby either. Scott and I did a little brother to brother bonding with a Sprint Triathlon in Lorain Ohio in Lake Erie. I'll only say Scott didn't win but that's not important, it was a joy to race with my brother. Even if he only got a view of my back. Love you brother!
Craig, Uncle Mike, Me, Chad --- Me, Scott
We had a great time in Ohio. Man it was sure great to see my family even if I was a little afraid of Craig and Chad my "little" cousins who I apparently picked on when they were a lot smaller! Aunt Lou and Uncle Ed graciously opened their house for all of us and hosted us for a very memorable week.
After a week together I was ready to have a little alone time. I drove Carrie and the kids to Detroit where they boarded a plane bound for New Hampshire. Carrie will have to write her own blog but she and the kids had a great two weeks. Zip lining, going to the ocean, camping for a week, Biederman's Deli in Plymouth, visiting family and old friends. Of course the highlight of the trip was going to Fenway Park for a Red Sox game. I'm so glad Reid and Lilly go to finally see Big Papi and Carrie got to see her boyfriend Jason Varitek.
Me...you ask, right, a little alone time. After dropping them off at the airport I headed north in Michigan. I only had a skeleton plan of where I wanted to go. Here is how it played out.
I drove the entire height of Michigan across the Mackinac Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere. The bridge connects the lower peninsula and the upper peninsula (The U.P.) of Michigan. Then I headed West across the UP. Landed for the night in Marquette MI. You can read about Marquette it is was a very cool little town on the shores of Lake Superior. I enjoyed a sun set in Presque Isle Park. The UP reminded me of Maine, it was a beautiful drive. I continued West with stops in Duluth MN and Fargo ND. The highlight of North Dakota was the night
I spent in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I got to see Buffalo and Prairie dogs. Next stop after an amazingly beautiful drive across Montana was Glacier National Park. I talked to Carrie on the phone several times across MT and I told her "...with every passing mile it just keeps getting more and more beautiful". I now know why they call it "Big Sky Country". I've had more enjoyable camping experiences. I'm not fond of putting up a tent in the pouring rain when it's 50 degrees. Upon awaking to a beautiful sun rise I set out on "The Going to Sun Road". It is truly the most beautiful stretch of pavement in our country. Don't believe
me? Go there! You'll see...water falls, glaciers, high mountain lakes, big horn sheep, steep canyon walls, rivers, engineering marvels (tunnels and the road) and huge mountains.After doing a short hike I started south. Next stop Idaho, the stretch of road from Glacier through Idaho was well, amazing. There I was, I was having alone time. I sang out loud, I rode in total silence, I waved to people in other cars, I stopped and peed when I wanted too, I ate when I wanted too, I was doing what I wanted to. I drove and drove, I love to drive long distances by myself. As the miles went by I began to let go of some pointless, useless, pity, trivial crap that was taking up space in my head. The hours upon hours of wide open roads does wonders for the soul. Ok enough of my Zen moments. Where was I going? Ah, right, South. The next highlight was Moab UT another magical gem of The West. I'm still trying to forget the stretch of road from the Idaho border to Moab namely the traffic and concrete surroundings of Salt Lake City and Provo. Off to the Four Corners! At the 4 Corners you can be in UT, CO, AZ and NM all at the same time. Shortly after leaving the Four Corners I drove through the Northwestern corner of NM, the lowlight of the trip for sure. I went through same Navajo Reservations and it was depressing. Dirty and poor, it made me sad to think "we" as a country put these people here. Not a high point in our Nation's history. I seriously could not get out of there fast enough. Driving just west of Los Alamos I could see the huge fires that were burning, crazy huge! After leaving Albuquerque, NM behind I went into survival mode. I wanted to be at home! Making it to the Texas border brings little joy, I still had a long way to go. I became a wizard at calculating distances and speed in my head with a little extra time thrown in for traffic and pee breaks. Alas, I made it home. I spent the next week at work reading two weeks of email and at night laying on the couch watching baseball. Now don't get me wrong I missed Carrie and kids but you have to admit being apart every now and then is healthy for any relationship. Love you honey! Some quick road stats: 15 states, 7200 miles, 9 days, I didn't add up the amount I spent in gas.
Here is a short video of my solo trip across the country in 2:24 set to music..enjoy.
Since then it's been all about avoiding the sun and hot temperatures. We set a record for the most days at or over 100, 71 days as I write this. Next on the race calendar is AVIA Austin Triathlon and then my "A" race of the year a Half Ironman (70.3)
Stay tuned....thanks for reading.
